SACW | March 3-4, 2007
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at mnet.fr
Sat Mar 3 20:19:17 CST 2007
South Asia Citizens Wire | March 3-4, 2007 | Dispatch No. 2370 - Year 9
[1] Bring HEC Back To Earth (Pervez Hoodbhoy)
[2] Open season on Pakistan, Hallelujah! (Khalid Hasan)
[3] India: Gujarat 2002 - The Long Shadow (Bina Srinivasan)
+ Tracking The Trials; Divide Remains
[4] India - So-called Anti-Terrorist Laws are
Tools of State Terrorism (Rohit Prajapati)
[5] India: Petition for implementation of Sachar Committee
[6] India: Independent Peoples' Tribunal On
Fascism's Rise and The Attack on the Secular State
(New Delhi, March 20-22, 2007) + an appeal + background Note
[7] India: One year after the
Sanvordem-Curchorem communal violence - a meeting
[8] UK: Muslims For Secular Democracy respond to
MCB Fatwa on Muslim pupils in state schools
[9] Publication announcements:
(i) Himal Southasian's March 2007
(ii) 'Framing Geelani, Hanging Afzal' :
Patriotism in the Time of Terror by Nandita Haksar
____
[1]
Daily Times, Lahore
3 March, 2007
BRING HEC BACK TO EARTH
by Pervez Hoodbhoy
Every day brings new evidence that the planning
of higher education in Pakistan has run out of
control. It is now more about fantasy than fact.
There seems no other way to explain the fact that
while the country is becoming besieged by almost
daily suicide bombings and religious fanatics can
kill a woman minister for being un-Islamically
dressed, the Higher Education Commission plans to
spend $4.3 billion on building nine new
engineering universities, staffed with European
faculty and administrators.
It must have sounded like a wonderful idea.
Pakistan would pay for France, Sweden, Italy, and
some other European countries to help set up,
manage, and provide professors for new
universities in Pakistan. It would be expensive -
Pakistan would have to pay the full development
costs, recurrent expenses, and euro-level
salaries (plus 40 percent markup) for all the
foreign professors and vice-chancellors. But the
large presence of European professors teaching in
these Pakistan universities would ensure high
standards of teaching, the degrees would be
awarded by institutions in the respective
European countries, and Pakistan would finally
end the acute shortage of international quality
engineers.
Work has already started. Off the nine
universities, the most advanced in terms of
construction and planning is the French
engineering university with a completion cost of
Rs26 billion. It has been named UESTP-France in
Karachi, and has an ultimate faculty size of
450-600 with around 5000-7000 students. Its
construction is underway and the official
starting date is listed as October 2007.
On the ground, the situation looks dismal. The
French seem completely absent from the French
university. As of the beginning of March 2007,
not a single faculty member from France -
including the all-important head of the
university - has joined. This was confirmed to me
by French official sources, and has not been
refuted by the HEC. Even the skeleton crew is not
on board although decent academic planning for a
university requires years of preparation for the
curricula, courses, laboratories, and
infrastructure.
According to the HEC "Initially, over 50 per cent
of the faculty will be from partner countries but
as foreign-trained Pakistani faculty become
available over the next five to eight years, the
foreign faculty component will be reduced to
about 25 per cent". This means that UESTP-France
in Karachi needs to find - just as a startup -
scores of French professors and still more
Pakistani engineering professors for its faculty.
Should we blame the French for not turning up?
And are hundreds of Swedes, and other Europeans
any more likely to turn up to live and teach in
Pakistan for several years at such a time? What
is a European professor to make of the suicide
bombings at the Islamabad international airport,
the Islamabad Marriot Hotel, the Quetta High
Court, and so many more in the past year, and
that the international community grows more
convinced everyday that Pakistan has become a new
haven for Al Qaeda?
Even if the Europeans came, there would not be
enough Pakistani faculty for all these
universities. The sad fact is that currently
there are no more than 2-3 dozen PhD engineering
professors in all of Pakistan's engineering
universities who can teach modern engineering
subjects at an international professional level.
So, even if every one of these universities were
sucked dry of all its best, this would be barely
sufficient for meeting the needs of the first
phase of the first Pak-European university. What
will happen then to the Rs37 billion Pak-Swedish
University, scheduled to start in 2008 and to be
located in Sialkot, and which will need even more
teachers?
The HEC says that in time there will be more
Pakistani faculty as 500 Pakistani engineers have
currently been sent for PhD degrees abroad. This
simply cannot suffice for meeting the needs for
nine universities, which will need in total
thousands of teachers.
To be honest, the HEC should recognise even the
500 engineers it sent abroad may not be enough
for even one university. Not all will succeed in
getting a Ph.D. Past experience also shows that
some of the really good students who get PhDs
will stay on in the West, and some who do return
to Pakistan will be too mediocre for
university-level teaching. It is irresponsible to
plan a series of universities with so much
wishful thinking.
Far wiser would be to aim for, at the very most,
two properly planned new engineering universities
under the collective authority of the European
Union, and to seek external help for adding
engineering departments to existing universities,
as well as to massively upgrade existing ones.
But these relatively modest goals are
unacceptable to a HEC leadership that believes,
like the Musharraf regime as a whole, in grand
plans rather than practical, feasible reforms.
Administrative incompetence and bungling has
become the hallmark of HEC projects, whether
large amounts of money are involved or not.
Consider the ham-handed manner in which rules for
students wishing to register for the PhD degree
in Pakistani universities have been changed.
According to the new rules, published in national
newspapers, it is now necessary for every student
to 'clear' the subject GRE exam, administered by
the Princeton-based Education Testing Service,
before the student is granted admission to the
PhD programme of any Pakistani university.
Considered dauntingly tough by our students (most
of their teachers would fare poorly as well)
these exams do measure aptitude for higher
studies fairly well. The logic - faultless in
itself - is that Pakistani students must measure
up to international standards.
But left dangling are the key questions: what
marks or percentile rating does 'clear' mean and
who will decide? Who will pay the $160
examination fee, a major consideration for our
public-university students? How to acclimatise
the student, who has operated hitherto in a
familiar rote-learning mode, into an alien
problem-solving mode?
The HEC is silent on these fundamental questions,
but without addressing them a collapse of PhD
programs will occur nationwide. This is just one
more example of the scores of arbitrary schemes
conceived by the HEC that have placed Pakistan's
higher education in serious danger.
Other projects launched by the HEC - such as
incentivising the publication of research papers
- have caused plagiarism to explode across the
national scene. Hastily conceived and badly
managed, they have channelled resources away from
crucial areas into grandiose schemes. The HEC
must be brought to task. There needs to be an
independent investigation of its plans and
financing, a review of its programmes, and a full
audit of all the money that has been spent on and
by HEC.
-------------------------------------------
The author teaches physics at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad
______
[2]
Daily Times
March 04, 2007
POSTCARD USA: OPEN SEASON ON PAKISTAN, HALLELUJAH!
by Khalid Hasan
Pakistan should end its dabbling on other
people's backyards and instead of trying to bring
peace to the Middle East, it should bring peace
to its own people and to that piece of land on
which it stands itself
This may not be open season on ducks and drakes
but it is on Pakistan. The onslaught has been
unremitting. The refrain of this orchestrated
song is just four words: Pakistan should do more.
While by now everyone I know is sick to his
gills, having had the same four words drilled
into his ears for the last year or so, the US
national security orchestra continues to plays
the same song. Obviously it loves the tune. Dick
Cheney, whose name sounds like that of a seedy
character from a Raymond Chandler novel, is the
guest conductor. His fly-in-fly-out foray into
Pakistan was undertaken to sing the ditty
personally into the General's ear.
The very day Cheney was in Islamabad, the New
York Times ran a planted story, which said that
he had "delivered a stiff private message" to
President Musharraf. This account of the charming
treatment of "America's closest ally in the war
on terrorism," as Pakistan has been called on
hundreds of occasions, was followed by the even
more charming news that Democrats have threatened
to link aid to Pakistan to its effectiveness in
combating those twin otters of murder and mayhem,
Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The newspaper noted
that Cheney's trip was one of a series to
Pakistan by senior members of the administration
to keep the pressure on Gen. Musharraf. To some
outside analysts, that is a sign of increasing
concern that American efforts to coax along the
sometimes-prickly Pakistani leader has hit its
limits, it added.
The Washington Post, not to be left behind, said
that the Cheney visit signalled the White House's
"growing impatience with Pakistan's failure to
crack down on Islamic extremists". US officials
are increasingly worried, it said, that the
Taliban are making a comeback in Afghanistan,
using parts of Pakistan to stage cross-border
raids and undermine the authority of President
Karzai. Officials were also said to be concerned
that Al Qaeda is more active in Pakistani tribal
areas and that Gen. Musharraf has been
insufficiently aggressive about taking action,
despite promises to President Bush and other
senior officials that he would address the
situation. The Washington Times, which is owned
by the Moonies, said that the US and Afghan
leaders are "increasingly critical of Pakistan's
efforts to curb Al Qaeda and Taliban cross-border
operations".
What is now in operation in Washington vis-à-vis
Pakistan is the old good cop/bad cop act.
Congress will be used as the bad cop and the
administration will act as the good cop. The
negative leaks to the media about Pakistan will
continue. Gen. Musharraf said a few days ago that
if Pakistan is not "doing more" then he would
like to know who else is doing what. Ambassador
Mahmud Ali Durrani blew his top off with the CNN
this week when he said that Pakistan's critics
have only one eye open with which they see
Pakistan. The other eye, which should see
Afghanistan, is kept tight shut. Clearly,
Pakistan is the fall guy for the failures of the
US, the NATO forces and the hapless Afghan
government.
Having said this, let me also say that the time
has come when Pakistan should do some serious
soul-searching and get its own house in order. It
is also time that Pakistan should decide to end
its dependence on the United States and the
generous handouts it receives in return for
services which never quite manage to please
Washington. Is Pakistan a rentier state, which
hires out its services to the highest bidder? I
would like to think not, but there is much
evidence that we may have reduced ourselves to
that.
The US has been on average giving $80 million a
month to Pakistan in overt assistance and perhaps
the same amount under the table. How can a
country assert its independence if it is so
heavily dependent on outside help? The prosperity
that the government shouts about from housetops
is illusory. The exchange reserves held by the
State Bank are no good to man or beast as
economist Nadeem Ul Haque used to say (now that
he is GoP, he may have changed his views).
Pakistan should end its dabbling on other
people's backyards and instead of trying to bring
peace to the Middle East, it should bring peace
to its own people and to that piece of land on
which it stands itself. All support to radicalism
and radical groups must cease. The writ of the
state should be re-established. The Lal Masjid,
Islamabad, recapitulation is the latest example
of how the state backs down every time it is
challenged by the medieval religious
establishment.
Our intelligence agencies have earned such a bad
name worldwide over the years that they are held
responsible for things of which they are quite
innocent. Ambassador Durrani tells me that the
doctrine of strategic depth has been abandoned by
the Pakistan Army. The Afghans would feel more
reassured that it indeed is so, were this to come
from Gen. Musharraf. The repressive apparatus of
the state must be dismantled. Intelligence
agencies should have their original mandate and
the task for which they were originally created
restored. They have no business to plan and
manipulate elections. So intrusive and powerful
they are today that a civil servant's promotion
to the next grade is dependent on a good chit
from "The Boys". No ambassador can be appointed
unless he or she is cleared by them.
Incidentally, this last one we owe to the Benazir
Bhutto government. She it was who also conferred
the Medal of Democracy on the Army.
But let me end this with a quote from a Los
Angeles Times editorial published on 1st of
March: "The US may well be destined for a long
marriage of convenience with Pakistan. But its
spouse need not necessarily be named Musharraf."
Khalid Hasan is Daily Times' US-based correspondent.
______
[3]
South Asia Citizens Web - March 3, 2007
[http://www.sacw.net/DC/CommunalismCollection/ArticlesArchive/BinaMar07.html]
GUJARAT 2002: THE LONG SHADOW
by Bina Srinivasan [28 February 2007]
I walk the same streets. Minus some houses. I
smell the same air. Minus some smells. And life
goes on. It stretches interminably for some.
For others, it is a vibrant Gujarat.
A few days back I had a bright idea. Let's stop
investments coming into Gujarat, I thought, and
then we will make a dent. I called up friends,
fellow passengers in this journey past the long
dark night. I told them this is what we can do.
And the minute I said my phone is probably
tapped, they dropped the phone.
My idea was only a pipedream. How can I - one
puny individual - stop the might of lucre, how
can I, halt the flight of global capital? Even
as I said it to my friends, in frenzied anger,
bordering on hysteria, I knew it could never
happen.
What was disappointing was the way in which people begin to censor themselves.
For those of us who have lived in Gujarat and
will continue to do so, the struggle is intense.
It is an everyday matter. Our lives are made up
of the many stories that are a lived reality for
so many thousands, as we watch helplessly. And
sometimes not so helplessly, as we make our way
towards multiplexes that have indulged in yet
another act of self-censorship by turning their
backs on Parzania - the film that portrays the
saga of a family whose child went missing in the
2002 violence in Gujarat (just my luck that I
stumbled into a relative of the family in the
most 'innocuous' of places. This relative
insisted I should talk to the father of the
child. I died many small deaths that evening.
What do you say to a father who has been looking
for his child for the last five years?). And
yet we walk towards those multiplexes, in
appreciation of an art that is called Bollywood
these days.
No problem with that, but there is another bit of
the story that is being left out here. That is
what causes concern.
How is it possible that one slice of creativity
is denied audience, while others are allowed to
capture the imagination? Somebody called it
'selective democracy'. I think, this is the
complete absence of democracy.
The name of the game, my friends, is fascism. It
has nothing to do with democracy.
This is how consent is woven out from coercion,
or the threat of it. And believe me, women know
this so well. So many thousands of women live
through this. Yet, when it becomes a form of
governance, it reminds those of us unfortunate
enough to have memories, of a time when the
decimation of an entire community was the rule,
the rationale and the reason.
So much for trying to keep historical truth
afloat. In times when history is itself suspect,
when history coalesces into mythology seamlessly,
there are some of us who begin to doubt our
sanity.
Is it better to just go along with this? Is it
better to resist? Who decides, who bears the
brunt?
Let me come to the point. It is now five years
since Gujarat 2002. The searing memory of those
days are now overwhelmed with the reality of a
community so besieged, so pushed to the wall, it
does not bear thinking of. And the little
everyday injustices, the small instances of
'normalcy', the taken-for-grantedness of the
prejudice - they lurk everywhere. They hide
behind a 'vibrant' Gujarat, they seek shelter in
what is euphemistically called urban development,
they conceal themselves in the vocabulary of
capital, they proclaim themselves from Special
Economic Zones.
There is no peace, I am sorry. No justice
either. Newspapers come out with stories of
'communal harmony'. What is that animal? Who is
it? Communal harmony? Can anybody point it out
to me, please? What zoo does it live in?
I know that humanity exists. In the pores of the
lives of the 'little people'. The real people, I
call them. They live, they try to live, as they
used to. They move on, they struggle. But we
all know what it means. Its what they call an
uphill struggle.
You only have to go to one basti in Ahmedabad,
one relief colony, one 'resettlement colony' and
the truth comes tumbling out like a stream
bursting at the seams, like a flow of tears, like
an unending nightmare.
When the state abdicates its responsibilities,
horror stories ensue. People are not allowed to
go back, the insecurity is enormous, the guilty
are at large. So on and so forth. But the
Hindu Rashtra is only carrying out its 'dharma',
its duty. That is the agenda we saw unfolding
much before 2002. That is the agenda we see
fractionally fulfilled today.
But.
Its time to call a spade a spade. Religious
fundamentalism is fundamentalism is
fundamentalism. And it is everywhere.
Patriarchy is patriarchy is patriarchy.
So now it is beginning to cut both ways. I take
the risk here of saying that even the religious
groups that have provided relief post Gujarat
2002 are guilty, some of them, or at least some
individuals within them.
If truth has to prevail, it has to first see
light of day. And there are no big truths and
small truths. The truth is the truth. Big or
small, it can be as bitter.
So, women are being exploited, they are being
forced to take to sex work. They are being
forced outside their homes by their relatives,
their immediate community, in many instances.
That apart, there are many other tales untold, of
having been duped, cheated and robbed of the
money they received as compensation for death of
kin, of the loans they got as victims of the
violence in 2002. Tales of being threatened by
people of their own community.
Key words: people, of their own, community.
So much for charity. So much for relief.
I know the context in which Gujarat happens. You
don't have to tell me about the nature of the
state in Gujarat. I know about the revamping of
textbooks, the setting up of special programmes
for Dalits and adivasis, the POTA arrests, ad
nauseam.
But.
There is another angle of exploitation. Another
angle of religious bigotry that is also
happening. I am not willing to condone it. A
man whose house has been attacked twice in 2002,
says to a community that women should be given
some training in business, and is told by a
cleric that, 'this work is "haram" ', we cannot
ask our women to do that.' 'But sex work is even
more "haram" ', he says helplessly. He is
angry, he is infuriated, to use his own words.
He is alone. Almost alone.
With these words I know I will fall in between
two stools. Ah, well. Maybe my place is in
between two stools. The view is bleak from
here, but at least it gives you the truth.
As I live through the political wilderness of
Gujarat, I wonder. What is to happen, where will
it all end? Will it end at all? Flying in the
face of such adversity, there are moments of
exhilaration. Just the sheer defiance of it.
The rebellion it entails.
Sometimes there is fear. Cloying, stinking fear.
o o o
[See also other content on Communalism Watch:
TRACKING THE TRIALS
The status of the 13 cases sent outside Gujarat
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2007/03/gujarat-5-years-later-tracking-trials.html
DIVIDE REMAINS
No steps have been taken to address politics of hate.
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2007/03/divide-remains.html ]
______
[4]
www.sacw.net - March 3, 2007
SO-CALLED ANTI-TERRORIST LAWS ARE TOOLS OF STATE TERRORISM
(Submission for South Asia Sub-Regional Hearing
in New Delhi, New Delhi, 27-28 February 2007)
by Rohit Prajapati
[. . .]
- I would also like mention that we should demand
in all countries the new law "The Prevention of
Atrocities and State-Terrorism Act", (PASTA) 2007
to counter State-Terrorism.
[. . .].
FULL TEXT OF THIS PAPER IS AVAILABLE AT:
http://www.sacw.net/hrights/rohitICJFeb2007.pdf
______
[5]
Monday, February 26, 2007
Sub: PETITION FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF SACHAR COMMITTEE
Dear Friends,
We are forwarding herewith a URL petition for
implementation of Sachar Committee which 1228
people have already signed and we request you to
kindly sign it. The petition will be submitted to
President and Prime Minister of India, Speaker of
Parliament, Home Minister and Minister of
Minority Affairs.
Kindly sign it and forward it to you friends as
we are trying to collect 1,00,000 signatures.
Here is the URL:
<http://www.petitiononline.com/sushovan/petition.html>http://www.petitiononline.com/sushovan/petition.html
Yours sincerely,
Asghar Ali Engineer.
Centre for Study of Society and Secularism
602 & 603, Silver Star, 6th Floor,
Santacruz (E),
Mumbai:- 400 055.
______
[6]
PEOPLE'S TRIBUNAL PREPONED TO MARCH 20-22, 2007
INDEPENDENT PEOPLES' TRIBUNAL ON FASCISM'S RISE
AND THE ATTACK ON THE SECULAR STATE
MARCH 20-22, 2007
VENUE: INDIAN SOCIAL INSTITUTE, LODI ROAD INSTITUTIONAL AREA
NEW DELHI
Dear Friends,
We had to prepone the IPT on the Rise of Fascism
to March 20-22, 2007 because of a large number of
requests received from various activists who are
attending the People's Health Assembly in Bhopal.
Kindly note that we are trying to raise resources
for the travel and stay of people who will be
deposing in front of the jury from the following
15 states: GUJARAT, MADHYA PRADESH, RAJASTHAN,
UTTAR PRADESH, JHARKHAND, KARNATAKA, ORISSA,
TAMIL NADU, KERALA, MAHARSHTRA, GOA, MANIPUR, J &
K, WEST BENGAL, CHATTISGARH.
Approximately 20 victims (who have suffered
directly) and 5 activists / academicians (who
have been working on the issue and can give an
over all picture from their respective states)
are being identified. The organisers will be able
to support only their stay and travel.
Anyone else wanting to come to the tribunal from
outside Delhi will have to bear his or her own
travel and stay.
If you know of any cases which need to be
reported please write to us urgently. We will put
you in touch with the state co-ordinators from
your state.
This is also an urgent appeal for funds
(supporting travel, stay, documentation etc).
Sincerely
Shabnam Hashmi
o o o
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2007/03/background-note-independent-peoples.html
Background Note
INDEPENDENT PEOPLES' TRIBUNAL ON FASCISM'S RISE
AND THE ATTACK ON THE SECULAR STATE
MARCH 20-22, 2007
VENUE: INDIAN SOCIAL INSTITUTE, LODI ROAD INSTITUTIONAL AREA
NEW DELHI
A. BACKGROUND
Jawaharlal Nehru about eighty years back had said
that 'if fascism comes to India it will come in
the form of communalism'. Most leaders and
intellectuals did not realize the gravity of the
formulation. They did not have to, for the reason
that most individuals or organized communalists
occupied positions at the farthest end of the
periphery of Indian socio-political ethos. No one
took them seriously or in other words they were
not perceived as a threat to secular democratic
fabric as it was weaved by the leadership after
India own its freedom.
Subsequent pronouncements of the Supreme Court
laid down that secularism forms part of the basic
structure of the constitution. In S.R. Bommai's
case the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme
Court said, "The state has no religion. It stands
aloof from religion."
When the secular forces and civil society were
engaged building the nation and grappling with
the questions of development such as eradication
of illiteracy, poverty, epidemic, floods and
famines, the communal formations both Hindu and
Muslim, abetting each other, were busy creating a
communal mindset. Drawing strength from the
fabricated history and fictitious present day
realities, the hate campaigns, unleashed by
especially the Hindu right , gradually corroded
the secular and democratic fabric of the country.
They are no more on the periphery. Through covert
and overt operations they today occupy fairly
large spaces particularly in northern parts of
India. The Gujarat genocide perpetrated by these
forces shook the people of the country. The
enormity of operation as was unfolded in Gujarat
makes it imperative for civil society to look at
the process of genocide closely and draw lessons.
Activists are aware about these dangers and
different strategies have been adopted to battle
them. Grass root mobilizations, sensitisation
workshops, training sessions, academic
intervention, and judicial challenges have all
been adopted to a greater or lesser degree.
Though information about the spread of fascist
forces and strategies adopted against them is
available from all parts of the country we
believe that at this juncture we need to have a
macro level picture of the spreading cancer. No
doubt this can be done through national level
seminars or partially even through e- mails, etc.
But there is no substitute for actually hearing
testimonies of victims and activists and based on
this arrive at a macro level picture.
B. NEED FOR A TRIBUNAL
We have been involved in a number of peoples'
tribunals and our experience has shown that
though, these tribunals represent only one aspect
of the strategy, they are an important tool.
Tribunals serve the following objectives:
1. For any political and social change to occur
an in depth understanding of the problem is
required.
2. The testimonies of the victims and the report
of the Tribunal can be used for legal initiatives
to strengthen the secular structure of the state.
3. The tribunals act as a recorder of history which may otherwise be lost
4. The issue gets much more media coverage and
gets highlighted in public spaces.
5. The Report is used by organizations for lobbying of their issues.
6. The report, if properly done, has tremendous
credibility at the national and international
level and at times can influence courts and
policy makers.
After the Gujarat carnage and particularly after
the change of government at the Centre, it was
thought that the communal build up was on hold or
on the decline. However reports from all over
India, including the South and Central states,
indicates an alarming spread of fascist ideology
and activities and a deeper penetration into
education and the arms of the state. It is a
cancer that seems capable of growing in all
political environments.
C. PRESENT TRIBUNAL AND ITS LOGISTICS
The Independent Peoples' Tribunal, which is
planned, is a small step towards this. The object
is to have a panel of judges, which include
retired High Court and Supreme Court judges,
academicians, journalists and other media
persons, activists as also retired police
officers, bureaucrats and media persons. The
panel will take testimonies of different groups
and individuals- victims, activists and
academicians from across the country and draw a
nation wide picture of the rising face of fascism.
The dates for the IPT are March 20-22, 2006. It
will be organised at Indian Social Institute,
Lodi Road Institutional Area, New Delhi.
D. CO- ORGANISERS
Anhad and Human Rights Law Network have taken the
initiative to organise this Tribunal. The task is
stupendous. Obviously it cannot be undertaken by
one or two organisations. We need to make it a
collective national level effort. We would
therefore request you/ your organization to
participate in this effort. Participation would
involve all or at least some of the following:
1. Being a joint co organiser of this process
2. Identifying issues nationally as well as
locally which need to be taken up by the Tribunal
3. Identifying and contacting other groups which
can be part of this process as also names of
panel members
4. Helping to identify 15-20 individual/ groups
from your state to depose at the Tribunal.
5. Volunteering to compile the existing material on the issue.
6. Assisting in Report preparation
7. Fund raising for the project
E. ISSUES TO BE TAKEN UP AT INDEPENDENT PEOPLES TRIBUNAL
1. Overview of Rise of Anti Democratic Forces in India
- Increasing spread of majority communalism
- Growing intensity of riots and spread to newer areas
- Failure of the State machinery
- Links between the government/ state and
non-state actors - use of the law to promote
anti-democratic forces
2. Education
- Communalisation of Mainstream Education
- Changes in Curriculum
- Spread of communalisation through schools run by various communal groups
- Attacks on minority schools
- Funding grants - discrimination in distribution of grants
- Discrimination of secular scholars and academicians
3. Communalisation of Culture
- Rewriting of history
- Insistence on Unitary Versus composite culture
- Attacks on places of worship- Ayodhya, Kashi,
Mathura, Bhoj Shala destruction of places of
worship in Gujarat and other states, attacks on
churches at various places
- Dress Code
- Policing of Culture
4. Role of Media
- Media- especially the role of vernacular media, electronic media
5. Conversion
- Extent of conversion and how big is it really an issue?
- Anti conversion laws
- "Hinduisation" of tribals
- Connected issues such as separate census of Christians
6. Hate Speech
- Extent and nature of hate speech
- Circulars and handbills issued by communal
organisations against Muslims and Christians
- Legislative response to hate speech (S.153A, 153B, 505 of the Penal Code)
- Judicial response to hate speech
- Administrative failure to respond to hate speech
7. Riots and Other Attacks
- History and causes of major riots in different parts of India
- Impact of riots on various communities
- Role of the fundamentalist organizations in riots
- Role of administration in riots
- Paramilitary forces of communal groups
8. Police Force
- Reports of various Enquiry Commissions on Role of Police
- Police involvement in riots
- Scuttling of investigations by the police
- Religion wise composition of the Police force
9. Administration
- Reports of various Enquiry Commissions on Role
of Bureaucracy, Involvement of bureaucracy in
riots
- Communalisation of bureaucracy
- Penetration of communal forces in bureaucracy
10. Legislation
- Conversion laws
- Anti cow slaughter laws
- Repeal of Assam Migrants Act
- Art. 370A of the Constitution
- Misuse of TADA, POTA, Armed Forces Special
Powers Act, Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act
and related legislation
11. Judiciary
- Recent judicial trends in issues concerning
secularism- such as judgments on Elections,
Bommai Judgment, Communalisation of Education
Judgment, Conversion cases, etc.
- Role of the judiciary in important cases such
as Anti Sikh riots, Bombay riots and Gujarat
pogrom
12. Other Quasi Judicial Institutions
- NHRC & SHRCs
- Minority Commission
- Women's Commission
- Election Commission, (To be taken up at Delhi
and at such other places where the Commissions
have been called upon to act- such as Gujarat)
- Identity/ Impact on reservation/ welfare
schemes and other issues close to Dalits
13. Communalisation amongst Dalits and Tribals
- Recent trends of communalisation amongst Dalits and tribals
- Participation of Dalits and tribals in recent
riots, Identity politics, impact on reservation
- Impact on welfare schemes and issues close to Dalits
14. Impact of Communalisation on women
- Impact on women during riots
- Impact on women's rights due to communalisation of society,
- Cult of male supremacy
- Distorted picture of Hindu women from mythology
15. Attack on Secular Organisations
- Description of attacks on organizations- here
we need to give a geographical spread as also
description based on attacks on different
community groups- such as Missionary schools,
NGOs, individuals working on issues concerning
secularism, etc.
16. Other ways of Spreading the hatred by communal groups
- Extent and spread of different in India
communal groups, (both majority and minority
groups)
- International connections of these organizations and their funding
- Distribution of weapons
- Attempts to make communal persons national heroes
- Changes in the National Anthem and Flags law
- Vande Matram controversy
- Jingoism around Pakistan and Bangladeshi immigrants
- Economic Boycott
17. Minority Communalism
- The growth of fundamentalist organisations
- Impact on women's rights due the growth of fundamentalist forces
18. Rise of Militarism, the International situation and Fascism
- Hyper Nationalism, the rise of militarism and
nuclearisation within the country - India as a
Super Power
- Islamic Phobia
- Militarisation of daily life
- The U.S. hegemony and rise of fundamentalism after September, 11th
- Selective targeting of fundamentalism by the Western countries
- Situation in Pakistan and its impact on India
______
[7]
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2007/03/peace-with-justice-meeting-one-year.html
Citizens' Initiatives for Communal Harmony - Goa
TOWARDS PEACE WITH JUSTICE -- One year after the
Sanvordem-Curchorem communal violence
3rd March, 2007 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at T.B . Cunha Hall, Panjim
3rd and 4th March 2006 are days that we would probably prefer to forget.
But can history be erased? Alternatively, should history become a cause
of conflict? Or should we work at what it means to recall history with a
view to constructing a just and secular future?
One year after the riots, the Muslim community in the area continues to
live in fear and anxiety, afraid that at any time any day they can once
again be attacked and left in the lurch. Can we let this continue? Can
we continue to say that all Indians are our brothers and sisters with
our heads held high?
What has been the role of the State in all this? What would it take to
ensure that all, specially the minority communities and the marginalised
sections of society are included amongst us as our equal brothers and
sisters? How do we ensure that all citizens can live in peace and
security?
To not only talk of peace but to ground it in reality -- rather than
talking of an illusory peace -- is the challenge before us. Goa also
needs to be protected in the future against communal ideologies and
processes. For this we need to get to the root of the current problems,
and pledge ourselves to work towards a better future.
So come, sing a song of secularism, and share your thoughts with
like-minded people. Together we can make a difference and bring about
peace with justice.
Come and be part of the peace-with-justice meeting organised by
Citizens' Initiatives for Communal Harmony on 3rd March, 2007 from 4
p.m. to 6 p.m. at T.B.Cunha Hall, Panjim
(Albertina Almeida) (Ramesh Gauns)
Convenors
______
[8]
PRESS RELEASE - 23rd FEBRUARY 2007
RESPONSE OF BRITISH MUSLIMS FOR SECULAR DEMOCRACY (BMSD)
TO THE INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE PUBLISHED BY MUSLIM COUNCIL OF BRITAIN:
MEETING THE NEEDS OF MUSLIM PUPILS IN STATE SCHOOLS
British Muslims for Secular Democracy (BMSD) is
deeply concerned about the recent information and
guidance document published by the Muslim Council
of Britain (MCB) titled "Meeting the needs of
Muslim pupils in state schools".
We believe the guides would have a detrimental
effect on Muslim children and on the practice of
progressive education.
The MCB document in effect institutionalises the
exclusion of Muslim pupils and their parents from
various school activities and alienates them
further from the rest of the pupils. BMSD further
believes that the recommendations in the guidance
document, which seems to have the tacit approval
of the
government's Advisor to London Schools, Professor
Tim Brighouse, would put unnecessary burdens on
many state schools. Furthermore schools, which
may view the recommendations as impractical and
divisive, may be forced into acceptance and
implementation by undue pressure being put on
them on them by hard-line organisations such as
the MCB. Muslim parents and pupils who are
otherwise liberal minded and flexible in their
approach towards practising their religion would
also come under social and peer pressure to
conform to the general notion that all Muslims
(parents and pupils) wish to see these
recommendations implemented within the schools.
BMSD is wholly opposed to the following recommendations:
. Major changes to school uniform
policies to accommodate the perceived and widely
disputed Islamic requirements of clothing such as
Hijab and Jilbab.
. Prayers rooms according to strictest of
specifications and allowing children leave school
premises for extended periods of time to perform
Friday prayers.
. Alteration to sports activities
affecting all school pupils such as mixed-gender
contact sports and exemption of Muslim pupils
from dance, drama and other expressive arts with
provision of alternative activities.
. Changes to the contents of Religious
Education (RE) sessions to cover Islamic
teachings as opposed to other faiths, emphasis on
statutory right of withdrawal of Muslim pupils
from RE sessions as a result of non-compliance by
schools. Provision of external Muslim teachers
for Islamic education as part of RE as an
alternative to complete withdrawal of Muslim
pupils from
RE.
. Major changes to provision of Sex and
Relationship Education (SRE) according to Islamic
beliefs, or exemption of Muslim pupils from
attendance as a result of non-compliance by
schools.
Dr Shaaz Mahboob of BMSD said "The guidance
cannot and should not be seen as entirely
reflective of the desires of the majority of the
Muslim pupils and their parents, since they hail
from diverse range of backgrounds based on
ethnicity, cultural practices and spiritual
beliefs. MCB being an umbrella body for mainly
mosques and other religious organisations is not
a representative body for all Muslim parents in
Britain and therefore the views expressed in the
document should not be considered by the schools
or the government as the collective will of the
numerous Muslim communities in Britain.
It is amusing to find that one hand MCB wishes to
promote better understanding and coexistence
between Muslims and members of other faiths, and
would like to see Islamic belief to be taught in
schools where there aren't even any Muslim
pupils, yet according to their guidance document
they
wish to remove British Muslim pupils from
essential teachings for today's youth such as Sex
and Relationship Education and Religious
Education classes where they are likely to be
exposed to faiths such as Christianity, Hinduism
or concepts such as Atheism. Moreover they demand
that additional
instruction be given to Muslim pupils only in
Islamic education by external Muslim teachers,
provided for at the expense of the schools'
resources". He said "The recommendations, should
they be implemented by schools, would not only
serve to increase the segregation of Muslim
pupils from their
non-Muslim peers, who may grow up viewing Muslim
pupils as those unduly awarded concessions and
treated somewhat differently, thereby creating a
wider gulf between the communities in the years
to come".
Notes to the editors:
1. BMSD is made up of a group of Muslim
democrats of diverse ethnic and social
backgrounds, who support a clear separation
between religion and the
State.
2. The initial focus of our organisation is
Britain; however, we are aware of the
international and geo-political ramifications of
the perception of a threat from a 'globalised and
radicalised Islam' and the impact that this
perception has on the every day lives of secular
Muslims across the world. We therefore are keen
to link our work to the European and global
contexts in the future.
3. BMSD claims no mandate or false
representative status. Our primary concern is
democratic engagement not detailed theological
analysis or debate. The level and depth of
commitment to the doctrinal core and orthodoxy of
the faith varies among Muslims as much as it does
in members of other faith groups. BMSD founders
wish to create a platform for alternative,
diverse Muslim views, essential for a
progressive, multi-layered, democratic identity
that is not in conflict with itself or fellow
citizens.
4. For details please visit http://www.bmsd.org.uk
5. For any further queries, please contact:
Dr Shaaz Mahboob on shaaz at bmsd.org.uk or
07884473491
Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui on drsiddiqui at talk21.com or 07860259289
______
[9] PUBLICATION ANNOUNCEMENTS
o o o
(i)
Himal Southasian's March 2007 issue is out!
<http://www.himalmag.com>www.himalmag.com
COVER PACKAGE: INDIA DISCOVERS SOUTHASIA
It has taken two long decades following the
establishment of SAARC, but India finally seems
to have boarded the Southasian train. As New
Delhi prepares to take over from Dhaka as chair
of SAARC during the first week of April, the
managers of Indian foreign policy are giving out
enthusiastic sound bites on Southasian
regionalism. They say that it is in India's
self-interest to make peace with its neighbours.
All of which is great news for those of us who
believe that regionalism's dividend is not only a
safer Southasia, but also a more prosperous one.
We present five perspectives on this emerging
regionalism:
India realising Southasia - Kanak Mani Dixit
India's new regionalism - C Raja Mohan
Pakistan-India roadblocks to regional peace - Moeed Yusuf
The Indo-Bangla SAARC puzzle - Imtiaz Ahmed
Sri Lanka's win-win FTA - Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
The March issue also includes updates from:
* Bangladesh . Pseudo-innovation in Dhaka, by Asif Saleh
* Sri Lanka . The wages of Muslim passivity, by Dilrukshi Handunnetti
* Nepal . A country in interim, commentary
* Andaman Islands . Moving on from a cataclysm, by Pankaj Sekhsaria
o o o
(ii)
'FRAMING GEELANI, HANGING AFZAL' : PATRIOTISM IN THE TIME OF TERROR
by Nandita Haksar
2007 / 350pp. / Paperback
ISBN 81-85002-80-0
Rs. 450.00 / $22.95 (U.S.)
About the Book
The Parliament Attack Case has generated many
controversies but in this book Nandita Haksar
throws light on the range of political, legal and
historical issues that have arisen in the
campaign to save two Kashmiri men from the
gallows. She does this through a series of open
letters written to public figures, personal
friends and comrades, in which she links the
immediate issues of the campaign with the larger
problems of secularism, nationalism and democracy.
Through her letters the reader will discover the
horrifying world that Kashmiris inhabit: the
terrifying reality of illegal arrests, dark, damp
prison cells and the barbarity of the torture and
pain of a child waiting for his father to be
hanged.
Nandita Haksar's central concern is that the war
against terrorism is systematically weakening the
democratic foundations of our country, widening
the chasm between Hindu and Muslim citizens, and
allying India with the most hated States in the
world - the USA and Israel. Her letters express
the anguish of a citizen who is helplessly
watching her country become authoritarian and
fascist without any effective political
resistance. Nandita has not cringed from either
naming the problems or those responsible for
creating them.
This book is written neither in anger nor in
frustration but with a deep sense of solidarity
with her fellow citizens. Her letters are those
of an Indian patriot who rejects official
definitions of nationalism. The book's dedication
"in celebration of F riendships" reflects the
emotions imbued in each letter. She asserts her
belief in the magic of love, friendship and
solidarity. This book is a must read for all
those interested in building bridges between
Hindus and Muslims; Kashmiris, Indians and
Pakistanis; and feminists and fundamentalists.
And for those who are too young to read the
letters, Nandita has a heart-warming fable.
About the Author
Nandita Haksar is a human rights teacher, lawyer
and activist with an international reputation.
For orders please contact:
PROMILLA & CO., PUBLISHERS / BIBLIOPHILE SOUTH ASIA
C-127 Sarvodaya Enclave, New Delhi 110 017, India
Tels : 91-11-26864124, 65284748, 41829491
Fax : 91-11-26961462
E-mails : ashokbutani at gmail.com / abutani at biblioasia.com
URL : www.biblioasia.com
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Buzz for secularism, on the dangers of fundamentalism(s), on
matters of peace and democratisation in South
Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit
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