SACW | 5 August 2005

[sacw]

South Asia Citizens Wire  | 5 August,  2005


[1]  On the eve of another Hiroshima Day  - 'As 
Insecure As Before'  (Achin Vanaik)
[2]  Bangladesh: More religious schools, than 
secular ones got state support (Daily Star)
[3]  India: Classrooms Without Commoners (Anil Sadgopal)
[4]  India: Nirmala Deshpande - A Valiant Woman, A Gritty Agenda (Jawed Naqvi)
[5]  Book Review: Politicisation of culture (Jyotirmaya Sharma)
[6]  60th anniversary of the Bombing of Hiroshima 
/ Nagaski : Public events in India
  (i) A silent tribute to Hiroshima victims in 
Schools (New Delhi and other cities)
  (ii) Mumbai chapter of CNDP and other (August 6 to 10)
  (iii) Bangaloreans Against Nuclearisation (Banaglore, August 6)

______


[1]

The Telegraph (India)
August 04, 2005

AS INSECURE AS BEFORE

On the eve of another Hiroshima Day, Achin Vanaik 
exposes the hypocrisy of "responsible" nuclear 
powers like the US The author is professor of 
international relations and global politics, 
Delhi University


August 6 and 9 this year will be the 60th 
anniversary of the dropping of the nuclear bombs 
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Groups worldwide will 
be commemorating this tragic event, hoping to 
remind governments and peoples that they need to 
pay tribute to the innocent victims, to make sure 
that those deaths were not completely in vain. 
What this means is obvious enough -- we have to 
work towards global nuclear disarmament. While 
much of global civil society, and many 
governments, will listen to and respect this 
simple message, the nuclear weapons powers and 
their most obsequious allies will not. What the 
attitude of the Indian government and that of 
much of our elite might be to this has now been 
made fairly clear.

In the wake of the India-US accord, it is 
believed in such circles that India has now been 
accepted as a "responsible nuclear power". 
Accepted by whom? Why, of course, by the United 
States of America, to whom India is now beholden 
and which therefore can no longer be criticized 
for its nuclear behaviour, past and present.

The truth is that there is no such thing as a 
"responsible nuclear power". The clique that even 
the Indian pro-bomb lobby once called the club of 
nuclear apartheid, whose members were dishonest 
and hypocritical about nuclear proliferation, is 
now to be repackaged and sold in this country as 
the club of "responsible powers". All because 
India is getting de facto entry into it, courtesy 
the US.

The truth is that there isn't and cannot be any 
such animal as a "responsible nuclear power". The 
key arguments used to justify acquisition of 
nuclear weapons are all minor variations on the 
fundamental theme of deterrence, and as such are 
applicable to a chain of other countries. What is 
sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. This 
is why aspiring or potential nuclear powers, as 
well as nuclear disarmament proponents, have 
declared that if existing nuclear powers refuse 
to move towards disarming themselves then they 
have no moral right to oppose proliferation or 
prevent others from acquiring nuclear weapons. 
Also, every one of the seven declared nuclear 
powers (the eighth being Israel) have been 
involved in forms of extra-country linkages 
tantamount to promoting proliferation - the US 
and Canadian support to India's nuclear power 
sector from which it developed the 1974 bomb, the 
Russia-China and US-Britain collaboration of the 
Fifties, the French-Israel or US-Israel link, the 
Israel-South Africa link, the China-Pakistan link.

Of course, among this coterie, the 
irresponsibility is not equally shared. The US is 
by far the most irresponsible of the lot. It is 
the only one to use nuclear weapons on a civilian 
population and has never seen fit to apologize to 
the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki though it 
got an apology from Japan for Pearl Harbour. It 
has always been the principal pace-setter in the 
qualitative development of the nuclear arms race. 
It has carried out the most nuclear tests, 
spreading deadly radiation among Marshall 
Islanders as well as amidst the Nevada 
population. It has spent more money ($5.5 
trillion between 1940-96) on its nuclear weapons 
programme than the rest of the world put 
together. Its nuclear weapons budget for 2005 is 
$6.6 billion, which is higher than its yearly 
average during the Cold War years.

The US's top officials say that high-yield 
nuclear weapons are self-deterring because their 
use is more difficult given the public memories 
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And therefore, the US 
needs to make low-yield and more usable nuclear 
weapons. This, of course, is what the US is 
preparing to make. Paul Robinson, chairman of the 
policy subcommittee of the strategic advisory 
group for the commanders-in-chief of the US 
strategic command talks of a "to whom it may 
concern" nuclear arsenal directed at third world 
countries and targets.

Nor should we forget the current US effort to 
nuclearize-militarize outer space through its 
integrated Ballistic Missile Defence and Theatre 
Missile Defence programme. This is aimed at 
dominating nuclear rivals like Russia and China 
and will push them to make more and bigger 
warheads and delivery systems. This in turn will 
push India to expand its arsenal to keep pace 
with say, China, and Pakistan to do the same 
vis-à-vis India. That the most powerful nuclear 
country is doing this, thereby guaranteeing 
future nuclear instability when there already 
exist enough weapons between itself and Russia to 
blow up the world several times over, is only a 
further indication of how insane the search is 
for nuclear "security" and power through nuclear 
weapons. Similarly, India's silence (or is it 
endorsement?) over the BMD/TMDs project is a mark 
of its own cowardice.

At the level of doctrine, it is of course the US 
that is systematically blurring the distinction 
between nuclear and other weapons of mass 
destruction. It is the US that is integrating, at 
the operational military level, the use of 
nuclear and non-nuclear conventional weapons; it 
is the US that now declares its willingness to 
use military power pre-emptively and 
preventively, in contempt of all existing 
international laws and norms. It is the US that 
refuses to give assurances to non-nuclear states 
that it will never use nuclear weapons against 
them. Again, it is the US that will defy the UN 
convention on the Law of the Seas by reserving 
for itself the right to interdict any ship it 
suspects of carrying nuclear-related materials by 
or for any country which it holds as not being a 
"responsible" nuclear or indeed non-nuclear 
state. Are these expressions of responsible 
nuclear behaviour?

One of the most striking things about the nuclear 
weapons lobbies the world over is how the number 
of defectors from its side to the anti-nuclear 
side is many times greater than the opposite flow 
of one-time nuclear disarmers to pro-bomb 
lobbies. One such defector is Robert McNamara who 
said in June this year, "I would characterize 
current US nuclear weapons policy as immoral, 
illegal, military unnecessary and dreadfully 
dangerous."

But what does he know? Don't we have it on the 
word of New Delhi and its media acolytes that the 
smaller but "responsible" nuclear power India has 
now joined hands with the larger but also 
"responsible" nuclear power, the US, for the good 
of India and the world? Mahatma Gandhi, who could 
not speak for 24 hours after the bombing of 
Hiroshima, must now be turning in his grave. 
A-bomb victims -- rest in peace, your Indian and 
American saviours are at hand.


______


[2]


The Daily Star
August 04, 2005

MADRASAS MUSHROOM WITH STATE FAVOUR
22.22PC GROWTH OF MADRASAS AGAINST 9.74PC OF 
GENERAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS DURING 2001-05
Rejaul Karim Byron and Shameem Mahmud
Madrasa education has received more state favour 
than general education in the last four years, 
leading to the significant growth of madrasas in 
Bangladesh.

The number of general educational institutions, 
which receive government funds, has increased 
9.74 percent against a 22.22 percent growth of 
madrasas from 2001 to 2005, Bangladesh Economic 
Review statistics show.

The growth of madrasas got such a boost 
especially after the BNP-led coalition involving 
Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Oikya Jote and Bangladesh 
Jatiya Party came to power in 2001.

The picture was different during the 1996-2001 
rule of Awami League (AL). In the first four 
years of the AL rule, the number of general 
educational institutions rose by 28 percent while 
that of madrasas by 17 percent.

The number of madrasa teachers saw a significant 
rise in the last four years, compared to those in 
the general education. Teachers in the schools 
and colleges marked a 12.27 percent increase 
against 16.52 percent in the madrasas between 
2001 and 2005.

The number of students in general educational 
institutions rose 8.64 percent while the madrasas 
saw a 10.12 percent rise in enrolment during this 
period. But the number of students increased 
sharply during the AL period.

Experts believe madrasas have negligible 
contributions in creating skilled human resources 
in the country, still they received on average 
11.5 percent of the total education budget in the 
last few years.

Apart from about 9,000 government-registered 
madrasas, there are numerous other institutions 
across the country offering religious education 
without registration.

The national databank on education compiled by 
Bangladesh Bureau of Education Information and 
Statistics (BANBEIS) does not have information 
about these madrasas.

Madrasa Education Board controls the Ebtedayee 
madrasas, but Qawmi madrasas are totally out of 
government control, said Professor Iqbal Aziz 
Muttaki of the Institute of Education and 
Research at Dhaka University.

The Qawmi madrasas have their own curriculum. 
Abdul Jabbar, secretary general of Bangladesh 
Qawmi Madrasa Education Board, a private board of 
these madrasas, told The Daily Star that they 
have a list of about 15,000 Qawmi madrasas. 
Jabbar, however, said there are many such 
madrasas which are not enlisted with the board.

Moreover, Education Minister Osman Farruk told 
parliament recently that the government is 
considering giving Fazil and Kamil degrees of 
madrasas the status equivalent to graduation and 
master's degrees of general education.

Asked, the minister ruled out any extra favour to 
madrasa education. "It is not true that the 
government is promoting madrasa education 
ignoring the mainstream education."

"Percentage does not always reflect the real 
situation," Farruk said. He, however, assured 
that he will examine whether the general 
educational institutions are not being given due 
importance.

The education minister, who is not happy with the 
existing quality of madrasa graduates, said, "It 
needs modernisation. I feel the madrasa students 
should learn the same core subjects that the 
general educational institutions teach up to the 
higher secondary level."

About the government move to give the Fazil and 
Kamil degrees equal status of graduation and 
master's degree of the general education, the 
minister said, "It is under process."

"We are not upgrading the Fazil and Kamil 
degrees, rather we will recommend what is needed 
to make the degrees equivalent to graduation and 
master's degree," he said.

Opposing the government move, Prof Muttaki said: 
"Educational institutions are for creating human 
resources, but the madrasas have failed to do it."

"Contribution of madrasa graduates at the 
national level is negligible despite some recent 
moves to update the course curricula of 
madrasas," he observed.

"Most of the madrasa graduates usually become 
imams at mosques and a few of them receive 
general education from universities and 
colleges," he said.

The researcher said madrasa education seems to be 
a sensitive issue for all governments who always 
face a dilemma in taking any drastic step to 
modernise the madrasa education system or merge 
it with the mainstream education.

In the last four years, as many as 1,720 general 
educational institutions (schools and colleges up 
to the higher secondary level) were set up, 
raising the total to 19,370.

On the other hand, a total of 1,618 new madrasas 
were established during the period. The number of 
madrasas across the country is now 8,897.

The number of teachers in the general education 
has grown by 25,882 pushing the total to 
2,36,813, while that in madrasas has increased by 
18,167, taking the total to 1,28,084.

The number of students in schools and colleges 
rose to 89,28,227 with an increase of 7,10,531 in 
the last four years. On the other hand, the 
number of madrasa students rose by 3,30,899 
during the period to stand at 35,97,453.

During 1996-2000, the number of general 
educational institutions rose by 3,694 to reach 
16,882 while that of madrasas reached 7,122 with 
an increase of 1,022 institutions.

The number of teachers in the general education 
during the AL regime grew by 30,911 pushing the 
total to 1,98,521, while in madrasas, the number 
of teachers increased by 10,967, taking the total 
to 98,089.

The number of students in general educational 
institutions rose by 19,54,316 to stand at 
77,97,163 while in madrasas the number of 
students increased to 29,59,867 with an addition 
of 10,84,950 during 1996-2000.

Growth: madrasas vs general educational institutions

1996-2000
2001-2005

Institutions
	General 28%, Madrasa 17%
	General 10%, Madrasa 22%

Teachers
	General 16%, Madrasa 13%
	General 12%, Madrasa 17%

Students
	General 33%, Madrasa 58%
	General 9%, Madrasa 10%

Source: Bangladesh Economic Review

Star Graphics

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[3]

The Times of India
August 03, 2005

CLASSROOMS WITHOUT COMMONERS
Anil Sadgopal

Nothing for the masses in draft education Bill

The recent debate at the Central Advisory Board 
of Education (CABE) on the draft Free and 
Compulsory Education Bill generated more heat 
than light. That states have been inept at 
providing education of equitable quality for the 
masses was brushed under the carpet. This is not 
the first time that privileged sections of 
society have come together to deny education to 
the rest.
In 1911, when Gokhale moved his Elementary 
Education Bill in the Imperial legislative 
assembly, he faced stiff resistance. Instead of 
supporting the Bill, the members representing the 
rich talked of the conditions in the country not 
being ripe for such a Bill. The maharaja of 
Burdwan expressed serious doubts. The maharaja of 
Darbhanga mobilised 11,000 signatures to stop the 
Bill. The big landlords lobbied against it. The 
Bill could not be approved.
The draft Bill prepared by the CABE committee, 
headed by minister of state for science and 
technology Kapil Sibal, does not make any 
explicit provision for the state to ensure that 
adequate resources are provided for implementing 
the Bill. The Kapil Sibal report has withdrawn 
even a mild provision of this nature that was 
approved at the last held meeting of the 
committee. This withdrawal was one of the 15 such 
unauthorised changes that were introduced in the 
draft Bill. A four-page document establishing the 
deliberate doctoring of the report was a source 
of discomfort to CABE chairperson and human 
resource development minister Arjun Singh.
The draft Bill protects the interests of the 
powerful private school lobby, just as the 
Imperial assembly tried to protect the powerful 
lobby of maharajas, landlords and other 
privileged sections. No wonder that Kothari 
Commission's recommendation and the 1986 
education policy call to establish a common 
school system stands ignored.
Instead, the Sibal report has attempted to 
detract attention from constitutional principles 
of equality and social justice by asking private 
unaided schools to provide free education to 25% 
of its children. They will be admitted from 
deprived sections in the neighbourhood.
This means that 75% of the admitted children in 
such schools would continue to belong to 
privileged sections, outside the neighbourhood. 
The Law Commission (1998) had suggested that at 
least 50% of the admitted children must belong to 
the deprived sections so that their wealthier 
peers do not dominate them. The Sibal committee 
refused to take notice of this view.
For its charity, the draft Bill provides for 
reimbursement out of public funds to rich 
societies and trusts that own these schools. An 
earlier provision had required all state 
governments to regulate private schools, as they 
do now. As an afterthought, this provision, too, 
was withdrawn. In another unauthorised change, a 
provision was added to enable the government to 
provide resources to the private unaided schools 
for their infrastructural development. Yet, they 
would continue to be treated as unaided schools!
What will children gain if this draft Bill goes 
through? Those below six years of age will not 
have access to pre-school education. Those in the 
6-14 age group will continue to study in 
resource-starved government schools and receive 
poor quality education, as the state will not be 
required to provide adequate funds. The vast 
majority of children in the 14-18 age group will 
still not have access to free secondary and 
senior secondary education. Meanwhile, government 
school children will continue to make sacrifices 
for the sake of India's democracy when their 
teachers are engaged in frequent election duties, 
census work or educational surveys, even as 
private school children will not be required to 
make any such sacrifices, thereby enabling the 
latter to excel in examinations.
The globally acknowledged empowerment that can 
happen by making mother tongue the medium of 
education will remain an elusive dream. 
Differential access to English will continue to 
deprive the masses of socio-economic mobility and 
political power. The clever provision of 25% 
admission in private schools will become yet 
another source of political gratification.
The draft Bill has not hesitated to play tricks on the disabled.
Instead of ensuring that they are included in 
regular formal schools, it opens up new avenues 
for profit-making NGOs and business houses in the 
area of special education and testing services. 
The financial implications attached to the Sibal 
report provide three times more resources for 
educating the disabled at home than in regular 
schools.
The draft Bill has no provision for penalising 
either the state or private school owners when 
they fail to comply with the law. All the 
penalties are by and large focused on parents or 
government school teachers.
The prime minister gave his government six out of 
10 marks recently. It must have been assumed that 
UPA's common minimum programme on education is on 
track.
However, the memories of what happened to 
Gokhale's Bill in 1911 are sure to haunt the 
government unless the CABE report on Free and 
Compulsory Education Bill is replaced by a 
progressive report.

The writer is professor of education, Delhi University.


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[4]

Dawn
1 August 2005

A VALIANT WOMAN, A GRITTY AGENDA
Jawed Naqvi

NIRMALA Deshpande is an amazingly gritty woman. 
She is tiny and ageless, an old-fashioned 
Gandhian who will attend any rally or seminar at 
any time of the day, in any part of the country, 
if it brings succour to the poor or the 
marginalized. All she requires is an energetic 
attendant to carry a bottle of boiled water, 
someone who would also help find a chair for her 
during these usually long deliberations, to help 
her rest her worn out knee-joints.
Ms Deshpande has led countless peace delegations 
to Pakistan and played host to as many. She is 
the odd Indian MP who has questioned the 
xenophobic axioms that have mushroomed with 
India's home-grown "war on terrorism". As 
chairperson of the "Committee for Inquiry on 
December 13", Ms Deshpande has brought together 
an impressive array of respected citizens, who 
have refused to accept the police version of the 
so-called attack on India's parliament that 
nearly set off a nuclear conflict with Pakistan. 
She wants the following appeal to be published by 
newspapers here and abroad:
"The Committee for Inquiry on December 13 is a 
national campaign to bring out the truth, expose 
the perpetrators, ensure justice and protect the 
rights of the accused in the parliament attack 
case. The committee views this case as falling 
under the general concerns of rights, justice, 
and democracy that ensue in the context of the 
'war on terrorism.'
"The committee strongly condemns terrorist acts 
by fundamentalist outfits; these are serious 
attacks on civil society and its democratic 
institutions. However, the committee agrees with 
Mr Kofi Annan that human rights, along with 
democracy and social justice, are one of the best 
prophylactics against terrorism. The task is not 
easy, but it must be undertaken for democracy to 
function.
"In this context, while we are opposed to the 
policies of the Blair government in Iraq and 
elsewhere, we appreciate the immediate steps 
taken to maintain calm and civil order in the 
city of London after the serial blasts on 7/7, to 
launch a serious inquiry into the attacks, and to 
refrain from implicating individuals and groups 
without convincing evidence. We also applaud the 
role of the British media and human rights 
organizations in exposing within hours the police 
action leading to the death of an innocent man 
and the immediate acknowledgement of the error by 
the police. We hope that both the responsible 
terrorist organization and the guilty policemen 
will be brought to justice.
"In contrast, the actions of the investigating 
agencies, especially the Special Cell of the 
Delhi police, and the reporting of their 
operations by the media, have only helped in 
spreading terror in the minds of the people. 
Going by newspaper reports, the national capital 
of India must be one of the most dangerous places 
on this planet (for example, Times of India, July 
18, p.2).
"In recent months, the special cell has been 
involved in dozens of operations against alleged 
terrorists, gangsters, hired killers and highway 
robbers. Here is a partial list of their arrests 
of and encounters with alleged terrorists only: 
1. February 18: Aziz of Al Jihad arrested. 2. 
February 25: Mohammad Untoo and Gulam Nazar, 
ex-militants, arrested. 3. March 5: Hamid Hussain 
and Sariq of Lashkar-i-Toyaba arrested. 4. March 
5: Shahnawaz, Bilawal and Shams, LiT militants, 
killed in Bharat
Vihar. 5. March 8: Iftekhar Ahsan Mallick of LiT 
arrested. 6. March 10: Mohammad Sayeed, Pak spy, 
arrested. 7. April 25: Osama and Sabir, LiT 
militants, killed near Pragati Maidan. 8. May 16: 
Harun Rashid, LiT militant, arrested. 9. May 23: 
Ishaq Ittoo, LiT militant, arrested. 10. June 4: 
Ejaj Wani, Shabbir Peer, Nazir Khan of 
Hizb-i-Islami arrested. 11. July 10: Abdul Majid 
Bhatt of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen arrested.
"Our concern is that: (i) In each case, the media 
reported just the police version of the story in 
a language and with visual aids that vastly 
heighten the atmosphere of fear. There have been 
no follow-ups to ascertain whether the arrests 
and the encounters were genuine. After the 
arrests, the arrested persons simply disappeared 
from view; the media made no inquiries about 
their treatment in police custody, and whether 
the accused have been given the due protection of 
law.
"(ii) The media conducted no investigation on the 
following questions: A.	What explains the sudden 
exponential increase of terrorist activities in 
and around the city of Delhi during the specified 
period, especially when it was well-known that 
the city was placed under close police 
surveillance after the attack on S.A.R. Geelani?
"B.	What explains that organizations such as 
LiT would allow themselves to be repeatedly 
caught in the traps set up by the cell? Consider 
the arrest of Harun Rashid, on May 12. The LiT 
'module' he is supposed to be a member of was 
decisively 'smashed' by the cell in a series of 
operations between March 5-10. Yet, Rashid 
compulsively landed at Delhi airport with the 
special cell waiting for him.
"C.	What explains that the cell is able to 
recover huge amounts of explosives, weapons, 
incriminating material, IDs, diaries, phone 
numbers, e-mail messages, cash, etc, such that 
the identity and the goals of the organizations 
are immediately exposed?
"D.	What explains the remarkable ability of 
the special cell to remain unharmed? In many 
cases, allegedly seasoned terrorists/ gangsters 
were arrested or killed after gun battles. 
However, we could locate just one instance in 
which two members of the special cell received 
'minor injuries,' and that too in an operation 
against gangsters in Hardwar.
"(iii) In at least two cases, there are reasons 
to doubt the veracity of the police story. First, 
the alleged ex-militant Mohammad Ahsan Untoo is 
in fact a senior human rights campaigner in 
Kashmir, who was arrested by the special cell 
illegally and was brutally tortured in an attempt 
to extract a confession implicating him with the 
murderous attack on S. A. R. Geelani (Indian 
Express, May 17). Second, the People's Union for 
Democratic Rights has claimed that the encounter 
near Pragati Maidan in which two alleged 
militants were gunned down was possibly an act of 
cold-blooded murder, reminiscent of the Ansal 
Plaza incident some years ago (Hindu, May 3).
"(iv) There is a persistent attempt by the media 
and police to link the current sequence of 
alleged terrorist acts with the parliament attack 
case in terms of the identity of terrorist 
organizations, their alleged method and plan of 
attacks. Not only that the case currently rests 
with the Supreme Court of India, this committee, 
among other human rights forums and lawyers, has 
repeatedly questioned the functioning of the 
Special Cell in that case.
"In view of these grave concerns, the Committee 
has appealed to the National Human Rights 
Commission to seek redressal on the following:
"1)To examine the arrest records and ensure full 
legal protection to alleged terrorists Aziz, 
Mohammad Untoo, Gulam Nazar, Hamid Hussain, 
Sariq, Iftekar Ahsan Mallick, Mohammad Sayeed, 
Ejaj Wani, Shabbir Peer, Nazir Khan, Abdul Majid 
Bhatt and others, arrested under questionable 
circumstances by the Delhi Police.
"2)To examine the post-mortem records and the 
circumstances in which alleged terrorists 
Shahnawaz, Saqib, Shams, Osama, Sabir, and others 
were killed by the police. To ensure that the 
families of the deceased and, if they are 
Pakistanis, the Government of Pakistan are duly 
notified.
"3)To examine the alleged seizures and recoveries 
made during the preceding arrests and killings to 
see if they are genuine and are documented as per 
law to make sure that the accused are not 
implicated in cases with planted evidence.
"4)To examine the entire functioning of the Delhi 
Police in general and the anti-terrorist 
operations of the Special Cell in particular in 
view of the persistent complaints of false 
arrests, torture in custody, and fake encounters 
raised by human rights forums and 
lawyers.-Nirmala Deshpande".


______


[5]

Book Review - The Hindu
Jul 19, 2005


Politicisation of culture

Jyotirmaya Sharma

The door on which a great part of this volume 
hangs is the rise of Hindu nationalism and what 
it entails in our understanding of India and 
Indian politics


THE POLITICS OF CULTURAL MOBILIZATION IN INDIA: 
John Zavos, Andrew Wyatt and Vernon Hewitt - 
Editors; Oxford University Press, YMCA Library 
Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi-110001. Rs. 
495.

Whenever conference papers are put together as a 
volume, there is always the inherent challenge of 
holding them together coherently as a singular 
entity. This book performs this task rather 
admirably. The introduction seeks to perform this 
role through discussion of a medley of theories 
about identity, culture, nationalism, party 
politics, elections, coalition politics, power, 
hegemony, and so on.

George Steiner once defined theory as nothing but 
intuition grown impatient. If conversely, the 
reader has grown to be impatient with theories, 
there is much richness in the individual papers 
to compensate adequately for any postmodernist 
excess or wonderment about de-centring.

Rise of Hindu nationalism

"Oh, you Moor, you strange black man, always so 
full of theses, never a church door to nail them 
to," exclaims a character in Salman Rushdie's The 
Moor's Last Sigh. The door on which a great part 
of this volume hangs is the rise of Hindu 
nationalism and what it entails in our 
understanding of India and Indian politics.

Apart from Glyn William's chapter on West Bengal 
and Stuart Corbridge's piece on Jharkhand, all 
other chapters deal in significant ways with the 
question of the space that the Bharatiya Janata 
Party (BJP) has created for itself in the 
political arena.

Gwilym Beckerlegge's "The Rashtriya Swayamsevak 
Sangh's `Tradition of Selfless Service' " is of 
special contemporary relevance. Beckerlegge 
traces the tension between those in the Rashtriya 
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) who have always argued in 
favour of the organisation not deviating from its 
mission of "character building" and those within 
it who have at various points in its history 
urged for an orientation that calls for direct 
political action.

Internal divisions

This schism between the "activists" and the 
"character builders" has always carried the seeds 
of internal division within the Sangh. While 
Golwalkar did reluctantly allow "pracharaks" to 
serve in the erstwhile Jan Sangh, arguing for 
maintaining the non-political character of the 
RSS, his successor, Balasaheb Deoras favoured 
greater political involvement on part of the 
members of the RSS as well as its affiliates.

Just as there is no unified view within the RSS 
on the question of political involvement by its 
members, so has the question of service varied 
over the years. Golwalkar made service a central 
theme of the RSS, something that also served the 
strategic interests of the organisation in 
periods of crisis. In doing so, the Sangh had to 
fabricate for itself a "tradition" of service 
that differed from the models offered by Islam 
and Christianity. In the initial years, service 
was part of the larger nationalistic mission, and 
the nation was defined exclusively in Hindu terms.

The thin line demarcating service to humanity and 
political activism blurred further with the rise 
of Sangh affiliates such as the Vishwa Hindu 
Parishad (VHP). These auxiliary organisations 
took on many of the service-oriented activities 
of the RSS along with donning a militant posture 
on political issues. What is significant in 
Beckerlegge's narrative is the phases through 
which the idea of "seva" or service to humanity 
also parallels the Sangh's attitude to politics.

Social engineering

Golwalkar's ideal of service was a way of 
"re-Hinduising" society, with the clear purpose 
of uniting Hindus and projecting them as a 
cohesive whole. During this phase, there was only 
a reluctant quarter given to politics and 
activism. Deoras sought service as a vehicle for 
increasing the political and social influence of 
the Sangh and its parivar. Politics was, 
therefore, not entirely shunned. Is the real 
crisis today, in the aftermath of L.K. Advani's 
"Jinnah is secular" remark, then, not within the 
BJP but in the RSS? Beckerlegge's insights seem 
to suggest the latter.

"Hindutva as a Rural Planning Paradigm in 
Post-Earthquake Gujarat" by Edward Simpson is a 
lucid account of how a natural disaster provided 
the BJP and the Sangh Parivar an opportunity to 
undertake social engineering on a vast scale and 
transform the rural landscape in Saurashtra and 
Kutch into ghettos divided on caste and religious 
lines.

Here again, Simpson admirably brings out the 
tension between the BJP and the Sangh Parivar's 
commitment to ideological purity on the one hand, 
and political pragmatism on the other. The 
picture that emerges is one where there are 
numerous shades of opinion within the BJP even on 
the question of strategy regarding electoral 
politics and political pragmatism.

Diversity of opinion

This diversity of opinion and lack of unanimity 
is also evident in the BJP and the Sangh Parivar 
over the "Muslim" question, and significantly, on 
the question of caste. Will this quest to 
re-engineer society again manifest in the light 
of the floods in Gujarat? Following Simpson, the 
answer would be in the affirmative, not only 
because there is past precedent, but also the 
conflation of several political interests and 
religious sects in the State.

Simpson argues that Hindutva, as seen in Gujarat, 
is "not a uniform set of principles but a series 
of ideologies built from the same fundamental 
elements, veneration of a deity or an ideologue, 
temple worship, ritualised social practices, an 
intellectual or social history and so on."

This assertion opens an interesting window to a 
discussion of aspects of culture, politics and 
mobilisation that go beyond the "given" and the 
theoretically smug positions that scholars are 
often in danger of adopting. Here is an instance 
of a strong intuition and the hope of an 
interesting theory.



______


[6] Hiroshima

(i)

The Hindu
Aug 05, 2005

New Delhi : A silent tribute to Hiroshima victims

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: There will be silence for a minute in 
classrooms in many schools across the city on 
Saturday. A tribute to the 350,000 people who 
lost their lives to a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima 
60 years ago, students will come together to 
remember.

The culmination of a month-long campaign by 
Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace 
(CNDP) to make school children and colleges aware 
of the disastrous potential of nuclear weapons, 
August 6 and 9 will give the youth the chance to 
speak out for the power of peace.

"Schools were not interested when we first 
approached them asking to let us show films. It 
was impossible to even reach the principals. But 
there has been a complete turn around now. 
Children in private schools have only read about 
Hiroshima in their text-books, but after the 
programme they started feeling and it is not only 
a chapter in a book,'' said Dalia Kar, who 
coordinated the campaign, at a Press conference 
on Thursday.

"We have also written to the members of Rajya 
Sabha and Lok Sabha requesting them to keep 
silent for one minute at 11 a.m. on August 9, 
since it is holiday for Parliament on Saturday. 
We hope that they will rise above partisan 
positions to express their humanity,'' said Achin 
Vanaik of CNDP.

o o o o

(ii)

Coalition for Nuclear disarmament and Peace (CNDP),
India

Mumbai

Sixtieth Anniversary of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki


No More Nukes! No More Wars!! All We Want Is Peace!!!

Sixty years back, by the close of the Second World
War, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were made to
suffer the indescribable trauma of being incinerated
by atomic bombs dropped from the sky by the US air
force. Never before in the history of humanity so many
died with so much pain. And those who survived their
fate was perhaps even worse. The conscience of the
humanity was stirred as never before. 'Hiroshima and
Nagasaki', since those fateful days of 6th and 9th
August 1945, became a byword for a supreme tragedy and
a monumental crime. Under the impact of the nuclear
blasts a strong wave of public opinion swept across
the length and breadth of the globe. A global antinuke
peace movement took shape with Japan as one of the
major nerve centres.
But even after six decades the goal of the global
peace movement remains to be realised. Rather the
nuclear arsenals have over the years grown far
deadlier, and more numerous. Today all the five
permanent members of the United Nations Security
Council are legitimate (!) Nuclear Weapons States
(NWSs). Possession of nuclear weapons, instead of
attaching a deep moral stigma, carries the glow of
(super) power!
Just over seven years back, reversing the feeble but
real trend towards global de-nuclearisation triggered
off by the end of the Cold War, two Asian countries,
India and Pakistan, gate crashed into the exclusive
club of nuclear powers.
And this year in May the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in New York at the
United Nations headquarter failed even to produce a
joint statement at the end of the nearly four week
long conclave. This reflects the deeper crisis that
the global non-proliferation order is currently faced
with. And this predicament is primarily brought about
by the unilateralist policies of the US regime led by
George Bush in relentless pursuance of the goal of
unfettered global dominance espoused by the American
neo-con coterie. Consequently the world today faces
the prospect of a renewed spurt in both vertical and
horizontal proliferations.

It is against this disturbing backdrop, the Coalition
for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) - a
nationwide coalition of 200 plus civil society
organizations, in unison with the global anti-nuke
peace movements have given the call to observe August
6-12 as the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Week to commemorate the
sixtieth anniversary of the horrific tragedy. This is
meant to pay tribute to the countless innocents who
died extremely painful and agonizing deaths, and also
to remind ourselves of the grave danger posed by the
more than 30,000 nuclear warheads all the world over,
either deployed or stockpiled. Not only that, this is
also meant to reinforce the huge moral barrier that
went up to prevent any further use of this weapon of
mindless mass murder in the wake of
Hiroshima-Nagasaki.

The Mumbai chapter of the CNDP, in collaboration with
all like-minded organizations and individuals, has,
consequently, come up with the following detailed
programme:
1. Observance of one-minute silence on both August 6
and 9 at 11 00 AM exact. (This is a national
programme.)
2. Mass rally from Azad Maidan at 3 30 PM to Hutatma
Chowk and reading out of peace pledge on August 6.
This is being done under the auspices of the Bombay
Sarvoday Mandal.
3. Organising debates, discussions, film shows etc.
during the Week, particularly in schools and colleges.
4. Cultural event, in collaboration with the MidDay,
on August 10 at the Nehru Centre from 7 00-10 00 PM.
The event will include staging of an Urdu drama Naqab,
authored by famous Pakistani playwright late Rafi
Peerzada. The 70-minute play brings out in a powerful
manner the futility of war through a love story set
against the backdrop of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
bombings. It will be enacted by director and producer
Syed Saeed Ahmed and the budding Marathi stage actress
Manasi Lonkar.
Renowned young singer Rabbi Shergill will render his
soulful Sufi songs to convey the message of peace and
harmony.
Ms. Sherry Rehman, a veteran journalist and Member of
the National Assembly, Pakistan, will be the Guest of
Honour.
Famous artiste Rahul Bose will grace the occasion and
conduct the programme.

Passes for the August 10th event are available with:
Varsha Rajan Berry /Sonila Shetty
Focus on the Global South - India
A-201, Kailash Apartments
Juhu Church Road, Juhu , Mumbai - 400049


o o o o

(iii)

No to Nukes                     No to War                 No to Violence

Bangaloreans Against Nuclearisation
(a coalition of groups and individuals)
invites you to

Join us in a public program to remember Hiroshima

Venue: St. Joseph's College, 36 Langford Road, Bangalore [India].

Date: August 6th, Saturday

Time : 4 pm - 7 pm


Programme List:

1.
Release of the anti- war musical film 'America America' (by K. P. Sasi)

2.
Slide show (on Nuclear Weapon) by Vishwambhar Pati

3.
Talks on nuclear and anti-war issues by Dr. G. 
Ramakrishna, Dr. Bhanu Das and Dr. M. V. Ramana

4.
A presentation about the effects of war in Iraq by Dr. Unnikrishnan

5.
A poster exhibition - 'The Atom Bomb and 
Humanity' (Produced by Japan Confederation of 
A-and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations

6.
Anti-war poems recital

7.
Anti-war songs


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

Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on 
matters of peace and democratisation in South 
Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit 
citizens wire service run since 1998 by South 
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