SACW - 15 Oct 2012 | Goebbels lives on in Pakistan / Sri Lanka: Threats and Violence / India: Nuking protests mocks democracy / EU: Peace prize or war prize? / Iran: Segregation in universities

[Harsh Kapoor]

    South Asia Citizens Wire - 12-15 Oct  2012 - No. 2757
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contents:

1. Pakistan: Why Malala must live (Adnan Rehmat)
2. Goebbels lives on in Pakistan (Safiya Aftab)
3. Pakistan: Forked tongues of the holy armies (Ayaz Amir)
4. US - Pakistan: Code Pink, the Taliban, and Malala Yousafzai (Meredith Tax) 
5. Pakistan: PILER, PPC condemn terrorists attack on Malala Yousfzai, call for immediate arrest of culprits
6. India: Bhopal Gas victims stand up in solidarity with Malala Yousafzai who was attacked by the Taliban
7. Threats and Violence undermine democratic governance in Sri Lanka (Shanie)
8. India: Don’t Impose The Koodankulam Reactors - Nuking protests mocks democracy (Praful Bidwai)
9. India: Why The Bhopal Disaster Site, 28 Years Later, Is Still A Toxic Killer (Julien Bouissou)
10. India: Hazard Concerns - MIC at Bhopal and Virginia and the Indian Nuclear Liability Act (Nasir Tyabji)
11. Among recent posts on Communalism Watch:
 - When is forgiveness right? (Martha Nussbaum) 
 - Waiting for Remorse in Gujarat (JS Bandukwala) 
 - Secularism and BJPs Dilemma (Ram Puniyani)
 - [Book Review] Hate and The State: Hindu-Muslim Riot Politics in India (Ananya Vajpeyi)
 - India: Identities are Returning with a Vengeance (Kuldip Nayar)
 - United against the 'Foreigner': Assam social movement leader's take on 'infiltration' and 'the influx problem' is standard fare
 - A Preface to Racial Discourse in India: North-east and Mainland
 - Bangladesh: most Hindu women want marriage registration to be mandatory

International: 
12. International Peace Bureau Critical of Nobel Peace Prize For The European Union
13. Iran: Ensure Equal Access to Higher Education - Scrap Policies That Ban Students From Studies on Basis of Gender (Human Rights Watch) 
 
=======================================
1. PAKISTAN: WHY MALALA MUST LIVE
by Adnan Rehmat
=======================================
The symbolism of what the outrageous attack on Malala Yousafzai represents cannot be overstated. Malala on deathbed is really Pakistan’s soul on a ventilator. And why is that so? Barely half of us 180m Pakistanis are literate. Even those who are literate are generally a superstitious lot allowing themselves to be hostage to all manner of dodgy dogmas and primal ideologies. A staggering 25 million children are out of school. Barely four out of ten girls have ever been to schools. The Taliban have blown up over 2,000 schools in the last 5 years alone — that’s an astonishing average of 400 every year and more than one school atomised daily. The state doesn’t consider this a priority, sparing money to re-build these old schools, let alone build new ones to outstrip the pace of those being destroyed. That we have dug in our pockets deeper in the same period to find money to conduct over a dozen nuclear missile tests is telling.
http://www.sacw.net/article2924.html
    
=======================================
2. GOEBBELS LIVES ON IN PAKISTAN
by Safiya Aftab
=======================================
One has suspected for some time that Goebbelsian minds are at work in Pakistan and are active in pushing public discourse onto set paths. In particular, a national consensus against religious extremism will just not be allowed to take hold to any significant degree. Is that because the extremists remain strategic assets? Or because ultra-nationalist ascendancy simply stops people from asking too many questions about their fundamental rights and the role of the state? Whatever the reason, the Malala case is proving that not much will change in Pakistan. Eleven years on, this nation still refuses to identify the enemy, let alone unite against it.
http://www.sacw.net/article2925.html

=======================================
3. PAKISTAN: FORKED TONGUES OF THE HOLY ARMIES
by Ayaz Amir
=======================================
They just can’t say it straight, our blessed holy fathers, champions of righteousness and clear winners of an international hypocrisy prize if one was on offer. On supposed insults to the faith, insults real or imagined, their fists go up and angry foam flecks their outraged lips. Rallies are mounted across the country and the pillars of the republic, far from sturdy at the best of times, are shaken. But come a Taliban-staged event like the shooting of Malala and tongues begin to twist, churning out a fog of doubt-laced ambiguity. To every crocodile tear shed is added a comparison with drone strikes and the American war in Afghanistan.
http://www.sacw.net/article2926.html

=======================================
4. CODE PINK, THE TALIBAN, AND MALALA YOUSAFZAI
by Meredith Tax
=======================================
Most Pakistanis are so outraged by the attempted murder of Malala Yousafzai that even Imran Khan had to condemn it, though it took him ten hours to do so and he didn’t mention the Taliban.  Code Pink’s Washington office also did a hasty press release Oct. 10 saying they prayed for Malala’s recovery and offering $1000 to her school, while making “a connection between drone attacks and growing extremism in Pakistan”—as if there were no Taliban before there were drones. So why would Code Pink ally with Imran Khan rather than Pakistani liberals?  Just to get press?  Because a nuanced analysis would complicate their message? Perhaps the US antiwar movement is so small because of its failure to develop a politics that is critical of both US imperialism and fundamentalist movements like the Taliban. 

http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/meredith-tax/code-pink-taliban-and-malala-yousafzai

=======================================
5. Pakistan: PILER, PPC condemn terrorists attack on Malala Yousfzai, call for immediate arrest of culprits
=======================================
KARACI, Oct. 10: Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC) and Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) have strongly condemned the terrorists attack on a girl students’ van, injuring three girls including Malala Yousufzai, a peace activist of Swat who has been struggling for girls education in Swat valley. They demanded the government to immediately arrest the culprits and bring them to books.
http://www.sacw.net/article2917.html

=======================================
6. INDIA: BHOPAL GAS VICTIMS STAND UP IN SOLIDARITY WITH MALALA YOUSAFZAI WHO WAS ATTACKED BY THE TALIBAN
=======================================
The diverse peace movement groups in India are quiet, the women's movement doesn't speak up, silence from the various social movements, the Left has other things to do but the a platform of Bhopal gas accident survivors have done the Indians proud by standing up in solidarity with Malala Yousafzai who was attacked by the Taliban.
http://www.sacw.net/article2923.html

=======================================
7. THREATS AND VIOLENCE UNDERMINE DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE IN SRI LANKA
by Shanie / Notebook of A Nobody
=======================================
Monks when they deliver a sermon at funerals quote this stanza to enable all those present to reflect on the impermanence of life. But, our political leaders and others in positions of authority seem to have no time for such reflections. They obviously think they have a permanent divine right to rule and nobody should have the audacity to challenge their actions. Woe betide the person – journalist, cartoonist, trade unionist, rights activist, legislator, judicial officer or an ordinary citizen – who dares to raise the voice of dissent. Such ‘traitors’ or ‘pawns of foreign conspirators’ will receive their just desserts. Wimal Weerawansa, who sees conspiracies under every bush, has this week told a group of public officials that the attack on Judge Manjula Tillakaratne, Secretary of the Judicial Service Commission, was a result of a political conspiracy. "A premeditated political conspiracy is being hatched in many countries to tarnish the image of the government in the eyes of the people. This type of situation is prevalent in countries governed by patriotic and liberal minded rulers. Certain NGOs, Western missions and separatist forces are drafting the agendas of these conspiracies. These elements are behind the FUTA strike too", this "true patriot" has said.
http://www.sacw.net/article2927.html

=======================================
8. INDIA: DON’T IMPOSE THE KOODANKULAM REACTORS - NUKING PROTESTS MOCKS DEMOCRACY
by Praful Bidwai
=======================================
Even the most zealous supporters of nuclear power generation should logically concede three things to their opponents. First, after the grave disaster at Fukushima, it is natural for people everywhere to be deeply sceptical of the safety claims made for nuclear power, and for governments to phase out atomic reactors. That’s exactly what’s happening in countries like Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and now Japan.

Second, nuclear power, like all technologies and all development projects, should be promoted democratically, with the consent of the people living in their vicinity, and with scrupulous regard for the rule of law and civil liberties. And third, safety must be given paramount importance in reactor construction and operation, with strict adherence to norms and procedures and full compliance with rules laid down by an independent safety authority.

The way the government has dealt with the opponents of the Koodankulam nuclear reactors being built in Tamil Nadu violates all three red lines egregiously. Rather than treat opposition to nuclear power for its hazards as natural, logical and an indication of citizens’ engagement with the world, the Department of Atomic Energy and its subsidiary Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd see dementia in it—a pathological condition to be cured by psychiatrists to be especially invited from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore.
http://www.sacw.net/article2919.html

=======================================
9. INDIA: WHY THE BHOPAL DISASTER SITE, 28 YEARS LATER, IS STILL A TOXIC KILLER
by Julien Bouissou
=======================================
(Le Mmonde/Worldcrunch - 8 October 2012)

NEW DELHI - Who will be able to decontaminate Bhopal? During the night of December 3, 1984, a Union Carbide pesticide plant exploded in the north Indian city of Bhopal, releasing toxic gases that killed between 15,000 and 30,000 people.

Nearly 28 years after one of the worst industrial catastrophes in history, toxic chemicals abandoned on the site are still contaminating the groundwater.

On September 17, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) announced that it would not be removing 347 metric tons of waste to incinerate them in Germany, in spite of having started negotiations at the beginning of the year with the Indian government.

The reason given for the decision was that the Indian government's refusal to be responsible in case of any accident in the transport and handling of these toxic substances.

Another reason was the opposition of German activists and environmentalists to the transport and incineration of the chemical waste in their country. "We do not want highly toxic substances to travel across half the planet," Manfred Santen of Greenpeace told Deutsche Welle.

The decontamination of the Bhopal site is a gigantic project. Between 4,000 and 12,000 metric tons of toxic products are thought to be present in the soil. Removal of the 347 metric tons of waste stocked in the former factory would only be the first step. However, no incinerating center in India is capable of disposing of the waste safely. If Europe refuses to do it, the waste will have to be buried in India.

Waste and toxic chemicals, used to make pesticides, had infiltrated the soil long before the explosion. In 1982, two years before the disaster, Union Carbide's internal notes reveal that there were leaks in 23 hectares (56.8 acres) of basins used for storing chemical waste. "The evaporation basins continue to leak, which is very alarming," said a telex sent to the American headquarters of Union Carbide in 1982, and seen by Le Monde. The same year, farmers had complained of the sudden death of several cows that had been grazing near the factory.

Ongoing health problems

Seven years later, Union Carbide took samples on the factory grounds and in the waste treatment reservoirs. The analysis revealed high concentrations of naphthol and naphthalene. During the tests, fish exposed to the samples of toxic substances, even diluted, died instantly or within two days.

How many inhabitants of Bhopal were and still are contaminated by toxic waste? How many of them have died because of it? It is hard to know the truth. No independent study has evaluated the extent of groundwater contamination, nor the effects of these products on human health. More worrisome is that these effects are added to those of the gases emitted during the explosion of the factory, and that these effects are being transmitted over generations.

The Center for Rehabilitation Studies for the state of Madhya Pradesh, whose capital is Bhopal, stated in 2005 that, "the contamination of soil and groundwater clearly increased the morbidity rate among the population living around the factory." The results of an expert study ordered by the Indian Supreme Court should be known this autumn.

Around the contaminated site, children continue to be born malformed. Many local people suffer from anemia, skin ailments and cancer. Nothing has ever been done to clean up the site. In 1994, Union Carbide sold its Indian subsidiary to a purchaser who resold the property four years later to the State of Madhya Pradesh. As the transactions multiplied, the question of soil contamination was ignored. In 2009, the government of Madhya Pradesh maintained that the ground was not contaminated. The regional minister in charge of the victims of Bhopal even announced a plan to open the site to tourists.

It took a Supreme Court order in 2005 for local authorities to supply drinking water to inhabitants so that they would stop using wells. But the tanks that have been installed are not all connected to the homes. This August, 47% of the at-risk population did not have access to them, according to a study carried out by the associations for the defense of the victims of Bhopal.

Dow Chemical, which did not answer our requests for an interview, considers that it has no responsibility for Bhopal. Dow bought Union Carbide in 2001, after Union Carbide already detached itself from its Indian subsidiary. "However, it is the principle of polluter-payer that should apply," says Karuna Nundy, a lawyer for the associations of victims of Bhopal.

"It's important to distinguish the two tragedies," she says. "It’s as if burglars were arrested for having robbed a bank, but later the police also discover a corpse in the trunk of their car. Dow Chemical is responsible for both the factory explosion, which killed thousands of people, and for the groundwater pollution that continues to hurt new victims. "

Dow Chemical spends millions of dollars to show off its image as a company of "integrity," "respectful of the individual" and "protecting the planet." It spent 82 million euros to sponsor the London Olympic Games. Without such support "there would be no goosebumps, no hearts beating fast... nor union of the whole planet," the Olympic Organizing Committee said in its thanks.

Read the article in the original language. [http://www.lemonde.fr/journalelectronique/donnees/protege/20121002/html/880983.html]

All rights reserved ©Worldcrunch - in partnership with LE MONDE 


=======================================
10. HAZARD CONCERNS - MIC AT BHOPAL AND VIRGINIA AND THE INDIAN NUCLEAR LIABILITY ACT
by Nasir Tyabji
=======================================
(Economic and Political Weekly, October 13, 2012) 
Oblivious to the anger and outrage expressed throughout the world after the methyl isocyanate leak in December 1984, the continued storage of MIC at the parent West Virginia plant until 2011, despite several accidents, indicates the limited effect of public safety concerns on corporate strategy. As in India, neither the US executive nor the judiciary seemed capable of withstanding pressures exerted by the chemical processing industry. This is an ongoing story of struggle. What gave Bhopal a fresh salience in the public mind was the Indian government's proposal to buy nuclear power reactors from the US, and to agree to legislation which would satisfy US manufacturers of the limits to their liability. Disconcertingly for the government, the Bhopal chief judicial magistrate's judgment in 2010 led to an explosion of public fury, forcing the government to introduce clauses in the nuclear liability legislation laying down responsibility on the technology supplier. If organic chemicals have awakened the world to the dangers of chemical substances, Bhopal brought home the fraught nature of industrial processes involving exothermic reactions.

This paper was presented at the workshop on “Hazardous Chemicals:Agents of Risk and Change (1800-2000)” organised by the Deutsches Museum Research Institute, Department of History, Maastricht University, and Rachel Carson Centre for Environment and Society, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, on 27-29 April 2012. The author is grateful to Jesim Pais for his comments on an earlier draft.

http://www.epw.in/special-articles/hazard-concerns.html


=======================================
11. AMONG RECENT POSTS ON COMMUNALISM WATCH 
=======================================

When is forgiveness right? (Martha Nussbaum) 
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2012/10/when-is-forgiveness-right-martha.html

Waiting for Remorse in Gujarat (JS Bandukwala) 
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2012/10/waiting-for-remore-in-gujarat-js.html

Secularism and BJPs Dilemma (Ram Puniyani)
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2012/10/secularism-and-bjps-dilemma.html

[Book Review] Hate and The State: Hindu-Muslim Riot Politics in India (Ananya Vajpeyi)
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2012/10/book-review-hate-and-state-hindu-muslim.html

India: Identities are Returning with a Vengeance (Kuldip Nayar)
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2012/10/india-identities-are-returning-with.html

United against the 'Foreigner': Assam social movement leader's take on 'infiltration' and 'the influx problem' is standard fare
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2012/10/united-against-foreigner-assam-social.html

A Preface to Racial Discourse in India: North-east and Mainland
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2012/10/a-preface-to-racial-discourse-in-india.html

Bangladesh: most Hindu women want marriage registration to be mandatory
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2012/10/bangladesh-most-hindu-women-want.html


INTERNATIONAL

=======================================
12. INTERNATIONAL PEACE BUREAU CRITICAL OF NOBEL PEACE PRIZE FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION
=======================================
“For a peacemaking bloc, this is a highly militarized one”

Geneva, 12 October 2012. The IPB finds the award of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union surprising in that it awards a prize not to a head of state but to an entire bloc of states, thus making it difficult to identify the real recipient. Is the EU really a 'champion of peace’, as Nobel conceived it? Or is it a club of states with many contradictory impulses and interests?

The arguments given by the Norwegian Nobel Committee are not entirely false. The EU has played the historical role that it describes. All forms of cooperation contain some elements of peacefulness, and there is indeed a strong case for regional approaches to peacemaking between states and peoples, and in this the EU has been a pioneer. But what is worrying are the many aspects the Committee leaves out, making it a highly selective accolade.

Warmaking: The EU - sometimes collectively and sometimes separately - has been involved in several of the bloodiest conflicts of our time: Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Libya. Debate has raged for years as to whether the military path is the right one for overcoming dictatorships and oppression, and there is no doubt that opinion is divided both within the EU and within member states. But one cannot ignore the involvement of 'Europe' in these war-making activities.

Arms trading: The EU includes among its membership some of the world's biggest arms trading nations: UK, France, Germany, Italy.
The collapse of the talks just this week between EADS and BAe - which would have formed the world's largest arms company - underlines the sizeable role that Europe plays in weapons-distribution. For a peacemaking bloc, this is a highly militarized one.

Nuclear weapons: EU has two states with nuclear weapons: UK and France - and there no signs of serious disarmament either by them or in terms of pressure from their fellow members.

Military spending : The EU as a bloc spends each year over $250 billion - more than China and over a third of the massive US total.

Peace keeping: Compared with the UN, the EU's peace keeping operations are minor, though they have been helpful in certain localised conflicts.

Education for peace: where is the EU's commitment to peacemaking in schools and communities across the whole region? Will it use the Prize money to start a new fund for that purpose?

Democracy: While the EU claims democratic credentials, there is no mention here of the European Parliament. Yet so often it is the Parliament that stands up against the decisions made behind closed doors by the Council of Ministers and the Commission bureaucrats.

The victory over fascism: the transformations in Spain, Portugal, Greece (and indeed in Eastern Europe) were the fruit of people's struggles, not an EU achievement, although the prospect of membership of the EU may have been one factor in convincing their ruling elites to see their future in a forward-looking democratic system rather than in the old repressive habits of fascism.

What is Europe? It can be argued that the OSCE has a much better claim to represent ALL the states of Europe, (and possibly a better candidate for Peace Prize) since it has 56 States from Europe, Central Asia and North America - compared to the EU's 27 -- a "Europe with the windows open" rather than the "Fortress Europe" image associated with the EU.

The Prize raises deeper questions too: is peacemaking the role of states or peoples ? and who will receive the Prize on behalf of the EU?

It is ironic that Norway, the Nobel Peace Prize’s host nation, refused (by referendum) membership in the EU in 1972 and again in 1994, despite a strong pro-EU campaign by the governing Labour Party. One may speculate that the Prize is a further attempt by the country's old elite to draw Norway into Europe.

Once again, the money that goes with the Prize could have been put to much better use. There are hundreds of worthwhile grass roots organisations and individuals for whom the award of the Nobel Peace Prize would have made a huge difference. As it is, the work of the EU will continue on Monday morning much as usual.

(The International Peace Bureau is dedicated to the vision of a World Without War. We are a Nobel Peace Laureate (1910), and over the years 13 of our officers have been recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize. )

=======================================
13. IRAN: ENSURE EQUAL ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION - SCRAP POLICIES THAT BAN STUDENTS FROM STUDIES ON BASIS OF GENDER
- Human Rights Watch
=======================================
(Human Rights Watch - September 22, 2012)
(Beirut) – The Iranian government should immediately reverse policies that place unnecessary restrictions on academic freedom for university students, in particular women. Some of these “Islamicization” measures are to be introduced for the new academic year, which begins on September 22, 2012. Others have been put in place in recent years and adopted by universities across the country.

The measures include bans on female and male enrollment in specific academic fields in many universities, but with the greatest number of restrictions on women. They also include quotas that limit the percentage of women students in certain fields of study, and segregation in classrooms and facilities.

“For decades, Iranian universities have offered high quality education to male and female students,’’ said Liesl Gerntholtz, women’s rights director at Human Rights Watch. “But as university students across Iran prepare to start the new academic year, they face serious setbacks, and women students in particular will no longer be able to pursue the education and careers of their choice.”

Authorities are enacting “Islamicization” policies at universities within the context of a wider crackdown on academic freedom that has taken place since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became president in 2005. Iran’s universities have increasingly become targets of government efforts to stifle dissent and “Islamicize” higher education, Human Rights Watch said.

The new restrictions provide evidence that authorities, spearheaded by the Science Ministry, are carrying out longstanding plans to “Islamicize” universities and institute programs that restrict the role of young women in universities and their access to education, Human Rights Watch said. Since the 1990s, more than 60 percent of Iran’s university students have been women.

The most recent restrictions are outlined in an annual manual published in August by the Science and Technology Ministry, which regulates higher education. The manual lists the major fields of study available to applicants sitting for the national entrance exam for public universities, which was held in June. It reveals that 36 public universities across the country have banned female enrollment in 77 fields, according to the semi-official Mehr News Agency. The manual also indicates that universities have barred male enrollment in a number of majors.

On August 6 Mehr reported that the 2012 manual published that month by Iran’s National Education Assessment Organization (NEAO), a Science Ministry department, provided a large list of majors at various universities across the country that had been “single-gendered,” meaning that only males or females will be permitted to study that subject. The process is carried out by individual universities under Science Ministry authority. More than 60 universities across the country made the changes, with restrictions on around 600 majors according to Daneshjoo News, an opposition website that covers academic freedom issues.

An August 4 Daneshjoo article says that this academic year Iranian universities have “single-gendered” about 20 percent of mathematics and technical sciences major fields of study (including engineering), more than 30 percent in social sciences, 10 percent in traditional sciences, 34 percent in the arts/humanities, and 25 percent in foreign languages. Some universities have “single-gendered” majors for alternating semesters to enforce gender segregation but have not entirely banned access to either male or female candidates.

Banned majors for women include computer science, chemical engineering, industrial engineering, mechanical engineering, and materials engineering at Arak University; natural resource engineering, forestry, and mining engineering at Tehran University; and political science, accounting, business administration, public administration, mechanical engineering, and civil engineering at Esfahan University. At Emam Khomeini University, in Qazvin, all 14 social sciences majors were restricted to males.

“Single-gendering” also restricts choices for male students. For example, at Esfahan University men are no longer allowed to major in history, linguistics, theology, applied chemistry, Arabic/Persian language and literature, sociology, and philosophy.

Some of the larger universities with substantial “single-gendering” of major fields of study, Daneshjoo reported, are Arak University (88 percent), Esfahan University (68 percent), Emam Khomeini University (82 percent), Lorestan University (100 percent), Ardebil Research University (100 percent), Golestan University (59 percent), and Alameh Tabataba’i University (43 percent). Shahid Chamran University in Ahvaz has “single-gendered” all of its 47 majors for men, even though it is officially a registered coeducational university.

Only 3 percent have been “single-gendered” at Tehran University, one of the country’s premiere public universities.

Neither the universities nor the Science Ministry have explained why they single-gendered certain majors. In an August 26 statement, NEAO criticized coverage of the universities’ decision to “single-gender” majors, and alleged that opposition media outlets and websites incorrectly reported that the government had instituted wholesale bans on selected majors for women.

The agency alleged that the total number of majors at universities throughout the country had actually increased by 14 percent, and that the vast majority were still open to both male and female students. On September 11, Hossein Tavakoli, head of the agency, announced that the results of the 2012-13 academic year national entrance exams had been released and women make up 60 percent of the entering class.

But a review by Human Rights Watch of the NEAO manual shows that the list of banned majors includes a number of technical and applied science majors, including engineering, some of the highest-paying fields for graduates. An increasing percentage of women have been employed in these fields in recent decades.

“Many of the gender restrictions placed on university courses do not seem to follow a clear or particular pattern,” Gerntholtz said. “They show that authorities and university administrators have imposed seemingly arbitrary barriers that impede the access of both male and female university students to the higher education of their choice.”

The right to education for everyone without discrimination is explicitly guaranteed under international instruments, which Iran has accepted or to which it is party, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention against Discrimination in Education. It is also guaranteed under Iran’s Constitution.

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which provides the definitive interpretation of the covenant, has stated that it requires Iran and other states parties to overcome institutional barriers and other obstacles that prevent women from fully participating in science education. It also states that, “Differential treatment based on prohibited grounds will be viewed as discriminatory unless the justification for differentiation is reasonable and objective.”

Background on the “Islamicization” Program at Universities
“Single-gendering” university majors is only the latest in a series of repressive measures that the Science Ministry has put in place as part of its “Islamicization” program at universities during the past few years, Human Rights Watch said.

Kamran Daneshjoo, the science minister, has aggressively pursued this policy since his appointment in September 2009 and has repeatedly cited a regulation passed by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution in 1987 requiring all universities to implement gender separation in classes and throughout campuses to the extent possible. In 2011, the Iranian Parliament’s Education Commission announced that steps would be taken to implement gender segregation at a number of universities.

Segregation of individual classes and public spaces has already been reported at a number of public universities, including Allame Tabataba’i, Amir Kabir, and Yazd. Students at these universities have complained that segregation has resulted in disproportionately fewer courses being offered to women, and overcrowding of the facilities used by women.

Plans to separate male and female students in classes and common areas have also affected Iran’s private universities. In August 2011, a group of students at various campuses of Azad Islamic University sent a letter to the university president protesting plans for gender separation, accusing him of seeking to limit the presence of women at those institutions.

Kamran Daneshjoo has pushed through gender separation policies with the support of parliamentary allies of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, and the Assembly of Experts, a body charged with selecting the Supreme Leader, in spite of opposition from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In January 2011 Ahmadinejad, in a letter to the Ministries of Science and Health, which oversees admission to medical schools, asked the ministries not to go through with policies to separate male and female university students. Ahmadinejad referred to both the forcible retirement of professors and gender separation in universities as “shallow and unwise.”

Since 2005, authorities have removed dozens of professors from some of Iran’s most elite universities, claiming they were either past retirement age or were unqualified. Critics allege that authorities purged professors to stem the influence of secular and liberal thought from universities.

Over the past few years the Science Ministry has announced several other plans that could adversely affect women’s access to higher education, including gender quotas for major fields of study, restricting university application based on geographical location, and increasing gender-segregated spaces on university campuses, including in the classroom. Last year, for example, student rights groups reported that several dozen universities had begun applying a quota system that guarantees males a higher percentage of places in up to 40 university majors.

Quotas limiting the spaces and selection of majors for female university students followed a recommendation by the Iranian parliament’s research center that encouraged restricting female enrollment to universities in local provinces to reduce the “destructive consequences” of female enrollment on family life. But authorities at the NEAO and elsewhere claim that “Islamicization” policies do not adversely impact female students, and cite as proof the announcement that women still account for 60 percent of the 2012 entering class.

The wider campaign on academic freedom since Ahmadinejad took office in 2005, in addition to gender separation for forced retirement of professors, has included imprisoning student activists and barring politically active students from enrolling in or continuing higher education.

University disciplinary committees have been used to monitor, suspend, or expel students. Pro-government student groups affiliated with the basij, a hard-line Islamist paramilitary group, are an increasing campus presence. Universities have reduced or limited social science curricula, which are often viewed by authorities as a breeding ground for critical and “un-Islamic” thought. And authorities have restricted activities of independent student groups, which are often critical of government policies.

As recently as April, Daneshjoo, the Science Minister, announced that, “Individuals who participated in the anti-government protests that took place in 2009 “have no right to enter universities.”


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

South Asia Citizens Wire
Buzz for secularism, on the dangers of fundamentalism(s), on
matters of peace and democratisation in South
Asia. Newsletter of South Asia Citizens Web: 
www.sacw.net/

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers.
=====================================