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A publication of Association for Communal Harmony in Asia (ACHA) www.asiapeace.org

Editor: Pritam K. Rohila, Ph. D.

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ACHA PEACE BULLETIN-Volume V, No. 2 & 3, March 5, 2003, (Next issue, April 2, 2003)

Something To Think About

About ACHA

Editorial: Peace & Communal Harmony In South Asia, Pritam K. Rohila, Ph. D.

Peace & Harmony News

Peace & Harmony Organizations

Pakistan-India Peoples' Forum For Peace And Democracy, Lahore, Pakistan

South Asia People’s Summit 2003, Islamabad, Pakistan

Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christians Unity Council, New York, USA

South Asia Solidarity Group, London, U.K.

News From South Asia

Feature

No VIRUS in the Faithful, Ranjit Bhushan, Outlookindia.Com, January 13, 2002,

India, Pakistan should learn from Koreans, Dr Manzur Ejaz, The News, January 5, 2003

Kashmiri children ski near India-Pakistan frontier, By Sheikh Mushtaq, KGN News, 25 Feb 2003

Books & Reports

On Developing Theology of Peace in Islam, Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer

No Shame For the Sun: Lives of Professional Pakistani Women. Shahla Haeri

Communal Politics: Facts versus Myths, Ram Puniyani

Minority Rights: Myth Or Reality, Dr.M.P.Raju

Children

Conferences

Environment

Scholarship & Grants

Websites

Women

REPORTS & ANALYSES

(For a copy send a blank email to pritamr@open.org with its subject as the UPPERCASE word in the article title. Please limit your request to 3 articles)

Children

Millions of children in India toil as virtual SLAVES

Communalism

Church Of The POISON Mind: Schoolbooks That Teach Children To Hate, M Shehzad

Halting Hindutva's MARCH, Praful Bidwai, Rediff.com, Jan 8, 2003

Secularists on the FIRING Line, Ram Puniyani, Issues in Secular Politics, Feb 2002 –I

HINDUTVA and Minorities, Asghar Ali Engineer, Secular Perspective Feb. 1-15, 2003

BLOOD and money, Edward Luce and Demetri Sevastopulo, The Financial Times, Feb 20, 2003

RESTORE India's Secular Political Culture, By Smita Narula, The Wall Street Journal, Feb 27 Gujarat RIOTS, A Year On, Dilip D'Souza,, Rediff.com, Feb 27, 2003

India

The NOWHERE people: Pakistani passport-holders in India, George Iype, Rediff.com, Feb 22, 03

India (British) -History

Ten days that SHOOK the British Raj, Prof Khwaja Masud

The PERILS of Partition, Christopher Hitchens, The Atlantic Monthly, March 2003

India-NE

BODO Settlement: Accord for Discord? Bibhu Prasad Routray, South Asia Intelligence RevFeb17

India-Pak Relations

The India-Pakistan IMBROGLIO, Ishtiaq Ahmed, Daily Times, 16 Feb 2003

Open the WINDOW and let the sun in, Khalid Hasan, Friday Times, Feb 21, 2003

India-Pakistan DEADLOCK, Imtiaz Alam, The News International, Feb 23,2003

Punjabis and their IDENTITY, Ishtiaq Ahmed, Daily Times, Sunday, 23 Feb, 2003

Kashmir

Kashmir DISPUTE and America, Part 1, Dr Shabir Choudhry

J&K: The Taliban TAKE on Rajouri, Praveen Swami, South Asia Intelligence Review, Jan 6

Kashmir dispute and America, PART 2, Dr Shabir Choudhry, Jan 9, 2003

APHC: The Nexus with Terror, Praveen Swami, South Asia Intelligence Review, Feb 17, 2003

Nepal

HOPE in an Uncertain Peace, Deepak Thapa, South Asia Intelligence Review, Feb 24, 2003

Pakistan

Lahore; or, the Islamic GALE, David Warren, New York, Feb 2003

Musharraf defies the ODDS, Ramananda Sengupta, Rediff.com, Feb 27, 2003

Pakistan should be a NATION of equal citizens, Ishtiaq Ahmed Daily Times, 2 Mar 2003

Religion

Religion and Economic JUSTICE, Asghar Ali Engineer, Islam and Modern Age, Jan 2003

RELIGION and politics, Ishtiaq Ahmed, Daily Times, 12 Jan, 2002

The HIJACKERS of Islam, Khalid Hasan, The Friday Times, Lahore, Pakistan, Feb14, 2003

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's TIGERS vow to end child recruitment, By Fiona Shaikh, Reuters Feb 8, 2003

A Reprieve for LTTE's CHILD Soldiers, R Gunaratna, South Asia Intelligence Review, Feb 17

Women

WOMEN of Idukki, Shwetha, E. George, Humanscapeindia.net, Dec 2002

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SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

"We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing that we know about living." - General Omar Bradley

EDITORIAL

*Peace & Communal Harmony in South Asia, Pritam K. Rohila, Ph. D.

Prospects for peace in South Asia seem to brighter than they have been for quite a while. Continued talks between the government and LTTE in Sri Lanka, the ceasefire between the government and Maoists in Nepal, the recent agreements between the Government of India and some of the rebel groups in the northeast, inauguration of an elected government in Jammu and Kashmir, and withdrawal of armies from the Indo-Pak border, are all positive signs for peace. But Hindu-Muslim tensions in India following Gujarat massacres, Shia-Sunni problems in Pakistan, and apparently systematic persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh are still matters of concern to all peace-loving people. We must continue our work to promote communal harmony.

ABOUT ACHA

Since 1993, Association for Communal Harmony in Asia has been actively working for peace in South Asia and respect for caste, cultural, ethnic, gender, and religious differences among South Asians everywhere.

If you like what ACHA is doing and want to help us in this work, please become an ACHA member (Annual Dues: Life $200, Couple/Family $25, Individual $10), make a donation to ACHA and/or volunteer to work on one of our current projects.

You can send your dues and donations to ACHA, 4410 Verda Lane NE, Keizer, OR 97303. For more information about us, please visit our website www.asiapeace.org or contact me at 503.393.6944 or pritamr@open.org

PEACE & HARMONY NEWS

(Readers are invited to submit similar news from other areas of South Asia to help us broaden of our coverage. Please send the news, along with its date, and source, to pritamr@open.org , a week before the date of publication of the next issue of ACHA Peace Bulletin)

'Gentlemen, Play!' says GenNext

One is Indian, the other is Pakistani. Vinutha & Zebunnisa are young girls studying in England. And both want to exorcise the baggage of history. http://www.rediff.com/wc2003/2003/feb/28pratik.htm

'India-Pak game could restart peace process'

Pakistan team manager Shahryar Khan on sporting contact between India and Pakistan.

http://www.rediff.com/wc2003/2003/feb/28khan.htm

Hindus to pray at Bhojshala on Tuesdays, Muslims on Fridays

The Dhar district administration in Madhya Pradesh (India) in a report have suggested reopening the Bhojshala-Kamaal Maula mosque. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/feb/27bhoj.htm

Delhi tripartite meeting approves formation of Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam

At a tripartite meeting in New Delhi, the formation of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) in the Bodo dominated areas of Assam was approved on February 10, 2003. This was announced after a meeting of the representatives of the Union and State governments along with a Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) delegation. The BLT had declared a unilateral ceasefire in July 1999 in response to the Union government's appeal for talks. Assam Tribune, February 11, 2003.

Fundamentalists are threat to the peace and security of the South, says Sardar Ishtiaq Hussain Khan

While addressing a mammoth gathering at Kotli, on February 14, Sardar Ishtiaq Hussain Khan, Secretary General United Kashmir Peoples National Party (UKPNP urged for united efforts to eliminate the menace of the fundamentalism from Jammu Kashmir. These forces have changed the dimensions of the national liberation movement and people of Kashmir have lost the popular support of the world, he added. unitedkashmir_pnp@yahoo.co.uk

PEACE & HARMONY ORGANIZATIONS

(Readers are invited to submit similar information from other areas of South Asia to help us broaden of our coverage. Please send the info to pritamr@open.org , a week before the date of publication of the next issue of ACHA Peace Bulletin)

*Pakistan-India Peoples' Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), Lahore, Pakistan pakindo@brain.net.pk

On December 31, at Lahore, the Pakistan Chapter of PIPFPD expressed its concern and dismay at the new visa restrictions announced by the government on India on Pakistanis visiting India. The group reiterated its view that the people of India and Pakistan have a right and a duty to maintain as regular a contact as possible and to contribute to the return of sanity to their benighted sub-continent, and therefore called upon both governments to facilitate travel between their countries. Instead of devising new restrictions they should immediately reopen air and ground routes.

*South Asia People’s Summit 2003, Islamabad, Pakistan (Via southasiareview@yahoo.com)

South Asian civil society groups met January 11-13, 2003, at the Third People's Summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, to address problems faced by people in South Asia. They pledged -

To promote people’s struggle for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous South Asia;

To actively oppose all actions and policies of state and non-state actors that promote militarization,

jingoism, extremism and perpetuates exploitation; and demanded that

1. The visa regimes should be eased and the states of Pakistan and India immediately stop harassing,

humiliating and victimizing visitors;

2. All communication and travel links among South Asian countries, especially between India and Pakistan,

should be immediately restored;

3. Immediate de-weaponization of all religious and quasi-religious and other militant groups; and that

4. South Asia should be made a nuclear weapons-free zone and to put a complete freeze on nuclear and

missile programs by India and Pakistan.

*Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christians Unity Council, 86-51, 91st Street. Woodhaven. NY. NY 11421, USA, Telephone 718-577-0756; 718-824-0833; 212-254-3415. Fax: 914-779-3228, E-mail: guhasb@peoplepc.com ; kumarbh@hotmail.com ; biswas1@aol.com ; charnagar@aol.com

February 10, 2003

On February 9, the Council held an international conference at New Yorker Hotel to apprise the international media about the on-going state-sponsored campaign of "ethnic cleansing" of the minorities in Bangladesh.

*South Asia Solidarity Group, southasia@hotmail.com

Remember Gujarat was the theme of a Candlelight Vigil organized by South Asia Solidarity Group on March 3, outside the British Charity Commission, in London, U.K. They urged the Commission to stop funding of communal organizations in India.

*Sadbhav Mission, 5, C-Street, IIT, New Delhi 110016, Ph. 26581737 sadbhavm@yahoo.com

February 27 to March 5, Prof. Vipin Tripathi and like-minded humanists organized a Violence Resistance Week in Delhi, to propagate peace in South Asia.

NEWS FROM SOUTH ASIA

*Bangladesh

Islamist extremist groups Al-Hikma proscribed

The Bangladesh National Party (BNP)-led coalition government proscribed the Shahadat-e-Al-Hikma, an Islamist extremist group allegedly funded by an underworld don. Home Minister Altaf Hussain Chowdhury told Parliament on February 16 that this organization has been considered a threat to peace and security.. The Times of India, February 17, 2003

*India

Complete coverage of the state assembly election http://www.rediff.com/election/febpol03.htm

Himachal and Meghalaya to Congress, Tripura to the Left, Nagaland in logjam

http://www.rediff.com/election/2003/mar/01polls2.htm

Casting their revenge

The people of Mandai Choumuhani in Tripura where militants had killed 11 villagers had their retribution by coming out in large numbers to cast their votes. http://www.rediff.com/election/2003/feb/28trip.htm

Highlights of the Union Budget 2003-04 http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/feb/28bud2.htm

Economic Survey outlines reform agenda for pushing up growth

http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/feb/27survey.htm

Godhra: When time stood still

Only the kin can understand what it is like dealing with the painful memories, depression and financial insecurity, says Girishchandra Raval, who lost two family members to the madness.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/feb/28train.htm

The Gujarat Riots: A year later

Most of the 5,067 rioters who were arrested have now been released on bail.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/feb/26spec.htm

US, India resume nuclear safety dialogue http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/feb/26nuclear.htm

NHRC seeks report from Kerala on alleged atrocities on tribals

Sixteen tribals were killed in a confrontation with the police at Muthanga on February 19 during action to clear forestland occupied by the tribals. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/feb/25iype.htm

In Bihar, even non-Muslims prefer madrasas

They may help dispel the notion that the Muslim seminaries are breeding grounds for fundamentalists.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/feb/22bihar.htm

Kiran Bedi named 1st woman UN Police Adviser

She will take over from Acting Civilian Police Adviser Antero Lopes in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/11bedi.htm

No objection from US on dual citizenship: Blackwill http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/jan/11pbd5.htm

India to give dual citizenship to Persons of Indian Origin

http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/jan/09pbd.htm

Tamil Nadu dalits seek permission to convert

They sent a memorandum to this effect to the district collector after upper caste Hindus in the village denied them permission to take out a funeral through the main street.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/09tn.htm

Minorities panel for debate on `Hindutva'

'Nothing should be hidden under the carpet. Let all Hindus decide what is Hindutva,' National Commission for Minorities chairman Tarlochan Singh said. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/07tn.htm

The search for the soul of Hindutva

'To push for the notion of a Hindu rashtra, the VHP rides on specific Hindu fears that are different in different parts. They are only exploiting the existing divide prevalent in India, and they are doing it
well,' says Amberish K Diwanji. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/07akd.htm

India sets up Strategic Forces Command http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/04nuke1.htm

Another Indian-American woman for NASA mission http://www.rediff.com/us/2003/jan/03us.htm

Anti-conversion law challenged in high court

Advocate R Rajamani's PIL sought a stay the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion Act 2002, as it was 'unjust and unconstitutional'. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/03tn.htm

*India-Kashmir

J&K govt disbands SOG

The decision comes just two days before the Pampore assembly by=poll.

http://www.rediff.com/election/2003/feb/24mani.htm

Former Home Secretary Vohra appointed Union government interlocutor on Kashmir

On February 19, Vohra was designated as the Union government's interlocutor to hold discussions with all sections of people in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), including legislators and groups opposed to violence. Announcing the decision in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament), Deputy Prime Minister, L K Advani said the government had consistently perceived that dialogue was the answer in J&K and it would continue discussion with any group or section that eschewed the path of violence. Vohra replaces Planning Commission Deputy Chairman K.C. Pant in initiating a dialogue with various sections in J&K. Daily Excelsior, February 20, 2003

J&K govt orders Geelani's release http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/feb/08jk3.htm

The silent change in Kashmir

'The central government has been showing remarkable empathy and understanding towards Mufti's regime,' says Mohammed Sayeed Malik. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/02malik.htm

*India-NE

Meghalaya governor invites Congress to form government Congress legislature party leader D D Lapang will be sworn in chief minister of Tuesday, sources said.

http://www.rediff.com/election/2003/mar/04megh.htm

Centre, Assam and Bodos sign historic pact http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/feb/10bodo.htm

Manipur vows to maintain territorial integrity

During its talks with the Centre, the NSCN (I-M) has demanded the formation of 'Greater Nagaland', which includes parts of Manipur. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/11mani.htm

No more fighting between Indians, Nagas: NSCN (I-M) http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/11naga.htm

*India- Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

Slide Show: Dazzling the Diaspora http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/jan/11sld1.htm

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas: Complete Coverage http://www.rediff.com/money/pravasi.htm

The Diasporic Extravaganza: Day 2 http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/jan/10sld01.htm

The Indian Diaspora is a rainbow: Dr L M Singhvi. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/10lms.htm

*Nepal

Maoists meet political leaders ahead of proposed peace talks

Maoist insurgent leaders Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Dinanath Sharma met with Nepali Congress president and former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on February 18, and stated they had not entered into a secret understanding with King Gyanendra. Nepal News, February 19, 2003, February 18

*Pakistan

Kashmir may be solved in 3 years: Pakistan minister http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/mar/04pak1.htm

Attack on US consulate in Pakistan, 2 killed

Gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons on a security post guarding the consulate in Karachi.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/feb/28pak.htm

PML (Q) wins Pakistan senate polls

It bagged 32 of the total 88 seats counted in the first round of voting while its allies got 11.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/feb/25pak.htm

Pak air force chief killed in plane crash http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/feb/20pak.htm

Pakistani immigrant saves synagogue

Syed Ali, a gas attendant, called the cops when he saw a man pour gas on the Young Israel of Kings Bay synagogue in Brooklyn. http://www.rediff.com/us/2003/jan/11us.htm

No possibility of accidental nuke war: Musharraf http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/10pak1.htm

Musharraf heads Pakistan's nuclear command

This is in contrast to India, where the control is with the civilian authority headed by prime minister.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/07pak.htm

FEATURE

*No VIRUS in the Faithful, Ranjit Bhushan, Outlookindia.Com, January 13, 2002,

http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20030113&fname=Ranjit+%28F%29&sid=1

Belying The Sangh's Claims, Experts Say Indian Muslims Hold No Jehadi Sentiments

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the rest of its parivar may still be on a relentless hate campaign against the 'minorities', but it's now being proffered that there are no jehadis in India. That is, if you leave aberrant elements in Kashmir. At the end of a year when US investigators and their allies have left no stone unturned in their hunt for Al Qaeda terrorists, experts have reached an interesting conclusion: while the Islamic terror network has been found to exist in Africa, Europe and Asia, Indian Muslims have not been attracted by the jehad ideology. This, despite the country having the world's second largest Muslim population (140-150 million).

Various other nationalities involved with Jehadi International Inc have been identified, but Indians don't figure on the list. "Jehad here is exported from Pakistan. There are no internal jehadis around. Despite having the second largest Muslim population in the world, the very diversity of India prevents the spread of such ideology," says K.P.S.

Gill, former Punjab DGP and an acknowledged anti-terrorism expert. Indeed, Gill believes that Indian Muslims could well lead the way in showing how a composite culture can be used to counter "hate ideology" in the years to come. According to Gill, subversive activities tending to the jehadi kind, if any, remain localised and can be contained.

Points out Ajai Sahni of the New Delhi-based Institute of Conflict Management: "The (absence of) jehadi culture here is best illustrated vis-a-vis Kashmir. In the over 10 years of terrorism in the state, there
hasn't been a single non-Kashmiri (Muslim) from any other part of India involved in the so-called jehad or militancy."

India's list of 'Islamic' terrorists begins and ends with the Dawood Ibrahims and Aftab Ansaris of the world-basically criminal mafia unconnected to any ideology of any kind, but quite active in urban areas. The closest to jehadis here have been organisations like the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) linked to Saudi-based bodies, the World Assembly of Muslim Youth and the now-banned Rabita. Outfits with similar inclinations can be found in the South too. Despite a lot of sound and fury, particularly with
the arrest of its activists in UP, SIMI remains on the margins, unable to attract the kind of talent needed to achieve their objectives.

"Organisations like SIMI are aberrations," points out Sahni.

Security analyst Kulbir Krishan explains: "Unlike other parts of the world, the average Muslim here knows the power of his vote, and despite the alienation in some pockets, there is no state-sponsored discrimination. That's a very big difference." According to him, due to lower levels of education, an overwhelming majority of Muslims do not opt for jobs with the government or private companies, mainly sticking to the unorganised sector.

Also, their customers are largely Hindu. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims interact and do business with the Hindus on a daily basis, so despite the general impression of a gulf, there is an open line of communication at most times.

Not that there hasn't been any provocation for the Muslim community. Experts say that a delicate moment in India's history came in the aftermath of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992. There was then a sense of insecurity amongst the minority community with groups of youngsters-mainly from western UP-contemplating taking to violence. But soon the UP elections came-in, which the BJP was routed-and emotions cooled down. The Gujarat story is part of this kind of provocation. But the remarkable fact is that despite the violence in Gujarat, the rest of the country remained calm.

Even though the CIA releases periodic lists of possible Al Qaeda-style jehadis, an Indian is yet to be named, even though they can be found in the neighbourhood, ie Pakistan and Bangladesh.

In the light of all this, the VHP's attempts to raise the spectre of Indian-born jehadis just does not wash. "The VHP is basically attempting to garner votes and divide society for their cause. It has very little to do
with jehadis of any kind," says a Union home ministry official, who deals with militancy.

In the days to come, with crucial assembly elections ahead in nine states (till 2004), the jehadi factor will undoubtedly get closer attention, both from the Sangh fraternity and the anti-Sangh activists still smarting from the BJP victory in Gujarat. Now, what the average Indian must realise is that there is little truth in the verbal pyrotechnics that the Sangh parivar periodically indulges in.

*India, Pakistan should learn from Koreans, Dr Manzur Ejaz manzurejaz@yahoo.com, The News, January 5, 2003

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Washington DC

Of course, President Bush in saying that North Korea and Iraq are different: Besides the obvious fact that North Korea has the capability and willingness to produce weapons of mass destruction and Iraq has none of this, the US can attack the later with impunity while cannot undertake similar venture against the former because of politics of that region. South Koreans, the closest US allies, are not willing to accept
the death and destruction of their brethrens in the North. This is absolutely different from South Asia where the rivals, despite shared ethnicity and a common history of thousands of years, are not only
willing to obliterate each other but also provide cheering squads for the external destructive forces.

Whether the Bush administration forced the North Koreans to take a defiant position, as the critics believe, or there were other unspecified motives behind Pyongyang's decision to reactivate its nuclear programme, the fact remains that the Pentagon is not preparing an attack despite Donald Rumsfeld's reassurances that it can win two wars simultaneously. Most of all, majority of the South Koreans consider the Northerners their brothers and cannot accept their devastation. As a matter of fact, South Korea's incoming president, Roh Moo Hyun, was elected last month in part on a platform of protesting Bush's hard-line stance on North Korea.

Not only attacking North Korea is difficult but also the US has been forced to back off from imposing economic sanctions. State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said: "We have not been asking people to impose any kind of economic sanctions." Contrary to some reports, the United States was not seeking to bring economic sanctions or cut off food aid to North Korea because of the standoff over the nuclear facility, he added. Instead, the US is asking China, Russia and Japan to exert pressure on North Korea to back off.

China, being the neighbour and the largest trade partner, is the most important country as far as North Korea is concerned. To maintain its trade links with the US, China must be trying hard to persuade North
Korea to roll back its nuclear programme. However, China cannot tolerate the US invasion of North Korea because, in that case, the American armies will be sitting on its borders. Russians and Japanese, leery of
the US aggressive stance, cannot approve military action either. Nonetheless, Chinese insecurity and Korean ethnic bonding have forced the US to hold its horses and pursue through diplomatic channels.

These days, Korean Peninsula is a rare place where ethnicity is playing a positive role.

The South Asian scene is entirely different where people of similar ethnic groups are intent upon destroying each other. Unlike South Koreans, Indian and Pakistani masses are not pressing their political
leaders to abandon confrontational policies. Obviously, the religious differentiations, overtaking ethnic and other identities, have pitched the countries against each other. Due to their never-ending hostilities towards each other, both India and Pakistan are paralysed to play any substantial role even in their own region.

Pakistani government or politicians may raise deceptive noises supporting Iraq but they cannot influence the US policy in any way. Similarly, India may have strong economic interests in maintaining
status quo in Iraq but it cannot do anything except cutting a deal with the US about its oil exploration contracts that it had signed with Saddam Hussain sometime ago. Despite containing one-fourth of the world
population, hostility between both countries has neutralised their possible effect on developments even their own region.

Pakistan cannot dare annoy the US because of a looming Indian fear. If Pakistan opposes the US on any pivotal issue -- such as Iraqi invasion -- Washington can just encourage and aid the Indians to teach Pakistan a lesson. Alternately, the Indo-US common action against Pakistan can ruin the country. It is clear that because of its India policy Pakistan has to accept everything that goes around the world.

Notwithstanding noises made in Islamabad, Pakistan cannot make any move even if the US attacks most sacred Muslim places. Therefore, to keep up enmity with India, Pakistan has to accept occupation of Iraq, Iran or any place that is dear to its people. Ideologues state operators and even the common
people do not understand that Pakistan has become a prisoner of its India policy. Such a policy may be justified on ideological or pragmatic grounds but it has led to an opposite effect: Pakistan cannot help any
Muslim country.

Similarly, India, a country bigger than entire Europe and America in population, is losing its relevance on the international level because of its obsession with Pakistan. A self-perpetuating paranoia is defining its external as well as internal politics: Sangh Parivar's ruling coalition, after its victory in Gujarat provincial assembly, has adopted an anti-Pakistan election strategy for the entire country. Probably, Hindutva religious crusaders may not be able to crush Pakistan or Indian Muslims and Christians but, eventually, they will definitely decimate the possible Indian influence in the world politics. Therefore, like
Pakistan, India, a prisoner of its anti-Pakistan policies, is incapable of playing its deserved role.

The South Asian rivalry is a proverbial case of 'divide and rule'. Indo-Pak standoff is so irrational that even those forces that will benefit from these divisions are scared of a possible holocaust. State
Department's South Asia division spends most of its time in disentangling their armies. May be it is time for the people of Indian subcontinent to learn something from Koreans.

*Kashmiri children ski near India-Pakistan frontier, By Sheikh Mushtaq, KGN News, 25 Feb 2003 kashmir_news@yahoo.com

GULMARG, India, Feb 25 (Reuters) - A group of children squeal with delight as they slalom down a ski slope in Kashmir close to one of the world's most dangerous frontiers.

They are barely five miles (eight km) from guns firing across a ceasefire line dividing the Himalayan region between India and Pakistan.

The children couldn't care less.

"Skiing -- it's like a dream. Sometimes I can't believe it," said Danish Akbar, 14, as he took a lesson.

"When I'm on a slope I forget everything, militancy, security forces, crackdown, bomb explosions, killings," said 14-year-old Andleeb Habib, before she skied down a hill.

Habib and Akbar may be the exceptions.

Thirteen years after Muslim militants launched a revolt against New Delhi's rule in Kashmir, there are few skiers on the slopes of Gulmarg, an achingly beautiful ski resort ringed by snow-covered mountains and pine forests.

About 15,000 people visited Gulmarg during last year's ski season, about half the level before the revolt started in 1989.

The Jammu and Kashmir government is now trying to entice skiers back to Gulmarg or Meadow of Flowers which is at an altitude of 2,653 metres (8,704 feet).

It faces a tough task. The region's once-idyllic image as the Switzerland of the East has long been shattered by near daily bombings, shoot-outs between the army and militants as well as occasional attacks on tourists.

Six Western tourists were kidnapped by a shadowy Islamic group in 1995 while on a trek. An American escaped, a Norwegian was found beheaded and the bodies of the other four -- two Britons, another American and a German -- have never been found.

"Despite the trouble, we have never stopped conducting skiing courses at Gulmarg," Nazir Ahmad, joint director of Kashmir's tourist department, told Reuters.

Kashmir's sports and tourism departments organise ski courses in Gulmarg, which, at about 500 rupees ($10.49) a day, are a bargain compared to resorts abroad. The fee includes skis and boots.

More than 400 children up to 18 years are participating in a series of courses including a 15-day course run by the Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering on the slopes of Gulmarg that are dotted with ski lifts and snowmobiles.

"Tips together, heels apart," shouts ski instructor B.S. Bajwa to children standing in a downhill position on a slope.

"The idea is to catch them young so they mature into good skiers and can participate nationally and internationally," said Shabir Ahmad, a Kashmiri skiing champion who trained in France.

Officials say the rebellion has discouraged tourists and skiers from other countries from visiting Kashmir where more than 38,000 people have died and thousands of children have been orphaned since the start of the rebellion at the end of 1989.

More than one million tourists -- around 40 percent of them foreign -- used to visit Kashmir annually before 1989. Since then, the number of visitors has dropped to 30,000 to 40,000, virtually all of them domestic tourists.

"Most Western governments warn citizens against visiting Kashmir, saying the level of violence remains high in the (Kashmir) Valley and across the Line of Control," a tourist official said, referring to the ceasefire line that divides the region between Muslim Pakistan and mainly-Hindu India.

Although artillery duels are rare on the stretch of border near Gulmarg, in 2001 several shells fired from Pakistan landed in the resort. But there has been no similar incident since then.

"Gulmarg remains safe for anyone," an official at the Indian army's high-altitude warfare school said.

BOOKS & REPORTS

*On Developing Theology of Peace in Islam, Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer, Sterling Publishers Private Limited (A-59 Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-II, New Delhi 110 020, India, Tel. 011-26387070, 26386209, Fax: 91-11-26383788, E-mail: ghai@nde.vsnl.net.in) Pp 220, Rs. 400.

Islam, for acts omissions and commissions by Muslims, has become rather most debated religion of the world today. While some think it inspires fanaticism and violence, others maintain it is a religion of peace and deep spiritual appeal. If one goes by Qur'anic teachings as expressed through its verses, not Sharia'h formulations by the 'ulema, Islam clearly emerges as the latter. Time has come to revive the dynamic and transformative spirit of the Qur'an. It should be remembered that what was just in the past may not necessarily appear to be so in the present. The concept of justice does not change but norms of justice do. Violence can be permitted only in defence and in certain circumstances with strict regulations, so as to reflect the Qur'anic core values. Any violence committed in violation of these core values would become what the Qur'an calls zulm (oppression), not jihad.

Most of the essays contained in this book were written in this spirit and must be seen as such - an attempt to understand the Qur'an and its values in their true spirit. These essays do not advocate rigidity, but firm faith, and there is difference between the two.

*No Shame For the Sun: Lives of Professional Pakistani Women. Shahla Haeri, Syracuse Univ. Press, $49.95 (368p) ISBN 0-8156-2960-5; paper $24.95. (Review from Publisher’s Weekly, October 14, 2002)

“The women portrayed in … feminist literature on Muslim societies seem to lead lives very distant from the authors who write about them,” comments Boston University professor Haeri. In this unusual, ground-breaking work, Haeri’s subjects are not the customary “veiled women, peasant women, tribal women, urban poor women,” but six middle- and upper middle-class educated professional Pakistani women, with whom she has much in common. Each individual oral history is supplemented by Haeri’s lucid commentary, adding depth and clarity to what outsiders may view as complex class and ethnicity ties. In each case, Haeri examines the roles of identity, violence, legitimacy, marriage, kinship and religion in the women’s lives. Although many of them have experienced trauma, they have secured autonomous lives of professional achievement, often in arranged marriages. They hold doctorates, manage estates, write poetry and establish schools; among them are a Sufi feminist thinker and a political activist. Haeri, an American Muslim born in Iran, brings unique qualities to this study; she is knowledgeable about Islam but admittedly still learning about Pakistan. As she observes, “What has been seen in the Muslim world is, paradoxically, not the visible, unveiled professional woman but the veiled Muslim woman, the sight of whom does not … add much to one’s knowledge of women in the Muslim world.” With rich detail, Haeri brings six women vibrantly into view and provides readers with a much-needed lens adjustment. (Nov.)

*Communal Politics: Facts versus Myths, Ram Puniyani, Sage Books, 2003,
Pp 308, Paper, (0-7619-9667-2). Rs 295

This lucid and absorbing book explores many facets of communalism and its growing threat to the social fabric of the nation. Ram Puniyani argues that one of the main reasons for the ascendancy of communal politics is the misconceptions and distortions spread by those bent upon constructing an identity based on suspicion and hatred. These misconceptions (or myths as the author calls them) are drawn from different arenas such as history and culture and are built upon a partial projection of events and 'facts' combined
with a skewed assertion of norms and practices of the 'other' community. A mountain of
hatred, says the author, is then built upon these totally selective 'facts,' which misinform and mould common perceptions.

Overall, this fascinating book dispels, in a novel and logical manner, many distortions which have been responsible for arousing communal passions and which have created an external or 'enemy' image of religious minorities and the socially disadvantaged.

*Minority Rights: Myth Or Reality, Dr.M.P.Raju, Media House (375-A, Pocket 2, Mayur Vihar, Phase I, Delhi- 91, India, Email mediabooks@hotmail.com, books@indiancurrents.com, Phone 011-22750667, 22751317, Fax 011-22757040) Pages 336, Rs 195 (paper back), Rs 275 (hard bound)

CHILDREN

Millions of children in India toil as virtual slaves

Unable to escape the work that will leave them impoverished, illiterate, and often crippled by
the time they reach adulthood, these are India's bonded child laborers. A majority of them are Dalits, so-called untouchables. Bound to their employers in exchange for a loan, they are unable to leave while in debt and earn so little they may never be free of it. The Indian government knows about these children and has the mandate to free them. Instead, for reasons of apathy, caste bias, and corruption, many government officials deny that they exist at all. Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/un/

20,000 children engaged in prostitution in Pakistan

It is hard to imagine the woman in a sober blue suit and pearl necklace was a prostitute at age seven, or that she found the courage to tell her story at a world conference on human trafficking ending on Wednesday. She is one of as many as four million women and children who are sold, kidnapped or coerced into a
life of sexual servitude annually, according to the organizers of the "Path breaking Strategies in the
Global Fight Against Sex Trafficking." The fast-growing trade is a seven-billion-dollar business, according to US State Department Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage who addressed the four-day conference in Washington, D.C. Agence France Press, February 26, 2003

Where the poor can prove themselves

Deepalaya's schools are making sure that at least some of the 1.17 million slum children in Delhi have a bright future.

http://wwwinfochangeindia.org/EducationIstory.jsp?recordno=191&storyofchangev=EducationIstory.jsp&section_idv=5

CONFERENCES

*May 31-June 5, Philadelphia, PA: WORKS OF LOVE: SCIENTIFIC & RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES ON ALTRUISM, an International, Interfaith and Interdisciplinary Conference. Deadline for submission of papers in March 15. Registration and more info at 215.789.2200 and www.metanexus.net/conference2003

ENVIRONMENT

CONTENTS

News From South Asia

Feature

Children

Conferences

REPORTS & ANALYSES

NEWS FROM SOUTH ASIA

FEATURE

CHILDREN

CONFERENCES