SACW | May 27-28, 2007

Harsh Kapoor aiindex at mnet.fr
Sun May 27 21:55:03 CDT 2007


South Asia Citizens Wire | May 27-28, 2007 | Dispatch No. 2412 - Year 9

[1] Afghanistan: Censure of Malalai Joya Sets Back Democracy and Rights
[2] Pakistan: Lal Majid Nuts Spread - Lal Mosque's Terror Link 
(Muhammad Amir Rana)
[3] India: Why we spoke up (Priyamvada Gopal)
[4] India - Goa: Gross assault on academic and individual freedom by 
right-wing forces
     - Margao must say 'no' to communal forces (Editorial, Gomantak Times)
[5] India - Punjab: Mixing religion with politics is dangerous (Kuldip Nayar)
   + Beware of Zealotry (Editorial, Tehelka)
[6] USA: Letter to a Young American Hindu (Vijay Prashad)
[7] USA: Hindu Students Council Unable To Refute Report by Campaign 
to Stop Funding Hate
[8] India: A Difficult Question (Mukul Dube)
[9] India: Full Text of Bombay High Court's recent  judgment lifting 
the ban of James Laine's Book on Shivaji
[10] Announcements:
(i)  Shahidul Alam lectures at UCLA (Los Angeles, May 30, 31)
(v) Call for the release of Kian Tajbakhsh, Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, and 
other Iranian-American scholars
detained in Iran.

____

[1]

	HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH - PRESS RELEASE
	AFGHANISTAN: REINSTATE MP SUSPENDED FOR 'INSULT'
	CENSURE OF MALALAI JOYA SETS BACK DEMOCRACY AND RIGHTS

(New York, May 23, 2007) - The Afghan parliament should immediately 
reinstate Malalai Joya, a member suspended for criticizing 
colleagues, and revise parliamentary procedures that restrict freedom 
of speech, Human Rights Watch said today.

On May 21, 2007, the Lower House of the Afghan parliament voted to 
suspend Joya for comments she made during a television interview the 
previous day. It is unclear whether Joya's suspension will run until 
the current parliamentary session ends in several weeks or whether 
she will be suspended for the remainder of her term in office, which 
ends in 2009. In addition to her suspension from parliament, several 
legislators have said that Joya could be sued for contempt in a court 
of law. 

"Malalai Joya is a staunch defender of human rights and a powerful 
voice for Afghan women, and she shouldn't have been suspended from 
parliament," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. 
"Joya's comments don't warrant the punishment she received and they 
certainly don't warrant court proceedings." 

Joya had criticized the parliament for failing to accomplish enough 
for the Afghan people, saying, "A stable or a zoo is better [than the 
legislature], at least there you have a donkey that carries a load 
and a cow that provides milk. This parliament is worse than a stable 
or a zoo." 

On May 22, a recorded version of Joya's interview was shown during a 
session of parliament. Afterward, a majority of her colleagues found 
her guilty of violating article 70 of the Afghan legislature's rules 
of procedure, which forbids lawmakers from criticizing one another. 
Joya's specific crime was "insulting the institution of parliament." 

Human Rights Watch noted that members of parliament have regularly 
criticized each other, but no one else has been suspended. 

"The article banning criticism of parliament is an unreasonable rule 
that violates the principle of free speech enshrined in international 
law and valued around the world," said Adams. "The Afghan parliament 
should be setting an example by promoting and protecting free 
expression, not by stamping it out." 

Human Rights Watch urged the Afghan parliament to take steps to 
revise article 70 and ensure that elected representatives can speak 
freely without fear of suspension or lawsuits. 

Joya, 28, is the youngest member of the Afghan legislature. As a 
19-year-old refugee in Pakistan, she taught literacy courses to other 
Afghan women. During the Taliban years, she ran an orphanage and 
health clinic in Afghanistan. In 2003, she gained international 
attention for speaking out publicly against warlords involved in 
drafting the Afghan Constitution. Two years later, she was the top 
vote-getter from Farah province in Afghanistan's parliamentary 
elections, and was easily elected to the lower house of the 
legislature. 

Since her election, Joya has continued to be an outspoken defender 
and promoter of the rights of Afghan women and children. She has also 
continued to publicly call for accountability for war crimes, even 
those perpetrated by fellow parliamentarians. 

Joya has survived four assassination attempts, travels with armed 
guards and reportedly never spends two nights in the same place. 

"Joya is an inspiring example of courage," said Adams. "Afghanistan's 
international friends should not hesitate to speak out in her 
defense."

______

[2]

	South Asia Net: May 25, 2007
	Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies

	LAL MOSQUE'S TERROR LINK
	by Muhammad Amir Rana


Taking inspiration from the 'courage' of Lal Mosque's administration, 
Muttahida Ulema Council of Bagh, Azad Kashmir has also announced to 
set up Shariah courts in the district. Interestingly, Jamiat 
Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl Group) has denounced the action of those at the 
helm of Lal Mosque, and Wafaqul Madariss Al-Arabia (WMA), the 
educational board of Deobandi Madariss, has also abrogated the 
affiliation of the 12 Madariss run by the Mosque administration, but 
the movement is still catching momentum.
Jamiat Tauheed-wal-Ishaat Quran-wal-Sunnah (JTIQS), the banned Therik 
Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) and Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan (new 
name of Sipah-e-Sihabah) are openly supporting the Lal Mosque 
administration. JTIQS and TNSM have great influence in Malakand, Dir 
and Federally Administered Tribal areas (FATA). Maulana Fazl Elahi, a 
TNSM leader, has threatened that he, along with his thousands of 
followers, would rush to Islamabad if the Lal Mosque is attacked.
Lal Mosque administration is also enjoying support of several leading 
clerics like Maulana Sher Ali Shah, a respected religious teacher 
among jihadist, and Senator Maulana Samiul Haq of Jamia Akora 
Khattak. After the cancellation of their Madariss' affiliation with 
WMA, Maulana Abdul Aziz announced establishment of a parallel 
educational board 'Wafaqul Madariss Islamia'. Just after his 
announcement, more than 1000 Madariss applied for the affiliation 
with the new board. Out of which 138 are from Balochistan, 81 from 
Kashmir, 450 from NWFP, 186 from Punjab and 9 Madariss are situated 
in Northern Areas. This step might force the WMA to review its 
decision because the division among Madariss would damage Madrisa 
system in the country.
The head of Lal Mosque, Maulana Abdul Aziz formally announced 
establishment of Shariah courts on April 6 and threatened of using 
suicide attacks against the government, if a crackdown was launched 
against the seminary.
It was the fallout of the three month occupation of children library 
near the mosque. The movement was started when Capital Development 
Authority (CDA) razed Ameer Hamza Mosque on 24th January 2007 in 
Islamabad. To respond, the Maulana Abdul Aziz, his brother Maulana 
Abdul Rasheed Ghazi and their 10,000 pupils started a strong protest. 
A 'baton force' was formed for countering the use of force by the 
government. Veiled female students took the positions and many 
students across the country came to Islamabad to support Madrissa in 
case of a full-scale clash with the government. Government tried to 
resolve the issue through talks and engaged the WMA's religious 
scholars for mediation. The Government accepted their all demands for 
rebuilding the destroyed mosque and Lal Mosque administration as well 
agreed but Maulana Abdul Aziz changed his stance suddenly and refused 
to vacant the children library and announced Shariah enforcement 
movement.
A few analysts believe that the motive behind the Shariah movement 
was to keep their possession on the government land as no one dared 
to raise objection on their illegal occupation over precious land 
before.

Terror Link
This is not the first time that Lal Mosque created problem in the 
capital. Maulana Abdullah, father of Maulana Abdul Aziz and Ghazi, 
was very popular among Deobandis because of his anti-Shiites 
speeches. He had very close links with sectarian outfit 
Sipah-e-Sahaba. Shia community had serious reservation against him 
and when he was assassinated in 2001, it was declared a 
sectarian-related killing. Maulana Abdullah, the favorite religious 
scholar of General Ziaul Haq because of his pro-jihad speeches, had 
close association with Afghan Jihad leaders; Abdul Rab Sayyaf, 
Jalaluddin Haqqani and Ahmed Shah Masood and later he affiliated 
himself with the Taliban. He was one of those Deobandi religious 
scholars, who started campaign for the release of Maulana Masood 
Azhar when he was arrested in Indian Occupied Kashmir in 1994.
His sons, Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and Maulana Abdul Aziz continued with 
their father's ideology for jihad and mysticism. They were the 
mastermind behind a religious decree that insisted Pakistan army 
personnel killed during clashes in South Waziristan be denied a 
Muslim burial. The Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa were in the news in 
July 2005 when Pakistani security forces tried to raid the mosque 
following the suicide bombings in London. And it was the Jamia Hafsa 
which a British school girl Misbah Rana Molly Campbell was reported 
to have been interested in joining after arriving in Pakistan at the 
centre of an international custody row.
The more important was the Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi's links with 
Al-Qaeda, which came on surface in 2004, when Osama bin Laden's 
driver Usman was arrested in Islamabad in connection with alleged 
sabotage activities in the capital. He was Maulana Abdul Rasheed's 
guest and traveling in his car when arrested on August 11, 2007.
Calls from Usman's phone to Mustafa, the alleged Al-Qaeda terrorist 
in Karachi, were traced and he was also arrested. After Usman's 
arrest Abdul Rasheed Ghazi disappeared and re-appeared on the scene 
after two weeks. Surprisingly he was not pursued in Usman's case and 
set freed.
When riot erupted in the capital after the murder of Maulana Azam 
Tariq, head of Sipah-e-Sahaba in 2003, the Jamia Faridia's students 
were leading the mob which ransacked public and private property.
Recently suicide attacks in Islamabad on Marriot hotel and Airport as 
well have links with Lal Mosque. According to the reports both 
suicide attackers stayed in Jamia Mosque before going for the 
operation.

Is there only one Shariah court in Pakistan?
After announcing setting up Shariah courts, Maulana Ghazi Abdul 
Rasheed argued that if Jirga and Panchayat system are not considered 
a parallel judicial system, why Shariah court is being called a 
parallel system.
It is pertinent to mention that Shariah court is not at all a new 
phenomenon in Pakistan. Right now, 54 private Shariah courts are 
already working in the country. Out of them, 24 are run by Jamat ud 
Daawa, five by banned Sipah-e-Sihabah and others by local Taliban, 
not only in tribal areas but in Tank and Bannu as well.
The JUI was the first to introduce the idea of private Shariah courts 
in 1975. At the JUI annual convention in Gujranwala, Mufti Mehmood 
and Maulana Abdullah Darkhuasti had presented the idea of the private 
courts. The participants approved the idea and a Shariah committee, 
comprising Mufti Mehmood, Abdul Karim Qureshi and Maulana Sarfaraz 
Khan, was formed to decide about the mechanism of the courts. The 
plan for private courts was made the part of the JUI's constitution 
and manifesto in 1976 but was not implemented because of Ziaul Haq's 
martial law.
Following the same plan, Sipah-e-Sahaba set up Shariah court in 
district Jhang in 1998. Jamat ud Daawa's head Hafiz Muhammad Saeed 
had announced establishment of Shariah courts on September 15, 2005 
in Lahore. The JD plan was to set up these courts at district level 
and now 24 courts have been operating in Punjab and Interior Sindh. 
These courts are working as mandatory for rival parties to submit an 
affidavit that they would accept the court's decision.
After the Shakai agreement in 2004 between Baitullah Mehsud and the 
government, Mehsud was allowed to enforce Shariah in the area. He not 
only established the courts but also formed the Shariah police to 
watch law and order. Following his footsteps religious Scholars in 
Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu districts adopted the same system. Khyber 
agency has two Shariah courts, established by the rival sectarian 
groups, Lashkar-e-Islam and Ansarul Islam.
But the Lal Mosque's Shariah courts plan is very much similar with 
Sipah-e-Sahaba plan which was announced by Maulana Azam Tariq in 2000 
in the 7th International Difa-e-Islam Conference in Karachi.
Maulana presented a proposal of converting twenty-eight big cities as 
model Islamic cities. The initial agreed-upon five points were:

The shops must close with Azan.
Friday should be a holiday
Bribes and impermissible business must be stopped
Cable network must be terminated
Every decision should be taken in consultation with Ulema
In his address, he said, "Let all the shops be closed with the 
calling of Azan. If any trader does not obey, let other traders 
boycott him and thus compel him to fall in line. The traders must be 
persuaded that they should not allow sale of adulterated goods, 
narcotics, wine and other impermissible items. The traders in these 
cities, in conjunction with Ulema and other individuals, should 
prevent fixing of dish antennae and operation of cable network. For 
resolving their dispute they should not go to the court or the police 
but approach the mosque where the Ulema would resolve their disputes 
according to Islamic laws, as it is done in Jhang."
Sipah-e-Sahaba sources claimed that Maulana Abdullah was behind the 
idea and Maulana Azam Tariq promised him that his party would make 
his dream come true.
Government writ was already at stake, but Lal Mosque administration 
just exposed it in the federal capital. If the Mosque and affiliated 
seminaries had done the same somewhere else in the country, the 
government, possibly, would have not taken it seriously as it did in 
Faislabad case where students of Jamia Qasmia, Ghulam Muhammad Abad 
raided an alleged brothel house and did whatever they could.
Lal mosque movement is getting success in its agenda. Even if the 
government now controls the situation by using power, the Lal mosque 
has set a precedent of implementing radical agenda by gun. In 
Pakistan such radial Madariss exist every where and they can start 
challenging the state's writ.

_____

[3]

	Magazine Section / The Hindu
	May 27, 2007

	WHY WE SPOKE UP

	by Priyamvada Gopal

A self-confident and strong society does not fear its own diversity.

Photo: AFP

In the eye of a storm: M.F. Husain

LAST week, several scholars based in the U.K., Europe and the U.S. 
added their voices to the chorus in India protesting the arrest of an 
arts student and the related suspension of a senior academic at MS 
University in Baroda. We were particularly con cerned about the entry 
of police into a university campus, which suggested state collusion 
with goons for whom physical assault and vandalism seems to be the 
preferred form of spiritual practice.

Though many of us are Indian citizens and others, distinguished 
scholars of South Asia, we were aware that the kind of statement we 
issued usually elicits that charge that we were outsiders interfering 
in affairs that don't concern us in a country we don't live in. Or 
worse, that we ourselves were complicit with those hypocritical and 
patronising Western denunciations of violations of human rights, 
democracy and free speech in the Third World.
Under attack

On the contrary. We support our suspended colleague, Professor 
Panikkar, not because such attacks on academic freedom are only 
happening in India but precisely because he stood up so courageously 
to those forces which seek to undermine it everywhere. Scholarly and 
artistic freedom and integrity are under attack globally. There are 
accounts everyday of suspensions and denials of tenure at 
universities from New York and Colorado to Haifa and Durban. The 'War 
on Terror' has justified intensified attacks on freedom of speech in 
Britain and the U.S. Campus monitoring groups have been set up to 
blacklist professors for teaching 'anti-American' course content. 
Plays and exhibitions are shut down in Britain, while the state looks 
on passively, even approvingly. There are attempts to pass draconian 
legislation which would make it the interrogation of religious 
orthodoxies an offence called 'incitement to religious hatred'. This 
is an atmosphere of constraint that academics across the world have 
every reason to be concerned about and challenge.

Our own solidarity necessarily extends across continents and contexts 
because forces like the Hindutvawadis in Gujarat (who, in fact, 
violate the heterodox and diverse nature of actual Hindu practices) 
are also working in concerted kinship across the globe. Despite the 
superficial rhetoric of difference, chauvinists of all stripes are 
brethren-in-arms who fully understand and endorse each others' 
projects. Last year, during a heated discussion on the forcible 
shutting down of the M.F. Husain exhibition in London by vandals 
calling themselves Hindus, one of the loudest voices was that of a 
bearded man who declared himself a maulvi. Claiming that he visited 
temples and satsang, he shouted for Husain to be excommunicated for 
offending his 'Hindu brothers and sisters'. It was necessary to 
remind him then that there are others who, in their turn, would have 
him excommunicated for fraternising with kafirs. If offence becomes a 
crime, there will be no one left to lock the jails. The religion that 
Islamists, Hindutvawadis, Zionists, Christian zealots and other such 
factions share is a devotion to narrow-mindedness, divisions, hate 
and bigotry. Nothing could be less spiritual or more ungodly.

Why does academic and artistic freedom matter? Is it because we think 
anything and everything goes? Again, the opposite is true. We defend 
the right of writers, artists and scholars to express their views 
precisely so that these can be held up to scrutiny, debate and 
judgement. MSU Vice-Chancellor Manoj Soni may not allow his own 
students and colleagues to express their views but we would support 
his right to publish his book, In Search of Third Space, with its 
explicit (and to man y, offensive) Hindutva bias. It is only when 
such work is in the public domain that it can be subject to rigorous 
analysis. Work driven underground will not die but simply poison the 
groundwater. Suppression, censorship and banning will not transform 
ways of thinking and seeing; open discussion will.
Colonial legacy

India is rightly proud of the democratic rights, including freedom of 
expression, guaranteed by a Constitution that draws on indigenous 
traditions of intellectual enquiry, scepticism, and disputation. We 
are admired for this. These rights, however, cannot be taken for 
granted; they need to be nourished at all times. When we allow 
divisive forces to undermine our intellectual traditions and 
democratic rights, we are, in practice, giving up an integral part of 
what it means to be Indian.

Ironically, censorship as we know it is a colonial legacy, not an 
intrinsic way of life for us. In an era when democracy and freedom 
are falsely proclaimed to be Western values, we are in a position to 
illustrate how a nation can truly let these values flourish. Banning, 
suppression, and vandalism are signs of fragility; a strong and 
self-confident society does not fear its own diversity.

Priyamvada Gopal teaches in the Faculty of English at Cambridge 
University and is the author of Literary Radicalism in India).

______


[4] INDIA: TALK ON COMMUNAL HARMONY IN GOA STOPPED

[In an unprecedented action, constituting a gross assault on academic 
and individual freedom, the Goa administration, after threats and 
allegations by right-wing elements, through an order passed by the 
Margao SDM and Electoral Returning Officer, Derek Neto, stopped a 
public talk on "Communal Threats to Secular Democracy in India" by 
noted speaker and advocate of secularism, Prof. Ram Puniyani. This 
talk was taking place in collaboration with Kare Law College, Margao, 
and on the premises of the college.]

o o o

	Gomantak Times, Editorial, 26/05/07

	CONNIVING COPS
	MARGAO MUST SAY 'NO' TO COMMUNAL FORCES
	May 26 2007

How dangerous are people like IIT Professor Ram Puniyani, woman 
activist and lawyer Albertina Almeida, and Ramesh Gauns? Can they 
single-handedly start a riot in Margao? Can they provoke the citizens 
of Margao into taking law into their own hands? Can they, with their 
speeches incite the people of Margao into a communal frenzy? Can they 
create a situation where Margao will have to be closed down for two 
days? Can they generate enough communal tension for a mob to run amok 
damaging vehicles and shops like in Sanvordem and Curchorem? Does the 
police and the sub divisional magistrate expect us to believe that a 
lecture on "Communal Threats to Secular Democracy in India" would 
hurt the sentiments of people in Margao and cause them to disrupt 
life in the city? One only has to go through the sequence of events 
to know how one person, by force of threat, coerced the state 
authorities into stopping a perfectly legitimate meeting organised by 
the Citizen's Initiative for Communal Harmony (CICH) in association 
with the Goan Ramnath Kare Law College in Margao. Albertina Almeida 
and Ramesh Gauns were the convenors of this lecture which never took 
place thanks to the conniving police of Margao. We laud the courage 
of the management of Kare Law College who, inspite of severe pressure 
from fundamentalist forces in Margao to cancel the lecture, opted to 
pursue the agenda of peace and harmony.

After Sanvordem and Curchorem, the communal forces in the state have 
shifted their attention to Margao because they believe that the only 
way to defeat Digamber Kamat is by polarising the vote of the 
majority community. An attempt was made some weeks back when these 
communal forces used the new market vendors to close down the city 
for two days on a flimsy reason that a girl of the majority community 
was eve teased in the market by a member of the majority community. 
Thursday's decision of the Margao police to halt the lecture will 
only encourage these communal forces. What is distressing is that the 
police, instead of providing protection to the forces of peace, 
succumbed to the legend of hate and stopped the meeting. Worse still, 
even when no complaint was filed by the cowardly communal forces, the 
police inspector of Margao, ordered the PSI to lodge a complaint on 
behalf of the state on grounds that it was cleared by the higher ups. 
And what was the basis of this complaint? The basis was one sentence 
in a pamphlet outlining the conviction of the CICH. The offending 
sentence reads as follows: "The ideology of the right-wing Hindutva 
has been growing at a furious pace leading to a feeling of insecurity 
among minorities."

When an election observer in North Goa requests a police officer to 
lodge complaint for wrongful use of a car in campaigning, the cops 
refuse on grounds that the observer has to first file a complaint. 
However, in Margao, the police go out of their way to lodge a 
complaint against a peaceful gathering of people dedicated to 
preserving communal harmony in the state. This is the third time that 
communal forces in the state have been allowed to get away with their 
agenda of hate and segregation. The first time was when the Congress 
government slept on the magisterial inquiry report on the riots in 
Curchorem and Sanvordem; the second time was when these forces were 
allowed to close down Margao city for two days and the third occasion 
occurred on Thursday when the police and sub divisional magistrate, 
instead of confronting these vested interests succumbed to their 
threats. The people and voters of Margao are now at crossroads - one 
route will lead them into the crushing embrace of communal forces, 
while the second will strengthen the traditions of tolerance and 
harmony. The voters of Margao must choose the pathway of peace.

______


[5]

	Gulf News
	May 26, 2007

	MIXING RELIGION WITH POLITICS IS DANGEROUS

	by Kuldip Nayar

THE Sikhs are a brave and courageous community but easily excitable. 
Transparent as their community is, it does not nourish a grievance. 
It ventilates it whenever and wherever it feels hurt. But it is too 
emotional.

What has happened in Punjab in India over the last few days reflects 
the same trait of pouring one's heart out and getting square with 
those who hurt the community. Its anger is like a flood which breaks 
all the banks and even the dykes.

Take the case of Dera Sacha Sauda, a monastery of sorts, where 
thousands of people, particularly those belonging to low castes, 
throng to in order to meditate or listen to its chief, Gurmeet Ram 
Rahim Singh who purposely named himself so to convey the message of 
pluralism. Yet he donned robes like those of Guru Gobind Singh, the 
10th guru of the Sikhs, and even imitated him in distributing 'amrit' 
- one can call it 'sherbet-i-hayat' (syrup of life).

In fact, he went beyond that by inserting an advertisement to 
publicise his reception where he was shown in flowing robes with a 
plume pinned on his turban like Guru Gobind Singh. This instigated a 
large number of Sikhs. Several thousands came out on the streets with 
unsheathed swords and there was a clash in which state buses and some 
buildings were set on fire. There was vandalism and destruction.

No doubt, the Dera chief is to blame for the violence. But the Punjab 
government sat back and did nothing for the first two days. Is it 
because the Dera chief had issued an edict to his followers during 
the recent state election to vote for the Congress? His behaviour, 
particularly the advertisement, has given life to militants and 
hardliners who had been lying low for the last decade or so. They 
took law and order into their own hands and the Akali Dal-led 
government became a mute spectator.

The Akal Takht came into action. It is the highest spiritual and 
temporal seat of the Sikhs and acts like the government and issues 
ultimatums. Had the state government taken timely action against 
those who went about unchecked, particularly in the countryside, 
things would not have reached the pass they did. While the state was 
in the throes of one of its worst crises, the government waited for 
word to come from the political affairs committee of the party.

The Dera chief could have doused the fire if he had gone to the 
public to say that he never meant to present himself as Guru Gobind 
Singh. The Dera later issued a press release to express regret. But 
it was too little, too late. An apology would have been in order.

I do not know why the Dera chief was adamant on not issuing an 
apology. The Pope did it when he realised that some of his words had 
hurt the Muslims. We, living in the land of Mahatma Gandhi, should 
never have any hesitation in saying "sorry", especially when we find 
that we have, wittingly or unwittingly, hurt some people.

What has disconcerted me is the role of the Akal Takht. It supplanted 
the state government. Calling a bandh (strike) was none of its 
business. This is the job of political parties. The Akalis should 
have done it if they had felt the need. Bandh is a political term, 
not a religious one. India, particularly Punjab, has suffered in the 
past because the Akal Takht has mixed religion with politics. It has 
been once again found doing that. Ordering the closure of deras is 
the government's job, not that of the Akal Takht. These are not 
religious issues.

The Sikh faith in 'miri' and 'piri' is interpreted wrongly in today's 
context, and politics is mixed with religion. When Guru Hargobind 
Sahib, in adumbrating the concept, rationalised the joining of 
politics with religion, his purpose was to instil the sentiments of 
social service among his followers. He wanted the Sikhs to pay 
attention to the lowest in the land.

No doubt, the Sikhs are far ahead in this field as compared to other 
communities. Still, their contribution is not in proportion to the 
wealth at their command. Why can't the community channel money to 
productive avenues so as to absorb the lakhs of unemployed Sikhs who 
are prone to drugs? One cause for the last militancy in Punjab was 
the unemployment of Sikh youth.

The situation has not improved. I do not understand why every time 
there is trouble in Punjab, some elements collect in London to raise 
the demand for Khalistan, a separate state. This happened last week 
as well. And, as usual, two Muslim MPs of Pakistani origin were there 
to denounce India.

Pakistan has its own troubles and they emanate from the same malady: 
mixing religion with politics. Take the case of Lal Masjid in 
Islamabad which has become a centre of fundamentalists trying to 
dictate to the Pakistan government.

The Sikhs, by and large, have come to accept provincial autonomy like 
the rest of the Indians. But the problem with the Sikh community is 
that it tends to mix religion with politics. It is not opposed to 
secularism but it overemphasises the religious identity. Guru Nanak 
Dev, the founder of the Sikh religion, preached pluralism and put 
together the sayings of Hindu, Muslim and other saints in the Guru 
Granth Sahib, the holy book.

It is pluralism the Sikhs should be pursuing and upholding, not 
religious jingoism. When they get carried away by passions, as has 
been seen again and again, they exhibit a trait which only impairs 
the community's image.

I wonder if the Dera Sacha Sauda incident is the beginning of the era 
of the Giani Zail Singh type of politics. Then the Congress found the 
extremist Bhindranwale and lionised him to fight against the Akalis. 
Things went beyond control and the result was disastrous. The army 
attacked the Golden Temple where Bhindranwale had tried to build a 
state within a state and Sikh guards assassinated Prime Minister 
Indira Gandhi.

This retaliation led to another fiendish kind of reprisal: the 
killing of innocent Sikhs in broad daylight, 3,000 in Delhi alone. 
What is called the Sikh problem got more aggravated. The elevation of 
Manmohan Singh as prime minister has solved it to a large extent and 
that Mrs Indira Gandhi's daughter-in-law, Sonia Gandhi, has brought 
this about has made all the difference.

The tendency all over the world is to mix religion with politics. 
Turkey is a brave exception where people marched through the streets 
to show their support for secularism. I wish such a thing could 
happen in what was once the Indian subcontinent, now divided into 
three nations, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The region's forte is 
pluralism.

The writer is a leading columnist based in New Delhi.

o o o

	Tehelka
	June 2, 2007

	Editorial

	BEWARE OF ZEALOTRY

The role of religion in public affairs: this has always been a tough 
nut to crack in India, and by all accounts will continue to be so. At 
most times the mainline political parties appear to have a sense of 
its inflammatory potential and tend to handle it with care. But there 
is enough evidence of irresponsibility in the last sixty years, 
leading to killings and chaos. Every decade has seen sporadic riots 
sparked by religious posturing; there has been the trail of animus 
left behind by the rath yatra and the ensuing demolition of the Babri 
Masjid; there has been the fundamentalist terrorism; and there have 
been the organised attacks on missionaries and minorities.

One would have thought Punjab would have learnt never to put flint to 
religion again
But no part of India has suffered this cataclysm worse than the 
Punjab. For more than a decade, religious politics tore apart a state 
famed for its optimism and prosperity. By the time the dust - raised 
in 1979 - settled in the early 1990s, one prime minister, one chief 
of army staff, one chief minister, scores of political leaders, and 
tens of thousands of security personnel and ordinary people had been 
killed. There had also been, in this time, the destruction of the 
Akal Takht at the Golden Temple, the economic crippling of the state, 
and, worst of all, a genocidal assault on innocent Sikhs in Delhi, 
leading to the murder of more than three thousand. One would have 
thought Punjab would have learnt to stay away from ever again putting 
a flint to religion. And yet, the spectre of emotional panthic 
politics - medieval slogans, naked swords - has begun to float again. 
Instead of being dismissed as trivial, the grandiloquent posturing of 
the leader of one religious cult has been taken up as some great 
challenge that needs mass mobilisation. The whole thing smacks of 
low-down politicking, the attempt to gain political traction from a 
dangerous - and at one level, silly - situation. Sikhism, with its 
deep spiritual and philosophical roots, its noble traditions and 
practices, does not need to feel a moment's alarm about any 
evangelist walking through its domain. Leaders - religious or 
political - who are ringing the alarm are inviting turmoil and doing 
a great disservice to their flock.

_____


[6]

	Pass the roti on the left side
	21 May 2007

	LETTER TO A YOUNG AMERICAN HINDU,
	by Vijay Prashad (May 17, 2007.)

The following is a guest contribution from Vijay Prashad. He is the 
author of eleven books, including Karma of Brown Folk (2000), and 
most recently The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third 
World (2007).

Dear Friend,

Like you, I was raised in a mixed family. My parents' families came 
to Bengal from Punjab, and from Burma. One side leans towards 
Hinduism; the other to Sikhism. The city, the metro, provided its own 
cultural mooring, and in secular India, I found myself interested in 
all religions and deeply schooled in none. Id meant fellowship with 
my Muslim neighbors and friends; a Navjot meant a crash course in 
Parsi life; Nanak's birthday meant a visit to Gurudwara Sant Kutiya 
in the center of town; Christmas, which is Bara Din in Calcutta, 
meant a brightly lit Park Street and a visit to St. Paul's Cathedral; 
and, of course, Diwali and Holi represented the high-points of our 
festival culture. Religion was colorful, and friendly. It didn't 
represent either the harshest of personal morality nor the 
resentments or distrust of others.

I learnt a few prayers and songs, but this learning was not 
systematic. Some of my friends were better schooled than I in their 
various traditions. Our diversity was not simply across religion, but 
also a diversity of the density of our engagement with religion: 
agnostics or religious illiterates were as welcome as those who were 
committed to their faith. The festival that I most liked was 
Saraswati Puja, the day when we wore yellow and put all our 
schoolbooks at the feet of the goddess. The respite from study was 
welcome, as you can imagine.

My morality came from elsewhere than religion, from recognition of 
the pain in the world. Religious teachers whom I encountered 
sometimes talked about this suffering, but they didn't seem to have 
more than charity to offer to those who suffered. It struck me that 
while religious festivals were beautiful, religions themselves were 
not adequate as a solution to modern crises. But religion, as I came 
to understand while reading Gandhi many years later, can play a role 
in the cleansing of public morality. In 1940, Gandhi wrote, "I still 
hold the view that I cannot conceive politics as divorced from 
religion. Indeed, religion should pervade everyone one of our 
actions. Here religion does not mean sectarianism. It means a belief 
in ordered moral government of the universe. It is not less real 
because it is unseen. This religion transcends Hinduism, Islam, 
Christianity, etc. It does not supersede them. It harmonizes them and 
gives them reality" (Harijan, February 10, 1940). In other words, 
politics should not be simply about power struggles, but it must be 
suffused with moral concerns. It is not enough to win; one must 
strive to create, what Gandhi called, Truth in the world.

To strive for Truth does not mean that we, as humans, can be sure 
that what we believe in or what we aspire to is some transcendental 
truth. Gandhi's autobiography was not called I've Found Truth, but 
The Story of My Experiments with Truth. The use of the word 
"experiments" is revealing, since it refers to a scientific tradition 
that privileges verifiable testing (this is also the case with the 
Gujarati word "prayago," which is in the original 1927 title, 
Satya-na Prayago athva Atmakatha; Professor Babu Suthar links 
"prayoga," the singular of "prayago," to the ayurvedic and yogic 
sense of treatment and practice. An ayurvedic doctor must ask the 
patient to "prayoga" a medicine, which would imply, try it out to see 
if it works). Religious traditions are resources to guide us, as 
social individuals, through the difficulties and opportunities of our 
lives. They are not dogmas to tear people apart from each other. In a 
powerful essay against compulsory widow segregation, Gandhi wrote, 
"It is good to swim in the waters of tradition, but to sink in them 
is suicide" (Navajivan, June 28, 1925). Let tradition be a studied 
resource, not a set of inflexible, unchanging rules.
[ . . . ]

http://www.passtheroti.com/?p=487#more-487

______


[7]

	USA: HINDU STUDENTS COUNCIL UNABLE TO REFUTE EVIDENCE IN THE
	REPORT	BY CAMPAIGN TO STOP FUNDING HATE
	http://communalism.blogspot.com/2007/05/hindu-students-council-unable-to-refute.html

______



[8]


	Mainstream,
	2 June 2007

	A DIFFICULT QUESTION

	by Mukul Dube


A politically active young woman told me of a question which she had 
faced but had been unable satisfactorily to answer. The question was, 
"Why do you object to the Hindu Right's actions in Baroda in regard 
to the art student although you were silent when Muslims reacted 
vociferously and sometimes violently to the Danish cartoons?"

Unlike the young woman, I do not have to formulate a party position 
on the matter: but I have to search for an answer because the 
question may well be put to me. Questions which were identical but 
for specific detail have been put to me in the past, and I have 
fumbled for answers. I need to explain, at least to my own 
satisfaction, why I act at some times and fail to act at other times.

A historian I know, who is of the left but is not aligned with any 
party, said that the difference was that while the visual depiction 
of gods and goddesses was traditional, there never had been such a 
thing in Islam, which indeed is widely held to forbid it.

This is not sufficient explanation, because the context is one of a 
putatively absolute freedom being given to artists to express 
themselves. Such freedom cannot be absolute, my historian friend 
pointed out, because artists too are creatures of society and can be 
expected to know what will grievously offend some of those who see, 
read or hear their work.

Writing about the issue, Vir Sanghvi (hindustantimes.com, 19-20 May 
2007) speaks of the "distinction between private expression and 
public exhibition." This is directly relevant, but his criticism that 
"No principles are ever discussed ... [and] when another such 
incident occurs, we have the same pointless debates all over again" 
is weakened by the fact that he himself does little by way of 
discussing principles.

I suggest that an explanation may be found in the power that social 
forces have over the thinking and action of individuals, in 
particular the unshakeable nature of identities.

The most effective criticism of Islam has come from those whose names 
identify them as Muslims. The same is true of Hinduism and Hindus. 
Hindus are of course likely to know more about Hinduism than are 
others; but we must also reckon with the power of the mostly unspoken 
notion that only Muslims have the right to find fault with Islam. 
"Look in your own back yard before you point a finger at my house" is 
a defence and retort probably as ancient as the division of human 
societies into groups.

My name proclaims the religion and the caste into which I was born. 
That I may have tried to break away from both, and to oppose what 
underlies and is preached by both, is of no consequence. Most people 
who were born Muslims are likely to be Muslims culturally -- in such 
things as everyday speech, food, dress, literature -- never mind that 
they may not follow Islam and may speak against it. I am thus placed 
in the Hindu camp, and in certain ways I belong to it, even though I 
may do all I can to distance myself from it.

The result is pressure on me -- some of it exerted by myself, some of 
it anticipated or feared from without -- to speak up critically about 
the religion with which I am associated while remaining silent about 
other religions. I may think, or may be told, that criticism of those 
religions should come or will come from those who are associated with 
them.

Then there is the idea of giving the underdog not just a fair chance 
but a head start, essentially the reasoning which underpins 
protective discrimination. Individuals who are opposed to all 
religions but are "from the Hindu camp" tend not to speak up about 
even those things in Islam which they dislike, because they do not 
wish to add to the burden of a group of people whom they know to be 
discriminated against in several ways.

An explanation is not a justification, but sometimes it is the 
nearest thing to one that can be found.

In conclusion, a parenthetical note. Another historian I know told me 
that there is within Islam a long tradition of portraying Muhammad 
visually and that he has photocopies of many such portrayals. 
Muhammad is variously depicted as having anthropologically 
distinctive features: Semitic of course, but also Mongoloid and 
Negroid. There is, he said, a substantial collection of pictures at 
the university library in Edinburgh. The Iranian-born journalist and 
author Amir Taheri wrote in the Wall Street Journal of 8 February 
2006: "The claim that the ban on depicting Muhammad and other 
prophets is an absolute principle of Islam is also refuted by 
history. Many portraits of Muhammad have been drawn by Muslim 
artists, often commissioned by Muslim rulers."


______

[9]

FULL TEXT OF BOMBAY HIGH COURT'S RECENT  JUDGMENT LIFTING THE BAN OF 
JAMES LAINE'S BOOK ON SHIVAJI
http://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/data/judgements/2007/OSWP172204.pdf

_____


[10] ANNOUNCEMENTS:

(i)

-----Forwarded Message-----
From: Vinay Lal
Sent: May 25, 2007 1:11 PM
Subject: Campus visit of Shahidul Alam, Regents' Lecturer

CAMPUS VISIT OF SHAHIDUL ALAM -- please circulate widely

I am pleased to announce that Shahidul Alam is visiting UCLA from 
Friday, May 25th, until Tuesday, June 5th as a Regents' Fellow. He 
will be giving two talks on campus on Wednesday, May 30th, 4-6 PM 
(Bunche 6275) and Thurs, May 31st, 12:30-2:30 PM (Bunche 11377). (For 
details, see below.)

Shahidul Alam is one of the world's most recognized and exciting 
photographers and a major figure in the public, intellectual, and 
cultural life of Bangladesh. The sheer versatility of Mr. Alam's 
accomplishments can be gauged from the fact that he is a principal 
figure in the human rights movement in Bangladesh, but also the 
person who first introduced email to Bangladesh and first launched a 
photography gallery in the nation's capital.

He founded the Bangladesh Human Rights Network (www.banglarights.net) 
in 2001. His work in the late 1980s and early 1990s was recognized by 
the Mother Jones Award in 1992, the first time it had ever been 
awarded to an Asian. He has since gone on to win numerous 
international recognitions, including the Andrea Frank Foundation 
Award and the Howard Chapnick Award [for excellence in 
photojournalism], both conferred in 1998, and induction as a Honorary 
Fellow into the Royal Photographic Society (UK). Mr. Alam also serves 
as a juror for National Geographic. He founded the Drik Picture 
Library (www.drik.net) in 1989, the Bangladesh Photographic Institute 
in 1990, Pathshala, the South Asian Institute of Photography 
(www.pathshala.net) in 1998, and Meghbarta, Bangladesh's first 
webzine(www.meghbarta.org) in 1999. Pathshala brings to Dhaka 
visiting professors, not only of photography, but of allied fields, 
such as literature, art, and art history.

As though if this were not enough, Mr. Alam founded Chobi Mela 
(www.chobimela.org), a festival of photography, in 2000. His own 
photographs have been exhibited in the leading venues of the world, 
including the Museum of Modern Art [MOMA}, New York, the Georges 
Pompidou Center in Paris, the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Tehran, 
and the Photographer's Gallery in London. His photographs have been 
published in newspapers and magazines of mass circulation, among them 
Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Observer, 
Liberation, Paris Match and The New Straits Times. Among the latest 
initiatives in which he is involved is majorityworld.com, which 
"champions the cause of indigenous photographers from the developing 
world and the global South."

See also ShahidulNews at http://shahidul.wordpress.com

On his visit to UCLA as a Regents' Lecturer, Mr. Alam will also be 
available on campus to those faculty and students who wish to speak 
to him about his work. To set up an appointment with him, please 
email him at shahidul1 at ...

LECTURES ON CAMPUS

Shahidul Alam will be delivering the Regents' Lecture on Wednesday, 
May 30th, in Bunche 6275 from 4-6 PM. His lecture is entitled 
PUBLISHING FROM THE STREETS:
CITIZEN JOURNALISM.

Amongst the two words most often discussed in every institution 
offering courses in modern communication these days are "citizen" and 
"journalism". The rise of the amateur writer and publisher has been 
driven by giant strides in personal technology. "Blogging" is now 
widely recognized throughout the world. Inexpensive computers,
digital cameras and the internet have presented individuals with a 
new chance to reach audiences. While disillusionment with traditional 
media is widespread, rumours -- unsubstantiated, libelous and 
sometimes dangerous - also feed much net content. The jury is out in 
terms of what constitutes the most effective journalism.

But the phenomenal entry barriers to traditional media, and 
increasingly greater control over the media by governments, has led 
to shifts in battle strategies. While governments scurry to enact new 
laws to curb cyberdissidents, the collective strength of new media 
savvy activist communities, have become the most potent source of 
media resistance. With the military emerging as a political force in 
South Asia, the citizen journalist is the new David. This talk will 
open up this ongoing debate and try to feel the pulse of a shifting 
media landscape, and in particular it will attempt to assess the 
place of media streaming, blogging, and the internet amidst the
political turmoil in contemporary Bangladesh.

*************************
The Center for India and South Asia is sponsoring a second talk by 
Shahidul Alam on Thursday, May 31st, 12:30-2:30 in Bunche 11377, 
entitled THE MAJORITY WORLD: RECONFIGURING THE FRAME

One recent study has shown that "upward of 90% of the images of the 
developing world (now increasingly called 'majority world') are taken 
by white non-indigenous photographers, either in-country staff of 
development organisations or commissioned photographers sent 
in-country by the 'western' media." Charities and development 
agencies need to raise money from the western public. It has been 
felt that the best way to pull the heart strings - and thereby the 
purse strings - is to show those doleful eyes that a few pennies 
could save.

With the advent of the internet and digital photography it should be 
easier than ever for photographers from the Majority World to present 
their own reality in the global media. But old prejudices die hard.

Perhaps photographers from the South cannot be trusted to understand 
this? Perhaps they are so hardened to such images of daily suffering 
that they are unable to appreciate the impact these sights might have 
on western audiences - and the coffers of western aid agencies.

The talk explains the underlying causes behind this prejudice and 
narrates the tale of resistance against it.


------------------------------------------------------
Vinay Lal, Associate Professor, Departments of History & Asian 
American Studies, &
Chair of South Asia Interdepartmental Program
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
US mail: Department of History, UCLA, 405 Hilgard Ave.
6265 Bunche Hall, Box 951473, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1473
Tel: 310.825.4601/8276; fax: 310.206.9630; email: vlal at ...

(ii)

DEAR FRIENDS,

PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO READ AND SIGN THIS PETITION. YOUR SOLIDARITY
IS CRUCIAL TO RELEASING DR. KIAN TAJBAKHSH, A SCHOLAR, SOCIAL
SCIENTIST AND PEACE-LOVING INDIVIDUAL, FROM PRISON in TEHRAN, WHERE HE
HAS BEEN HELD WITHOUT ACCESS TO A LAWYER.

YOUR SOLIDARITY WILL BE DEEPLY APPRECIATED

Bina Sarkar Ellias
Editor/Gallerie

About this Campaign: Please sign the petition here: http://www.freekian.org

The Free Kian campaign has been created by friends and associates of
Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh.  Kian is a distinguished scholar, teacher, and
international expert on urban planning.  He has worked tirelessly to
aid the people of Iran and build bridges between them and the
international community.

Kian was arrested at his home in Tehran by the Iranian security
services on May 11th, and has been detained in the notorious Evin
prison since then.  Kian has not seen a lawyer and has not been
permitted visitors.   He has been charged with no crime. We are
shocked and saddened by his detention.

We believe Kian's arrest was a terrible mistake, and are deeply
concerned for his well-being.  We call for the immediate release of
Kian, Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, and other Iranian-American scholars
detained in Iran.

Please take a moment to sign the petition calling for Kian's release.
If you choose to share your email address, the Free Kian campaign will
send you further updates on Kian's case and information about how to
help.

Please sign the  petition here: http://www.freekian.org

This petition will be sent to:

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran

M. Javad Zarif, Head of the Iranian Mission to United Nations
We the undersigned call for the immediate release of Dr. Kian
Tajbakhsh, who is being detained without charge in Evin Prison in
Iran.

Dr. Tajbakhsh is an internationally-respected scholar, and has used
his expertise in the areas of local government reform, urban planning
and social policy in service of the Iranian people. His work has
sought to foster cultural and academic exchange between the people of
Iran and the international community. His detention is a mistake.
We urgently ask the Iranian government to release Dr. Tajbakhsh and
ensure his safe return to his family.

Please sign the  petition here: http://www.freekian.org



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

Buzz for secularism, on the dangers of fundamentalism(s), on
matters of peace and democratisation in South
Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit
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Asia Citizens Web: www.sacw.net/
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