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.
Subscription is free.
To SUBSCRIBE, email a request to ACHAPeaceBulletin-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email the request to ACHAPeaceBulletin-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
ACHA PEACE BULLETIN-Volume V, No. 12, December 3, 2003, (Next issue, January 7, 2004)
Feature
Dardpora: Where communal harmony prevails, Idhries Ahmad, November, 19, 2003
Ravindra Mhatre to Akhtar Bano - Blood on Our Hands, S Nazir Gilani , Kashmir Images, Nov 20, 2003
Ties that bind, Sarmila Bose, The Friday Times, November 7-13, 2003
Arts &
Entertainment
Awards
Conferences & Symposia
Courses &
Training Programs
Travel
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. 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)
Bangladesh
The political ECONOMY of Bangladesh's external relations, Rehman Sobhan, The Daily Star, Nov 4, 2003
Bhutan
The REFUGEE Conundrum: Getting there? Kinley Dorji, South Asia Intelligence Review Nov 10, 2003
Books
The HOUSE that Jinnah built, A.G. Noorani, The Hindu Magazine, October 25-November 7, 2003
Communalism
The Harvest of HATE, Vishal Arora EFI news, November 11, 2003
Vested interests misinterpreting HISTORY, Vipin Tripathi, Times News Network, November 21, 2003
General Issues
National SELF-determination, Ishtiaq Ahmed, Daily Times, 16 November 2003
India-NE
Manipur: The DEATH of Innocence, P. Phanjoubam & B. P. Routray, S. Asia Intelligence Review, Nov
17, 2003
Assam: Ethnic FACE-off, Animesh Roul, South Asia Intelligence Review, November 17, 2003
MEDIA,
reality and virtual reality, Sanjoy
Hazarika, The Statesman, November 30, 2003
India-Pak
A little CLEAR Thinking, Irfan Husain, Dawn, Pakistan, November 4, 2003
A PRIME Minister in Wonderland: The Peace Process and Its Perils, P Swami, S Asia Intelligence Review
Nov 10, 2003
Are MOVING towards peace, Abbas Rashid, South Asia Review, November 29, 2003
Kashmir
HARD
liners, moderates and the full circle of wisdom, S Nazir Gilani, Kashmir Images, Nov 10, 2003
Iftar
PARTY, Ground Realities, and Kashmiri Character, S Nazir Gilani, Kashmir Images, Nov 15, 2003
Another grenade missed TARGET? Dr Shabir Choudhry Email: November 15, 2003
Nepal
Dark
DAYS in Shangri-La, Samrat Upadhyay,
November 10, 2003
Pakistan
Prime Minister's speech: Govt must STICK to PM's line on peace, M Hasan, Dawn, Nov 25, 2003.
Pakistan’s HUMAN rights obligations, Ishtiaq Ahmed, Daily Times, 30
November 2003
Religion
Anwar ul ‘Ulum Women’s Arabic College: New Horizons for Muslim WOMEN, Qalander, October 2003
Sri Lanka
A Presidential INTERVENTION, G.H. Peiris, South Asia
Intelligence Review, November 17, 2003
On the BRINK, Again, Iqbal Athas, South Asia Intelligence Review,
November 10, 2003
_______________________________________________________________________________________
EDITORIAL
* Between India & Pakistan: A War of Peace
Drums of war are silent along India-Pakistan
border. Cease-fire reigns along the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir as
well as the Actual Group Position Line on the Siachen Glacier. Gunfire between
India and Pakistan has been replaced by a heated exchange of offers and
counter-offers.
Governments of India and Pakistan seem to be
trying to outdo each other in this war of peace. In apparent attempts to prove
their peace-seeking credentials to the distant power-brokers, they are hurling
concessions at each other.
Bus service between New Delhi and Lahore has
been restarted. Readiness has been expressed by both sides to talk about
initiating bus service between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar, and ferry-service
between Mumbai and Karachi. India has promised a cricket tour of Pakistan in
March. Landing rights and over flights will be resumed January 1.
Millions of people on both sides of the
border are praying that this is not merely a game of one-upmanship on the part
of the two governments and they really mean what they say. We hope that the
bureaucrats on both sides will rise above their traditional rigidity and defeat
the vested interests of their warmongers to make tangible peace between the two
neighbors.
(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
Dhaka wants India river talks to succeed
At the minister-level talks during the next Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) meeting in January, Bangladesh would try to settle the issue through dialogue. Southasianmedia.net November 12, 2003
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=64456&category=Frontend&Country=MAIN
*Bangladesh-Pakistan
Dhaka to get favoured Pak treatment
Pakistan agreed in principle to provide ‘special treatment’ to Bangladesh as a least developed country under the framework of a proposed free-trade agreement, as the two South Asian neighbours began trade talks in Dhaka Sunday. Southasianmedia.net November 17, 2003
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=65723&category=Frontend&Country=MAIN
*India
A Hindu Muezzin
For the last 16 years, during the month of Ramadan, Barati Lal Gupta armed with a microphone and a loudspeaker, walks through the lanes of Muslim area in Lucknow, waking people for "sehri," the pre-dawn meal. India West December 26, 2003
Public rallies for peace in Assam
Both Assamese and Biharis are pleading for restoration of the age-old goodwill that existed between the two communities. http://inhome.rediff.com/news/2003/nov/26assam.htm
Court convicts 15 in Gujarat riot case http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/nov/24godhra.htm
Hurriyat ready for talks http://in.rediff.com/news/2003/nov/20jk1.htm
*India-Pakistan
Indo-Pak air links from January 1 http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/dec/01air.htm
PM open to one-to-one with Jamali http://in.rediff.com/news/2003/nov/27pak1.htm
India, Pakistan agree to a ceasefire
The ceasefire will be observed along the International Border, Line of Control and Actual Group Position Line in Siachen. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/nov/25josy.htm
India offers truce in Siachen
An MEA spokesperson said India would soon call Pakistan for a dialogue.
http://in.rediff.com/news/2003/nov/24josy1.htm
Prime Minister Jamali announces cease-fire on the Line of Control:
Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on November 23, 2003, announced a complete cease-fire on the Line of Control (LoC) to be effective from the last day of the holy month of Ramzan. Jamali also enlisted a 10-point set of confidence-building measures to improve relations with India. Among others, it stated that Pakistan is ready for talks on reopening the Khokhrapar-Munabao route and that it is ready to start a bus service between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar. However, the proposals also pointed out that Pakistan considers Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations and also that the LoC in Kashmir is a temporary line. Jang, November 24, 2003.
Pak offers talks on Sindh-Rajasthan bus service http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_460982,00050002.htm
Steps planned to reduce tension with Pak. in the sea
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/2003/11/12/stories/2003111202711200.htm
India offered talks on overflights, airlinks
Pakistan is ready to resume air links with India. Both
countries have agreed to hold a second round of talks on December 1 and
December 2 in New Delhi. Southasianmedia.net November 17, 2003
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=65717&category=Frontend&Country=MAIN
India frees 8 Pakistani teenagers
Eight Pakistani teenagers who had illegally crossed the border and were detained in a jail in Delhi were released by Indian authorities and reached the Wagah border around 2:30 pm on Friday, about four hours later than expected. The boys were released because of efforts by Indian and Pakistani authorities, the coordinator for vulnerable prisoners for a prison reform project, and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). Southasianmedia.net November 15, 2003
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=65310&category=Frontend&Country=PAKISTAN
Pakistani Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali said today he is ready to visit India any time to discuss all the problems including Kashmir if Vajpayee agrees. Jamali said he thought a meeting between him and Vajpayee was possible during the next Saarc summit. Southasianmedia.net November 15, 2003
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=65220&category=frontend&Country=main&pro=0
"Pak minister delivers 'sweet, short' invitation to Vajpayee"
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/nov12/n2.asp
Pak plans trade concessions to India http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/nov/06pak.htm
India's Pak cricket tour set for March
The Indian cricket team will visit Pakistan in March to play a full complement of test matches and one-dayers, a top Indian cricket board official said on Sunday. India recently announced its willingness to resume sporting ties with Pakistan. http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=63895&category=frontend&Country=main&pro=0
Two Pak ministetrs visiting New Delhi
Perhaps for the first time in recent years, two Pakistani ministers are due to arrive here together tomorrow to participate in the SAARC and UNESCO conferences, While Information Minister Sheik Rashid would participate in the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Information Ministers meeting, Education Minister Zaubaida Jalal has come to attend the UNESCO meet on “Education for All” scheduled from tomorrow (Tuesday). Deccan Herald, November 10,2003
Sikh pilgrims call for India-Pakistan peace
After a warm welcome, Sikhs from India who reached Pakistan Wednesday to visit their holy sites called for peace between the two countries, Online news agency reports. They are here on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, who founded the Sikh religion about 500 years ago in Nankana Sahib that today lies in Pakistan. Indo-Asian News Service, November 5, 2003
*Nepal
Nepal, India inspect proposed border posts
Nepalese and Indian officials have begun inspecting border areas as part of their efforts to relocate custom checkpoints between the two countries and improve facilities. On Sunday, media reports in Kathmandu said Indian government enterprise RITES had proposed relocation of four major custom checkpoints for developing infrastructure to facilitate custom traffic and curbing unofficial trade. Southasianmedia.net November 15, 2003
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=65244&category=Frontend&Country=MAIN
Rail link between India and Nepal
India will open a railway link to landlocked Nepal from the port city of Kolkata by March. It will cut down the time for Nepal to transport good from six days to only 36 hours, and reduce transportation costs by $16.2 million a year. Reuter, Via India West, November 14, 2003
India plans mission in Nepal border town
Trade, travel and cultural ties between India and Nepal will get a fillip with New Delhi opening a consular office in the border town of Birgunj before the end of this year. Southasianmedia.net November 12, 2003
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=64411&category=Frontend&Country=MAIN
Nepal, India to meet soon on power project
Nepal and India would once again try to narrow down the differences regarding the completion of the Detailed Project Report(DPR) of the Pancheshwor multipurpose project when officials of the two countries meet here this month. Southasianmedia.net November 11, 2003
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=64134&category=Frontend&Country=MAIN
Nepal-India customs meet soon A bilateral meeting of high-level customs officials of Nepal and India is to be convened from November 26 in Kathmandu, to discuss customs procedures and curb unauthorised trade flow. Southasianmedia.net November 11, 2003
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=64143&category=Frontend&Country=NEPAL
*Pakistan
Indian reaction a step forward.http://in.rediff.com/news/2003/nov/24pak.htm
Christians march for peace
Thousands of Christians marched on the city roads praying for international peace, national solidarity and religious harmony. The Christ the King Procession is an annual feature in Lahore arranged by St Anthony’s Parish. (Daily Times November 24, 2003)
Three more terrorist groups proscribed
Under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 on November 20, 2003, three more extremist organisations, namely Jamiat-ul-Ansar, Hizb-ut-Tehreer and Jamaat-ul-Furqan have been banned by the Ministry of Interior Daily Times, November 21, 2003.
Azad Kashmir
PoK PM welcomes Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus route plan
Prime Minister of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan has welcomed India's proposal for starting a bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, claiming it will give an opportunity to divided families to meet each other. Asian News International, November 10, 2003
*Sri Lanka
President Kumaratunga sets December 15 deadline to resolve political crisis
President Chandrika Kumaratunga has set a December 15, 2003, deadline to resolve the ongoing political standoff with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and for the two sides to decide on a Government of reconstruction and reconciliation. Daily News, November 22, 2003.
STF, LTTE meet on positive note
Amidst
the political crisis and Norway suspending their facilitation the STF and the
LTTE on Saturday held yet another meeting to discuss the security in Amparai
and Batticaloa in a cordial atmosphere with the Nordic Truce Monitors
participation. Southasianmedia.net November 17,
2003
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=65654&category=Frontend&Country=sri%20lanka&pro=0
We won't abandon peace process: Helgesen
We have received very clear assurances that the Ceasefire Agreement will be respected including freedom of movement for LTTE cadres and the Sri Lankan Armed Forces have been instructed to continue extending their fullest co-operation to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, Helgesen told a media briefing in Colombo. Southasianmedia.net November 15, 2003
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=65224&category=Frontend&Country=sri%20lanka&pro=0
*Sri Lanka-India
India, Sri Lanka to resume ferry service
India and Sri Lanka will resume a passenger ship service in December, 20 years after it was discontinued due to ethnic strife in the island nation, officials said. The ferry will ply between Colombo and Vizhinjam, a port near Thiruanathpuram, Kerala transport minister R Balakrishna Pillai said on Tuesday. Southasianmedia.net November 13, 2003 http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=64653&category=Frontend&Country=MAIN
SOUTH ASIA
SAARC health ministers call to join hands
Health ministers from the regional seven-member body SAARC called for member nations to pool their medical resources and learn to recognize each other's medical needs for more effective healthcare. Southasianmedia.net November 15, 2003
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=65290&category=Frontend&Country=MAIN
SAARC information ministers at their third conference yesterday unanimously accepted Nepal's offer to host the grouping's regional media centre. Indian State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ravi Shankar Prasad broke the news at a press conference at the end of a formal session. Southasianmedia.net November 12, 2003
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=64473&category=Frontend&Country=NEPAL
SAARC agrees to ease visas for journalists
South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries agreed on Tuesday
to liberalise visa norms for free movement of media persons in the region. Southasianmedia.net November 12, 2003
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=64466&category=Frontend&Country=MAIN
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)
FEATURE
*Dardpora: Where communal harmony prevails, Idhries Ahmad, November, 19, 2003
While religious hatred continues to hog the headlines across India, Dardpora, a
hamlet in the tehsil Pattan presents a heart warming picture to every visitor.
About 35 Sikh families and over 100 Muslim families live
in close camaraderie for centuries now,
"We don't see ourselves as Sikhs and Muslims, but fellow villagers who are
born to share each others joy and sorrow," says Harmeet Singh adding the
villagers have been sharing the happiness and suffering for centuries together.
These harmonious sentiments are echoed by majority of people living here,
"These sardars are just wonderful people, we have been living with them
for centuries and will continue to do so as they have become part and parcel of
our lives" says Fayaz Ahmad, villager of Dardpora.
The last turbulent decade has seen Dardpora losing quite a number of youth,
which has seen both communities coming even closer. Estimates put the number of
deaths in the village at about 13 that include five from Sikh families.
"Our family bore the brunt of violence as we lost two young boys to the
violence." says Sujan Singh adding his nephew Harpal Singh was killed on
27th April 2003, when he was asked by security personnel to accompany them in a
search operation.
Sujan points out that the Muslim brethren arranged wood for his nephew's antim
ardas (last rites). He added the Muslim villagers had also supported the Sikh
colleagues when the two Sikh girls and Sikh boy were killed in a mine explosion
on 21st January 2000.
Both the communities make it a point to participate and celebrate each others
festivals and marriages. " For us marriages and festivals are events to
strengthen our resolve to be together and live for each other," says
Mohammed Ashraf, adding whether it is Eid or Guru Parab, the villagers
celebrate each others festivals with fervor and gaiety.
*Ravindra Mhatre to Akhtar Bano - Blood on Our Hands, Dr. Syed Nazir Gilani , Kashmir Images, November 20, 2003
Author is Chairman
International Kashmir Alliance – IKA
It may be confidently claimed that I am one of the first few Kashmiris who
crossed the LOC in May 1973 accompanied by a guide. The dream was to present
ourselves at the first Pakistani military post on its side of Kashmir. After
walking a full night and a full day we successfully achieved the step one of
our plan by the dusk. In early 1970s the crossing of LOC was as mystical for a
Kashmiri youth as The Eve of St. Agnes to a virgin.
The superstition of a virgin is that she could see her future husband in a
dream if she performed certain rites on the Eve of St. Agnes if she went to bed
without looking behind her and lay on her back with her hands under her head,
he would appear in her dream, kiss her and feast with her. Kashmiri youth in
1970s too seemed mesmerized by a belief that a solution to all their ills on
the Indian side of Kashmir lay on the Pakistani side of Kashmir.
Before locking my room number 2 at the Hostel of Kashmir University, the
University at that time had only one hostel, I had only read in The Admirable
Crichton that 'circumstances alter cases'. My dream processed me through
military post, Muzaffarabad forte, Muzaffarabad jail and the High Court of Azad
Kashmir. Back home the authorities had sealed my hostel room and asked my
parents to repay my 'national loan scholarship'. It may also be claimed that I
was one of the very few university students who had secured two scholarships on
merit.
'Circumstances Altered the Case' in my case. But one thing that I continued to
hold at the risk of my life and liberty was - respect for a human life. My
notion of 'life' is not a state of being alive but a 'quality of life',
appended with honour and dignity. I provoked the establishment to book me for
imprisonment, for lashes and more so for a 'death sentence'.
I crusaded for the human rights of Hashim Qurashi while he was in prison, for
Maqbool Bhat when he was in Tihar Jail and for Hamid Dewani and his six
associates in hijacking Indian Boeing 737, who faced arrest and imprisonment in
Pakistan. My idea of human rights in 1970s was very vague and nascent. I lacked
in a mature judgement and was just in the process of building an enlightened
conscience.
I took a radical step and a step out of fashion in 1984, when I condemned the
kidnap and killing of Indian diplomat Ravindra Mhatre in UK. I may have been
the only Kashmiri living in UK and heavily engrossed in politics, who
contributed an article, condemning the death and condoling with the family.
At a later stage I expressed my disgust in another article on the kidnap of
Rubaiya Sayeed. In co-operation with a few other friends I was able to
influence matters in the speedy release of Prof. Soz's daughter.
I have all along advocated that right to life precedes any other human right. I have been advocating without fail at the international foras the jurisprudence of numericals in Jammu and Kashmir. My understanding is that loss of life in Jammu and Kashmir is a serious loss to those who believe that the dispute needs to be settled through a free and fair _expression of ones opinion.
I am at a loss to see that on the one hand we have a leadership that subscribes to a militant resistance in defence of self-determination and on the other does not endeavour to conserve life in consideration of a need of numbers in self-determination. Each political party in APHC at some stage claimed to have a militant outfit. In other words the approach created a jurisprudence to kill, in particular those who held an opinion at variance to theirs.
There is no denying that the killing in Kashmir has remained a common instinct
of Indian security forces and the APHC's militant outfits. Indian security
personnel have an understandable reason to kill. They have acted in consequence
of a natural reflex of control and self-defence. On the other hand the APHC's
killing of men and women is a self-serving activity. The irony that surrounds
the civilian killings is that the guns are supplied by the same single source.
The pro Pakistani and the pro Independence political parties cohabit in the
enterprise of killing. Those spared by Indian security forces are aimed at by
the APHC's militant outfits.
Killings taking place in various parts of Kashmir are a daily routine. One
should have an understanding to admit the devastating impact that these
killings have on our daily life and would have on self-determination count at
some stage in the future. But some killings turn ones stomach upside down and
cause profuse revulsion. One such killing is the death of a 17-year-old Akhter
Bano, daughter of Nazir Ahmed Magray in Tanta village of the Gandoh area in
Doda district.
It is reported that a group of suspected militants came to her house on 17
November and took the 17-year-old girl to another room in the same house. They
questioned her whether she was working as an informer for the security forces.
It is reported that they tortured her and charging her with being an informer
for security forces, later killed her. When her parents entered the room, they
saw Akhter Bano dead with a rope tied round her neck.
A faction in APHC is pro Pakistan and they merit a death sentence as Pakistani
informers. Another faction stands for an Independent Kashmir and need to
maintain a posture to beguile both India and Pakistan. They too merit a death
sentence for their beguile. A third shade of politics is either a part of the
coalition government or is put in opposition by the free vote of the people of
Jammu and Kashmir. They are classed as pro India and as such need to be taken
like Akhter Bano to separate rooms and killed.
However, a decision to administer a death sentence should not come from a pro
Pakistan, pro Independence or a pro India faction of politics. It should come
from a pro Kashmiri faction of politics. But I am sure that even a pro Kashmir
opinion of Kashmiri politics does not have the right to put a Kashmiri
'daughter' or a 'son' to death.
The death of Akhter Bano is a pure murder. We have to delve deep into the
recesses of our conscientious conscience to see blood of this 'daughter' and of
many others on our hands. I saw it in the case of Ravindra Mhatre in February
1984 and I see it in the case of Akhter Bano in November 2003. The superstition
of The Eve of St. Agnes is in no way different to the belief that a solution to
Kashmir problem lies on the other side of LOC. If there is a solution - it lies
in conserving the life in all parts of Jammu and Kashmir. It lies in a reliable
understanding of the jurisprudence of Kashmir case.
*Ties that bind, Sarmila Bose, The Friday Times, November 7-13, 2003
In the acrimony that
marred the subcontinent's independence struggle, bonds of peace were forged
through war
"What was your business in Pakistan?" The officer at Lahore airport looked stern. None, I replied. I was on holiday.
"Holiday? Here?"
The man looked positively stunned. Then a smile stole across his face. "Your husband – he is Pakistani?" he ventured, trying really hard to find an explanation. No such luck, I was just visiting friends. "Ah, friends." He chatted briefly, hoped I had a pleasant holiday and sent me on my way.
But what if he had probed a little further? Decades raced through my mind in the few moments I stood at the counter. Why did I come "home" to Lahore even though I wasn't one of the dwindling numbers of Delhi residents who seem to have left their hearts behind when they were uprooted by the Partition? Where would I begin if he really wanted to know? Perhaps Singapore, July 1943 …
"He arrived in July, 1943 and like Caesar, it was a case of veni, vidi, vici," writes Mohammad Zaman Kiani of Subhas Chandra Bose's arrival in Singapore. `Netaji' Subhas Chandra Bose, now almost forgotten in Pakistan, was one of the great heroes of the subcontinental movement for independence. Belonging to the rather more radical group of Indian intellectuals and politicians who disagreed with Gandhian non-violence, Bose and his cohorts campaigned for the immediate decolonisation of India, and saw World War II as a chance to force the British hand. When detained after leading a campaign against Indian involvement in the war, Bose managed to escape house arrest. He resurfaced, unexpectedly, in Germany, and travelled to Japanese-held Singapore. Here he was granted the support to form an independent Indian National Army, made up of expatriate Indians and prisoners of war, all volunteers, in eastern Asia. Kiani became the commander of the Indian National Army (INA), of which Bose was the civilian chief. Together they fought in the cause of freedom. After the military battle was lost, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose said as he left Rangoon in April 1945, "I am leaving Burma with my mission unfulfilled and it is the greatest disappointment of my life, but if I had ten men like Kiani with me, India would have been freed."
I am the third generation of that mutual adoration. The invisible ties that bind Calcutta and Lahore have now spread to encompass London, New York, Toronto. Somehow the walls that came up between the nation-states of India and Pakistan could not crush it. Perhaps the long periods of enforced separation make it that much more precious.
The price has been high, however. I came to know Mohammad Zaman Kiani since childhood, but never got to see him. I remember my father in his role as director of the Netaji Bhawan in Calcutta, trying for years to get the INA officers from Pakistan to visit Calcutta, only to come up repeatedly against the unrelenting wall of hostility between the successor states of British India. By the time the Kianis journeyed to Calcutta in 1987 for the presentation of the Netaji Award on Bose's birth anniversary to Major-General Kiani, the award had become a posthumous one. Begum Nasira Kiani accepted the award from the then President of India, Giani Zail Singh, on her husband's behalf, with his daughter Zahida and son-in-law Farid by her side.
We were luckier with Raja Mohammad Arshad. Somehow father managed to persuade the powers-that-be in India that at age eighty and long retired, Uncle Arshad did not pose a grave threat to the national security of India. During his visit to Calcutta I got to interview Uncle Arshad about his INA days on Indian television. I remember his expansive hospitality in Lahore, the warmth of his personality and sense of humour. And I remember the beautiful photograph of Auntie Lakshmi – Lakshmi Swaminathan, commander of the Rani Jhansi regiment of the INA, in his home. The Rani Jhansi regiment, named after the great fighter in the 1857 war of independence, was an all-woman regiment. Recently in Islamabad, as his widow fussed over me, insisting I eat far more than I possibly could, I saw the photograph again, now in her room.
In February 1942 in Ferrer's Park in Singapore, about 50,000 Indian POWs of the British Indian Army were told by their British commander they were being handed over to the Japanese whom they were henceforth to obey. Most officers were outraged at being handed from one master to another as though they were a herd of cattle. Still, it was far from clear whether they should form an Indian National Army with Japanese support. The Muslim officers conferred, writes Kiani, and "there being the likelihood of Subhas Chandra Bose later coming to lead the movement, a decision in the matter became easier. Bose was known to be an upright man and had a solid political standing in India."
Even when the first INA was dissolved and the second incarnation was being deliberated, the faith placed in Subhas Bose is truly touching: "As regards settling of differences with the Japanese, we would leave it to Mr Subhas Bose whose integrity being unquestionable, his decisions and advice would be more readily acceptable to the Indian community." Two days after Bose reached Singapore, over 15,000 officers and men paraded under Kiani's command on the municipal square by the sea, where Bose took the salute at a march past. Kiani, who had been the first Muslim to be awarded both the Sword of Honour and Gold Medal at the Dehra Dun Military Academy, writes that Bose declared that this was the proudest day of his life, inspecting the Army of Free India.
Of the six major formations, as Kiani points out, five were commanded by Muslims, one by a Sikh, and the army commander was also Muslim. This was Netaji's army of free India. Its ranks swelled with soldier volunteers and civilian recruits including Tamil rubber-tappers, of whom it was said: "when the time of trial came, they showed their worth". On October 21, 1943 – almost exactly 60 years ago – Bose proclaimed the formation of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind, which declared war on Britain.
The Indian National Army embarked upon its long march through Burma to India, collecting emigrant workers on the way. When it finally crossed into Bengal it was greeted with joy. The soldiers of the INA, many of whom had been exiled for years, wept as they arrived in their homeland.
All was in vain, though, for now. News arrived of the nuclear attacks upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Bose rushed to Tokyo from Singapore in a special plane. The plane crashed, it was reported, and Bose was said to have died. His officers were captured by the British, and the sensational Red Fort trial ensued, to protests across India. It was only after widespread agitation that Shah Nawaz Khan, PK Sahgal and GS Dhillon, the three marked officers, were freed.
Though I bear his name, I only know my great-uncle through my INA "uncles" like Abid Hasan, Sahgal, Dhillon, Mahboob Ahmed, and "aunties" Lakshmi Swaminathan Sahgal and Janki Thevar – whom I have met – and those, like Zaman Kiani, who have left a vivid account of those days. It is only when I saw what Bose stirred in men and women of such extraordinary calibre that I realised he must have been a truly remarkable man.
"He could speak for hours, not in chaste but effective Urdu," recalls Kiani. "Even those who did not understand him remained spellbound. Such was the magic of his oratory … not a soul would leave the place. And when he would ask if they would sacrifice themselves for the independence of their country, people would go mad shouting a positive response and arms raised in affirmation would stay up virtually for the duration of the meeting." There is film footage of just such a rally in Singapore, which is shown at the Netaji Museum in Calcutta, where the crowd, arms uplifted, rushes towards the podium, with Zaman Kiani and others trying to keep order.
Bose's principle of never mixing religion and politics probably contributed to the unique phenomenon of the INA as one organisation in which people of all religions, castes, genders and ethnicities came together to work towards a common goal. He never pandered to prejudice. Kiani recalls how Netaji refused to visit the temple of the Chettiars, a wealthy business community, unless accompanied by his senior officers. Eventually he had his way and entered the temple with his posse of Muslim officers, leaving Kiani to wonder what the Chettiars did afterwards to cleanse the place!
When Kiani visited Tokyo with Bose in 1944, he also saw "worship and adoration" among the Japanese for the Indian nationalist leader. Another officer on that trip was Lt Col Habib-ur-Rahman, whose singular fate it was to be the only officer accompanying Netaji on his fatal aircrash. Again, by the time I got to Pakistan, Habib-ur-Rahman had passed away, and while being smothered by his family's hospitality I wondered what his thoughts had been when so many Indians irrationally refused to believe that Netaji was dead.
Equally fascinating are Kiani's recollections of his encounters with Mahatma Gandhi, who seemed very proud that there had been an army of free India. He would put his hand on Gen Kiani's shoulder and say, " Aap to hamare officer hain." And he would only pretend to scold the commander of the Gandhi regiment who did the most fighting of all the regimental commanders, while "one could detect that he felt flattered at a fighting formation having been named after him".
On 16 August 1945, before he left Singapore, Netaji issued a signed order, Arzi Hakumat-e-Azad Hind: "During my absence from Syonan, Major General MZ Kiani will represent the Provisional Government of Azad Hind." On 18 August he was killed in the aircrash in Formosa. So I guess Kiani remained head of the INA rather longer than expected.
After the subcontinent finally gained independence, Kiani and his family opted to stay in Pakistan, where they settled in Rawalpindi. Soon after, the Quaid called on Kiani and the other veterans of the Indian National Army to form an unofficial Azad Kashmir Regular Force in the 1948 war against India. This force lasted from 1947 to 1951. After the coup of 1958 Kiani lived a quiet life in Rawalpindi, until his death at the age of seventy-one in 1981. Even after the general's death, the links forged among the officers of the Indian National Army and their descendents were too strong to break.
And so it was that in 1946 Zaman Kiani came to stay at our home at 1 Woodburn Park, Calcutta, the house where I grew up, at the invitation of my grandfather, Sarat Chandra Bose. It was more than half a century later when we came to Lahore to join the bride's family at Kiani's granddaughter's wedding. With every cycle we catch up with other families of old comrades-in-arms, like that of Lt Col Dara (now more famous for hockey!), and we make new friends.
Earlier, when visiting Pakistan with my father, there would be some unusual sightseeing, like when we'd all troop off to see Father's former prison cell in the Lahore Fort, and make enquiries in Faisalabad about Lyallpur Jail, of which he was also a former inmate. Then there would be plenty of reminiscing among the generation that remembered. There was the time in the 1930s when Subhas Bose's pocket was picked when he came to address a rally in Lahore – the most valuable thing he lost was a photograph of the woman he loved. By the third generation we don't exactly sit around remembering the Second World War, but somewhere along the inter-generational perambulations, a web of friendship has formed, and despite the mad politics of our homeland and the calculated construction of enemies, it has endured.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
*Through January 4, 2004, Los Angeles, CA: THE CIRCLE OF BLISS: BUDDHIST MEDITATIONAL ART," featuring about 160 Indian, Tibetan, Nepalese, Mongolian, and Chinese paintings, manuscripts, sculptures, textiles, and ritual implements, which illustrate the ideals and teachings of the Chakrasamvara Tantra and other Himalayan Buddhist tantras, from about 40 international museums and private collections from Nepal, North America, Europe, and Great Britain, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5904 Wilshire Bvd, 323.857.6000, www.lacma.org
*Through February 15, 2004: REVERIE AND REALITY:
Nineteenth Century Photographs of India from the Ehrenfeld Collection, an
exhibition of 115 vintage photographs by some of the earliest and most
significant practitioners of the medium (such as Lala deen ayal, Linnaues
Tripe, Samuel Bourne, John Murray) at the Legion of Honor Art Museum. The
photographs range from scenes of daily life in villages to sumptuous and formal
visits of foreign royalty. Admission is $8 ($6 seniors and $5 youth). More info
from 415.863.3330 www.thinker.org
AWARDS
CONFERENCES & SYMPOSIA
(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)
*January 5-7, 2004, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India: PEACE
EDUCATION FOR CONTEMPORARY CONCERNS is the theme of an International Conference
being organized by Jaipur Peace Foundation in collaboration with Peace Education
Commission (PEC) of IPRA and University of Rajasthan to promote peace education
in this part of the world by providing a forum for interaction and cooperation
between scholars and educators, and to seek meaningful interaction among
educators for disseminating results of peace research in the fields of
nonviolence, conflict resolution, and rights, which are important contemporary
concerns. Registration fee is US$100. Modest guest-house accommodations, on
twin/sharing basis, meals, tea, local transportation and seminar materials will
be provided free. More info from Prof. Naresh Dadhich, Department of Political
Science, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, (INDIA), and Honorary Secretary,
Jaipur Peace Foundation, 2-k-12, Jawahar Nagar, aipur-302004 (INDIA), T:
91-141-2652846, F: 91-141-2654506, Email: ndadhich@datainfosys.net
, Website: www.jaipurpeacefoundation.com
(Via www.coexistence.net )
*January 6-9, 2004, Delhi, India: THE SEVENTH SUBALTERN STUDIES CONFERENCE is being organized jointly by Lokniti, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, and the Subaltern Studies Collective. The abstract of not more than 500-600 words should be submitted by August 15, 2003. The invited South Asian scholars will be paid their travel expenses and provided accommodation and local hospitality for attending the conference. More info from Aditya Nigam, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi-110054, India Tel: 2250 2784 (R), 2394 2199, 2395 1190 (O)
Email: aditya@sarai.net
*January 8-10, 2004, Colombo, Sri Lanka: CONFLICT,
PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH ASIA, organized in cooperation with Internationa
Center for Conflict Prevention and Management, Sydney – Australia and some
universities, private and public organisations in the United States, South Asia
and elsewhere, this International Conference will focus on political, ethnic,
religious and regional conflicts within and between countries of South Asia, as
well as Peace Economic and Peace Science, conflicting issues in environment,
natural resources, health care and development in general are also welcome. The
deadline for registration is September 19. More info from Prof. Manas
Chatterji, School of Management, Binghampton University, Binghampton, NY 13902,
E-mail: mchatter@binghampton.edu
*January 16-21, 2004, Mumbai, India: WORLD SOCIAL FORUM www.wsfindia.org is "an open meeting place for reflective thinking, democratic debate of ideas, formulation of proposals, free exchange of experiences and inter-linking for effective action, by groups and movements of civil society that are opposed to neo- liberalism and to domination of the world by capital and any form of imperialism, and are committed to building a society centred on the human person." There will be a variety of events- plenaries, workshops, testimonies, film festivals, exhibitions, music, dance, arts, marches, rallies, etc. More info from Amit Srivastava India Resource Center, a project of Global Resistance E: indiaresource@igc.org W: www.IndiaResource.org
COURSES & TRAINING PROGRAMS
*Januray 2004, Hyderabad, AP, India:
PEACEBUILDING SKILLS WORKSHOP. About 40 people from different parts of the world
are expected to participate in this 2-week event. More info from ramesh
prakashvelu ramesh.velu@lycos.com coordinator-conflict resolution programme, or hmiis@hd1.vsnl.net.in
*January 3 - 10, 2004, Bangor, PA, USA: NATIONAL BASIC TRAINING course,
offered by Peacemaker Training Institute, Fellowship of Reconciliation, will
train young adults (15-25 years old) in the philosophy and strategy of
nonviolent social change. Participants will live as a community for 7-10 days;
ground themselves in the history of social change, theory, practice, and
religious roots of nonviolence; learn about the connections between racism,
militarism, and poverty, among other issues; build cross movement relationships
with both young and experienced activists; and develop anti-racist organizing
skills within a personalized campaign for social change. Basic trainings are
held on campuses and in communities around the country and attract participants
from many states and occasionally various nations. Cost is US $375-525 (sliding
scale). Apply by December 1, 2003. More info from Maryrose Dolezal, National
Coordinator, Peacemaker Training Institute, 1050 Selby Avenue, St. Paul, MN
55104, USA. T: 1-651-647 4465, F: 1-651-647 4465 Email: pti@forusa.org , Website: www.forusa.org (Via www.coexistence.net )
*January 11-18, 2004, Andalo, Italy: NON-STATE
VIOLENCE: VIOLENCE BY ARMED NON-STATE GROUPS AND INTERNATIONAL, a course
offered by International School on Disarmament and Research on Conflicts,
intended for people with a professional interest in the problems of
international conflicts and those who would like to play a more active and
technically competent role in this field. The curriculum is interdisciplinary
and the subject matter extends from the technical and scientific to the
sociological and political. More info from Carlo Schaerf, Department of
Physics, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", via della Ricerca
Scientifica 1, I-00133 Rome, Italy. T: 39-67-259 4560, F: 39-62-040 309 Email: isodarco@roma2.infn.it,
Website: www.isodarco.it (Via www.coexistence.net)
TRAVEL
*Feb 13-29, 2004, India: Peter Ruhe will be leading a group across India in the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi. The journey, according to him, will provide a rare insight in the life and work of Gandhi. Grass-root projects and ashrams will be visited that have been founded on Gandhian principles. The group will also meet associates and relatives of Gandhi. The visit of places of interest forms part of the 17-days tour programme as well as an encounter with modern India. Accommodation in comfortable middle-class hotels. More info from http://www.gandhiserve.org/travel/travel_india.html or Peter Ruhe, GandhiServe Foundation, Rathausstrasse 51a, 12105 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 (0)30 70206374 / 7054054 Fax: +49 (0)30 70206373 / 7054054 E-mail: peterruhe@gandhiserve.org