SACW | 16-17 Apr 2006
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Mon Apr 17 08:49:26 CDT 2006
South Asia Citizens Wire | 16-17 April, 2006 | Dispatch No. 2238
[1] Pakistan: A jirga's rash edict (Editorial, Dawn)
[2] Nepal: Pictures of the twenty-four detainees
at the Armed Police barracks in Duwakot
[3] India: In Defense of Secularism and Democracy (Ram Puniyani)
[4] India: 16 April - Press Release of Narmada Bachao Andolan
[5] India: Damned, as always (Harsh Mander)
[6] India: People's Union for Civil Liberties
Gujarat in Solidarity with Narmada Bachao Andolan
[7] India: An appeal to Dr. Singh : Take the
decision on your own (Sanjay Sangvai)
[8] India: A new kind of history textbook (Sumit Sarkar)
___
[1]
Dawn
April 16, 2006
Editorial
A JIRGA'S RASH EDICT
IT is disappointing to hear that a jirga in the
Upper Dir region of the NWFP has banned the
registering of honour crimes on the pretext that
they are part of local culture. In vowing to
uphold their tradition, tribal elders have also
warned of strict action against anyone who
registers an FIR against an honour crime, adding
that they would be equally harsh against those
who "misused" the custom to settle feuds or
financial disputes. That jirgas feel that they
have the right to pass such sweeping edicts -
which only serve to harm the people they claim to
represent - is disturbing. The government should
take notice of the matter and rectify the
situation before more harm is done. It is
imperative for the area's elected representatives
to talk to jirga members on the illegality of
this edict.
Irrespective of how honour-related crimes are
seen by locals, jirga members need to be made to
realise that these are contrary to the law of the
land and by passing arbitrary orders forbidding
people from reporting a crime, they are in
violation of the law and can be held legally
answerable for that. Law enforcement agencies in
that area will also need to make their presence
felt by urging citizens to step forward and
report on crimes, assured that their complaints
will be dealt with according to the law. It
should be handled as firmly as the matter of
women being barred from voting during the last
local body elections in Dir - a move that was
also supported by local political parties. Then
the Supreme Court had issued a strict warning to
ensure that women were allowed to exercise their
right of franchise. Now too, the government will
have to exhibit strong will if it is to prevent
such regressive steps. At the heart of the
matter, however, is successive governments'
inability to integrate this region into the
national mainstream - which is why much of the
area is steeped in backwardness. The absence of
the intelligentsia in such matters is deeply
felt. Until they step forward and begin to engage
the tribal society in an enlightened dialogue,
things are not likely to change easily.
____
[2]
BLOG OF THE CHAUBISE (MEANS 'THE 24') BEING HELD BY THE AUTHORITIES IN NEPAL
www.chaubise.blogspot.com
Kunda Dixit
Editor, Nepali Times
____
[3]
In the 10th April 2006 issue, Outlook magazine
carried an opinion piece by Prof. Jagdish
N.Bhagwati. Prof Bhagwati makes the argument in
this article that most religious communities have
a nation playing for them/for their religion,
barring the Hindus. As per him most of the
western countries are playing for Christianity,
while Hindus have no such country for them as
India is, 'Secularism in one country'. According
to him Indian state has/had equal contempt for
all religions. He presents the arguments of
Hindutva politics in a sympathetic way and also
gives the justification for the Hindutva
sympathies of India Diaspora.
I have communicated the following rejoinder to the Outlook magazine...
--
Rejoinder to
Should we Legalise Opium- J.N.Bhagwati (Outlook April 10 2006)
--
IN DEFENSE OF SECULARISM AND DEMOCRACY
by Ram Puniyani
Jagdish N. Bhagwti's, "Should we Legalise Opium"
(Outlook, 100406) is flawed at both factual and
conceptual level. Let's have a look at facts
first. Contrary to what Bhagwati states, the
tragic death of 58 Hindus in Sabarmati express
was not a massacre but result of an accident,
which Modi on purpose projected as the onslaught
of Islamic terrorists without any proof. The
analysis of events, report of Forensic Laboratory
(Ahamedabad) and the Bannerjee Commission report
have shown this. The killings of Muslims in the
post Godhra tragedy was not a 'tit for tat'
killing but a planned pogrom by the BJP ruled
state Government, which has become
indistinguishable from the outfit of RSS and its
affiliates. The missionary, who was burnt, Pastor
Graham Stains, was not proselytizing as shown by
Wadhwa Commission report.
Religious practices of all religions were
respected by the Nehruvian state. The Kumbh Melas
were taken care of and the Haj pilgrims were
provided subsidies. Is it what Bhagwati calls as
'contempt for all religions'? Bhagwati is
disturbed by the fact that there was appeasement
of Muslim minority. What was this appeasement? In
no way their representation in cabinets and
elected offices has shown any semblance of
appeasement. As a matter of fact in Lok Sabha and
Vidhan Sabhas the proportion of elected
representatives from amongst Muslims has been
declining constantly over a period of years, all
over the country. The Muslim representation in
Judiciary and bureaucracy and police force is
abysmally low. One is surprised that an
intellectual of his stature is unaware of these
basic facts! Surely the incidents like Shah Bano
were the one's where the Muslim fundamentalists
(section of Maulanas) were appeased but the
Muslim community as a whole has been sliding down
on the indices of human development. Gopal Singh
Commission did bring it out. It is the cleverness
of RSS propaganda that they could let the Hindus
at large believe that Muslims are being appeased.
The 'Hindus are feeling agitated' is the constant
propaganda of Hindu right wing organizations. It
is a move to deflect the social discontent in
general. The idea is to show that it is due to
Muslim appeasement that Hindus are suffering. As
a social phenomenon it is not anything which is
new. Hitler did similar manipulation of social
thought some decades ago. The overall
dissatisfaction of German society was attributed
to the Jews and what happened next is too
horrible to recount. Currently also the rise of
discontent in the earthly matters has been
shifted to the communal terrain.
Indian state, the Nehruvian model, was
principally secular but the society was in the
grip of religion, religious clergy to be precise.
In most of these matters the dichotomy of Gandhi
and Nehru has no substance. Though challenging
this is going against the grain of broadly
accepted social thinking, the fact is that Nehru,
a socialist of sorts, did respect the religious
feelings of people and Gandhi while talking in
the language of religion was secular to the core
as far as the polices of the state were
concerned. Somanath temple reconstruction by the
state was opposed by both, though in different
languages. Nehru saying it is not the business
of state to build the places of worship
(incidentally he also used the religious imagery
while describing modern industries and places of
modern learning as the new temples of India),
while Gandhi saying that Hindus do not require
the assistance of the state to build a temple.
As far as respecting the practices of followers
of different religions are concerned, it applied
equally to all. If at all, it were not Muslim, as
pointed out by Bhagwati, but Hindu norms and
deities which entered in the secular space,
police stations, public places of various sorts,
the practice of inauguration of new projects by
breaking coconut and having full Hindu rituals at
such occasions. He falls prey to the prevalent
notions in an uncritical way to accept that
Muslim practices were respected at the cost of
the practices of other religions. As far as Hindu
Code bill was concerned it was initiated by the
independent state not because they wanted to
tamper only with Hindu norms but because
Nehru-Ambedkar duo wanted to set an example to
all the communities by beginning with the largest
community, so that others take the lead and
initiate the same in their communities. It is
because of the opposition to this bill, and its
subsequent dilution that they had to give up.
While Bhagawati understands the role of Pakistan,
it needs to be added that Pakistan could promote
terrorism in Kashmir only because the democratic
processes in Kashmir were strangulated with the
arrest of Sheikh Abdullah, who wanted the Indian
government to stick to the treaty of accession,
which gave autonomy to Kashmir, and not to
trample on the wishes of Kashmiri people. Later
US initiated and sponsored Al Qaeda terrorists
joined in to complicate the problem in Kashmir in
particular and India in general. The political
backdrop of this is important so that we do not
reduce the political phenomenon into religious
ones.
The psychology of NRIs who are trying to show
their long distance patriotism is very
interesting phenomenon. I will concede one of the
factors for supporting Hindu right by NRIs is
that NRIs cannot digest the notion of gender
equality, what ever be its degree, prevalent in
the lands where they inhabit. The other point,
that every person feels that a state should play
for their religion, is a make believe social
common sense drilled in to the heads of section
of Indians and to alienated insecure NRIs.
Religion and nationalism are two separate
entities. Bhagwati is committing a factual error
to state that all Muslim countries come together
in their foreign policies. He seems to have
forgotten seven year's long Iraq-Iran war and the
divergent attitude of Muslim countries to the US
invasion of Iraq just a couple of years back.
Hinduism is not a prophet based religion, it is
exclusionary because of its caste system so it is
generally not propagated, its' not open for
others to adopt it, so logically it has major
following in the country of its origin only,
unlike Christianity and Islam which spread far
and wide. Earlier this 'nation playing for my
religion' was never a point of discomfort. Of
course there is the Hindu Rashtra of Nepal for
those who want some state to play for Hinduism.
Till just decades ago it was difficult to say
that the Britain and US are Christian countries.
It is unfortunate that setting up of terrorist
outfits, Al Qaeda, by US, to drive the USSR's
armies away from Afghanistan, has taken the
logical course of promoting fundamentalism
amongst it promoters themselves, where by 9/11
and London tube blasts are taking place, giving a
fillip to fundamentalism in these democracies
also.
It will be sweeping to call all the Western
democracies as mere religious Christian states
and helpless Hindus are just having India as the
sole secular state, 'Secularism in one state'.
The point is, secularization process which was on
ascendance in the decades of 50s and went on till
70s is being pushed back. Democracy-Secularism
are not fixed entities, they are in a state of
flux depending on the interests and opposition of
diverse social forces Western democracies have
predominantly secular currents even today. The
formulation of secularism in one country as the
tragedy of India is the 'brilliant' Hindutva
formulation, though no where near the truth.
In the times when Godses' concept of nationalism
seems to be coming to the fore, the learned
Professor needs to be reminded about what Gandhi,
Godse's victim, wrote on these matters, on
religious freedom and secular state, "In India,
for whose fashioning I have worked all my life,
every man enjoys equality of status, whatever his
religion is. The state is bound to be wholly
secularŠreligion is not the test of nationality
but is a personal matter between man and GodŠ
religion is a personal affair of each individual,
it must not be mixed up with politics or national
affairs"
____
[4]
Narmada Bachao Andolan
* 62 Gandhi Marg, Badwani, Madhya Pradesh 451551.
* C/o B-13 Shivam Flats, Ellora Park, Vadodara, Gujarat 390023.
* Maitri Niwas, Tembewadi, Dhadgaon, dist. Nandurbar, Maharashtra.
Press Release
Date: April 16, 2006
· FAST CONTINUES INTO 19TH DAY, RELAY FAST CONTINUES
55 protesters demanding meeting with PM arrested
from front of his house: No explanation for the
PM's reluctance to suspend dam construction
except bowing to Modi's pressure
The indefinite fast continues into the 19th day
even as the health condition of all three fasters
- Bhagvatibai, Jamsing and Medha Patkar -
deteriorates. Meanwhile the relay fast by Prof.
Deven Singh, Rajendra Ravi, Bela Bhatia, Dr.
Vandana Prasad, Amarnathbhai, Dr. Sachidanand and
Dayabai entered third day. Tomorrow, Andolan has
given a call for going on hunger strike en masse.
55 protesters seeking a meeting with the PM to
ask him to perform his duty as directed by
Supreme Court in its October 18, 2000 judgement
were arrested by Delhi Police today afternoon
from in front of his house. Those arrested
included Swami Agnivesh, Vinod Raina, Kamal Mitra
Chenoy, Achin Vanaik, Shabnam Hashmi, Vinod Dua,
students from JNU and DU as well as other
supporters. These supporters, in a peaceful
manner, approached the PM's house and submitted a
memorandum and made requested for a meeting with
the PM. Immediately the Rapid Action Force and
police were brought in and the supporters ushered
into buses. The police is holding them in custody
at Chanakyapuri Police Station.
Where as Supreme Court judgement puts the
responsibility on PM, to deliver his decision, in
event of disputes between party states at RCNCA;
its really sad to note that his media advisor is
misguiding the press stating that the dam
construction is not going to be stopped, even as
the PM keeps entertaining the pro-Dam delegations
of politicians from Gujarat.
Since the people to be affected are not
rehabilitated as per the Supreme Court orders and
the Narmada Tribunal Award, there is no legal
ground for raising the dam height. The Supreme
Court directions are clear in stating that the
affected families be rehabilitated with alternate
cultivable and irrigable land six months in
advance of the submergence. Moreover, acting as
devil's advocate, let us for the time being put
aside all the sound arguments for SSP not being
the most appropriate option for water needs of
Gujarat or power needs of the western India.
Thus, even if we look at the benefits angle,
there is no justification for the proposition as
Gujarat has not been able to use even 10% of the
water available at current height.
Irrigation:
For example, as per the claim of the official
website of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam (
www.sardarsarvordam.org), Gujarat has been able
to irrigate 57 002 ha from the SSP, which is just
10% of the irrigation possible in phase I of the
project. The main reason why more irrigation has
not been achieved is that Gujarat has not
developed the distribution system and the command
area for irrigating more areas. Among all the
components of the SSP, development of the canal
network right upto the field is the most
expensive one. Because of the delay in the
development of the command area (this has no
direct relation with the height of the dam), SSP
has become the costliest irrigation project in
India today. As per the Mid term appraisal of the
10th Five year plan, the cost of just the
irrigation component of SSP has gone up to Rs
30823 crores (2005 prices), and cost of
irrigating one ha has gone up to a whopping Rs 1
72 000. Had SSP been planned properly, it could
have started irrigating at least 5 lakh ha in
2004 (even earlier since the Irrigation By Pass
Tunnel was inaugurated on Aug 20, 2002 ), but
that objective is unlikely to be achieved for at
least 5 more years if we go by the past
performance. The project authorities should be
held accountable for this delay. Their hankering
for increase in height of the dam, rather than
use of the available water has done a great
disservice to the people and public resources of
Gujarat . This also applies to Rajasthan as
Rajasthan can get its share of water without
increase in height of the dam as once water
enters the gravity flow canal (as it has been
happening since 2002 through IBPT and since 2004
through Canal Head Power House), water can flow
to Rajasthan.
Drinking water:
The second claimed benefit is the drinking water
from SSP. The total allocation of water for
Municipal and Industrial supply from SSP is 1.06
MAF. This amount of water has been available at
least since 1999 when the dam height reached 85
mts. It was only in 2001 that pumping of water
from SSP into canals was started. From that date,
if the drinking water distribution system as
planned were in place, Gujarat could have
provided drinking water to all the 135 towns and
8215 villages as per the plans. There is no need
for increase in height of the dam for achieving
that objective. However, since the distribution
system is not in place even today, the objective
has not been achieved. If there is anyone to be
blamed for this delay, it is only the Gujarat
government and not NBA or the affected people.
The ambitious Sardar Sarovar Narmada Canal Based
Bulk Water Transmission Project commenced in the
year 1999-2000 and was scheduled to be completed
by 2002, but was lagging behind due to "defective
planning and lack of coordination among different
agencies" and not because of litigations or non
raising of the dam height, as borne out from the
findings of the CAG reports for the year ending
March 31, 2003 and 2005 . As per the CAG report
on Gujarat (civil) for the year ending March 31,
2003 , "The gross average daily intake during the
two years of its operation (December 2000 to
November 2002) was 119.80 MLD against the
envisaged capacity of 287 MLD ( i.e. 42 percent
of capacity utilisation) only. Of the envisaged
coverage of 1860 villages/ towns, benefit reached
only to 543 villages. So, even after two years of
execution, at the cost of Rs 464.17 crores,
benefits could be derived to the extent of 44
percent of the envisaged population only". The
CAG report on Gujarat (civil) for the year ending
March 31, 2005 covers the implementation and
performance of the second route of Sardar Sarovar
Canal Based Bulk Water Transmission Project. At
Para 3.2.8.3 CAG mentions that due to delay in
execution of distribution works, "only 29 percent
of installed capacity of water was used and only
415 of 1342 targeted villages/ towns ( i.e. 31
percent) were covered". Elaborating on this, CAG
states, "as a result of delay in execution of
distribution works, the gross daily intake during
May 2003 to June 2005 was 145.17 MLD (29 percent)
against the envisaged capacity utilisation of 500
MLD".
Power generation
The third claimed justification for increase in
height of the dam is the power generation. If
optimum power generation were the objective of
the project authorities, all the units of the
power component should have been in place by June
2004 when the dam height of 110 m was achieved.
However, that is not the situation even today. It
should be noted that installation of the power
units is not dependent on the height of the dam.
If all the units are not in place, it is only
because of the mismanagement of the project
authorities. It is the project authorities that
should take the blame for the lower than possible
power generation from SSP.
It is true that if the height of the dam is
increased, the installed units would be able to
generate slightly (maximum 7.7%, reducing to nil
once irrigation develops in Gujarat and Madhya
Pradesh) higher power as they would have greater
head of water for power generation. However, this
increase would be marginal. It cannot be the case
of any civilized society that homes and
livelihoods of thousands of people can be
destroyed for such marginal gains. If the
authorities had achieved the rehabilitation as
required under the law, they could have a
justified case for increase in height of the dam.
Today they have none.
On power front it should also be noted that MP
and Maharashtra power sectors (they share 57% and
27% of the power generated at SSP respectively)
have power T&D losses in excess of 30%, which can
be brought down to less than half that level.
More needs to be done on this front, that would
make available a lot more power than going for
the inhuman, illegal and unjust option of
submerging homes and lives of thousands of people.
It is thus strange as to why the Gujarat Govt and
the Union Water Resources Ministry are pushing
for increase in height of the dam, which is
neither just, not justified. All concerned should
keep this in mind as they debate the issue of
stopping the construction of SSP Dam till R&R is
completed as required.
____
[5]
Hindustan Times
April 9, 2006
DAMNED, AS ALWAYS
by Harsh Mander
In the shadows of the tall offices of the
nation's power elite in the capital, for some
flickering moments, a few hundred dispossessed
women and men gathered tenuously. They were
desperate because their homes and lands were
shortly to be drowned forever. Years of brave
resistance failed to prevent this day, because
they are powerless before a government and courts
that refuse to see and care. It was perhaps
fitting that they were arrested in the dead of
night by a battery of policepersons several times
their numbers, to silence and exile them into
their customary oblivion.
The greatest success of numberless local
struggles of people displaced by large
development projects over the many decades after
Independence have cumulatively been in breaking
the muffled silences that surround the astounding
inequities of their dispossession by the State.
They have also raised searching questions, which
we have still not answered, about the nature and
'price' of development and who is condemned to
pay it.
With the advent of planned development after
freedom, the visibility, scale and sweep of
mega-dams made them potent emblems of the
reconstruction and regeneration of the battered
economies of long-suppressed post-colonial
nations. Leaders and policy-makers typically
viewed the forced uprooting of substantial
populations as legitimate and inevitable costs of
development, acceptable in the larger national
interest. Nehru, while laying the foundation
stone for India's first major river valley
project, the Hirakud Dam in Orissa in 1948, said
to the tens of thousand facing the grim prospect
of displacement: "If you have to suffer, you
should do so in the interest of the country."
It is important to recognise that the staggering,
unremitting and largely untold human suffering of
people displaced by big dams is the direct
outcome of State policy and law, and their
implementation and interpretation by officials
and courts.
Among the recurring trends in the experience of
displacement and rehabilitation as a result of
big dams in India, is that the State typically
refuses to consult with and inform the people
condemned to eventual submergence. There is
typical confusion among resettlers in virtually
every large project about even the precise
contours of submergence - which villages or
segments of villages would be submerged, and
when. In the Narmada valley, even which persons
are affected and who are to be compensated and
rehabilitated has not been resolved, although
their homes and lands have been submerged. Again,
typically oustees are rarely consulted or even
informed about the phasing and content of their
rehabilitation package, their entitlements and
their choices.
The only significant reparation for displaced
persons guaranteed by law is the payment of
monetary compensation for compulsorily acquired
individual assets, mainly land or houses.
However, the manner in which the law is framed
and interpreted ensures that the displaced
land-owner or house-owner is invariably the
loser. Rural, especially tribal people, are
unused to a monetary economy, and usually spend
their money in consumption and repaying loans and
in barely months are left pauperised. Landless
farmers, fisherfolk and artisans, who lose their
livelihoods but few assets, are barely
compensated.
It is only in recent years that, chiefly under
the impact of people's movements, project
authorities, state governments and international
funding agencies have accepted responsibility for
rehabilitation - one that extends beyond the
payment of monetary compensation for expropriated
individual assets and the provision of house
sites. Involuntary relocation is always extremely
painful, but a sensitive project bureaucracy can
do much to relieve its trauma.
In practice, however, it has been observed that
the driving objective of project authorities has
not been to assist the families to relocate.
Instead, frequently the only objective is to
vacate the submergence zone of what are perceived
to be its human encumbrances, with the brute
force of the State. In many parts of the Narmada
valley, this forced relocation occurs without
even settlement of compensation claims.
Resettlement sites are often inhospitable, their
locations are selected without reference to
availability of livelihood opportunities, or the
preferences of displaced persons. In the Narmada
valley, even years after the relocation, basic
facilities are not established in the
resettlement sites. The locations themselves are
sometimes small islands or at the far end of the
reservoir, perched on top of hilltops, surrounded
by kilometres of reservoir waters. For many
settlements, small perilous wooden boats are
still the only uncertain modes of transportation.
Earth roads are submerged six months in a year.
Similarly, health and education facilities are
'provided' merely by the creation of buildings
for sub-health centres or schools. Health workers
or teachers are not positioned, health centres
are not provided with the requisite equipment and
infrastructure and in the end, buildings crumble
and begin to resemble ghost town structures.
People are abandoned to live and die, often
literally in darkness, without even elementary
healthcare, clean drinking water, electrification
and education.
The Narmada Award requires oustees to get
irrigated agricultural land in lieu of land they
were forced to sacrifice. If implemented
sincerely, this provision alone could have
enabled affected people to rebuild their lives.
But this has rarely been done. The government of
Madhya Pradesh, in particular, continues to flout
this provision with elaborate and shameful
official subterfuge. It is an unconscionable
failure of our legal system that courts have
permitted the expeditious completion of the dam,
even though the limited rights of rehabilitation
of affected people are flouted with impunity by
state governments.
Opponents of big dams have argued persuasively
that these are part of a development strategy
that intrinsically impoverishes poor people. The
debate around big dams in India, in fact, have
been inextricably intertwined with largely
irreconcilable ideological battlelines about the
nature and impacts of State-induced development.
The opponents to big dams have also challenged
the dominant orthodoxy that development,
especially State-induced development, necessarily
entails the human costs of displacement or
involuntary resettlement.
They are not opposed to the expansion of
irrigation or the generation of electricity. All
they argue is that technologies exist and should
be further developed, which provide water and
energy to people with far less devastating human
and environmental costs. The staggering costs of
any mega dam, for instance, could permit the
creation of innumerable small water harvesting
and micro-irrigation systems for every village,
that do not require vast populations to be
dispossessed nor precious forests to be submerged.
The construction of large dams raises fundamental
questions of equity, fairness and justice before
law, in the matter of distribution of benefits
and burdens. The deprivation suffered by
displaced people also raises vital issues of
constitutional norms and human rights, including
the right to survival, and the basic right to
live with dignity. It forces us to answer why
people who already are impoverished must always
pay the price of what we call development,
whereas others who already live with privilege
continue to reap the benefits of this development.
____
[6]
People's Union for Civil Liberties
13, Pratap Kunj Society, Karelibaug,
Vadodara - 390018
PRESS RELEASE 16th April 2005
· In the absence of due priority to
rehabilitation of the affected people by the
states concerned, political parties at the States
and Centre these issues have embroiled
themselves into futile political conflict and
have entered into competitive showpiece populism
and one-upmanship in trying to show that they
are "patriots" of Gujarat.
· People's Union for Civil Liberties, Gujarat
Appeal for an amicable solution to the ongoing Narmada
Dam debate
We the citizens of Gujarat appeal for a peaceful
and democratic solution to the recent Narmada Dam
controversy.
The issues of rehabilitation of people, drinking
water and the provision of water for irrigation
are crucial for the growth and development of the
people of Gujarat. There is an urgent need to
address these issues in a democratic and peaceful
ways on a priority basis. In this contest we
condemn the ransacking of the NBA office in
Baroda and attempts to intimidate and thwart any
democratic dialogue.
The issue here is of right to life for many
people, mostly very poor Adivasis, who have lost
their homes, land & livelihoods and many
thousands more are likely to lose their dwelling
places as more villages come under submergence.
As of today even people displaced at the 110 m
height are not resettled.
It is unfortunate that Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh has not taken a stand in favour of the poor
people displaced and not yet rehabilitated.
In the absence of due priority to rehabilitation
of the affected people by the states concerned,
political parties at the States and Centre these
issues have embroiled themselves into futile
political conflict and have entered into
competitive showpiece populism and one-upmanship
in trying to show that they are "patriots" of
Gujarat. And in the same breadth painting
everybody asking for rehabilitation as "traitors."
We also appeal to Ms Medha Patkar, Ms.
Bhagwatiben Patidam and Shri Jamsingh Nargave
fasting activists of the Narmada Bachao Andolan
to end their fast so that the issues can be taken
up on the table on the basis of hard evidence of
the extent of rehabilitation that needs to be
carried out further.
There is need to have a comprehensive
rehabilitation policy for all people displaced by
development projects.
PUCL has also filed a written complain to police
commissioner and the Collector of Vadodara to
protect the office of NBA. Copy is attached with
press release.
Kirit Bhatt
Trupti Shah
Renu Khanna
Amrish Brahmbhatt
Kantibhai Mistry
Rohit Prajapati
Chinu Srinivasan
Naginbhai Patel
Raj Kumar Hans
Dipti Bhatt
Manzoor Saleri
Human Rights Activists of Gujarat
People's Union for Civil Liberties
13, Pratap Kunj Society, Karelibaug, Vadodara - 390018
MOST URGENT BY FAX
16th April 2005
To,
The Police Commissioner
Vadodara
The Collector
Vadodara
Sub: Regarding the Fresh Attack on the Office of the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
Dear Sir,
This is with regard to the attack on the Narmada
Bachao Andolan office in Vadodara on 15th April
at around 7 pm by some people belonging to the
leading political party. We anticipated this
and had informed the Police Commissioner
personally at around 6.30 pm. Around 4.30 pm we
had warned the Police Control room of such an
eventuality.
In spite of such prior notice, the attack took
place and in the presence of police personnel. We
are surprised that no arrests have taken place
till now the video footage of the attack and
ransacking is available with the leading city
cable channels.
A similar kind of attack had taken place on the
NBA office on March 20, 1994 in the Dandia Bazar
area of the city. While a complaint had been
launched after the 1994 attack, no action was
taken.
We wish to state that we fear yet another attack
will take place if proper precautions are not
taken at the earliest to protect the office of
the NBA. This kind of incident should not recur
as it has larger repercussions on society at
large. We are concerned at these sorts of
repeated attacks, which are extremely
undemocratic in nature apart from giving the
State of Gujarat a bad name, as a place where
dissent from the dominant opinion is not
tolerated.
It is also expected that personal attacks are
going to be launched on those who are questioning
the degree of rehabilitation undertaken in
reality.
Sincerely,
Kirit Bhatt
Rohit Prajapati
Chinu Srinivasan
People's Union for Civil Liberties, Gujarat
____
[7]
15 April 06
AN APPEAL TO DR. SINGH : TAKE THE DECISION ON YOUR OWN
We are surprised to hear that the Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh has assigned the matter regarding
suspending the raising of the height of the
Sardar Sarovar Dam (SSP) to the Supreme Court, on
April 15, even after the Review Committee has
recommended to stop the construction work on the
dam until the rehabilitation of the affected
people according to the Narmada Tribunal award
and Supreme Court ruling. This is nothing but a
delaying tactic, facilitating the work on the dam
to be completed upto 121.92 meters, flaunting all
logic, law and reality to the dustbin of petty
politicking. Is this the 'human face' of the
decisions?
Why the Prime Minister has developed the cold
feet on the serious issues, when all the reality,
ground situation and legal-judicial provisions
make it incumbent upon him to stop the
construction work on the dam immediately, thus
saving over 35,000 farmers' and tribals' families
from submergence, displacement and destitution.
Why he could not take the decision to suspend the
illegal work on the project, when his own Cabinet
colleagues, even after a truncated half-day tour
of the valley, could see the dismal situation of
rehabilitation in Madhya Pradesh? And we fail to
understand the logic of assigning the issue again
to the Supreme Court, when the latter had in no
unequivocal terms laid down, in its verdict in
October 2000, that in case of differences in the
NCA and among the party states, the Prime
Minister shall be the final authority?
What could be the logic behind the move, pray?
The Court procedures are bound to delay the
entire matter even farther, as our Courts are not
known to be expeditious enough in case of poor
and exploited people, marginalised and
underprivileged sections, as they are prompt in
case of the interests of the corporates and
elites of the country. That the Courts have to be
reminded that the person who drafted the
Constitution, of which they are supposed to the
guardians, clearly stated in his speeches in
Constituent Assembly, that the freedom has no
meaning without economic, social and political
equality. At least, we are entitled to expect
from the popular governments - though headed and
overmanned by the members of the Upper House- to
protect the rights of the common people and be
accountable to them. This would delay the
decision for another week, fortnight or months
together or so. Forget about the Narmada Bachao
Andolan activists including Medha Patkar,
Jamsinghbhai and Bhagwatibehn in their 18th day
of fast. The Indian Supreme Court has been
extremely rude and contemptuous about the
people's movements. In the famous words of
Justice Kirpal, the movements have been seeking
'publicity interest litigation'. This the Court
cannot say about the Ambanis or Narayan Murthys,
but definitely about Medha Patkar and others. So
it will not be surprising if the Supreme Court
cares two hoots if Medha Patkar and others die or
the Adivasis are submerged year after year. So,
we can expect only the government responsible to
the people to respond positively to the issues
raised by the people's movements. But, alas, Dr.
Singh is not wiling to heed that.
And lastly, the threats issued by Narendra Modi.
They are atrocious, fascists and as such
dangerously hilarious. Modi kept ranting about
the democracy and state's responsibility. Look
who is talking about it? He knows too little of
democracy and Raj-dharma. The Gujarat Congress
too joined him in the competitive politics. He is
saying that Supreme Court has given the Award to
take the dam to final height. No, SC had
specifically said to complete the resettlement
according to the Narmada Tribunal Award BEFORE
raising of the height, even in otherwise hostile
judgement.
The Congress is afraid of the political price it
will have to pay in Gujarat, as Gujarat Congress
is to with Modi. But, even from the point of view
of the petty political gains, Congress has hardly
any presence in Gujarat. It could have gained
immensely in Madhya Pradesh, had it taken a
clear-cut decision to save the farmers and
tribals from submergence and stop the work on the
dam. Here too Mr. Singh could have shown little
more political maturity.
Any way, there is the decision. However, there is
still time of one day. Congress party and Dr.
Singh still salvage the situation and the people.
Here Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh
has shown more political sagacity and experienced
nuance of a politician. Despite the stiff
resistance from his own bureaucrats, he dared to
side with Mr. Soz and Mr. Raja in challenging
the combined might of Modi and his other
counterparts from BJP-ruled states.
There is still time. Dr. Singh, please decide on
your own, to protect and save the Narmada valley
people from the certain calamity. And in the
event, you may positively respond to the
indefinite fast by Medha Patkar and others which
had started since March 29. All the
conscientious citizens of the country may ask the
government to mend its ways.
Sanjay Sangvai
[Sanjay Sangvai has been associated with the NBA since
the 80s.]
____
[8]
The Hindu
April 17, 2006
A NEW KIND OF HISTORY TEXTBOOK
by Sumit Sarkar
Books just brought out by the NCERT teach history
in creative ways. All themes are sought to be
looked at from the angle of everyday life and its
changing patterns, bringing history down from the
distant skies, as it were.
A FEW days ago, I came across the three History
textbooks just brought out by the National
Council of Education Research and Training
(NCERT), for Classes VI, IX, and XI. I opened the
second - India and the Contemporary World, from
roughly the French Revolution to the mid-20th
century - with the idea of just turning over some
pages, for it was a very busy day for me. But
soon I was engrossed, and could not stop reading
till the end, so exciting did it seem, so
different from what one expects from school or
college textbooks. The other two books proved to
be just as interesting. For reasons of space,
however, let me dwell mainly on the second book.
What makes the new books such an unexpected
pleasure to read - a feeling, I am sure, the
students and their teachers will also share?
Their physical appearance, first of all. The
books are filled with illustrations, most of them
in colour: photographs of historical sites,
inscriptions, monuments, reproductions of
paintings, posters and pages from leaflets: an
immense range of visual material going back to
the times being described. Thoughtful designing
has achieved a sense of space, very different
from the usual cramped, breathless impression one
gets when reading history books, filled with
closely packed text.
The books teach history in creative ways. There
are extracts from contemporary documents, many of
them of contrasting kinds: the French Declaration
of the Rights of Man set beside Olympia de
Gouges' feminist alternative, an official Soviet
account of collectivisation alongside a letter
from a peasant who hated the changes. Students
are introduced to the basics of historical
research: both to documents and to understanding
how open-ended historical reconstruction is.
Every section is accompanied by questions and
suggested classroom activities, visualising
creative student-teacher interaction in place of
enforced rote-learning. After reading about the
coming of modern agriculture in England, students
are asked to look at the previous, open field
system from the points of view of a rich farmer,
a labourer, and a peasant woman. An activity
suggested after the chapter on Nazi Germany
recommends writing one-page histories of it from
the points of view of a schoolchild studying
there, a Jewish survivor, and a political
opponent of the regime. The chapter on the Roman
Empire in the Class XI book on "Themes in World
History" asks students to imagine the shopping
list of a city housewife in those times. Let me
add, though, that books like these will require a
fundamental transformation also in the pattern of
setting questions in CBSE examinations, which so
long have been of a so-called `objective' type,
totally unsuitable at least for history, social
sciences, and the humanities in general. I do
hope that such changes will be brought about as
quickly as possible.
What made such textbooks possible? Fundamentally,
a simple innovation, pedagogically vital: the
clear break with the earlier dominant assumption
that textbooks must be `comprehensive,' `cover'
all `relevant' facts. Never mind the
overcrowding, sheer boredom, rote-learning -
followed by quick oblivion, as those of us who
have been teachers at college or postgraduate
levels have often encountered. One can anticipate
that this will be the line possible critics of
the new books will take, and they will find it
easy enough to point to much that has been `left
out.' But the point surely is that no book, not
just meant for schools but really at any level,
can ever cover `everything,' one always has to be
selective. The need is to stimulate interest and
curiosity, some understanding about what history
today is really about and why it is important.
The points or themes of entry here always suggest
broader patterns. Some students might be
stimulated to read further about them. To take an
instance from Class VI, about Ancient India:
giving comprehensive lists of archaeological
sites relevant for a particular period may place
a great burden on memory. Instead, one or two
sites or inscriptions have been chosen here, but
these are looked at in detail, with profuse
illustrations followed by discussions about what
can and cannot be inferred from them. Similarly,
we have French and Russian Revolutions but not
all the 19th century European revolutions; Nazi
Germany but not Fascist Italy. These, however,
are studied in profuse and interesting detail. An
incidental gain is that the burden of dates gets
reduced, particularly at lower levels.
Time-charts are introduced in Class XI. They are
divided according to continents, with an
additional one for South Asia. They indicate at a
glance that one must not assume a single, linear,
pattern of development for all times and places.
But surely history has a special role in schools,
its purpose is, above all, the promotion of
`national unity,' `identity,' `integration,'
pride in one's country? And so should not every
region and community be covered at the same level
of detail, all prominent figures mentioned? To
have all that all would consider important is not
possible within any textbook, however voluminous.
Moreover, there will always be conflicting
political opinions about what is important and
what is not. The choice will then depend on the
dominant view of political correctness, and not
on pedagogical needs or the logic of the subject.
We saw some of these problems during Bharatiya
Janata Party rule. But even state-of-the-art
notions of history or progressive values need to
be conveyed in interesting and interactive ways.
Otherwise they remain facts and values that are
memorised, reproduced, and then speedily
forgotten, while the assumptions and stereotypes
current in their immediate environment, often
retrogressive or obscurantist, live on in the
minds of the new generation. The approach of
these books is very different. After a searing
account of Nazi atrocities and the Holocaust, for
instance, a question is posed about whether
students have ever encountered stereotypes of
other communities among people around them, and
how they could have come about. I cannot think of
a better way of providing a pointer towards the
dangers of narrow identity politics of every
kind, and the need for basic secular and human
values.
More than trivia
Are not some chapters about `trivial' things,
though - what has a `serious' history textbook to
do with cricket, or the social history of
clothing (Class IX)? On the contrary, students
are bound to get interested as they discover that
these, too, have histories, and so the subject is
not about remote and dead matters alone. Both
lead on to other themes, including more
conventional ones the importance of which no one
will deny. The handicrafts that declined under
colonial rule, the mills of Lancashire and
Bombay, were all inseparable from clothes and
changing tastes about them, while at the core of
Gandhian mass struggle lay boycott, the wearing
of khadi, and the Mahatma's conversion to the
loincloth.
The books quietly introduce students to many of
the new ways in which history is developing in
recent times. There are sections in all three
volumes about the lives of hunters,
foodgatherers, and pastoralists, and the ways in
which their more interactive relations with
nature have been disrupted in modern times:
themes that recent environmental history
foregrounds. Women are central to all the
narratives. The section about clothing mentions
its relations with social hierarchies: class in
pre-Revolutionary France, or caste in South
India. Above all, all themes are sought to be
looked at from the angle of everyday life and its
changing patterns, bringing history down from the
distant skies, as it were. The crucial point
emerges that literally everything, every kind of
relationship, has histories. The social world, as
Vico proclaimed in a foundation text of modern
history almost three centuries ago, is made by
human beings, not divinity or nature, and it can
be changed, too, through human endeavour.
In all these ways, these textbooks both respect
and enhance the students' imagination and
critical thinking.
(The author is an eminent historian of modern India.)
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on
matters of peace and democratisation in South
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