ACHA PEACE
BULLETIN http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ACHAPeaceBulletin
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
VII, No. 7, July 7, 2004, Next Issue, August 4, 2004
Appeal
India Pakistan Peace Day 2004
Peace
& Harmony News From & About South Asia
Peace
& Harmony Organizations
South Asia Youth Forum For Peace And Reconciliation
Joint Action Committee, Karachi
Pakistan India Pen Pals Club: People To People
Contact Project
Promise Of India
Islami Relief Committee Gujarat
Feature
Jai Kali Karachi Wali, Manu Joseph, Outlook, July
5, 2004
Books
& Journals
India Britannica, Geoffrey Moorhouse
A To Z Of Jihadi Organizations In Pakistan, Muhammad Amir Rana
Goa - A
Daughter's Story, Maria Aurora Couto
Documentaries
& Films
Ayodhya To Varanasi: Prayers For Peace, Suma
Crossing The Lines: Kashmir, Pakistan, India: Pervez Hoodbhoy And Zia
Mian
Peace
Events
August 9-15, 2004, India & Pakistan: PIPFPD Peace March
September 3 & 4, 2004,
Lahore, Pakistan: PIPFPD Joint Convention & Tenth Anniversary
(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. When requesting an article from an issue of
ACHA Peace Bulletin, other than the current one, please also mention date of
publication of that issue)
Books
Goa - A Daughter's Story, Maria Aurora Couto
A to Z of Jihadi
Organizations in Pakistan, Muhammad Amir Rana
India
New Secular Government And Its Secular TASKS, Asghar Ali Engineer,
Secular Perspective,
The TEXT of President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam's address
to the joint session of Parliament, June 07 The TEXT of prime minister's speech,
Rediff.com June 24, 2004
India-Pakistan
New Accord a Modest Step to Ease NUKE Danger, Praful Bidwai, Inter Press
Service, 22 June
The CHASM between Rhetoric and Reality, G.
Parthasarathy, South Asia Intelligence Review
India and Pakistan: Good
Fences Make Good Neighbors, Amy Waldman, The New York Times,
Nuclear CBMS: Good, Not Good Enough, Praful Bidwai, The News
International [India], June
Kashmir
Dialogue under shadow of GUN, Dr Shabir Choudhry, June 4,
2004
Kashmir:
VIEW from New Delhi, Ahmad
Faruqui, Daily Times, 08 June 2004
Is THIS nationalism? Dr Shabir Choudhry, June
27, 2004
The WAY Forward in Kashmir, Kuldip Naya, KGN News, 30
Jun 2004
NOTE On Kashmir, Rajinder Puri, Kashmir Global Network
Digest No. 1488, June 28, 2004
Re-thinking KASHMIR, Beena Sarwar, The News,
June 27 2004
Nepal
TENTATIVE Political Coherence and Insurgent
Consolidation,
P.G. Rajamohan, South Asia Intelligence Review, July 5, 2004
Nuclear
Weapons
STEPS for nuclear talks, Zia Mian, A.H. Nayyar, R.
Rajaraman, M.V. Ramana The News International, July 02, 2004
Pakistan
Pakistan's Inner Battle for Education REFORM, Juliette Terzieff, San
Francisco Chronicle, May
The ROOTS of dictatorship in Pakistan, Ishtiaq Ahmed, Daily
Times, May 31, 2004
Republic terrorized by FOOLS, Ayaz Amir, Dawn, June 4,
2004
Gen. ZINNI on Pakistan, Khalid Hasan, June 5, 2004
Reagan, NIXON and Pakistani militarism, Ahmad Faruqui, Daily
Times, 22 June 2004
Partition
Thinking ALOUD: Success has many fathers, Razi Azmi, Daily Times,
Tuesday, 29 June 2004
The MOSQUE that Jodha Bai built, Mariam Qureshi, The Daily
Times, June 26, 2004
Religion
Evolution Of Shari'ah Law And Its Potentiality For
CHANGE,
Asghar A Engineer, Islam and Modern Age, June 04
How the HOLY Warriors Learned to Hate, Waleed Ziad, New York
Times June 18, 2004
Terrorism
International Round TABLE on Constructing Peace,
Deconstructing Terror, Sundeep Waslekar, 19-20 June 2004
Women
Muslims to divorce talaq NORMS, Srawan Shukla, Times News
Network, June 28, 2004
APPEAL
*India Pakistan Peace Day 2004
We at the
Association for Communal Harmony in Asia (ACHA) have launched a worldwide
campaign to invite friends of peace to organize celebration of India-Pakistan
Peace Day 2004 everywhere, on any day in between August 1 and October 31, 2004,
and in accordance with their local needs and resources.
We have suggested
that the celebration should be used to –
·
Draw people's attention
to the untold suffering millions of people underwent, on both sides of the
India-Pakistan border, in the tragic aftermath of the 1947 Partition; and
·
Encourage participants
to sign a petition to the governments of India and Pakistan, demanding that
they build a suitable memorial to the victims of the Partition, at the
India-Pakistan Border.
We hope that this memorial will also serve as a symbol
of ending of the armed conflicts and hostilities of the past, and of beginning
of a new era of cooperation, peace and friendship between the great people of
the two countries.
We strongly believe together, India and Pakistan can better resist the
undesirable pressures from the outside, and harness their resources more
effectively to improve the quality of life of their people. Also peace between India and
Pakistan will result in improvement of conditions in whole of South Asia.
We are counting on help from you, our readers, to make
this campaign a success.
Please visit www.indiapakistanpeace.org for more information about the campaign and the
petition. You can sign the petition at this website or at www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/India_Pakistan_Peace_Memorial
Do not hesitate to send us your Comments and
suggestions about the campaign at IndiaPakistanPeaceDay@yahoo.com or pritamr@open.org
Pritam
Rohila
(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)
*Bangladesh-India
India, Bangladesh set up
agri joint venture
DHAKA: India and Bangladesh are going to setup an
agro-based industry in the Mongla Export Processing one (EPZ). News From
Bangladesh, June 30, 2004
Delhi offers to double
diesel export to Dhaka
DHAKA: India Wednesday offered to double diesel
exports to Bangladesh to help ease a 2.3 million tonnes shortfall of petroleum
a year, but Dhaka did not make any commitment to selling natural gas to its
biggest potential buyer. Daily Star June
03,2004
India, Bangladesh agree to
forget past
NEW DELHI: India today kept aside contentious issues
like Bangladesh’s failure to act against Northeast rebels on its soil to make
visiting foreign minister Morshed Khan’s “goodwill” visit a success. The Telegraph June 02, 2004
*Bhutan- India
India, Bhutan revamp
security along border
GUWAHATI: In a bid to pin down Assam militants and
halt their re-organization efforts, the foreign ministries of India and Bhutan
have begun the process of re-organizing the border security setup between the
two countries. Sentinel Assam July
01,2004
*India
India again offer talks to
ULFA rebels
NEW DELHI: India has offered yet another chance to the ULFA rebels to
come to the negotiating table. They have said that if the ULFA felt that it was
more comfortable holding peace talks with the Indian government in a third
nation, the Indian government would agree to that too. Bijoy Krishna Hadiqaue,
Union Minister of State for Defence, says: "Let them come forward, we will
also come forward. We are ready for dialogue under any circumstances. We have
even conceded to their conditions." Web
India July 03,2004
India proposes to make LoC
line of peace
ISLAMABAD: India has suggested to Pakistan that the
Line of Control (LoC) should be turned into a line of peace and tranquility,
the existing hotline should be expanded, while has Islamabad urged New Delhi
that the modalities on Kashmir should be looked into. The News July 05, 2004
Minorities must be equal partners in progress: PM http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/jul/03minority.htm
Government’s talks with Naga rebels to resume
NEW DELHI: India’s new government will resume talks
this week in the Netherlands with Naga separatist guerrillas, who have waged
one of the Asia’s longest running insurgencies., a news report said June 21. India
West June 25, 2004
PM describes 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Godhra incidents
as painful
Describing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and incidents in
Gujarat as "painful", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said
an environment should be created so that such things are not repeated. Singh
made the remarks after paying obeisance at Gurudwara Bangla Sahib. Hindustan Times, June 12, 2004
Government appoints panel to de-saffronise education
The Congress-led Government on Saturday appointed a
three-member panel of historians to de-saffronise educational textbooks as a
precursor to long-term remedial measures.
Hindustan Times, June 12, 2004
'Govt will preserve, protect, promote secular
values' http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/jun/07par.htm
Communal Harmony in Godhra, Gujarat
VADODRA: Last week after district authorities
bulldozed huts on the bed of the dry Mesri river, about 70 Hindu an Muslim
families, who had resided in those huts, joined together in makeshift shelters
and cooked meals in a common kitchen. Hindu and Muslim women rolled chapatis,
while men cooked rice. "This area has never seen communal violence even
during the peak of the riots, said activist Ilyas Meetha of Aman Samuday.
"It is only natural that they come together in times of diversity." India West May 28, 2004
*Kashmir
JKLF open to Delhi’s invite
SRINAGAR: A day after Pakistani Foreign Secretary
Riaz Khokhar met JKLF chairman Yasin Malik, the party vice-chairman said they
will consider participating in the dialogue process if the Centre invites them.
‘‘When both India and Pakistan are moving ahead with the dialogue process,
there is no way we can shun talks,’’ said Mir. Indian Express, June 29,2004
Webcast brings Kashmiri
families together
SRINAGAR/ MUZZAFARABAD: There were tears of joy on
both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir on Monday as the BBC brought
together families divided by conflict.
In the first initiative of its kind, the BBC established a webcam
allowing families to communicate with their loved ones for the first time in
years. BBC June 22,2004
Time ideal for resolving Kashmir: Musharraf http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/jun/10mush.htm
Natwar Singh for new beginning in Indo-Pak ties http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/jun/10natwar.htm
Hurriyat eye on Valley
panel
NEW DELHI: The coordination committee on Kashmir met
Friday to prepare the ground for the third round of talks between the All
Parties Hurriyat Conference and the government, in which the Hurriyat is
expected to raise “substantive issues”. THE
TELEGRAPH June 05,2004
*Nepal-India
India, Nepal set up office
for river plans
NEW DELHI: After prolonged discussions, India and
Nepal have agreed to set up a Joint Project Office (JPO) in Kathmandu, which
will be empowered to hammer out reports on the Sapta-Kosi High Dam multipurpose
project and the Sun-Kosi storage-cum-diversion scheme. The Himalayan Times June 25, 2004
India promises all support
to Nepal
KATHMANDU: The policy of the new Indian government
is to continue to “extend to the friendly people of Nepal, India’s full support
in their endeavour to overcome the challenges confronting their country,” said
India’s External Affairs Minister, K Natwar Singh, upon his arrival at
Tribhuvan International Airport Friday. The Himalayan Times June
03, 2004
*Pakistan
Musharraf orders crackdown on 30 terror groups in
Karachi
http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/jul/03karachi.htm
Musharraf vows to stamp
out terrorism
ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf said
on Thursday that terrorism and extremism in the country would be stamped out
with full force and terrorists’ sanctuaries in tribal areas would be busted. The News July 02,2004
Pak Cabinet clears bill to stop N-proliferation http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/jun/05pak.htm
*Pakistan-India
Pakistan seeks military
panel with India
NEW DELHI: Pakistan has asked for the setting up of an experts’ group
on conventional military confidence-building measures, on the lines of the
nuclear CBMs. The experts’ group on nuclear CBMs helped the two sides to come
up with several suggestions, including the formulation that the nuclear capability
of India and Pakistan had contributed substantially to bring stability in South
Asia. The other suggestions included putting in place a formal agreement on
prior notification for ballistic missile test-firing. Telegraph July 04,2004
Fazl accepts Sonia’s
invitation to drop in
ISLAMABAD: The Opposition Leader in National
Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman and some other MMA leaders may visit New Delhi
shortly as Indian ruling party head Sonia Gandhi has formally invited him along
with a delegation, sources told The Nation here Saturday. The Nation July 04,2004
Kasuri, Natwar set August
meeting in Delhi
JAKARTA: The foreign ministers of Pakistan and India emerged from talks
on Friday optimistic that trust between the two nations was growing and further
progress had been made in resolving their long-running Kashmir dispute. Foreign
Minister Kurshid Kasuri met his Indian counterpart Natwar Singh for 15 minutes
on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in what was the two nations’
second high-level diplomatic encounter in a week. Singh told reporters that he
and Kasuri had been able to “carry forward” India and Pakistan’s warming
relationship. The Indian foreign minister said he had invited Mr Kasuri to the
Indian capital in August to discuss Kashmir and confidence building between the
two countries. The Hindu July 03,2004
Pak entry into ARF to
boost regional security
JAKARTA: Pakistan's admission Friday to the
Asia-Pacific's only security forum is expected to ease tensions in South Asia
over its rivalry with nuclear-capable neighbour India, an official said
yesterday.
India, which had initially blocked Pakistan's entry, in May dropped its
opposition after receiving assurances that bilateral issues such as Kashmir
would not be raised in the forum. The
News July 02, 2004
India, Pakistan agree on
more talks
NEW DELHI: At the end of the two-day foreign
secretary-level talks, both countries in a two-page joint statement reiterated
their commitment to the principles and purpose of the UN Charter and affirmed
their determination to implement the Simla Agreement “in letter and spirit”.
Pakistan also called for a mechanism to include representatives of the Kashmiri
people in future negotiations. Further India and Pakistan agreed to continue
their “sustained and serious” engagement to find a “negotiated final
settlement” to the Jammu and Kashmir issue and announced several confidence
building measures (CBMs) to carry the peace process forward. Daily Times June 29, 2004
Kalam, Singh, Sonia
invited to visit Pakistan
NEW DELHI: President Pervez Musharraf has invited
Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress
Party President Sonia Gandhi to visit Pakistan. The invitation message was sent
through Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar, who was here for the resumption of the
composite dialogue process between the two countries, said a joint statement
issued on Monday, IANS reports. Daily
Times June 29, 2004
Kashmir talks end on
'positive' note
NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan ended their first
talks in three years on the explosive dispute over Kashmir on a positive note
on Monday and were expected to announce a timetable for further dialogue.
"The talks were positive and constructive and
geared toward forward movement," Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman
Masood Khan said. Reuters June 28, 2004
Pakistan seeks better ties
with neighbours
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan wants to live peacefully in the
region with issues to be resolved through dialogue with the neighbouring
countries, said Shaukat Aziz, the prime minister-in-waiting. The News June 28, 2004
India, Pakistan to reopen
consulates
NEW DELHI: India's Ministry of External Affairs'
spokesman confirmed Wednesday that an agreement existed ‘‘in principle’’ to
reopen consulates in Mumbai and Karachi, and that the staff strength of the two
missions would also be consequently restored. They were halved after the
December 13, 2001 Parliament attacks, the 55-strong contingent was further
reduced to 47 after tit-for-tat expulsions on charges of spying. Indian Express June 24, 2004
Pakistan-India talks on
right track: Jamali
ISLAMABAD: Talking to reporters here at the
Parliament House, Pakistani Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali said
Wednesday positive indications have been received during Foreign Minister
Kasuri and his Indian counterpart Natwar Singh's meeting in China. The meeting
will help the dialogue process, he said. The
News June 24,2004
Pakistan, India claim
Baglihar dam breakthrough
NEW DELHI: Indian and Pakistani officials on Tuesday
claimed to have resolved differences over the controversial Baglihar dam after
the conclusion of two-day talks and said that the matter would be sent to their
governments. Indian Express June 23,2004
Peace
process will progress
QINGDAO: Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri
and Indian External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh held an exclusive one-on-one
informal talk on Monday and agreed to take forward the peace process between
the two countries. Daily Times June
22,2004
Pak may grant MFN status to India soon http://www.rediff.com/money/2004/jun/12pak.htm
Pakistan
backs India's Olympic bid
NEW DELHI: A
five-member delegation of the Pakistan Olympic Association in Delhi to discuss
about revival of sporting ties between the two countries, announced its support
to India's bid to host the 2016 Olympics and the Asian Games in 2014. Also
announced staging of the first-ever Punjab Games later this year as part of the
effort to normalise sporting relations. http://us.rediff.com/sports/2004/jun/11oly.htm
Pak businesswomen keen on India ties http://www.rediff.com/money/2004/jun/10josy.htm
Pakistan upbeat over dialogue process http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/jun/07pak.htm
Indian POWs in Pakistan
back on Army rolls
NEW DELHI: Finally, families of Lance Naik Jagsir
Singh and Sapper Mohammed Arif, who have been in Pakistani custody since the
Kargil war, have a reason to smile: the Pakistan Army has sent a categorical
assurance that the two prisoners of war (POWs) will soon be provided consular
access as a prelude to their return. NEWINDPRESS June 05,2004
Pakistan offers India cut
in nukes
DUBAI: “We don’t have any worldwide military
ambitions. We maintain a force for deterrence ... If there is a discussion or a
deliberation (with India) on mutual reduction, we have been saying let’s make
South Asia a nuclear-free zone,” President Pervez Musharraf told Al-Arabiya
news channel. “If mutually there is an agreement of reduction of nuclear
assets, Pakistan would be willing,” he added. Daily Times June 05,2004
Pakistan gives India duty
relief
ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet has formally approved
the Customs duty concession given to India on additional 223 items under South
Asia Preferential Trade Arrangement (SAPTA) to enhance the volume of trade
between the two countries. Dawn June
03,2004
*South Asia
Saarc ministers agree to
cut telecom tariff
ISLAMABAD: The commitment was expressed in a plan of
action approved unanimously by the SAARC delegates at the end of the 2nd SAARC
Communications Ministers that ended in Islamabad today. Pak Tribune July 01,2004
*Sri Lanka
Tigers, army resume
security parleys
COLOMBO: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) and Security Forces
resumed routine security meetings in the North on Friday night in a
breakthrough in the suspended inter-party dialogue. Sunday Observer July 04,2004
Army, LTTE agree on a
working arrangement
BATTICALOA: At a meeting organized by the Sri lanka
Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in the Batticaloa district Wednesday, Col. Ramesh,
the special commander of the Liberation Tigers for the Batticaloa-Amparai
region, pointed out to Major General Shantha Kottegoda, the Overall Operational
Commander of the Sri Lanka Army for the Eastern Province, that elements of the
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) were involved in the recent killings in Batticaloa and
that the SLA was associating closely with the renegade Karuna group. Col.
Ramesh also agreed to immediately establish direct liaison with the SLA and
Police, LTTE and SLMM sources said. Tamil
Net June 03,2004
*Sri Lanka-
India
Sri Lanka lauds India
trade benefits
Sri Lanka's Board of Investment (BOI) told at least
100 European firms during a two-day investment seminar that the FTA entered
into with India in 1998 had helped boost bilateral trade and reduce the trade
gap that favoured India. DEEPIKA
GLOBAL June 05,2004
Delhi-Colmbo to keep
talking on defence
NEW DELHI: India's new government pledged to keep up
support for Sri Lanka's efforts to end the island's long-running ethnic
conflict and to continue talks with Colombo on a defence cooperation pact.
The defence deal was suggested last October by Sri Lanka to the former Hindu
nationalist-led government of premier Atal Behari Vajpayee. AFP June 02, 2004
*Sri Lanka-
Pakistan
Musharraf to ink FTA in
Lanka this month
The agreement will provide a level-playing field to
Pakistan’s exports in competition with India. Sri Lanka and India signed an FTA
in 1998. The Academic July 02,2004
(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)
*South Asia Youth Forum for Peace and
Reconciliation, G-40, Gaurav Apartments, Saket, New Delhi-110017, India, sayforpeace@yahoo.com Contact Person:
Nazia Y.Izuddin, Coordinator, naziaizuddin@yahoo.com,
91 98970 15152.
South Asia Youth Forum for Peace and Reconciliation
is a network of youth groups and individuals in South Asia who are involved in
peace building. The aim of the network is to encourage youth in advocacy,
activism and reconstruction of civil societies, and to create a link between
young activists throughout South Asia and thereby open a forum of communication
for young members in the civil society to interact on issues and ideas.
*Joint Action Committee, Karachi
Violence has once again cast a dark shadow over Karachi, a city where residents have already suffered enough. Brief periods of stability inevitably re-erupt into violence. Makeshift measures are taken and peace is restored, but only temporarily. Residents of Karachi feel angry and helpless. Therefore, Joint Action Committee and the Karachi Press Club, organized “KARACHI: CITY UNDER SIEGE,” a discussion & screening of a short film, "Doctor," at The Press Club, Karachi, p. m. June 5, 2004.
*Pakistan India Pen Pals Club: People To People
Contact Project, Jl. Bukit Hijau II/21, Pondok Indah, Jakarta, Indonesia, www.groups.yahoo.com/group/pakindiapenpals
Contact Person: Ashok Gupta, Phone 62 812182 0013, Email ashok1082@yahoo.co.uk
The organization serves as “a platform to promote people to people contact between people of all ages, caste, creed, religion or gender from Pakistan and India. People from school, colleges, business, offices, housewives and retired people, social workers, activists are all welcome.” In order to “bring a better future for our two countries so that we spend more resources in uplifting the poor rather than on defence,” members exchange email/postal addresses and write to each other, sharing experiences and building friendships.
*Promise of India https://www.PromiseOfIndia.org
The Promise of India Conference in Delhi
on January 8, 2004 “Linking Peace and Development” was well received by the
audience and was widely
reported in the local media. The Conference
Proceedings are available on the organization’s website in video and
audio formats.
The organizations recently wrote to the new Prime
Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, outlining the Concerns and Hopes
of NRI/PIOs represented by POI. The letter has been delivered to the PM, and
was featured prominently on samachar.com.
Recently a speaking event was co-hosted in the
Silicon Valley with Ms. Anu Aga of Thermax Industries, who spoke passionately
about the eroding values and growing intolerance in our society, and Dr.
Jayaprakash Narayan of Lok Satta, well known for his work on governance and
electoral reforms. They plan to host danseuse and social activist Mallika Sarabhai
at an event in Stanford University in October 2004.
Plans are being made to organize the second conference in Mumbai in early January 2005.
*Islami Relief Committee Gujarat (IRCG),
(Registration No. E-13485), 4th Floor, B-Block, Karishma Complex, Sarni
Society, Juhapura, Ahmedabad 380 055, E-mail: ircguj@rediffmail.com
IRCG has been actively involved in every walk of life in Gujarat for the last 35 years. Education is its primary focus. Its "EACH ONE TEACH ONE" project aims at bringing as many children at possible to Schools. Donations can be sent to Islami Relief Committee – Gujarat Bombay Mercantile Cooperative Bank, A/c. No. 5039, Relief Road Branch, Ahmedabad , or to Falah-e-Aam Trust, Aurangabad, Bombay Mercantile Cooperative Bank, A/c. No. 6113
FEATURE
*Jai Kali Karachi Wali, Manu Joseph, Outlook,
July 5, 2004
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20040705&fname=Hindus+in+Pak+%28F%29&sid=1&pn=1
They have their gods, their weddings, their businesses. These Hindus just
happen to be living in Pakistan.
Bani is a Gujarati lady with moist red teeth and a wicked gleam in her eye. When
she's in a good mood, the ancient temple sweeper with no confirmed human master
will admit to being "between sixteen and
eighty years old."
She sits at the gate of the Lakshmi Narayan temple, a small impoverished shrine
that stands at one end of a creek in Karachi's prime real estate. Four young
girls walk to the gate. The sheer beauty of two is completely wasted on Bani,
who stops the girls with a wave and asks them to leave: "Muslims aren't
allowed in."
"We just want to walk around and look," one of the girls, Rumi,
says.
There are anywhere between 2.5 to 5 million Hindus in Pakistan. Ninety five per
cent of them are in Sindh province.
"Then go to the zoo," retorts Bani.
To the conventional secular urban sophisticate, this may sound like the
dangerous portent of violent religious conflict. But there is no malice here.
The entire exchange on this breezy Karachi evening is
just about a marking of territory.
The Muslim girls are far from hurt. They plead between giggles. "We just
want to pray." Hirakumari, a few months pregnant and related in some
complicated way to Bani, tells them, "Go pray to your god. You
eat cows, make fun of our gods, ask if our gods don't feel cold, being
naked..."
But she then turns and whispers with a smile, "They are actually lovely
people, these Muslims. They will feed us for the rest of our lives, if it comes
to that. Pakistan is the only place I call home but how can we let Muslims
inside (the temple)?"
A similar scene plays out at a crowded Shiva temple in Karachi's posh Clifton
neighbourhood. It's Monday night, the busiest spell in the temple's week.
Jayanti Ratna stands with a stick at the gate and screams 'Jai Shiv Shankar'.
When someone doesn't respond he stops the trespasser with, "Muslims and
Christians are not allowed."
Does it feel strange for a Hindu man in Pakistan to stand by a busy pavement
and block local Muslims? "Not at all. I was born here. I belong here. I
will exercise my right to serve my faith."
Today Pakistan's Hindus number somewhere between 2.5 million (a somewhat
suspect official estimate) and 5 million (according to popular Hindu
politician Kishinchand Parwani). Over 95 per cent of them live in the province
of Sindh; most are poor farmers and labourers from the scheduled castes.
"It (Babri demolition) was the only time I felt I was in someone else's
country," Satish Anand, film distributor.
Many of the worshippers at Karachi's temples are somewhat better off, and the
calm affluence of Karachi's wealthier Hindus is worlds apart.
Thirty-year-old Deepak Perwani, his hair dyed red,
and a Ganesha tattooed on his right arm, is one of Pakistan's top fashion
designers. His quick Indo-Pak analysis: "There is one major difference.
Indians can't cut a salwar to save their lives and Pakistanis can't cut a
churidar!"
As with many Hindus here, 'Inshallah' slips out of his mouth easily as a
prelude to anything and he eats beef, never pork. A travel agent once booked
him into a Lahore hotel as an Indian. "I was pissed off. I struck out the
word Indian and wrote Pakistani." Six years ago when he wanted to open a
store on an upmarket Karachi street, his friends asked him not to flaunt his
name outside. But he was soon forced by
market pressure to put his brand up in massive type-Deepak Perwani.
"There's been no trouble, not a single incident outside my shop."
Perwani is celebrated and patronised by the rich and mighty of Pakistan, even
honoured as the country's cultural ambassador to China. But he has just one
"small problem" being in Pakistan.
Mathematical chance isn't on the side of a Sindhi Hindu looking for a suitable
arranged match within the small community". The girl has to be
imported," Perwani says, "since I am doing too well here to be
exported." His mother Renu will parade him in Bombay, Dubai and Hong Kong,
but as she says with motherly concern, "People in India or Dubai don't
want their daughters to live in Pakistan. It's
a mindset."
Renu's endearing motherly look turns somewhat severe when she considers the
options for her son, "I would never accept a Muslim girl in my house. All
my friends are Muslims and I know they are very
beautiful people, cultured and nice. But a daughter-in-law is a different
matter." In any case, her son can't marry a Muslim; Islamic law prohibits
a Muslim marrying a Hindu. "I'd have to convert," says Deepak.
"And I would never do that."
In between the rich Sindhis and the poor Hindu farmers of rural Sindh is the
middle-class setting of Danish Kaneria's home. The leg-spinner is only the
second Hindu to play cricket for Pakistan. His new wife
Dharmita is also part of the same Gujarati community. "We met at a
festival," Dharmita says, almost shyly. Danish's elder brother Vikrant is
engaged to Dharmita's sister, who will also live in the four-bedroom flat soon.
Mrs Kaneria talks fondly about the temples of India, often referring to the
country as "apna desh". Vikrant is surer of where he belongs. He
echoes a popular belief among the elite here that life for the
educated is much better in Pakistan than in India. "And there is no
discrimination at all," he says. "The fact that my brother is playing
for Pakistan proves that."
Kishinchand Parwani, a member of the National Assembly (equivalent to the
Indian Member of Parliament) from 1988 to 1997, recalls that right up to the
late '80s a steady stream of Hindus would migrate to India. "That was
because of home-sickness but they soon realised that in India nobody was going
to hug and welcome them just because they were Hindus from Pakistan. Hindus are
safe in Pakistan but there is this fear that if anything like Babri Masjid
happens, we will have to bear the brunt again. That was the only time Hindus
here felt threatened."
A day after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, his staff told Satish Anand not
to attend office. Anand, who is film actress Juhi Chawla's uncle and a Punjabi
Hindu settled in Karachi, runs Eveready Films, which has distributed over 450
Pakistani films and a few Hindi films like Awara and Barsat. "It was the
only time I felt like I was in someone else's country," he says.
"After that things have been peaceful."
Yet beyond Karachi, low-caste Hindus in Sindh's small villages face a different
reality. "The number of reported cases of violence against Hindus resulted
in a distinct worsening in their plight over the
year," says a report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
"On September 17, 2003, in broad daylight six armed persons attempted to
rape three Hindu women. According to local Hindus, this was the seventeenth
incident in the area in 2003."
Still, HRCP's Nadia Haroon will make a distinction between crime against Hindus
and communal violence. "The attack on Hindu women is part of crime against
rural women in general in Pakistan. Hindus are
rarely targeted because they are Hindus but since the justice system is so slow
and in some cases biased against minorities, criminals here feel that they can
get away with such attacks on Hindus."
*India Britannica, Geoffrey Moorhouse, Academy Chicago
Publishers, 2000. Paperback $18.95
The book chronicles the glory as well as the grief of the British rule
in India from 1600 through 1948.
*A to Z of Jihadi Organizations in Pakistan,
Muhammad Amir Rana, (Translated by Saba Ansari), Mashal (RB-5, 2nd Floor, Awami
Complex, Usman Block, New Garden Town, Lahore-54600, Tel: 042-586 6859
Email: mashbks@brain.net.pk), 592pp.
Rs 400. Review with excerpt from
http://www.dawn.com/weekly/books/books1.htm
Muhammad Amir Rana traces the emergence of the jihadi organizations in
Pakistan. He also talks to some young recruits about how they joined their
groups.
This is an account of the religious organizations in
Pakistan waging 'jihad'. The book, first published in Urdu as
Jihad-i-Kashmir-o-Afghanistan: Jihadi Tanzeemon aur Mazhabi Jama'aton ka Eik
Ja'iza, gives comprehensive information about their goals, strategy, training,
recruitment and affiliations, as well as their madressahs.
*Goa - A Daughter's
Story, Maria Aurora Couto, Viking/Penguin, RS 495; Pages: 436. Excerpts
from Review “Beyond
Beach And Feni”
by Manohar Shetty in Outlook India
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20040628&fname=Booksb&sid=1
Maria Aurora Couto, who has taught English
Literature all her life, turns to history and theology to map an elaborate
canvas of 450 years of Portuguese rule in Goa and its repercussions on the
present. The near-compulsive paeans to the Saraswat Brahmin community and the
often numbing repetitions aside, this is a monumental work of sensitive, if on
occasion selective, scholarship, backed by industrious research.
DOCUMENTARIES & FILMS
*Ayodhya to Varanasi: Prayers For Peace, Suma
This one-hour film begins in Ayodhya with the Ramjanmabhoomi Temple issue.
It looks at the symbiotic and cultural bonds among
the Hindus and Muslims, and also the economic downslide in
Ayodhya since the past ten years after the demolition of the Babri Masjid on
December 6, 1992.
It also talks to some of the important Mahants and others in Ayodhya who say
that this is a local problem
and that they -- the Hindus and Muslims of Ayodhya - would like to sort it out
among themselves.
Against the background of globalisation, the worsening economic situation, the
status of Dalits, the concept
of a Hindu Rashtra, and other issues being discussed in the film -- it travels
from Ayodhya to Faizabad,
Sultanpur, Badlapur, Juanpur, Varanasi and other surrounding villages.
*Crossing The
Lines: Kashmir, Pakistan, India: A documentary film (DVD) by Pervez
Hoodbhoy and Zia Mian, Produced for the Eqbal Ahmad Foundation (P.O. Box 222,
Princeton, NJ 08542-0222, USA), 2004, 45 minutes, $35 ($100 for institutions).
Payment must be by check, drawn on a US bank, or money order.
"A compelling fresh look
at an age old problem that could be the spark of a nuclear war."
[Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban]
"This film violates the
grand narrative of nationalism on all sides. It shocks with its unfamiliar
humanity." [Khaled Ahmed, Daily Times]
After four wars, Kashmiris and
their land are divided between Pakistan and India, the source of recurring
crises. The next war may well be a nuclear war. In this tragedy, each side
tells the story of the injustice and
violence of the other, and feels only the suffering of their own. This
path-breaking independent documentary film, made in Pakistan, challenges us to
look at Kashmir with new eyes and to hope for a new way forward.
The film uses interviews of
key figures and ordinary people from every side, rare archival footage and
computer animations to chronicles the wars, the failed efforts at peace and the
daily toll this failure
exacts on those caught in this tragic struggle. We hear leading Kashmiri
militants voice the frustration of their hopes for democracy and their
desperate rebellion against oppressive Indian rule. We see how
Pakistan's relentless determination to confront India created an Islamic holy
war that brought terror and death to Kashmir. Radical Hindu leaders in India,
and Islamic militants in Pakistan, explain their shared conviction that Kashmir
is part of a greater struggle that knows no limits. We discover how amid rising
religious passions, governments in India and Pakistan seek o build national
identity through cultivating prejudice and hatred towards the other.
Rejecting the national
ambitions of Kashmiris, Pakistanis and Indians alike, the film offers a vision
of a shared future for all of South Asia built on a common humanity.
*August 9-15, 2004, India & Pakistan:
PIPFPD PEACE MARCH. Rajasthan Chapter of PIPFPD has planned a peace march to
demand to open travel by road across Munabao & Khokrapar sector. The march
will start from Barmer on August 9, the Nagasaki Day, and will reach Munabao on
August 14, Pakistan Independence Day. Sindh Chapter will perform at Khokrapar.
*September 3 & 4, 2004, Lahore, Pakistan:
JOINT CONVENTION & TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF Pakistan-India
People's Forum for Peace & Democracy (PIPFPD). Detailed papers will be presented on Kashmir and condition of
minorities in both countries.