[sacw] SACW (28 June 01)

[aiindex@mnet.fr]

South Asia Citizens Wire
28 June 2001
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

----------

#1. Pakistan/India: M.B. Naqvi Column for Deccan Herald
#2. A letter to Pakistan's President re: elections 2001 in Azad Kashmir
#3. India: Secular Activists' letter re the Hulla-Baloo on the film Gadar
#4. Indian minister slammed for joining the far right Hindu group
#5. India: Communal Tension in Mathura
#6. India: How Shah Abdur Razzaq met Ram and Lakshman
#7. AIDS in India

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

#1.

M.B. NAQVI COLUMN FOR DECCAN HERALD
Karachi June 27, 2001:

There are two ways of looking at the Summit between the Indian PM Atal
Behari Vajpayee and the Pakistani strongman President Parvez Musharraf.
One is from the viewpoint of Pakistani rightwingers for whom the only
criterion is Kashmir: if it does not somehow promises to become a part
of Pakistan, there is no point in talking about anything else. There are
others who clearly realise that no early solution of the Kashmir problem
is likely that can satisfy Pakistan=92s hardliners. No Indian Government
is going to hand over Kashmir by which most Pakistanis mean the
Muslim-dominated Valley while Jammu and Laddakh areas are simply not in
their minds --- after fighting four wars that Pakistan could not win.
So, they set a great deal of store by =91other things=92. And there are man=
y
many other things to be sorted out urgently between Pakistan and India.

Insofar as the intractable issue of Kashmir is concerned, despite heavy
foreign pressure for some modus operandi to be worked out by the two
estranged nuclear capable neighbours, it will be a notable success if
the talks do not breakdown soon after they start and are hopefully
continued. As they say in official idiom, a modicum of guarded optimism
can certainly be entertained. Maybe, just maybe, the two sides after
saying their set pieces hand over the problem to the particular group
for Kashmir that was set up in 1997 by the two countries Foreign
Secretaries (along with seven other groups for other matters). And,
hopefully again, if they are careful and wise they will authorise the
group to consult widely in the two countries and in South Asia=92s
diaspora for examining =93all=94 possible solutions by being truly flexible=
.
With the best will in the world, Kashmir issue will be a long haul and
shall require a lot of qualities in the negotiators in addition to being
flexible and open minded, such as their actual allegiance to democratic
values and the ability to do what is right by going beyond mere
powerpolitics. It is only fair to say these qualities are in short
supply on both sides; few officials can think of going beyond
realpolitik.

There is a rich agenda awaiting Vajpayee and Musharraf, if the latter
actually remains flexible and cares for the =91other matters=92. Prospects
of finalising mutually beneficial agreements are good. One will take up
just two out of the many that demand serious attention. One is the
subject dearest to the hearts of the US and other great powers as well
as the hardliners in both India and Pakistan. It is the question of
preventing nuclear accidents, the safe handling of nuclear weapons, safe
command and control system, avoidance of accidental or unintended war
and an understanding on how are these weapons intended to be used and on
which targets. Whether or not the people of India are informed by their
government about which precise or kind of targets it will select when
and if it has to use atomic weapons against Pakistan, Musharraf=92s
uniformed bureaucracy has to know for certain. Musharraf=92s delegates
will have to do the same to their counterparts in India, whether or not
are Pakistanis told. All sorts of CBMs (confidence building measures)
exist in the form of well-drafted agreement, courtesy the US diplomacy,
the Indian and Pakistani officials have already studied them or can
quickly agree on minor adjustments, changes or adaptations at expert
level. A whole sheaf of agreements can easily emerge from, or as a
result of, the Agra Summit negotiations. Nudged by Rice and Powell, the
two can shower the news reporters with a number of agreements, bonhomie
and the feel good factor.

But the fledgling peace lobbies in these two countries --- where their
governments actually exulted over the =93achievement=94 of conducting
nuclear test explosions and sang songs to glorify the mass destruction
weapons --- run the risk of being marginalised further. For both
governments can go on a PR offensive of claiming a breakthrough of trust
and confidence in each other by showing the concrete agreements (CBMs).
Doubtless, if there is no war these agreements will stick. From
peaceniks=92 viewpoint CBMs have the effect of making nuclear weapons
permanent in the arsenals because they are inherently fragile and apt to
be ignored in a real crisis, just as previous CBMs were totally ignored
by both sides in the Kargil Crisis.

Pakistan Peace Coalition officials (an apex body of several groups) have
been saying so, if only anyone will listen to them. Their case in
Pakistan is that let us forget about what India does or says. Nuclear
weapons have actually degraded Pakistan=92s security, Pakistan was
actually more secure before 1998. These MDWs are evil and simply should
not be. Pakistan must quickly return to its traditional stances of South
Asia and Indian Ocean should become NWFZs. Permanence of the two nuclear
deterrents in South Asia is a harbinger of new and uncontrollable arms
races in Asia and perhaps globally. Let India do what it pleases,
Pakistan has no business getting mixed up with all that; its economy,
already teetering on the brink, shall quickly collapse.

The another subject where an agreement is easy and benefit both sides.
It is deployment of troops at unsuitable heights by both sides on the
Siachin glacier region. Indeed an agreement had been concluded way back
in 1989 by the Indian Foreign Secretary S.K. Singh. The treaty was
ready. Singh made the mistake of confirming it to newsmen at Islamabad
airport. PM Benazir Bhutto and Rajiv had plans of signing the agreement
with a great hoopla in Delhi. Rajiv was angry with his Foreign Secretary
and virtually forced him into an early retirement. Both armies and
governments are anxious that such an agreement be signed. It is a
ridiculous situation in which General Winter kills more Indians than
Pakistan Army can and similarly more Pakistani soldiers become
casualties than Indian Army=92s panoply of armaments can cause. This
correspondent has heard the laments of an Indian Defence Secretary about
the high cost and needless casualties India is taking from the cold
weather. Pakistani generals have no reason why they would not again sign
that already drafted concordat. They too will save some pointless
casualties and costs.

For Messrs Vajpayee and Musharraf, it is the most cost-effective
agreement. At minimum political cost they can garner many more PR points
and spread the feel good factor all around. It requires Mr. Vajpayee to
ignore the question of face over a supposed retreat that some had
created vis-=E0-vis Siachin agreement. Similarly there are a few ultras in
Islamabad who think that since India will save more money and lives and
limbs, therefore, "we=94 should not help it through this agreement. If
Musharraf is really flexible he will not hesitate to sign it if it is
mooted.

There are many more agreements of the kind that can strengthen the feel
good factor behind which some tougher decisions can be taken. Wuller
Barrage and Sir Creek issues belong to the genre on which both sides
stand to gain from flexibility and reasonableness.

________

#2.

http://www.tehelka.com/currentaffairs/june2001/ca062601pakletter.htm

Letter

Excellency General Pervez Musharraf
Chief Executive & Chairman AJ&K Council
Chief Executive's Office
Islamabad
Pakistan

19 June 2001

Dear Chief Executive

Re: Breach of Constitutional Obligations & Breach of Obligations under UN=20
Resolutions

In regards to the elections 2001 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, I wish to=20
invite your attention to your constitutional responsibilities as the=20
Chairman of AJ&K Council to the following:

Government of Pakistan has assumed responsibilities under the UNCIP=20
Resolutions in the affairs of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K). The vires of=20
this assumed responsibility continues to be disturbed in practice and the=20
consequence could cause a serious prejudice to the cause of=20
self-determination on the one hand, and on the other, vitiate the wisdom of=
=20
article 257 of the constitution of Pakistan. It would also attract the=20
definition of - "denial of the transfer of free will", universally regarded=
=20
as the basis for any governance.

1.Government of Pakistan has also assumed responsibility in regards to=20
Northern Areas under the Karachi Agreement of 28 April 1949.
2.The jurisprudence of these two assumed responsibilities remains at=20
variance to each other and at the same time the irreconcilability between=20
the two wisdoms is repugnant to the UNCIP Resolutions.
3.Pakistan is a member nation of the UN, and as a consequence, in=20
aggregate, it carries a higher burden of responsibility, in regards to the=
=20
human rights in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Northern Areas, in particular,=20
and the State of Jammu and Kashmir in general.
4.Pakistan advocates the right of self-determination of the people of Jammu=
=20
and Kashmir and the vires of its claim in the interests of the people of=20
Kashmir become suspect, if it fails on a micro count of elections under=20
Article 21 (3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to respect=20
that "the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of=20
government". The will has to be "expressed in periodic and genuine=20
elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held=
=20
by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures".
5.The election process 2001 in Azad Kashmir seems to have driven the human=
=20
rights standards of civil society as far back as to 1932 (69 years), when=20
the people of Kashmir made their third demand of a "responsible government"=
.
6.The decision of the Election Commission to bar the candidates of Jammu=20
and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and others, not subscribing to the=20
'accession clause', is a breach of the assumed responsibilities under UNCIP=
=20
Resolutions. It is at variance with the constitutional jurisprudence of=20
article 257 of the constitution of Pakistan and is at variance with the=20
jurisprudence of article 2 (i) of APHC constitution adopted on 31st July=20
1993. Above all the restrictive and repressive practice is a serious=20
violation of a basic Human Right - the right to participate in the conduct=
=20
of public affairs.
7.The legislature in Azad Kashmir has halved the representation of refugees=
=20
and as a consequence continues to prejudice their interests in the=20
assembly. Refugee representation has all along remained suspect and is=20
notorious for its non-representative character. The halved representation=20
too is fixed by the ruling elite in Islamabad. The prejudice caused by=20
halving the representation and the practice of fixing the results need an=20
examination by an independent body.
8.The overseas representation in the assembly goes to the highest bidder. I=
=20
am sure that your Government is fully aware of the fact that people are=20
already in Muzaffarabad and Islamabad, with cheque books in their brief cas=
es.
9.It is discouraging to point out that the Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir,=
=20
a lawyer by education, dares as a "Prometheus unbound" in the United=20
Kingdom and educates the people of Kashmiri origin, on the merits of their=
=20
vote and plays Brutus to assassinate the "free will" in his own home town.=
=20
We have remained colleagues in Geneva and I would have thought that he is=20
able to differentiate between the jurisprudence of "right to assembly" in a=
=20
street and the "right to express ones free will" in an election.
10.Azad Jammu and Kashmir Governments of all descriptions, cannot be=20
trusted on the question of understanding the jurisprudence of Kashmir case=
=20
and the understanding of Human Rights as an inclusive and aggregate for the=
=20
whole of the State. These Governments do not consider to dust their own=20
apron and fail to acknowledge that charity begins at home. The mistrust=20
becomes even more alarming when one considers their failure to observe the=
=20
constitutional obligations under section 8 of Azad Jammu and Kashmir=20
Government Act 1970 and under section 11 of AJ&K interim constitution Act=20
1974 - in reference to self determination.
11.Mala fides of the Governments in Azad Kashmir in regards to the right of=
=20
self determination are apparent from the fact that the Governments have=20
continued to use the issue as a Post Office Box to retain their political=20
interests. JKCHR's constitutional writ petition of public interest under=20
Section 44 of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Interim Constitution Act 1974 of=20
December 1992 decided after seven years on 5th April 1999 by the High Court=
=20
is still awaiting a compliance. It does not sit well with the record of a=20
Government that an NGO should put up financial and legal resources for=20
seven years and invoke a constitutional duty.
12.All through our conscious life we have been advocating that elections in=
=20
Indian administered Kashmir are not a substitute for self-determination. We=
=20
have also continued to examine the non-representative character of=20
elections in Indian administered Kashmir even though most of the senior=20
leadership of APHC has successfully participated in these elections.
13.On the one hand, we find ourselves in a very awkward and indefensible=20
situation to see that the standard of human rights in the civil society in=
=20
Azad Kashmir is as restrictive, oppressive and corrupt as it was in 1932,=20
when the people of Kashmir made their third demand of a "responsible=20
government". On the other the lack of sensitivity and understanding for the=
=20
loss of life in Kashmir remains an AOB in the business of Azad Kashmir=20
Government. Life precedes any other business and more so any other right as=
=20
well.

I would respectfully urge you as the Chairman of AJ&K Council, to very=20
kindly ensure that the Government of Pakistan, corrects its position=20
vis-=E0-vis its assumed responsibilities under UNCIP, as member nation of U=
N,=20
under article 21 (3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, under=20
article 257 of its constitution and the basic minimum standards of freedom=
=20
of expression.

I sincerely hope that the Government of Pakistan would not wish any=20
prejudice to the basic right of the people of Kashmir to participate in the=
=20
conduct of public affairs and would not be swayed by the traditionally=20
practiced restrictive, oppressive, exploitative and corrupt practices by=20
the local leadership and their disciples.

Excellency kindly rest assured of my best regards and highest consideration=
s.

Yours Faithfully

Dr. Syed Nazir Gilani
Secretary General - JKCHR
On UN Register as an Expert in Peace Keeping/Humanitarian Operations &
Election Monitoring Missions.

Cc
Election Commissioner of Azad Jammu and Kashmir
Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir
Foreign Secretary United Kingdom
Chairman Kashmir Committee in British Parliament
Chief Justice Supreme Court of AJ&K
Chief Justice High Court of AJ&K

copyright =A9 2000 tehelka.com

______

#3.

27 Jun 2001
Subject: Letter-Film Gadar

>From Dr. Ram Puniyani
Secretary _EKTA, Committee for Communal Amity
B-64, IIT Qutrs powai, Mumbai 400076
Ph-5723522
--

Madam/Sir

The urge in the Communal elements - Hindu as well as Muslim - to act as a
moral and cultural police pre-supposes that they know what is best for
everybody in their community and society at large. The recent attacks by
Muslim communal organisations on the cinema houses exhibiting Sunny Deol
starrer Gadar - Ek Prem Katha in Bhopal, places in Gujarat and UP, must be
strongly condemned. Also reprehensible is the demand by Mumbai Region
Muslim League to ban the film. There can be no authority over and above
the Censor Board in Democracy. Once the Censor Board clears any film, the
state should not tolerate any super Constitutional censoring by threat or
use of violence. The Govt. should properly deal with the situation to see
that democratic norms prevail. The strong-arm tactics of the communal
organisations should not dictate the functioning of our society. However,
it is permissible to debate on what the guidelines and mandate of the
Censor Board should work. Those aggrieved by the film have all the liberty
to condemn the film and express their point of view - but they should let
the viewers decide

Hindu communal organisations have also in the recent past destroyed the
paintings of well-known painter M.F. Hussain, concerts of Gulam Ali was
disrupted, and screening of Fire met with similar violent attacks on the
cinema houses exhibiting the film. The peak of this fanaticism was
witnessed when the fanatics prevented the shooting of the film Water in
Varanasi. Interestingly these elements vociferously condemn the violence
of the 'other' communal organisations even while resorting to same means
themselves.

We demand that the Govt. should deal with the situation firmly. We also
urge upon the fellow citizens to crate an atmosphere of amity and harmony
so that what prevails in the society is not the rule of vandalism but the
norms of democracy, freedom of expression included.

Ram Puniyani, EKTA, Mumbai
Irfan Engineer, Director, CSSS,Mumbai

________

#4.

26 June 2001

Indian minister slammed for joining radical Hindu group

by Ajit Sahi, Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, June 26 (IANS) A senior Indian minister has joined a hardline=20
Hindu group blamed for the razing of a mosque, sparking angry reactions=20
from the country's opposition.

The main opposition Congress party Tuesday dubbed Youth Affairs and Sports=
=20
Minister Uma Bharati's dramatic decision to become a member of the Bajrang=
=20
Dal as "unfortunate and dangerous for Hindu-Muslim unity."

"It is unfortunate a cabinet minister has joined a group that works for=20
creating a communal divide in India," Congress leader Mohsina Kidwai told=20
IANS. "Her decision strikes at the core of India's national integration."

The Bajrang Dal played a key role in the demolition of the 16th century=20
Babri mosque in the northern town of Ayodhya in December 1992. The event=20
triggered the country's worst communal violence in half a century.

Bajrang Dal activists have also been arrested for the brutal 1999 killing=20
of Australian missionary Graham Staines, who worked with poor leprosy=20
patients in eastern India, and his two young sons.

Bharati, a self-claimed ascetic who is always dressed in saffron, the color=
=20
of Hinduism, is herself implicated in the mosque demolition. She played a=20
key role in a nationwide emotive campaign that led to the mosque razing.

Bharati joined the Bajrang Dal Monday at a religious ceremony in her home=20
state of Madhya Pradesh in the presence of Ashok Singhal, who heads the=20
powerful Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

Another Congress leader, Motilal Vora, also said it was unfortunate that a=
=20
cabinet minister had chosen to join a group that has been repeatedly=20
accused of violating the rule of law.

Immediately after joining the group, Bharati denied accusations that the=20
Bajrang Dal was the Hindu counterpart of Islamic fundamentalist groups.

Bharati is one of the most vocal leaders of Prime Minister Atal Bihari=20
Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which heads India's ruling=20
coalition. Her meteoric rise in politics has been attributed to her shrill=
=20
participation in the temple campaign.

--Indo-Asian News Service

________

#5.

Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2001 17:21:39 +0000
Subject: Tension in Mathura

Dear friends,

I am writing this to inform all of you about the communal situation of UP.
As you may be aware that the assembly election is due in UP early next year=
,
and the BJP, not being in a very comfortable position, might play all kinds
of dubious games to retain its vote bank. As the election in UP will be ver=
y
vital for the future of the BJP government in the centre, it has acquired a
greater significance.

It is quite obvious that the BJP feels that it can retain its vote bank and
maintain its supremacy in the coming election through communal mobilisation=
.
They are using various tactics for this. At one level they are making
political statements in the Liberhan Commission, while at another, they are
also mobilising Hindus around the Ram Temple. In January this year, during
Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, they displayed the model of the proposed Ram
Temple. They also held a so-called Dharm Sansad to decide the date for
beginning the construction of the Ram Temple. But the RSS and it outfits
have also been engaged in direct provocation and violence. In March, Kanpur
witnessed such a direct violence. Due to the vigilance and positive action
of the citizens of Kanpur, the tension and violence was contained. The Marc=
h
2001 issue of the Alternate Media Times had carried a detailed report on
Kanpur.

The recent target of the RSS is Mathura. Mathura has a common border with
Haryana and Rajasthan. A large number of Mawo Muslims live in that area and
their main occupation is cattle trade. One month ago the VHP claimed that
they had found 100 skeletal remains of cows and charged the Muslims for
that. Since then, a major mobilisation is being carried out by the RSS
outfits. They are organising a mammoth =B3Maha Panchayat=B9=B9 and have imp=
osed a
social boycott on the Muslims, and have banned cattle trade. The tension is
being fuelled in the adjacent states as well. The RSS wants to keep the
tension alive and use it when needed. They also want to use it in Rajasthan
to embarrass the Congress government. There is an opinion that they might
build up the tension in Rajasthan and utilise that in UP.

I request you all to spread the word around to other friends and if
possible, write letters to the UP Chief Minister, UP Governor, Prime
Minister, Home Minister and the President of India. Do send a copy to us as
well at the address below.

Sujit
for Samdaikta Virodhi Avyan, UP
11 B Dalibagh, Rajshi, 2nd Floor, Lucknow
Ph: 0522 206959, e-mail: vikalp_gyan1@s...

If you wish to contact people in Mathura directly, you could call Pradeep
Rajput, Ph: (0565) 422927

______

#6.

http://www.indian-express.com/ie20010627/an1.shtml
Indian Express
June 27, 2001
EDITORIALS & ANALYSIS

HOW SHAH ABDUR RAZZAQ MET RAM AND LAKSHMAN

Fables of faith

Mushirul Hasan

Kha-pi ke ghar main baithye aur gaiye bhajan
Kashi se jal, Prag se amrood leejiye...
(Refresh yourself by singing bhajans, and by getting water from Banaras and=
=20
guavas from Allahabad)

I bet you have not heard of Abdur Rahman of Bijnor, a graduate of the=20
M.A.O. College at Aligarh, and his comment that, besides the Divan-e Ghalib=
=20
(Collection of Ghalib=92s poetry), the Rig Veda was India=92s revealed book=
.=20
For some critics, this was blasphemy, pure and simple. Thanks to Jagjit and=
=20
Chitra Singh, most of you have heard of Ghalib. But do you know what he=20
wrote about Kashi or Banaras? This is not all. Long before Bijnori and=20
Ghalib, a great Sufi by the name of Syed Abdur Razzaq (1836-1724), lived in=
=20
a tiny village called Bansa, in the region called Awadh. Symbolising the=20
ecumenical traditions in the self-contained world of the Sufis, he took=20
part in Diwali celebrations and watched bakhtiyas perform the life of=20
Krishna. He had visions of Ram and Lakshman; and Krishna would send his=20
salam to him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
More than 30 years later, Ghalib still remembered his stay with pleasure:=20
=91what praise is too high for Banaras? Where else is there a city to equal=
it?=92
------------------------------------------------------------------------

We know little about them, because they are remote from us in time. Let=92s=
,=20
therefore, begin with the more familiar figure of Mirza Asadullah Khan=20
Ghalib. In October 1827, he set out for Kolkata. Part of the way he=20
travelled by river; and the final stage, from Banaras to Kolkata, he did on=
=20
horseback. He reached Kolkata on February 20, 1828 =97 near enough a whole=
=20
year after he had set out from Delhi. Banaras particularly enchanted him;=20
hence the long lyrical Persian poem of 108 couplets in its praise. It is=20
entitled, =91Chiragh-i dair=92 (The Lamp of the Temple). The beauties of=20
Banaras have =91their coquetry in a rose garden intoxicated and brim-full o=
f=20
blandishments; their graceful walking embraces the hundred turmoils of=20
Judgement Day!=92 By contrast, Allahabad (Prayaga) was a ghost city, dull a=
nd=20
uninspiring, its people unfriendly and inhospitable. Such was his revulsion=
=20
that he decided not to touch Allahabad on his journey back home.

Our poet, having rented a haveli at Sarai Naurangabad, spent a month in the=
=20
city of Shiva. From its alleged founding in the sixth century BC, it had=20
grown to be one of northern India=92s largest in early 19th century. The=20
region, moreover, was one of the most densely populated on the=20
subcontinent, more than twice as dense as any European country. Ghalib=20
noticed the daily arrival of pilgrims seeking salvation, or taking part in=
=20
seasonal fairs and eclipses. He enjoyed, as he sat down to write to=20
friends, the paradise-like environment of natural beauty, the temple bells=
=20
ringing, and the devotees walking hurriedly towards the Ganga. He felt=20
invigorated by the salubrious climate, the forests along the river, the=20
streams and waterways all through the city. His poetic description of the=20
Ganga reveals, more than any other dimension, his patriotic revaluation of=
=20
the country=92s common cultural and religious heritage.

In another long Persian poem Ghalib argues that the special customs of a=20
country must not be destroyed. Rejecting infidelity (rasm-i kufr) was all=20
very well, but rejecting the Divine Bounty made little sense. =91Negation=20
without affirmation is nothing but error=92; indeed, one cannot affirm God=
=20
and deny his signs. Kashi was, thus, a =91sign=92 of God. Besides its all-I=
ndia=20
prominence as a centre for pilgrimage and worship, it was a microcosm of=20
Indian life, customs and popular belief. It was indeed, so wrote Ghalib,=20
the Kaaba of India. In his view, =91if Ganga hadn=92t rubbed its forehead a=
t=20
the feet of Banaras, it wouldn=92t be pure. And if the sun hadn=92t sailed=
=20
through its nooks and corners, it wouldn=92t be so bright.=92

More than 30 years later Ghalib still remembered his stay with pleasure:=20
=91what praise is too high for Banaras? Where else is there a city to equal=
=20
it? The days of my youth were almost over when I went there. Had I been=20
young in those days I would have settled down there and never come back=20
this way.=92

Finally, it is instructive to turn to Shah Abdur Razzaq of Bansa, a site of=
=20
piety and devotion, and to observe the triumph with which he brought back,=
=20
from his forays into the neighbouring districts, the =91Little Traditions=
=92=20
into his worldview. He visited the Magh mela at Allahabad, interacted with=
=20
the jogis and Bairagis, joined the theatrical performances featuring=20
popular stories about Krishna and the gopis, and often went into a state of=
=20
ecstasy listening to Kabir=92s verses. In this dimension, the Hindu gods we=
re=20
also his friends and thereby the well wishers of all the disciples and=20
followers among the Muslims as well. Two of his well-known disciples were=20
Champat, the leader of the Bairagis from Awadh, Chaitram and Parasram. A=20
disciple of Champat, in fact, experienced a vision of Krishna after Shah=20
Abdur Razzaq recited some Hindi mantras. On another occasion, his miracle=20
made it possible for Parasram to feed his guests at a feast he had=20
organised. The final story is located somewhere in the Deccan.

Here, walking through a dense forest, Shah Abdur Razzaq met Ram and=20
Lakshman near a pool (without knowing their identity). They treated him as=
=20
their guests, offered sweets to him, and left behind a lion and a bear for=
=20
his protection. The next morning the two, leading a herd of cows and=20
buffaloes, showed up and directed the Shah to the village. Later, when he=20
returned to discover their identity, he found that they had disappeared.=20
Their disappearance confirmed his belief that they were, in fact, the great=
=20
Ram and Lakshman. Indeed, the Shah believed that the two had fully realised=
=20
their essential oneness with the Divine Being in whose likeness they were=20
made, being counterparts of the ontological Perfect Man of Sufis.

The historian=92s task is not to speculate on what might have been. His dut=
y=20
is to show what happened and why. I have tried to do so. Some of the other=
=20
key questions, ie, the causes for the erosion of composite values and the=20
rise of religious-based identities, can barely be answered in this column.=
=20
Yet, I share these stories with you, hoping that you will be sensitised to=
=20
our plural heritage, and not be misled by the rhetoric of Hindu and Muslim=
=20
fundamentalists. There is plenty for you to do. Please remember what Akbar=
=20
Allahabadi (1846-1921) had to say: =91I say the same to Hindus and the=20
Muslims:/Be good, each, as your faith would have you be./The world=92s a ro=
d?=20
Then you become as water./Clash like the waves, but still remain one sea.=
=92

=A9 2001: Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.

______

#7.

The Newshour with Jim Lehrer
Monday, June 25, 2001
Running time: 9 mins

AIDS in India
AIDS is spreading through India at an alarming rate, fueled by a brisk sex
trade and a tradition of public silence.

Reporter: Fred de Sam Lazaro
Real Audio version:
http://audio.pbs.org:8080/ramgen/newshour/expansion/2001/06/25/target.rm?al=
tplay=3Dtarget.rm

Real Video version:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/video/index.html
(type in the word "India" in the search box)

o o o o

GWEN IFILL: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan began today's special session
on AIDS with a call to action against a disease that has already killed 22
million people worldwide. While much of the focus has been on the
devastation in Africa, Annan also talked of the frightening speed with
which the disease is spreading elsewhere. One especially worrisome country
is India.

Fred de Sam Lazaro of Minnesota's Twin Cities Public Television was there
recently. Here is his report.

On the level of natural disasters
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: In a country that has had to mobilize against massive
earthquakes and killer floods, AIDS has seemed to get much less attention.
Yet the toll from AIDS will soon dwarf decades of natural disasters.
Already the official count of HIV-infected people is four million, a small
number amid a billion population. But many experts say in little more than
a decade, India could have more AIDS cases than the entire continent of
Africa. Already, those who work with patients, like Dr. Ishwar Gilada, say
in reality, India's HIV tally has skyrocketed well past the official
figure.

DR. ISHWAR GILADA: Currently, it is doubling at the rate of 18 months, or
the rate of every 24 months. And I'm estimating something like ten to 12
million HIV infections today. So we find ourselves in a tight spot.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Since the early '90s, Dr. Ishwar Gilada has been one
of India's most prominent voices on AIDS, a fixture in the red-light areas
of Bombay, India's commercial capital and the likely birthplace of India's
AIDS epidemic.

DR. ISHWAR GILDA (translated): We're not here from any condom company. We
are doctors here to tell you about AIDS, and why it is important to pay
attention to AIDS.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: We first met Gilada seven years ago, as he pounded the
streets as a safe sex apostle to clients of the commercial sex industry.
At the time, he estimated that half the city's 50,000 sex workers were
positive for the AIDS virus. Bombay now has an estimated 350,000
HIV-positive cases, and Gilada says the problem has spread nationwide. The
vast majority of those infected don't know they are HIV-positive. Those
who do know usually find out when they become ill and seek health care,
like Lata, a 30-something mother of two. She is one of thousands of
desperately poor people who live on the streets of Chennai, the southern
city better known as Madras.

LATA (translated): I had no support from anyone in his family. I was just
lost.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Lata was infected by a man she began seeing after her
husband, a habitual offender who was incarcerated for burglary.

LATA (translated): He would spend one month on the outside and six months
in jail. When he was in jail, it was just so difficult to get by. I was so
vulnerable, and that's why I got caught with this man, who gave me this
disease.

The commercial sex trade
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Most male HIV cases can be traced to the commercial
sex trade-- cases like 28-year-old Srinivasan, who used to drive a scooter
rickshaw before coming down with full- blown AIDS symptoms. Today his
elderly mother has taken a job as a domestic worker to support her only
son. She's also the only person aware of his condition.

SRINIVASAN (translated): Nobody knows. If anybody asks, I tell them it's
typhoid or jaundice. My mother is the only person who knows that I have
AIDS.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Srinivasan says he knew nothing about HIV or AIDS when
he became infected about eight years ago. Experts say that awareness has
improved. Still, India, with traditionally conservative sexual mores,
remains one of the harshest social and health care environments for HIV
patients.

DR. ISHWAR GILADA: The difference between the response to HIV And response
to other calamities is, they are all visible calamities. HIV is invisible
calamity.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Well over a decade into the epidemic, India's public
response to AIDS has been a small one, the domain of a few
non-governmental organizations offering education programs, such as this
mobile van in Bombay. The government has offered very little money, and
even less sympathy. For example, it's not illegal to fire someone from
their job for being HIV-positive. It is, in fact, against the law for
carriers of the AIDS virus to marry. This commercial, featuring film star
Shobana Azmi, is one of the few efforts on AIDS to come out of India's
hugely popular movie industry. The ad preaches that HIV Cannot be caught
through touching or breathing. Dr. Gilada complains that the stars could
do much more to prevent the marginalization of AIDS sufferers.

DR. ISHWAR GILADA: India has not yet seen the replica of Rock Hudson,
Magic Johnson, Freddie Mercury, though we have a lot of big people having
HIV and dying of that, dying of the infection. Unless some of those people
come out openly and say that, yes, I have this problem, it is... it will
be seen as a disease of sex workers, drug addicts, economically
unfortunate. It will not be seen as a disease of everybody.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: In fact, India's HIV-positive population comes from
across the social spectrum. Dr. Janak Maniar has a thriving private
practice in Bombay. He has several thousand paying patients, most-- like
this 38- year-old man-- from the middle or upper middle class.

DR. JANAK MANIAR: How are your parents? You're living with your parents
and your brother along with you?

PATIENT: Yes.

DR. JANAK MANIAR: How are they taking this problem of HIV? Supportive? Or
are they just...

PATIENT: Well, they're not aware about it.

DR. JANAK MANIAR: Who knows in your house?

PATIENT: Nobody.

The health care system
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Experts say the health care system is ill- equipped to
deal with HIV And AIDS, and even helps feed the general denial by not
recording both cases and deaths. Dr. Shilpa Merchant is an AIDS advocate.

DR. SHILPA MERCHANT: They've been reported as deaths, which is also true--
deaths due to tuberculosis or one of the opportunistic infections-- but
nobody writes "AIDS," with the result that people say, "where are the
people dying of AIDS?" Because of the stigma, people are covering up, and
then that's becoming a vicious cycle.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Ironically, just down the street from the epidemic's
ground zero is the headquarters of Cipla, one of several Indian
pharmaceutical companies that produce anti- retroviral drugs that can
greatly extend the life of people with AIDS.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Give us a sense of how much you can produce this for,
versus what they would cost on the market in the West.

MAN: (Sighs)

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Even approximately?

MAN: One-fortieth?

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Indian companies like Cipla have called for easing
patent restrictions so they can export the AIDS drugs to African countries
at a fraction of their price in the west. Yet patients in their own
backyards, like Lata, are unlikely to ever benefit. Even discounted prices
are out of reach in a country where the public health expenditures on AIDS
are about three cents per person per year, and where the per-capita income
is less than $400 a year, about what Lata earns from selling jasmine
flower arrangements. Also, anti-retroviral therapy calls for a solid diet
and a disciplined regimen of up to 20 pills each day for life. Patients
like Lata clearly lack the wherewithal. Perhaps even more depressing, Dr.
Maniar says even those patients who do manage to find the money lack the
commitment to the therapy.

DR. JANAK MANIAR: The compliance rate at the end of one year is not even
50 percent. It's not because they have not been explained. They're
enthusiastic to start with. When they feel well - in three months time or
six months time - they say, "Dr. Maniar, I don't think I need the drug
anymore. My appetite is good, my working capacity good, I've gained a
lovely weight and I look nice." And then, in another six months time, one
year time, they come back to me sick and they stopped the treatment. And
they are really sick.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: So they've completely squandered the opportunity at
this point?

DR. JANAK MANIAR: Yes, and the whole family is ruined because they've
spent out the money in this; there's no money left.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: AIDS isn't the only health care crisis India now
faces. It also has one of the world's largest outbreaks of tuberculosis.
HIV fuels TB and vice versa. The UN estimates that India could have up to
35 million HIV-infected people by 2010. Many at the epidemic's front lines
say that grim landmark could arrive much sooner.

GWEN IFILL: We'll be looking at various aspects of the AIDS problem this
week.

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