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South Asia Citizens Wire | 16 June, 2004 via: www.sacw.net [1] Pakistan: The Harvest of Hate (Massoud Ansari) [2] Pakistan: JAC demonstrates against blasphemy law (News Report) [3] India: Hardline Hindutva Or Rudderless Drift - The future of the BJP (Praful Bidwai) [4] India: Pradyumna Kaul, the well known analyst and campaigner dies [5] India: Background News and Op-Ed. Material URLs + Important letter etc. from India's LGBT activists accompanied by a review article by Tejal Shah about this homophobic film called Girlfriend [6] India: Spectacular Expose of Satya Sai Baba on BBC 2! [7] India: Two steps back in Lucknow (Seema Alavi) [8] India: Gujarat: Press Release (Rohit Prajapati, Tripti Shah) [9] India: 'In Defence of Our Dreams' Docu-lecture series VCD format is available -------------- [1] Newsline [Pakistan] June 2004 Cover Story The Harvest of Hate Militants trained for decades by the establishment in Pakistan to further its political agenda abroad are more dangerous than ever - and now the battleground is their own country. By Massoud Ansari "All explosives are poisonous and can explode if triggered by fire or pressureŠ Always cut your nails properly and do not rub your eyes with your hands during the workŠ Wear protective glasses especially if working with substances that bubble during a chemical reactionŠ Do not rely on memory. Write down all your experiments, as well as the time, date and weatherŠIn the beginning do not try to make explosives in large quantitiesŠ" These are just some of the tips contained in a hand-written notebook recently recovered by the police from the possession of a militant in Karachi. It reveals the contents of the clandestine training given to aspiring terrorists. According to the "aims and objectives" section of the notebook, the course teaches "techniques of making explosives and lethal poisons from substances easily available in the market anywhere in the world." Thus, detailed in the book, accompanied by neatly labelled illustrations, are not only the differences between various explosives, but also methods for converting an innocuous washing machine timer into a timer for a bomb, purifying the lowly aspirin tablet to obtain chemicals for use in explosives, and so on. Also included are meticulous instructions for obtaining purified alcohol for use in explosives. An excerpt reads, "Alcohol is highly inflammable and its tolerance in the air is 1000 P.P.M." The same notebook reveals that trainees were also taught the speed of bullets fired by different weapons and the distance at which they could kill or injure. Reads an excerpt; "The bullet of an AK-47 or kalashanikov travels at the speed of 825 metres per second, while that of a G-3 rifle travels at 800 metres per secondŠ a bullet from an automatic pistol can travel a distance of 300 metres at the most, kill up to 50 metres, and injure up to a distance of 150 metres." The escalation in terrorist attacks in Pakistan over the past couple of years shows that militants are putting their training to good use. They are also becoming adept at staying one step ahead of the law-enforcement agencies. Police officials admit that when any militant is caught today, it is less on account of the civilian agencies' efficiency than slips made by the militants themselves. "They employ methods that don't allow modern surveillance gadgets to track them," says a Sindh police official. According to him, militants have been given strict instructions by their high command to communicate with each other by word of mouth rather than through mobile or satellite phone unless essential, and in that case, quickly dismantle the phone once the conversation is over. "Moreover, they make calls from these phones from crowded locations, particularly commercial centres, where it is difficult for the security agencies to isolate them and listen in to their conversation to detect their whereabouts," says a source. However, a number of militants have been arrested, and they have proved to be a useful source of information. The police has learnt, for instance, that militants have devised a system of communicating with each other through coded SMS on their mobile phones, aware that intercepting these among hundreds of thousands of such messages is virtually impossible for local agencies. A list of these coded messages, in which each is assigned a three-digit number, has been distributed amongst its cadres. Local police recovered one such list from the possession of a recently arrested local militant in which, on a single sheet of paper, at least 250 to 300 such messages were jotted down. To direct someone to go underground, an SMS message simply bearing the number 721 would be sent, or, if a weapon was needed, the number 730. All important meeting places, different kinds of weapons, explosives, and other communiques likely to be used on a regular basis were included in the list. The situation today, with militants driving the agenda and keeping the police guessing, is an outcome of the unfortunate confluence several decades ago of international policies and self-serving, short-sighted strategies on the national level. Before the 1980s, religion was not a contentious issue in Pakistan. A fundamental change, however, that altered the very character of Pakistani society, occurred after the installation of a Soviet-backed communist regime in Afghanistan. In order to fight a proxy war against the Soviets, the US bankrolled the arming of the mujahideen who were motivated for battle through religious propaganda urging them to expel the 'infidels' from Muslim Afghanistan. The policy was executed through General Zia-ul-Haq in Pakistan, who was desperately seeking a raison d'etre for his military rule, and who seized upon this opportunity to ensure his political survival and establish his Islamic credentials in the process. Thus the two agendas coincided and the war against the Soviets became a 20th century gun-and-rocket jihad against 'infidel invaders'. Between 1979 and 1988, the Zia government gave free rein to the proponents of jihad and strengthened the hand of the Muslim clergy. Official funds were increasingly channelled into the establishment of religious seminaries, which began to mushroom across the country. Local youth, stirred by the call of jihad emanating from pulpits, were encouraged to join their Afghan brethren across the border in their fight against the 'infidel forces.' A few years later, the struggle for the liberation of Kashmir received fresh impetus and Pakistani jihadis discovered another arena in which to wage holy war. Some even joined militant forces in Sudan and Algeria, while others went to Sinkiang province in China to lend their support to the nascent Islamist movement there. During this period, thousands of youth were trained in militancy in camps run directly under the supervision of the Pakistan army. "They were encouraged to enlist and undergo training in return for the promise that they would not be coerced into fighting if they didn't want to do so," says an official. However, no effort was spared to win their loyalty and make them stay the course. According to insiders, breakfast was served with milk and honey and meat was in plentiful amounts at lunch and dinner, a far cry from the frugal fare offered to most regular soldiers. And then, of course, there was the brainwashing that ensured that most recruits would set aside their personal agendas and voluntarily turn to jihad. Ali Khan, a hardcore militant of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, is a case in point. Believed to be one of the two local militants who witnessed the slaughter of the Wall Street Journal's South Asia reporter, Daniel Pearl, in Karachi some two years ago, Khan told his interrogators that in the beginning he had no intention of taking part in jihad. "I was a little child when my elder sister was divorced and I decided that when I grew up I would kill my brother-in-law for divorcing her without any reason," he said. According to Ali Khan's admission, when he joined the training camp in Kashmir, this was the extent of his desire for vengeance. "But I realised the pettiness of my original intention during the course of my training and decided to concentrate more on jihad and fight against the real enemies of Islam," he said. Khan, who later went to Afghanistan for further training, fought alongside the Taliban and was also involved in the sectarian killings of several Shias, including a father and son in Karachi. Scores of other such militants went to Afghanistan during the Taliban regime, where they enrolled in camps affiliated with or even run by Al-Qaeda. According to insiders, a wide range of skills were imparted here, from the use of different kinds of weapons, to the art of converting easily available substances into deadly explosives. For instance, they were taught to extract a purified 'finale' from Lifebuoy - a commonly used soap in Pakistan - and mix it with other chemicals to convert it into secondary explosives. At the camps in Afghanistan, militants were shown how to conceal weapons and draw cryptic diagrams that could only be understood by their comrades in case they needed to retrieve the caches. Sources said that they mastered a method in which diagrams were drawn using colour-coding, the initials of the location's name and minute symbols for various buildings, railway stations, cemeteries and trees, as well as the quantity and type of weapons dumped. According to insiders, just before the toppling of the Taliban, its cadres had hidden huge caches of weapons which they set about retrieving with the help of such maps once they initiated their guerrilla war against the coalition forces. From events over the past few years - the hundreds of sectarian assassinations, attacks against western interests, and now suicide bombings - it is clear that the policy of giving institutional support to extremist elements for pursuing the establishment's agenda abroad has now come home to roost. Religious wars are not merely being exported, they are being fought on local turf. Today, highly-disciplined and motivated groups of Islamic militant organisations operate in almost every neighbourhood of Pakistan. These trained brigades have become a liability particularly in the wake of 9/11 when, under international pressure, President Musharraf chose to disassociate the Pakistani government with the jihadi cadres. Several militant organisations were banned and their accounts frozen. With the ousting of the Taliban, and the closure of their principal nursery in Afghanistan, the militants, now driven as much by their hatred of the state apparatus that abandoned them as they are by their abhorrence of the west, are twice as dangerous. It is open season against the establishment. No one, from President Musharraf to a lowly constable, can consider himself immune from the fallout. Several senior police officials, who feature on the militants' hit list, have been compelled to take extraordinary measures for their security. Senior police officials contend that by the time the Pakistan government decided to take action against these militants, it was already too late. Moreover, they say, after the banning of the extremist groups, the task of keeping track of the militant cadres has been rendered more difficult. "We used to monitor the headquarters and ringleaders of five or six groups, but after the ban, they have scattered across the country," explains an investigator. "Many of them have formed splinter groups in different areas of Pakistan and are operating independently." Despite a record number of arrests of militants during the past few months, senior police officials say this is only the tip of the iceberg. "Militants are now skilled operators. Each activist is assigned a particular task and he has no knowledge of the next link in the chain that would enable us to destroy a network from its roots," they maintain. Meanwhile the government, it seems, is sabotaging its own efforts to distance itself from its previous pro-jihad policy. In an astonishingly undiplomatic move, the federal minister for religious affairs, Ejazul Haq, attended the launch of a book titled "Christian terrorism and the Muslim world" in Islamabad, where he reportedly stated that anyone who did not believe in jihad was neither a Muslim nor a Pakistani and that, given the plight of the Muslims today, he was himself prepared to act as a human bomb. With spokesmen like these, little wonder that the government seems to be fumbling in the dark, ill-equipped to deal with the harvest of hate it has itself sown. _____ [2] The Daily Times [Pakistan] June 16, 2004 JAC demonstrates against blasphemy law Staff Report LAHORE: The Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Peoples' Rights, an alliance of more than 33 non-government organisations and civil society groups, staged a demonstration against the blasphemy law and Hudood Ordinances on Tuesday. The demonstration was arranged on the death of Samuel Masih, a man accused of a blasphemy offence who was killed by a police constable in a Lahore hospital, and the death of Anjum Javed, a Christian who died after days of torture by the head of a Faisalabad madrassa. The demonstrators displayed placards and banners demanding the immediate repeal of the Hudood Ordinances and blasphemy law. "Women and minorities are the real victims of these laws, which are mostly used to settle scores," JAC Convener Shah Taj Qizilbash said. Also on Tuesday, the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) arranged a conference to discuss the abuses of the law. The cases of Samuel Masih and Anjum Javed, besides other Christians killed for alleged blasphemy came up for discussion. The CLAAS convener said the law was often used to settle personal vendettas and stifle political dissent. Muslim Christian Federation International (MCFI) Chairman Qazi Abdul Qadeer Khamosh proposed a committee consisting of four Muslims and one Christian to review the authenticity of blasphemy cases before the victims are accused. "Lawfully if the complainant is discovered to be filing a false blasphemy case he should also be given the same punishment," Mr Khamosh said. _____ [3] Praful Bidwai Column June 14, 2004 Hardline Hindutva Or Rudderless Drift The future of the BJP by Praful Bidwai Despite brave pretences, the Bharatiya Janata Party remains shell-shocked by its comprehensive, humiliating defeat in the Parliamentary elections. From a party which laid down the political agenda for more than a decade--that is, even before it came to power in New Delhi in 1998--, the BJP suddenly finds itself on the margins of politics. Along with its NDA allies, it has been reduced to a shadow of its former self in major states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra, where it loomed large whether or not it was in power. In the Rajya Sabha, the NDA was slated to win a bare majority this summer on the assumption that it would hold firm in the states. That prospect has now receded. The BJP's allies have suffered more ignominiously, having been reduced to a third of their strength before April. How does the BJP explain and come to terms with its rout? The short answer is, it does'nt. Its topmost leaders were stunned into graceless and undignified silence for a whole fortnight after the election results. When Mr L.K. Advani finally spoke to the press on May 31, his "explanation" was ludicrous: the BJP-NDA lost the mandate, but no other party/alliance won it. But no amount of jugglery with words, or spurious reasoning about regional variations, can negate the overarching truth that the NDA was trounced in 23 out of the 28 states of India. Its rival, the United Progressive Alliance, enjoys the support of 320-plus Lok Sabha MPs--a number the NDA couldn't dream of at the peak of its power. Mr Advani's "explanation" is a non-starter, but he at least concedes that "India Shining" was overdone: the NDA's policies fell short of the voter's expectations. Mr Vajpayee, the BJP's tallest leader, isn't even prepared to concede that. He rules out either poor policies or the "Modi factor" (the impact of the Gujarat violence in numerous states) as the defeat's causes. He claims the BJP lost because "we were too complacent" and in places, "we didn't have a clear rival". Mr Vajpayee implicitly concedes that the BJP does well only when it campaigns negatively, by maligning its opponents, not because of its own positive appeal. In truth, the BJP viciously attacked Ms Gandhi in a very personal way on the "foreign origins" issue. It missed no opportunity to hit other well-defined targets either. As for the "Modi factor", sober analysis shows the NDA lost millions of Muslim votes everywhere, its share in that total declining from 14 to 11 percent--or roughly half its share in the aggregate national vote. (By contrast, the Samajwadi Party bagged 15 percent of Muslim votes, three times higher than its overall national share. The Congress and allies secured 52 percent of the Muslim vote.) As for "complacency", it's a question-begging term in the first place. Nobody can accuse the BJP of not having campaigned energetically, marshalling all its forces and huge sums of money, and ably "micro-managing" things. The BJP leadership lacks the intellectual ability to grasp the quality and causes of the electoral defeat. But does it have the resources to devise a grand gameplan to stage a comeback? That too looks doubtful. Of course, the party is focusing on "tainted" Ministers. But that doesn't look too convincing given that its Messrs Advani and M.M. Joshi and Ms Uma Bharati had serious charges against them all these past six years, and that Mr George Fernandes was re-inducted into the Cabinet without being cleared by the Tehelka inquiry. The NDA apparently fielded 78 candidates with a criminal record in the latest elections. In any case, staging walkouts on such issues doesn't add up to a gameplan or strategy. Under its unquestioned organisational boss (Mr Advani), the BJP will remain preoccupied with survival issues for months: how to set its house in order and keep the NDA going. The first task won't be easy, especially in the North (the entire Hindi belt excluding Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan), where the BJP's Lok Sabha tally has been reduced to just 25 seats out of a total of 180. In the crucial states of UP and Bihar-Jharkhand, it's down to a pathetic 15 seats. The BJP, unlike the RSS, isn't quite a cadre organisation. Non-cadre parties which get used to power find it difficult to keep their flock together when unseated. (Look at the Congress's state for the past 20 years). The problem is particularly grim in UP, where the BJP has fallen from 25 seats to just 10. It has no revival strategy. Its big guns--Kalyan Singh, Rajnath Singh, Vinay Katiyar, Lalji Tandon and Kalraj Mishra--have all failed. In most Northern states, it doesn't know which group to woo, barring the urban trader. Even in the West-central states--MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan--BJP voters may desert it as they sober up after the hangover from the last Assembly elections wears out. The Maharashtra Assembly elections are around the corner. The adrenaline of Central power has energised the Congress-NCP. Ms Sonia Gandhi's campaign will further boost the alliance. It would be a surprise if the Shiv Sena-BJP mounts a major challenge to it. In any case, the BJP must piggyback the Sena. It has failed to build a durable base anywhere in Maharashtra, except among numerically tiny late-urbanising upper-caste groups. Similarly, in Karnataka, it's not clear if the BJP can retain Lingayat support it recently received: its base has unsteadily fluctuated between the coastal North and South, and some old Mysore districts. Within the NDA, the number of BJP allies is now down to 8, from 24 two years ago. Of these, only the Shiv Sena is an ideological ally. And at the national level, the only active ally is the JD(U), which has shrunk to a miserable 8 seats (down from 30 seats). The numerically largest ally, the BJP, doesn't have a national profile or agenda. The NDA's main cementing force has been Mr Vajpayee. Today, he isn't only taking a back seat; it's unclear (but unlikely) that he will lead the NDA into the next election. There is a distinct possibility that the AIADMK and TDP will quit the NDA. The TDP now finds the BJP's communalism a huge liability. And the BJP burnt its fingers by allying with Ms Jayalalithaa. As if these travails weren't enough, the RSS-VHP are beginning to flex their muscles. They accuse the BJP of pussyfooting on Hindutva--for them, the primary cause for its election debacle. They want a tough line on the "trident" issues (Ayodhya, Art 370 and Uniform Civil Code). The BJP is divided on this. With the UPA government in power, the Ayodhya litigation is likely to be opened up, putting the BJP on the defensive and making difficult for it to oppose a negotiated settlement. The temple issue agitation might be left to the VHP. On Art 370, the BJP cannot both oppose it and support the peace process within Kashmir and with Pakistan--a Vajpayee "achievement", which it capitalises on. On the UCC, it'd be hard put today to drum up support. The national mood is different. The litmus test for the BJP's strategic line-of-march and its relations with the RSS will come with the "Modi factor": Will the BJP sack Mr Narendra Modi in keeping with half of its Gujarat MLAs' demand? Or will it keep him despite the disgrace, infamy and adverse litigation he has brought upon the BJP? If it does the first, that will at least signal that it might, however reluctantly, move towards "moderation"; at least that possibility isn't closed despite Mr Advani's recent statement that the BJP's devotion to Hindutva is nothing "to be apologetic about". If it chooses the second option, the BJP will further harden its ideological stance and become more brazenly communal, like the Jana Sangh. The first choice spells a certain political direction. The BJP will have to stop looking for cheap gimmicks and too-clever-by-half slogans. It will have to work hard to rebuild and expand its political base and provide a responsible policy-based opposition to the UPA. The second option too entails a definite trajectory, one of contraction and marginalisation. As Mr Advani has himself repeatedly said since 1980, a strongly ideological party cannot hope to come to power in a large, diverse and plural country like India (the last three adjectives aren't his). It can at best hope to operate as a pressure group, representing sectoral upper-caste interests. That's exactly what the Jana Sangh was. It used to command 20 to 30 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP might go that way. There are organisational signs too: all its five newly appointed general secretaries are upper-caste people. Of course, there is a third option: the BJP could just drift rudderlessly, stirring up anti-democratic sentiments on issues like POTA and saffronised textbooks, but providing no effective opposition. Drift also means decline. We will soon know which option the BJP chooses. But none of them will be pleasant--unless the UPA makes a mess of things. -end- _____ [4] The Hindu June 16, 2004 ANTI-ENRON ACTIVIST DEAD By Our Special Correspondent MUMBAI, JUNE 15. Financial analyst and a campaigner against the Dabhol power project in Maharashtra and the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat, Pradyumna Kaul, 50, died in Delhi yesterday. A close associate of Medha Patkar and others of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, Kaul was a meticulous researcher and documenter. For years, he tracked the Dabhol power project in which the now defunct Enron Corporation was a principal player. Kaul questioned the financial arrangement between the Maharashtra Government and the multinational consortium headed by Enron and exposed the absence of transparency in the negotiations. He was an invaluable source not just to those campaigning against the Enron-backed power project but also to dozens of journalists writing on these issues. A graduate of the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, Kaul analysed the economics of corporations such as the Dabhol Power Corporation(DPC). He was a national committee member of the Samajwadi Jan Parishad and active with the Enron Virodhi Manch and the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Most recently, he appeared before the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Committee and also the Justice S.P. Kurudkar Commission, which was looking into the DPC deal. Kaul wrote extensively on power sector reforms. He died after a holiday in Badrinath. The cremation took place on Tuesday. _____ [5] [Background News and Op-Ed. Material + Important letter etc. from India's LGBT activists accompanied by a review article by Tejal Shah about this homophobic film called Girlfriend] BBC News, 14 June, 2004 'Girlfriend' causes India storm By Jayshree Bajoria http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3805905.stm The Telegraph, June 16, 2004 Two Women - Editorial http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040616/asp/opinion/story_3373843.asp The Times of India, June 16, 2004 The XY-rated Film: Thought Police are Oxy-morons Bachi Karkaria http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/741171.cms see also the the URL for the official website on the film: http://www.girlfriendthemovie.com/ - - - - Forwarded Message - - - - Subject: Girlfriend Protest From: "Humjinsi Cluster" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Dear all, This is an urgent and serious matter. Tejal and Sheba saw the premier of the film 'Girl Friend' yesterday. The film portrays Isha Koppikar as a sexually abused, violent, obsessive, killer, psychopath lesbian. The film claims to address the issue of 'lesbianism' but operates from a totally homophobic, hetero- patriarchal viewpoint. It will do unspeakable damage for the movement and simply put, it is downright dangerous for those of us trying to survive in an already hateful world. The movie tears away the anonymity of lesbian existence; the word lesbian is actually used in the film and the image created is a ghastly and revolting one. The character is not a lesbian, she is a woman hunter, a man hater, there are so many things in the film that are absolutely despicable that one cannot even begin to describe them. The absolute folly is that this movie is going to show in movie theatres all across the country. So while the film capitalizes on the lesbian angle (there is even a sleazy bedroom scene) the axe comes down so fast and so hard on the lesbian (she dies a gruesome death, which is obviously retribution) that there is not even a sliver of doubt. Women who hate men become lesbians- who are bloodthirsty, abusive killer- who finally bring on their own annihilation. We have to take a stand and make a statement against this film and we have to come up with strategies to make a strong protest. We urge all of you to make time and suffer through the film this weekend so that we are well aware of what we are up against. Tejal has reviewed this film for MID-DAY. What she has to say and that reflects how the rest of us feel as well, is written below. Do go through it as well. We urge everyone to come together. We will continue posting minutes of every meeting and action taken. In Solidarity, Shruti, Tejal, Sheba, Aditi Humjinsi o o o o o FROM THE FIRE INTO THE FRYING PAN Dear Mr. Karan Razdan (director of Girlfriend), This was supposed to be a film review. If the Shiva Sena and the Bajrang Dal go on a rampage yet again, to protest your film 'Girlfriend', ask for the film to be banned or sent back to the censor board, I might even forgive you. But I know, that six years after Deepa Mehta's film 'Fire' was released, the right wing will see no reason to protest your film because your portrayal of a lesbian as 'a psychopath' sexually abused, man hating, murderer and killer’ fits just fine into their hetero-patriarchal agenda of portraying lesbians & gays as freaks, abnormal and as people who must die at the end of the film, so they are aptly punished for their unnatural existence. On the out set, it must be stated that the ''Lesbian' issue is a hot topic; it attracts audiences, creates a curiosity and definitely impacts the box office collections. I mean, if you were to tell me that you made this film because you care so much about lesbians and the issues affecting them, that you wanted to bring this issue into the public realm, into every Indian household, surely you mean it as a devastatingly, nasty joke! Your film is a presentation of the worst possible misnomers (I consciously refrain from using the word 'stereotype') about anyone who may be attracted to a person of the same gender. The male, macho but normal (read heterosexual) hero has no qualms about playing a hyper-exaggerated, sissy, gay man when he needs to seduce the simple minded, generous at heart, 'one-night' lesbian, but basically reformed, heterosexual heroine, Amrita Arora. The straight heroine who is being continuously misled by the lesbian villain must be saved by the good-boy-hero. In the end, values of heterosexual love, marriage and 'normal' families must be upheld. The character of Tanya, acted by Isha Koppikar is nothing short of a 'lesbian animal' aided as it is by the background score to help us see her as a wild, almost cannibalistic man-eating/man-hating woman who dares to behave like a man, a Sahela. All this of course is explained by the simple truth that she was sexually abused as a child simultaneously implying that what makes women ‘this way’ is possibly, abuse at the hands of men! After watching a film like this, it is impossible for anyone to think of 'women who love women' as normal human beings with two hands and two feet, who may be a friend, a sister, a mother, an aunt, a neighbour, a grand mother and least of all a caring lover. It must be pointed out that under the section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are looked upon as/considered criminals, existing against the order of nature. Hey! and if you thought it was just about 'those guys & their lifestyles', let me remind you that anytime you have non peno-viginal penetrative sex, you are as much of a criminal and can be put in the prison for 7 years or heavily fined or both. Mr. Razdan, the next time you say that you are taking a neutral position in this film and portraying the case of just one lesbian, let me remind you precisely, that the fiction you are choosing is a cleverly developed and thought out story that carries a clear message. This message is a dangerous and retrogressive one. It is a message that endangers the life of any woman who may look or behave boyish, any woman who chooses to experiment with her sexuality, and any woman who asserts her right to different choices, even those women who are good friends and hold hands when they walk down the street. Welcome to the world of blatant hate crimes based on your sexual and gender orientation! As men or women, homosexual or heterosexual, films like these take us many steps backwards. More than two decades of work done by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender groups, feminists groups, human rights groups, women's groups and progressive artists groups, is going to suffer as this film is commercially released in every part of India from small towns to big cities. Every time I hear of another lesbian suicide, another girl who hanged herself for being teased about her 'best' friend, another hijra woman raped in police custody, another woman sent for shock treatment and aversion therapy to cure her of her homosexuality, another couple put under house arrest by their parents when they find out about their same-sex love, I will think of this film and I will be reminded of the power that Bollywood wields in creating a mass consciousness of one sort or the other. In this case, it will be a conscious, articulated, homophobia. Thank-you very much Mr. Razdan, but we, as progressive citizens are not interested in lip-service. I can assure you of one thing: the homosexual community in this country would much rather live in quiet anonymity than be mis-represented in such a ghastly, contorted fashion. Even a little bit of research on your part would have revealed that there are at least three active lesbian and bisexual women's groups in Bombay city alone and hundreds of 'women who love women' leading their lives openly and happily but that's only possible when one makes a film on a hot issue (like lesbianism is in India) when you foresee beyond profits and publicity and see, real lives and real people who will live the consequences of your doing. It’s time that we stopped separating the issues that films address and their impact on the audience/citizen within a given socio-political context/environment. It is also high time that we stand in protest against any film that causes damage to the rights of any minority group. Tejal Shah (The writer is a visual artist and the co-founder, organiser and curator of Larzish - tremors of a revolution, International Film festival of Sexuality & Gender Plurality, India since 2003) _____ [6] SECRET SWAMI. BBC 2 . 17 June 2004. 21.00 hrs On 7 April 2004, the International Humanist and Ethical Union raised at the UN Commission on Human Rights 60th session the issue of the Rights of Children and specifically the issue of Satya Sai Baba and the allegations of paedophilia against him. It may be recalled that two years ago the UN's Under Secretary General Shashi Tharoor wrote a misleading article in International Herald Tribune (3 Dec 2002) aimed at promoting Satya Sai Baba, without mentioning or referring to allegations of fraud, or exposes on television of his sleight of hand tricks, or reports of murders in his bedroom etc. IHEU's raising the issue was the first time that the matter of Satya Sai Baba has been mentioned at the UN Human Rights Commission. It is high time other Human Rights organisations too take up the issue of Satya Sai Baba. IHEU's President and main representative at the UN in Geneva said "... there is one particular case of child abuse that I wish to draw to the attention of the Commission. We are appalled by the widely reported allegations of systematic sexual molestation of minors against the highly successful and influential Indian god man Satya Sai Baba. These allegations led UNESCO in 2000 to withdraw from a proposed joint event with the Institute for Satya Sai Education (see UNESCO Media advisory below). Despite the matter being raised in the UK Parliament (early day motion 886 by MP Tony Coleman), and despite the issuing by the US State Department of a Travel advisory in 2001 (see US State Department Travel Advisory below), these disturbing allegations have not received the appropriate attention of the Government of India - which is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and is obliged by its Article 34 to act. We are hopeful that international attention, scrutiny and pressure will lead to a full scale investigation into the activities of this so-called god man, and ensure the protection of all children who come into contact with him". Humanists, Freethinkers and Skeptics like the late Abraham Kovoor, Dr. H. Narasimhaiah and B. Premanand are famous names which are associated with the attempts to expose Satya Sai Baba. Leader of the IHEU Member organisation Indian CSICOP, B. Premanand continues his valiant fight to expose the alleged criminality of the world's most famous god man, so that the due process of law could be applied and a proper investigation by the police carried out. An overview of Satya Sai Baba's life and the work of Humanists trying to expose him can be got by reading the undersigned's Sex Lies and Video Tape, Retelling the Satya Sai Story at URL: www.nhne.com/specialreports/srsaibaba.html#sex AFTER THE DANISH TV DOCUMENTARY 'SEDUCED' now it is the BBC's turn to investigate into the life of the ailing Satya Sai Baba and make explosive revelations about his sexuality. The BBC says " ... there are a number of former devotees who have turned away from his teachings, claiming he has ruined their lives. Alaya, a former follower who claims he was sexually abused by the swami, says in the programme: "I remember him saying, if you don't do what I say, your life will be filled with pain and suffering." In an intimate and powerful portrait, Alaya's family talks openly about how they feel they were betrayed. The documentary features Premanand and also former devotees like Glen Meloy. "Back in India, there are serious questions to be asked of politicians, who seem to have continuously ignored the problem. Indeed, some would say, the correct position for these politicians appears to be at the feet of Sai Baba. He certainly has friends in high places, and throughout the scandal, his popularity has remained intact. Has this "God-man" been wrongly accused or does his status mean he is immune to criticism?" Watch the Documentary. And ask why no action against him has yet been taken! Babu Gogineni [EMAIL PROTECTED] CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD Article 34 States Parties undertake to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. For these purposes, States Parties shall in particular take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent: (a) The inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity; (b) The exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices; (c) The exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials. UNESCO FINAL MEDIA ADVISORY FROM PARIS URL: web.archive.org/web/20001017142401/http://www.unesco.org/education/highlights/media_advisory.htm UNESCO WITHDRAWS FROM CONFERENCE (2000) Paris, September 15 - UNESCO has decided it will no longer sponsor nor take part in a conference it had been due to co-organize with the Institute of Sathya Sai Education (ISSE, Thailand) and The Flinders University Institute of International Education (Australia), in Puttaparthi, India, from September 25 to 29. The decision means UNESCO is no longer associated in any way – through sponsorship, organization or participation of any kind – with the conference on Strengthening Values Education: Innovative Approaches to Teacher Education for Peace and International Understanding. UNESCO’s withdrawal was prompted by several factors. Certain decisions were taken by the ISSE without consultation, such as plans to hold some of the sessions at the Ashram of the Sathya Sai movement in Puttaparthi, and the inclusion of some speakers in the conference programme without their previous consent. Furthermore, the Organization is deeply concerned about widely-reported allegations of sexual abuse involving youths and children that have been levelled at the leader of the movement in question, Sathya Sai Baba. Whilst it is not for UNESCO to pronounce itself in this regard, the Organization restates its firm moral and practical commitment to combating the sexual exploitation of children, in application of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which requires States to protect children from all forms of sexual exploitation and violence. US STATE DEPARTMENT TRAVEL ADVISORY (US State Department's India - Consular Information Sheet, November 23, 2001 - http://travel.state.gov/india.html - (under Andhra Pradesh) which warns: “U.S. citizens traveling to or residing in Andhra Pradesh should also be aware that there have been media and other reports of inappropriate sexual behavior by a prominent local religious leader. Most of the reports indicate that the subjects of these approaches have been young male devotees, including a number of U.S. citizens. Although these reports are unconfirmed, U.S. citizens should be aware of this information) SAI BABA AND SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN NO. 886 That this House, mindful of the many accounts and witness statements of the sexual abuse of the male children of devotees by the Indian guru, Sai Baba, calls upon the Foreign Secretary to use the Travel Advice for India page of the Foreign Office Website to issue guidance to British families intending to visit the Ashram of Sai Baba about the possible danger to their male children of individual audiences with the guru. UK Parliament, 26.02.02 House of Commons ______ [7] Indian Express June 15, 2004 Two steps back in Lucknow Banning some foreigners from the imambaras goes against the city's culture of tolerance SEEMA ALAVI All over the world there has been condemnation of US-led attacks on Muslim holy sites in Iraq. One fully understands the emotions that make the Muslim interventions in the cacophony of worldwide protests distinct. For their non-Muslim allies the US attack is about violation of international diplomatic laws, human rights and erosion of UN authority. For Muslims it is that plus intense hurt over the damage to the Najaf and Karbala holy sites. Najaf and Karbala as the centres of Muslim identity have been immortalised by a range of Urdu poets including Allama Iqbal. Muslims could never shed their Islamic identity, he said, because they had the dust of Medina and Najaf in their eyes. Emanating from Najaf and Karbala this sense of the Muslim Self replicates itself annually through the re-enactment of martyrdom rituals associated with these sites and the replication of their monuments. Lucknow has the privilege of housing two 18th century monuments that are replicas of the holy shrines in Najaf and Karbala. The big (Barra) Imambara and the small (Chotta) Imambara were built by the pre-colonial, Shia nawabi political class that owed its origin to Iran. Both emerged as emblems of the cultural syncretism and cosmopolitanism associated with Lucknow. Annual funeral rituals enacted here were attended by Muslims from as far as Baghdad and Damascus. Hindus too participated and the British revered the sites. Today these emblems of tolerance and peaceful co-existence are in the eye of a storm. Muslim clerics, incensed by the US-led attacks on Najaf and Karbala, have forbidden tourists from the US, Britain and Israel to enter these imambaras. This has prompted Britain to advise its citizens not to travel to Lucknow and the US is soon to follow suit. The extreme step of the clerics is unfortunate. The request to the clerics to lift this ban is not about tourism or economics. It is about upholding the city's spirit of tolerance. It is about finetuning protest to the facts of the case. And the facts are that some of the best histories of Lucknow have been penned by US and UK historians: Juan Cole's book on the history of the imambaras and Muharram celebrations; Chris Bayly's influential publications on Awadh culture and society; Rosie Llewyn Jones's descriptions of European-Indian interactions in nawabi Lucknow; American historians Mike Fisher and Richard Barnett's chronicling of the intricate relations between the Shia nawabs and the British in colonial Lucknow. The list is endless. The ban affects such healthy intellectual interaction. Banning those people whose history has enveloped the best and most productive parts of their lives is hurtful to them and painful to all those who uphold the values of tolerance and freedom of intellectual and cultural interaction. The fight against US aggression can be won by striking alliances within these societies, not by alienating those sensitive to our histories and politics. ______ [8] PRESS RELEASE 15 June 2004 Our life - your election The Gujarat Carnage 2002 has been narrowed down from an issue of Crime Against Humanity to just a reason for winning or losing an election. It is painful for Gujaratis like us to read Mr. Prafull Goradia’s letter in Timmes of India dated 15 June 2004 which states that “[…] In December 2002, well after the riots, the BJP won 126 assembly seats out of 182, then the party went on to win three by elections. A year later, our party had near landslide victories in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.” Several other leaders within BJP have put forward similar arguments. Are Mr. Prafull Goradia and the others conveying to Mr. Vajpayee that the Gujarat Carnage 2002 was a successful experiment to win the election? It is also unfortunate even to listen Mr. Vajpayee who also narrows down the Gujarat Carnage 2002 as an issue of Crime Against Humanity to win or lose an election, and states that the violence in Gujarat could have been one of the reasons for the party’s defeat in the recent election. Both the trends inside the BJP are debating the violence in Gujarat as a reason for the defeat, or not, in recent election. So it is pretty clear that even Mr. Vajpayee also is not feeling sorry for the Gujarat Carnage which was a Crime Against the Humanity. Defeat of an election is his prime concern. It is also unfortunate that the media is not trying to expand the issue beyond the wining or losing of the election. It would have made sense if Mr. Vajpayee would have made an issue of Gujarat Carnage 2002 within BJP, with reference to the role of Government of Gujarat and the Chief Minister of Gujarat, by referring the NHRC report, various other reports by the Human Rights Groups, Feminist Groups and the recent Supreme Court Judgement in Best Bakery case. Rohit Prajapati Trupti Shah Human Rights Activists of Gujarat ______ [9] In Defence of Our Dreams Docu-lecture series VCD format "In Defence of Our Dreams" is an important resource material for training students, youth, activists, political workers and politicians on themes related to communalism. The docu-lectures by eminent specialists are richly edited with archival footage. The CDs are in English. The package contains the following: Mridula Mukherjee Legacy of the Freedom Movement Mihir Desai Secularism as a constitutional Right Pralay Kanungo History of Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh Harsh Mander Civil Society and State: Lessons from Gujarat SK Thorat, Caste, Dalits and Fascism Nivedita Menon Gender – Issues, Movement & Interrelation with Communal Politics Bipin Chandra The Urgency to Resist Fascist Forces Rajdeep Sardesai Media: an Arena for Struggle Rizwan Qaisar, Communalisation of Education and History K.M. Shrimali Is Ayodhya Just a Physical Site K.N. Panikkar Cultural Roots of Communalism Ram Punyani Facts & Myths Sohail Hashmi Formation of Indian Identity Digant Oza, Gujarat before and after Carnage Praful Bidwai Communalism, Nationalist Chauvinism & India -Pakistan Hostility Rakesh Sharma Final Solution-Documentary on Gujarat Gauhar Raza Zulmaton ke Daur Main/ Junoon ke Badhte Qadam Saeed Mirza Unheard Voices Us Subha Ki Khatir Audio CD of movement songs ( tu zinda hai, woh subah kabhi to ayegi, gar ho sake to ab koye shamma jalayee, mandir masjid, ham sab is jahan main and more) A few experts, creative artists and individuals who aspire for a secular, democratic and harmonious Indian society dreamt of the present project. The lecture covering various aspects of communalism delivered by eminent intellectuals were converted into lively documentaries of about 25-minute duration by Gauhar Raza. Please send drafts to : Anhad, 4, Windsor Place, New Delhi-110001, tel-23327367/ 66 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Rs. 1000/- at Anhad office, By Courier -Rs 1000/- +50 (courier charges for one set) within India For other countries you may write to us. _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on matters of peace and democratisation in South Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit citizens wire service run since 1998 by South Asia Citizens Web: www.sacw.net/ The complete SACW archive is available at: bridget.jatol.com/pipermail/sacw_insaf.net/ South Asia Counter Information Project a sister initiative, provides a partial back -up and archive for SACW: snipurl.com/sacip See also associated site: www.s-asians-against-nukes.org DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers. -- The Message archive is available at http://www.egroups.com/group/act/ Yahoo! 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