ACHA PEACE BULLETIN http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ACHAPeaceBulletin
A
publication of Association for Communal Harmony in Asia (ACHA) www.asiapeace.org
Editors:
Pritam K. Rohila & Azam Saeed
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ACHA PEACE BULLETIN (Volume IV, No. 5, May 01, 2002 (Next issue, June 5, 2002)
CONTENTS
Something
To Think About
Editorial:
Violence In Asia, Pritam K. Rohila, Ph.D.
Peace
& Harmony News
Peace
& Harmony Organizations
Association For Communal Harmony In Asia (ACHA)
March For Peace & Harmony, 27 May To 21 June, 2002, Chitrakoot To
Ayodhya &
Manav-Dharma Sammelan, 8-9 June, 2002, Raja Talab, Varanasi
Feature
Peacemaking Creativity Of Young People,
By A. Marks, Christian Science Monitor
Mosque In India Handed Back To Muslims,
By Ayanjit Sen, BBC, March 28, 2002
A
Hindu-Muslim Muharram Rally At Pulimankulam,
Tamil Nadu, India, By Syed Muthahar
Letters
& Opinions
Muslims: Victims Of International Conspiracy, Or Their Attidues, By Dr. Ishtiaq Ahmed
My Reasons For Dissent (About Presidential Election In Pakistan), Naeem Sadiq
Announcements
The Second Karachi International Film Festival, Karachi, Pakistan, September 2-8, 2002
Conference - Diversity Within Unity: Cultures Of Violence, Prague, Czech Republic Books
Islam And Jihad, By A.G.Noorani
Religious Minorities In South Asia, By M
Hussain & L Ghosh (Editors)
India, The Perfidies Of Power, By P.
Radhakrishnan
Children
Conferences
Weaving Solidarity Toward A Culture Of Peace, August 20 - 26, 2002, Philippines
Environment
& Health
Human
Rights
Nuclear
Issues
Poetry
Hakeekat Ho Ya Khwaab, By Rinku Dutta
Jung Ki Koi Zarurat Nahin, By
Nirmala Garimella
Websites
Www.Shivshaktipeeth.Com
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)
India
BEYOND ideology: In Gujarat hatred is now the only passion, By Rajdeep Sardesai,
Holy LIES,
By Pankaj Mishra
When
the 'SILENT Majority' Backs a Violent Minority, By Sumanta Banerjee
FISHING
for Votes in the Rivers of Blood, By Ram Puniyani
Hindutva’s
FOREIGN Hand, By Kushanava Choudhury, Statesman
DEMOCRACY:
Who's she when she's at home? By Arundhati Roy
All Is Not LOST In Gujrat, By Asghar Ali
Engineer
Kashmir
Reshaping
the AGENDA in Kashmir, International Centre for Peace Initiatives
Nuclear Arms
Musharraf ready to use nuclear
ARMS, By Rory McCarthy
and John Hooper
Pakistan
The
GENERAL And The Question That Haunts All Dictators, By Najam
Sethi
No, SIR,
Editorial, Financial Times
Peace
BUILDING Peace in South Asia: A
Great Challenge, By Tayyaba
Tanvir
Religion
The Tragedy Of
KARBALA And Its Implications, By Asghar Ali Engineer
Qura'n
NEEDS To Be Re-Interpreted To Reflect The True Spirit Of Islam, By T.
Sayyed
Sri Lanka
Tentative
Hopes in Sri LANKA
______________________________________________________________________
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
*How
wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to
improve the world? -Anne Frank, Holocaust diarist (1929-1945)
EDITORIAL
*Violence
in Asia, Pritam K. Rohila, Ph.D.
We
are concerned about the increasing communal tensions in Asia. Recently, there
have been atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh, against Christians in
Pakistan, and against Christians, Dalits and Muslims in India. Also, there have been violent clashes
between Shias and Sunnis in Pakistan, between Sinhala Buddhists and Tamil
Hindus in Sri Lanka, and between the Jews and Muslims in the Middle East.
The
latest communal carnage in the Indian state of Gujarat, is the worst in more
than a decade. It has resulted in the loss of lives of about 60 Hindus and
about 800 Muslims. Many Muslims have lost their homes as well as
businesses. Close to 80,000 Muslims
have been forced to seek shelter in the squalor of impromptu refugee camps.
Violence
is violence, whether it happens in India or Israel, in Pakistan or
Palestine. Violence can never be reasonable,
regardless of who carries it out - a freedom fighter or a government soldier.
Violence
against civilians can never be just, whether it is used to pursue a political
objective, or to enforce a religious belief.
Blood
is the same whether it is spilled from the body of a Christian praying at a
church, a Hindu traveling in a train, a Jew getting ready for a Seder dinner, a
Muslim carrying out is daily duties, or a Shia engaged in a Namaz at a Mosque.
Desecration
of a house of God is indefensible, regardless of whether it is a Synagogue in
France, a Mosque in India, a Gurdwara or a Temple in Kashmir, or a Church in
Pakistan.
The
least the advocates of peace and harmony can do is to pray for the victims of
violence everywhere and hope God will bless the perpetrators of violence
everywhere with compassion, courage, and wisdom so that they choose nonviolent
means to accomplish their aims.
Sooner
or later the advocates of peace and harmony will have to do something more than
hope and pray. They have to take a public stand and declare that perpetrators
of violence do not act for them, and preacher of hate do not speak for them.
PEACE & HARMONY NEWS
*Kanchi
seer holds talks with Muslim leaders
Jayendra
Saraswati said that he received encouraging response' from the Muslim leaders
for creating a conducive atmosphere for solving the Ayodhya issue.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/apr/27ayo.htm
*Centre-NSCN
(Khaplang) ceasefire extended
Indian
Home Minister Advani told the Lok Sabha that both sides were satisfied with the
progress made so far in implementing the ceasefire.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/apr/26naga.htm
*Led
by saffron-robed Buddhist monks and a truck adorned with pictures of doves, a peace marathon crossed into rebel-held
territory in Sri Lanka April 9 in support of a Norwegian-brokered peace bid.
The marathon started in Colombo and will end in northern Jaffna peninsula,
tracing a route known a few years ago as the “highway of death” (Reuters Via
India West, 04.12.02).
*A
high-level Indian delegation attended a regional meeting on poverty alleviation in the Pakistan
capital April 8. The delegation was headed by Krishnan Chander Pant, who is the
Indian government’s pointman on peace talks with a range of groups in Kashmir.
He is also deputy chairman of India’s Planning Commission, a key economic
policy-setting body (Reuters Via India West, 04.12.02).
*Hindus
and Muslims in Mirja, a remote village of Tripura, pledged last week to build harmony by repairing a
dilapidated mosque built about 40 years ago by Sufi Fakir Mama, believed to
have miraculous powers. Gobinda and Sudhamani Das, a poor Hindu couple, have
assisted in the mosque’s upkeep since Fakir Mama’s death in 1984.
*India,
Myanmar and Thailand agreed last week to complete a highway linking eastern India to western Thailand through Myanmar
in two years to promote trade and tourism across their borders (Reuters Via
India West, 04.12.02).
*Guru
Ki Maseet, a historic mosque built
by the Sixth Sikh Guru Hargobind for his Muslim followers 4000 years ago was
last week handed over by Nihangs, its Sikh caretakers to the state Waqf board,
responsible for managing mosques in the area borders (PTI Via India West,
04.12.02).
*Over
3,000 people participated in a peace
walk organized by Gandhi Walk Committee, in Johannesburg, S. Africa last
week to promote Mahatama Gandhi’s ideals (PTI Via India West, 04.05.02).
*Thailand
will host the first face to face peace
talks in seven years between the Sri Lanka government and Tamil Tiger
rebels in the Norwegian bid to end nearly two decades of bloody conflict
(Reuters Via India West, 04.05.02).
Expulsion
of Muslims from north a `blunder': LTTE
The
LTTE has promised to re-settle Muslims
in their original habitations as soon as normalcy is restored in Sri Lanka. http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/apr/05ltte.htm
Hurriyat
wants PM to take 'new initiative'
Hurriyat
leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq said the prime minister's proposed visit to J&K
would be 'an opportunity for him to understand the problems at the ground
level'.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/apr/01jk2.htm
1500
people, 20000 leaflets, six days.
A
relay-fast for peace and communal
harmony concluded on Mar 28 at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. Nivedita Menon on
the defense of democracy.
http://www.indiatogether.org/peace/articles/ppsfast.htm
PEACE & HARMONY ORGANIZATIONS
*Association for Communal Harmony in Asia (ACHA), www.asiapeace.org, pritamr@open.org
In
cooperation with the First Presbyterian Church in Portland, Oregon, USA, ACHA
organized, April 28, an interfaith
service for the victims of violence in Asia, but particularly the recent
victims of communal carnage in Gujarat, India. Religious leaders of various
faiths led the participants in Baha’I, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and
Sikh prayers. Children from the India Christian Fellowship of Portland sang a
Christian devotional song. Dr. Virginia Feldman, and her friend provided
musical interludes betweenprayers.
*March
For Peace & Harmony, 27 May To 21 June, 2002, Chitrakoot To Ayodhya &
Manav-Dharma
Sammelan, 8-9 June, 2002, Raja Talab, Varanasi Contact Contact: AALI office, 407 Dr. Baijnath Road, near
Post Office, New Hyderabad Colony, Lucknow, Phone: 782060, 782066, 347365,
342435, Mobile: 9839018491, 9839073355, e-mail: ashain@sancharnet.in, aali@sancharnet.in
“With
a view to take the debate of what is religion and what is not religion to the
common people we are planning about a month long padyatra….On the way of
padyatra a Manav-Dharma Sammelan will be organized on 8th and 9th
June in Raja Talab, 15 km before reaching Varanasi. Well known social
activists, who are actually serving the vast humanity and religious leaders who
can interpret religion keeping in view the interest of all human beings living
on earth will be invited.”
FEATURE
*United
Nations Launches an International Movement to Tap the Peacemaking Creativity
of Young People, By Alexandra Marks, Christian Science Monitor April 29, 2002
NEW
YORK -- Krista Riley turns and reaches for Akello Betty Openy's hand. The two
teenage girls, one Canadian the other Ugandan, smile, then slip easily through
the crowd outside an auditorium at the United Nations.
In
a few minutes, they will stand onstage and explain to several hundred adults
why policymakers should consult young people like themselves if there's to be
any real hope of ending the brutal and deadly conflicts brewing around the
world.
"There's
a lot of creativity, a lot of insight that can be brought to it," says
Krista. "Often, adults try to do the same things that they've done in the
past – they don't always work."
With
the energy, determination, and innocence that young people bring to a seemingly
intractable problem, a small group of teenagers from around the world gathered
last week at the UN to launch an international youth movement. But this is not
the model UN of generations past where students mimicked their seniors to learn
about what they do. Instead, this program is designed for the benefit of the
international policymakers themselves, who for the first time in recent history
are trying to harness the power of the young to bolster international peace
efforts and improve their own decisionmaking.
"Young
people share deeply and instinctively the ideals of the rights and well-being
of other children – instinctively, they relate to that," says Olara
Otunnu, the special representative of the secretary-general for children and
armed conflict. "What better way to use that connectedness of young people
than to link up young people from this country [and others] to young people in
Sierra Leone, in Kosovo, in Somalia to work for the same cause."
The
teens' first chore is to raise international awareness among their peers about
the toll that war takes on millions of children each year. And they hope to do
it with the help of the United Nations. The Office of the Special
Representative, in conjunction with the Muhammad Ali Center, Global Kids, and
several other international groups, has launched the Schools for Global Peace
Program. It provides a high-school curriculum based on stories and role-playing
that vividly illustrates the pain and chaos inflicted upon children and their
families caught up in armed conflicts.
Once
a school finishes the course, it will be designated a "Global Peace"
school and be linked to others around the world.
"We
believe that this will become an international movement with 10,000 schools
around the world all discussing, reading, and becoming active," says Laura
Miller, a New York City educator who designed the curriculum. "So far,
children in Mexico, Germany, and the US have read and raved about the first
book in a series of eight [that are part of the program]."
An
estimated 300,000 children under 18 in more than 30 countries are currently
fighting in either government or rebel organizations, according to the
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. And those wars have claimed the
lives of more than 2 million children and left more than 6 million injured or
permanently disabled over the past decade.
The
lives of war-affected children, as Betty Openy can attest from her own
experience, can be terrifying. She was raised a refugee in a poverty-stricken
camp where jobs were scarce and healthcare even rarer. In school, she lived in
constant fear of being abducted for sexual servitude or forced into military
service.
"The
pain of children caught in war around the world is difficult to imagine.
Without help, the next generation of leaders are doomed," Betty says.
"But solutions to these problems are in reach."
Betty
cofounded Gulu Youth for Action, which is working for the education and
protection of children, particularly girls, in the northern part of Uganda,
where at least half of the residents are refugees.
It's
exactly that kind of energy and enthusiasm that Mr. Otunnu hopes to tap. Betty
is one of eight youths who are working with him to develop a youth advisory
council with young representatives from both war-ravaged and peaceful
countries. The group will advise and help shape the policies of the Office of the
Special Representative.
It's
one of several UN programs that are designed to embolden and empower young
people. There's the Youth Network, which links schools and churches in Western
countries with those in various war zones. A media program called the Voices of
Children gives youths video cameras to tell their own stories as well as to
produce educational and health programs.
"In
situations of war, one of the hungers I see in the faces of so many young
people is the absence of any information – entertainment, music, drama – things
we take for granted, they don't have," says Otunnu. "The Voices of
Children is trying to fill that vacuum."
From
the young people's perspective, the growing number of programs represent an
excellent beginning. But they're just that – a start. "Our aim here is to
build a youth-to-youth network that can create face-to-face exchanges with
youth in war-affected countries," says 20-year old Alexandra Meierhofer of
Switzerland. "We found that youth listen more to youth than to grown-ups.
We can tell them that you don't have to turn 30 to be able to change something,
or be wise, or come from the US to change something. We can do it
ourselves."
*Mosque in India handed back to Muslims, By Ayanjit Sen, BBC, March 28, 2002
A 400-year-old mosque built by a Sikh religious figure, Guru Hargovind Singh,
in the northern Indian state of Punjab has been handed back to Muslims after 55
years.
A memorandum of understanding has been signed by the Sikh caretakers of the
building and the Punjab Waqf Board - an elected body of Muslim theologians – in
Hargovindpur village in Gurdaspur district. Under the agreement, the mosque
will be run by the Muslims.
Speaking to the BBC, a senior official of the waqf board, Dr Mohammed Rizwanul
Haque, said the mosque was looked after by Sikhs after the Muslims in the area
migrated to Pakistan during partition of the India sub-continent in 1947.
He said a Sikh priest kept their holy book - Guru Granth Sahib - in the mosque
and used to
give daily sermons. The book has now been shifted to an adjoining building so
that the mosque can be preserved in its original form as by Guru Hargovind
Singh.
''The performance of Muslim religious prayers in the mosque after 55 years
would be recorded in history as an event when Sikhs showed so much magnanimity
towards Muslims,'' said Dr Haque.
Local government officials told the BBC that this mosque is a historical
monument.
Last
year, Waqf board officials approached the Sikhs requesting them to hand over
the
mosque. The Sikhs finally agreed after a series of meetings.
The authorities said repairs on the mosque started last month and would take
some time.
*A
Hindu-Muslim Muharram rally at Pulimankulam, Tamil Nadu, India, By Syed
Muthahar
TIRUNELVELI,
March 25. Residents of Pulimankulam and surrounding villages near Thisaiyanvilai, following different faiths
today set an example for others observing Muharram, martyrdom of Hazrath Imam
Hussain, grandson of Prophet Mohamed, who laid down his life in a war to
protect the principles of democracy.
A large number
of Hindus participated in the `Tazia' procession along with Muslims at
Pulimankulam. The procession was led by V. Nayaz Ahmed Bijili and H. Habeebur
Rahman Bijili, hereditary trustees of the Athangarai Pallivasal Dargah. Hindus
from Sokkalingapuram, Urumankulam,
Tiruvamabalapuram and Avudayalpuram, marched towards the `chavadi', where the
`Panjas' were installed, and offered prayers.
Three persons,
two of them non-Muslims, took part in a firewalk held in the early hours. S.
Ache Miyan, hereditary Muzaavar, led the rite in which Veerabahu Asari (55) of
Sokkalingapuram and Arumugam Yadav (28) of Pulimankulam participated. Mr.
Veerabahu has been taking part in the
firewalks for the past 25 years. Last year, about 10 persons participated two
of them Muslims.
The Hindus,
who take part in the firewalk adhere strictly to fasting as do the Muslims.
Many of them also read the Tamil version of which depicts the tale of the
martyrdom of Hazrath Imam Hussain in the war of Karbala.
Hindus of these
villages vie with the Muslims in making arrangements for the Muharram. They
fell trees on their farms to prepare wood for the firewalk. A group of Hindu
volunteers stayed around the `alaawa' throughout the night to keep people away
from the fire.
According to
the residents of Pulimankulam, Hindus and Muslims have been observing Muharram
jointly for the past many decades.
LETTERS & OPINIONS
*Muslims:
Victims of international conspiracy, or their attidues, By Ishtiaq Ahmed Ishtiaq.Ahmed@statsvet.su.se ,
Moderator, AsiaPeace, ACHA’s electronic discussion group
In
the last few decades, one finds Muslims at the receiving and losing end of
violent conflicts: Palestine, Kashmir, Chechnya, Philippines, Gujarat; one can
extend the list quite long but that is beside the point. The question I wish to
pose to all of you is the following: is there something intrinsically wrong
with Muslim attitudes that is responsible for their misfortunes or are they the
victims of some international conspiracy in which everybody is poised to
humiliate, defeat and exterminate them?
Indeed
if one reads the mail of convinced Muslim activitists that pours in daily,
there is a Yahud-o-Hanud (Jews and Hindus) axis working internationally against
Muslims. One also reads about the Quran warning Muslims not to befriend
Yahudo-o-Nasar (Jews and Christians). Such simplistic arguments conveniently
ignore the extreme and massive violence Muslims inflict upon Muslims.
In
September 1970 King Hussain of Jordon went out on a rampage (with the
assistance of Gen. Zia) to destroy the Palestinian presence on his territories.
I think he killed more Muslims than what the Israelis have done in all these
years. To this must be added the 20 thousand or more Sunni Muslims killed in
Syria by Hafiz Asad in less than 3 weeks sometimes in the 1970s (or was it in
the 1980s). He later intervened to destroy Palestinian power in Lebanon and saw
to it that they were defeated in the conflict with rightwing Lebanese. The
Iran-Iraq war claimed at least 2 million lives. In our God-gifted Pakistan
Sunnis and Shias enter each others' mosques and mow down worshippers, enter
graveyards and kill mourners and plant bombs in each others' religious
meetings. In Afghanistan the various warlords have been killing, raping and
looting with complete licence ever since the Soviets withdrew. If now one were
to keep adding to this list other cases, I fear that it may be much longer than
the list of violent attacks carried out by non-Muslim against Muslims.
There
is a paranoid situation. Those who believe that there is a conspiracy (or
conspiracies) against Muslims indulge in self-fulfilling prophecies because
evidence is always at hand to confirm such an hypothesis. On the other hand, I do
not know of any case in which violence against Muslims began without any
provocation, maybe the Palestinian situation is the only one in which although
they have been responsible for many acts of terror it is the Zionists who
initiated the politics of terror into that situation. If I am wrong please
correct me. In all other cases, if Muslims have not been first with terror in a
particular situation they have not hesitated to use it in quick retaliation.
I
refer to Prof. Ted Gurr's theory explaining why men rebel and use violence.
According to him, when there is a big gap or discrepancy in the perceptions of
a group of individuals about their value expectations (that is what they
believe they deserve) and their value capabilities (what they can actually achieve),
then a sense of relative deprivation exists. Now, if things change for the
worse, that is, while the value expectations increase but not value capability
then the sense of deprivation becomes even more intense and can lead to
collective violence. I think something of the sort has been happening.
The
end of colonialism generated considerable optimism in the Muslim world about
its power and potential. Internally the modernizing regimes were only partially
successful but their progress was actually undermined by the disruptive impact
of the Cold War. The conflict with Israel additionally resulted in constant
defeats and created discrepancy between what the Muslims thought they deserved
and what they could achieve in reality. Among Arab Muslims in particular and
Muslims in general this has been the constant source of a growing sense of
deprivation. Kashmir, Chechnya and elsewhere it was the same.
The
second prop to value expectations came in the wake of the Iranian Revolution.
Suddenly the fundamentalists had a model to emulate and they used all means at
then disposal to install fundamentalist regimes. A naive and infantile belief
emerged that now Allah would bring victory to the righteous. Sudan,
Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan under Zia ul Haq and of course old Saudi Arabia
became models of Islamic radicalism. No serious person would disagree that such
regimes have been disastrous in a total sense. They were successful only in
destroying all vestiges of enlightened opinion, intensifying the oppression of
women and religious minorities and legitimating violence in the name of jihad.
The
fact remains that none of the non-Muslim rivals is anymore easy victory for
Islamic armies. For every one act of violence that Muslims can inflict upon
them they are capable of retaliating with many times more violence and terror.
The attack on the train in Godhra in Gujarat is an apt example of what the
rivals are capable of.
I
think, unless Muslim intellectuals take responsibility for the situation and
stop exploiting the religious scriptures for easy and readymade theories of
conspiracies and instead attempt a self-critical analysis of their recent
attitudes there is no chance that things will improve for the better. It is
foolish and meaningless to tell others that they cannot be trusted and
therefore there cannot be any lasting and permanent peace with them. The
counter argument should always be kept in mind: why should non-Muslims trust
and befriend Muslims if they are not willing to return the same.
Daily
I meet young people in my classes and on the campus in general who want to help
the Third World and especially Muslims now that the cruelty done to the
Palestinians can be followed instantaneously. But they are easily discouraged
by all the internet campaigns against Yahud-o-Hanud and Yahud-o-Nasara carried
out by the fundamentalists.
Lastly,
the thing which I deplore most is that all such preoccupation with religious
conflicts only obfuscate the real means of getting out of the present
predicaments. These real means refer to the elimination of feudalism, religious
obscurantism, struggle against neo-liberal market economy which enslaves
hundreds of millions of working people in the peripheral capitalist countries
and worldwide cooperation with good people whoever they may be in terms of
religion, race, language and so on.
Why
can't we go back and do something which truly began with the Islamic religion:
the idea of a welfare state. Let's develop that model in a creative manner so
that no Muslim or non-Muslim born in a Muslim-majority state ever has to beg,
prostitute, be routinely abused and humiliated because he or she was born to
poor, powerless parents or worse still an orphan. Let's show to the world that
the movement of the Prophet was about social justice and we are no less
committed to it than any other culture.
Jihad
should not mean legitimation of terror under any circumstance. This I say
without any hesitation. When saying this I am by no means arguing that Muslims
do not have genuine grievances. They do, but their strategies for dealing with
them are wrong.
Please
don't start asking if I am an Ahmadi because I am not. This I have said many
times and I have no reason ever to become one. I was born in a Sunni family and
my father grew up as a disciple of Ataullah Shah Bukhari and later Allama
Mashraqi. I personally put my religious affiliation in my private box and
describe myself only as a human being yearning to join hands with anyone for a
world without war, hunger, poverty and ignorance.
*My
reasons for dissent (about Presidential election in Pakistan), Naeem Sadiq,
Karachi, 30th April 2002
The
presiding officer frantically shook the PCSIR developed indelible blue
ink-bottle, reminding me of the dried up correction fluid "whito"
bottle that one invariably needs to shake before it parts with any meaningful
quantity of fluid. By now his hands were fully soaked with the indelible ink,
and the only dry portion was the tip of the brush that was the operational
component of the applicator. He asked me to put forward my left hand and after
some fumbling drew a line at the base of my left thumbnail. Not satisfied with
the first application, I asked him to repeat the exercise. He was nice enough
to go through the rigorous shaking process three times, till we both agreed
that a significant enough mark had been made on my thumb to prevent a repeat
poll, just in case I changed my mind.
The
only competitor running this race, Musharraf comes out as a likeable, frank and
sincere person. One cannot say even this much for many of the characters who
earlier ruled this wonderful country. Why did I then choose to cast a negative
vote. It is sad that I reject a leader who has earned the respect of much of
the western world, and on the face of it seems to be just about the only
pragmatic option. While the consequence of one negative vote may be
insignificant, I must record the reason for my dissent, as it helps to put
things in clearer perspective.
For
almost three long years the General exercised power far in excess of his
earlier political counterparts. He did nothing to rein the Jihadi militants or
halt the disastrous Taliban policy till forced to do so by the events of 11
September. It did not occur to him that thirty thousand madrassahs were engaged
in producing a generation of ignorant religious zealots, and the credit for
this discovery should not have been hostage to the falling of twin towers. This
is not my image of a leader who shall lead a modern nation of 150 million
people.
A
common citizen is not interested in the nature of constitutional mechanisms.
But it matters to him how the state treats him when he has to get his driving
license made, his passport renewed, his bills paid, his theft reported or his
telephone installed. State is the largest provider of services in this country
but treats its customers with contempt, arrogance and unparalleled
incompetence. I am therefore not willing to vote for any leader who does not
understand that his first task is to overhaul the rusted state machinery so
that it can provide fair, equal and efficient services to its people.
One
looks for signs of courage in one’s leader. The General voted for the
appeasement of the fanatic Mullahs when he retracted his stand from the totally
un-Islamic blasphemy law just a few days after his coming to power. He did
nothing to release dozens of innocent citizens who had been charged or punished
under this barbaric instrument. He was therefore a silent supporter of
religious intolerance and bigotry in our country, and does not deserve the vote
of a moderate citizen.
The
least that one expected in a military led government was a semblance of law and
order. We had more doctors killed in his tenure than any other time in our
history. Never a culprit was found and never a culprit was brought to justice.
A state which cannot protect its citizens has no right to rule them. It must
voluntarily hand over or step down instead of seeking another five-year
mandate.
A
leader must develop institutions and not personalities. While the army is a
part of Pakistan, Pakistan is not a part of the army. So why must every state
organisation regardless of its nature, significance or tradition be run by a
retired or serving army general. From the Vice Chancellors of universities to
managers of cricket teams and from water boards to steel mills one finds a
General trying to breathe new wisdom into an area he knows very little about. I
have a strong feeling that the next five years may see reinforcement of this
process of "generalisation of society", thereby eliminating even the
façade of the left over institutions.
One
expects some degree of effectiveness if not efficiency in what is embarked upon
by a military government. How come that almost every major project from
de-weaponisation of cities to making of national identity cards was an utter
failure. Does the General have a special knack for choosing just the wrong kind
of project managers. If so I must think thrice before saying "yes for him
for the next five years.
I
will never vote again for BB (Benazir Bhutto) or NS (Nawaz Sharif), for one
simple reason. While they were rich even before becoming prime ministers, they
both deprived this country of very large amounts which were siphoned off to be
placed in other countries. The new incumbent has already started on a wrong
footing. The state run organisations were extensively used to mobilise support
for the referendum, private vehicles were forcibly acquired and the ministries
and state corporations put up newspaper ads worth millions of rupees. I do not
wish to vote for a leader who cannot clearly differentiate between public
exchequer and private needs.
And
finally I think the General has hurt his own institution by creating precedence
that he would not himself wish to be followed. Even a first term cadet knows that
politicking and public rallying in uniform is not just unbecoming but also
illegal in the military law. His choice of criminals and supreme court stormers
as his opening batsmen gives one a fair idea of the batting line up and the
centuries they are likely to score. And finally I do not trust a leader who is
into fooling the masses with caps and chadders of various shades and sizes.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
*THE SECOND KARACHI INTERNATIONAL FILM
FESTIVAL, September 2-8,
2002: Filmmakers are invited to submit films (or videos) in any
of the following categories: short shorts (fictional work up to 15
minutes in length); medium-length shorts (fictional work between 15 and 60
minutes in length); feature films (fictional work over 60 minutes in length);
and documentaries (non-fictional work of any length), by June 15. Registration
form and more info from www.karafilmfest.com
or 2nd KaraFilm Festival, Apt. 15, Qasr-e-Zainab, Club Road, Karachi, 75530,
Pakistan, info@karafilmfest.com
*CONFERENCE - DIVERSITY WITHIN
UNITY: CULTURES OF VIOLENCE, Prague,
Czech Republic, August 12-16, 2002: Papers are invited for this
multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary conference, which aims at identifying
and understanding the prevailing extent of violence in contemporary life,
including media, art and literature. Submit a 300-word abstract by May
17, and Full draft paper by July 19 to
Inter-Disciplinary.Net, Priory House, 149B Wroslyn Road, Freeland Oxfordshire,
OX29 8HR, United Kingdom. More info from www.inter-disciplinary.net, rf@inter-disciplinary.net,
Telephone 44-1993-82 087, Fax 44-8700-560 055
BOOKS
*Islam and JIHAD, By
A.G.Noorani Publisher: Left Word Books leftword@vsnl.com,
12 Rajendra Prasad Road, New Delhi-1, 2002,115 Pp, Rs. 75 ISBN: 81-87496-23-1
Reviewed by: Yoginder Sikand
Although not by any means a work
of original scholarship, by piecing together extensive quotations from Islamic
texts and writings by liberal Muslims and the rare breed of balanced Western
academics Noorani provides an important counter to Orientalist assumptions about
Islam and to the fiery anti-Muslim rhetoric that today abounds. Muslims, he
insists, are as diverse as other peoples, and thus to talk in terms of a clash
of civilizations is simply bizarre. The lives of peoples, despite their
religious and civilisational differences, are today far too closely interlinked
and interdependent to conceive of civilisational wars, and hence the dreams of
Islamist militants, Hindutva fascists or white supremacists, of a world
cleansed of the menacing Other, are destined to remain just that: the ravings
of mad men, who have little concern with true spirituality or the hard facts of
life. (For complete text, please email a message to pritamr@open.org with JIHAD as its subject)
*Religious Minorities in South Asia-Selected ESSAYS on
Post-Colonial Situations [2 vols.], By Monirul Hussain and Lipi Ghosh
(Editors), Manak Publiations manak_publications@hotmail.com, B-7 Saraswati
Complex, Subhash Chowk, Laxmi Nagar, New Delhi-92, 2002
Price:950 ISBN: 81-86562-89-3. Review from peacemonger.com/PETA India Vol II,
Issue 3, 2002
These
two books seek to provide a general overview of the history and contemporary
status of the numerous religious minorities of South Asia. The first volume
deals with the religious minorities of Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri
Lanka, while the second volume focuses on the religious minorities of India.
Each of the essays is written by a specialist in the particular area, in most
cases a member of the religious minority that he or she deals with. (For
complete text, please email a message to pritamr@open.org
with ESSAYS as its subject)
*India,
The Perfidies of Power: A SOCIAL Critique, By P. Radhakrishnan
http://www.vedamsbooks.com/no24975.htm
If India has to strengthen its democratic structures and institutions and
develop into a full-blown democracy, instead of merely gloating over sustaining
democracy for the last half a century as its greatest achievement, India ought
to work overtime to offer, among other things, clean, efficient, secular and
transparent governance; rapid expansion of civil space for rapid secularisation
and democratisation of state and society with secular public institutions
mediating between both; expeditious justice delivery systems, especially for
the masses who cannot afford to spend and cannot afford to wait; protect the
weaker sections from their tormentors; and evolve self-cleansing mechanisms for
governance, electoral and other democratic processes. (For
complete text, please email a message to pritamr@open.org
with SOCIAL as its subject)
CHILDREN
3,000
child marriages in Chhattisgarh
Child
marriage is against the law. Yet 3000 child mariages are reported to have been
performed in 1,021 villages of Baiga and Marrar tribe-dominated Kawardha
district of Chhatisgarh on last Sunday. This was brought to light by a human
rights organisation, Forum for Fact-finding Documentation Advocacy (FFDA). The
children were in the age group of 4 to 13 and many did not even know the name
of their spouses or what exactly was meant by marriage. Since the literacy rate
among men is just 30% and women and children largely are unlettered. "The
girls are sent to their in- laws' house as soon as they attain puberty,
following which they conceive at the age of 12 or 13. The child mortality rate
is high and women often die of various diseases." (The Hindu, 24 April,
CONFERENCES
*WEAVING SOLIDARITY TOWARD A CULTURE OF PEACE, August 20 - 26, 2002, Miriam College, Quezon City,
Philippines: This conference seeks to explore critical perspectives,
experiences, lessons, and stories of hope that reflect the interconnections
among schools, communities, NGOs, and government agencies in promoting a
culture of peace. More info from Loreta N. Castro, Center for Peace
Education, Miriam College, UPPO Box 110, Diliman, Quezon City, 1101, The
Philippines, peace-ed@exchange.tc.columbia.edu,
lcastro@mc.edu.ph, Telephone 63-2-435
9231/ 63-2-927 2421, Fax 63-2-426 0169
ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH
The
conflict between conservation and livelihoods comes to Himachal Pradesh (India)
- pitting the globally endangered Western Tragopan, a brilliantly colored
pheasant endemic to the Western Himalaya, against the grazing and plant
collection activities in the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP). http://www.indiatogether.org/environment/articles/ghnp/
Water
Journey
To
understand the role of community-based rainwater harvesting in controlling
rural poverty, 21 persons from Bangladesh, Italy, Sweden and India joined the
fifth paani yatra (water pilgrimage) to the villages of Gujarat. http://www.cseindia.org/html/cmp/cmp43_pyatra_update20020314.htm
Logjam
Whenever the Indian Supreme Court pulls the trigger, why does it miss the
target? Because governments like those of the seven Northeast states work
hard to defeat every good intention. The apex court imposed an interim ban on
felling in forests on December 12, 1996. Being the custodians of one- fourth of
India's forests, the seven states are worst affected: a large chunk of their
population earns their livelihood from forests. The order has come at a time
when the region was losing 31,700 hectares every year, mostly due to the
government and timber traders' nexus. The court wanted the golden goose -
forests in the Northeast - not to be killed. It also made the ban conditional:
to put in place a sustainable way of using the forests. This proposal makes
sense for a region, where traditional village institutions control and manage
80 per cent of forests. But state governments are working overtime to derail
the order. Instead of using the court order to build a vibrant and sustainable
economy of forests, they interpreted the ruling to gain government control over
community forests. As governments play their dirty tricks with the court, the
people
continue to suffer. The result: another round of public anger against the court
and its green intentions. http://www.cseindia.org/html/dte/dte20020315/dte_analy.htm
Fig
Leaf For The Business World
That
is what the Montreal Protocol, meant to do away with ozone depleting
substances, has become. India's phase out programme under the protocol is only
helping the big businesses in the country earn some quick bucks. About US
$75 million of public money has been spent 'compensating' them. Where and how
they are spending the money is anyone's guess. Is the money only aiding the
industry's shift from one set of dangerous chemicals - chloroflourocarbons - to
another - hydrochlorofluorocarbons? Is the industry and the government playing
into the hands of North- based multinationals? The fate of thousands of
small-scale units involved in the trade depends on finding answers to these
questions. How is India gearing up to meet the imminent phase out deadline? http://www.cseindia.org/html/dte/dte20020315/dte_analy1.htm
Who
Rules Your World?
Rather
than promoting democracy and equality and building a just framework for future
governance, environmental negotiations have turned into business transaction,
where the rich and powerful often trample on the poor and weak. For a balanced
and informed analysis of the global politics of the environment visit Global
Environmental Governance section of the CSE website. http://www.cseindia.org/html/eyou/geg/index_geg.htm
But
desperate people are known to do foolish things. After the September 11 attack
we need to do everything to prove our loyalty and friendship to the "big
idea" to rid the world of terrorism. And as sycophancy is second nature to
our politicians and bureaucrats it is not difficult to understand why we
decided to issue this statement, even if it means jeopardising the entire
climate negotiations. More shame on us. - Sunita Narain
http://www.cseindia.org/html/dte/dte20020315/dte_edit.htm)
Andhra
stubs out smoking from public places
Sale
of cigarettes and beedis to minors has also been banned.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/mar/27jafri1.htm
HUMAN RIGHTS
SAARC nations identify poverty alleviation as common
goal
None
of the SAARC leaders could fly directly to Islamabad to attend the third
meeting of the SAARC Ministers for Finance and Planning on Poverty Alleviation.
But the larger issue that surfaced was 'can 550 million poor of South Asia, 43
per cent of the region's population, force their governments to stop war
rhetoric and work for their welfare?' M Aftab returned hopeful. www.peacemonger.com
Food, land and freedom: Padyatra from Allahabad to
Chitrakoot
Beginning
May 1, Food-first Information and Action Network (FIAN) will begin a Padyatra
to highlight the issue of right to food and land to the oppressed in Uttar
Pradesh. Convenor V B Rawat
highlights the core issues of landless labors. Peacemonger.com expresses
solidarity. www.peacemonger.com
NUCLEAR ISSUES
*Seven
Minutes To Doomsday Via Eli Pariser, 9-11Peace" <moveon-help-484-1029950-ejU46rY2%2FLR8W36P%2F8i9LQ@list.moveon.org
On February 27, 2002, the Board of Directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the minute hand
of the "Doomsday Clock," which symbolically measures the likelihood
of nuclear
holocaust, from nine to seven minutes to midnight. This is the same setting at
which the clock debuted 55 years ago. Read their thorough and important summary
of the global nuclear threat to
learn why they believe that the threat of destruction is so close, and what can
be done about it. If you click on only one link this week, make it this one.
http://www.bullatomsci.org/media/current_print.html
A
briefing on the state of nuclear proliferation in 2001
This
chart clearly shows which countries were acknowledged nuclear powers and which
were unacknowledged nuclear powers, as well as which were under suspicion and
by whom.
http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/statefct.asp
Via Eli Pariser, 9-11Peace" <moveon-help-484-1029950-ejU46rY2%2FLR8W36P%2F8i9LQ@list.moveon.org
If you have the time to browse, take a look at this in-depth guide to nuclear forces.
You can click on each country for information. http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/index.html
Via Eli Pariser, 9-11Peace" <moveon-help-484-1029950-ejU46rY2%2FLR8W36P%2F8i9LQ@list.moveon.org
POETRY
*Hakeekat
ho ya Khwaab, By Rinku Dutta
Such to yay hai kay tumharee awaz mayN pehchanti naheeN
Such
to yay hai kay tumharee hoNthoN ki boli
Aaj
tak sunHee naheeN
Kal agar raaste mein tum kaheeN mil bhi gaye
Tumharee
ek hi puranee tasveer say
MayN
shayed tumhe pehchanungi bhi naheen
Paas paas kuchh door chal bhi chale saath saath
Phir
bhi koi baat
To
banegi naheeN
Zindagi khwaab hai, ya khwaab zindagi
Kya
such hai, kya jhoothh; baat to yeh huyee
Hum
kabhi "upna", upnaye naheeN
*Jung ki koi Zarurat nahin, By Nirmala Garimella
Jung ki koi Zarurat nahin
Jung
ki koi hakeekat nahin
Jung
uttar nahin is prashn ka
Lejayegi
humee ye kaheen nahin
Agar Ladna hi he to Lado
Mitao
garibi, bhedh, bhav aur aage badho
Chalo
milkar saath ladden
Hatain
annyyay aur nafrat
Humen sabko jeena hey Marna nahin
Prem muhabbat aur shanti se Rahen
Jisse Dhekhkar duniya kahay
Wah
Wah kya dost bankar jeeye
Websites
*www.gandhian.org
is the Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal’s online store of books offers interested
individuals an opportunity to browse writings by and on Mahatma Gandhi.
*www.ShivShaktiPeeth.com is the website of Shiv
Shakti Peeth in Kurkshetra, Haryana, India and features lectures on the
Vedasand other religious topics, audio files of mantras and , and a recitation
of the Bhagwad Gita by Swami Sharnanad
WOMEN
The
myth of matriliny: In some ways, the condition of matrilineal women could be
even more precarious. The discrimination experienced by all women is felt by
them too, to which is added the burden of living under the assumption that they
do not need any special attention to ensure their rights. http://www.indiatogether.org/women/articles/matriliny.htm
Sexagenarian
Pushpalata Dharmadhikari wishes she could pack more hours into a day. Dressed
in an elegantly draped nine-yard saree, her schedule consists of attending
weddings, thread ceremonies and other pujas (religious ceremonies) - no, not as
a mere invitee but as the officiating priest. http://www.indiatogether.org/women/worklife/priest.htm
Population
Boom Going Bust
Women
around the world are choosing to have fewer children, with some nations,
including India, indicating a fertility rate of 1.85 children for each women by
2050, a significant decrease which would represent 85 million fewer people for
the country, a UN study has said. This group accounting for about 43 per cent
of the world's population also includes Bangladesh, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia,
Iran, Mexico and the Philippines. "That's groundbreaking because anything
below two children, like we have in Europe, the population starts to
decline," Joseph Chamie, the agency's Director said. Demographers from
around the world met at the United Nations to consider lowering that estimate
to between 8 billion and 9 billion. For decades, experts assumed the global
population, now about 6 billion, would reach a staggering 10 billion by
the end of this century. But the past few decades have witnessed dramatic
decline in birthrates in developing nations that were driving the growth -
Deccan Chronicle, Mar.13 Via India News christianpatriot@mantraonline.com