The last resort of BJP

The Daily Times
July 29, 2004
 
HUM HINDUSTANI: The last resort of BJP

J Sri Raman

The point is that this pseudo-patriotism is a resort of those who also resort to campaigning against politics itself as “the last resort of the scoundrel”. The tactic of the far right is to project itself as the “patriots” and its rivals as “politicians”. In the Indian context, as perhaps in that of several other developing countries, the campaign is in a sense, against democracy
“Politics is the last resort of the scoundrel.” I suppose a computer-aided quantitative analysis can give a more precise finding; but, offhand, I will say that not a week passes without someone or the other citing this maxim in the Indian media. And, anti-political as the one-liner may sound, it is part of the verbal armoury of the far-right politics.
It is, of course, a misquotation from Samuel Johnson’s famous dictionary. Patriotism, according to Dr Johnson, had the distinction. Ambrose Bierce, author of The Devil’s Dictionary, begged to differ with the great doctor, declaring that “patriotism” was indeed “the first resort of the scoundrel”. Now I must hasten to clarify my purpose in starting with this string of quotes. Especially because readers of a certain political persuasion consider it unpatriotic for an Indian not only to write in a Pakistani newspaper but also, to voice such views as this column does.
Neither Johnson nor Bierce, obviously, was talking about patriotism of the kind that spurred the people, for example, of this subcontinent in their anti-colonial struggle. They were both expressing a sardonic cynicism about the politics of ‘patriotism’. Of a ‘patriotism’ that actually seeks to dupe and divide a people. It is precisely the kind of politics that the far right practises. The kind that India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ‘parviar’ practise. As do, doubtless, their counterparts in other countries.
The point is that this pseudo-patriotism is a resort of those who also resort to campaigning against politics itself as “the last resort of the scoundrel”. The tactic of the far right is to project itself as the “patriots” and its rivals as “politicians”. In the Indian context, as perhaps in that of several other developing countries, the campaign is in a sense, against democracy in that it is aimed particularly against “vote bank” politics that gives the plebian politicians an edge.
The politics of the far right itself is supposed to be “above politics”, just as their efforts to make a constituency of the majority religious community somehow don’t make them votaries of the “vote bank” idea. Politics seeking support of minorities and the marginalised is projected as populist – and worse. It is portrayed as a detriment and even a danger to democracy that should be in the hands of cleaner classes and castes. The periodical cry of “politics-crime nexus” is only a part of this campaign. It is to deflect attention from a communalism-politics nexus that the cry is raised time and again.
To coin an even more ironical maxim, ‘probity’ is the last resort of the politics of ‘patriotism’. The current BJP campaign against “tainted” ministers in the Manmohan Singh government, like every one of its past crusades against corruption and “criminalisation” of politics, is not only politics against democratic conventions but also politics of gross double standards.
The hollowness and hypocrisy of the campaign have been repeatedly pointed out. It has been recalled that the previous regime of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, too, had its share of “tainted” ministers in the sense of being “charge-sheeted”. Critics of the campaign have taken pains to stress, in particular, the fact that several ministers in the BJP-headed coalition, including former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, were charged in the Babri Masjid demolition case. The answer from the party and its apologists has been that the offence they were charged with amounted to political misconduct, while the ministers targeted now were charged with crimes like murder.
We have noted the obvious absurdity of this argument in an earlier column. The argument wished away the toll in human lives and suffering caused by the “strictly political” offence. The argument is all the more untenable now for the BJP insistence that the perpetrator of another “political offence” with similar consequences, Shibu Sorten, leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Coal and Mines Minister in the Manmohan Singh Cabinet till the other day when he resigned, was a victim of the virtuous BJP campaign. He has had to pay for involvement in a case of mob violence, leading to a loss of lives, dating back to 1975 and directly linked to the movement for a separate tribal state of Jharkhand. Legitimacy of the movement is less open to question than the mosque’s demolition, as the separate state was formed indeed in November 2000.
The hypocrisy of the BJP campaign is heightened by the fact that Soren’s JMM and the BJP were staunch allies from 1998 until the eve of the general election in 2004.
Tasting blood in Soren’s case, the BJP is all set to carry forward its campaign against other “tainted” ministers. The country must brace itself for more and more “moral” sermons and mindless agitations from a party that cannot read right the lessons of its recent election debacle.
The writer is a journalist and peace activist based in Chennai, India

Arvind Gaur’s play, against communalism

Delhi Newsline | expressindia.com
July 29, 2004
 

Solo for Peace
Hidden Fires, Arvind Gaur’s latest solo play, is a strong statement against communalism
Ankur Kalita
New Delhi, July 28: Theatre director Arvind Gaur’s affinity for solo plays is growing. From Story of the Tiger and Untitled Solo to his latest play Hidden Fires, Gaur has had a great run with one-man acts. ‘‘I think it is more challenging to work on solo plays. There is no backup in case the actor faults,’’ says Gaur, director of Asmita theatre group. Hidden Fires opens at India Habitat Centre on July 31.

Scripted by Onassis awardee Manjula Padmanabhan, the play comprises of four monologues, all centered around anti-communalism. Each of the four parts is enacted by Rashi Bunny. The first part, Hidden Fires, is the story of a woman whose husband is involved in rioting, but who doesn’t realise the enormity of it until her own family is endangered. In Know The Truth, the obfuscation of facts by the government-owned media is highlighted. Bunny plays a newsreader here. In Points, 10 points against communalism are charted out. The most powerful part is perhaps the final monologue-Invocation-which addresses the audience. The character picks up a phone directory and selects 1,000 names at random. She then asks the audience if anyone can guarantee the safety of each of these people and, more importantly, what the surety is that any of them is safe from communal violence.

‘‘I have used minimum props in the play. There are many newspapers scattered on the stage to signify the news of communalism coming in from across the globe. The violence we are talking about is not only set in India, but also in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places,’’ says Gaur. The lighting is subdued and just enough to complement the character. Interestingly, the play is bilingual—the first monologue is in Hindi while the other three are in English.

Bunny, who has worked with Gaur for the solo Madhavi as well as Tatt Niranjana, is also the founder-director of the Banjara Theatre Group, which functions out of IIT-Kharagpur. ‘‘This play has been very hard for me because I have always been sheltered from violence. When Gaur told me the horror stories, I was devastated,’’ she says. Madhavi is travelling to the Armenia Solo Festival in September.

Gaur is also planning to take Hidden Fires to various colleges, starting with IIT-Mumbai in September. ‘‘Theatre should reach places where it’s needed, and the youth need to be sensitised the most,’’ he says.
(The play will be staged at India Habitat Centre on July 31 and August 1. For details contact Gaur at 98103-86386)

Gujarat VHP founder Felicitated by Govt [News Report]

Chennai Online
July 29, 2004
URL: www.newsonweb.com/chennaionline/newsitem.asp?NEWSID=%7B38E93923-0DDE-4C5F-94F2-9B49A256CC92%7D&CATEGORYNAME=NATL

Spectator takes saffron brigade by surprise

Ahmedabad, July 29: Notwithstanding the presence of former deputy prime minister L K Advani and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, a spectator at state government organised function yesterday took the entire saffron brigade by surprise by shouting at the announcer to conduct the programme in Gujarati and not Sanskrit as being done.

The programme, organised to felicitate renowned Sanskrit scholar and founder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Gujarat, K K Shastri, on turning 100 years, was being conducted in Sanskrit, apparently as a pre-planned schedule in accordance with true Hindu rituals.

But the Sanskrit language seemingly did not amuse an old man who suddenly stood up and asked the announcer to conduct the proceedings in Gujarati (so that everyone could follow).

The announcer was then asked to repeat the same in Gujarati, which he did throughout the remaining programme.

The unanticipated way of request however prompted a state BJP office bearer to comment, "it seems he is a communist; a pseudo-secularist". The comment however went unnoticed.

Later, many heads turned towards the man, who made this request, when Advani while taking a dig at Hindutva baiters said "making Sanskrit mandatory in MA would result in a storm of protests all over the country by people who would term it as saffronisation of education".

The old man was however seen calm and composed after his request, though made in a style not gelling with the occasion, was heeded to. (Agencies)
 
Published: Thursday, July 29, 2004

Heat on minister in Sangh shorts

THE TELEGRAPH July 29, 2004
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040729/asp/frontpage/story_3555087.asp

Heat on minister in Sangh shorts

KAY BENEDICT
New Delhi, July 28: The Prime Minister is under pressure to detoxify his own team — a minister has been accused of attending an RSS camp in regulation khaki shorts and black cap.

Sections of the Congress and the Left have begun efforts to secure the resignation of A. Narendra, a Telengana Rashtra Samiti leader and minister of state for rural development.

Andhra CPI secretary and member of Parliament Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy has said the minister attended the Sangh camp at Shamshabad in Rangareddy, near Hyderabad, on June 25.

A delegation of CPI leaders, including national secretary D. Raja and Reddy, has called on alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on July 21 to apprise her of what they described as Narendra’s RSS links and seek his removal from the council of ministers.

Sonia did not give any assurances, but CPI leaders quoted her as saying that “I understand your sentiments”. State Congress leaders are also livid at his participation in the camp and are planning to press for his resignation.

Reacting to the controversy, Narendra said he attended the camp at the behest of K. Chandrashekhar Rao, the Telengana party leader, to explain the status of the movement for statehood.

But state Congress and CPI leaders are unconvinced. “Why brief the RSS? Who are they?” asked a CPI leader.

Narendra had quit the BJP in 2000 to join the Telengana state movement led by Rao. Both were instrumental later in founding the Telengana Rashtra Samiti, which won five Lok Sabha seats in Andhra.

State Congress leaders claimed that Narendra had been a full-time RSS worker and a pillar of the BJP in Telengana. He quit the BJP not on ideological grounds, but because it took a U-turn on Telengana statehood to placate the Telugu Desam Party.

Referring to the meeting with Sonia, CPI leader Reddy said: “I demanded that he should resign. He is a member of a secular cabinet and how could he be in the RSS?”

Karnataka to await High Court verdict on Dattatreya Shrine

The Times of India
Karna to await HC verdict on Dattatreya Shrine
PTI [ MONDAY, JULY 26, 2004 04:12:53 PM ]
BANGALORE: Karnataka government on Monday informed the Legislative Assembly they would await the verdict of the High Court on the issue of Hindu priests performing pooja at the Datta Peeta, a shrine in Chikmagalur District where Hindus and Muslims offer worship.

Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs M P Prakash answering to Sunil Kumar (BJP) during question hour said as per the tradition Muzawars perform poojas in the shrine and a petition demanding appointment of Hindu priests was pending before the state High Court.

The shrine symbolies harmony between Hindus and Muslims and the previous government during 2003 had appointed a six-member official committee to manage the affairs of the shrine.

Prakash said the government would not tolerate any attempt to vitiate the communal harmony in the shrine. However, Sunil and some BJP members dissatisifed by the reply stormed into the well to stage dharna, demanding the Hindu priests be allowed to perform pooja.

Speaker Krishna, expressing his unhappiness, criticised the tendency of members rushing into the well and asked BJP leaders to control their members.

Mr Vajpayee’s retreat

Asian Age
27 July 2004

Mr Vajpayee’s retreat
- By Amulya Ganguli


The diminution of Atal Behari Vajpayee is continuing apace. He is a much smaller man now than when he was Prime Minister. He was then regarded as something of a statesman, with a vision of sorts, highlighted by his repeated efforts to reach out to Pakistan — an approach which was so much in conflict with his party’s history and politics. But all that has now changed. Vajpayee has retraced his steps back to his party’s history and politics. He can again say with full conviction, as he once did, that the RSS is his "soul".

As is known, the retreat began with his trademark vacillations during his summer sojourn in Manali. He began to change his mind there almost on a daily basis unlike in the past when he allowed an interval of three or four days before saying the opposite of what he had said earlier. But in Manali, he held Narendra Modi responsible for the BJP’s defeat on one day, only to exonerate him on the next. These Himalayan flip-flops reached their climax in Mumbai, where he announced his retirement one day and then returned to politics on the next. Not surprisingly, it was also let it be known by the BJP that Modi had been able to convince Vajpayee that he hadn’t at all been complacent during the Gujarat riots. (The assurance, however, can have a double meaning.)

Since the Mumbai conclave, Vajpayee has acted as a regular foot soldier of the RSS and the BJP. In keeping with his latest stance, the moderate-turned-hawk firmly ruled out helping the Manmohan Singh government on the issue of FDI hikes in the telecom, insurance and civil aviation sectors. This former votary of economic reforms, the defeat of whose party had saddened the corporate czars and plunged the Sensex into a turmoil, has chosen to emulate the Left and the Swadeshi Jagran Manch to stand resolutely against a further opening up of the economy.

Why? Evidently because he is playing safe and is not willing to displease the RSS, just as he had listened to its diktats against appointing Jaswant Singh as the finance minister when he first became Prime Minister. After his humiliation in Mumbai, where a non-entity like Venkaiah Naidu could launch a not-too-veiled an attack on him (no doubt with the RSS’s encouragement) by criticising the "virus of individualism" in the party, there is no question of Vajpayee taking a stand on principles.

If Vajpayee had any faith in economic reforms, he would obviously have stood by them. However, it is possible that, first, he doesn’t have any convictions (as Ram Vilas Paswan once said) — all his pro-reforms postures being as theatrical as his occasional musings about secularism and, therefore, not to be taken seriously. Secondly, even if this hero of India Inc. did once support liberalisation and globalisation, his beliefs were not strong enough for him to sacrifice the easy life of a sybarite and a conformist by fighting a running battle with his opponents in the party and the parivar. Especially when they have become stronger after the party’s defeat as a result of (according to them) Vajpayee’s policies of moderation.

Former attorney-general Soli Sorabjee captured Vajpayee’s general mood of acquiescence vis-à-vis his critics when he told an interviewer: "I remember when they (the VHP) were burning the Pope’s effigy, he (Vajpayee) slapped his forehead in disgust and said pagal hain... You know how Vajpayee is; he listens, he agrees when you ask him kya ho raha hai, but…"

Yet, Vajpayee would have made the BJP set a remarkable example of non-partisan politics by siding with the Congress on the question of reforms. He could have insisted that on matters such as these, the parties had to shed their habitually blinkered outlook and extend the hand of cooperation. After all, if the Manmohan Singh government carries on the good work done by Vajpayee in improving relations with Pakistan, surely the BJP will not now throw a spanner in the works.

An endorsement of P. Chidambaram’s proposals would have enhanced Vajpayee’s stature, making him stand out again as a person who can rise above a narrow-minded approach to politics. If he wanted, he could have asked Arun Shourie write his usual 10,000-word thesis on reforms. (Now, of course, this pseudo-journalist is singing another tune.) Instead, Vajpayee went along with the BJP’s typically cussed attitude.

The "failure" to keep the flag of reforms flying was in keeping with his generally supine conduct. Whenever Vajpayee had come up against stiff opposition to what he (apparently) believed, he had backed down. In the Nineties, he was a silent, if disapproving, spectator of the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation spearheaded by L.K. Advani, expressing his sorrows in bad verse. More recently, he has given ground to the Young Jerks — Arun Jaitley, Pramod Mahajan et al — whenever they pressed their line.

It happened at a BJP conclave in Goa during the Gujarat riots when Vajpayee retreated on the question of dismissing Modi. He later said that he had been told that there would be more violence if Modi was sacked. Rarely has a party used blackmail in so crude a manner to keep its own Prime Minister in line. After that, the YJs became so bold that they rejected Vajpayee’s first and second choices for the President’s post — the then vice president Krishan Kant and Maharashtra Governor P.C. Alexander — and chose A.P.J. Abdul Kalam instead.

Only in the matter of making several attempts to advance the cause of peace with Pakistan did Vajpayee have his way despite the objections voiced by the VHP. But it is possible that these overtures were more the result of American pressure than Vajpayee’s quest for a place in history. The RSS and the YJs had learnt enough about the world beyond their mofussil mindset during the few years in the corridors of power to realise that America couldn’t be denied. A party and a parivar which quietly gulped the insult meted out to George Fernandes twice at American airports knew which side of the toast was buttered — or, rather, which side of the parantha had dollops of ghee.

In domestic politics, Vajpayee will now be expected to follow the party line in toto with all its mixture of sly innuendoes, half-truths and outright falsehoods. An example of such dubious tactics was the charge he made at a meeting to mark the birth anniversary of Syama Prasad Mookerjee about a "conspiracy" hatched by Jawaharlal Nehru’s government and the Jammu and Kashmir administration to assassinate the founder of Jan Sangh.

According to Vajpayee, when Mookerjee decided to violate the rules by entering J&K without a permit, "We thought that the Punjab government would arrest him… Later we came to know that the Jammu government and the Nehru government had entered into a conspiracy … that Mookerjee would be allowed to enter the state but not be allowed to leave."

It is a serious allegation against India’s first and most revered Prime Minister by one of its recent ones. But for a charge to stick, it has to be made by someone whose credibility is high.

Bharatiya Baniya Party: Aggarwals dominate the BJP in Chhattisgarh, tribals feel ignored

Indian Express,
July 25, 2004

SET PIECE

Bharatiya Baniya Party
With a series of Aggarwals dominating the BJP in Chhattisgarh, tribals feel ignored and under-represented in the government
ASHWANI SHARMA    

RAIPUR: WHEN Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh was called upon to prune his 18-member ministry in June, he dropped five ministers, three of them tribal. Of the 13 ministers now, only five are tribal. This, in a state ostensibly created to protect the tribal identity.
At least a dozen disgruntled tribal MLAs of the ruling BJP are said to have planned a revolt during a recent week-long trip to Orissa. Two party MPs have protested openly, pointing out the BJP’s victory march in the December 2003 assembly election had passed through the tribal belts of Bastar, Kanker, Jashpur and Sarguja. Of the 51 BJP MLAs, 25 are tribal.

In contrast, the Congress, once a tribal belt favourite, won only nine of the 34 seats reserved for tribals. The strength of the state assembly is 90.

State BJP president Nand Kumar Sai is an unhappy man. A senior tribal leader and contender for the chief ministership, he was sent off to battle Ajit Jogi in the Marwahi assembly constituency. As could be expected, he lost, and was out of the race for the top job.

When the government was formed, there was a proposal to make Nanki Ram Kanwar, a tribal veteran, deputy chief minister. After bitter opposition from the non-tribal establishment that runs the BJP, the idea was dropped.

Another senior tribal, Bali Ram Kashyap, Lok Sabha member from Bastar, was not even considered for the chief minister’s post. Instead, he was mollified by the appointment of his son, Kedar Kashyap, as a junior minister.

The senior Kashyap admits the ministerial downsizing has led to caste and regional imbalances. He urges the party to ‘‘remove the feeling of under-representation among tribals’’.


SYSTEMATICALLY SIDELINED?

The state BJP president and prime contender for chief ministership, he was pitted against Ajit Jogi in the assembly polls — and lost, as expected
NAND KUMAR SAI
He was all set to be deputy chief minister, but bitter opposition from the non-tribal establishment BJP ensured that idea was dropped quickly enough
NANKI RAM KANWAR
Despite unquestionable seniority, he was not even considered for the CM’s post. To keep him happy, his son was made a junior minister
BALI RAM KASHYAPTill that happy event occurs, consider the plight of Ram Vichar Netam, state tribal development minister. On the eve of the cabinet-pruning exercise, this four-time MLA hosted a dinner for tribal ministers. The attempt at trade unionism didn’t go down well. Netam found himself facing disciplinary charges.

He was threatened with the sack himself. Though he survived, he lost the coveted revenue department. He also signed a written apology and has sworn, the Raipur grapevine goes, to never host another dinner.

Raman Singh plays down the issue. ‘‘Tribals enjoy an equal share of power,’’ he insists, ‘‘To remove any imbalance after the cabinet downsizing, tribals have been made chairmen of boards and corporations. Where is the question of under-representation?’’

It leaves tribal MLAs and MPs unconvinced. The Congress is already active, attempting to form a cross-party pressure group of tribal MLAs and MPs. In a time before the anti-defection law, Raman Singh would have been in trouble.

Tribal non-empowerment is not a new phenomenon in Chhattisgarh. In the old days, when the region was still part of Madhya Pradesh, the Congress dominated local politics through a series of wily Brahmins — the Shukla brothers, Vidya Charan and Shyama Charan, and Motilal Vora.

When the state was created in November 1, 2000, Sonia Gandhi sent Ajit Jogi, a tribal, to Raipur as chief minister. It was a clever move, the symbolism of which Jogi duly exploited.

As for the BJP, it has always lacked a tribal face here. The leadership has been dominated by Baniyas. Lakhi Ram Aggarwal, former Rajya Sabha member, is the state party’s godfather. He is still seen as the invisible hand behind Raman Singh. Another Baniya, Brij Mohan Aggarwal, state home minister, is number two in the cabinet. Lakhi Ram’s son, Amar Aggarwal who holds the finance and industry portfolio, is a close number three.

To think the BJP once swore by social engineering.
 

Whose culture is it anyway? (Suresh Menon)

Deccan Herald - July 25, 2004 | Articulations
URL: http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/july252004/artic2.asp

Whose culture is it anyway?
by Suresh Menon

It took courage for Girish Karnad to proclaim publicly that Tipu Sultan is the greatest son of Karnataka. Given the level of intolerance and the artificially cultured thin skins all around, he was inviting trouble both from the Kannada chauvinists and the right wing fanatics. When someone asked him at a function – I think it was the writer Sashi Deshpande – if he wasn’t worried about how the those who view history through a saffron haze would react to this, Karnad was both forthright enough to admit that it was a chance that creative writers had to take, and practical enough to see the effect it would have on the sale of his book containing the play based on Tipu’s dreams.

Five years ago, when The Dreams of Tipu Sultan was being staged on the bicentenary of Tipu’s death, Karnad had to deal with the Bajrang Dal whose notion of history he had upset. Gandhi called Tipu the embodiment of Hindu-Muslim unity, and G S Sardesai, in his New History of the Marathas, wrote: “Tipu expended large amounts of money to set up new idols in Hindu shrines. Forty thousand Brahmins received alms and rations. Thus he announced to the world how, though a Muslim, he served the interests of the Hindus...” But the forced conversions negated everything.

It is true that Tipu forced conversions, but he also donated generously to the Hindu shrines at Sringeri, Melkote, Nanjangud, and Srirangapatna. But opposition to acknowledging one of the earliest Indians to fight colonialism, is seldom based on facts. Tipu is one of the most fascinating characters in our history, a soldier (“he spent half his life on horseback”), and administrator of rare ability. Extremists are boringly similar, and it doesn’t matter what their religious, ethnic or political leanings are. They settle on a ‘cause’ – it could be a movie about lesbianism, a historical work that doesn’t give enough lines to their hero, an art show that is perceived as an insult or a newspaper editorial they don’t like – and then go about hacking at it with energy and assumed hurt. There is something almost existential in their choice. It is as if they are saying, like the existentialists in another context, that since all paths are meaningless anyway, it only remains to choose one and then throw all your weight behind it. For the existentialist, it could be sex, mysticism, or physical hardship.

It is not necessary that foot soldiers should understand what they are fighting for. When a local newspaper welcomed the millennium with a piece quoting Dante, it irked some of these elements who stormed into the office asking for the writer. When told he was not available, they asked, “Then let us meet Dante.” What they would have told the 13th century Italian poet has not been recorded.

While the fanatics have been pulling in one direction or the other, Indianness has been left undefined. I remember when the artist M F Husain’s work was vandalized at a Mumbai gallery because he was “besmirching the culture of our country.” The artist said then, “But this is my culture too.” Yes, regardless of religious, ethnic, political, sexual preferences, the culture of our country is the common heritage of all Indians. Karnad is reminding us of this, both through his play and his pronouncements.

Sangh A rant against English

The Times of India
JULY 25, 2004

A rant against English
TALKING TERMS / DILEEP PADGAONKAR

We have it on the authority of RSS chief K.S. Sudershan that to educate our children in English is to expose them to lesbianism and free sex. No less. This ominous warning comes as part of his rant against the 'alien tongue.'

Along the way he asserts that English simply cannot rival the rich vocabulary and emotional texture of our regional languages. These must therefore be used right up to the research level.

Sudershan does not say why the entire world runs the risk of corrupting the morals of youth when it encourages the teaching of English.

Nor does he explain where he is going to find Indian words to impart instruction in the physical and social sciences, not to speak of management studies and information technology.

Presumably he would search for equivalents in Sanskrit. The ensuing chaos is best not imagined.

The targets of the RSS chief are in reality Christian missionaries (who allegedly spread their faith in the guise of promoting English), liberals under the spell of Jawaharlal Nehru and Communists.

All three supposedly espouse ideals that are at variance with the 'spirit', 'ethos', 'mood' or 'feeling' of the nation. (Sudershan is slightly off the mark here.

The Communists and Lohiates have wantonly indulged in anti-English parochialism as well. The result in the states they have governed is there for all to see.)

Sudershan's rage brings to mind an incident which took place in Mumbai a few years ago. At a public meeting a famous Marathi poet held forth on the scant interest that Maharashtrian youth took in their language.

He cited the example of his grand-daughter. She lived and studied in America. Over the years she had forgotten her Marathi. Cut off from her roots, the poet said, she was an Indian only in name.

Echoing Martin Luther King the poet then turned lyrical: "I have a dream. I'm walking through the forest adjoining my native village. Suddenly I hear a haunting melody. I approach a clearing where I find a young girl tending half a dozen goats. It was her voice that I had heard. And she was singing one of my very own poems. At that instant I knew that if Marathi survives at all it will be thanks to people like that shepherdess."

The audience was moved to tears. Just then a man seated at the far end of the hall asked for the floor.

This is what he had to say to the poet: "I belong to the shepherd community. I would want my daughter to live in a comfortable house in America and study to become a doctor. I would not mind if she forgets her Marathi. Let your grand-daughter live in a hut in my village, tend goats all day and sing your poems to her hearts content. Is that a deal?" The audience sat dumbfounded while the poet wore a sheepish look.

More and more OBCs, Dalits, tribals and minorities now realise that it is felicity in English alone that will equip their children to face a highly competitive world.

Knowledge of the mother-tongue is doubtless useful to grasp the essentials of their culture. But that is about it. Why should they be compelled to remain mired in poverty to fulfil the 'cultural' ambitions of the RSS?

The saffron outfit's drive against English would indeed lead to the closing of the Indian mind. Many leaders of the Sangh Parivar are aware of this. Why else would they send their children to English-medium schools? It is time to end the double-speak.

Rajasthan's education minister, Ghanshyam Tiwari, has shown the way. He has ensured that children in the state will begin to learn English from the first standard.

Ghosts of Punjab's dark era haunt families of victims

Deccan Herald
July 24, 2004

Ghosts of Punjab's dark era haunt families of victims
The then police chief of Punjab, K P S Gill, had even made a statement that the missing men had fled to foreign and had not been killed by the police.
CHANDIGARH, DHNS:

The ghosts of a particularly dark era in Punjab’s fight against terrorism during the decade of 1984-1994 have come back to haunt the families of the victims who had died not by terrorists’ bullets but due to police excesses.

Eight years after the Supreme Court remitted the matter of disappearances and illegal cremation of 2,097 ‘unclaimed’ bodies during 1984-1994 in Punjab to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Commission has begun the task of identifying the victims. A faint hope of justice is flickering for the families of the victims of this grotesque chapter of militant activity in Punjab. The NHRC has issued a public notice seeking claims for compensation from the next of kin of the 2,097 victims of whom the identity of only 693 has been established so far.

The NHRC has been conducting an inquiry into the circumstances leading to the cremation by the Punjab police of 2097 bodies as “unclaimed/unidentified” in the police districts of Amritsar, Majitha and Tarn Taran. The NHRC is inquiring into all incidents referred to as ‘extra judicial eliminations, involuntary disappearances, fake encounters, abductions and killings’ leading to cremation of 2097 bodies as ‘unclaimed’.

CBI report
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had submitted its final report to the apex court on December 10, 1996 identifying 2097 illegal cremations in three police districts of Punjab. The matter was then remitted to the NHRC to examine whether or not there had been any other violation of human rights in relation to the deceased persons and to determine compensation to be paid to the families of the victims. It had also asked the CBI to investigate, register cases and establish culpability of the accused police officers.

The whole episode was brought to light by a human rights activist, Jaswant Singh Khalra when he released some official documents in January 1995, claiming that security forces in Punjab had been secretly cremating thousands of bodies labelled as unclaimed. Khalra suggested that these cremations were of people who had been picked up illegally by the Punjab police for interrogation about their links with the separatist movement in the state during 1984-1994.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed Khalra’s petition the same year questioning his locus standii in the matter.

Mysterious disappearance
Khalra then mysteriously disappeared and his wife, Paramjit Kaur approached the Supreme Court through an NGO called ‘Committee for Information and Initiatives on Punjab’. The petition sought production of Khalra and also direction for initiation of punitive action against officers responsible for a large number of illegal cremations in Punjab.

The petition was strengthened with a retired army official Baldev Singh submitting an affidavit stating that his 25-year-old son, Pargat Singh, had been killed in a fake encounter. Pargar, who ran a dairy farm had been picked up by the police when he was watching a movie in an Amritsar cinema hall and on November 5,1992. Newspapers reported details of a supposed encounter in which he was killed.

Baldev Singh reached the cremation grounds when police personnel were cremating his son’s body. He identified his son’s half burnt body. Baldev saw to it that his son’s abduction and illegal cremation did not remain unacknowledged. After receiving his affidavit, the Supreme Court admitted the petition.
Meanwhile, Khalra’s body was found in a canal. He had abducted by some Punjab police commandos on September 6,1995 . A case was registered against nine police officers, including a former Senior Superintendent of Police of Tarn Taran police district. While the SSP Ajit Singh Sandhu committed suicide by throwing himself before a train, the remaining eight are cooling their heals in jail.

Today, Khalra’s wife can take some solace from the NHRC initiating steps to award compensation to the families of the victims. “It is a historic leap towards justice for Khalra’s struggle. The NHRC’s notice makes a mockery of the reported statement of the then police chief (K P S Gill) that the missing boys had fled to foreign countries and that the police did not kill them,” she said.

The co-ordinator of the Association of the Families of Deceased in Punjab, Amrk Singh, who is fighting for compensation and justice to the affected families demanded that each family get atleast Rs 10 lakh as compensation. “Though a belated move, we welcome it and urge the SC and the NHRC to punish the guilty cops besides compensating the families,” he said.

Press Release: Letter re Unesco award to official who undid India's secular syllabi

Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 04:35:55 +0200
To: sacw@sacw.net
From: sacw
Subject: Press Release: Letter re Unesco award to educator who undid India's secular syllabi
Cc: spokesperson@unesco.org , i.le-fournis@unesco.org, c.darmouni@unesco.org


For immediate international release on behalf of the Anhad (Act Now for Harmony) based in India.

PRESS RELEASE
Expression of grave concern at the nomination for an award by UNESCO of a former Indian official who steered the process of falsification of history texts for school education and undermining India's secular school syllabi etc.

23 July 2004

The following letter has been faxed earlier today to the Director General of UNESCO.

ANHAD
4, Windsor Place, New Delhi-110001
Tel-23327366/ 67
E-mail: anhadinfo@yahoo.co.in

July 23, 2004

Mr. Koichiro Matsuura
The Director General
UNESCO
7, Place de Fontenoy
75352 PARIS 07 SP, France

Dear Mr. Koichiro Matsuura,
                                             
We are appalled to hear about your decision to award Mr JS Rajput, former Director NCERT, India, with the Jan Amos Comenius Medal for outstanding achievements in the fields of educational research and innovation.

The last five years have seen a systematic destruction of the secular foundations of the Indian polity. The most grave of these was the subversion of the liberal and progressive character of the Indian educational system. From single teacher primary para-schools in rural and tribal hamlets to the highest institutions of teaching and research in the land, none were left untouched. History was distorted to evoke a false and politically motivated vision of our syncretic past and culture, the values that illuminated our freedom struggle were sought to be extinguished, and both overtly and subliminally minorities were demonised and gender, caste and fascist prejudices and stereotypes deliberately fostered.

Lakhs [Hundreds of thousands] of Indian students over the past few years were subjected to deliberate mischief and misrepresentation of facts about our history. Textbooks were changed to contain twisted facts, portions were deleted. Facts like Nathu Ram Godse, a Hindu fanatic assassinated Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi did not find a mention in the IX standard textbook. Instead of building a scientific temper amongst the young students, concerted efforts were made to introduce retrogressive ideologies. Universities were forced to start courses in astrology.

The people who were leading this campaign were Mr JS Rajput under the guidance of [India's] former Minister of Human Resource Development, Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi. 

We are shocked that United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), was unaware of the developments that were taking place in India. Every national daily and television channel reported it extensively over the past five years.

We appeal to you to reconsider your decision.

With greetings,
Yours Sincerely

Shabnam Hashmi KN Panikkar Prof. Harsh Mander
leading social activist Vice Chancellor leading social activist, writer
Mobile-9811807558 

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Congress and the minorities

Dawn
24 July 2004

Congress and the minorities

By Asghar Ali Engineer

The induction of Congress-led coalition in India has proved to be liberative for the minorities as the NDA government led by the BJP was highly communal and anti-minorities.
Even the Amnesty International report made public on May 26 has lambasted the government for its poor human rights records particularly in Gujarat. Now even the BJP and Shiv Sena leaders admit that they lost because of Gujarat carnage.
It is for this reason that the minorities in particular have welcomed the new government. This government certainly inspires confidence among minorities and the poor. However, this initial confidence has not only to be sustained but strengthened through proper action.
The Congress has always been ideologically secular but lost its secular orientation during the last days of Mrs. Indira Gandhi and began to be dubbed as the 'B-team' of Hindutva Party (BJP). The minorities began to be alienated from the Congress until they deserted it after demolition of the Babri Masjid during the prime ministership of Narasinha Rao.
Once it lost the confidence of minorities, particularly the Muslims, it lost power at the centre and could not regain it until it could win the Muslim confidence again. The Congress had to work hard to convince the Muslims again to regain their confidence.
It will have to take steps to inspire confidence among them. It should be seen as a party sympathetic to the problems of minorities. For that, a number of steps will have to be taken, some of which are suggested here.
As a first step, a ministry of minority affairs should be created and some minority leader of integrity put in charge of it. In fact one of the Congress leaders from Maharashtra Mr. Gurudas Kamat also has made this suggestion.
All minorities like the Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains should be covered by it. All put together these minorities constitute more than 20 per cent of the Indian population. Indian Muslims alone are around 150 million.
The ministry can study many of the problems facing these minorities, which are of huge proportions. Today no ministry even monitors data and indices pertaining to these minorities.
The Gopal Singh High Commission Report prepared during the eighties, which had painfully collected data on minorities was also put in cold storage and its recommendations were never implemented.
The data was collected during early eighties and hence has become outdated. The report prepared after lot of hard labour was not even tabled in the parliament. When I spoke to the then Prime Minister V.P. Singh about it in 1990 he was not even aware about its existence.
Had there been a full-fledged ministry such reports would not have been wasted like this. It is true there is a minorities commission but it hardly has any powers. It has often been described as toothless tiger.
It functions under welfare ministry and its budget is also controlled by this ministry. Thus the Commission is totally at the mercy of the welfare minister. It has hardly any priority for the ministry.
Since I was on one of its sub-committees I know its plight very well. And the NDA government appointed a BJP man as its chairman. What sympathy such a person would ever have for minorities.
The very psychological orientation of BJP members is anti-minority. This was very much demonstrated when Mr. Trilochan Singh, the Chairman of National Minorities Commission gave a certificate to Narendra Modi Government in Gujarat when Muslim carnage was taking place in 2002 and when the National Human Rights Commission was lambasting Mr. Narendra Modi. So much for the credentials of the NMC.
However, it may take time to take decision for setting up a ministry for the minority affairs, which is also bound to generate political controversy with the BJP in opposition. Meanwhile it is suggested that the National Minorities Commission should be strengthened and should be made statutory.
Today it has no statutory powers at all and its recommendations are not binding on the government. Often its reports are not even tabled in the Parliament. The NMC must be given statutory powers and its recommendations should be made binding on the government. This should be done as early as possible as it is long standing demand.
The NMC should also be asked to gather fresh data on the pattern of the Gopal Singh High Commission and suitable recommendations should be formulated on its pattern and these recommendations should be implemented to uplift the economic and educational status of minorities.
This should be given top priority. In fact reliable data on all India pattern about minorities is not available and in the absence of such data no suitable policies can be made.
The other suggestions relate to communalisation of education. Even during earlier Congress and other regimes no serious efforts were made to de-communalise our school textbooks, particularly relating to history. The BJP campaign for Ramjanambhoomi would not have succeeded to such an extent if our history textbooks had not been what they are today.
The British rulers had designed our history textbooks to divide us and rule over us. These text- books were never seriously revised and made genuinely secular so as to de-communalise our education system.
It is for this reason that you find educated middle class people who avail of these faulty textbooks much more communal than the poor illiterate masses. India's education system really makes them communal and injects communal ideas into their minds.
Thus one can hardly fight communal forces if the education system is not thoroughly reformed. The education system should be devised to inculcate secular rational outlook, on the one hand, and, respect for all religions, on the other. But unfortunately the education system is producing communal bigots instead.
Thus textbook reform is an urgent need and should be attended to on priority basis. The Human Resources Ministry under the leadership of Arjun Singh should pay attention to this task. This will really strengthen India's secular polity and would permanently checkmate communal forces from capturing power. The BJP rode to power on the basis of Ramjanambhoomi issue and this issue in turn became so powerful because of the mindset created by our textbooks.
It is a difficult task but first step must be taken by appointing a suitable commission, which can thoroughly examine all textbooks taught throughout India and then suggest steps to reform them.
Education is a concurrent subject and, therefore, should not be difficult to devise them for whole of India. Of course regional considerations would be there and guidelines could be given for states to prepare these textbooks suitably.
There is another important area, which needs to be attended to with similar sense of urgency. It is the textbooks taught in the RSS-run Shishu Vihars, some 32,000 in numbers. These schools do not take grant from government but that does not mean they should be free to teach what is totally contrary to India's constitutional values.
The textbooks taught in these schools are highly objectionable and inject poison against minorities. We have examined these textbooks and what is written there will never be permitted by any secular government.
Similarly, if one finds any objectionable material being taught in madrassahs too, steps should be taken to remove such objectionable material from those books also. So far I have not found any objectionable material but our study may not be thorough and madrassah textbooks should also be thoroughly examined.
The writer is chairman, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai.

How to desaffronise education

Deccan Herald
July 23, 2004

Caste and religion
How to desaffronise education
India suffers from both religious and caste communalism. So education should decasteise society as a whole
By Kancha Ilaiah

Ever since Arjun Singh took over as Minister for Human Resources Development, he started a process of desaffronising education. The process of saffronisation was deep as Murli Manohar Joshi had pushed the Hindutva ideology to all levels of the education system. This does not mean that during the phase of secularisation of education, the education system was made pro- productive masses. What the secular educationists did was that they tried to mediate between Hindu and Muslim historical systems.

But, however, they too did not realise and work out a historiography of the productive mass based on multi-culturalism. For nationalist historians the national ethos was based on Vedism. For Marxist historians it was of class without any face of Indianness, which in essence was caste. For subaltern historians the nation was of peasant or farmer, again unidentifiable in terms of the real identity of the productive masses — the tanner, the shoe maker, the potter, the shepherd, the tiller and so on, who struggle with the nature to produce food and other goods and commodities for human survival and each one of such social group is known by its caste name.

So desaffronisation of education does not mean deleting some sentences and paras from history books or deleting sections that deal with astrology from the books prepared by the Hindutva historians. Indian history does not become representative history only if the so called Vedic mathematics, Vedic science etc are either removed or nuanced with the language of a secular historian. The difference between caste communalism and secularism has been very thin. India does not suffer from only religious communalism. It suffers from caste communalism as well. Hence education should decasteise society as a whole.

Foundations hit
The school textbooks brought out by the NCERT during the BJP regime really destroyed the social foundation of Indian society. The Vedic Brahmanism was not only made central to future life but it was made binding for people who live in future too. The history of Muslim rulers was shown as a period of devilishness. There was no scientific analysis in any particular form or there was no serious examination of the history and social sciences. The form and content of the books that were brought out under Rajput leadership need to be scrapped. The question, however, is that what do we replace it with? What kind of history are we going to hand down to the millions of children? Is it enough to have a syllabus that teaches that Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Bouddhas and Jains should live side by side without involving themselves in social conflicts? But it does not resolve the historical mindsets, stereotypes and caste biases. The whole question of teaching history and social sciences does not mean teaching about religious institutions alone. History and social sciences have to deal with, castes, cultures, different modes of customs, conventions and the institutional structures that emerged based on all these factors. In a caste society like India purely class-based analysis does allow the student to understand the multi- cultural structures India. The future citizens of India should know the positive and negative history of India. They should know what should be practised what should not be practised. They should know what is a vehicle to reach the goal of equality and what is hindrance for equality. More significantly they should know that the caste system destroyed dignity of labour.

Why should dignity of labour be central to our school education? The school education all these years has remained very vague. The sociological explanation, the cultural history, the political history, so far, have not treated the caste as a negative system. It is amazing that no historian has discussed jobs like shoe making, pot making , shepherding and even tilling the land. If the new education policy being framed by the Arjun Singh ministry does not grapple with castes and the kind of indignity of labour that it created once again we are in for a system which perpetuates caste inequalities, thereby other inequalities as well.
No doubt Arjun Singh himself is very sensitive to the question of communalism. And the committee that he is going to constitute might have people who are very sensitive to the communal mode of history written by earlier communal authors. But there is a general feeling among most historians that a discourse on caste is undesirable. But such an attitude towards history will show a hidden respect for superstition among many of our otherwise progressive historians.

Superstitious beliefs
There are some social scientists who believe that if we discuss caste it will spread more and more. It is like believing that if we discuss cancer it would spread in the body and if we remain silent about it, it would automatically disappear. There is also a school of writers who believe that if our children are taught about sex education that will lead to spreading of AIDS among them. Similarly some social scientists think that if school children study about caste they would become casteist. This is a superstitious belief. Cancer can be removed only by operation and AIDS can be abolished only by scientific sex education among our child population. Similarly caste can be abolished only by making our child population respect all forms of labour in everyday life. They must also discuss the negative influences of caste on the social system.

India Retries Pivotal Hindu-Muslim Hate Crime

The Christian Science Monitor
July 23, 2004

INDIA RETRIES PIVOTAL HINDU-MUSLIM HATE CRIME
On Monday, the notorious Best Bakery case nudged closer to a trial date.
By Scott Baldauf | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

MUMBAI, INDIA – When a Hindu mob stormed a bakery and killed 14, including two Muslims burnt alive in ovens, the gruesome crime became the symbol of religious violence that gripped India two years ago and left nearly 1,000 dead.

Now, in what appears to be a second chance for justice, the Best Bakery case moved this week one step toward retrial.

The first trial, held in May 2003 in the state of Gujarat, where the massacre took place, ended in the acquittal of all 21 of the accused rioters after the victims changed their testimony. The Indian Supreme Court last April ordered a retrial out of state, calling state officials "modern-day Neros" for ignoring the complaints of witnesses that they had been politically harassed and pressured to change their testimony by police and state officials.

The opportunity for another trial in this cornerstone case is seen here as an important chance to resolve a major irritant in Hindu- Muslim relations and a chance to chip away at the pervasive problem of witness tampering in the Indian justice system.

"This case has been a kind of systematic failure of the Indian legal system," says Teesta Setalwad, a human rights activist who led the effort to get the case a second hearing. "This has been a symbol, hopefully, to revive the criminal justice system in India."

In a country where prosecutors win violent criminal cases only 4 percent of the time, some dramatic reforms are required, Ms. Setalwad says. "In India, we have failed (in providing justice.) Trials take 10 years to finish. Witnesses turn hostile and change their testimony. The whole system needs to change."

The trouble in Gujarat began at a train station in Godhra on Feb. 27, 2002, when a train car full of Hindu activists was torched, killing 68 passengers. For more than two months, Hindu rioters took their revenge on Muslim neighbors, killing nearly 1,000 citizens. Police claimed they were unable to contain the rioters, but later, senior officials admitted to human rights activists that they had been directed by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to allow the "anticipated Hindu reaction" to run its course.

Mr. Modi, a member of the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, has claimed that his state apparatus had done everything it could to keep the peace, but has also called the riots a "natural reaction" to the Godhra attack.

The Best Bakery case was once seen as the best chance to bring the rioters to justice, some of whom included police officials and activists of the BJP and other Hindu nationalist groups. The star witness, Zahira Shaikh, named 21 of the rioters directly involved in the murders of 11 members of her Muslim family as well as their 3 Hindu employees. But on May 17, 2003, she changed her testimony. Later, Ms. Shaikh told reporters that she had been threatened by a BJP state legislator, Madhu Srivastava, who had escorted her to the courthouse.

"He told me, 'Think about what you have to do. If you don't, you will suffer,'" Ms. Shaikh later told India Today magazine. "I knew I had two options: to get justice for dead family members, or save those who were living."

Mr. Srivastava denies having threatened Shaikh, but admits that he did escort Shaikh to court to protect her from the crowd. "She was receiving threats," he told reporters at the time.

On Monday, a judge in Mumbai gave the case one more nudge toward a trial date, ordering Gujarat to issue warrants against 10 of the 21 accused rioters who had not been apprehended.

Even with a second chance to give testimony, free of coercion, the Best Bakery case will not be an easy conviction. The Shaikh family has given two versions of the story and estranged members of the family tell an entirely different story.

Yet whatever the outcome of the Best Bakery case, the very fact that it got a retrial at all - and that, out of Gujarat - may have reverberations. On Aug. 3, the Indian Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments from six other heinous cases similar to Best Bakery, which are also pushing to be tried outside Gujarat.

The largest of these, the massacre of 89 Muslims in the district of Naroda-Patiya, occurred the day after the Godhra tragedy. Police waited nearly a year to investigate this case or to press charges.

While some activists say Best Bakery will bring legal reforms that will guarantee more professionalism and less political interference in future cases, others like Mr. Jethmalani says a deeper reform within human character is needed.

"Either out of communal motives [of promoting hatred toward the Muslim community] or out of some political motives by the state leaders, the investigation was totally unequal to their task," says Mr. Jethmalani. Yet the problems seen in the case go far beyond Gujarat.

"I must compliment the people of India for setting their face against such fundamentalism, when they voted against the BJP in the last elections," he says. But the decline in human character and the rise of fundamentalism "is getting worse," he adds, and not "just in India but in the West as well."

Beyond Ideology: The Case Against RSS Governors

THE TIMES OF INDIA | JULY 22, 2004
EDITORIAL
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/785860.cms

Beyond Ideology: The Case Against RSS Governors
ALOK RAI

Thrown off-balance by Verdict 2004, the once deputy prime minister of India is blustering with threats of dire but unspecified consequences: The Congress, he said, will have to pay a heavy price for this! Well, the Congress can take care of itself, but it behoves us as concerned citizens to spend a little time with the matter that has so exercised the hon'ble Mr Advani: The summary dismissal of four RSS functionaries whom his government had installed as provincial governors.

The sainted Mr Advani, projected as another Sardar Patel from time to time, is seeking to play Gandhi, positioning himself somewhere above (and outside) Parliament from where he can criticise the established legal order. But the muttered threats diminish him cruelly into something like a Hindu Jinnah.

Advani's affectations apart, the underlying issue is not merely the technical one of whether the president is legally right in dismissing the four governors. It is the deeper moral question of whether self-confessed RSS types should have been — or should ever be — appointed to high offices where they are in a position to pervert the workings of the Constitution to which their allegiance can only ever be tactical and hypocritical. If not, then irrespective of Mr Advani's posturings, the great wrong was that of having appointed such people in the first place, and we should be grateful for what the president has done.

In the bad old days before the formation of the NDA government, a lot of people who should have known better, persuaded themselves that the constraints of office would "normalise" the BJP. In becoming a mainstream party, it would shed its manic elements. There is a profound sense in which the BJP has been "compromised" by its years in office. There isn't much point in naming names. Let us merely remember, just when Enron is about to hit us with a Rs 26,000 crore bill, that the statesman-like Mr V actually cleared the second phase of the Enron project — having rubbished it earlier — during the 13 days when he was the prime minister in 1996, before unsuccessfully seeking the initial vote of confidence!

And yet, it is not the widespread corruption that is the most worrying thing about these people. Their demonstrated venality is what might even delude us into accepting them as "normal", muddled and corruptible — just like the rest of us. The thing that puts them firmly beyond the pale of constitutional politics is their so-called "idealism", their carefully projected air of sanctimonious virtue, their mealy-mouthed saintliness.

The processes whereby the RSS manages to produce, en masse, a certain kind of personality have not received the academic attention they deserve. But while the etiology and inner structure of this kind of personality might be imperfectly understood, we are familiar with its behaviours. I refer not only to the bloodied foot-soldiers of "Gujarat 2002", but rather to the perfumed leaders who, with clean hands and clean consciences, presided over this orgy of violence. Not only the unmentionable Modi but also Mr "Flip-flop" Vajpayee and Mr Advani. Two years after those gruesome events, they still haven't grasped the horror of what happened, and are publicly concerned about whether the violence lost or won elections for them, and consequently whether or not it was something they should apologise for, or boast about.

This question — How do they do it? — has a direct bearing on the matter of the dismissed governors. My own sense of it is that the RSS, after the manner of similar organisations, creates in its cadres an area of self where merely human considerations no longer apply. It has been supposed, simplistically, that the demonising of the Muslim is an end in RSS ideology. My sense of it is that the "demonised Muslim" is merely the means whereby a trans-moral personality is created. It is of the essence of this kind of "engineered" personality that it is, in most respects, normal, and sometimes even rather refined. (The case of the concentration camp commandant who returned to Wagner and Bach after a hard day at the gas chambers is legendary.) The area of self functions as a secure and privileged enclave, beyond the reach of rational argument, and the cries of human pain and suffering. The merely human being, once possessed of self-hypnotising, dogmatic certainties, and absolved of moral responsibility, is rendered into pure will, an instrument of history, or the nation, or the Aryan ideal.

It seems merely an elementary precaution to exclude such worthies from every office that requires an explicit fidelity to the Constitution of India. It cannot be argued that theirs is an ideology just like any other — because if mere ideological affiliation were a disqualification, then Khurana and even Nawal Kishore Sharma should have been excluded. But the RSS is not, as they themselves routinely declare, a political party with a particular ideology — it is a secret society. And whatever little has filtered out about the aims of this secret society, it aims at nothing less than subverting the liberal and secular Constitution of India. Can it now claim the protection of a liberal order that it seeks, day in and day out, to pervert and malign?

India: On Comprehensive Law on Communal Riots

Secular Perspective
July 16-31, 2004

ON COMPREHENSIVE LAW ON COMMUNAL RIOTS

by Asghar Ali Engineer

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government has promised,
in its Common Minimum Programme that a law will be enacted to
prevent communal riots but what is stated therein seems post-riot
measures like special courts to punish the guilty, to pay uniform
compensation to the victims etc. However, it is silent on the
preventive measures which are more important than the follow up
measures. Needless to say the comprehensive law should lay
emphasis on preventive measures so that communal violence can
be prevented in this country.

The most important players in any communal violence are
politicians. No communal riot can take place without the direct or
indirect role of politicians, much less Gujarat like carnage. I have
been investigating communal riots since last four decades and I
have yet to see any communal riot in which politicians have not
played direct or indirect role. There are very few riots in which
politicians have played even indirect role; in most cases they play
direct role. Only politicians of the left are an exception to this game.

Thus it should be said with all emphasis here that without tackling
political problem one can hardly check communal violence in this
country. The most obvious role among politicians is that of
communal politicians i.e. Jan Sangh-BJP-Shiv Sena. These
communal parties are not only motivated by their communal and
fascistic ideologies by also by immediate political gains to be made
in terms of increasing their vote base. The whole Ram
Janambhoomi movement was motivated by their desire to widen
their vote base among low caste and backward caste Hindus
besides upper caste Hindus to multiply their seats in Parliament
and they greatly succeeded in that project. To achieve this
objective Mr. Advani took out Rathyatra from Somnath to Ayodhya
which, of course, he could not complete.

It was this movement coupled with rathyatra, which polarised the
Hindus and Muslims as never before in history. The BJP politicians
like Uma Bharti and Sadhvi Rithambara were making highly
provocative speeches against Muslims publicly. Bal Thackaray and
other Shiv Sena politicians too were not far behind. In fact they
were outdoing each other. If the Narsimha Rao Government had
taken strong action against such provocative speeches and
arrested concerned BJP opticians whatever their stature, Babri
Masjid would not have been demolished and so much blood would
not have been shed in riots which followed the demolition.

Thus first of all political will is needed to tackle communal violence.
The law is there but it is never implemented sincerely. If section
153, 153(A), 295 and 505 of the Indian Penal Code which deal with
promotion of religious animosity are used against any one making
such provocative speeches, the whole trouble can be nipped in the
bud. It is hardly ever done. Even elections are fought on such
provocative campaigns. Modi's speeches during Gujarat elections
of December 2002 were patently communal and he won two-third
majority from precisely those areas where anti-Muslim violence
broke out after the Godhra incident of February 27, 2002.

It is also strange that the parties which take oath for secularism at
the time of registration of their parties with the Election Commission
and also swear by the Constitution adopt 'Hindutva' as their parties
programme? How Hindutva or Islamitva can be reconciled with the
Constitutional secularism? The two are quite contradictory. An
observation by a Supreme Court judge that Hindutva is a way of life
cannot certainly reconcile it with secular spirit of our Constitution.
Hindutva is a political doctrine of a Hindu communal party. It can
under no circumstances be equated with secularism.

It is fine if a politician is intensely religious (either Hindu, or Muslim
or Christian). It certainly does not conflict with our concept of
secularism. But it is one thing to be intensely religious and quite
different to spouse political Hindutva based on hatred of minorities.
Our electoral laws also need to be stringently looked into to uphold
our secularism and to consolidate it. The Hindutva forces are
eroding secular values and replacing it with hatred and conflict. Any
law against communal violence has to keep this political dimension
in view. The UPA Government would need strong political will to
achieve this. It should ask the Election Commission to keep strict
vigilance on communal campaign and disqualify candidates using
communal or sectarian appeal.

It is only politicians who prepare atmosphere for communal
violence through provocative speeches and newspaper articles.
The second stage is to spread rumour through a well planned
manner and third stage is to start violence using some spark here
and there. Any law has to tackle the problem at all these stages.
We have already dealt with the question of provocation. Spreading
rumour is done very stealthily and is not easy to deal with. It needs
help from the people and an alert administration can take effective
steps through people's committees to squash such rumours.

Thirdly, the sparking incident, unlike Godhra in case of Gujarat, are
usually insignificant like teasing a girl of the other community, or
quarrel between two groups belonging to two different communities,
or someone knocking down a pedestrian etc. and in a surcharged
atmosphere this is enough to start major conflagration. And if the
police is also communalised, which is often the case, it can turn into
a disaster. The Biharsharif riots of 1981 started with a brawl
between a Muslim and a Yadav on the question of payment and
turned into a major disaster thanks to the role of RSS and the
police under its influence.

In communal violence after politicians another important factor is
police. If police wants it can curb communal violence in no time.
There are two conditions: (1) the police should be strictly
professional and handle communal disturbances strictly as law and
order situation and (2) it should be allowed to function without
political interference as long as they do their job professionally.

The role of police has been increasingly politicised and
communalised as I have been observing since the Jabalpur riots of
1961. In many riots lower level officers lead the mobs and take part
in looting, burning and killing. Bhagalpur riots of 1989 and Gujarat
riots of 2002 are flagrant examples of direct police participation with
of course, honourable exceptions. The police is also becoming part
of communal polarisation. Also, with communal parties coming to
power they tend to oblige their political bosses by adding and
abetting their communal misdeeds. In case of situations like Gujarat
honest officers were punished by being immediately transferred.

The shocking thing is that all those police officers who were
indicted by the judicial inquiry commissions were never penalised;
instead they were rewarded by promotions. There were
innumerable examples. Mr. Ram Dev Tyagi, who fired on Suleman
Bakery people and killed innocent boys during January 1993 riots
in Mumbai was severely indicted by the Justice Srikrishna
Commission. Hardly any action was taken against him. Instead he
was promoted as Commissioner of Police during the Shiv Sena-
BJP rule in Maharashtra in 1995. Mr. P.C.Pande, Police
Commissioner Ahmedabad during Gujarat carnage of 2002 was
promoted and sent to CBI.

Any law to prevent communal violence has to tackle police problem
and see that it behaves strictly professionally, as pointed out
above. The Left Government in West Bengal can become a better
model in this respect. It is well known that a communally sensitive
state like West Bengal until seventies became a totally riot-free
model state after the Left Front Government took over. There are
two reasons for this: (1) it does not mix religion with politics and
does not indulge in any form of communal rhetoric and (2) it has
warned the police force that any lack of action to stop communal
violence within 24 hours will attract strong action. The result is for
anyone to see in West Bengal.

Bihar was also communal hotbed for long but since Laloo Prasad
Yadav came to power the communal scenario changed. Bihar is
also now almost riot-free state. Not that communal forces are lying
low but do not succeed in engineering communal violence as the
state machinery is ever vigilant. It should not, therefore, be difficult
to have riot-free India under UPA though few states like Gujarat,
Rajasthan and M.P. are presently ruled by the BJP. But UPA
Government can send right signal to all communal mischief
makers. No tempering with secular values and communal rhetoric
will be tolerated.

And in case communal violence does break out the guilty, which
should include politicians as much as ordinary citizens, provoking
or taking law in their own hands and the police officers failing to
control within a specified time period, should all be punished
according to law through fast track courts specially set up for the
purpose. If necessary, there should be a separate autonomous
police commission to professionalise the police force and to make it
independent of political interference.

Of course the law should see to it that the victims of communal
violence get speedy justice and are uniformly compensated. Today
it all depends on the chief minister concerned to announce the
quantum of compensation. For every person killed at least Rs.5
lakhs should be given by way of compensation and if a bread
earner is killed, a job should be ensured to a member of the family.
Often those killed happen to be poor.

I would again like to emphasise that the law should deal more
stringently with pre-violence than post-violence situation.
Prevention will prove far more effective.

Kaya Taran: Film revisits Sikh massacre, Gujarat riots

sify.com
http://sify.com/movies/bollywood/fullstory.php?id=13523358

Film revisits Sikh massacre, Gujarat riots
By Hindol Sengupta, IANS
Friday, 16 July , 2004, 16:36
New Delhi: With empathy and sweeping camera flow, a new film has used the national ghosts of the 1984 massacre of Sikhs to reflect on the Gujarat riots of two years ago.

Called Kaya Taran, the film is an adaptation of a Malayalam short story by N.S. Madhavan When Big Trees Fall and was screened at the capital's Siri Fort Auditorium Thursday night.

Shifting through past and present, the tale follows the lives of Preet (Angad Bedi), a Delhi reporter working on a story on religious conversions, and the head nun of a Meerut convent (Seema Biswas).

As Preet unravels the layers of his story, he enters the murky world of memory -- of the widespread murder of Sikhs after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1984.

Director Sashi Kumar, a veteran journalist and documentary filmmaker, uses memory as a tool to weave together a tale of subtle dialogue between communities even as the angry flames of hate burn the street tar, lives and homes.

In places, Preet's own Sikh identity comes into play as he digs out remembrances of tears as images of bloodthirsty mobs with swords and burning tyres racing down the streets keep cropping up in his interviews.

Using the tale of nuns and breaking cinematic traditions of continuity, Kumar makes vital comments on secular belief in India and relations between communities.

It's a tale that resonates as the young boy in the film (played by Neelambari Bhattacharya, the great-grandchild of E.M.S. Namboodiripad) talks of the murder of his father and brother before flashing cameras.

With each flash, and bloody revelation, the boy's face lights up, as if with terrifying enlightenment.

The story, Kumar believes, is particularly pertinent even as tales of the Gujarat riots continue to create headlines and debate. Through his film, Kumar tries to build correlations between the separate acts of hatred, separated by almost two decades and yet so similar in vitriol.

The audience, with many Sikhs, watched silently through the 110 minutes of the Hindi film, then many walked out solemnly.

"It can never stop bothering me," said Charanjit Singh, a Sikh who had come with his wife and eight-year-old son. "My own brother was killed, set ablaze with a burning tyre around his neck. You can never forget these things."

Singh said he had come to show his son a glimpse of the "sad history". "He should also know," Singh told IANS after the show. "It's good to know the pains of your parents."

His son Sohan looked a little bewildered. "It's frightening," he said. "My parents were crying during the show."

This is the sort of reaction Kumar wants to evoke, as does the rights group Sahmat that sponsored the show. "Under our layer of secularism lies racial and religious intolerance that often causes havoc," said Kumar.

"My film is about that vulnerability. We must join hands to fight intolerance and promote brotherhood."