South Asia Citizens Wire | 14 March, 2006 | Dispatch No. 2232
[1] Pakistan: Prohibiting Basant, penalising jubilation (Imtiaz Alam) [2] Book Review: The failure of military government (Rounaq Jahan) [3] India: CNDP statement on Indo-US Nuclear Deal [4] India: Sniffing on Gandhiji (Paul Zacharia) [5] India: Tamil Nadu's freak swamis (S. Anand) [6] India: 'legislate for citizens not only mill owners and builders'! - Citizens March in Bombay, March 14, 2006 ____________________________________ [1] The News International March 14, 2006 PROHIBITING BASANT, PENALISING JUBILATION by Imtiaz Alam Once again the axe of prohibition has fallen on a culturally and aesthetically most gratifying festival of spring -- Basant. Playing to the tunes of sickening clerics, the Punjab government earned the stigma of banning the colourful festival of kite flying. As in previous years, the people defied the ban in every alley and on every rooftop of Lahore with police violating the privacy of homes to enforce an unenforceable decree. There is no disagreement on exorcising the 'foul side' of kite sport, but by outlawing the sport itself the ruling PML has revealed its true reactionary nature. To punish all of society for the bloody sin of a few is nothing but fascism. By denying the people their freedom of expression, you lose the right to rule them and this is what has happened on the eve of Basant in Lahore. Can any one stop spring and banish people from celebrating its advent? Exercising freedom of happiness and the right to seek pleasure was at a great risk and invited the wrath of 'khudai faujdars' from the PML. As if a long autumn of prohibition was not enough, the celebration of Basant assumed a clash between the Freudian 'unconscious' or what is 'repressed' and the release of 'primary biological urges', on the one hand, and the enforcers of a fascist code of prohibition, on the other. The forces of denial came into action, after the clergy had failed to stop people from gratifying pleasure, on the pretext of the horrible deaths caused by the foul play of a section of kite flyers. The culprits are those who manufactured murderous metallic or razor sharp string and not the millions of kite flyers. Compensation for the innocent blood of infants, who have been made an easy prey to the killer string by being dangerously seated in front of motorbikes, cannot be made by crucifying the happiness of the innocent millions. The Punjab government, with the help of civil society, could easily take out the killer string from the spring sport. But, the Chief Minister threw the baby out with the bath water. This is in fact the fear of freedom that makes those shudder that use 'enlightenment' as a tactical façade for their shabby designs. Although the official crusaders came down heavily and lawlessly on the violators of prohibition, they cannot change the deep natural core of the human animal which will continue to find release in a hundred and one ways no restriction can inhibit. And this is what was witnessed in Lahore. On the other hand, the denial of pleasure extended to civil society creates the soil for submission to authoritarianism and its extremist clerical allies. When libidinal energy is repressed, it finds most conflicting expressions from puritanism to perversion and fascism to alcoholism and cynicism to extremism. What mullahs and autocrats don't understand is that repression of pleasure at all levels, from family to state, leads to various kinds of obsessive compulsive disorders. According to psychoanalysts, the pleasure principal is central to the healthy growth of an average being of a nation, if it doesn't get either stuck up with the oral pleasure stage that the Horticulture Authority in Punjab has been trying to inculcate in what it cowardly portrays as 'Jashan-i-Baharan', or becomes a victim of guilt for the 'original sin'. This is the grey area where the clergy builds its appeal and the PML tries to compete with it. The psychologists have 'character analytically' discovered, and quite paradoxically, the surface layer of humans, which should on average be reserved, polite, compassionate, responsible and conscientious, is overpowered by their 'secondary drives' which consist of cruel, sadistic, lascivious, rapacious and envious impulses. There would be no social tragedy of the human animal, according to Wilhelm Reich, a great psychologist and character analyst, if this surface layer of the personality works in direct contact with the deep natural core, i.e. the primary biological urges. Now the Orgone biophysics have made it possible to comprehend the Freudian 'unconscious', that which is anti-social in man is a secondary result of the repression of primary biological urges. What happens is that the surface layer of social cooperation is not in contact with the deep biological core. Reich has discovered that it is borne by a second and intermediate layer, which consists of sadistic and reactionary impulses. The more the religious extremists try to repress the orgiastically deprived masses, the greater will be the perversion within their own ranks and resistance by the deprived masses. Despite a partial vulgarisation of the most gratifying festival due to the overindulgence of multinationals, a culturally perverse bureaucracy and the trigger happy hooligans, the festival is keeping its spontaneity in every alley and home and spreading like a prairie fire to every nook and corner of the Islamic Republic. This beautiful spring has also brought manifold gratification of pleasures by relieving the burdens of demonising obscurantism with the cultural exuberance of all-encompassing Basant. Celebrating colours and commemorating happiness amid a riot of kites helps release repressed libidinal energies to the full. By defying prohibition and relinquishing fear of freedom, the people have brought a spiralling cultural revolution no cleric or patriarchal authority can suppress. Like previous years, a landslide cultural verdict is being affirmatively given on every rooftop, in every alley and every park in favour of freedom of pleasure, celebration of love and commemorating of human self-gratification. It is such a popular expression of the real self of the people of Punjab and their Freudian 'unconscious' that defeats those who base their ideological onslaught on the repression of primary biological energies. Our cultural soil has in fact refused to become a breeding ground for the thorns of bigoted religious repulsion and exclusion. The festival welcomes spring by combining singing, dancing and flaunting colours, mustered yellowish in particular, which also symbolises the peak of spiritual voyage in mystical tradition. The kite flying adds a competitive and thrilling dimension to the whole festivity. The kites are not simply flown for a mock fight; they become a centre of gravity for the whole festivity, dancing and singing. It's a mock fight that satisfies what psycho-analysts describe as the secondary drives. Whereas the noise of "bo kata" compensates for the un-fulfilment in life, the kite-looting represents the Plebeian urge of the have-nots in their existence of nothingness. The bloody metal thread, however, reveals the foul side of our character structure that must be curbed by outlawing the business of killer-thread production, not the festival itself. While our Mullahs apostatise Basant, Bulleh Shah welcomes Basant in these words: "Kaho phuley basant bahar noo; dil lochey mahi yaar noo" (Tell flowery spring this Basant, my heart is jumping for my beloved). Divorced from cultural ethos, there have been some 'puritans' who had termed it a "Hindu" festival, but they are not being heard anymore. Spring festivals have been the human cultural response ever since the blossoming of flowers. Nature endowed spring with blossoming of flowers and spreading of fragrance and a meeting season for all living. The Basant festival in Punjab is as old as is the growing of sarson (mustard), hence the yellow and green dresses. The folklore reconfirms its organic vibrancy by singing: Mera rang dey basanti chola (colour my shirt in yellow). Kite flying is also as old as the human urge to fly. Even before the invention of paper, kites were made of other materials as revealed by the excavations and pictures inscribed in many ancient caves. Basant as a commemoration of a Hindu blasphemer belies history since it's a festival of jubilation which is being observed prior to 1747. Basant provokes the clerics of all hues against the cultural renaissance of Punjab since it cuts across all divides and unifies people on the most human rhythms of our Punjabi folklore and helps overcome our estrangement from our real inner self. At a political level, it's a struggle between 'repressed' urges and the authoritarian repressers. And so be it. The more you will enforce prohibitive regimes, the greater will be the defiance. But let not the kite slit the flower of our youth, let no factory produce the killer string and, above all, let no crusader trample our freedom to love and merry-making. Basant Manao, Basant Sanwaro, if it can help release some suffocation from within. ____ [2] The Daily Star March 14, 2006 (Book Review) THE FAILURE OF MILITARY GOVERNMENT by Rounaq Jahan We've Learnt Nothing from History Pakistan: Politics and Military Power M Asghar Khan Oxford University Press, 2005 M. Asghar Khan's book, which carries a rather depressing title: "We've Learnt Nothing from History," is a fascinating account of the author's personal recollections of political events and conversations with key leaders in Pakistan over the last half a century. It is a refreshingly frank account often told with a lot of humour. I consider this book as a must read for all students of both Pakistan and Bangladesh politics. Though it primarily focuses on Pakistan politics, many trends described in the book are equally applicable to Bangladesh. Asghar Khan demonstrates how rulers in Pakistan have repeatedly failed to learn from history. I am sure after reading the book students of Bangladesh politics will be tempted to draw similar conclusions about our own rulers, both military as well as civilian. The book narrates many personal experiences and conversations which will serve as a valuable primary source for scholars researching Pakistan politics. I believe we need many more such personal accounts by people who have been privileged to witness historical events or have had access to confidential information that throws light on dark episodes of our history and politics. Of course, there is always a risk with personal accounts. These are written from the perspectives of individuals concerned. They can also be self-serving and can tell partial truth or even lies. Unfortunately in Bangladesh we have seen repeated such attempts to misrepresent history by people who claim to be witnesses to historical events. But despite such risks, personal accounts and memoirs are always a valuable primary source. A good researcher should be able to check facts and decide what can and what cannot be used as a source of information. Though the title of the book is depressing, it is sadly apt. The author persuasively demonstrates how repeated interventions by the military in the country's politics thwarted development of democratic institutions and norms in Pakistan. Each time the military took power, the results were disastrous for the nation. Every military ruler assumed power in the name of "saving" Pakistan. Each promised to "establish" democracy. But each regime pushed the country further in the path of disintegration. Chances of democracy taking root became even more remote with each military intervention. Successive regimesmilitary and civilianpursued the same failed policies and made the same old mistakes. Readers of the book will easily concur with the author that ruling elites, military as well as political, have not learnt anything from Pakistan's six decades of history since its birth in 1947. Asghar Khan argues that the military is incapable of fostering democracy or even functioning as a government responsive to citizens needs, particularly those of the poor, because the military institution is by definition not accountable to people. He narrates an interesting incident when a junior officer behaved insolently with the deposed president Iskander Mirza. He writes: "The conduct of this officer typified the dangers inherent in the involvement of the armed forces in politics. When power is wielded by the defence services, it is ultimately exercised by people who both by experience and by temperament are least suited for this role. Since they are not responsible to the people, their arrogance finds expression in ways that are more harmful than the one typified by the ill manners of the young officer at Mauripur airfield on that October morning." (p. 16) Asghar Khan narrates many such incidences of the military's arrogance and misguided policies. He underscores the futility of the pursuit of military actions by military regimes when the situation on the ground demands a political solution. He cites Pakistani rulers brutal military actions in Bangladesh and Baluchistan as prime examples of such arrogance and folly. Of course the military rulers have been aided and abetted by equally arrogant and power-hungry politicians such as Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Asghar Khan narrates a conversation with Yahya Khan who said that Bhutto had advised him (Yahya) that "East Pakistan is no problem. We will have to kill some 20,000 people there and all will be well." (p. 36) Asghar Khan also reports on lack of resistance and even pro-active undemocratic advice offered to military rulers by influential people who are supposed to uphold democratic principles. For example, Chief Justice Munir told Ayub Khan that a Constitution could be approved by "public acclaim" in meetings organized in different cities of Pakistan by the military regime (pp. 12-13). I found Asghar Khan's detailed description of the role of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) in politics to be the most illuminating chapter. We generally hear rumours about ISI involvement without much empirical evidence to support such allegations. In this book Asghar Khan has devoted a whole chapter (pp. 195-201) describing how ISI's role has changed over the years from its origin in the late 1950s as an intelligence coordination agency to "a system of political interference" in the 1970s and 1980s. He cites examples of ISI support in the formation as well as break up of political parties and alliances; manipulation of election results; distribution of funds to politicians; aid to religions groups within Pakistan; and training of mujahideens that ultimately led to Taliban control of Afghanistan. The most interesting exposure of ISI's role was the suo moto case Asghar Khan brought in the Pakistan Supreme Court in 1996 detailing the illegal activities of the agency, particularly its disbursement of funds to various political leaders (pp. 199-200). The case had three or four hearings and has been in cold storage since 1999. A pertinent question here is how can ISI continue to engage in such illegal activities when its involvement is open public knowledge? After all the newspapers have published the list of people who received ISI funds. Then why is there no punishment either for the ISI or for the people receiving funds? Asghar Khan provides a partial answer to these question? He observes: "It is a measure of the lack of political sense of the Pakistani public that they continue to bring these people back to the assemblies whenever national elections are held. Old habits die hard and the political parties and their leadership, whatever their public stand, look towards the armed forces to help them come to power. It has become the norm in Pakistan for political parties when in opposition to establish contact with GHQ or the ISI and conspire to bring down the elected government. If this remains so, the ISI will undoubtedly continue to be used for political manipulation." (pp. 198-199). The information and analysis on the ISI's role provided by Asghar Khan led me to ponder as to why we do not yet have such exposures on the Bangladesh intelligence services. After all, for years we have heard allegations about NSI and DGFI involvement in our politics. Yet no researcher or the media has attempted to collect and publish empirical evidence. This is a serious gap in our knowledge and understanding of politics. Involvement of intelligence services is a cancer in politics which needs to be clearly identified and eliminated. We need first hand accounts like Asghar Khan's book. We need more evidence-based research on the involvement of intelligence services in our politics. Asghar Khan's life long commitment to and struggle for the achievement of democracy, human rights and social justice come through clearly as one reads the book. One principle he repeatedly emphasizes is that civil and military officials are under no obligation to follow illegal or immoral orders given by their superiors. He refers to the Nuremberg trials after the Second World War when Nazi war criminals were held accountable even though they tried to plead that they carried out orders of superiors. He cites example from his own life when he refused to follow the order of his superior military commander to destroy a caravan carrying women and children. Chapter 5 of the book, titled "The Guardians of the Law" contains copies of various letters he wrote at different periods to Inspector Generals (IG) of Police and Chief Secretaries, reprimanding them for various unconstitutional and illegal actions committed at the dictates of "immoral and repressive" regimes. In one letter written to IG Police in 1976 he states: "[S]uch unlawful acts on the part of police officers can only push the country further towards anarchy and chaos. Those who are party to this are undoubtedly guilty of a crime against Pakistan and its people." (p. 89). Again, this chapter of the book will remind readers in Bangladesh of similar unlawful acts committed by our police, civil administration and military under the order of their superiors. Asghar Khan's insistence on protection of human rights and his description of various incidences of violation of his constitutional rights underscore the importance of establishing rule of law as the primary function of a modern state. Though Asghar Khan has resisted Bhutto's autocratic actions and personally suffered imprisonment and harassment as a consequence, he is fair in his assessment of Bhutto. For example, he credits Bhutto for some of his economic policies such as nationalization of industries and the Five Marla Scheme in agriculture. He writes that "the working classes were satisfied that the government was working for their uplift and betterment. They acquired a sense of importance and a feeling of security that they had not hitherto experienced" (p. 64). This kind of generosity in recognizing good acts of opponents is rare in our parts of the world. Many of Asghar Khan's ideas and positions are visionary. He envisions a local government system (pp. 161-2) that will free Pakistan from what he calls the "shackles of an all powerful bureaucracy." He proposes elected governments at village, halqa, district and provincial levels, with control of their staff and operations. He is opposed to Pakistan's acquision of nuclear weapons because he considers this to be an unwise military strategy (pp. 243-44). He argues that it increases the chances of India launching a nuclear first strike. He is also opposed to increasing budget for the armed forces and weapons. Instead he recommends increased investment in human development and social services such as education, health, sanitation and clean water. He is in favour of a near independent status for Kashmir. Indeed, the book is full of many enlightened ideas and policies, which if implemented, would have augured well for Pakistan and South Asia. Asghar Khan is equally forthright in rejecting use of religion to advance political gains. He argues that the military regimes like that of Ziaul Huq cannot call themselves Islamic because under their policies the gaps between the rich and the poor have widened. Asghar Khan believes that Islam stands for social justice, and regimes that do not promote social justice cannot be called Islamic. Of course, a good book generates many questions. This book is no exception. Many questions came to my mind as I read the book. Here I will focus on only three. First, Asghar Khan writes that the ruling class of West Pakistan considered East Pakistan to be an "encumbrance and conditioned itself to believe that Pakistan would do better without its eastern wing" (p. 9). But if that was the case, then why did the ruling class not agree to part amicably with us? What was the need to unleash the act of genocide? Second, Asghar Khan does not fully explain what motivated him to enter politics via a route different from that of other military leaders in Pakistan. After all, he spent a life time in Pakistan military establishment. What led him, then, to oppose his former colleagues: Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan? Why did he decide to champion democracy, human rights, and social justice? Third, why are leaders such as Asghar Khan, who practice principled politics, not able to mobilize enough popular support to win electoral majorities? Why do people vote for parties that are led by corrupt politicians? What are the constraints of the existing electoral processes that work against clean parties and leaders? Asghar Khan clearly is not worried about not winning electoral majority or being a politician like the others. He is more interested in telling the truth as he sees it and following his principles and conscience. Surprisingly, however, the book does not have a moralistic, preaching style. Instead it is written simply with a lot of anecdotes some quite amusing, that make it very clear how Pakistani rulers repeatedly took unlawful and immoral actions that ruined successive regime and pushed the ordinary citizens into more and more hardship. The author deserves our congratulations for a highly readable and lucid account of Pakistani politics. Hopefully, after reading this book, our rulers will start learning some lessons from history. Rounaq Jahan is Senior Research Scholar and Adjunct Professor, International Affairs, Columbia University, New York. ____ [3] Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (India) PRESS STATEMENT RE INDO-US NUCLEAR DEAL March 11, 2006 The Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP), India expresses its deep distress and concern at the euphoria being drummed up by the government of India, and the media, over the visit by the US president and further cementing of the nuclear ‘deal’ between the two states. The attitude of the Indian government, and the media, closely mirrors their attitude eight years back in the aftermath of the May 98 nuclear blasts in Pokhran. If the blasts carried out then, in flagrant violation of India’s longstanding position championing global nuclear disarmament, had elicited no sign of remorse from the Indian elite at that act of huge immorality and utter stupidity, this time as well the further compounding of that stupendous crime, by desperately seeking international stamp of approval for its status as a nuclear weapons state through this dangerous ‘deal’ severely undermining global efforts towards nuclear non-proliferation and universal disarmament, is being shamelessly and brazenly paraded as a great ‘national’ achievement. The prime minister of India has called it “historic”, and no less. He has shown no hesitation whatever in being co-opted, in the process, as a junior partner in the US game plan – to function as a frontline state of its newly acquired patron in this part of the globe, to establish its unilateral and unfettered global dominance. The orchestrated hype and hoopla notwithstanding, the ‘deal’ entitling India to have ‘civilian’ nuclear trade with the US – and also other constituents of the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), in gross violation of the relevant provisions of the (Nuclear) Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) currently enjoying the endorsement of 187 out of total 191 members of the UN, as regards its ‘civilian’ nuclear plants now identified, as negotiated and agreed between the two states, remains yet to be approved by the US Congress. This gives the anti-nuke peace movements in this country, and the world over, a window of opportunity to block this pernicious ‘deal’ by mobilising public opinion, anywhere and everywhere, against it, which promises to trigger off an all-round rush for the weapons of deliberate mass murder all the world over. We must measure up to this terrible challenge! Statement Committee CNDP ____ [4] Tehelka.com March 18 , 2006 SNIFFING ON GANDHIJI by Paul Zacharia It seems the sentiments of some citizens have been hurt because dogs sniffed at the Mahatma’s samadhi. The media does not clarify to what category these sentiments belong: patriotic, religious, political — or perhaps zoological. But it did sound alarmed and somewhat hurt itself. I know lots of dog-haters. But they are also animal-haters in general. It’s a bug in their psychology. The outrage reflected in the media without editorial comment seems to go beyond such personal quirk. The dog becomes a shudra, an untouchable, a dirty lower caste whose very sniff makes you lose your greatness/holiness. Amazing, isn’t it? And we live in India 2006. Bush is no beauty. But the dogs: such fine animals! During the two decades I spent in Delhi, I’ve visited Rajghat many times. I am sure I’ve seen the following creatures of God upon and around the samadhi, doing various things from sniffing to sleeping and peeing: crow, dove, sparrow, other birds, ant, butterfly, bee, snail, chameleon, squirrel, bug, worm, cat, dog. (There were cows too, but they are holy to begin with.) I wonder if all these creatures were untouchable, or only the dog. This was the early 70s to early 90s. I don’t know if the canons of untouchability were different then. I have another question: if the dog is a polluting shudra, what is the fate of thousands of our fellow citizens in the northeastern region for whom dog is food, like chicken and mutton for lots of upper-caste Indians? Can they enter the Mahatma’s samadhi? It would be interesting to find out the source from where the decree on the unholiness of dog came with such authority that the media lapped it up without even a side-glance. And many of these newspapers print Maneka Gandhi’s animal love columns regularly. Unless I’m mistaken, the dog-loving Maneka Gandhi herself has chosen to sink into silence. No kennel club is outraged either. The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is quiet. Don’t they realise that given the Indian knack for bloodshed, this desecration of the holy samadhi can lead to a pogrom on dogs? Perhaps, other things being equal, on dog-owners too? I am puzzled. When thieves break into the sanctum sanctorum and make away with God’s idol, the sniffer dog is a must. He/she sniffs all over the holy things. In fact, the faithful and the media are outraged if dogs are not called. It’s considered an insult to the greatness of the lord. When offering-boxes of churches and mosques are pilfered, the sniffer dog’s arrival is greeted with holy thrill. And when people lie buried under debris after an earthquake, the sniffer dog is not an untouchable shudra, but a saviour. Tomorrow, God forbid, if there’s a fake bomb call from the Rajghat, will the bomb squad lock up the sniffer dogs first? How far will Indian hypocrisy go? Bush is no beauty, but I saw pictures of those dogs. Such fine and handsome animals! Gandhiji would have loved to pat them on the head. ____ [5] Outlook Magazine (India) March 20, 2006 FAITH - SNEEZE . . . AH, GOD BLESS YOU In the interiors of Tamil Nadu, these freak swamis are a phenomenon in themselves by S. Anand At first glance, there is little to set apart the village of Amachiapuram, 20 km north of Madurai, from other dusty, nondescript hamlets in the region. On the highway, as advised by a local reporter, we ask for the Mookkusali Samiyar (Snot Swami)—also known as the Kulandai-varam Samiyar (Child-Blessing Swami)—at a teashop, so that we reach the right place. At Amachiapuram, we are led to Arumugam the tailor, the man who will shortly transform himself into the snot-spewing swami. The long-locked man is just about five feet tall and an undernourished 40 kg. Clad in a yellow veshti, he lives in the Adi Dravidar (Dalit) Colony, where the roofs of most of the 27 government-built one-room houses have collapsed. Seated on a gunnysack, Arumugam pedals his sewing machine, stitching a green blouse. It’s early on a Friday, and before the clients turn up, he asks us to fetch him two 180 ml bottles of Cosmopolitan whiskey, two plastic glasses, two water sachets, a packet of savoury ‘mixture’, some pickle and five idlis. Of course, the ‘prasadam’ will be of even greater value if you add ganja, pan parag and Ganesh beedi to the list. The man at the state-owned liquor shop 2 km away knows at once: Is all of this for the Snot Swami? he asks. After a turmeric-scrub bath in a lotus-strewn pond, Arumugam drapes himself in a sari, sits below a tree near the Karuppusamy temple, and elevates himself to a higher plane of consciousness by gulping 360 ml of rotgut whiskey in 40 minutes. "Other swamis hide what they drink, I don’t," he says. Arumugam makes pronouncements on visa cases, court cases and health problems. However, his speciality is blessing childless couples. He tells Outlook: "I have blessed 5,700 couples with children." It’s a claim nobody can confirm. Or contest. He says he has been rendering this service for more than 15 years, though it is only in the last two years that his fame has spread. "A man on whose kidneys the Coimbatore doctors had given up came to me. I cured him," he says. On an eventful Friday, more than 100 people—of all castes and communities—seek out the cross-dressing swami. After a few swigs of whiskey, idlis, pickle and tobacco powder, Arumugam is able to generate a great deal of phlegm—and he lets it fly. Snot and spit fly out of his sharp nose and mouth and hit the faces of those seeking his counsel. To wipe it off would be blasphemous. For Snot Swami’s disciples, this is the best way to be blessed. The irony is: If Arumugam was just another Dalit agricultural labourer, people would have refused water from him. Now, they welcome his snot on their faces. Snot Swami is part of a phenomenon that pervades Tamil Nadu. Tucked away in villages that invariably miss the cartographer’s pencil, their reputations built purely by word of mouth, scores of freaky swamis have been ‘healing’ people with various ailments—mental, physical, social, personal, familial, even political. The social base of their clientele is largely the lower middle class and the rural poor—people defeated by marital problems, by science, modern medicine, the state, life. But once in a while, desperation brings even people in Toyotas and Fords here. In Lakkayankottai, a village in Ottanchattiram taluq in Dindigul district, Vellachamy maintains a visitors’ ledger in his little ashram. Among those seeking Vellachamy’s counsel is Subramanian, a farmer from Palani, whose inexplicable body pains found no cure in allopathy. "I spent a week in the ashram and found great relief," he says. Selvaraj, a labourer in a rice mill in Dharapuram, says he has been unable to sleep in 10 years: "I have been coming here once a month for the past three years. After each visit, I manage to sleep for 10 days." Pechiammal, from Nilakottai, has been deserted by her husband. The swami, who keeps tossing shells as he speaks to the tormented soul, offers her two juicy lemons, some charmed vibhuti (holy ash), and the assurance that her husband will return soon. A tailor by profession, snot Swami Arumugam blesses people with Phlegm Mangeswari has not seen her truck-driver husband in 18 months. Eyes closed, Vellachamy infers from this piece of information that he has been living with another woman. The cure is the same: two lemons, holy ash. "Dindigul is known for good lemon crops and ash is purchased from shops," Vellachamy’s assistant, who maintains the ledger, explains pragmatically. Why the ledger? "The TN police wants to find out if we sexually abuse women who visit. They even sent women police in mufti. The ledger is to keep a record," explains the 58-year-old swami with a rationalist past. He used to be a member of the Dravidar Kazhagam and was a Congress member during Kamaraj’s time. Vellachamy has a propensity to zero in on bigamy, and other sexual and marital issues, as the root of all trouble. But he doesn’t always get it right. Gazing into the eyes of our cab driver, Ilangovan, he says: "You have two wives, don’t you?" Ilangovan denies the charge with vehemence: "No saami, no." Pugayelaipatti, also in Dindigul, is the home of Velankanni, a 60-year-old Christian swami who says he has given speech to dumb three- and five-year-olds. A former goatherd, the unlettered man sitting on a cot watching a Tamil channel on his black-and-white TV set draws deep on his unfiltered Scissors cigarette, and dismisses us with: "I don’t see people on Saturday. It’s my day off." Rajayogi Durai Natarajan, who operates out of the privately owned Rajakaliamman temple in Thethupatty village, calls himself a yoga expert in the Tamil Siddha tradition. He says he specialises in ‘Vasiyogam’, the yoga of breath control. "An average person breathes 15 times per minute. If you breathe more it is because of tension, anxiety. I can reduce it to one breath a minute. A tortoise breathes the least, lives the longest." Who initiated him into the Siddha tradition? "You won’t believe it, I was initiated in my dreams." That’s breathtaking. A former trustee of the Palani temple board, Natarajan continues to be a member of the AIADMK. He is, in fact, joint secretary of the party’s agricultural wing for Dindigul district. "Politics and spirituality are related. Politicians bow to people, the people bow to us." The Tamil tabloid press reports on the activities of these lower-end godmen with vulgar enthusiasm, and sometimes portrays them as criminals. But Tamil Nadu abounds in gurus, both low- and high-end. The Anamalai Hills in Coimbatore is home to several ashrams patronised by films stars, industrialists and the rich. Jaggi Vasudev, practitioner of Isha Yoga, and new-age guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar both hail from Tamil Nadu. With more than 15 magazines devoted to spiritual matters and astrology, and TV serials and cinema promoting spirituality, this is a state steeped in religiosity. What these swamis represent is a relatively benign, nonconformist—if freaky—fringe. ____ [6] CITIZENS MARCH IN BOMBAY Date and Time: March 14, 2006 - 3 PM onwards Route: Azad Maidan to Mantralaya, Mumbai People of Mumbai! Lets fight for open spaces, clean air, infrastructure and public housing! Maharashtra government must legislate for citizens not only mill owners and builders! The people of Mumbai, are shocked by the Supreme Court judgment on mill lands. The Supreme Court judgment has not only given commercial interests more importance than the collective needs of a dying city, it has actually supported the blatantly illegitimate demands of the builders and mill owners.. Its implications are far reaching………….. VIOLATION OF THE BASIC PROPERTY LAW: YOU CANNOT SELL WHAT YOU DO NOT OWN! 600 acres of land in the heart of Mumbai is occupied by textile mills, most of which have been closed. Much of this land was leased to the mill owners or sold at very low rates for the purpose of starting mills over a century ago. The land could not be sold, until 1991 when the law was amended, then too mainly for reviving sick mills. Today when the mills have shut down, there is a rush to exploit it as real estate, without providing livelihood and homes to the mill workers and much needed infrastructure for the city. The judiciary and the State Government have been callous enough to support sale of this land by Mill owners with hardly any conditions.. CHEATED OF OUR RIGHT TO HOUSING, INFRASTRUCTURE, OPEN SPACE, FRESH AIR! By Rule 58 of the DCR of 1991, mill lands could be sold, provided a third was reserved for public use [like parks and play grounds], a third for affordable housing and a third for owners to develop as they pleased. Mill owners got equal FSI for the land that they were 'giving up'. But they were greedy for more. A modification in 2001 by the Maharashtra Government reduced the land available for public spaces -parks, playgrounds pedestrian areas, etc- from 200 acres to just 32 acres. Where there would have been in 45000 low cost houses, there would now be just 5000 houses. This was struck down by the Mumbai High Court and now reinstated by the Supreme Court. The extensive unplanned commercial development that would take place as a result of this sale, would cause terrible congestion, traffic problems and put an enormous strain the on existing services which are woefully inadequate. Only Mumbaiites can truly understand what this means. A CAUSE FOR ALARM! The opening up of the mill lands as per the Supreme court judgment will set the wrong precedent for all other such large govt owned lands most of which are on lease such as the Bombay Port Trust land, the waterfront, land owned by the Railways, etc, which could be then opened up to private developers for commercial exploitation. People in Mumbai will then only be able to walk around malls instead of open spaces. DEVELOPMENT FOR WHOM? The Supreme Court in its ruling says that it "had to choose between environment and development and it chose development which it claims is "sustainable". This development is certainly not in the interest of citizens of Mumbai and cannot be described as sustainable . In this case it is not just the environment, but largely local people, citizens of Mumbai who are being marginalized for the benefit of a few. DO WE AS CITIZENS HAVE THE POWER TO RECLAIM WHAT RIGHTFULLY BELONGS TO US? This is valuable land in the heart of the city, can and should be used to provide affordable housing for the mill workers, rehabilitation for slums and dilapidated tenanted buildings, low income housing, green spaces and vegetation to act as pollution sinks, public amenities like markets, playgrounds, community centres, special schools and medical institutions, public Infrastructure facilities, sewerage lines and plants, that would reduce the load on the overworked infrastructure of the Mumbai city and even the revival of the textile industry. No elected representatives or public servants have the right to gift it away. It is time to come together and demand our rights as citizens. We have the right to participate in the planning of the city. We demand that the Maharashtra govt immediately and urgently bring in legislation providing 1/3rd, 1/3rd and 1/3rd division of the mill-land area in the interest of the people and the environment. We call on you to join us on the protest march to the Mantralaya on March 14th at 3 pm from Azad Maidan, to demand justice for Mumbai, to demand that the Maharashtra govt. which should represent the citizens of Mumbai, immediately legislate to protect the mill workers and the city! AGNI, AKSHARA, ALL INDIA BANK EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, ALL INDIA BANK OFFICERS CONFERERATION, ALL INDIA LIC EMPLOYEES FEDERATION, ALL INDIA TRADE UNION CONGRESS, CENTRE OF INDIAN TRADE UNIONS, CITISPACE, COMET MEDIA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA, COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXIST), DUCUMENTATION RESEARCH AND TRAINING CENTRE, EKTA, FOCUS ON THE GLOBAL SOUTH, FORUM AGAINST OPRESSION OF WOMEN, GIRNI BHADEKARU SANGHARSH SAMITI, GIRNI KAMGAR SANGARSH SAMITI, INDIAN FEDERATION OF TRACE UNIONS, INDIA CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND LAW, LOK RAJ SANGHATAN, MAHARASHTRA ASSOCIATION OF RESIDENT DOCTORS, MAJLIS, MOVEMENT FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE, MUMBAI ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIAL NETWORK, INTERNATIONAL NETWORK FOR TRADTITIONAL BUILDING ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISATION, MUMBAI PORT TRUST AND DOCK WORKERS UNION, NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF PEOPLES MOVEMENTS, NATIONAL FISHWORKERS FORUM, NIRBHAY BANO ANDOLAN, NIVARA HAKK SAURAKSHAN SAMITI, PEOPLES MEDIA INITIATIVE, SHAHER VIKAS MANCH, STATE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES UNION, YOUNG PROFESSIONALS COLLECTIVE, YOUTH FOR UNITY AND VOLUNTARY ACTION, Mumbai Peoples Action Committee (MPAC), 7/61 Modern Mills compound, KK Marg, Saat Rasta, Mumbai-400 011. _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ 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/ DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers. _______________________________________________ Sacw mailing list Sacw@insaf.net http://insaf.net/mailman/listinfo/sacw_insaf.net