[sacw] SACW #2. (23 July 01)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire / Dispatch No. 2
23 July 2001
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

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[1.] Dhaka Declaration
[2.] Girl students of India and Pakistan, march together on a peace mission
[3.] Book Review: The Political Abuse of History
[4.] India: Campign to oppose the renaming a Mumbai local station=20
after Savarkar
[5.] Request for Information for a paper on India & Pakistan

-----------------------------------------

#1.

Dhaka Declaration

A two-day 'South Asian Conference on Fundamentalism: Role of Civil=20
Society' took place in Dhaka on June 1 and 2 [2001]. Organised by=20
leading intellectuals and public figures of Bangladesh who had=20
played a prominent role in the country's liberation from Pakistani=20
military-bureaucratic yoke thirty years ago, it was attended by a=20
large number of participants from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal=20
and Bangladesh. The discussions at the Conference were on Resisting=20
Fudamentalism: Role of Government and Political Parties;=20
Fundamentalism and Religion; Fundamentalism and Women;=20
Fudamentalism, Communalism and Progressive Ideas; Fundamentalism=20
and War Crimes; Fundamentalism and Terrorism; Communalism:=20
Condition of Religious and Ethnic Minorities, Resisting=20
Fundamentalism and Communalism: Role of Civil Society: The Prime=20
Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, met the conference=20
participants on June 1 and conveyed her best wishes for the success=20
of the meet. The Indian participants included PA. Sangma, MP,=20
former Minister Phulrenu Guha, Prof Amlan Dutta, Major General=20
(retd.) Vinod Saigal, Mrinal Sen, M.P., Prof. Mushirul Hasan,=20
Maulana Wahiddudin Khan, Prof. Riaz Punjabi, Dr. Farida Khanam, MJ=20
Akbar. The Pakistani Delegation had in it Air Marshal (retd.) Asghar=20
Khaan and hiss wife, Prof. A.H. Dani, Prof. Hamza Alavi, forrmer=20
chieef Justice Syed Sajjad Ali Shah, M.B. Naqvi, Dr Alia Imam,=20
Advocate Alamdar Raja, Karamat Ali, Ahmad Salim and Shahid Fiaz.=20
>From Nepal came former Speaker Daman Dhungana, former Minister=20
Jhalanath Khanal, Prof. Rajesh Gautam, Dr. Tika Pokhrel. The Sri=20
Lankan Team included former ombudsman Prof. B.E.S.J Bastiampillai,=20
Dr. Sunil Wijesiriwardena, Tissa Abeysekera, Sathivale=20
Balakrishnan. Bangladesh was represented inter alia by National=20
Professor Kabir Chowdhury, poet Shamsur Rahman, Foreign Minister=20
Abdus Samad Azad, Mujahidul Islam Selim, Abdul Matin, Dilip=20
Barua, Monaem Sarkar, Ms Chitra Bhattacharya, MP, Prof Khan=20
Sarwar Murshid, Prof Burhanuddin Khan Jehangir, Major General=20
(retd.) C.R. Dutta Bhadanta, Sumangal Mahathero, Waliur Rahman,=20
Sultana Kamal, Ayesha Khanam, Debashish Roy, Shahriar Kabir,=20
Barrister Tania Amir.=20

The following declaration was adopted at the end of the conference.

We, members of the civil society of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri=20
Lanka and Bangladesh, having participated in the two day South=20
Asian Conference on Fundamentalism and Communalism held in Dhaka,=20
Bangladesh on June 1-2, 2001;

1. Recognising that fundamentalism and communalism are undermining=20
the vitals of our society, eroding democratic values, norms and=20
institutions and perpetuating acts of violence and terrorism;

2. recognising that women, children and people belonging to ethnic=20
and religious minority groups are particularly being victimised=20
by fundamentalist and communalist forces;

3. recognising that these forces are geared to gain political control=20
by various means whatsoever;

4. recognising that there is a great urgency in checking and=20
rendering these forces ineffective without further delay; further=20
recognising that unless concerted efforts are made to achieve these=20
objectives, the entire South Asian region will be engulfed in=20
medieval darkness;

5. recognising that countries in South Asia are endangered by=20
identical problems and we should move unitedly and resolutely to=20
deal with the problems;

6. recognising that some political parties and social groups are=20
using fundamentalist and communal ideologies as well as these forces=20
in furthering their ends; affirming the need to urge upon=20
political parties and social groups in South Asian countries to=20
desist immediately from utilising these forces for political benefit;

7. affirming the need of de-communalisation and secularisation=20
implying an active reconstruction of ethnic and religious=20
identities in a spirit of equality interdependence and mutual=20
respect, we call upon states, governments, political parties and=20
civil society organisations to uphold inter-ethnic, inter-religious=20
and inter-faith equality as inalienable democratic principles

8. recognising that sections of the media are increa-singly becoming=20
the means to propagate fundamentalist communalist and extremist=20
ideology and sentiments call upon media institutions and personnel to=20
uphold principles and ideals of democracy, pluralism and secularism=20
in order to promote values of diversity and tolerance

9. recognising that the process of secular democratisation of South=20
Asian societies could effectively challenge patriarchy and gender=20
subordination, reinforced and sustained by reactionary forces, we=20
call upon states political parties and civil society organisations=20
to uphold these fundamental principles;

10. We, members of South Asian civil society, r ecognising that the=20
present Conference held in Dhaka together members of the civil=20
societies of South Asia and paving a path to fight the communal and=20
funda-mentalist forces unitedly by upholding democratic, human and=20
secular values; pledge .
(a) to harness our energies for promoting socialjustice, peace,=20
gender equality, and secular democratic values;
(b) to work towards bringing all perpetrators of crimes against=20
humanity and war criminals to justice.

Hence, we propose to establish a South Asia platform " South Asian=20
People's Union Against Fundamentalism and Communalism" to join=20
hands in resisting all forms of fundamentalism and communalism in=20
the region.

Source: MAlNSTREAM , June 9, 2001, page 35

________

2.

" Girl students of India and Pakistan, march together on a peace mission"

Coordinating Office : ASHA, A-893, Indira Nagar, Lucknow-226016. India

Patron :
Dr.Sandeep Pandey, visiting Professor, Princeton University=20
(<mailto:spandey@p...>spandey@p...) (Founder : Asha=20
<http://www.ashanet.org>www.ashanet.org)

Chairperson Organizing Committee :
ARUNDHATI DHURU, senior Narmada Bachao Andolan activist.=20
<mailto:ashain@s...>ashain@s...

" CHILDREN OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN COME TOGETHER" read The=20
Times of India, "CHILDREN OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN WILL JOINTLY EDIT A=20
BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE SACHCHI - MUCHCHI" read The Hindustan Times and=20
The Pioneer stated " GIRL STUDENTS OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN TO OPEN NEW=20
VISTAS OF FRIENDSHIP" when a team of 10 girl students and three=20
teachers, including the Principal Hajra Ahmed, of Khaldunia College,=20
Islamabad, Pakistan, came to India on July 10, 2001 evening.
In stark contrast to diplomatic interactions amidst=20
country heads, which incidently (not intentionally) went parallel in=20
Agra, children of India and Pakistan have come together to open up=20
new vistas of people to people's interaction without interference of=20
their adult counterparts, who are more driven with violent and=20
aggressive factors. The diplomatic processes came to a dead end, but=20
children's interaction between two countries, have doubtlessly cut=20
through the ice which was frozen in-between the people of India nad=20
Pakistan.

An ALL GIRLS Editorial team of 12 Students each, from=20
schools in LUCKNOW, INDIA and of KHALDUNIYA COLLEGE, ISLAMABAD,=20
PAKISTAN, was constituted during the interaction for an already=20
in-circulation bi-monthly magazine 'Sachchi Muchchi'.
July-August Edition of 'Sachchi Muchchi', was brought out by this=20
newly constituted team of Sachchi Muchchi on July 13, 2001, on global=20
peace and nuclear disarmament issue in the campus premises of=20
Navayuga Radiance Senior Secondary School.

THE VISIT : A report :

The Delhi organizing committee led by Kamala Menon, had=20
warmly received them when the Bus "DOSTI BUS" arrived from across the=20
border at India Gate, New Delhi on the evening of July 10.

These friends from Pakistan alongwith their host Mahesh and=20
Kusum, reached Lucknow at 10:30 pm on July 11. Hardly there is any=20
media at local or national level, which failed to join us in=20
welcoming them at Railway Station near the midnight.
Senior Narmada Bachao Andolan activist ARUNDHATI DHURU, former OXFAM=20
activist Praneeta Kapoor, Senior school teacher SHOBHA SHUKLA of=20
Loreto Convent, All India Radio Program Producer ANUPAM PATHAK WHO=20
WAS DENIED OFFICIAL PERMISSION TO COME BECAUSE FORMAL CLEARANCE FROM=20
FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTRY IS NEEDED FOR A.I.R. people TO COVER THIS=20
EVENT, had also come in personal capacity with his family to welcome=20
these guests from pakistan, 'ASHA' family of Lucknow including=20
Ashish, Indu, Paramita, and many others created an ambience full of=20
love, warmth and overflowing enthusiasm in BREAKING THE CHILLING=20
SILENCE since nearly 54 years between people of two nations.

They were put up at BD Guest House since it was quite late in the=20
night (post- midnight) for them to go to host families.

Later, the next day, they were introduced to the host families and=20
put up in homes where there were members of the same age group.

July 12, 2001. Morning

Leading national daily THE HINDUSTAN TIMES, hosted a breakfast for=20
these friends from pakistan, and senior Editors of English and Hindi=20
editions including SUNITA ARON, Resident Editor of The Hindustan=20
Times English edition and Mr.Sunil Dubey, Resident Editor of=20
Hindustan Hindi daily, were present to welcome them. Arundhati Dhuru,=20
led the delegation to the HT premises and they interacted with HT=20
staff and took a round of the press compound.

Later in the noon, they were welcomed at NAVAYUGA RADIANCE SENIOR=20
SECONDARY SCHOOL, which is a leading middle class girls school with=20
about 12,000 students in the same complex (but different units).
Students of Navayuga radiance introduced their friends from=20
across the borders, with the rich cultural traditional heritage,=20
which has still SURVIVED despite of multi-throng invasion of western=20
influences. Classical dances and recitations reverberated all over.=20
The hall mark was the cultural dance which the girls performed with=20
burning lamps in their hands - i have no words to recreate the magic=20
spell of those moments.

Senior Teacher of Khalduniya School, Islamabad, Pakistan, Shri=20
JAMAL bhai, WAS TRYING TO moderate the session (many dominating and=20
over-riding adults were trying to intervene and do it in a second)=20
with 10 Navayuga girls and 10 pakistani girls, with 3 teachers from=20
both the countries, to draft a resolution which was supposed to be=20
submitted by DR.SANDEEP PANDEY at UN office the same day at 3 pm=20
local time (New York, USA).

In the evening, India Pakistan People's forum for peace and democracy=20
hosted a reception at Rai Uma nath bali auditorium.

JULY 13.
**********

Friends from Pakistan visited Asmita, a center supported by Asha, for=20
'slow learners'. They were aghast to see the lives of these mentally=20
deranged children and how activists and Asmita NGO people are trying=20
to work to provide them with education and best possible development.

Later at 12 noon, these students from pakistan reached LORETO=20
CONVENT, (coordinated by Senior teacher SHOBHA SHUKLA) where they=20
took a round of the school, and then, proceeded for another FORMAL=20
RECEPTION. Loreto students too, came up with classical dances, and a=20
steam of welcome addresses, followed by a lunch arranged for all the=20
participants.

Senior educationist and social activist, LALITHA RAMDAS, joined them=20
at Loreto Convent.

Then the students proceeded to SEWA (Self Employeed Women's=20
Association) and got a chance to see Chikan embroidery work of=20
Lucknow, and meet the women and talk to them.

JULY 14
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Friends from Pakistan moved to KANPUR - a district 80 km from=20
Lucknow. They were welcomed by Kanpur organizing committee led by=20
NEELAM CHATURVEDI, at the very onset of Kanpur district (GANGA=20
PUL/BRIDGE). Later, the students attended a stream of programmes=20
arranged in different schools which actually were essentially=20
reception/ welcome events, at Virendra Swarup Inter College=20
Cantt.branch, St.Mary's High School, and Haleem Inter College. They=20
had a lunch too at the last school. After visiting some organizations=20
and meeting social activists in Kanpur, and MEDIA ofcourse, they came=20
back to Lucknow in the night.

JULY 15 Sunday
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
In the morning, these Pakistani friends, went around Lucknow to=20
Imambara, and then had lunch with Irfan Ahmed, a Lucknow resident, in=20
his house.
Later, after lunch they proceeded to Ameenabad, where they went on a=20
shopping spree with PRANEETA KAPOOR.

Natyagraam, welcomes the students at Children's Academy and PRatibha=20
Cinema theatre
In the evening at 5 pm, these children reached CHILDREN's ACADEMY,=20
MALL AVENUE, Lucknow where they SANG TOGETHER, DANCED TOGETHER,=20
PLAYED TOGETHER, ATE TOGETHER, and had a free time WITHOUT ANY FORMAL=20
STRUCTURED FORMAT. The Principal of Children's Academy, Mrs.Mishra,=20
Head Mistress Ms.Swarna Batra, Prohibition officer of UP State, Miss=20
SAroj Kumari, and senior ARmy officer Major PS Mishra, also joined=20
in. The principal of Navayuga Radiance was also there (GEETA DAYAL).
The adults interacted separately all throughout the evening, and=20
the children intermingled with each other. STUDENTS FROM THE OTHER=20
SCHOOLS (LORETO CONVENT AND NAVAYUGA RADIANCE) had also joined in=20
because an opportunity to mix freely and intermingle could not be=20
given to them when we went to their school in the preceding days.

Later they proceeded to the blockbuster movie, LAGAAN, in PRATIBHA=20
CINEMA THEATRE. a total of 40 people had come with us to this movie=20
with the kids from pakistan.
THe pratibha management gave a warm welcome to these students=20
from pakistan, and AARTI, TIKA and garlanding was done at the very=20
gate. The students were provided with front row seats and people=20
cooperated and moved to back seats. The Pratibha Management kept on=20
showing sub titles and slides in the beginning and all throughout the=20
movie and interval, to welcome the students from pakistan and make=20
them feel warm and well-received.
Refreshments, were provided by the management free of cost, and=20
the manager Shri Singh and Vijay Anand remained with us all=20
throughout. Senior industrialist and Hotelier Shri Pratap N Sharma,=20
mother of leading theatre personality and academician DR NISHI=20
PANDEY, PROF.RAMA KANT, also joined in.

JULY 16, 2001
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
The students from Pakistan went to a village with ALKA ADIYOG, and=20
'Awaaz' family and interacted with village community. It was=20
certainly a different exposure for these students to interact with=20
the villagers.

July 17, 2001
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Modern ACademy : Gomti Nagar Lucknow.
The Principal, Mr.Pant, the Director Mr.Rajiv Tuli, and other=20
senior people including Dr.Roop Rekha Verma President of=20
India-Pakistan People's forum for peace and democracy UP Chapter,=20
Arundhati Dhuru, President of organizing committee for this indo-pak=20
children's meet, Irfan Ahmed, another associate and host, teachers of=20
other schools like Colvin Taluqdar College Mrs.Siddiqui, Lalitha=20
Ramdas - a senior national peace activist, were also present.

Children of Modern Academy read out pre-made speeches followed by=20
their elder counterparts, who too, read out well-drafted speeches=20
studded with high sounding words. They also presented songs, dances,=20
adn theatre items. This was followed by a refreshment get-together=20
for 30 min.

Spring Dale Inter College, Indira Nagar, Lucknow.
The Principal Mrs.Khanna, The director Mrs. Sood, and principal of=20
other branches of Spring Dale (Mrs.Mishra of LDA Colony branch of=20
Spring Dale), received the delegation of pak children despite of=20
heavy downpour OUTSIDE the schools with umbrellas over their heads.
A well-prepared cultural programme with kathakali dances,=20
bharatnatyam dances, and classical music performances, including=20
theatre items, interspersed with speeches of very senior people like=20
Prof.Roop Rekha Verma, ARundhati Dhuru, Admiral L Ramdas, Lalitha=20
Ramdasji, and ofcourse, the school management people.
This was followed by a large scale lunch arranged and hosted by the=20
SPRING DALE school management.

In the evening, a cultural show on peace and harmony was put forth=20
by an Ahmedabad based group called Insaan Hain Hum, led by Charul and=20
Vinay.
Later, this was followed by a public meeting which was addressed by=20
leading peace activists including Prof.ROOP REKHA VERMA, ARUNDHATI=20
DHURU, ADMIRAL L RAMDAS etc.
This was followed by the dinner hosted by OXFAM at Royal Cafe.

Later in the night, Arundhati Dhuru, the hostess, led the team to=20
Railway Station and bid them good bye on Marudhar Express. "Asha"'s=20
Mahesh led the delegation to Agra.

The departing shot, that froze within me, was of the little girl=20
Aaliya - leaning on the railway train window railing, with tears=20
trikling down her cheeks. Words fail to contain the warmth, and=20
essence of a relationship that cuts all through the heavily guarded=20
borders of India and Pakistan.

Bobby Ramakant
<mailto:bobbyramakant@y...>bobbyramakant@y...
+91 98390 7 33 55

________

3.

Frontline
August 3, 2001

The Political Abuse of History

Ram Puniyani

Book Reviewed- Handcuffed to History: Narratives. Pathologies
and Violence in South Asia. Edited By S.P.Udaykumar, Prager-Westport,
2001. Pages 216, $64.95
-
It is no surprise that many a problems which South Asian countries face
today have a lot in common. On one hand most of these had been colonies of
British and on the other there is a lot of overlap in the religious and
cultural norms. Some of these have been artificially divided in the name
of religion and they share still more in common. It is this understanding
which formed the base of two symposia by the University of Hawaii in 1994
and 1996. The chapters in this volume were presented in those symposia.
The grouping of the themes of these essays is very logical. The major
focus of most of these contributions is on the abuse of History by the
Religious Nationalist movements, while some of these delve on some shared
commonalities of the region like: conflict and governance, History and
Politics, Culture and Philosophy etc.

Udaykumar correctly points out that ' As communal conflicts occur in
inter-group situations, a study of such conflicts should investigate the
concerned groups' ideologies, process of identity development, and
historical context within which political assertions of such identities
manifest.' ((p.6) It goes without saying that various versions of history
persist and different social groups choose and project a version, which
suits the interests of their collective. As such, the transition of
history from the chronicling of the deeds of the kings by the court
historians in the pay of the Kings to the Academic discipline is a
process, which occurred along with the secularization process. Since in
colonies the secularization took place against the colonial masters, it
had to confront the versions propagated by the colonial powers. who
popularized the types of 'History', which not only was lopsided but was
calculated to serve in their designs of 'divide and rule' as well. The
major streams prevalent were Utilitarians, Orient lists and Nationalists.
The overlap between the Utilitarian and communal forces is too obvious to
be stated. Utilitarian James Mill's major outpouring on Indian History was
prepared to train the aspirants for the Indian Civil Services. That time
British aimed to win over the loyalty of Indian subjects away from the
preceding Mughal rulers. Mill came up with the Hindu, Muslim and British
periods, opening the doors for the future communal interpretation of this
approach to history. It is noteworthy that since Buddhism was not strong
before the mass conversion by Ambedkar before 1956, Mill could turn a
convenient blind eye to the rule of Buddhist kings, British rulers are
identified not by religion but by the National identity and of course this
view of history has no place for the ordinary people. Of course to each
his (her history is yet to come up properly!) own History, Nationalists,
Marxists, Subaltern school and social historians. But the political misuse
of History has mainly been done by the 'Religious Nationalists' in a big
way and it has served as the major tool in manufacturing communal
consciousness. It is interesting to note that the pioneer of Hindutva
ideology Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was amongst the first to see the
importance of a particular version of History for his politics. So much so
that he went on to write not only 'Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History'
but also "How to read and Write history-Particularly by a Hindu
Sanghatanists' and undoubtedly the Hindutva volunteers took it seriously
enough to propagate the Hindu communal History from area to area through
their Shakhas (Branches), where the young boys are trained to become
swayamsevaks (Volunteers) for the cause of Hindu nation. This continuous
indoctrination of young minds has ensured that Hindu communal history
became the 'social common sense' of society and made it the base of their
political campaigns of Hatred of the "other' the major minority, the
Muslims.

The three major issues from past and present which have communalized the
social consciousness have been dealt with in the book and one of them
relates to ancient period, 'Poetics and Politics of Mahavamsha (Wimal
Dissanayake), which connects the ethnic violence with 'first comer' theory
in the SriLankan context, one to medieval period, Historicising Myth and
Mythologizing History: The violent 'Ram Temple' Drama (S.P.Udaykumar)
dealing with the myths from medieval period which not only whipped up the
mass hysteria around Ram temple but also led to demolition of Babri Masjid
and the following anti- Muslim pogroms, and the one relating to Kashmir,
the major sore point left behind by the senseless partition of the
country, "Faces of Beloved": Rerouting the Tragic History of The Kashmir
issue" (Daanish Mustafa and Viren Murthy). The overlap in the
subcontinent's problems is so much obvious in the case of 'First Comer',
used more in the context of Sri Lanka, though in Indian context also the
assertion that Aryans came from nowhere and were the original inhabitants
of this land has been the major assertion of Hindutva 'Historians'. The
post partition communal scene is best seen through the major event
happening in the subcontinent, the formation of Bangla Desh from the
violent split of erstwhile Pakistan. The latter buried the 'Two Nation
theory' that religion can be the base of the Nation state, for good. In a
way these articles are a good supplement to each other though written in
different styles. But these one's do explore the issues in depth and give
rich insights to the underlying theme, which connects up the book.

Udaykumar in his comprehensive introduction to the book not only builds
the overt bridges between the essays but also gives a glimpse of the
threat which the South Asian countries face from the communal problem.
Different quotes cited by him give the adequate indication of the use of
past imageries in building up the campaigns against the minorities.
The essay by Mark Juergensmeyer initially sounds to be a bit off track
from the main theme of the book. A careful reading of the essay and the
supplementary quotes from ideologues of Hindutva, in particular
M.S.Golwalkar draws out the importance of this issue in the scheme of
things planned by the politics of communalism. Golwalkar's belief's show
how the politics of Hindutva looks at the caste system as the benign
accompaniment of Hindu society, which reached the glorious heights during
the religions of Shivaji, Harshavarshan and Pulkeshin. Hinting that it is
wrong to blame the caste system as the bane of Hindu society and 'glorious
Hindu society' can be built without attacking this system. Juergensmayer's
contribution shows the centrality of caste system to this society. The two
theories of untouchability, the first one states that they are outcastes
because of the nature of their work. The second one, attributed to Dr.
Ambedkar and other Dalit leaders, the one's striving for Liberty Equality
and Fraternity, states that these were remnants of aboriginal people who
were conquered by invading Aryans over four millennia ago. This theory is
under serious attack from the practitioners of Hindutva politics, as they
suggest that it is to protect themselves from being forcibly converted to
Islam that some communities escaped to jungles and in turn became poor and
so became untouchables. This concoction of Hindutva ideologues is gaining
fast acceptance in some sections of society. Juergensmayer examines the
concept of Dharma, which is very caste specific. and also outlines the
efforts of Bhakti (devotional love) saints who tired to sidetrack the
caste hierarchy by building parallel communities. Bhakti saints like Kabir
and Nanak defied the Dharmic (Brahminic) concepts of salvation and
propagated Bhakti that was personal and devotional, one that required none
of the trappings of Hindu rituals and caste. He makes an important and
simple observation that none of the saints was a Brahmin and that the
large following of these Saints comes from low caste untouchables, and
that untouchables all along had something of a religion of their own, a
nameless body of practice and belief for which movements of Saints
provided an expression.

In the afterward Editor sums up the issues involved very well, "The
current struggle in India is not between the constitutional tenets of
modern India and 'Hindu Communalism'. It is between the cultural and
religious pluralism of India and ideological homogenization project'
(p.192) While the issues are well delineated, the social base of the
issues is missing in all the essays. Why at the particular juncture, more
particularly in India, nearly three decades after the Independence have
these problems started surfacing? What have these to do with the types of
development, which has undergone in the subcontinent? Are there some
social sections that are more than willing to carry the communal
ideologies on their forehead with pleasure? Also missing in the
compilation is the goal of this communal-ethnic agenda. Granted, in the
plural societies the multiplicities of cultures can create some strife,
but why such ghastly expression? Surely one could have drawn out the links
between the social transformation towards Liberty Equality and Fraternity,
the striving of exploited and subaltern and the privileged sections who
will like to have status quo and so resort to religious nationalism to
thwart the attempt of the weaker sections to get their Human Rights in the
democratic set ups.

Despite these unanswered questions the compilation is remarkable in its
breadth of topics and the depth at which the contributors have gone to
make their case. And surely it is a rich contribution the efforts to
understand the conflicts in South Asia.

________

4.

Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 05:50:26 +0530 (IST)
From: "R.R.Punyani"
Subject: Campign to oppose the renaming a Mumbai local station after V.D.
Savarkar

Dear Friends

Pl. Do circulate the following statement, and send protest letters to CM
of Maharashtra.
Thanks

Ram Puniyani

---------

The recent decision of the Govt. of Maharashtra to accept the Shiv Sena
MLA's proposal to rename Sandhurst Road station(Mumbai) after V.D.
Savarkar needs to be opposed.

Mr. Savarkar got himself released from Andaman's after giving a written
undertaking to the British. No doubt he was an anti-British revolutionary
of high order till his imprisonment. But the conditions of jail life brok=
e
his spirits. From 1920 Indian National Congress was asking for his
unconditional release, but Savarkar preferred to give a written undertaking=
,
which in a way was the total surrender. "I hereby acknowledge that I had a
fair trial and just sentence. I heartily abhor methods of violence resort=
ed
to in days gone by and I feel myself duty bound to uphold law and
constitution (British, added) to the best of my powers(from facsimile of
Savarkar's letter to British authorities, Frontline, April 7, 1995. Pg.94).

After his release the track of his politics totally changed. Later he
never undertook any anti British agitation. Instead of being the part of
freedom struggle, he chose to help the British in recruiting Indians for
their army.

When Gandhi gave the call for the people to leave the government jobs,
Savarkar issued the edict "I issue this definite instruction to all Hindu
Sanghathanists in general holding any post or position of vantage in the
government services, should stick to them and continue to perform their
regular duties". (Quoted in A G Noorani Frontline, Dec. 1, 1995).
He is the ideologue of Hindutva politics, which aims at Hindu Rashtra in
contrast to our Secular Democratic India. Should we honor those who
capitulated to British rule? Should we honor those who in contrast to the
aspirations of the masses for secular democracy, worked for the elite
concepts of religion-based politics, which is a serious threat to our
Indian nation today.

Ram Puniyani

________

5.

From: "Ishtiaq Ahmed" <ishtiaq.ahmed@s...>
Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 12:43:25 +0200

Dear Colleagues,
I am in the process of writing a paper 'The Human Rights of Individuals and
Groups in India and Pakistan: Culture, Politics, Ideology and Policy'. I
have enough literature to report on problems of minorities and majorities,
but would also like to shed some light on conflicts within minorities. I wa=
s
thinking of the voices within the Muslim community in favour of a uniform
civil code as opposed to the dominant conservative standpoint that Muslims
should be exempted from such reform. I know Shabana Azmi has come out openl=
y
in favour of a uniform civil code. Can you send me some statement of hers o=
f
any progressive organization of Muslim women in favour of equal rights for
all citizens? Statements of representative or significant organizations are
weightier than individual statements.
Also I know that within various minor sects such as that of the Bohras and
Ahmadiyya voices have been raised against group oppression. I remember
reading somewhere that a number of Ahmadi girls once met Mrs Indira Gandhi
and complained that they or their families could not decide who to marry an=
d
such decisions have to be approved by their spiritual head.
Also, I need literature to argue that conceding group rights over their
members is not always the best solution for democratic citizenship. It coul=
d
include literature also on other minorities and even the Hindu majority
arguing that democratic reforms are not in compliance with Hindu religion. =
I
need only a few examples for a short paper.
If you have some material, please send it either by email or=20
by post on my
home address:
Ishtiaq Ahmed
Nyckelv=E4gen 17
S-191 49 Sollentuna
SWEDEN.
Thanking you in advance,
Ishtiaq

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