South Asia Citizens Wire | 25 Jan., 2005 via: www.sacw.net [1] The spectre of a 'second Tsunami' in Sri Lanka: What can we do to prevent a human-made disaster? (N. Shanmugaratnam) [2] Pakistan-India: Cap The Nuclear Arsenal Now (R. Rajaraman) [3] India: Secularism at stake (Bhanu Mehta) [4] Tsunami relief and secularism : Needed a progressive outlook in Charity (V.B.Rawat) [5] India: Orissa - Agenda of Desaffronisation A Casualty (Santosh Das) [6] India [Gujarat's religion survey in schools] 'Facts And Fears' (Edit, the Telegraph)
-------------- [1] THE SPECTRE OF A 'SECOND TSUNAMI' IN SRI LANKA: WHAT CAN WE DO TO PREVENT A HUMAN-MADE DISASTER? by N. Shanmugaratnam (People-People Dialogue on Peace & Development (PPD)) [ 20 January 2005] We live in a world in which disasters are not uncommon. Let us not forget for a moment that millions of people have died and are dying of aids, malaria and starvation. The war in Iraq and the numerous intrastate wars in various parts of the world are so destructive of assets and livelihoods while taking a heavy toll of human life. However, no disaster in our time has shocked the world and impacted on the human psyche and evoked sympathy for the victims on such a scale as the Asian tsunami. The explanation for this lies in the suddenness and the enormity of the havoc wreaked by the tsunami. Over 200,000 lives were lost and millions have been rendered homeless and displaced in a matter of seconds and minutes. The tsunami was a disastrous natural event from a human point of view. However, it is well known that the devastation would have been much less had we been forewarned and better prepared. That there is a human-made dimension to the catastrophic socio-economic effects of the tsunami is conveniently forgotten by the ruling elites, who keep calling the disaster a purely natural one. Blaming nature alone (and in this instance it sounds credible) helps the local rulers to cover up their failures. It has also helped those who failed to share the meteorological information they had about the advancing tsunami with the countries on its way. The suddenness or the speed and the scale of the disaster have made it a humanitarian emergency of unprecedented proportions. They have also thrown up unprecedented challenges for reconstruction and development. Valuable human capital has been washed out. Millions of people had become pauperised in a moment. Local and regional economies have been destroyed. In the two worst affected countries, Indonesia and Sri Lanka these challenges have acquired greater complexity because of their internal politico-military situations. In these countries, post-tsunami reconstruction cannot be separated from post-war reconstruction and development. The challenge is to turn the tsunami tragedy into an opportunity for conflict resolution and link reconstruction and development to peace building. Are these countries ready to face the challenge? Let us take the case of Sri Lanka, where nearly 40,000 people were killed. * The tsunami has devastated around 70% of the coast and the interior up to more than 2 km, from the northernmost tip in the Jaffna peninsula through the entire north-east and the south and a part of the west coast up to the suburbs of Colombo. * A million people have been displaced. * Livelihoods of over 250,000 households ruined (fishers, farmers, shop owners and employees in tourism and other sectors). * Destruction of infrastructure, Businesses, other private assets. * Loss of vital documents including documents regarding property rights. * Unknown numbers of orphans, widows, disabled persons and victims of post-disaster trauma. We need to place this tragedy in the larger context of our unresolved national question and the consequences of two decades of war in which over 65,000 lives were lost. * Around two thirds of the tsunami-affected coastline is in the war zone of the North-East. * 7-800,000 people were internally displaced due to war. * Extensive destruction and damage to infrastructure, regional economy and the environment. * Loss of livelihoods due to militarisation, displacement, wartime restrictions and death and incapacitation of breadwinners. * Resettlement of the war-displaced has been extremely slow even three years after the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) of February 2002. * New grievances and conflicts regarding livelihoods and access to land and water resources have emerged in the war-torn NEP as a result of the protracted war. * Communalisation i.e. the division of the Lankan polity along ethnic lines runs deep. * The peace process has been stalled for a long time and the political tensions between the UPFA government and the LTTE had reached a serious level just before the tsunami. The question is: Can post-tsunami reconstruction be separated from post-war reconstruction & development? The challenge, if I may repeat, is to link reconstruction and development to conflict resolution and peace building. This involves: * An early revival of the peace process and reaching an agreement on an interim/transitional arrangement for the NorthEast Province (NEP) while jointly working on a long-term political settlement. * Rebuilding the war-torn and tsunami-torn communities and their livelihoods. * Rehabilitation and sustainable development of coastal zone resource systems: human settlements, fisheries, coastal agriculture and forestry, recreation and tourism. * Overall socio-economic revival. * National reconciliation & reunification. Today, there is an opportunity but there are some disturbing developments too. Positive: * Unity and Solidarity across ethnic and religious divides: The tsunami has united people across ethnic and religious divides: People-People mutual help and harmony are at their best in decades in Sri Lanka. * Social movements support political settlement: Some social movements in the South are strongly supportive of a political settlement. * The CFA has survived: The CFA of February 2002 continues to hold though with violations and amid uncertainty. * Majority reject war and are for peace: Majority of the peoples of Sri Lanka (Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and others) reject war and favour a political settlement. * High potential for development: Development of the war and tsunami affected economy has high potential for employment generation, equitability and national reconciliation if the right policies are chosen and if development can be governed by appropriate institutional arrangements. * International support for peace: The international actors involved in Sri Lankan affairs seem to favour a political settlement. Negative: * Politicisation of official relief and reconstruction: Official tsunami relief and post-tsunami reconstruction have become divisively politicised along party and ethnic lines. Indeed, the tsunami became politicised from the moment it hit the coasts of Sri Lanka. * Centralisation and exclusion: There is an ongoing centralisation of the entire official relief and reconstruction operations under the direct control of the President. This is not likely to counter the divisive politicisation but will bureaucratise relief and reconstruction with adverse effects on the victims, while widening the communication gap between the government and the LTTE. Along with this is the trend of corporatisation of reconstruction, with the co-optation of business leaders into Task Forces and committees dealing with the planning and utilisation of foreign aid. The government has been taking major decisions regarding coastal human settlements and establishment of new urban centres and towns in a totally top-down and authoritarian fashion under conditions of Emergency. There has not been any consultation whatsoever with the affected communities, local organisations and other stakeholders. People's organisations and social movements have objected to the government's failure to provide for representation of the affected communities in decision making. This centralist trend is conflict-insensitive and likely to have adverse effects on the peace process and the search for a solution to the national question based on autonomy and power sharing. * Militarisation: The rescue and relief operations have become militarised. Many stakeholders view this with grave concern. The government has ordered the state's armed forces to take over relief distribution in affected areas including the NEP. This has created new tensions between the government and LTTE. Even more disturbing is the arrival of troops from India, USA, Pakistan, UK and Canada for rescue and relief operations. * Fear of a 'second tsunami': Reconstruction and development policy: There are concerns about the new regulations regarding resettlement of the displaced in coastal areas and about the high probability of a new wave of social exclusion and disenfranchisement in the name of reconstruction and development. There is fear of a 'second tsunami' - a metaphor coined by some Lankan activists to refer to a possible human-made disaster. This fear is not unfounded given the past experience of spatially and socially uneven development. Post-tsunami reconstruction has become almost entirely donor driven, like the neoliberal development of the past 27 years. One of the effects of the tsunami has been a further widening of the disparities in households' income and other entitlements between the western urban areas and the affected coastal areas. The government's approach has not shown sufficient sensitivity to this and other problems. * Ultranationalist opposition: There is opposition from ultranationalist groups to a peaceful resolution of the national question. What can we do to prevent a 'second tsunami'. The short answer is: oppose the negative and support the positive tendencies. But this is more easily said than done. The tasks ahead are daunting. However, it is heartening to note that several organisations have already found common grounds to defend the rights of the tsunami victims and to expose the flawed policy and practices of the government. In a bizarre sense, the tsunami was a blessing to the government, which was on the verge of bankruptcy due to the lack of much wanted foreign aid that was held up due to the 'peace conditionality'. The tragedy opened another door of foreign aid to the government. Today, the government has been promised tsunami aid to the tune of USD 1.8 bn. The government is obviously happy about this and the debt freeze, which has provided a temporary relief from repayment of debt. This means the government does not have any major financial constraints for the time being. On the other hand, how the money is going to be spent will decide the socio-economic and environmental outcome of the external aid received. We need to recognise and face the challenge of linking post-tsunami reconstruction to peace and post-war reconstruction and development. This is the time to do it and we cannot afford to miss this historic opportunity. I submit the following ideas for discussion at the PPD sessions. * Work towards creating a broad and principled alliance to resist the ongoing politicisation, centralisation, militarisation and corporatisation of relief and reconstruction; This involves the formulation of an alternative policy and an agenda for action. * Demand a quick withdrawal of the foreign troops from Sri Lanka, and a non-military arrangement for relief and debris clearing operations; * Mobilise the victims of the tsunami and discuss the proposed regulations on coastal settlement and land rights with a view to formulate the people's demands and develop an agenda for action; * Defend the fishing rights of the small fishers and resist any attempt by government to weaken or deny their customary rights to fishing grounds; * Organise a campaign for the immediate revival of the peace process. * Expand the PPD process to include dialogues between tsunami victims from the South and war and tsunami victims from the NE (Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese) with a view to strengthen solidarity and to learn new ideas regarding reconciliation, reconstruction and development. * Mobilise international support for durable peace and inclusive and equitable development in Sri Lanka. ______ [2] The Hindu Jan 25, 2005 Opinion - Leader Page Articles CAP THE NUCLEAR ARSENAL NOW By R. Rajaraman If we in South Asia do not act now we will bequeath succeeding generations hundreds of nuclear weapons, in the shadow of whose hazards they will have to live. NOTWITHSTANDING THE lip service that they periodically pay to the goal of a nuclear weapon-free South Asia, in practice the Governments of India and Pakistan are not taking serious steps to move towards it. Most of our national security experts also seem to consider nuclear disarmament to be no more than a pipe dream of peace activists. Admittedly, given the state of India-Pakistan relations and the proximity of a nuclear China, the prospects for ridding our country of these weapons do seem bleak. But I do not believe they are hopeless. However in order to achieve disarmament people advocating it have to go about it in graduated steps, rather than demand immediate disarmament on an all-or-nothing basis. Taking on the task of full disarmament of South Asia at this stage may be forbidding . But the more modest goal of capping the arsenal at existing levels may be achievable. As of now, South Asian nuclear forces and their associated infrastructure are still relatively small compared to those of other nuclear powers. If further growth and consolidation could be stopped soon, it may be possible eventually to roll back the arsenal. It is the first step on the road to full disarmament. Keeping the arsenal from becoming larger also lowers the various risks attendant with the possession of nuclear weapons. These risks include the possibility of accidents, fires, launch through human and instrumental error, and theft by non-state actors. Therefore a concerted effort should be made by peace lovers and arms controllers to demand the capping of South Asian nuclear arsenals at current levels as soon as possible. We in India should do this unilaterally, in our own enlightened self-interest. Even this smaller goal of capping the arsenal will not be easy to achieve. It can only be done by evolving a broad consensus among people with different shades of opinion on the nuclear issue. There are some in the subcontinent who, like me, strongly believe that nuclear weapons are not essential for national security. But there are others, many more in number and most of them not hawks by nature, who genuinely feel that nuclear weapons are a necessary evil to deter our nuclear neighbours. Their concerns must be addressed if a consensus is to be evolved to stop the onward march of nuclearisation. The concept of nuclear deterrence is based on shaky foundations that are as much psychological as they are logical. Nevertheless, in order to address the concerns of those who believe in it, let us accept the notion of deterrence for the sake of argument. That raises the question of how large an arsenal of warheads is really needed for that purpose. The strategy of deterrence relies on possessing a nuclear capability that can still inflict, even after a first attack by the enemy, unacceptable damage to the other side. This, it is argued, would deter them from attempting a nuclear first strike. Now, just a couple of modest 15-20 kiloton weapons dropped on Lahore and Karachi or New Delhi and Mumbai would kill half a million people. Surely, that should already be "unacceptable damage" to an even remotely responsible leadership. A leadership that finds this "acceptable" is beyond the pale of rationality and cannot be relied upon to feel deterred even by the prospect of a larger attack. Given that a successful attack on a few major cities with a couple of 20 kiloton weapons each would inflict unacceptable damage, it is not clear why the notion of deterrence should call for dozens, let alone hundreds, of weapons. All one needs are a few surviving deliverable weapons. With clever camouflaging techniques, mobile launchers, and submarine-based missiles, losses due to limitations of reliability, accuracy, and survivability in the event of a first attack would at most be about 50 per cent. Altogether then, about a dozen safely stored warheads should really be sufficient for such deterrence. Now, a conservative estimate based on most reports would suggest that India and Pakistan already have 40 or more nuclear weapons each - more than sufficient to serve the requirements of deterrence. Unfortunately, even with so many weapons already in hand, they see their nuclear arsenals as still being at some incomplete stage. Despite the fact that relations between the two countries have improved over the past year and a dialogue is proceeding on different fronts, there has been no interruption in the further build-up of their respective nuclear forces. In fact not too long ago Pakistan's President, Pervez Musharraf, assured his nation, in connection with the Dr. A.Q. Khan episode, that its nuclear assets and its missile programme would not be rolled back. On the Indian side too one has not heard any person in authority talking of stopping or even slowing down further growth of nuclearisation. India's nuclear doctrine, which is presumably still the blueprint for its nuclear strategy, speaks of a triad of aircraft, mobile land-based missiles, and sea-based assets with multiple redundant systems. So the present thaw in India-Pakistan relations notwithstanding, if no decisive steps are taken to reverse the existing policies of nuclear build-up there may be well over a hundred nuclear weapons on each side within a decade. Certainly I know some influential voices in India that would want even bigger arsenals. We are aware that India's nuclear strategy is not just a bilateral matter involving Pakistan. It is designed as much, if not more, with China in mind. That we have three contiguous nuclear nations certainly makes the de-nuclearisation of this region a very complicated matter. But as far as capping the Indian arsenal is concerned, the preceding arguments for it hold just as much when applied to China as the adversary. The assured prospect of, say, Nanjing and Shanghai receiving a couple of bombs that would kill half a million people should be ample for deterring today's China (we do not yet have the missiles to deliver them that far, but no doubt we are working on them). In China's perception its main external threat comes from the United States and its missile defence programme and not India. Furthermore, China is now focussed strongly on pursuing its economic growth and domestic prosperity. It is extremely unlikely to initiate any adventure against India that could invite nuclear retaliation against any of its major cities. The fact that China possesses several hundred nuclear warheads does not negate the argument for capping the Indian arsenal at a much smaller number. The tenets of deterrence do not require that your arsenal match that of your adversary, but only that it be capable of inflicting damage that is unacceptable to any rational leadership on the other side. Recall that China itself has been content to stay with just a few hundred weapons, even though the U.S. and Russia, which it views as its main adversaries, possess several thousands of them. The call for capping the arsenal may be opposed not just by pro-nuclear strategists but, ironically, also by staunch anti-nuclear groups for different reasons. The latter may feel that in arguing that the existing arsenal is "more than enough," the weapons are being rationalised and sanctified. That is not the intention. We must remember that the present arsenal is a reality that is already there. Worse still, it is growing with time. If you cannot even stop its growth there is no question of eventually achieving total disarmament. Hard-headed strategists, on the other hand, may view the suggestion for a cap as naïve and impractical given the state of India-Pakistan relations. But there are special situations when governments have to rise above traditional postures and diplomatic caution in order to achieve special goals. The dangers of increasing nuclear arsenals further are far too serious and call for drastic measures immediately. There is an urgent need to cap the nuclear arsenals now. For, once deeply entrenched, nuclear weapon systems will not go away so easily even after political tensions get defused. We only need to look at Russia and the U.S. 15 years after the Cold War has ended. Each of them still has several thousand weapons on alert with no discernable threat left to justify them. If we in South Asia do not act now we too will bequeath our succeeding generations hundreds of nuclear weapons, in the shadow of whose hazards they will have to live for decades if not centuries. (The writer is Professor Emeritus of Physics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.) _________________________________ SOUTH ASIANS AGAINST NUKES (SAAN): An informal information platform for activists and scholars concerned about Nuclearisation in South Asia South Asians Against Nukes Mailing List: archives are available @ two locations May 1998 - March 2002: <groups.yahoo.com/group/sap/messages/1> Feb. 2001 - to date: <groups.yahoo.com/group/SAAN_/messages/1> To subscribe send a blank message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> South Asians Against Nukes Website: www.s-asians-against-nukes.org ______ [3] Indian Express January 23, 2005 SECULARISM AT STAKE State involvement in religion may have been inevitable, but there's a heavy price to be paid, says Pratap Bhanu Mehta THE possible takeover of the Kanchi mutt ought to direct our attention to an extraordinary aspect of the state-religion entanglement in India. Across India, state governments have been using some pretext to take over the running of hundreds of Hindu temples and endowments. The extent of regulation varies from appointing nominees to oversee affairs to a wholesale takeover of temple administration. Just to get an idea of the scale involved, consider the Andhra Pradesh department of endowments. It controls 70,000 personnel and claims to run approximately 33,000 temples and religious endowments. Tamil Nadu has what amounts to a parallel civil service for temple administration. Regulation is often not confined merely to management of property or financial matters; it extends to appointment of priests and regulation of religious routines in the temple. The Andhra Pradesh department of endowments proudly announces that one of its functions is to ''ensure the proper performance of pujas''. The increasing involvement of the state in thousands of temples raises questions about the nature of Indian secularism and the prudence of government policy. Why should the state progressively get more entangled in religion? What are the political consequences of this entanglement? The involvement of the state in the regulation of temple affairs was, to some extent, inevitable. Issues such as temple entry and lifting of restrictions on who could become a priest were at the heart of debates over social reform within Hinduism. The vast assets of temples seemed to cry out for regulation. But these plausible justifications for occasional state involvement in the affairs of temples have now become pretexts for the state to take over temples indiscriminately. The practical takeover of thousands of temples was facilitated by the report of the Hindu Religious Endowments Commission (1960-162). It recommended that legislation be used to treat all mutts as if they were public. A series of incautious judicial pronouncements-from the Religious Endowments case to the recent case allowing for the takeover of Vaishno Devi-have greatly facilitated this trend. The courts make a distinction between the secular aspects of a religious endowment and its religious aspects. They have rationalised regulation on the ground that such takeovers do not interfere with essential practices of the religion. But, as Rajeev Dhavan and Fali Nariman wrote, ''In this process both the government and the judiciary tend to overlook the simple fact that under the guise of regulatory control, religious endowments are, and have been, nationalised on a massive scale''. Such takeovers fuel the politics of resentment amongst Hindu organisations. They argue that it is vastly easier for the state to take over Hindu temples and endowments than it is for the state to encroach on similar minority institutions. Members of the Sangh Parivar object to state entanglement in religious affairs, but defenders of secularism turn a blind eye to the legitimisation of state spending on temples in Andhra, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry Strictly speaking, this may not be entirely true. The state does exercise supervisory authority over Wakf Boards. Following the Ismail Faruqui case, the courts have also ruled that there is no constitutional bar to the state acquiring mosques. The 1984 Wakf Amendment Act allowed for more state regulation of Wakfs, but the general impression is that the 1995 Amendment Act, while retaining the possibility of state regulation, considerably weakened it. Therefore the impression has gained ground that Hindu temples and endowments are less immune from state takeover and interference. But takeovers also increase the financial entanglement of state and religion in contradictory ways. On the one hand, the state has been empowered to re-allocate the money generated from temples in which ever way it chooses. On the other hand, it has legitimised state spending on temples. The Andhra, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry governments routinely subsidise the construction of temples. It is ironical that members of the Sangh Parivar object to this kind of state entanglement in religious affairs, whereas defenders of secularism have been turning a blind eye to this phenomenon. State takeover of temples violates the freedom of communities to manage their affairs. It is also an imprudent policy. Having politicians and civil servants sit on the board of these temples is not a recipe for either healthy politics or healthy religion. It is often claimed that religious endowments are corrupt and need regulation. But it is not clear that the state will be any less corrupt. On the contrary, the government could be taking over temples in order to enhance the state's power of patronage. Besides, if the ''corruption'' is not at the taxpayers' expense, there is no reason for the state to intervene. Indeed, by treating trusts as analogous to sick industries to be taken over at will, the state simply prevents civil society from taking responsibility for its actions. There is something amiss when a secular state gets into the business of appointing priests, regulating pujas and taking over temples. The Andhra Pradesh endowments department can openly proclaim its function is ''to promote Hindu religious activities''. Given the systematic nature of departments dealing with endowments and temples in many states, the day is not far where we may need a Union Public Service Commission for appointments of priests, a minister for religious affairs and a financial regulator for religious endowments! The future of secularism is being put at risk by the machinations of state governments that cannot keep their hands off religious institutions. ______ [4] Tsunami relief and secularism : Needed a progressive outlook in Charity By V.B.Rawat in Nagore and Parangipattai ( Tamilnadu) [24 January 2005] December 26th, 2004 when Tsunami waves hit the coastal regions of Tamilnadu, Pondichery, Andhra-Pradesh and Kerala, nobody would have imagined that these waves are weaving a new India in grief. An India where the people care for their neighbor and that their God was the agony of the people. In adversity people found their best pluralistic practices. People thronged to Tamilnadu and other affected areas with their teams. A fairly large number of religious charitable organizations have been working in the area to provide relief operations. One of the worst affected districts in Tamilnadu was Cuddulore where the Tsunami devastated several villages. The villages of Pudukuppam, Saamiyar pettai and Chinnoor felt the tremor of water. Within seconds the villages were almost out of the map. Parangipattai is a small town ( though calling it a town is still not proper) with a fairly impressive Muslim population. It is quite far from the seashore and hence the waves did not have any impact in the area but the tremor of the killer waves had been felt in this village. In the small office of United Islamic Jamaat, its head were discussing their usual office meeting when the news came from running villagers about the devastation. With in a few moments, the Jamaat decided that it must keep aside all its work and immediately rescue the people irrespective of their religion. With in half an hour the volunteers of the Jamaath rushed to the affected areas. Children, aged, women were first taken care of and given shelter in the Masjid of the area. Over 100 people were saved by the quick rescue operation by the United Islamic Jamaath volunteers. They even called private doctors to treat people. When the information of the devastation started trickling in, the Jamaath rushed ambulances and six buses to over 10 villages to pick up dead bodies. About 400 bodies were collected by the Jamaath and buried according to local traditions. Most of these bodies belonged to Hindu fishermen and women. About 50 people were still missing by the time we had made a visit to these areas. More then 15000 people took shelter in the Masjid, cinema halls, schools owned by the Muslims in the area. The Jamaath also arranged community kitchen for the displaced people. About 4000 people were continuously staying at the Jamaath’s different centers as many of them went back after one or two days. The community kitchen ran for 10 days. In their Mummadhia marriage hall, a huge amount of relief material was being collected and the quality of the material seemed much better. It included Sarees, mats, stoves, buckets, rations and other important material. The Jamaath says it has over twenty thousands volunteers all over Tamilnadu and they have been collecting funds and donation from the Muslim community. Some of their friends from Karnataka also send them relief. According to the leader of Jamaath, they have been helping poor Muslims to over come their problems particularly in relation to education. They help two-three graduates in their higher education while over 200 students and their expenses are being taken care off by the Jamaath. The organization offers Ambulances to help the accident victims of the area. During Ramadan holy month, over 800 families are helped by collecting donation in the form of Jakat. The collection is in the range of between 2 to 2.5 lakh rupees on the last day of Ramadan. The Jamaat has been highly appreciative of the collector Mr Gagandeep Singh, who has been referring to Jamaath to all those who were visiting from other parts of the country to tell them that they must get out of stereotyping the Muslim community. That Muslims cannot stand for others is another myth being spread by the Hindutva fanatics has been exposed here. As we move on towards Nagpattinam, which has been totally davastated by the fury of nature. The train link between the historic town of Nagore and Nagpattinam collapsed due to Tsunami. The train standing at the Nagore Railway station saved the day of the big Muslim population of Nagore. But all those areas which came on the route of Tsunami got wiped off. Nagore is a very historic town and culturally different. It reflects the Islamic culture, as the presence of Muslim women is clearly visible. Unlike other parts Muslim women wear colorful burquas and white seemed to be the most visible among them. Nagore has a linkage with the north. Nagore’s famous Dargah Hazarath Syed Abdul Kadir Shahul Hameed Nagore ( Rali) is one of the most revered shrine in the South. It is a different shrines then other dargahs in various aspects. Normally, Dargah culture of Islam attracted people from different faiths and Nagore is not an exception. What differentiates Nagore from other shrines is symbolic secularization process in its architecture. The northern link is that Hazarath Sayed was born in Manikpur. Though the head of the Dargah trust informed me that it is a place near Avadh and not known to him as they feel that this place might not even exist. For me it was an interesting thing because I am well aware of Manekpur which is in the Chitrakoot district of Uttar-Pradesh and famous for various temples. This Manekpur also break some other myths of the Hindutva historians who have been demonizing the Mughal kings. Some of the temples in Manekpur got handsome compensation and land from much maligned Mughal King Aurangjeb and the temples still have those papers with them. It is said that King Achuthappa Naicker of Thanjavur granted a piece of land for the construction of Dargah. The importance of this huge structure is its architecture and the faith of the people who throng it. In the sanctum sanctorum there are a few things which are hallmark of great secular tradition that this dargah carries. The burial place of Hazarath is encircled in Islamic architecture. After that a large number of lamps, beautiful decorated around the structure. According to the town Kazi of Nagore Dargah, this reflect the Hindu influence on us. These lamps have ¾ water and ¼ oil. They make the shrine look more beautiful. Outside it is a greater circle having a big cross, reflecting the influence of Christian faith. I am surprised and pleasantly so to find how the symbols of various faiths have been incorporated here in the glorious architecture of Nagore. And if you visit and see the number of people visiting the Dargah, you will be surprised. To further my trip in the Tsunami affected areas and see the work of Islamic institutions. Dargah Nagori’s role has been of great importance. Not only people took shelter in huge campus of Dargah, the Dargah also cremated more than 345 bodies and provided its own space for the cremation. For days, people ate at the community kitchen provided by the Dargah. It became a soothing balm for those women who lost everything in the Tsunami. Relief material was distributed among the people and mentally disturbed people got a place for themselves to relieve. The Dargah has several ambulances and send it to pick up the victims in different places. It was the only place with in the six-kilometer of the Nagpattinam town, which survived. It provided a healing touch to all those who visited it. Despite their wholehearted work which got wide media attention, certain things need reform if we want ourselves to be called progressively secular. The discrimination against Dalits and women was visible in these areas, not in the Dargahs but my feeling was that there was no specific effort to reach to them. We generalize the entire process ignoring the facts that Dalits were not getting even the relief material and there was a need to use protective mechanism so that they get the material. Perhaps it was because of the apolitical nature of these institutions who wanted to look more secular then others. Secondly, Jamaat was not willing to work more. I pressed its president what next and he said they have done what they should have done. I even asked that organizations like theirs need to come out more in rehabilitation material where there is a danger of corrupt practices and rehabilitation is a big issue because relief is done and gone. The president of Jamaat said that they would not go beyond the relief as their work is mainly among the Muslims. One of the disgusting scene for me was the condition of women. Though Jamaath leader said that they have opened up Madrasas for girls, I could visualize his discomfort from my question on the issue of women. It is important for organizations like Jamaat to involve more and more Muslim women in their work and focus on their education. No community can progress if they want to not address the issue of such an importance. At the Nagore Dargah, the scene was more shocking. There was a big presence of women, crying weeping and kissing the floor or the walls yet they were kept on safe distance. The Dargah has seven gates and women are not allowed to enter any of these gates. They worship outside the seventh gate though these gates are just on distance of 100 meter and women pray in a hall from where they can have a glimpse of the person distributing prasadam like a Hindu priest. I questioned the head Qaji of the Dargah as why they have kept women outside the Dargah and his answer was that due to menses and other dirt, women were not allowed to venture inside these gates. When I asked him why shouldn’t they change this, he was sarcastic and said that it was a tradition and they follow these traditions strictly. The roles of religious groups have been good in distributing relief material. There are huge tents and relief material of Sai Baba trusts, Amritamayee Ashram, Swami Chidananda, Christian groups. But it is not just Muslims but all of them have not felt to challenge the status quo. At one of the Swami’s ashram famous for his disciple Vivek Oberai at Devanpattinam, the Swami allegedly had 6 community kitchen and when some of the fisher folks saw the Dalits of other bustees eating, they opposed and violently. The Swami has to start a seventh kitchen separate for the Dalits. Speaking to a number of Christian groups working among the fishermen reflected the same story. When I tried to ask the question of Dalits and their discrimination, most of them clearly said that there was no such thing and relief material was being distributed in the best possible way. The activities of religious groups reflect our joint concern for the victims. It tore the myths of the Sangh Parivar that religious groups are all for conversion while it has been involved in hate mongering. The painful aspect is that most of the religious charitable organizations, though doing great work are not really keen on challenging the status quo. They want to be a part of the status quo. We are good, you are good as long as we don’t questions each other. This tragically is secularism of our country and sooner we get out of it the better it is for the society. ______ [5] People's Democracy January 16, 2005 ORISSA: Agenda Of Desaffronisation A Casualty by Santosh Das THE brutal killing of Graham Stains, an Australian missionary, who was burnt alive along with his infant sons, was justified by the Sangh Parivar on the grounds, that he was committing the 'sin' of organising conversion. One member of parliament belonging to BJP with audacity conveyed his salute to the killer Dara Singh, conferring him the title of "Crusader Against Conversion". Surprisingly, another person called Dr V N Mishra, who converted his citizenship from Indian to Australian, was rewarded with the Directorship of Bhubaneswar based Regional Research Laboratory, a unit of CSIR, that operates under the ministry of Science & Technology, government of India during the NDA rule in January 2001 when the then HRD minister Murali Manhoar Joshi was pioneering the agenda of saffronisation. This was a clear violation of the law of the land and government of India rule. Under the law a foreign citizen could not be appointed to such post. Thanks to the patriotism of Sangh Parivar that encourages such unlawful appointment. This is the true colour of their cultural nationalism. This appointment of Australian convert Dr V N Mishra was followed by the saffronisation of the premier research institute of Orissa where Sadhus/Babas/Mahantas were invited at the institute's cost to deliver religious prabachans and scientists were asked to suspend research and laboratory activities to listen to the Babas in order to promote their Hindutva consciousness! Corruption has been observed as an important ingredient campaign of saffronisation. Out of the purchase and recruitment, black money has been minted. Favours have been done to relatives in appointment, and property of the institute was used to provide luxury and comfort to the Director. Never did the CSIR attempt to check such malpractices. The Director, R A Mashelkar was busy attending the RSS shakhas - and defending his in action. The HRD minister, who happened to be the vice-president of CSIR was busy implementing the agenda of saffronisation. The prime minister, the ex-office president of CSIR was proclaiming himself to be a Swayamsevak! The research standard of this premier institution deteriorated to its lowest ebb because of the poor academic background of the Director and his preoccupation with Hindutva rather than scientific & research activities. Following the end of the NDA regime, the announcement of the UPA in its Common Minimum Programme (CMP) to desaffronise the educational scientific and research institutes generated hope among the scientists and the secular people. Petitions addressed to the minister of state for science and technology by the CPI(M), Orissa state committee were recommended by Basudev Acharia and A Vijayaraghavan; Nilotpal Basu and Sarala Maheswari too talked to the minister in this respect. Kapil Sibbal, the minister ordered a departmental inquiry to be conducted by the CVO who, in turn, submitted the interim report by the end of September 2004. It is now learnt that the CVO's interim report has established direct involvement of the director, V N Mishra, in several gross irregularities including (1) spending huge amount of RRL funds for saffronisation activities by inviting Sadhus/ Babas/ Mahantas for religious propaganda, (2) purchasing equipments from M/s Humboldi Wedag worth a crore of rupees by directly violating the purchase rules. Being a consultant to the said firm the director could not make purchases from this firm. (3) recruiting his blood relation without declaration, (4) appointing inferior candidates as scientists through manipulation of selection procedure, (5) falsely declaring his nephew as his adopted son and availing benefits for him from RRL, (6) fixing 9 air conditioners, which were purchased for guest house, in his official residence for the last three and half years and tampering with energy meters fitted in his residence to avoid huge electricity bill, (7) protecting the corrupt civil engineer of RRL despite CBI's instruction to initiate disciplinary proceedings against him, (8) misuse of funds, (9) false claims in his curriculum bio-data, (10) violation of government of India rules for self benefits, (11) unethical R&D practices etc. Besides the above, CVO's report confirms gross violation of rules in purchase of equipments worth more than Rs 200 crore in last 4 years with involvement of the director V N Mishra as the king pin. Unfortunately, no action so far has been taken against the tainted director. This inaction on the part of UPA government brings frustration among the secular people and the scientific community. On the other hand, it encourages the director to continue his corrupt practices unhindered tarnishing the reputation of the Scientific and Research Institute. ______ [6] The Telegraph January 25, 2005 | Editorial FACTS AND FEARS Gathering data is an important part of some experiments. Hence, from the present look of things, the "Gujarat experiment" is still, in a sense, going on. Quietly and systematically, a new "survey" is being carried out in the village schools. And all the sinister euphemisms are in place. This time, the Gujarat government has suddenly sat up to the fact that schoolchildren in the state's 18,000 villages have to be made socially and culturally aware. So district education officials are going around all the schools making the children fill in a questionnaire, most of which concerns the student's religious background, with a few token questions on educational matters. Writing out the answers to these questions is also supposed to improve the students' writing skills. The survey is being supervised by the minister of education, who claims that this is a secular gathering of information. She has also invoked child rights - children have a right to know the religion of the people they live with. This has happened before, several times, in Gujarat, and it is important to remember when and how. The burning of churches and violence against tribal Christians in the Dangs district was followed by a survey of Christians in 1999. That time the police were virtually acting as census officers, and this was repeated at least three more times, most importantly during the run-up to the passing of the anti-conversion bill in the state assembly. In all these instances, the police had gone around trying to enumerate Christian families, asking converts why and when they converted, and the sources of income of Christian institutions undertaking welfare schemes in the villages. Christian bodies had moved the courts in each case, and the high court had forbidden these surveys. The police would keep off for a while, and then it would begin again - more or less covertly, but still managing to intimidate the minority communities. From the police to education officials, the role of the administration and the bureaucracy ought to be subjected to the highest vigilance in Gujarat. This is one of the most crucial lessons of the 2002 genocide. To regard such "gathering of information" as politicized paranoia would be foolish after the disclosure of how systematic the preparations for the "riots" were in 2002. There is much that would remain unknown about Godhra and its aftermath, but also much that has been revealed about how it had all come about. _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ 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/ SACW archive is available at: bridget.jatol.com/pipermail/sacw_insaf.net/ Sister initiatives : South Asia Counter Information Project : snipurl.com/sacip South Asians Against Nukes: www.s-asians-against-nukes.org Communalism Watch: communalism.blogspot.com/ DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. 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