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South Asia Citizens Wire #1 | 30 March, 2005 via: www.sacw.net [1] A media fact-finding mission to Nepal (Imtiaz Alam) [2] Pakistan: 'Enlightened moderation' and the right (Iqbal Haider) [3] Indo - Pak Fishermen and the invisible border (Khurram Baig) [4] Some unanswered questions for secular India (Jawed Naqvi) [5] Book Review: 'Explorations in connected history' (C P Bhambhri) [6] Announcements: (i) Film Screening: Urdu Hai Jiska Naam, A film on the history of Urdu (New Delhi, March 30) (ii) Upcoming conference: Engendering Health and Human Rights" (Bombay, Sept 30 - Oct 1) (iii) Educational Forum: Crisis in Balochistan (Burnaby / Canada, April 16, 2005) -------------- [1] The News International, March 28, 2005 A MEDIA FACT-FINDING MISSION TO NEPAL Imtiaz Alam The writer is the Secretary General of SAFMA and Editor Current Affairs of The News. The State of Emergency in Nepal proclaimed on February 1, 2005, is not the first suppression of fundamental rights and freedom of the press since the 1990 Constitution was introduced. It is, however, worse than the previous emergency in scope and intensity, symptomatic of the failure of state, crisis of representative institutions and breakdown of constitutional structures and rule of law. The three-way conflict between the Palace, democratic forces and Maoists has become so complicated that it cannot be resolved through a barrel of gun - whether of the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) or People's Liberation Army (PLA) -- which may further exacerbate the crisis beyond the capacity of the parties to the conflict. The state may destabilize before one or the other party comes into a position to impose its will. The crisis may prolong, and even become irresolvable, and a negotiated settlement of conflict, restoration of peace and multiparty democracy may become impossible in the absence of an arbiter in a sharply divided polity. Between the two extremes of absolute monarchy and the Maoists, the people at large, including the journalists, may suffer greater agonies than expected. The emergency targets civil society and all those political forces that want multi-party democracy, still inclined to go along with a constitutional monarchy, and eager to jointly fight out Maoists or reach a peaceful settlement with them. In the current situation, the middle ground from under the feet of democratic parties and civil society is fast eroding, leaving only two poles: the King and the Maoists, with the so-called 'third force' or middle ground-holders in a lurch. The fact is that King Gyanendra, for the sake of an active monarchy, has broken down the social contract that was reached around the 1990 constitution. In doing so, he has put at risk the future of a constitutional monarchy. The spontaneous popular outcry is not against the Maoists; it is against the King. The support for constitutional monarchy is thinning out. At this critical juncture, the democratic forces are locked in a dilemma: if they join the King, they lose their democratic credentials and if they agitate against him, the movement is likely to take a turn in favor of republic that the Maoists, notwithstanding their notions of proletarian dictatorship, are fighting for. They are also apprehensive of the third option, of joining hands with the Maoists known for their exclusionary and authoritarian streaks. Ironically, every factor is now playing to the advantage of Maoists: a) The King's proclamation of emergency and his assumption of all powers has broken the social contract and alienated the entire political and civil society; b) the illusion about the monarch as an honest arbiter is shattered and legitimacy of state power compromised; c) the suspension of fundamental rights, representative institutions and the crisis of institutions, coupled with economic pressures have exacerbated the crisis of state; d) the divide between the King and pro-constitutional monarchy forces has eroded the unity of ruling classes; e) the international community's stoppage of economic and military aid has effectively reduced the state's capacity to withstand any serious challenge; f) the Maoists are gaining ground. Defections from the Royal Nepalese Army and an urban political insurgency, if and when they coincide, may enable the Maoists to take over Kathmandu valley. If the Maoists enter Kathmandu riding on tanks they will succumb to extremist and violent tendencies as happened in Cambodia under Pol Pot. But if they are brought into the democratic mainstream, they may emerge as a force that can rid Nepal of a feudal and authoritarian system. There are two real issues now: One, there is an urgent need for an arbiter, before it is too late, with the necessary power and legitimacy to bring the King, the Maoists and the five-party alliance to the negotiating table. Two, the time for constitutional monarchy may perhaps have elapsed. This may in fact have to be ultimately sacrificed for the sake of a peaceful settlement between the Maoists and the democratic parties. The South Asia Free Media Association's recent fact-finding mission on the state of media found that the Declaration of the State of Emergency has suspended sub-clauses (a), (b) and (c) of clause 2 of article 12; clause 1 of article 13; and articles 15, 16, 17, 22 and 23 (except the sub-clause on habeas corpus). This has led to a blanket suspension of fundamental rights and most coercively of media practitioners with the enforcement of a brutal censorship. With the denial of right to know and right to express, a young and free media has been chained to infinite, yet undefined, censorship. Media practitioners and media houses have been terrorized and those who responded to the call of their profession victimized and intimidated by various means, including detentions, takeover of news houses, closure of news and current affairs programmes, censorship, withdrawal of advertisements and subsidies, unprecedented retrenchment of journalists, and distortion of information, forced migration or circumvention of movement. The relative 'relaxation' visible over time is not due to any retraction or review, but due to the incapacity of the coercive institutions, and the resistance of the media community that continues to defy the draconian measures. Worse, the media are being forced into self-censorship, given the uncertainty about what they can safely publish or broadcast. All doors to seek remedy and justice are closed. Although the overall situation is quite alarming, there are certain areas of particular concern for the media community and civil society that the SAFMA Media Mission noted and shares. 1) The suspension of most of the fundamental rights that adversely affect the life of the people, especially media practitioners. Most notable are the suspension of sub-clauses (a), (b) and (c) of clause 2 of article 12, clause 1 of article 13, and articles 15, 16, 17, 22 and 23. 2) The citizens' right to appeal and seek justice through legal means is in jeopardy and the authority of the superior judiciary to provide justice and interpret law compromised. Unfortunately, the superior courts have declined to admit the petitions challenging the ultra vires of the proclamation of emergency and suspension of fundamental rights. 3) Since February 1, the media have been placed under constant harassment and are being forced to coalesce in to official "truth" and become instruments in the hands of officialdom denying the people their right to information. 4) Dozens of journalists were arrested, many dailies and weeklies were forced to shut down, FM Radio sector stopped from relaying news and current affairs programmes, private television networks barred from telecasting the dissent, hundreds of journalists from outside Kathmandu Valley forced to either stop work or seek asylum outside their place of work or home towns, and freedom of movement partially curtailed. The economic sustainability of the private sector media has become doubtful due to the withdrawal of official advertisements and subsides, especially the weeklies, hundreds of journalists rendered jobless and the future of media industry and professionals has become bleak. 5) Contrary to King Gyanendra's contention that "an independent Press serves as a medium for raising the level of democratic consciousness; it plays a crucial role in the promotion of national interest", a blanket censorship has been imposed by his invocation of sub-clause 1 of Clause 15 of Print and Publication Act and Broadcasting Act. The conditions imposed by the military authorities, District Administration Offices and ministries of information, communication and home are so prohibitive that media cannot function as a vehicle of communication and information. The Print and Publication Act and National Broadcasting Act are being misused to stifle publications and broadcasting houses that refuse to compromise their editorial independence. Draconian laws, such as Terrorism and Disruptive Activities Ordinance (TADO), are being used at random againstjournalists. Eight journalists are still under detention, mostly at military barracks, police stations or unknown places with no access to family or attorney. Many more are "missing", their families ignorant of their whereabouts. 6) The censorship committees, consisting of Chief District Officer and representatives from Police and Army have further expanded the scope of censorship. The authorities, not legally competent to regulate the media, are interfering with the daily working of media without being accountable to a legally competent authority. Given the ambiguity of the scope of censorship, officials at various tiers of civil and military administration are making the life of working journalists miserable. The orders are often verbal and, in most cases, violate all tenets of law. Editors and journalists are summoned to the police stations or military barracks where they are humiliated, pressurized and, in some cases, tortured. The situation in Nepal warrants immediate intervention by the international community, before it is too late. The current pressure on the King is not enough. Greater solidarity with the people of Nepal and journalists is urgently needed. ______ [2] Dawn - March 29, 2005 'ENLIGHTENED MODERATION' AND THE RIGHT By Iqbal Haider True to character, the government has made yet another somersault by withdrawing a positive decision to delete the column of religion from our passports. The greater tragedy is that it was done under pressure from the orthodox religious forces only a day after their million march. The ruling elite has once again reaffirmed its fundamental principle of "might is right", which it follows religiously for self-perpetuation. Little wonder it also succumbs to the might of others, whether religious/sectarian or ethnic. Consequently, the extremist forces gain more courage, confidence and motivation to impose on the people their obscurantist, illogical and half-baked ideas, values and norms, through sheer show of force. It seems that our rulers rely on rhetoric and peroration rather than action to eradicate and discourage the reactionary norms and practices promoted by the militant religious forces. Gen. Pervez Musharraf and his colleagues have also found it expedient, "in the national interest," to bow down before these forces. The list of surrenders is unending and difficult to cover in one article. However, some of the most capricious somersaults detrimental to the rights and interests of the people are as under:- 1. Immediately after his take over, the general had expressed his appreciation for the great reformist of Turkey, Kemal Ataturk. But to pacify the obscurantist, while addressing the journalists of Saarc countries at Islamabad only a few months later, perhaps in July 2000, the general denied having any such liking or appreciation for Ataturk. 2. In April 2000, a national convention on human rights was held in Islamabad. This convention was attended mostly by non-governmental organizations and some leaders of public opinion. People were happy that attention was being paid to the human right issues. The decisions of this convention, in particular to amend the blasphemy law, that is, Section 295-C of the PPC with a view to preventing its misuse, were welcomed by most sections of public opinion. However, when the extremists started protesting, within a couple of weeks, the chief executive (as the president then was) changed his mind and said that none of these laws would be amended. 3. On the demand of one religious party, the chief executive immediately inducted in his cabinet Professor Mahmood Ahmed Ghazi. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, reproduced in Dawn of January 1, 2001, "Mr. Ghazi graduated from a madressah as that also produced several Taliban leaders, some of whom were his classmates." 4. The military government decided not only to abandon a survey of religious seminaries (The News August 19, 2000) but also lifted the ban on grant of financial assistance to the madressahs out of the Zakat funds. (Jang, October 25, 2000). The government also decided to incorporate the madressahs in the main educational system of the country to enable their graduates to get jobs in other fields (chief Executive's interview, weekly Newsweek, February 19, 2001). This decision only resulted in a further mushroom growth of madressahs, and increased output of self-righteous youths spreading our all over the country and claiming appointments in private and public institutions on the basis of madressah degrees. 5. As one religious party started its campaign against the signing of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and threatened to launch a movement, Gen. Musharraf decided not to sign the CTBT, though for all possible considerations, it was in the interest of Pakistan to do so at that juncture. 6. A religious organization demanded deletion of the name of the Nobel laureate Dr. Abdus Salam from the roll of scientists in textbooks. The Punjab education department obliged the extremist religious party and issued instructions to the Punjab Textbook Board to correct the textbooks accordingly. (Article by Kunwar Idrees, Dawn, July 24, 2000). 7. The government had also agreed to amend certain provisions of criminal laws with a view to ensuring prosecution of and award of exemplary punishment to culprits involved in "honour killing" cases. Three prominent NGOs, namely the HRCP, the Aurat Foundation and Shirkat Gah, after consultation with virtually all concerned sections of society, had succeeded in preparing a balanced, comprehensive draft of the amendments required in the Pakistan Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code. A copy of the draft bill was circulated to all political parties in parliament, including the ruling coalition and the opposition. It was hoped that this draft bill would be passed by consensus. But under pressure of the religious parties, the treasury benches chose to reject this bill and instead made only cosmetic changes in the PPC that are not capable of serving the objective for which the amendments were required. 8. In its same bill to amend PPC ostensibly to tackle the issue of "Honour Killing", the government surreptitiously added an amendment in Section 295-C relating to the blasphemy law, but again in a manner that it should not offend the sensitivities of the religious parties. This amendment as well would not fully serve the purpose and prevent wide misuse of the blasphemy law, by instituting false and fabricated cases, on the basis of personal enmity, prejudice and hatred. 9. In November 2003, speakers of both the National Assembly and the Sindh Assembly refused to allow any discussion on a resolution moved by some of the members to condemn the barbaric practice of "honour killing". So much so, that the member who had dared to move the resolution in the National Assembly was reprimanded and advised to withdraw it. This is not an exhaustive list of contradictions, hypocrisy and somersaults. I am sure many other such incidents must have occurred and would be in the knowledge of concerned citizens. The latest decision of the federal cabinet to restore the religion column in the machine-readable passports and to inscribe the words "Islamic Republic of Pakistan" on the passport's cover, belies all claims of "enlightened moderation" and is devoid of any logic. A passport is not a certificate of one's religious beliefs. It only certifies the nationality of the citizen, irrespective of his religion or ideology. The founder of our country, the Quaid-i-Azam, in his historic speech of August 11, 1947, had rightly emphasized that "You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed, that has nothing to do with the business of the state." and that "Pakistan shall not be a theocratic state." It is also pertinent to highlight, and I state this without any fear of contradiction, that neither the Independence Act of 1947 nor any other constitutional instrument or law pertaining to the creation of Pakistan nor in any of his statements or speeches did the Quaid-i-Azam ever name or brand Pakistan as the "Islamic Republic of Pakistan". Pakistan was only called "Dominion of Pakistan", simply because the Quaid-i-Azam was conscious of the fact that the state was incapable of having any religion by any stretch of logic or reason. It was the unholy alliance of the civil and military bureaucracy which, to perpetuate its undemocratic rule, invoked the innovation of the prefix of "Islamic" to the "Republic of Pakistan" in the Constitution of 1956 with a view to exploiting religious sentiments of the people. It is our misfortune that every strate gam is adopted and promoted in Pakistan in the name of religion to exploit, hoodwink and subjugate the people. It is interesting to observe that Gen. Pervez Musharraf has been claiming from time to time - and rightly so - that not more then 10% of the People of Pakistan are orthodox extremist Muslims. However, while announcing the latest ill-advised and misconceived decision, his federal ministers in their press conference attempted to justify it by claiming that it was taken in view of the demand of the people. Whose demand was it? Obviously of not more than a 10 per cent minority of the bigots in Pakistan. Why should the liberal, moderate and enlightened people who admittedly constitute more than 90 per cent of the population be subjected to the will, whims and fancies of orthodox extremist forces, who are not more than 10 per cent of our population? It appears that "enlightened moderation" is nothing more than a hollow slogan. In practice the ruling junta is only serving the agenda of reaction and conveying the image of Pakistan as a country of bigots, ruled by and for bigots. The writer is a former senator, attorney general and federal minister for law, justice, parliamentary affairs and human rights. ______ [3] The News International - March 29, 2005 THE INVISIBLE BORDER by Khurram Baig It is a serious humanitarian problem: Indian and Pakistani fishermen straying into the territorial waters of each other's country are often arrested and imprisoned. Each fisherman arrested represents an entire family deprived of its main breadwinner, not to mention the fact that they are held without the basic legal and human rights that every citizen, even of another country, is entitled to. A limited exchange of fishermen has been made possible in recent years, thanks to improving relations between the two countries and consistent lobbying by human rights organisations. Under the bilateral Pakistan-India Cultural agreement reached in 1988, each side releases prisoners on an on-and-off basis, but more are arrested just as frequently. It is difficult to determine the exact number of those still imprisoned in the two countries, since the governments do not release the figures. The magnitude of the problem is indicated from the numbers available with the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, which claims that 153 Pakistani fishermen and 802 Indian fishermen are in the jails of the two countries. On January 2, 2005, Pakistan released 268 Indian fishermen, while another 529 were released on March 20, 2005. India has just released 93 Pakistani fishermen, due to arrive in Pakistan on Monday. The agencies' task has been made difficult by the "exchange protocol" -- the procedure followed for the release of the fishermen, which is similar to the one applicable in the case of prisoners of war. At every stage from the time of their arrest, the fishermen are kept in the dark. They are not released even after the completion of their terms of punishment: they have to wait for a formal exchange of prisoners to take place. Trades unions and labour support groups of both India and Pakistan, and their common platform, the South Asian Labour Forum (SALF), have been drawing the attention of the authorities of two countries to the plight of the fishermen. It has demanded the unconditional release of all the detained persons, and a stop to the mid-sea arrests and the imprisonments, and has also often criticised the absence of a clear policy of action to prevent the arrest and detention of fishermen. Another SALF demand is that India and Pakistan mark out their maritime boundary by buoys and other marking devices. It also emphasises the need for an agreement among countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) that would enable fishermen of the maritime member-nations to fish in the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal without hindrance. India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Maldives share the resources of the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. India has a long coastline, 7,417 km. Pakistan's coastline meets India's 1,640-km-long Gujarat coast. However, there are no bilateral agreements on maritime boundaries between India and any of the South Asian countries. The provisions of the Maritime Zones of India Acts of 1976 and 1981, under which the fishermen are detained and punished, do not correspond with those of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, of which India is a signatory. The Maritime Zone of Pakistan Act is almost identical to the Indian law. The SALF has demanded that these Acts be amended to bring them in consonance with the UN Conventions. It has also requested that fishermen's organisations and trade unions be represented at, and consulted on, bilateral or regional negotiations on this issue. For fishermen, the concept of marine borders is difficult to comprehend. The ocean has been their workplace and their families have been engaged in fishing for generations. So they feel they are victimised for political reasons. Apart from the fact that there are no signals on the sea demarcating the maritime boundary between India and Pakistan, there is not even an agreed boundary. For their mutual convenience, the two countries' patrolling agencies have worked out an imaginary line in the Sir Creek region, off the Kutch coast. Fishing boats, especially those with engine failures, can easily, and do, stray into neighbouring territory owing to tidal currents, wind force or cyclones. The captured Pakistani and Indian boats have no navigational aids. There is also the issue of retaliatory action. For example if the Pakistan side captures Indian boats and fishermen, chances are that Indian maritime forces will do the same at the earliest opportunity. For many years now, fishermen's unions, boat owners' associations and trade unions in the two countries have asked their respective governments to work out a long-term solution. Since 1988, the Shree Akhil Gujarat Machhimar Mahamandal, the Fishermen's Boat Association, the Diu Porbandar Machhimar Boat Association, the Gujarat Marine Products Exporters Association, the National Fishworkers Forum and others have made several representations to the Indian government. Similar efforts have been made on this side of the border. The Fishermen's Cooperative Society and the Fishermen's Union, the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research and the Pakistan chapter of SALF have taken up the issue with the government. The authorities of the two countries invariably cite national interests. In the process, they appear to have lost sight of two major questions: the fishermen's right to livelihood and the incompatibility of the countries' laws with regard to the seas and internal laws and conventions. ______ [4] Dawn - 28 March 2005 SOME UNANSWERED QUESTIONS FOR SECULAR INDIA By Jawed Naqvi When we watched TV in the Gulf 25 years ago we saw that virtually every transmitting station offered one or two mandatory channels with a mullah as staple fare, relentlessly gesticulating with both hands, fiercely pontificating on the virtues of his faith. We accepted this as a cultural hangover of a region that was suddenly, even rudely, sucked into the vortex of the 20th century from a mediaeval slumber, thanks largely to the great social engineer called the petrodollar. Colour TV came to India in 1982 piggybacking on the Asiad mini-Olympics held that year in Delhi. The event also heralded Rajiv Gandhi as a key player in national affairs. The youthful premier-to-be not only supervized an impressive Asiad, albeit under his mother's watchful eye, but also became the nation's hope for a change in public discourse away from a raging religious strife. But even before he could fix the searing Hindu-Sikh fissures that dominated the national politics of the time, Rajiv Gandhi, quite unwittingly let us admit, plunged headlong into a Hindu-Muslim discourse. His tinkering with the Shah Bano divorce case to placate orthodox Muslims followed by the unlocking of the Babri mosque to allow Hindu worshippers were not viewed kindly by his liberal supporters. Insidiously, without doubt, Indian TV too set about abusing its newly unleashed prowess across the remotest parts of the country. It broadcast television programmes that began to draw on religious atavism of the people rather than serving as a vehicle for the unfettered liberal dialogue promised by Jawaharlal Nehru. The advent of private broadcasters, some of them acknowledged to be gifted with a farsighted worldview, also proved to be a major let down. Their TRP ratings were driven by everything except a rational discourse. If it was mindless soap operas here, it was the bustling bourses there that occupied the space, and determined their earnings. Thus religion has remained the dominant ingredient of Indian TV, showing up in odd places like the marketplace or the world of entertainment, or politics. Major news channels, including NDTV, initially seen as a progressive platform, find all the time to run live programmes on India's perennial religious pilgrimages wherever they could find one. Obviously, there must be something in it for everyone. After all in India today there are dozens of 24-hour TV channels exclusively dedicated to religious discourses. And there is a fair division of spoils. They cater to everyone, be they Sikh, Muslim, Christian, or Hindu viewers. On the other hand there is no public place, much less a single platform for dissent, nor any for the ubiquitous cynic, the atheist or the agnostic. There is virtually no room for the questioning spirit. It looks as though yet again in time, the dice is loaded adversely for Galileo against the awesome might of the Pope. It was in this stifling atmosphere that free thinking poet Javed Akhtar got his chance recently to breach the fortress of suffocating axioms. His quarry was Shri Shri Ravi Shankar, the globe-trotting spiritual guru. The occasion was India Today magazine's international symposium on India's progress. It was an unlikely platform to discuss faith or spirituality, when Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Senator Hillary Clinton and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were competing for attention. But Javed Akhtar just had to have his way, and how. And as he began punching holes into the arguments for spiritualism put forth by Shri Shri Ravi Shankar, even Javed Akhtar was surprised by the applause he got. Shankar's case was that spirituality was a virtue. Javed claimed that it was a hoax. "It has become a fashion with journalists to blindly continue the colonial tradition of calling Hindu spiritual leaders a hoax," said a miffed Ravi Shankar in a signed article shortly after the debate debacle. "They called Mahatma Gandhi, Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo godmen and hoaxes, and their contemporaries continue to do so. Would they say this to Mother Teresa or the Dalai Lama? No! Only Indian spiritual leaders are singled out." Javed Akhtar argued that as a scriptwriter for movies, he creates illusions for his audience. But then after three hours he puts up the sign, The End. Spiritual gurus sell illusions too but they forget to put up The End sign after their discourse. "The hatred and frustration were obvious from his body language," thundered Ravi Shankar in the article. "It's not just Mr Akhtar. Many journalists, communists, atheists and naxalites live in that state of mind, of being anti-religious, anti-rich, anti-famous, anti-business." What did Akhtar say that riled the guru so much? "Let's not be confused by this word spirituality," he argued. "You can find two people with the same name and they can be totally different people. Ram Charit Manas was written by Tulsidas. And the television film has been made by Ramanand Sagar. Ramayan is common but I don't think it would be very wise to club Tulsidas with Ramanand Sagar. "When Tulsidas wrote Ramcharit Manas, he had faced a kind of a social boycott. How could he write a holy book in such a language like Avadhi? Sometimes I wonder fundamentalists of all hues and all colours, religions and communities are similar. In 1798, a gentleman called Shah Abdul Qadir, in this very city, for the first time translated the Quran in Urdu, and all the ulemas of that time gave fatwas against him as to how could he translate this holy book in such a heathen language." The audience was glued to his every word. But the point that evidently hit the bull's eye was searing. "Gautam Buddha came out of a palace and went into wilderness to find the truth," said Akhtar. "But nowadays we see modern age gurus come out of the wilderness and wind up in palaces. They are moving in the opposite direction. We can't talk of them in the same breath." Applause. Applause. But was it the last time that a confirmed atheist was allowed to speak his mind before a revered Indian guru? Time will tell. However, the dice is loaded. * * * * * Their treacherous journey from guarding mediaeval harems to earning a living by singing and dancing may not yet have ended, but Indian eunuchs intending to travel abroad now need not pass off as male or female. They will now be issued passports that specify their true gender identity. Eunuchs applying for passports have just to fill 'E' in the gender box on the forms. A capital 'E' in any of the tiny 'M' and 'F' squares meant for male and female applicants. ______ [5] Business Standard - March 23, 2005 'EXPLORATIONS IN CONNECTED HISTORY' C P Bhambhri / New Delhi Under the rubric that is the title of this review, Sanjay Subrahmanyam has brought together his scholarly research articles in two books and they provide an opportunity to scholars of "early modern" history to study in an integrated manner his rich contributions. The author has spelt out his approach to the study of the "early modern" period by following "connected histories", where issues are looked at by keeping in mind "space flexibility". The author says "we can sense some of this connectedness when one looks to the travel accounts written in the period, not merely the well-thumbed travelogues of European males and later their memsahibs, but also those written by visitors from the Ottoman domains or Samarqand to Delhi, or voyagers going from Patna to Isfahan". Subrahmanyam's work clearly establishes his claim that his sources of historiography of the "early modern" period are varied and cut across geographical barriers. He demolishes the myth of a "Hindu" Vijayanagara (the mid-fourteenth and mid-seventeenth centuries) resisting "Muslim" opponents because the myth was of course a complex production, one that was partly put out by the later ideologues of the empire in decline, but also partly on account of the intervention of the Portuguese, who, in their search for help against the "Moorish" rulers of peninsular India, thought that the "Gentile" kings of Vijayanagara were their natural friends. The making of the history of South Asia of 500 years was the result of "openness" and connectedness and thus the construction of pure Hindu India by the Sangh Parivar by looking at only indigenous and geographically limiting factors is a fraud. The author, having spelt out his approach in his first chapter "On the Window that was India", pursues his research on the "connectedness" in chapters "Indian Views of the Portuguese in Asia, 1500-1700"; "Persianization and Mercantilism in the Bay of Bengal History, 1400-1700"; "Violence, Grievance, and Memory in Early Modern South Asia, Sixteenth-Century Millenarianism from the Tagus to the Ganges"; "European Chronicles and the Mughals"; etc. These chapters in From the Tagus to the Ganges establish the author's thesis of the openness of South Asia. It is not only the Portuguese who wrote about South Asia, in Shahjahan's time the Padshah Nama of 'Abd al-Hamid Lahori also shows the evil effects of this Firangi presence. Further, "the spread of Iranians and Persianized elites was an important characteristic of Bay of Bengal history in the years 1400 to 1700, thus this spread was accompanied by a partial Persianization of comportments and of conceptions of statecraft (including the attitude towards trade), and that it can be linked without too great a difficulty to the rise of sort of 'mercantilist' ideology in states of the Bay of Bengal." The author does not say that there was no violence or wars or proselytising during this period, because human historical experiences have a dialectical journey of positives and negatives. Mughals and Franks, comprising eight chapters, follows the same approach. The author quotes Jesuit Xavier's views on Akbar: "King died more or less alone, he only took the name of God a few times, nor did he die in keeping with the custom of the Gentiles. As one never knew under what religion he lived ... he made place for all the religions and took none of them for the truth, though his usual habit was to worship God and the Sun." The author has warned that the account of early modern South Asian society by Europeans should be confirmed by independent and heterogeneous sources because "this is surely a matter of the prestige that a European text continued to hold in the eyes of Sir Jadunath, and many others including the neo-colonial historians of the Sangh Parivar". It is a very important note of caution given by the author that European sources and the writings on the Persianisation of politics in the Indian subcontinent deserve to be studied and compared, keeping in mind the context of that age. The note of warning given by him is known to every historian writing on South Asia but the timing is important because Indians are involved in a big struggle around the politics of history of the forces of Hindutva, and eminent scholars like Romila Thapar, R S Sharma, Irfan Habib, Satish Chandra et al. are put on the defensive by the sectarian historiography of the Parivar. While the author's project "has been conceived as a partial response to the challenge posed by the intellectual project of a reflection on the ongoing encounters between South Asia and Europe at the time of the Mughals", our historians are engaged in a struggle to rescue Mughal historiography from Hindu fanatics masquerading as historians. It is a pity that Subrahmanyam's rich contribution would end up in libraries while Indian history becomes a victim of politics, an appendage in the larger project of Hindutva. From the Tagus to the Ganges Sanjay Subrahmanyam Oxford University Press Price: Rs 575 Pages: 264 Mughals and Franks Sanjay Subrahmanyam Oxford University Press Price: Rs 575 Pages: 232 ______ [6] [Announcements: ] (i) Wednesday, March 30, 2005, 3:30 pm Sarai-CSDS, 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi -54 URDU HAI JISKA NAAM, 120 minutes A film on the history of Urdu Directed by Subhash Kapoor Introduced and discussed by Sohail Hashmi, who conceptualised, researched for and scripted the film. The film begins with the shift from Sanskrit to popular Apabhransha languages including Shaurseni that had by the 10th Century AD spread from the West Coast of the sub-continent to the East and gave birth to Gujarati, Sindhi, Punjabi, Braj, Avadhi, Maghdi, Maithli, Bangla and Khari Boli, among others. The arrival of the Sufis, Central Asian armies and large number of traders brought in new technologies, new crafts,new languages and scripts from the 11th century and all these began to combine with their South Asian counterparts to create new vocabularies of Music, Attire, Architecture and creative expression. All this took place at the shrines of the Sufis, in army camps, in the bazars and the sarais. The film goes on to trace these many strains through the centuries and across Delhi, Gulbarga, Gujarat, Avadh and Bengal. By the time John Borthwick Gilchrist set up the Fort Williams College in the 1820s at Calcutta, Urdu had grown to become a language that was "spoken and understood from Gujarat to the Bengal" and it was on Gilchrist's recommendation that the East India Company gave up their dependence on Persian and replaced with Urdu. The rest is more familiar but by no means less exciting history of a language gone out of favour in recent decades. ______ (ii) Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT) is conducting the International conference in India. The International Federation of Health and Human Rights Organisations (IFHHRO), conducts annual conferences on themes linked to health and human rights each year and for year 2005, CEHAT has taken responsibility for coordinating the conference in India. The Conference is being held in Mumbai, India on 30th September and 1st October 2005 and the theme of the conference is "Engendering Health and Human Rights". CEHAT and IFHHRO invite abstracts of no more than 500 words (deadline 30th April 2005) and full papers of not more than 10,000 words (deadline 1st August 2005) on the above sub-themes. Please check website for further details: <http://www.cehat.org/ifhhro2.html>http://www.cehat.org/ifhhro2.html ______ (iii) SANSAD South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy Suite 435, 205 - 329 North Road, Coquitlam, BC, Canada. V3K 6Z8 phone : (604) 420-2972; FAX: (604) 420-2970 Electronic mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] [Incorporated in British Columbia under the Society Act as a Non-Profit Society, # S-31797] SANSAD Educational Forum: Crisis in Balochistan: Implications of Military Action Between the Baloch and the Pakistan Army Saturday. April 16, 2005, from 2 to 5 pm. at the Bonsor Recreational Complex, Burnaby Since March 17 the town of Dera Bugti has been in a state of siege, cut off from the world. After four days of clashes that left dozens of people dead thousands of Bugti tribesmen armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades have surrounded the Pakistani military base, with some 300 troops in it. The Baloch tribesmen have put up roadblocks, dug trenches, and occupied the surrounding mountains, completely cutting off the base and the town of Dera Bugti. Most of the civilian population of Dera Bugti has fled. The Chief of the Bugti tribe, Nawab Akbar Bugti, has accused the government of massacring innocent civilians, including women and children and robbing the area of its natural resources. Nationalists in Balochistan have been fighting pitched battles with Pakistani security forces for more than a year. During 2004 this struggle became more intense, causing the death of more than 30 soldiers and paramilitary personnel in attacks on troops and government installations, including the Sui Gas Complex. In January, 2005, 8 people were killed in fighting near strategic gas fields after a local doctor was raped, allegedly by an officer of the security forces. Since then there have been daily attacks on security forces, railways, and the power and communications infrastructure. A new political formation calling itself Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has emerged and gathered wide support. It is held responsible for the current rise in Baloch militancy. The BLA claims to be fighting "Punjabi domination", the sense that the natural resources of abysmally poor Balochistan are being exploited by a state apparatus dominated by people from the Punjab province. Baloch people also feel marginalized by mega-developments such as the city of Gwadar on the Makran coastline, which is being developed as a major international route for sea-traffic to Central Asia, particularly as an outlet for Central Asian oil. They also oppose the plan of the Punjabi-dominated Pakistan Army to establish new garrisons in the province. The nationalists want greater autonomy and greater share of their natural resources. In the mid-70s there was a major armed uprising in Balochistan that was ruthlessly suppressed by the Pakistan Army with the help of the Iranian Army. The current situation seems to be leading toward a major conflict between the Baloch, who retain memories of the 70s, and the Pakistan Army, which is already engaged in Waziristan. The Baloch resistance to Pakistan's development plans also counters the US interest in securing a route for Central Asian oil. Mr. Zahid Makhdoom and Dr. Haider Nizamani will facilitate discussion by providing the background and point out the implications of the current situation. _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ 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 Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/act/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/