SACW | 7 Jan. 2006 India: Communalism - Law; Gujarat Hindutva's Lab / History writing / Swami Con Men

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire  | 07 Jan, 2006 | Dispatch No. 2199


[1]  India: The Communal Violence Bill of Dec. 2005
      - Summary of Criticisms of the Bill [made before upcoming select
      committee hearings] (Ammu Abraham)
      - News report on the first hearing (The Hindu)
[2]  India - Gujarat: Incursions of Hindutva (Harsh Mander)
[3]  India - Gujarat: I Owe This to Mukhtar - A letter (Shabnam Hashmi)
[4]  India - Mass grave found in Gujarat - Reports + Court order
[5]  USA: Now, Hindu Nationalists Rewriting California Textbooks
      (Angana Chatterji)
[6]  India: [Con-man Ramdev and other Gods Men](Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal)
[7]  India: Text of Memo to authorites @ Orissa violence Delhi demo 6Jan
[8]  India: Bangalore Meeting To Counter Homophobia of Police and Media

____________________________________


[1]


Communalism Watch
January 6, 2006

SUMMARY OF COMMENTS AND CRITICISMS ABOUT THE COMMUNAL VIOLENCE BILL OF 5
DEC 2005
by Ammu Abraham

Text available at : URL:
communalism.blogspot.com/2006/01/summary-list-of-criticisms-about.html


o o o


The Hindu - Jan 8 2006

COMMUNAL VIOLENCE BILL WILL NOT DISTURB FEDERAL BALANCE

URL: www.hindu.com/2006/01/08/stories/2006010804030700.htm


____


[Gujarat the laboratory of Hindutva carries on; For the past few days
the capital of Gujarat has been hosting the seven-day Vishwa Sangh
Shibir (a camp for its international operators) / Moves to hindu-ize the
'tribals' in Gujarat are in full swing / Intimidating of activists
continue . . . cases have been filed even againt those exposed the
existence of a mass grave - suspected dump of riot victims of 2002]

o o o

[2]

www.sacw.net > Communalism Repository
January 7, 2006

www.sacw.net/DC/CommunalismCollection/ArticlesArchive/harshMander7Jan06.html


INCURSIONS OF HINDUTVA

by Harsh Mander (The Times of India, January 7, 2005))

Tribals in the forested interiors of India today face a grave, new
threat. Already dispossessed of land and forest, grappling with debt,
hunger, exploitation and bondage, the tribals now face incursions of
radical Hindutva, systematically propagated by front organisations of
the Sangh, threatening to divide and communalise tribal communities and
further distance them from justice.

For the majority of tribals, the Muslim is invisible. The enemy invented
for them instead by the Sangh is Christianity, demonised as a dangerous
foreign conspiracy to destabilise India, propagated by inducement and
fraud by missionaries, pastors and nuns. Healthcare and education
provided by them are dismissed as bribes for conversion.

In Gujarat, the epicentre of the war against Christianity is the Dangs
district, with 92% tribal population, mainly Bhils and Warlis.

This impoverished district gained notoriety in 1998, when 38 acts of
violence were recorded against a population of a few thousand and the
pastors in the district.

  Independent investigations established that these attacks were a
result of hatred and suspicion systematically introduced by activists of
Sangh organisations like Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram and Hindu Jagran Manch.

With the Sangh planning a Shabri Kumbh in Dangs in February 2006, there
are fears of a repeat. There have been several such gatherings organised
by Hindutva activists in the region in recent years, including a Vishal
Hindu Mahasangam in Jhabua in MP in 2002, and another Kumbh in Bhilwada
in Rajasthan in 2004.

Each gathering was preceded by intensive mobilisation by Sangh activists
in tribal households, distribution of lockets and statues of Hindu
deities like Hanuman, and doorstep propaganda against Christians.

The choice of Hindu icons for adivasi areas is also telling: Hanuman and
Shabri, revered as loyal servants rather than masters like Ram. There
are numerous programmes, called 'ghar vapsi' or homecoming, or alleged
reconversions of tribals to Hindu faith.

  Each of these gatherings left a trail of violence and fear among
Christian adivasis, and expansion in support for the BJP.

However, as both anthropologists and district gazetteers testify,
adivasis are not originally Hindu, especially not of the narrow
Brahmanical version purveyed by the Sangh.

Their worship is animistic: They pray to tigers, cows, and serpents, the
moon, hills, forests, wind and rain. Their gods are appeased by animal
sacrifice and home-brewed liquor.

The modus operandi of Hindutva activists is to adopt and gradually
co-opt these tribal gods. The gods are gradually converted to
teetotallers and vegetarians and reinvented as local versions of Hindu gods.

Temples are built to these gods, and Hindu festivals introduced. In the
run-up to the Shabri Kumbh, it is being claimed that Ram encountered
Shabri and ate the berries tasted by her in Dangs.

  As in Ayodhya, Hindutva activists claim precise knowledge of the exact
location where Ram encountered Shabri — the spot where the Kumbh is
being organised.

Traditionally, there can only be four Kumbhs at fixed locations in
12-year cycles, and this has been unchanged through the millennia.

Plans for the new Shabri Kumbh are thus a manipulation of mythology for
sectarian objectives of terrorising the few thousand adivasi Christians,
and to promote a false majoritarian Hindu identity in violent opposition
to them.

What is even more dismaying is the state's open support. Development
funds in one of the country's poorest districts are being diverted for
building roads, platforms and dams for the Kumbh reservoir.

The local administration refuses to act against the Sangh pamphlets and
CDs, which make repeated venomous references to the church, and ignores
the mounting terror among the Christian adivasis, as well as the
destruction of the fragile environment.

Instead, the district collector defends these as legitimate religious
activities, with the added benefit of development. This openly partisan
support of the state government needs to be combated, and the safety of
minorities secured.

Else, the tribal regions of India, already dispossessed and
impoverished, will be flooded with the bitter blood of sectarian hatred.

The author is a researcher on Gujarat.

____


[3] [ARRESTS ON TRUMPTED UP CHARGES, INTIMIDATION ETC. CONTINUE IN GUJARAT]

Released to Media/ e-mail networks

Shabnam Hashmi
4,Windsor Place, New Delhi-110001
Tel- 23327366/67/ 9811807558
e-mail: [snip]

Dear all,

This is not an exclusive write up or a formal press
release but I deeply felt the need to write this in
the wake of Mukhtar’s arrest on the eve of the New
Year by the Modi government on a false and bogus rape
case. You are free to use it in anyway you want.

Shabnam Hashmi
January 8, 2006
New Delhi

I OWE THIS TO MUKHTAR

My ten-year old daughter was waiting at the airport to
receive me. She rushed towards me, hugged me and
enquired immediately,’ Is Mukhtar uncle out of the
jail?’ I shook my head. ”Why mamma? You had gone for a
day to Gujarat, you stayed back for four days and he
is not out of jail. Why didn’t you take him out?”

Its much easier to handle the media or a hostile crowd
than replying to a ten year old. ”Mamma, he is so
nice, why do people hate him?”

I could not explain it to her but I need to address
this question. Why do certain people dislike Mukhtar?
Why was the Modi administration so concerned about
this ordinary man living in a small remote place in
Gujarat?

During the past year six attempts were made by the
Gujarat state to target him. They tried the usual
techniques of declaring him an ISI agent, an anti
national element, tried to implicate him in one bomb
case or another, the last attempt being as recent as a
month ago when a detailed enquiry was conducted about
his ‘anti national’ activities but even a tyrant like
Modi did not finally dare to arrest him under any of
these charges. Finally on the eve of the New Year, in
an extremely well planned operation, Mukhtar was
framed and arrested in a Rape case.

The human right activists who rush to the media on the
drop of a hat are keeping mum. Some are confused and
for others it’s a very convenient excuse of not
supporting him.

Let me come back to the question why do people dislike
Mukhtar? The reasons are broadly three:
There is a section which fights for equality & justice
with an extremely patronizing attitude: we work
together, we fight, we declare we need justice &
equality specially for the underprivileged, socially &
economically backward, minorities, women. We work with
you on equal terms but we know we are superior and you
should also know and admit the fact. Mukhtar refused
to be patronized. Mukhtar comes from a very ordinary
background, he has tremendous self respect, talks to
senior journalists, activists, funding agencies,
political leaders on absolute equal terms. He demands
their cooperation and support, does not plead for it.

The second section is which ‘uses’ natural or man made
disasters. Mukhtar kept a tab on their activities and
misuse of funds by this section and hence became
unpopular amongst though a very small but influential
section.

The third section the ‘thekedaars’ of all the relief
and legal work post 2002 do not tolerate him as they
treat certain territories as their own and Mukhtar is
an intruder.

Now we come to the Modi administration and its extreme
hatred for Mukhtar and the desperation on its part to
catch him. For this we need to understand and look at
Mukhtar’s role in the post 2002 carnage. Very few
people know about the kind of work he was doing and
why it was important and also why he was such a big
threat to the Gujarat government. I met Mukhtar for
the first time in 2002. He lived in Kalol near Godhra
, had a small business . Once the carnage started in
2002 he immediately swung into action, set up a relief
camp. Ran the camp for months helping thousands of
victims, battered women and widows, set up a
rehabilitation colony for those who were not allowed
to return to their villages.  I list below some of his
contributions. It is impossible to put together
everything that he did as Mukhtar worked round the
clock, single handedly contributing a lot more to the
fight for justice than a number of big organizations
put together. He was hardly visible to the world as he
worked more on the ground and less in the media. But
before I list his contributions I would want to
emphasise that in my list of ten highly respected,
committed, dedicated, honest, creative activists from
across India Mukhtar’s name shines very brightly.

I listed the sections who disliked him, however there
are a large number of people, activists who are very
concerned. Telephones are constantly ringing in
Janvikas’s office in Ahmedbad, people from different
parts of India and the world are constantly calling up
Gagan Sethi, me and many others who worked with
Mukhtar, to find out the status of the case, to know
about Mukhtar. It is not that everyone who is
enquiring about Mukhtar agrees with him fully. Many
found his ways of working undemocratic, had their
differences with him but that is what made him human.

It is a very difficult situation and a difficult
fight. He has been maligned and framed very cleverly
in an absolutely false and bogus rape case.

I stand firmly with Mukhtar and would fight for him.

You can send your solidarity messages to him on my
e-mail and circulate this write up to your friends and
to the media in your cities.

Sr. No.	Case Name	Case Detail

1	

Eral Village Case 	Eral case – In this  7 Muslims were
killed and 2 Muslims were sexually assaulted near Eral
village,Taluka-Kalol,Dist-Panchmahal during the 2002
carnage. Trial has been completed and the matter is at
order stage.

2

Boru Village Case 	Boru Case – In this one person
belonging Muslim community was killed by a Hindu mob
near Boru -village, Kalol- Taluka, Dist – Panchmahal.
In this Re-investigation has been ordered by the High
Court of Gujarat and subsequently the matter is being
Re-investigated.

3	

Delol Village Case 	Delol Case – In this all together
23 Muslims were killed by a Hindu mob near Delol-
Village, Kalol-Taluka. Dist- Panchmahal. And once
again, to please their political bosses and mentors,
police officials refused to register the complaint.
Finally in December 2003, officials registered the
complaint and arrested some of the accused.

4	

Derol Station Case 	Derol Station case – In this 6
Muslims were killed near Derol Railway Station, Kalol
–Taluka, Dist- Panchmahal, by a Hindu mob. The local
police officials also closed this case but later on,
under pressure from the Supreme Court, state
government ordered Re-investigation. Consequently
charge sheet has been filed. And as a proof of state
role in the carnage, police station in charge has also
been arrested for causing of disappearance of
evidence.
5	Randhikpur
village case 	Bilkis Bano gang rape case –This is one
of the most talked about case in the country. This
case fully exposes the state role as perpetrator of
this organized communal killing. Bilkis is a victim of
sexual assault and is an eyewitness to the killing of
14 members of her extended family, which included a 2
½ day old girl child. Police officers in their effort
to please their political bosses, as some of the
accused named by bilkis has affiliation with the
ruling party, did not lodge her complaint properly and
subsequently they filed “ A “ summary report in the
court there by closing her case. Supreme court allowed
Bilkis petition and ordered further investigation by
Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI). CBI
investigated the whole case and filed charge sheet
against 20 accused, which includes 12 persons named by
Bilkis, 6 Police & 2 Medical officers who conspired
with the 12 persons and destroyed all the evidence so
as to screen the offenders, in the court. During this
time bilkis along with other witnesses started getting
threats from the relatives of the accused. Again NHRC
and other groups moved to the Supreme Court seeking
transfer of trial to the state of Maharashtra for fair
trial of this case. Supreme Court allowed Bilkis
petition and transferred the case to Mumbai. The
matter is at evidence stage.


6	Aanjanwa Case 	Convicted. Total 11 accused have been
sentenced life imprisonment and 3 have been sentenced
for 10 years imprisonment.
7	Chalali Village Case 	
Convicted. Total 26 accused have been sentenced for 10
years imprisonment.
8	Kaalol – Ambica Society Case 	Total 13 Muslim people
have been killed, while 1 young woman has been raped.
The case is in process in court.
9	Darol – Narmada Canal Case 	Total 10 people have
been killed and 1 woman has been raped. Case is being
preceded in the court.

10	Adadra Case	
Being proceeded in court.
Legal Work work carried out / facilitated by Mukhtar


Note: Many more cases of looting, burning of houses
and property loss have been facilitated through KEDS
for effective justice delivery to the victims.

Rehabilitation work carried out / facilitated by
Mukhtar for the victim Families of 2002 communal
riots.
Sr. No.	Village / Refugee Camp	Work Details
1	Pandarwada  village 	;	Total 120 families
have been restored back to the village
;	35 families still need to be provided shelter

;	Total 9 water pump sets have been given to
this colony to restore their livelihood through
agriculture.

2	Devegadh Bariya- Displaced from Randhikpur;
Total 74 families from Randhikpur have been rehabilitated in this colony;	
Referred Medical care support through different sources;	Education
support calluses have been set up
and run.;	
Electricity provision in process;	
Livelihood restoration support to all families.
3	Boru Village 	;	Comprehensive rehabilitation
of 168 families of this village which includes
shelter, education, livelihood and community
organization work.
4	Rajgadh village 	;	Tried out shelter
reconstruction process to be started for the 45
displaced families
5	Kaalol- Kasimabad	;	Comprehensive
rehabilitation of total 172 families from 16 villages
of Kaalol Taluka
	Water, electricity, Health & Medical centre,
Education support classes, support to widow women etc…

Note: Mukhtar is actively facilitating pending issues
of the above mentioned colonies in Panchmahal and
Dahod districts.

Peace and Communal harmony initiatives by Mukhtar
Sr. No	Details	Place
1		Aman-Ekta (peace & Unity) Mushayara
organized in Boru villages consecutively for two
years.
	Through this programme an EKTA samiti has
been evolved which includes membership of all
SARPANCHS (Elected Village leaders) from nearby
five-six villages. 	
Boru Village
Ta: Kaalol
2		Peace volunteers training of 30 Hindu –
Muslim young boys and girls by Dr. Ram Punyani and Dr.
Gohar Raja.  	
Kaalol
3		KEDS ( the organization run by Mukhtar) is
active member if Panchmahal Yuva Nagrik Manch which is
a network of youth organizations and NGO, CBOs working
in Halol, Kaalol and Ghoghamba. PYNM is organizing
‘Game for Change’ and ‘Cricket for Peace’ every year
which involves thousands of young people of the
region.         	
Halol

4	       KEDS is organizing celebrations of national
festivals i.e. Independence Day, Republic Day;	
KEDS also organizes, supports and facilitates
peace restoration programmes at local levels i.e.
Forming village Peace committees, Organizing peace
campaign, Film Show etc.   	
Kalol Taluka

This is only a partial list of   Mukhtar’s work.

____


4  (REPORTS + COURT ORDER RE RECENT DISCOVERY OF A MASS GRAVE IN
     GUJARAT)

o o o

The Sunday Express
January 08, 2006

   FINAL COUNTDOWN
   THE DISCOVERY OF THE LUNAWADA MASS GRAVE HAS REVIVED THE GHOSTS OF THE
   2002 GUJARAT RIOTS FOR THE SURVIVORS OF THE KIDIYAD MASSACRE.
   ARE THEIR 61 ‘MISSING’ RELATIVES ACTUALLY BURIED SOMEWHERE?

by Janyala Sreenivas

URL => http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=85495

o o o

Hindustan Times

   FIR AGAINST GUJARAT GRAVEDIGGERS
   Rathin Das
   Ahmedabad, January 2, 2005
						
UNFAZED BY the high court ordering a CBI-supervised DNA testing of the
skeletal remains unearthed from a riverbank in Panchmahals last week, an
FIR has been lodged against 11 people for digging up what the
municipality claims is a notified mass graveyard.

The sanitary inspector of the Lunawada municipality on Monday filed
complaints with the police against NGO activist Raees Khan Pathan and 10
others for ‘illegally' digging up the graves.

Pathan told HT that the riverbank was not a notified graveyard and thus
the digging was not ‘illegal’. He said the FIR was aimed at derailing
the process of DNA testing. State DGP A.K. Bhargava said it was illegal
to dig up graves without permission.

o o o

   12 RIOT VICTIMS' KIN BOOKED FOR EXHUMING BODIES

   URL => timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1356092.cms

o o o

  Text of Gujarat High Court order:

  IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
  SPECIAL CRIMINAL APLICATION NO. 1875 of 2005

URL =>  www.sabrang.com/cjp/grave/HCorder.htm


____


[5]


www.sacw.net > Communalism Repository
January 7, 2006
www.sacw.net/DC/CommunalismCollection/ArticlesArchive/angana6Jan06.html

   NOW, HINDU NATIONALISTS REWRITING CALIFORNIA TEXTBOOKS
   by Angana Chatterji

The attempts of diasporic Hindu nationalist organizations in the United
States to intervene in revising segments on India, Indian history, and
Hinduism in 6th grade textbooks in California State schools is
disturbing. On December 2, 2005, the Curriculum Commission, an advisory
body to the California State Board of Education accepted 131 of the 153
revisions proposed by Hindu Education Foundation (HEF) and Vedic
Foundation (VF), two groups affiliated with Hindutva, militant Hindu
nationalist ideology. The edits offered by these groups were adopted
amid intense lobbying and the misrepresentation that their views
represent those of 'ALL HINDUS' in the diaspora. This bears testimony to
the power and resources of long-distance Hindu nationalism, and its
organizing capabilities in the United States.

The changes proposed by HEF, VF, and the Ad Hoc Committee, on the basis
of recommendations made by Professor Shiva Bajpai, who too is affiliated
with the World Association for Vedic Studies, a Hindu nationalist
organization, assert a nationalistic and mythic history of India as
'social fact'. Contrary to reputable scholarship, the revisions refute
the migration of Aryans, associated by historians with the emergence of
Hinduism, from Central Asia into India. The revisions posit Hinduism as
indigenous to India and ascribed with its origins, rendering mute the
histories of adivasis (tribal, first peoples) and their subjugation by
Hindus. On page 238, the Ad Hoc Committee proposed, and the Curriculum
Commission accepted, that the current text, 'The Aryans created a caste
system…', be replaced with: 'During Vedic times, people were divided
into different social groups (varnas) based on their capacity to
undertake a particular profession.' Such storying dissociates the caste
system from Hinduism, and discounts and neutralizes the oppressive
structure and politics via which the caste system was constituted. It
presents the caste system as a fluid arrangement, not restricted by
ancestry. On page 245, the Ad Hoc Committee proposed, and the Curriculum
Commission accepted, that the current text, 'Men had many more rights
than women', be replaced with: 'Men had different duties (dharma) as
well as rights than women. Many women were among the sages to whom the
Vedas were revealed.' The inequity of women's rights is legitimated and
discoursed as 'different rights', invisibilizing women's subordinated
role in a patriarchal society, and the Vedas posed as 'revealed'
doctrines. The revisions highlight Hindutva's misogyny and bigotry, and
assert a non-reflective gaze at power that justifies Hindu dominance and
cultural nationalism. Their history makes Hinduism uniform,
monotheistic, and monolithic, dismissing the disenfranchisement of
women, dalits, adivasis, and religious minorities under centuries of
Hindu ascendancy in what is today India, and therefore their ongoing
struggles for justice and self-determination. What message are we
sending children?

The positions taken by HEF and VF are deliberate, and consistent with
the attempts of Hindutva groups toward rewriting history in India, where
sectarian education campaigns undertaken by Hindu extremist groups
demonize minorities through the teaching of fundamentalist curricula.
The Hindu right-wing has instituted an educational network for rural and
disenfranchised peoples in India, building on a mandate that validates
the paramountcy of a 'Hindu worldview' and the assembling of a Hindu
state. Such corruption of education incites political and social fires,
cultivating a culture of hatred toward non-Hindus and those that refuse
to submit to Hindutva's tyranny. Hindu nationalist organizations, such
as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), have spearheaded this movement
in India, successfully penetrating into educational systems and
centralized regulatory commissions. The RSS has fashioned an
institutional umbrella that has had damaging impact on education at the
local level. Created by the RSS in 1977, the Vidya Bharati Akhil
Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan network focuses on moral, extracurricular and
physical education for 'mind, body, and spirit'. The Vidya Bharati
system supervises over 18,000 schools in India, with a shared curriculum
across the country. The RSS has established a network of schools, such
as the Vanvasi Kalyan Parishads, Vivekananda Kendras, Sewa Bharatis,
Ekal Vidyalayas, to advance the ideological agenda of Hindu nationalism.
For adivasis (referred derogatorily by Hindu nationalists as 'vanavasis'
or 'forest dwellers') and dalits (erstwhile 'untouchable' castes), this
ongoing reality of Hinduization forces their coercive incorporation into
Brahmanical Hinduism. Hindu nationalists have utilized such educational
networks as mechanisms through which to recruit and mobilize women,
adivasis, and dalits in campaigns against religious minorities. The
participation of Hinduized women, adivasi, and dalit communities in the
genocide of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 exemplifies this pattern.

Following the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) accession to power at the
centre in 1998, Hindu nationalist educators were inducted into the
National Council for Education and Research Training (NCERT), the
national curriculum development and review body, to make changes to
school curricula. With the defeat of the BJP at the centre in 2004,
processes to reverse these changes have been instated. The United States
Department of State, in its International Religious Freedom reports of
2002, 2003, and 2004, stated that attempts at Hinduizing education
endangered religious freedom in India. Now it appears that this same
strategy is insinuating itself in California.

Hindu nationalist curricula must not masquerade as 'standard education'
in California. The California State Board of Education must note that
that the VF and HEF and their supporters are closely connected to Hindu
nationalist organizations. The HEF, its coordinators and advisors, for
example, include members of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS, the US
counterpart of the RSS) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHP-A),
another key Hindutva organization. The Hindu American Foundation has
threatened legal action against the California Board of Education in
regard to the textbook changes. Its president, Dr. Mihir Meghani, has
been a member of both the HSS and VHP-A.

Hindu nationalists in the US have been targeting Professors Michael
Witzel (Harvard University), James Heitzman (UC, Davis), and Stanley
Wolpert (UCLA). These scholars reviewed the edits proposed by Hindu
nationalists and suggested responsible changes premised on credible
histories. Mr. Gaurang Desai of the HSS derogatorily equated Professor
Witzel to Hitler in speaking to the Curriculum Commission. This is
ironic criticism given Hindutva's professed admiration for Hitler and
the Nazi Party, as Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, an early RSS ideologue,
expressed in 1938, in 'We or Our Nation Defined': ‘Germany shocked the
world by her purging the country of the Semitic races -- the Jews.
National pride at its highest has been manifested here.’ He continued:
‘The non-Hindu people in Hindustan [homeland of Hindus] .... may stay in
the country wholly subordinated to the Hindu nation claiming nothing,
deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment, not even
citizen's rights’ After being nominated Chief Minister of Gujarat in
October 2001, Mr. Narendra Modi incorporated the teachings of Hindutva
in his governance of Gujarat. According to a Times of India article,
entitled, 'In Modi’s Gujarat, Hitler is a textbook hero', tenth grade
school texts: 'present a frighteningly uncritical picture of Fascism and
Nazism. The strong national pride that both these phenomena generated,
the efficiency in the bureaucracy and the administration and other
"achievements" are detailed, but the exterminations of Jews and
atrocities against trade unionists, migrant laborers, and any section of
people who did not fit into Mussolini or Hitler's definition of rightful
citizen do not find mention.'

Hate mail directed at Professor Witzel has accused him of being a
'racist'. This is a despicable example of slander, and, in the name of a
high moral principle, makes a mockery of the seriousness of racism.
Respected and credentialed scholars such as Professor Witzel and others
who served on the review panel must be judged by the merits of their
scholarship. Instead, Hindu nationalists, such as Mr. Desai and Dr.
Yvette Rosser, who ambiguously refers to Professor Witzel as 'a
professor from Harvard University' (India-West), systematically
fabricate libelous and defamatory allegations to discredit individuals,
rather than engage with integrity the issues raised by those who oppose
them.

Issues of racism and ethnocentrism that diasporic communities are
confronted with in the United States are of critical concern and prompt
us to seek curricular changes, hoping that a respectful curriculum will
further facilitate a multicultural society. In proposing curricular
changes, we must however make distinctions between national pride that
wishes to put forward a uniform and glorifying version of history and
the scholarship of history, which seeks to present the complexities
within. Fiction as history does not benefit Indian-American and other
California school-goers, for whom engagement with the past must
facilitate a deep questioning of how things come to be, of what
constitutes knowledge, of how knowledge is contested, so that the study
of history informs the work of citizenship.

(The author is associate professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology
at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco,
California.)
____


[6]

   Kashmir Times
   January 8, 2005

   THE GODS (MEN) MUST BE CRAZY
   by Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal

It always happens like the cyclic growing up of a plant and its
withering. The God-men of this country, who perhaps now out-beat the
centuries' old 33 crore deities of the land in terms of numbers, attain
lofty heights and then land up in the midst of ugly controversies. The
much revered yoga guru Ramdev is no exception. Leftist leader and
parliamentarian Brinda Karat has leveled allegations against the yoga
expert's herbal medicine business, which is alleged to have animal
residue and bone contents. Interestingly, though the Union Health
Minister, following laboratory tests, has confirmed the traces of human
and animal matter in Ramdev's 'herbal medicines', the Uttaranchal
government, where Ramdev is based, appears to have given him a clean
chit. While it may still be premature to nail the yoga guru, who must be
given the benefit of doubt in view of the fact that investigations are
still not complete and the health ministry has acknowledged that the
samples of the controversial medicine were not collected by the
government but handed over by Karat. But giving a clean chit to the man
would be a far greater blunder.
This on account of several reasons. Brinda Karat is a seasoned, mature
and serious politician and the possibility of her leveling wild
allegations against anybody is highly unlikely. Secondly, the production
of fake concoctions in the name of herbal medicines and Ayurveda is
already well known. There are several instances of practioners selling
steroids and other banned drugs in the name of Indian System of
Medicine, which is going on unchecked by the powers that be. Thirdly,
India has a chequered recent history of God-men proving to be fake.
Shankaracharya of Kanchipeeth and Chandraswami landed up in jails on
criminal charges. There are still several uninvestigated charges against
Sai Baba. The likes of Asa Ram Bapu are busy commercializing their
spirituality and selling a communal brand of discourse to their gullible
followers in India and abroad. The dangerous thing is that these god-men
enjoy the patronage of the influential politicians, besides a massing
lot of wealth in the name of spirituality. Another god-man, with a
highly influential clout, is busy organizing a political mela of over a
five lakh people in Bangalore next month, where all the who's who of the
country is likely to be invited. An expensive card, costing no less than
Rs 100, has been sent to every political and socialite of the country.
But what takes the cake is the government's reported patronization to
the great event with free first class train services likely to be run to
carry to and fro the distinguished guests.
The problem is that the god-men are not being patronized by the
political and influential circles alone. What scales up their popularity
charts is the television channels, including news channels which
willingly offer space to the god-men to preach what they please. In fact
half a dozen channels in India are now totally devoted to the discourses
and commercialization of spirituality, which seems to have been patented
by the god-men and the channels together. The news channels make no
departure. They begin their own media trial without going into details
of investigations and run their own panchayat shows with solely the
devout followers of the god-men to give men like Ramdev a clean chit and
brand serious politicians like Brinda Karat anti-national. Where has all
the rationality disappeared? The news channels are going over-board in
panning the cameras over protests by the devotees of Ramdev in an
obvious bid to give him a clean chit and make the investigative process
murkier. In fact, this fourth pillar of democracy does not shirk from
providing more legitimacy to the 'superiority' of the god-men by
addressing them as 'Babaji', 'Baba' or 'Swami'. A month or so ago, the
entire nation was forced to go through the ordeal of another self-styled
guru announcing that he had predicted the time of his death and the
channels ran a live show. The IGP turned Radha appeared to hog more
limelight than the issues like earthquake or even political issues.
In this case, though, the health ministry may be right to an extent in
stating that investigations are incomplete since the samples of his
controversial medicines were not collected by the government but sent by
Karat. At the same time, it is not known, why the government failed to
do so, despite complaints by a distinguished parliamentarian. Obviously,
any delay is likely to provide scope for tampering of evidence against
Ramdev, if he is guilty. Unfortunately, a land of spiritualism, which
looked up to the western ideals of rationalism while shedding the yoke
of foreign rule more than sixty years ago is only showing signs of a
slave mentality with its people becoming puppets in the hands of people
who project themselves as saviours of this great Indian tradition of
spirituality. To quote, the great son of the soil and eminent
academician Dr Agha Ashraf Ali on the ritualisation of religion: I am
sure what you do in a routinely, idotic way, day after day, irks God.


____


[7]

COPY OF MEMORANDUM SUBMITTED AT THE ORISSA NIVAS PROTEST DEMONSTRATION
HELD ON 6.2.2006 IN NEW DELHI


    MEMORANDUM

    6 January 2006
    To
    The Governor,
    Government of Orissa
    Through the Resident Commissioner
    Orissa Bhavan, New Delhi

    Sir,
       Re: Police Firing on Protestors in Kalinga Nagar, Jajpur
District, Orissa
    We are a collective comprising student groups, trade unions,
democratic rights organizations, women’s groups, cultural groups, and
concerned individuals based in Delhi.
    We are deeply shocked by the brutal firing on protestors in Kalinga
Nagar, Jajpur district on 2 January 2006, in which, so far, 12 people
have been killed, and many others seriously injured. In a horrific
aftermath, the hands of five victims were chopped off, a practice that
defies comprehension and that has no place in a country that claims to
be a modern democracy.
    This firing happened in the presence of senior district officials,
including the Collector and the Superintendent of Police, Jajpur
district. The transfer of Collector and SP merely minimizes the enormity
of the crime. Being directly responsible for the brutality and loss of
life, they need to be dismissed and face criminal prosecution.
    It appears that, on the morning of 2 January 2006, Tata Steel
attempted some construction work under the protection of several
platoons of heavily armed police personnel. Even as a four-member
delegation from the local tribals who had assembled at the spot went to
meet these district officials, the police launched an unprovoked attack
on the gathering. Tear gas was followed by an indiscriminate firing,
which continued for several minutes. Those trying to flee were shot in
the back. Others have been shot in the face and on the chest.
    For many months, local tribals and other villagers have engaged in a
bitter struggle to avoid displacement by the steel project of Tata
Industries, a company with a long history of displacing people and
exploiting their natural resources. An earlier attempt to start
construction in Kalinga Nagar was prevented by local people in May last
year.
    This refusal to engage with the people’s delegation on 2 January and
firing on protestors instead is symptomatic of the refusal of the Orissa
government to engage in dialogue with those who have been opposing
industrial projects being thrust upon them. Instead the Orissa
government is increasingly adamant in using police, special forces and
the might of the state to push projects through against the stated
wishes of the people, a practice that has grave consequences. In
December 2001, three protestors were killed in unwarranted police firing
in Maikanch village, Rayagada district. For the last couple of years,
the Orissa government has been hell-bent on pushing through numerous
projects – be it UAIL, Hindalco, Vedanta Alumina, Posco, or the Tatas in
Kalinganagar, among dozens of others.
    The government has also been violating all established procedure
regarding people’s consent and consultation since it knows, as we all
do, that most ordinary people in these areas oppose such projects. That
opposition is stems from the fact that mining operations and large
industrial projects displace people on a large scale, take away their
lands, destroy their homes, forests, means of sustenance, and the
environment.
    Reliance on this development trajectory can only lead to further
impoverishment, peoples opposition, and intensified state violence, for
which the government is solely responsible. We unequivocally oppose this
pattern of development, which makes the tribals, dalits, and agrarian
poor its victims.

    We demand that the Orissa government should immediately:

    1.    Initiate a prompt investigation by the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) into the killings in Kalinga Nagar;
    2.    Dismiss the District Collector and the SP and initiate
criminal proceedings against them and all other officials responsible
for the firing;
    3.    Identify and initiate criminal prosecution against the police
personnel responsible for chopping off the hands of the victims;
    4.    Publish a list of the dead and injured;
    5.    Award Rs 20,00,000 as compensation to the next of kin of those
killed in the firing, and Rs 10,00,000 to those injured;
    6.    Cease evictions and withdraw all projects in Kalinga Nagar;
    7.    Put an immediate end to the indiscriminate mining and plunder
of people's resources; cancel land leases for all mining in Orissa.


    Signed by: Ranjana Padhi, Harish Dhawan, Radhika Menon, Joseph
    Marionos Kujur, Nagraj Adve, D Manjit and many others…

    for
    CAMPAIGN AGAINST POLICE KILLINGS IN ORISSA
    ORISSA GOLIKAAND VIRODHI ABHIYAAN  (Contact Numbers: 98683-40048,
98116-67776, 98680-38981)

    ORGANIZATIONS PRESENT INCLUDED:

    AIFTU
    AISA
    Aman Biradiri
    Delhi Forum
    Delhi Oriya Students Federation
    Delhi Shramik Sangathan
    Democratic Students’ Union
    Forum for Democratic Initiative
    HRLN
    Indian Social Institute
    JNU Students’ Union
    Kashipur Solidarity Group
    Krantikari Yuva Sangathan
    Lok Sangharsha Morcha
    Manipur Students’ Association
    Mazdoor Hastakshap
    National Alliance of People’s Movements
    People’s Democratic Front of India
    PSSP (Kashipur)
    PUDR
    RDF
    Revolutionary Democracy
    Samajwadi Jan Parishad
    SRUTI
    Stree Adhikar Sangathan

____


[8] (Appologies for the delay in diffusion of the below call. )

o o o

BANGALORE MEETING TO COUNTER HOMOPHOBIA OF LUCKNOW POLICE AND MEDIA

Dear friend(s)

*Time:* 3 pm
*Date: *7th January, 2006, Saturday
*Venue: *SANGAMA, Flat 13, Royal Park Apts., 34 Park Road, Tasker Town,
Bangalore - 51. Phone: 22868680/121

We invite you for *an urgent meeting to decide our response to counter
homophobic and moralistic actions of Lucknow Police and Media*.

Moral policing seems to be the main agenda of the Uttar Pradesh Police.
After *'Operation Majnu'* (where 'heterosexual lovers' sitting in a park
in Meerut were brutally attacked and humiliated) they are busy *'busting
so called gay rackets'*.

According to Lucknow Police, under the guidance of Ashutosh Pandey, SSP
(Senior Superintendent of Police) they got into *www.guys4men.com* - a
contact website for homosexual/bisexual men. They also said that by
*posing as homosexuals*, they collected information about many
homosexual/bisexual men and invited many of them to meet at a public
park in Lucknow on the evening of 3rd January, 2005 and *arrested 4
homosexual/bisexual men* who turned up for the meeting.

These 4 men were later *booked under IPC 377 (section 377 of the Indian
Penal Code)*, which penalises 'sex against the order of nature'. Police
and media joined hands in conducting *a sensational and moralistic
media/public trial *before the accused could access a court of law.
Their *photographs* (Times of India, Indian Express, Pioneer, Rashtriya
Sahara etc..), minute personal details including their *names,
addresses, phone numbers, place of work, family details etc.. were
published*.

Media was insensitive and irresponsible while covering this incident.
Media headlines include: 'Cops *bust gay racket, nab SAT official*, 3
others' (Hindustan Times), 'Four *held for misbehavior*' (Indian
Express), 'Another *gay club exposed*; 4 held' (Pioneer), 'Gay club
running on Net *unearthed,* four arrested' (Times of India), '*Gay
Racket: NGOs pitch* *in* with "rights" angle' (Hindustan Times), '*"gay
club" kaa bhandaaphode*, chaar giraftaar - *dhilli, chennai, singapore
me bhee phailaa racket kaa jaal*' (Rashtriya Sahara).

Media's descriptions include: '*creating a nuisance at a picnic spot*',
'*behaving in an objectionable manner*' (Indian Express); '*GAY CULTURE
seems to be finally gaining roots in Lucknow with another "homosexual
club" being tracked down by the police*', '*the cops suddenly laid a
trap and he was netted along with three other members* of the club'
(Pioneer). *Rashtriya Sahara went one step ahead by claiming credit for
this police action*, it said that its publishing of information about
homosexuals and demanding Government action (Rashtriya Sahara kee khabar
kaa asar - vullekaneeya haiki is club ke pardhafaash hone se poorv
Rashtriya Sahara ne samlaingikom se sambandhit khabar chaapkar
prashaasan ko aagrah kiya thaa) resulted in this Police action. Dainik
Jagran and Hindustan were also equally insensitive.

According to media reports, Anil Kumar Yadav, SHO (Gudamba) has said
that these men were arrested 'for behaving in an objectionable manner in
a public place'. Media reports quoted Ashutosh Pandey, SSP as saying
'over hundred telephone numbers belonging to rich and spoilt brats
indulging in unnatural sex were also found'.

Police arresting men who were meeting socially in a public park under
IPC 377 is illegal and unconstitutional. Lucknow Police and media have
violated people's right to privacy. This exposes the double standards of
the Uttar Pradesh Government headed by the Samajwadi Party, who on one
side are crying foul about the violation of Amar Singh's Right to
Privacy on the other hand actively violate the right to privacy of
homosexual/bisexual men.

Let us join hands to protest these human rights violations. Circulate
this information widely and bring you friends along for the meeting.

In Solidarity

SANGAMA

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

Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on
matters of peace and democratisation in South
Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit
citizens wire service run since 1998 by South
Asia Citizens Web: www.sacw.net/
SACW archive is available at: bridget.jatol.com/pipermail/sacw_insaf.net/

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not
necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers.