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South Asia Citizens Wire #1 | 21 March, 2005 via: www.sacw.net [Interruption Notice: Please note there will be no regular SACW Dispatches between 22 - 25 March 2005. ] [1] Pakistan: Remembering Shahla Zia - Mind Behind Movement (Ayesha Khan) [2] Indian-American community exerts growing clout back home (Ben Arnoldy) [3] India Interview With Ms. C.K. Janu, Leader of Tribals in Kerala (Subhash Gatade) [4] Canada: South Asian Women's Community Centre (SAWCC--Montreal) position on the recommendation to use religious laws to settle family legal matters [5] Three Book Reviews: (i) Review of Christophe Jaffrelot's collection 'The Sangh Parivar: A Reader' (Dilip Simeon) (ii) Review of Amitava Kumar's, 'Husband of a Fanatic' (Christopher De Bellaigue) (iii) Review of Sanjib Baruah's, 'Durable Disorder' (Pradip Phanjoubam) [6] Announcements: (i) Meeting In Memory of Comrade Tarkunde (New Delhi, 22 March 2005) (ii) A public meeting on Govt policies and human rights of Asian women in Britain (London, 23 March 2005) -------------- [1] News on Sunday - 20 March 2005 MIND BEHIND MOVEMENT We were so fortunate to have counted Shahla Zia among us. Much work remains, and it will be very hard indeed to proceed without her in our midst By Ayesha Khan The most outstanding citizens of this country tend to pass away quietly, without many of us even aware of who they are. Just as often, we lavish mediocrity with praise and privilege, giving the living a false sense of greatness in their own lifetime. This is why Shahla Zia has passed away in our midst and the country can go on as if nothing major had happened. But for the women's movement, precisely the opposite is true. Shahla Zia was a founding member of the Women's Action Forum, and a joint director of the Aurat Foundation in Islamabad for over a decade. She trained as a lawyer in Lahore, and in the early years of her career helped to establish AGHS -- Asma, Gulrukh, Hina, Shahla -- the legal aid organisation for women. She sat on the National Inquiry Commission on the Status of Women, led by Mr. Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid, and was a major contributor to its 1997 report, which led to the establishment of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women. Her advocacy work focused on the increased political participation of women. She lobbied with lawmakers patiently and persistently to restore reserved seats for women in our elected bodies, and later led efforts to train new women entrants into local bodies to be effective leaders. The deeper truth is that Shahla was our mentor in the women's movement in Pakistan. She achieved that stature not through her public activities, but through the manner in which she guided others to work together in a group for social change and in the unique clarity of her thought. She was clear and firm on the principles of the Women's Action Forum as it struggled to counter discriminatory legislation, attacks from the religious right, and derision from an uncommitted public. She gave endless hours in meetings and discussions groups to explain to us, and remind us in times of confusion, what it was we were fighting to achieve for this country. I recall the lengthy internal debate within WAF regarding the wording of the WAF Charter and our position on the issue of secularism in the early 1990s. Members were stuck; if we demanded a state that was secular did that compromise our belief in Islam? Was it possible to reconcile faith and politics without compromising the former and diminishing women's rightful share in power? Even harder, was it possible to have a charter that accommodated the belief systems of all women, believers and non-believers, and detracted nothing from their rights as citizens? I still have a memo she wrote after a WAF meeting on this issue, articulating the fine points of why it was correct for WAF to take such a controversial stand. She wrote that taking a stand in favour of a secular state "does not mean that WAF is in any way against Islam, but merely that WAF believes that religion is a personal matter and not for the State to dictate or control." If religion becomes the province of the State, she added, "It has always been exploited by the State for its own political gains and motives, and this has invariably adversely affected women, minorities and the poor." In a country where the Hudood Ordinances (1979) are still in force despite frequent recommendations for their repeal, it is instructive to remember the benefit of a clear secular approach even a decade after Shahla made these notes. She placed her faith in the Constitution and in a legal system that could be turned into a support for the poor and marginalised in society if we fought for it. The first chapter of the 1997 Report of the Inquiry Commission puts the case simply. "The Constitution is a country's basic law. To the extent constitutional rule is promoted andbecomes entrenched in a society to that extent democratic culture flourishes. And it is in a democratic culture that women's rights have the best chance of recognition." Can these arguments be dismissed as rhetoric of the westernised elite of Pakistan, the coffee-drinking, cigarette-smoking, English-speaking women activists accused by their detractors of misrepresenting women of this country? For that is what opponents of the NGO movement have claimed time and again in response to activists' demands for women's rights and social justice. Nothing is quite what it seems when viewed from such a distance. Shahla was calm, compassionate, and soft-spoken. She was devoted to her large family, devoid of material greed, and shy of social or media attention. She genuinely loved the law, and had the patience to study its nuances and articulate subtleties that was beyond many an enthusiastic activist. And in an increasingly hypocritical society, Shahla's stature grew because her honesty remained undiminished, and her integrity as a friend and colleague was never in dispute. We were so fortunate, and indeed honoured, to have counted Shahla Zia among us in Pakistan. We are a better people for it, since she taught us through her intellect and example. Much work remains, and it will be very hard indeed to proceed without her in our midst. Yet her tremendous composure under pressure, her warmth, optimism and patience, remain the best example for those who need to continue this struggle for generations to come. ______ [2] The Christian Science Monitor March 21, 2005 INDIAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY EXERTS GROWING CLOUT BACK HOME As the US's wealthiest ethnic group, it is divided over how funds sent abroad are used. By Ben Arnoldy | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor When Nishrin Hussain moved to the United States in 1990, she left her parents behind in India. But her American life was tragically interrupted when her father, a Muslim, was burned alive by a Hindu mob during the 2002 riots that shook India's Gujarat state. Since then, she has become a force in Indian politics - from her home in Delaware. Like a growing number of other Indian-Americans, Ms. Hussain is using the considerable power of the pocketbook and other forms of political activism to influence events half a world away. NARENDRA MODI: Denied a US visa for his role in riots. DIVYAKANT SOLANKI/AP And their efforts can have an impact: Last week the US State Department - largely because of the protests of Indian Americans - canceled an upcoming tour in the United States by Narendra Modi, Gujarat's chief minister, for the role he played in the riots three years ago. In one sense, the Indian American community reflects the growing clout of many expatriate groups in the US. From Mexican-Americans to immigrants from the Muslim world, they are becoming more aware of their influence back home and are trying to capitalize on it. Irish-Americans have influenced events in their homeland for decades. But the Indian-American community has gained new visibility in recent years as its political - and financial - clout has grown. As America's wealthiest ethnic group, it is particularly divided over allegations that some charities are funneling money to sectarian violence like that in Gujarat. "We are seeing increased attention by Indian-Americans to how their donations are used, particularly in the wake of Sept. 11 and the Gujarat events," says Mark Sidel, an expert on Indian diaspora at the University of Iowa. "We now see the emergence of controversy and of watchdog groups of various kinds." One such group, Sabrang Communications, released a bombshell report in late 2002. It alleged that the US-based India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF) was quietly channeling abroad more than 80 percent of its discretionary funds to pro-Hindu groups. Some of these groups, tied to an Indian organization known as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), have been accused of fomenting sectarianism that has led to violence. Human Rights Watch and other groups say that the RSS was among those "most directly responsible" for the Gujarat riots. They also fault Modi for doing little to rein in the organized mobs that killed more than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims. The riots started after Muslims set fire to a train full of Hindu activists, killing 58 men, women, and children. Many of the groups that were preparing to protest Modi's visit are also tracking Indian-American charities that support RSS activities. "The people who are sending donations to these groups are not aware of where the money is going," says Hussain. "And I do fear that after the [2001 Gujarat] earthquake that some of the money collected was geared toward this hatred." But Ramesh Rao, a professor of communications at Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo., says the IDRF has been unfairly targeted. At IDRF's request, he published a detailed rebuttal to the Sabrang report. While not denying that some IDRF money may go to groups affiliated with the RSS, he says that both the amount and the effect are overblown. Mr. Rao calls the Sabrang report a political attack by leftists, part of a decades-long campaign to vilify the RSS and any group directly or indirectly connected with its work. That the US should be center stage for this long-running dispute has a lot to do with the rising wealth of Indian-Americans. In a first study of its kind, Devesh Kapur at Harvard University found that Indian-Americans donated an estimated $150 million in 2004. He says they are the most educated ethnic group in the US and have the highest median income. "I think the real story is how little they give," he says. The way they give is also noteworthy. Sidel says that as with other more established ethnic groups, Indian-Americans are no longer just sending money back to family, but are increasingly putting it toward social and charitable causes through nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and professional associations. One of the biggest professional groups is the Asian American Hotel Owners Association. Modi had been invited to the US by AAHOA to speak this week at their annual convention in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Nearly all the group's members, who control more than half of America's economy lodging, hail from Gujarat. In a press release sent after the State Department revoked Modi's visa, AAHOA said it "understood" the government's position and reasserted that Modi was invited to speak about business opportunities and tourism in Gujarat. Protest organizers, however, said the trip was an effort to raise Modi's profile for an eventual bid for prime minister. Modi was not the only foreign leader to be snubbed by the US last week. Breaking with a St. Patrick's Day tradition, political leaders did not host Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams. Sinn Fein's militant wing, the Irish Republican Army, is embroiled in a murder and bank heist scandal. The killing of Robert McCartney has touched off concern among Irish-Americans, who are a key source of funding for Sinn Fein. But it is not easy to establish that donated dollars end up funding violence abroad. "I don't know if money given to RSS schools leads to violence," says Rao. "While one can make that causal stretch for political purposes, no good social scientist would be willing to do that." Biju Mathew, a professor at Rider University and contributor to the Sabrang report, admits the report found no legal smoking gun. But he describes as a "relic of the past" the notion that to catch someone red-handed "you would mark a currency bill and see where it surfaces again." After Sept. 11, the US released a new set of regulations for charitable giving, and established a blacklist of groups that finance terror. There is anecdotal evidence, supported by new research on the Pakistani community by Adil Najam at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., that Muslim-Americans are shifting their donation dollars to local rather than international causes. Corporations are also changing the way they donate. Cisco Systems, Inc. was once a major contributor to IDRF through its employee-matching program. In May 2003 the company suspended its program, a move a spokeswoman said was related to uncertainty over the changing federal guidelines. IDRF no longer receives matching funds from Cisco, or from Oracle. Despite these losses, IDRF's general funding did not drop after the November 2002 report. The group's president says IDRF raised $757,000 in 2003 compared with $702,000 in 2002. Meanwhile, Nishrin Hussain takes satisfaction that Modi cannot come to America. "I am delighted," she says. ______ [3] sacw.net - March 18, 2005 INTERVIEW WITH MS. C.K. JANU, LEADER OF TRIBALS IN KERALA "NO LAND EVEN FOR BURIAL . . . ANY MEANING IN LIVING ON THIS LAND ? " Ms C.K. JANU, leader of the tribals of Kerala has carved out a niche for herself in the history of people's movement in Kerala. Presently she is in Delhi as member of a delegation of Five AGMS (Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha) members to meet Ms.Sonia Gandhi - Chairperson UPA and Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission to bring to their notice the hardships faced by the adivasis of Kerala. In a recent with Mr Jaison Chacko and Mr Subhash Gatade she discusses the genesis of the struggle led by her, the role of the political parties and her future plans. Excerpts of the interview are given below. Introduction : It is now history that the 48 day dharana (sit in) of hundreds of tribals before the Kerala state secretariat led by Ms C.K.Janu for tribal land rights compelled the then government led by A.K. Antony to go in for compromise with the tribals. The immediate provocation for agitation of the tribals was the 32 starvation deaths among the adivasis. A senior Kerala minister had brushed aside these deaths as being caused by consumption of illicit liquor. Driven by the horror of such mass starvation deaths hundreds of tribals stormed the state secretariat and erected 'refugee huts' before the offices of government. The government bowing to the public pressure negotiated with the tribals and promised lands to the thousands of landless adivasis in a phased manner. ( 16 October 2001) It was a sad commentary on the state of affairs in India's highly contested polity that the two mainstream parties who were interchanging seats of power in the state were found to be wanting on the deprivation faced by the tribals. Ofcourse the victory of the tribals remained shortlived. After the initial euphoria was over the Antony government started dilly dallying on its promise. This led to another historic action by the tribals. Hundreds of tribals alongwith their families 'occupied' the Muthanga wildlife sanctuary to expose the government's failure to honour their commitment to the tribals (January 2003). Forcible eviction by the police resulted in the death of one tribal and injuries to others. It is significant that the autonomous militant intervention for Land Rights by the tribals has been able to influence a significant section of the intelligentsia also. It was not surprising that after the forcible vacation of the Muthanga forest range by the police and the loss of human life the famous activist-writer Ms Arundhati Roy had blasted the state government with her famous open letter "You have blood on Your Hands". [...] . Full text at: http://www.sacw.net/Nation/gatade18032005.html ______ [4] sacw.net - March 17, 2005 http://www.sacw.net/Wmov/Canada17032005.html SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN'S COMMUNITY CENTRE (SAWCC-MONTREAL, CANADA) POSITION ON THE RECOMMENDATION TO USE THE ARBITRATION ACT OF ONTARIO TO SETTLE FAMILY LEGAL MATTERS BASED ON RELIGIOUS LAWS. For Montreal panel presentation orgd by FFQ, at UQAM, Thursday 17 March 05 1. The SAWCC has been involved in information gathering and discussions on this issue since last summer. Our membership comprises women of different religious backgrounds, many of whom are observant members of Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism. At our Annual General Meeting in September 2004 we passed a resolution against the possible adoption of religion-based forms of family law for Muslims in Ontario [as an alternative, community-based form of arbitration in family law cases]. Our membership of the SAWCC also wanted this kind of arbitration to end in religious communities where it was already being used since 1991. 2. There are many issues that we considered while coming to this conclusion. Some of them are: i) We are very conscious that opposition can come from a racist perspective, especially at this historical juncture when Islam is demonized and having a Muslim identity makes one immediately suspect as a terrorist. We are also aware that a sensitivity to feeding racist preconceptions may make some reluctant to articulate their concerns. ii) In a post 9/11 world where government laws and agents of state demonstrate Islamphobia, it is curious that official concern for 'multiculturalism' and 'religious freedom' are cited by these same governments when it comes to issues that will have a huge impact on women. iii) It is curious that this kind of arbitration is only being used for family law, not criminal law. It is dangerous to categorize family matters as occupying the private sphere. As women we are aware of how the public/private distinction has been used to control and oppress us. We won't go back there. Anything that involves the rights of women are a public concern. The personal is political. iv) In our work over the past quarter century we have seen many women being forced by community pressure to seek counsel/assistance/ intervention from religious figures in temples, gurdwaras, mosques -- institutions that uphold patriarchal constructs of family and community - These interventions often worked to the detriment of the women - psychological, emotional and other forms of coercions were brought to bear. In our work trying to get justice for the murder of Milia Abrar we have seen how community pressure worked -- elders warned that this is what happens when traditions are flouted and possible witnesses were silenced. v) We recognize that our secular laws are far from perfect. Legislative bodies need to strengthen laws, for example to protect women from male violence -- a man who batters his partner gets a rap on the knuckles. If that same man were to assault a stranger on the street it would be another matter. AND Most recently the discussions around same sex unions have demonstrated how the reactionary outcry from some members of cultural communities can be very strident. We do not want to give the slimmest opportunity to these kinds of individuals to control our lives. ______ [5] [ THREE BOOK REVIEWS ] (i) Outlook Magazine - March 28, 2005 REVIEWS A Mild Engagement A half-baked reader that ignores Gujarat and concentrates only on internal organisation Dilip Simeon THE SANGH PARIVAR -- A READER by Edited Christophe Jaffrelot Oxford University Press Pages: 445; Rs 675 This book belongs to a series on critical issues in Indian politics, with 20 articles on the RSS and its fronts, including the youth wing, women's wing, trade unions, and its federative and political organisations. The volume is less a 'reader' than a compendium of articles gleaned from published work, dating mainly from the mid to late 1990s. Older extracts are from Anderson and Damle's Brotherhood in Saffron (1987), and Graham's study of the Jan Sangh (1990). Only two articles, on the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (Boutron) and the RSS global network (Therwath), seem to have been written specifically for this volume and carry a contemporary flavour-the latter gives readers a brief introduction to the extensive financial support for the RSS from NRIs located in the western world. Even the editorial introduction takes scant notice of the ramifications of the 2002 Gujarat pogrom and the 2004 election. There is an article on ethics but it addresses Hindutva's resonance with capitalism, rather than raise questions about private and public morality, ends and means or organised violence. And there is no index, a glaring omission in a long and thematically dense volume. It is arguable that the chief characteristic of the so-called parivar is its paramilitary organisation and style, borrowed from the fascist movements in Europe of the '20s and '30s. Right-wing totalitarianism and the second world war have had a lasting impact upon global politics, but the RSS has surely enjoyed the greatest longevity of the chauvinist paramilitaries born during the troubled '20s. Defined succinctly, its goal is the militarisation of civil society and the subjugation of secular citizenship to the warrior cult. Paradoxically, it is the shadowy zone of nationalist militarism that provided the space for the osmosis between left and right radicalism--Subhas Bose is only the most glaring symbol of an uncomfortable reality, rarely spoken of. The emergence of a rampaging right wing cannot be understood purely in terms of its internal organisation and ideas, but must be placed within a larger political and structural context. The interests, strategies and alliances of the Congress, left-wing and regional parties is one contingent factor, the iniquitous social relations and endemic informality in employment (manifested in patriarchy and caste), are another. Had it been taken into account, the broader context might have yielded insights for designing a volume such as this. This book appears three years after the gruesome events of Gujarat in 2002. It would have been appropriate to have included recent assessments and fresh data on the role of RSS and its fronts in the violence, not to mention its own statements and interpretations. I have in mind the Report of the Concerned Citizen's Tribunal, and numerous other citizen's reports that have appeared since then. These, and Varadarajan's Gujarat: The Making of a Tragedy (2002) contain eyewitness accounts, analyses and source material that could have been used in some way. The text of Prime Minister Vajpayee's speech in Goa is an example. Again, it is fairly well-known that brutality towards their designated enemies is a matter of pride for Hindutva cadre in their street-level propaganda. Commissioned case studies of rumour, small talk and election speech by the Sanghis would have been a valuable addition for the book, and made it more of a reader. That said, Sangh Parivar contains a great deal of information on the activity of the RSS and its fronts in post-1947 India. Tanika Sarkar's essays on the gender predicament of the parivar are informed and insightful. She has also contributed one of three very cogent articles on education. There are two valuable, though slightly dated, articles on the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh by Kiran Saxena and Jaffrelot. Two short extracts from Manjari Katju's study of the VHP introduce the reader to an important activity of the RSS. The editor also has a contribution on the VHP that highlights its psychology of imitation, which he names 'strategic mimetism'. He is keenly aware of the parivar's strategic use of symbols and icons. But his analytical stance is diffident: "The components of this nebulae are more autonomous than one may think at a glance", "the RSS complex hardly form a family". Yet, their "tensions must not be over-emphasised", and publicising internal differentiation could also be a "well thought out strategy for attracting support". The BJP may emerge as the dominant party of the Centre, and then again, it might not. His own extensive researches (not to mention the 2002 events) could have led him to more definitive conclusions. Despite its flaws, Sangh Parivar is a useful collection for students of political conservatism. o o o o (ii) New York Times - March 20, 2005 'Husband of a Fanatic': Sleeping With the Enemy By Christopher De Bellaigue A DECADE ago, when I was living in India, a Jewish American woman described for me a Hindu boy who had enrolled in Hebrew lessons she was giving to members of Bombay's tiny Jewish community. When she had asked why he should join a class for Jews, he had replied, ''We share an enemy.'' I told the story to a group of Indian friends I knew were worried by India's growing communal discord. I expected them to shake their heads solemnly. Instead, they burst out laughing. In ''Husband of a Fanatic,'' his challenging and at times eloquent rumination on Hindu-Muslim tensions in India and its diaspora, Amitava Kumar often summons the dark humor that South Asian secularists use to combat their sense that the battle is not going their way. He opens with his encounter with Jagdish Barotia, a member of the militant group Hindu Unity, who immigrated to the United States over 30 years ago and whose violence of feeling is absurd, even pitiful, because he is doomed to live among Muslims in a multiracial part of Queens. Kumar lets Barotia's grossness stand unadorned and thereby lampoons it. ''On the phone,'' Kumar recalls, ''he had called me a haraami, which means 'bastard' in Hindi, and, after clarifying that he didn't mean this abuse only for me as a person but for everyone else who was like me, he had also called me a kutta, a dog.'' Soon enough, we learn the reason for Barotia's contempt; Kumar, an Indian Hindu who is a professor of English at Pennsylvania State University, has married Mona, a Pakistani Muslim. When they married, he says, he wallowed in a ''tepid tide'' of altruism and ''felt good about myself for marrying 'the enemy.' '' To understand the wider significance of his commitment as well as his own ''complicities and contradictions,'' he embarks on a tour of Hindu-Muslim strife and recalls wars between India and Pakistan -- ''Hindu-Muslim riots fought with tanks and fighter planes.'' At its best, Kumar's reportage has the immediacy and respectful attention to detail of a well-turned Granta essay (it is no surprise to see Ian Jack, Granta's editor, cited in the acknowledgments). Picking his way through lives distorted or destroyed by hatred, Kumar alleviates his own -- and the reader's -- gloom by drawing attention to the fanatics' mordant eccentricities. In the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, where Hindu nationalist cadres called kar-sevaks destroyed the Babri mosque in 1992, Kumar discovers that children now learn math by answering questions like, ''If it takes four kar-sevaks to demolish one mosque, how many does it take to demolish 20?'' He is dismayed that the nationalists have succeeded in making millions of Hindus feel embattled in a country where they form an overwhelming majority. But he is painfully aware that he himself is the anachronism, one of a dwindling band clinging to the secular ideals of India's first prime minister, Jawarharlal Nehru. Kumar acknowledges his feeling of unease when he is among the devout, Hindu or Muslim: their language is an alien tongue for him. Nehru gleaned many of his beliefs from his days as a student in England. One senses the imprint of America's tradition of intellectual tolerance and its culture of candor on Kumar, especially when he discusses his own bogus conversion to Islam -- bogus, because he long ago abandoned the remnants of his adolescent Hindu faith, and has adopted Islam only for the purposes of appeasing the Pakistani authorities, who do not recognize marriages between Muslims and non-Muslims. Kumar's quest takes him from America to South Africa -- where he is heartened by examples of cooperation between Hindus and Muslims against apartheid -- but it is to Pakistan and India that he returns to confront his estrangement not only from the Hindu nationalists but also from Indian society as a whole. In his last chapter, dominated by his inquiry into police brutality in his native state of Bihar, he is discomfited by many of the people he speaks to, perpetrators and victims alike. They have sized him up as rich and well connected, and their confessions turn to supplications -- for money, for a passage to America, for husbands for their daughters, for a government vending license. Kumar writes of an encounter with a blind man and his two daughters: ''I resent being bullied by their father, but I also feel pity for the two. I take out some money from my wallet. . . . As I shut the door, I hear the loud, demanding voice behind me. 'How much is it -- how much did he give?' '' And so, the door slams and Kumar leaves us with much but not one important thing, a proper introduction to the cause of all this soul-searching. Who, we want to know, is Mona? Kumar barely refers to his wife. The ''fanatic'' remains elusive, an ironic allusion in the title of a book that never quite answers the questions that it poses, and only intermittently lives up to the promise of its opening pages. In part that is because Kumar the professor has an unfortunate way of intruding on Kumar the reporter. Thus he unnecessarily supplements his own neat description of Hindu political symbolism with the (borrowed) observation that televised Hindu epics had created ''a shared symbolic lexicon around which political forces could mobilize communal praxis.'' We learn much more when Kumar is describing small things impenetrable to outsiders, like the pungency of a communal slogan, the paradoxes and passions of South Asian cricket and the nuances of an Urdu story. Under the kitchen sink of his parents' home, one memorable childhood vignette runs, there was ''a dirty glass and, beside it, a ceramic plate that was white with small pink flowers,'' reserved for a tubercular uncle. ''The only other occasion when the plate and glass were taken out was when a Muslim driver who sometimes ate at our house needed to be fed.'' Christopher de Bellaigue is the author of ''In the Rose Garden of the Martyrs: A Memoir of Iran.'' HUSBAND OF A FANATIC A Personal Journey Through India, Pakistan, Love, and Hate. By Amitava Kumar 301 pp. The New Press. $24.95. o o o o (iii) Economic and Political Weekly, Book Review March 5, 2005 Debating Statehood -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Durable Disorder: Understanding the Politics of North-East India by Sanjib Baruah; OUP, New Delhi, 2005; pp xi+265, Rs 495. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pradip Phanjoubam This recent book by Sanjib Baruah is a departure from available literature on the problems of Indias north-east. This is not surprising considering most previous works were either written by former administrators or other professionals who by training and loyalty looked at the north-east as an aberration from mainstream life and politics. Baruahs is an attempt to present the problems raw and honestly. The book is refreshingly bereft of the patronising sympathy so familiar with writings on the subject. The narrative is a curious mix of an overview by a detached observer and a sensitive introspection of one who has a stake in the issues involved. Baruahs career background perhaps is the explanation. He is an Assamese, who teaches political studies at New Yorks, Bard College, on lien now as a senior fellow at the Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change, Guwahati. The book is argumentative, and although the prescriptions are debatable while being thought-provoking, the diagnosis is convincing. Baruah achieves this by his ability to seamlessly sew together information, personal experience, impressions, available theories and journalistic reportage to illustrate his own incisive insights. Unmistakable also is the influence of some immensely well endowed libraries as well as the disciplined reading and scholarship that have gone into the writing of the book. The book is for this reason, also very much a digest of current and past theories and thoughts on the subjects of identity, ethnicity, conflict, development, etc, and their related problems. Baruah negotiates these ideas and builds up the pitch of the debate until he is able to establish his points powerfully and with clarity. He is thus able to articulate certain deeply embedded but often nebulous anxieties of the communities in the north-east, which would help immensely in correcting past perspectives and misrepresentations. Durable Disorder attempts, rather successfully, to establish why the usual attribution of the problems of the north-east to vested interests, corruption, underdevelopment, etc, are pathetically inadequate, for the causes of the problems are much more fundamental in nature. The wrong diagnoses have also led to disastrously wrong responses. Chapter Outline The book has 10 chapters. Each looks at a different aspect of the north-east and adds to the central argument that of the inadequacy of interpreting the problems from the perspective of national security alone. This standpoint, Baruah implies is what has led to the unenviable trap of what he calls durable disorder in which hopes of a lasting solution is allowed to recede too far, leaving only as the sole administrative objective the intent of not allowing these troubles to blow up into unmanageable crises. The first chapter outlines the subject and the authors strategy to tackle it. The unveiling of the north-east agenda begins from the next section titled: Governance Structure, Formal and Informal. By far this section hits hardest at the Indian establishment and its north-east policy priorities. While it is meant to hurt, what is missing is the usual bitterness and annoying self pity. This is achieved by well-rounded intellectual arguments supported appropriately by data. The section has two chapters, one called Nationalising Space: Cosmetic Federalism and the Politics of Development and the other Generals as Governors. In one, Baruah tackles the messy and controversial issue of immigration. While most writers and analysts have concentrated on the pull factors that attract immigrants in large scale from neighbouring countries as well as from other parts of India into the sparsely populated poor region threatening to radically overturn the demographic balance, Baruah also points out the more systematic push factors prompted by the Indian nations need to nationalise space. This involves tuning local population towards the national outlook as well as physically filling the poorly charted spaces with nation-bearing populations. While this agenda has not been pursued as aggressively as China has done, partly because in the case of India there is no single nation-bearing population, Baruah argues that the distinction between ethnic groups marked as indigenous to the region and those that are marked as immigrants from the rest of the subcontinent, has remained quite significant in the politics of north-east India. Extending state institutions with a developmental agenda therefore has had political functions Baruah underscores. It is significant that the developmental trajectory in the region is controlled solely by New Delhi, as most development projects in the region are financed, planned and designed in New Delhi, or in central organisations located in the region. The philosophy behind the North-East Council (NEC), comes up for some harsh criticism. The war with China in 1962 as well as rebellions by the Nagas followed by many others, made the agenda of nationalising space all the more urgent. As a direct result, the state of Nagaland was created in 1963, hoping to end the Naga war by creating stakeholders in the pan-Indian disposition. With this Baruah writes, state creation in India became de-linked from the question of either fiscal viability or of compatibility with the constitutional architecture of the pan-Indian polity. He calls this the first step in a cosmetic federal regional order. Yet, Baruah argues, the creation of mini states, completely dependent on New Delhi for their finances, and thus vulnerable to New Delhis direct involvement in their affairs on a daily basis, fitted very well with Indias national security goals in the region. In the next chapter, Generals as Governors Baruah pushes the argument of a security concerns-driven agenda in the north-east even further. He talks of a parallel government, not referring to the clandestine administrations run by militant organisations alone, but the one run by the central government in the states through its agents, the governors. It is hardly a coincidence, he says, that the men appointed as governors of these states are usually retired army generals and intelligence officers. The result is a de facto parallel political system, somewhat autonomous of the formal democratically elected government structure. Since in Indias weak federal structure, the centre through the governors can easily dismiss elected governments in states, the apparatus becomes an important tool to facilitate direct control by New Delhi of action in the north-east. A mistrust of the state governments for their possible nexus with militants which in a way becomes somewhat inevitable as the politicians have to share a good deal of their constituencies as well as concerns with the militants makes New Delhi put a premium on the need for the autonomy of the parallel governance structure. Baruah laments the compromises on democratic responses towards the problems in the region. Not so much in the belief that such responses would bring Indian democracy crashing down, but because in the long run it would have systematically activated and enlarged the worst in people. The truth in this prediction is there for all to witness in the disappearance of the rule of law, not just in the hands of the insurgents, but equally, by legitimate institutions of the democratic establishment. Baruah calls this phenomenon diminished democracy, the title of another chapter. The questionable and brutal counter-insurgency strategy that created the SULFA (surrendered ULFA) in Assam, or the pardon accorded outside the provisions of the law to surrendered insurgents including those accused of serious felonies during their underground days, are also cited as example of this compromise in a later chapter. Baruahs economy of words makes it unnecessary for him to give too much space to repetitive narration of the now familiar histories of insurgencies. He rushes through them but without seriously missing out on their salient features, leaving him ample time and energy for discourses on the driving forces behind them. Identity and Homeland However, on the question of ethnic identity and the ethnic homeland question, Baruah seems to be on unsure ground. His explanation of the problematic nature of non-state communities coming out of isolation and beginning to aspire to be states, as in the case of the Nagas, is less than adequate. On the question of the expanding identity of the Nagas which has seen the embracing of communities with closer linguistic and anthropological ties with other ethnic groups, his sympathy are clearly with the former saying in matters of identity the only thing that should matter is how a group wishes to be known... The problem arises, when this expanding identity is tied to territory. The newly born state consciousness can come into direct collision with existing historical states. Baruah does acknowledge this but with no effort or intent to elaborate: the goal of creating a single political unit out of all Naga-inhabited areas puts the Naga project of nationhood in collision course with a parallel Manipur project. For some reasons, in dealing with this issue, he is also rather silent about the Kukis, who share virtually the same homeland with the Nagas. This appears as a big lacunae considering notions of exclusive ethnic homelands was the primary cause of the bloody Kuki-Naga conflict in the mid-1990s. Baruah does, however, bring up the issue again in a later chapter, Citizens and Denizens, but the discussion becomes more abstract and devoid of the urgency demanded. Here he is talking of the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution drawn up for the administration of minority tribal areas in the north-east which creates the closest thing to exclusive ethnic homelands. Within these tribal enclaves where tribal customary laws prevail, non tribal domiciles, and even tribals of other ethnic stock, end up deprived of many democratic rights, including that of exercising their franchise. Baruah suggests experimenting with a regime of dual citizenship aimed at shifting what has come to be an ethnic issue to a civic one. The book has three chapters on Assam and the genesis of sub-nationalism in the state. This event does not coincide with the birth of the ULFA. He traces the roots of the Assamese sub-nationalism to British colonial land reform policies, and then to the cosmetic federalism of independent India. One of the chief anxieties of the Assamese, (Baruah qualifies this term on account of the fundamentally heterogeneous Assamese society and of the Bodos and other tribal groups unwillingness to be referred as such) has been immigration of outsiders into Assam. At the time of Partition, leaders of the Assam Congress had expressed their wish that fewer refugees be resettled in Assam and asserted that the prerogatives in matters of citizenship and immigration should rest with the state. Jawaharlal Nehru had sarcastically remarked in a letter to then chief minister of Assam, Gopi Nath Bordoloi, I suppose one of these days we might be asked for the independence of Assam. For the same reason, the home minister Sadar Vallabhbhai Patel called Bordolois successor Bisnuram Medhi, parochial. The idea of Assams independence did not remain a joke for long, Baruah notes. In the constituent assembly, Assams proposal for a federation with strong autonomous states did not succeed. But this locally felt need was again the driving force behind the Assam Agitation of the 1970s and 1980s, and so too behind the ULFAs militancy. ULFAs ideas are located in a political discourse that has occupied centre-stage in Assamese civil society for more than half a century, Barua notes, concluding that it is not surprising despite military defeats ULFA still lives on. The concluding chapter, Beyond Durable Disorder is the most prescriptive. But the solution sought is unconventional and distinguishes itself from the security-driven approach that pivots around success in counter insurgency strategies. Baruah recommends a little deconstruction of the hardened notion of the nation state so that national boundaries are softened, if not opened, and natural economic and geographic zones are given a fresh leash of life. Taking the cue from Keniche Ohame who proposed that the idea of region state to replace nation state, that has become dysfunctional in the modern era, Baruah writes: when the natural economic region is allowed to emerge without the constraints of national boundaries, the locational advantages and disadvantages are necessarily very different from those in a situation when border effects are in full force. Indias new Look East policy, as well as the ongoing efforts for a rapprochement with China, are steps in the right direction, the book concludes. If not for the recommendations, then for the richness of ideas it throws up,Durable Disorder definitely will serve as an invaluable companion for serious scholars of the north-east and for policy-makers. ______ [6] [Announcements: ] (i) INDIAN RENAISSANCE INSTITUTE & INDIAN RADICAL HUMANIST ASSOCIATION A-12, Neeti Bagh, New Delhi-110049. Dt.17th March,2005. MEETING IN MEMORY OF COMRADE TARKUNDE Dear friend, Comrade Tarkunde had left us on 22nd March,2004. In view of his death anniversary, Indian Renaissance Institute and Indian Radical Humanist Association have organized a meeting to remember him. Time & Date: 5 PM, Tuesday, 22nd March,2005 Venue : Dy. Chairmanís Hall, Constitution club, Rafi Marg, New Delhi-1. The participants will deliberate how to promote and strengthen the ideals which were dear to him and for which he struggled. You are invited to participate. N.D.Pancholi Secretary Indian Rnaissance Institute o o o o (ii) NEW LABOUR POLICIES VIOLATING BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS Three key sets of government policies are seriously affecting the human rights of Asian women in Britain - The Supporting People Programme which threatens the continued running of refuges for Asian women - The Two Year Immigration Rule which is sending women back to violence and often death in 'honour killings' in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - The cut backs in legal services which have serious implications for women facing domestic violence. A public meeting organised by Asian Women Unite will examine these policies and possible ways forward. 6.30pm Wednesday 23rd March 2005, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1, nearest tube: Holborn SPEAKERS INCLUDE: Shamshad Hussain (Imkaan); Hannana Siddiqui (Southall Black Sisters); Ranjit Kaur (Rights of Women) The Supporting People Policy Shamshad Hussain will speak about the effects of the Supporting People Policy which despite its name, is (as Imkaan's research shows) threatening the very survival of Asian Women's refuges. According to Shamshad Hussain, 'Although presented by New Labour as an opportunity for refuge providers, the policy is pushing the sector back twenty five years to a time when Asian women had to defend the case for having specialist refuges to meet the specific needs of Asian women. At the same time by cutting funding in crucial areas such as outreach work it will effectively ignore many women facing domestic violence'. The Two Year Immigration Rule Hannana Siddiqui will speak about Black women's groups’ campaigns against the Two Year Rule led by Southall Black Sisters. The rule she says is 'inherently racist and sexist' - under the British government's Two Year Immigration Rule, women from abroad who enter or stay in this country on the basis of marriage or a relationship with a British citizen or someone settled in Britain are subject to a 'probationary period' of two years. If the marriage breaks down within this period the spouse from abroad is liable to be deported’. The probationary period reinforces the imbalance of power within marriages -- the threat of deportation can be used as a powerful weapon to force women to remain in a relationship against their will. Hannana Siddiqui will examine how the law affects women's actual experiences Can justice be done when Legal Aid is denied? Ranjit Kaur will be examining the deepening crisis in public funding (legal aid) and the implications of this for Black and Minority Women particularly those who experience domestic violence. The government's recent paper 'A New Focus for Civil Legal Aid' proposes to change the criteria for applying for public funding (legal aid) and exclude so-called 'low priority' cases, these include the drafting and filing of divorce papers or judicial separation papers. Ranjit Kaur says 'This will disqualify even more Black and Minority Women from public funding and strengthen the very oppressive forces which Asian women are struggling against'. The meeting will be attended by women from all over the UK many of whom have been personally affected by these government policies. 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