[sacw] [ACT] sacw dispatch (28 Jan 00)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch
28 January 2000
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#1. South Asia's ugly truce
#2. India: How the Hindu Right is poisoning young minds thru hateful textboo=
ks
#3. India -To=00w=00a=00r=00d=00s=00 =00a=00 =00C=00i=00t=00i=00z=00e=00n=00=
s=00 =00C=00h=00a=00r=00t=00e=00r=00
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n=00g
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#1.

The Economist
29th Jan.- 4th Feb 2000
ASIA

South Asia's ugly truce

D E L H I
Relations have deteriorated, but India and Pakistan may stop short of war

Kashmir: divided, disputed, dangerous

INDIA paraded its missiles and tanks along with its singers and dancers in
the celebrations in Delhi on January 26th to mark its 50th anniversary as a
republic . But there is a grim sense in the capital that the hardware may
soon be pointed north and west, towards Pakistan. Relations between the two
nuclear powers, never good, have worsened steadily since Pakistan tried
unsuccessfully to seize a chunk of Kashmir, a disputed northern state, from
India last spring. The general regarded by India as largely responsible for
the invasion has since taken power in Pakistan in a coup. A group of
terrorists hijacked an Indian Airlines jet in December, an operation
planned, India alleges, by Pakistan.

More battles, real and rhetorical, have since erupted. India and Pakistan
have accused each other's armies of crossing the "line of control", which
divides Indian Kashmir from the part of the state administered by Pakistan.
India claims that at least 25 Pakistani soldiers were killed in their
unsuccessful raid on a border post. The defence minister said on January
24th that Pakistan's nuclear weapons would not deter India from fighting a
limited conventional war in self-defence. General Pervez Musharraf,
Pakistan's ruler, was as blunt: "We will teach [India] a lesson" if it
crosses the line of control, he said.

Is the "ugly stability" between India and Pakistan about to degenerate
into something still uglier? There is a feeling in Delhi that Indian
patience with Pakistani provocation is about to snap. Pessimists point out
that the prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, was humiliated by the
hijacking, which ended with India surrendering three militants who had
fought Indian rule in Kashmir in exchange for the passengers=92 lives. One o=
f
the freed men has been touring Pakistan unmolested calling for a jihad
(holy war) against India. Another has reportedly slipped back into
Indian-controlled Kashmir, where there is already mayhem enough.

Militancy in Kashmir has become more lethal since Pakistan pulled out in
July. Last year was a bleak one for killings of Indian security personnel
in Kashmir's decade-long insurgency. An observer says that the ratio of
militants to security personnel killed has changed from three to one to two
to one. There is a lot of anger in Delhi, says one analyst, and "anger is
not a strategy".

Stability has hinged mainly on India's willingness to restrain its anger.
Pakistan has long supported insurgency in Kashmir, and possession of
nuclear weapons may have made it bolder. You do not have to take India=92s
view of Pakistani perfidy to believe that idea. The United States, for
example, says it has no evidence that Pakistan's government planned the
recent aircraft hijacking but acknowledges that it has provided "general
support" to groups active in Kashmir, including Harkat ul-Mujahideen, which
has been linked to the hijacking. Certainly, Pakistan's army would not have
trespassed so blatantly into Kashmir last spring without the comfort of a
nuclear shield. India managed to expel the intruders without crossing into
Pakistani territory, winning world sympathy in the process.

Now parts of India=92s establishment seem to be arguing that Pakistan=92s
nukes and a desire for world approbation should not inhibit India=92s
response to provocation. General V.P. Malik, chief of India=92s army, said
recently that India=92s restraint "may not be applicable to the next war".

In contrast with Pakistani soldiers, however, Indian military men take
their orders from the civilian government. And until now, at least, Mr
Vajpayee has ordered them to fight back only on Indian territory. One
western diplomat argues that pressure on Mr Vajpayee to cross the border,
say by bombing one of the militants=92 camps, is less than it was last
summer, when Pakistan had occupied Indian territory and a general election
in India was in the offing. He believes that Mr Vajpayee and his foreign
minister, Jaswant Singh, will continue to resist the soldiers and
hardliners who want India to retaliate more sharply.

India=92s threats may in fact make war less likely. Pakistan's provocations
are intended to keep world attention on Kashmir, but it is not in
Pakistan's interests to push too far. Officials in Pakistan acknowledge
that it has nothing to gain from a war, especially when it faces
international pressure to restore democracy and to fight terrorism, and
needs foreign loans to keep its economy going.

The most influential outsider of all, Bill Clinton, is about to step into
this mess. An announcement is expected any day now, of dates for the first
visit by an American president to South Asia in 22 years; it will probably
take place in the second half of March. The original idea had been to
correct America=92s neglect of India, a friend of the Soviet Union during th=
e
cold war (though Bangladesh is also thought to be on the itinerary).
America wants to improve ties to the second-most-populous nuclear power and
to get India to uphold international non-proliferation agreements,
especially the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty.

After the flare-up between India and Pakistan, the bridge-building visit
is in danger of turning into a fire-fighting mission. Mr Clinton's advisers
seem undecided whether to put Pakistan on the president=92s itinerary. India
has been hoping that the coup, the hijacking and stern American words about
links between agencies of government and Harkat ul-Mujahideen will persuade
Mr Clinton to shun Pakistan. But the United States has been reluctant to
isolate Pakistan, for example, by branding it a state supporter of
terrorism, lest that should set off unrest in which even more objectionable
leaders could supplant General Musharraf.

If, however, Mr Clinton does visit Pakistan, especially without some big
concession by the Pakistanis, India is bound to conclude that America is so
worried about war that it will try brokering peace. Pakistan would claim
that as recognition that Kashmir is dangerous enough to warrant
international intervention. India would seethe.

There is little hope of Pakistan and India making peace on their own any
time soon. Amid the sabre-rattling, General Musharraf has been suggesting
that they should at least start talking. Like every other Pakisani leader,
he insists that Kashmir is the main issue. He recently told the Hindu, an
Indian newspaper, that issues of more interest to India could be discussed
at the same time. India says there is no point in talking again until
Pakistan stops cross-border terrorism. This the general is unlikely to do.
South Asia will therefore be lucky to keep the violence at its current
horrible pitch.
________________

#2.
Communalism Combat (Mumbai, India)
January 2000
Cover story

YOUR CHILD'S FUTURE IN YOUR HANDS

by =00T=00e=00e=00s=00t=00a=00 =00S=00e=00t=00a=00l=00v=00a=00d=00

discomfort, murmurs of discontent, even downright out rage, have been the
characteristic responses of many of us to the quality and content
of Indian textbooks ( especially those of history and social studies ) that
have, over the years, reflected sharper and sharper biases apart from being
a downright boring read.

The whole process of moulding and putting blinkers on young minds is today
a sophisticated political project. The most lethal and venomous versions
are being dished out by the extremist RSS-run Bal Shishu Mandirs and Vidya
Bharatis (an NCERT report of 1993 and 1994 has recommended that the
textbooks being used by these institutions be summarily withdawn!). But
what has recently been brought to light (see Communalism Combat, October
1999) is that even the text-books of many 'mainline', state education
boards and even ICSE board texts are far from immune. These texts have,
particularly since the early eighties, seen a successful reflection of
gender-driven, communally-motivated and caste-biased approach that has been
commonly associated with only RSS-run educational institutions or many
Muslim madrassas.

In short, the Indian text-book on history and social studies, in
particular, has begun to effectively reflect the larger Indian political
reality. A reality dominated by a strong right-wing discourse that openly
admits to a hate=F1driven, =EBenemy-making project=ED within who=EDs scheme
education, especially selectively interpreted and taught history with it=EDs
divisive potential, has been exploited to the fullest.

This kind of text=F1book that now exists in almost all state and many centra=
l
boards of education is the ultimate, physical manifestation of the
violence-driven, "hate-project" of the right. Other recent moves by the
central human resources development ministry headed by the RSS hard-liner,
Murli Manohar Joshi, that include the appointment of a former killer to the
NCERT committee on education, and the selection of ideologues of the Hindu
right to head other Central government institutions lends an added, biting
urgency to the whole issue.

While discontent on the selective content and orientation of our text-books
and curricula has simmered in the past, parents and teachers in the country
have remained mute spectators and the children victims of these
developments. They/We hardly lodged a protest with the government or state
or central education boards when our text-books were doctored and changed.
They/We did not openly stake their/our rightful claims for a say in the
kind and quality of education they/we want for their children.

But finally this has begun to happen. We can see the beginnings of a
movement against biased and distorted text=F1books emerging in Gujarat and,
more gradually, in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. We are anxiously looking
forward to responses from Andhra Pradesh. The Hyderabad Book Trust is
translating the CC cover story of October 1999 into Telugu (a Gujarati
translated version is already available) for a Teacher=EDs Workshop this
month.

At this stage, a few months after CC projected the issue (following the
research work done through KHOJ, Sabrang's "education for a plural India"
project), we see the makings of a national campaign. We believe that the
issue of =EBwhat kind of text=F1book=ED and the broader issue of the content=
and
orientation of our education is up for scrutiny. Parents and teachers are
beginning to take a pro-active role and demanding change. In Gujarat, where
the campaign is well under way, several workshops with teachers have been
undertaken to first, painstakingly identify the blatant bloomers and,
second, to jointly explore alternatives.

Our experience with teachers over the past five years, conducting intense
workshops on "How and Why I Teach History" has shown up an unhappy lot of
professionals but who as a group are reluctant to directly challenge the
system. This is hardly surprising given the bureaucratic, passive thrust of
our education system that generates no excitement and unveils few
challenges. On the contrary, it subjects the carriers of that system to
silent subservience.

Teachers teach the young, for their entire careers sometimes, governed by
the limitations in the education policy (perspective), the syllabus
(mapping of approach) and the text-book (content). The enterprising and
vivacious among them find a way around these limitations, often exploring
exciting new avenues. But given the examination-driven, status quoist
orientation of our system, these experiments remain isolated from each
other. The wider teaching community rarely benefits from many of these
path-breaking innovations.

What Kind of Shivaji do you take into the classroom? How do you depict the
journey of faiths and ideas across boundaries and regions? How do you tell
the story of technological innovations and exchanges that have enriched
human development but also, when indiscriminately applied, caused
unspeakable environmental damage?

How do you portray the early medieval and medieval ages of history that
brought Islam to Indian shores long before the advent of the Mahmud of
Ghazni?

These are the questions that must accompany any critical examination of the
text=F1book. It is such critical, touchy questions that force introspection
in the teacher and the parent. Side by side, an exploration of the text and
syllabus continues.

Given our experience with the manner in which the responses to the Campaign
on Distorted Textbooks emerged and is growing, we feel that there is space
for each one of us, readers of Communalism Combat, to actively participate
and enrich this campaign.

Actively engaging in interactions with the schools that our children
attend, or those that exist in our neighbourhoods, or within which we are
employed, is the first step.

These interactions should centre around discussions on the content of the
texts, the orientation of the teachers and encourage involvement of parents
and teachers, together, in the teaching-learning process. All this
conscientisation and mobilisation should be geared to action-related
protests on the issue.

Involvement in the way our schools are run ( whether it is the school of
our child or the neighbourhood's children ) opens up possibilities for
discussion and deliberation on alternatives. Few spaces exist for such
discourse. Teachers are given scant opportunity to put their heads together
with colleagues at the school and ruminate on the 'hows and whats of
teaching.' If such a system were to be introduced, management-related
structural issues could be sorted out in a participative way. More
importantly, the content of education and the orientation of the teacher
would also be under quiet scrutiny.

What exactly do we mean? The Indian history or social studies text is
grossly unimaginative and limiting. It has the capacity to generate
misconceptions and stereotypes about sections of the Indian population (see
CC, October 1999).

It would be a worthwhile exercise for the Indian parent to participate
actively in the process of identifying such biases in interactive sessions
with the teacher and the school, all the while pointing out the reasons
behind the concern for such a doctored education. The effort would help us
understand how a biased orientation in the text-book, and sometimes in
teaching itself, fuels the conflict outdoors in civil society.

If our texts help conjure foreign, demon-like images of certain sections of
the Indian population, be they Christian, Muslim, or Dalit, it requires no
great psychological analysis to deduce that that is precisely how our
children will form reflective images of these sections of the Indian
population.

If the same texts glorify the Varna system while remaining silent on the
social and economic exploitation of Dalits, who constitute 16 per cent of
modern=F1day India, the motives of the text=F1book writer and the education
board is apparent. The writers and generators of such texts are trying at
least to create a future citizenry and consciousness who are blind to
Indian social reality.

If the proverbial 'Rajput's Respect for Women' includes a description of
how the girl child was killed in Rajput society at birth, is it any wonder
that the Indian myth of being a tolerant society that respects it's women (
never mind the gory instances of violent crimes within the family
(dowry-related) and outside against women ) gets effectively perpetuated?
Upheavals in Indian civil society over the past two decades have blatantly
and crudely spilt into the classroom. Such situations have severely
strained the image of the teacher among the taught. Often roles have been
reversed, with the teacher straining for sanity while some of the parents
have been the source from whence the vitriol emanates. The moment
interactive consultations on content, orientation and thrust within the
school (that is between teachers of an institution themselves) and with the
school and the wider community of parents and citizenry begins, a critical
issue that has lain simmering for decades will begin to get addressed.

Stories and anecdotes about 'India Inside Its Classrooms' span
spine-chilling territory in the last two decades.

Enter a classroom in UP's Meerut district in late 1987 and you would find
the divisions and hatreds created by adults blurring the clear vision of
the child. Two years later, in Bihar's Bhagalpur, rumours and myths
dominated school and classroom discourse, affecting genuine inquiry and the
resolution of violent conflict. Again children were helpless victims. There
were isolated voices of brave resistance and opposition, of individuals and
small groups who gleaned the facts and documented the developments.
However, these instances of resistance did not emerge into a national
campaign.

Come December 1992-January 1993 all over the country, in Mumbai especially
and adults, teachers and parents fell victim again. Those who resisted
again stood more or less alone. There was this one teacher who coldly told
a child returning to class after ten days absence, "How come you are here?
Have you not gone to Pakistan yet?" In stark contrast, one of Mumbai's
elite institutions could not resist "pressures" from influential, moneyed
parents who got their child to distribute VHP pamphlets inside the school
spilling venom and double-speak.

Once a campaign against Doctored Textbooks emerges and grows, many of these
related issues will have to automatically, as a spin-off, get tackled. When
we speak of doctored history we are pointing out the political motive to
drive wedges and suspicions amongst our people and it=EDs far-reaching,
poisonous impact. It is impossible to speak about or protest against a
biased text-book without addressing the more complex issue of bias in the
vision and interpretation of the adult, be it the teacher or the parent.
Often, given the way political winds blow, in the initial phases of such a
campaign, lone voices will bravely speak, experiencing isolation. This
isolation at the individual/local level will dissipate if we know that we
are part of a wider, ongoing campaign. That we can join hands articulating
local and regional issues of text-book related content at the state and
national level. It is in this effort that we are asking our readers to
actively join.

Close scrutiny of the text-books being used in the schools where we live
and work will lead us into initiation of pro-active explorations that
explore the sensitive area of conflict education. Finally we will be in a
position to consolidate these moves into an action-programme to register
our protest against existing texts and initiate a dialogue with the
text-book boards on the urgent need for alternatives.

This is how the campaign is emerging in Gujarat. After three successful and
extremely intensive workshops with teachers from Ahmedabad and all over the
state, a memorandum on the issue is ready. This document will be the focus
of a statewide signature campaign that will culminate in an appointment
with the Gujarat State Text-Book Board. To mobilise signatures and share
information on the issue of "How Text-books Teach Prejudice" a booklet is
in circulation all over the state in Gujarati. We are hopeful that a
similar campaign emerges in Uttar Pradesh. We have requested many of the
schools with whom we are associated in Mumbai to also explore such a
strategy. In Andhra Pradesh, too, such an initiative has been undertaken.

As a culmination of this effort in several states, we are hopeful that the
national campaign will culminate in a serious attempt to seek redressal
from the Indian judiciary. At the end of the campaign, offensive paragraphs
or sections of some texts will propel us into litigation. If passages of
text-books in India run contrary to the basic tenets of equality, fair
play, and freedom of religion that are intrinsic values within the Indian
Constitution, surely any citizen of India, a teacher or a parent in
particular, can demand that such a text be immediately withdrawn? We urge
all our readers to join this campaign. More than ever before we believe
that you hold "Your Child's Future In Your Hands."
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(Sabrang Communications, Mumbai, India)
_____________

#3.

Communalism Combat (Mumbai, India)
January 2000

T=00O=00W=00A=00R=00D=00S=00 =00A=00 =00C=00I=00T=00I=00Z=00E=00N=00S=00=
=00C=00H=00A=00R=00T=00E=00R=00 =00A=00G=00A=00I=00N=00S=00T=00
=00H=00A=00T=00E=00 =00T=00E=00A=00C=00H=00I=00N=00G=00

=00B=00a=00s=00e=00d=00 =00o=00n=00 =00o=00u=00r=00 =00e=00x=00p=00e=00r=00i=
=00e=00n=00c=00e=00,=00 =00w=00e=00 =00p=00r=00e=00s=00e=00n=00t=00
b=00e=00l=00o=00w=00 =00a=00 =00f=00e=00w=00 =00s=00u=00g=00g=00e=00s=00t=00=
i=00o=00n=00s=00 =00t=00h=00a=00t=00 =00c=00o=00u=00l=00d=00
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=00p=00o=00i=00n=00t=00 =00 =00f=00o=00r teachers, parents,
concerned citizens

IDENTIFY THE BLOOMERS
Examine the lay-out of the syllabus contained in the text=F1book and check i=
f
the premises are problematic.

Ancient India is Not Vedic Hindu India: For example, we have texts (Gujarat
state board and this is a model being followed at the Centre now) that
equate Ancient India with Vedic India. This kind of premise has serious
implications. It attempts to posit upper caste "Hindu" India as the basis
and origin of "Indian civilization." Both historical knowledge and truth
for the student and teacher of history runs contrary to this premise,
taking back settlements and civilisation in the Indian sub-continent to
periods and times long before the consolidation of the term and culture
"vedic" or "hindu."

A history text-book should not barter hatreds: Examine the portrayal of
different faiths and their arrival on the shores of the Indian
sub-continent. Does this portrayal reflect reality, does it do justice to
the multiplicity of cultures/faiths/ethnicity that our society contains
within it?

=46or example, in many Indian texts, the description of the invasions by
Mahmud of Ghazni become an excuse ( for the authors of the texts and the
text-book board that okays them) to launch a tirade against Islam itself.
Similar is our experience when we analyse the descriptions of rulers like
Aurangzeb. Muslims and Christians and Parsees in a text-book of the Gujarat
state board are dubbed "foreigners". The Christian clergy is selectively
criticised for their 'corruption and succumbing to sensual pleasures during
the Dark Ages.' But the role of the Brahmanical priesthood that maintained
and continues to maintain a stranglehold on learning/teaching, money
matters and power over the vast majority of the Indian population does not
come up for any critical examination.

History of Religions missing from our text-books: The birth of different
faiths, in the sub-continent and in the world, how they travelled, how they
became vehicles for power and control =F3 this is an area that is left
unexplored in our texts. Different beliefs and tenets, too, go unexplored.

Glorification of the Varna System: Many of our texts, including those
recommended by the ICSE board, describe the varna system as 'the most
precious gift to mankind.' There is no mention in these texts of the rigid,
power-driven stratification that evolved in subsequent years from the Varna
system, linking it intrinsically to birth.

There is no mention of the socio-economic ostracism associated with the
premise and notion of untouchability, a notion unique in its cruelty
because it means, 'so impure as to be untouchable.' There is also no
reference to the unspeakably unjust social system that emerged as a result.
Sixteen per cent of Indian Dalits live under the conditions dictated by
this social and economic ostracism even today.

Ambiguity on Manu Smruti: This book, contains the "moral code" for a minute
section of the influential, upper caste, Hindu. Hegemony and control has
assured that this code dictates the terms of reference and relationships of
a majority of the population. It is this book and the code contained within
it that lays down unspeakably derogatory terms and =EBrules=ED for both wome=
n
and =EBshudras=ED (untouchables ). Women are one half of our population, Dal=
its
16 per cent. How should a text-book interpret or explain this text-book
within the framework of a twenty-first century educational vision? Most of
our text=F1books deal with this subject uncritically. It is mentioned
ambiguously and often comes in for praise.

The Freedom Struggle is selectively represented: Does this representation
do regional justice? Does it encompass all the people's movements that
contributed to the mobilisation against colonial rule?

Partition dealt with ambiguously and selectively: The entire representation
of Partition is sketchy and ambiguous, the complex factors that preceded
the tragic division are unexplored. The birth of communal tendencies in all
sections-Hindu, Muslim and Sikh-that effectively propelled the "two nation
theory" is selectively addressed. Who is held responsible? Only Mohammad
Ali Jinnah, the Muslim League and by unspoken implication, Muslims.

The singular success of Hindu communal organisations like the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh and the Hindu Mahasabha in influencing public discourse
is conspicuously missing in Indian texts; they are thereby spared any blame
for divisiveness in the polity.

As a concrete example, no Indian text-book (most of them gloss over the
assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in any case) pins the blame on the ideology
and thoughts of the assassin, Nathuram Godse, influenced as he was by the
RSS and the Mahasabha.

No People's History in our texts: Look out for the over-emphasis on the
religious identity of people during various historical periods and try to
construct a genuine People's History. What about other human impulses, the
insatiable human urge for intellectual and scientific inquiry? The genius
for technological invention? The over-arching impulse to conduct exchanges,
trade, business, to travel to explore? Power and man and how men have used
and played with power over the ages?

If the text does not elaborate on these themes, explore them yourself.
=46ascinating possibilities for classroom sessions emerge. These could take
us, teachers of history into the history of numbers, the history of
technology, the human propensity for squeezing natural resources and the
resultant environmental damage. Each exercise will also contribute to
animating the teaching of history and social studies, today considered a
dull and drab subject.

Biases, among other things, are extremely elitist. One statement in an
existing Indian text ran thus, "An Egyptian king married a commoner. Though
a commoner she was beautiful and intelligent." (emphasis added). By
implication a commoner is rarely so!

TOWARDS A CITIZEN'S CHARTER

1. Make this a discussion issue. Once you have identified the bloomers
discuss this/these with other teachers in your school and outside. Within
the school, at the Parent-Teacher's Association, other teacher groups and
citizen's group.
2. Discuss this with your principal and trustees. You may even find
support and agreement there. If not, move on. Build your bridges of support
from among other like-minded teachers and parents, even.
3. Create a group of teachers and parents who are concerned and agitated
over the issue of, =ECWhat kind of education do we want for our children?=EE
4. Draft a simply-worded Charter. This should be easily understood, should
contain and encompass most of our objections to the text-books under
scrutiny and discussion.
5. Make this Citizen's Charter the document around which you mobilise wider
opinion.
6. Collect signatures that are significant in number and represent varied
persona and interest groups. They should make a difference to the movement
and back the charter.
7. Register your protest on the question by articulating your concerns as
an advocacy group of teachers and parents, concerned citizens, through the
media.
8. Insist on a dialogue and a response from the state/central educational
board authorities. Keep a specific time-frame in mind.
9. It is unlikely that something concrete will happen.
10. If no change is forthcoming as a result of this dialogue, you have an
option of approaching the courts and getting the offensive text withdrawn.
At any rate, Action is =00B=00e=00t=00t=00e=00r=00 =00t=00h=00a=00n=00=
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=00 =00c=00h=00i=00l=00d=00r=00e=00n=00,=00 =00t=00h=00e=00
=00V=00i=00c=00t=00i=00m=00s=00.=00

by =00 =00T=00E=00E=00S=00T=00A=00 =00S=00E=00T=00A=00L=00V=00A=00D=00
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=00(=00I=00n=00 =00t=00h=00e=00 =00c=00o=00u=00r=00s=00e=00 =00o=00f=00=
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=00f=00o=00r=00 =00K=00h=00o=00j=00 =00o=00v=00e=00r=00 =00t=00h=00e=00=
=00l=00a=00s=00t=00 =00s=00i=00x=00 =00y=00e=00a=00r=00s=00,=00 =00w=00e=00
=00h=00a=00v=00e=00 =00b=00e=00e=00n=00 =00i=00n=00 =00t=00o=00u=00c=00h=00=
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=00n=00u=00m=00b=00e=00r=00 =00o=00f=00 =00s=00c=00h=00o=00o=00l=00 =00t=00e=
=00a=00c=00h=00e=00r=00s=00,=00 =00p=00r=00i=00n=00c=00i=00p=00a=00l=00s=00
=00a=00n=00d=00 =00p=00r=00o=00m=00i=00n=00e=00nt historians all of whom are=
unhappy with the
current history and social studies syllabus and text-books. Several of them
have also been quite active in experimenting with alternatives at the
individual school level. We urge readers of Communalism Combat who are
active in this field to write back to us so that the experience could be
shared with others. Besides, for those readers who are interested, we will
be happy to put them in touch with or share addresses of others who are
also active in the same area. Join the Campaign Against Hate Teaching).

(Sabrang Communications, Mumbai, India)

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SOUTH ASIA CITIZENS WEB DISPATCH is an informal, independent &
non-profit citizens wire service run by South Asia Citizens Web
(http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex) since1996.