Harsh Kapoor
Wed, 22 Nov 2006 04:55:44 -0800
South Asia Citizens Wire | November 22, 2006 | Dispatch No. 2321 [1] Pakistan: The tragedy of our treatment of Dr Abdus Salam (Edit., Daily Times) [2] Pakistan: Mullahs and Music - Music hits some controversial keys (Nirupama Subramanian) [3] Sri Lanka: Positive Action is Required in Both Humanitarian and Human Rights Spheres (NPC) [4] India: Democracy Besieged (Ram Puniyani) [5] India: Memories, Saffronising Statues and Constructing Communal Politics (Badri Narayan) [6] USA - India: Future of the right wing, there and over here (Harish Khare) [7] India: Discuss Mangalore violence in Parliament [8] India: Domestic Violence Act - A ray of hope (Ratna Kapur) [9] India: Upcoming Events: (i) Conference Right to Food and Right to Life (Lucknow, 26 November 2006) (ii) Conference on People's Foreign Policy (Bombay, 7-8 December 2006) ____ [1] Daily Times November 22, 2006 EDITORIAL: The tragedy of our treatment of Dr Abdus Salam Dr Abdus Salam (1926-1996) died ten years ago. He was the first Pakistani to get a Nobel Prize in 1979. But he might be the last if we continue to allow our state to evolve in a way that frightens the rest of the world. Our collective psyche runs more to accepted 'wisdom' than to scientific inquiry; and even if we were to display an uncharacteristic outcropping of individual genius the world may be so frightened of it that it might not give us our deserts. We are scared of honouring Dr Salam because of our constitution which we have amended to declare his community as 'non-Muslim'. When Dr Salam died in 1996 he had to be buried in Pakistan because he refused to give up his Pakistani nationality and acquire another that respected him more. But the Pakistani state was afraid of touching his dead body. He was therefore buried in Rabwa, the home town of his Ahmedi community whose name is also unacceptable to us and has been changed to Chenab Nagar by a state proclamation. But that was not the end of the story. After he was buried, the pious, law-abiding and constitution-loving people of Jhang, which is nearby, went over to Chenab Nagar to see if all had been done according to the constitutional provisions regarding the Ahmedi community to which he belonged. And what did the constitution say? It said that the Ahmedis are not Muslims, that they may not call themselves Muslims, nor say the kalima or use any of the symbols of Islam. The original amendments to the constitution were passed by Z A Bhutto, a 'liberal socialist-democrat', and subsequent tightening of the law was done by the great patriot General Zia-ul Haq. Thus both the civilians and the khakis had connived in the great betrayal of Dr Salam. After the great scientist was buried in Chenab Nagar, his tombstone said 'Abdus Salam the First Muslim Nobel Laureate'. Needless to say, the police arrived with a magistrate and rubbed off the 'Muslim' part of the katba. Now the tombstone says: Abdus Salam the First Nobel Laureate. The magistrate remained unfazed by what he had done but Dr Salam's grave is actually the tombstone of a Muslim culture that Pakistan had inherited from the founder of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. But ironies fly thick in Pakistan. In Jhang, for example, where Dr Salam grew up as a precocious child, the schools that he endowed with scholarships and grants now teach communal hatred rather than the love that he had in mind when he gave them his money. Meanwhile, the Ahmedi community is under daily pressure and anyone with a twisted mind is free to persecute them. Abdus Salam was born in Jhang in 1926. At the age of 14, he got the highest marks ever recorded for the Matriculation Examination in Punjab. The whole town turned out to welcome him. He won a scholarship to Government College, Lahore, and took his MA in 1946. In the same year he was awarded a scholarship to St. John's College, Cambridge, where he took a BA (honours) with a double First in mathematics and physics in 1949. In 1950 he received the Smith's Prize from Cambridge University for the most outstanding pre-doctoral contribution to physics. He also obtained a PhD in theoretical physics at Cambridge; his thesis, published in 1951, contained fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics which had already gained him an international reputation. In 1954 Dr Salam left his native country for a lectureship at Cambridge University. Before the Pakistani politicians apostatised him, he was a member of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, a member of the Scientific Commission of Pakistan and Chief Scientific Adviser to the President from 1961 to 1974. Pakistan's space research agency Suparco was created by him and it is only symbolic that a group of Shia workers of Suparco were put to death in Karachi in 2004 by sectarian terrorists. Like Dr Salam, a lot of gifted Shia doctors have had to leave Pakistan because of the state's twisted policies. Dr Abdus Salam got his Nobel Prize for Physics in 1979. It was a most embarrassing moment for General Zia who had 'supplemented' the Second Amendment to the constitution with further comic disabilities against the Ahmedis. He had to welcome the great scientist and had to be seen with him on TV. Since the clerical part of his government was already bristling, he took care to clip those sections of Dr Salam's speech where he had said the kalima or otherwise used an Islamic expression. It was Dr Salam's good luck that one of the believers did not go to court under Zia's own laws to get the country's only Nobel laureate sent to prison for six months of rigorous imprisonment. Dr Salam then went to India where he was received with great fanfare. He had gone there to simply meet his primary school mathematics teacher who was still alive. When the two met, Dr Salam took off his Nobel medal and put it around the neck of his teacher. Let us admit in a whisper that Pakistan did issue a stamp commemorating Dr Salam years ago - lest the government come under pressure to remove it from circulation. It is also true that his alma mater, Government College Lahore, now a university, has named certain ancillary departments and academic sessions after him following a long period of obscurantist domination. But Pakistan needs to feel guilty about what it has done to the greatest scientist it ever produced in comparison to the lionisation of Dr AQ Khan who has brought ignominy and the label of 'rogue state' to Pakistan by selling the country's nuclear technology for personal gain. Can we redeem ourselves by doing something in Dr Salam's memory on this 10th anniversary of his passing that would please his soul and cleanse ours? * ______ [2] The Hindu November 22, 2006 MUSIC HITS SOME CONTROVERSIAL KEYS by Nirupama Subramanian The introduction of a Master's course in music at the University of Punjab in Lahore is seen by many, despite the protests by the Islami Jameeiat-e-Taleba, as a "big victory." IN A basement room at the Alhamra cultural centre in Lahore, a few men and one woman are seated on a dhurrie, deep in discussion. Hands poised on a harmonium, one of them is making a point about the music styles of different ghazal singers. "It is important for a singer to develop his own style. When someone tries to copy a great like Mehdi Hassan, no matter how good you are, you will be caught short," says the man at the harmonium, Jamsehd Azam. He teaches the Light Music section of the Master's music programme at the University of Punjab in Lahore, and his class is not very different from music classes anywhere in the subcontinent. Except that this is the first time ever music is being formally taught at the University of Punjab, a move that has pitted University officials against students affiliated to an Islamic party. Activists of the Islami Jameeiat-e-Taleba, the students' wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, took to the streets of Lahore, describing the course as anti-Islamic and demanding that it be scrapped. But the University, apparently determined to battle a wave of orthodoxy and conservatism sweeping through its student body in recent times, refused to back down. With 11 students and a faculty of five, the M.A. music course began in late September. All the students have previous training in music. "The idea is not to turn out first-rate singers but people who can appreciate and relate to their cultural heritage and that of others," says Asrar Chishti, one of the faculty members. Included in the degree is a course on Western music appreciation, taught by a Westerner. Classes have begun in right earnest, and it seems that the IJT has withdrawn defeated. "Music in Pakistan is not taboo. It's everywhere, it's on the radio, it's on television. Even the leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami uses music in his election campaign, the Jameeiat students also use music when they go on a fund-raising campaign. So the opposition did not make sense to anyone, and the IJT was obviously on a weak wicket," said Hasan Shahnawaz Zaidi, principal of the College of Arts and Design, which offers the music degree programme. But as Mr. Zaidi said, the protests against the introduction of a department of music were only part of the larger battle the IJT is fighting to assert its clout in the University. In many ways, it is a mirror of the larger political battle between those who want Pakistan to be an Islamic theocratic state and those who want a modern Islamic republic, brought to the fore recently with the adoption by Pakistan's Lower House of the Women's Protection Bill. The IJT considers Punjab University its stronghold. Indeed, the IJT won the annual students' union election every year from 1971 until 1983, when the Zia-ul-Haq regime banned students' unions. But the IJT survived, thanks to Pakistan's jihad project in Afghanistan. In 1989, the only year students' elections were held after that, the IJT triumphed. In the last few years, despite the continuing bar on students' politics, the IJT appears to have been strengthened for a number of reasons. Some faculty members cite the "indefensible" policies of the United States that is radicalising Muslim youth everywhere. Some say it is still powerful because in its heyday, it influenced appointments to the administration and faculty. Many of those people are still in their jobs, and function as the IJT's "eyes and ears" on the campus. Some point to the scholarships the IJT gives to needy students, subsidising tuition, hostel, and canteen fees. Considerable street power The IJT's street power became apparent when it responded to the rustication of some of its activists on a variety of charges including arson - many of them were involved in the protest against the music course - by blocking traffic and paralysing Lahore for most of a day. In the last few weeks, the IJT, which claims to have 60,000 affiliated students in 50 universities and colleges nationwide, has been working towards holding November-end protests across Pakistan. Its demands: restore students' unions, Islamise education, and roll back the "secularisation" of the syllabus. "Music is only the thin edge of the wedge," said Khalid Waqas, national assistant secretary-general of the IJT. The students' party has an office with a generous compound on Ferozepur Road, a prime commercial district of Lahore. "The education policy of the government should reflect and promote the values and culture of Islam, and music has no place in it. The government has launched some educational policies in order to subvert Islam, the main reason for which we fought for and won this country," said Mr. Waqas. His colleague, the party information secretary Abdul Wadood, said it was a victory for the IJT that the University could not start the music classes on campus, but had to hire a room at the Alhamra. But teachers said the music course would move to the campus as soon as a new building, complete with sound-proof rooms and studios, was ready. Last month, the IJT conducted a nation-wide "referendum" of students and professionals, in which it posed the question: "Do you want a secular education?" Ballot boxes were placed in colleges, universities, courts, and also at places such as bus-stops and market squares. According to Mr. Wadood, out of 2.1 million responses, only 1,000 said yes. Aside from the important issue of the syllabus, the party seeks to exert influence in other areas too. The IJT runs a parallel admissions counselling regime, in an attempt to win over students right at the start. It also seeks to control how students conduct themselves. At the University's new campus alongside Lahore's leafy Canal Road, a bamboo screen came up recently in one of the canteens to separate the women students from the men. In the College of Arts and Design, housed in the stately red-brick buildings of the old campus, such segregation is not yet visible. Girls and boys are chatting away together, sitting - like students anywhere - on the floors of the corridor. But on the new campus, where the IJT is most active, women wearing veils are more visible, and boys have been thrashed for talking to girls, in one instance, for taking a group photo with them. In the hostels, the IJT runs classes on Islam and the Koran, attended by students who benefit from its largesse. The IJT denies beating up anyone for interacting with women students or enforcing segregation of the sexes and a dress code for women on campus. But, said Mr. Waqas, "we are an Islamic party, and it is natural that we will encourage practices that are in keeping with the religion and discourage those that go against it." According to him, parents are secure in the knowledge that the IJT will ensure the security of their daughters and the "good behaviour" of their sons while they pursue their studies. The violent incidents on campus, Mr. Waqas said, were not a consequence of the IJT's activities but of the absence of a platform for students to express themselves after the ban on students' unions. But in this ongoing battle, many faculty and students view the introduction of the music course as a "big victory" for Vice-Chancellor Ershad Mahmud, a retired army general handpicked by President Pervez Musharraf to enforce discipline on campus. At the Alhamra centre, the students in Jamshed Azam's music class are unruffled at all the controversy, convinced it is all an exaggeration of the media, and are more concerned with hitting the right notes. ______ [3] National Peace Council of Sri Lanka 12/14 Purana Vihara Road Colombo 6 Tel: 2818344, 2854127, 2819064 Tel/Fax: 2819064 E Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Internet: www.peace-srilanka.org 21.11.06 Media Release POSITIVE ACTION IS REQUIRED IN BOTH HUMANITARIAN AND HUMAN RIGHTS SPHERES President Mahinda Rajapaksa's decision to open the A9 Highway to Jaffna as a one-time measure to send humanitarian supplies to Jaffna has come as a positive response to the prevailing humanitarian crisis in the north east. For weeks humanitarian organisations have been urging the government and LTTE to open the highway as it is an obligation under the Ceasefire Agreement, to which both the parties affirm they are still committed. The National Peace Council welcomes the President's decision, which demonstrates that the government is prepared to take the humanitarian needs of all people into consideration. We hope that the LTTE responds positively and that this one-time measure will transformed into a permanent one in keeping with the Ceasefire Agreement. In a similar vein, there is a need for the government to take positive action with regard to the human rights crisis in the country. Where internal processes fail to provide justice to the people, it is incumbent on the international community to ensure that a satisfactory solution is given to those who complain that they are being deprived of the protection of the rule of law. Actions such as the recent killing of five students in Vavuniya after a military patrol was ambushed is totally unacceptable, but those guilty are seldom if ever brought to justice. A continuing human rights problem that needs serious attention by the government is with regard to the issues highlighted after the recent visit to Sri Lanka of Allan Rock, the special advisor to the UN's Rapporteur on Violence against Children. Among his findings, Mr Rock reported that forcible child recruitment today was not limited to the LTTE, but that the breakaway Karuna group was engaging in similar practices with the support of some elements of the Sri Lankan military. This is a position that has been confirmed by the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission, but it has been contested by the government. The National Peace Council condemns the practice of recruitment of child soldiers whether by the LTTE or by the Karuna group. One of the reasons for the international bans on the LTTE has been its continued recruitment of child soldiers against internationally accepted norms. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that the actions of its military are consistent with internationally accepted norms. We call on the government and LTTE to agree to appoint an independent commission of inquiry with UN observers to look into the problem of child recruitment in all areas of the country, including LTTE-held areas. Executive Director On behalf of the Governing Council ______ [4] Issues in Secular Politics November 2006 II DEMOCRACY BESIEGED Ram Puniyani There may be various parameters to judge the prevalence of democratic spirit in a country. One of them may be how well the minorities are doing, how safe they feel, how aligned they feel, how much at home they feel. Whatever was the answer to these questions couple of decades earlier, today it seems the answer to these questions is becoming more and more negative and the quantitative worsening of these parameters is leading to the qualitative transformation of social scene towards abysmal social scenario. One has been hearing the aggressive propaganda that minorities are being appeased in this country for the vote bank politics. This was being successfully' injected to the societal consciousness despite Gopal Singh Commission, which portrayed the grim picture of the socio economic condition of the Muslim minority. Close to two decades later Rajinder Sachar Committee, on the basis of thorough inquiry has not only confirmed what Gopal Singh Commission found but also that trends are in the direction of further worsening of the socio-political indices of Muslim minorities. The data shows that Muslim community is at the bottom of economic indices, being worse than even the SCs, STs. They are worse off in education, and are far behind OBCs in employment. Their representation in judiciary, bureaucracy is very poor compared to their percentage in population, and more so in class I and II jobs, they are very low down in landholdings, and much worse in employment in private sector. The number of MLAs and MPs coming from this community has also been declining over a period of time. Of course there is one place where they are over-over represented and that's in prisons. One may add there is other data which tells us that their representation amongst the riot victims is also very heavy, more than 80% riot victims being Muslims and not to be left behind most of the POTA detainees also happen to be Muslims! The biases against them abound in all spheres; the police machinery in particular is the biggest victim of these biases and prejudices. This becomes apparent in their role during the riots and after the riots. The latest in the series is of course the pattern of investigations followed by them. By now most of those in the police machinery have come to firmly believe, and this is the basis of their professional conduct', that Muslims are criminals. The propaganda emerging from some rumor manufacturing factory that all Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims' is not only becoming part of social common sense but also the core guiding principle of investigation authorities. This makes their complex job also very easy. Recently the investigation of Mumbai bomb blasts and later Malegaon blast investigation has seen the targeting of Muslims through and through. Right on day next of Mumbai blasts Muslim youth were detained in hordes, to be released only when a section of the community went on protest. But the pattern remains the same. While someone from top leadership of police issued a formal appeal that they want to play a fair game and are open to listen to the innocents if approached. Some social workers of repute were also taken in by these formal appeals and narrated through newspaper columns as to how approaching police authorities is working' in getting the innocents released. What levels of democracy we have reached that police will nab the innocents for the crime not committed by them, than they will ring up the top police officials or the reputed social worker/s to get themselves released. What if the immediate havladar decides that you cannot use the mobile now, what if you are intimidated beyond your wits to be able to contact these worthies? The question remains how many from the community can have access to these socials workers, whatever be the levels of their accessibility. How many from community can contact the top leadership of the police which makes these claims? In the face of such massive goofs, which have been committed in such cases, mostly due to biased and prejudiced approach of authorities is there not a need for training the police in the lessons of pluralism removing their biases and prejudices if that be possible. Does a help line exist for an average person? Does not a need exist for creating an effective help line? There are media reports telling us how innocents are being trapped in different ways during interrogation, what do we do for that? Do the people know their rights in the face of being apprehended by the Khaki uniforms? Is it not the responsibility of the state to let the people know their rights also when they are being booted and tortured to extract confessions from them? Do we not need to have provisions that without the legal help to the one arrested the arresting authorities will not proceed with their various degree' methods of increasing levels of torture to force the accused speak what Khaki uniformed one's want to hear to make their job easy. Incidentally that also fits in to the scheme of their line of preformed opinions? The system is so insular, and by now becoming so self righteous that the appeal from Prime Minister, not to target the particular community fell on deaf years of the hardened stiff collared khaki machinery. In Malegaon the limits of police bias are openly apparent. And being disgusted with that the local Muslim community had to resort to day long peaceful bandh to vent out their frustration and anguish. The partisanship of the investigation is crystal clear to those who have been following the incidents in Maharashtra. The Bajrang Dal, whose activists died while making bomb in Nanded, is totally protected by the other type of bias, affirmative bias' to be applied to some sections and political streams of society. The bomb shells and RDX which were found in Shanker Shelke shop in Ahmadnagar seems to be of no relevance and it does not give any clues to our professionals in uniforms. The sketch of the person who bought the cycle on which bombs were kept has been relegated to the background and the thesis that SIMI activists have done this to kill exclusive Muslim crowd near Bada Kabristan seems to be the central point of investigation as far as our agencies are concerned. Is it that the sectarian ideology has already completed its task of ensuring that the half truths, half lies spread by it are the core operating principles of the large section of bureaucracy and police? The insecurity of other minority, the Christians, especially in Adivasi areas knows no bounds and through organizations like Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram the divisive and intimidating role is being carried to the full extent in remote places. The news of attacks on Christian nuns ad missionaries have become a matter of routine and no more has any news value' as per the parameters of our media. At social and cultural level the Freedom of Religion Bills in various BJP ruled states are an open threat to the Christian missionaries working in the area of education and health in deep interiors. Madhya Pradesh government like other BJP governments has been manipulating the things at cultural level. It has been naming most of the social schemes in Hindu imageries, like water irrigation projects as Jalabhishek, marriage support to the poor as Kanyadan and so on. Gujarat as a Hindu Rashtra has already relegated the Muslims out into refugee camps away from the main areas. Is it a return of old untouchable ghettoes? It seems the democratic ethos is under severe threat and the state of alienation of minorities is a pointer to that. It seems that even without being in power, the BJP-RSS agenda of Hindu Nation is already unfolding itself in a threatening manner in BJP ruled states and in a subtle and overt fashion in other states where BJP is not in power. In those states due to the communal attitude of some of those in power and the communalization of state apparatus, police and bureaucracy, the restrictions on liberal democratic spaces are mounting. Is it time for celebration in RSS headquarters or is there time still for it to be taken as a warning signal by those who wish to preserve and strengthen democracy. A lip service to minority welfare and security will not do. Those in leadership who are committed to the values of Liberty, Equality and Community (national) need to wake up and take stock of the all round intimidation and alienation of minorities. If Rajinder Sachar Committee report and Malegaon bandh does not wake them up, what will? ______ [5] Communalism Watch http://communalism.blogspot.com/2006/11/memories-saffronising-statues-and.html MEMORIES, SAFFRONISING STATUES AND CONSTRUCTING COMMUNAL POLITICS by Badri Narayan (Economic and Political Weekly, November 11, 2006) Managing the memories of different communities and reinterpreting them at the local level to suit the logic of a particular political group, is an oft-observed phenomenon in the ongoing political processes of the country. Lesser known historical events associated with particular communities are searched out and converted into popular memory in a way that suits the political agenda of the concerned political forces. The article is focused on one such attempt of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh and Bharatiya Janata Party to search for space among the dalits of Uttar Pradesh by looking for heroes of their communities, creating warring identities against Muslim invaders, and relocating them in their broader project of constructing communal memories among Hindus as a whole, including the dalit castes. http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?root=2006&leaf=11&filename=10743&filetype=pdf ______ [6] Communalism Watch http://communalism.blogspot.com/2006/11/future-of-right-wing-there-and-over.html FUTURE OF THE RIGHT WING, THERE AND OVER HERE by Harish Khare http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/22/stories/2006112205171000.htm ______ [7] Mangalorean.com Nov 20, 2006 DISCUSS MANGALORE VIOLENCE IN PARLIAMENT - TEESTHA SETHALVAD November 19, Mangalore: The central leadership should be intimated about the communal violence that rocked Dakshina Kannada recently. The issue should be discussed in winter session of the parliament and progressive organisations should play active role in this regard, said human rights activist and 'Communalism Combat' editor Teesta Setalvad. She was speaking after inaugurating Sadbhavana Samavesha, a convention for communal harmony, organized by Komu Souharda Vedike in the City on Saturday. Indians have cherished secularism as way of life and is enshrined in our Constitution also. Unfortunately politicians chant the mantra of secularism only during elections. In the absence of genuine political resistance, communal forces are adding to their strength. Though political power is one of the aim of Sangh Parivar, their real objective is to transform the life style and mind set of Indians by damaging the secular fabric of the Society. With this agenda, Sangh Parivar elements began to infiltrate into bureaucracy, education, media and other realms. Flaying the alleged police atrocity against innocents during the Dakshina Kannada communal violence, she alleged that police which enjoys nexus with communal elements unleashed great horror on women and children. Referring to the provoking reports carried by some section of press during the communal violence, she said that public should boycott the newspapers having jaundiced views and lodge complaint with Press Council against newspapers carrying non-objective reports which disturbs social harmony. Youths from Dalit and Backward Communities are falling prey to the diabolic plots of communal elements. In Panchmahal district of Gujarat also vested interests used Backward Community youths to realize their ends. Backward and Dalit communities in Karnataka have a rich progressive tradition and attempts to identify with communal elements is a betrayed to this rich tradition, she opined. Speaking on the occasion Prof M Dattatreya of Kuvempu University hailed the entrepreneurial skills of Backward Communities from Coastal Karnataka. Communal elements are trying to lure these emerging communities into their trap and social awareness should be created in this regard, he added. Komu Souharda Vedike will conduct siminar conventions at various district and taluk head quarters in the State and valedictory will be held in Bangalore on November 26. A book and documentary on Mangalore communal violence was released on the occasion. Former MP Vinay Kumar Sorake, K M Sharief of Karnataka Forum for Dignity and others were present. _____ [8] The Times of India 21 November 2006 A RAY OF HOPE by Ratna Kapur In Maharashtra, a domestic worker files a case of domestic violence against her husband who brutally beat her up with a steel rod and a brick. A government school teacher in Tamil Nadu files a case against her husband, a peon employed in the Tamil Nadu water board. He is charged for beating up his wife with a stick and umbrella after a quarrel at night. Within days of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (DVA) coming into force, women are taking recourse to its provisions. DVA represents a landmark in the achievement of gender equality for Indian women in two fundamental ways. First, it rubbishes the myth that the Indian family is a safe haven for all its members. This fact is evidenced by the broad range of harms covered under the new law, including abuse of the elderly, child sexual abuse, and violence against divorced or widowed women. Empirical evidence of the widespread existence of these brutalities in the home has been available for years and finally found expression in law. Second, the law delinks domestic violence from the confinements of dowry harassment and dowry murders. Until now, victims of domestic violence were invariably forced to link the violence to a demand for dowry in order to access legal remedies under the Indian Penal Code. The only other option was divorce on grounds of cruelty. DVA provides civil law relief for domestic violence which is recognised as occurring for all sorts of reasons, across every class, religion and caste, in rural areas and urban centres. The law has some fairly revolutionary features. For the first time, marital rape is legally recognised as a form of domestic violence. While cri-minal law has still not been amended to enable a woman to file a rape case against her husband or domestic sexual partner, she is now given access to new civil remedies, including securing a protection order or injunction against her abuser. DVA recognises child sexual abuse as an offence, and hence for the first time offers some space in law for the recognition of a child's rights to be free from violence in the home. Domestic violence is not confined to wives, but includes mothers, daughters, sisters, widows, divorced women living in the home, as well as those who are in an informal relationship with the accused, including a bigamous relationship. It covers all domestic relationships in a 'shared household'. A shared household is very broadly defined to include one where the abused person lives singly or with the abuser. Presumably, the Act would also cover a man who abuses or beats up a sex worker with whom he has had a long-standing relationship, such as a pimp, or an ongoing sexual relationship, though the scope of this provision would need to be tested in the courts. A case can be filed against any male adult person as well as other relatives of the husband or male partner. Women are not just considered victims, but also can be perpetrators of violence against other members of the household, including children, the elderly and daughters-in-law. The Act is not confined to physical violence but also includes verbal, emotional and economic violence. Verbal violence includes accusations against a woman's character or conduct, or preventing her from taking up a job or forcing her to leave a job, or taking away her income. Arguably complaining against attacks on a woman's character would be a right equally available to a married woman, mistress or sex worker, if they fall within the definition of 'domestic relationship'. Insults for not having a male child, bringing dowry are extremely significant protections. Acts that constitute emotional violence include not providing food, clothes, and medicines for one's children, preventing a child from attending school, college or any other educatio-nal institution, forcing a person to get married when he or she does not want to, or preventing a person from marrying the person of his or her choice. The fact that these acts are categorically described as acts of violence in the law is pro-bably more important in terms of their educative impact, than the actual prosecutions that will take place under these specific provisions. Complaints of domestic violence can be filed by neighbours, social workers, or relatives on behalf of the victim. And the magistrate is given a broad array of powers, including issuing protection or injunction orders, providing monetary relief or payment maintenance. While the penal provisions dealing with dowry focus on incarceration, the DVA gives women an opportunity to keep the perpetrator at a distance, but not in jail. Women can no longer be evicted from their homes by the abuser, and can seek an order to reside in the same house or be allotted a part of it for her personal use even if she has no legal claim or share in the property. The abuser can also be prohibited from entering the aggrieved person's place of work or, if that person is a child, the school. DVA covers acts that are violative of a woman's dignity or any other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature. In a country where sex, not just sexual violence, is considered bad, indecent, and something in which 'good people' do not indulge or talk about, the courts may find themselves determining dignity or sexuality along highly puritanical lines, that would neither benefit women nor be conducive to promoting healthy adult sexual relationships. Protection from sexual wrongs needs to be accompanied with education about sexual rights. The writer is director, Centre for Feminist Legal Research. _____ [9] UPCOMING EVENTS (i) Invitation This is to bring to your kind notice that one day national conference is being organized on the issue of "RIGHT TO FOOD AND RIGHT TO LIFE" mentioned in Indian constitution Art 21. As you know that in spite of the buffer stock of food grains and available system like PDS (Public Distribution System), incidence of starvation deaths are reported from many parts of the U.P. and India. According to the UN Information Centre, New Delhi, estimated 214 million food insecure populations live in India, 50 million reside in the state of Uttar Pradesh and 50% of the children everywhere are undernourished and stunted. Infant Mortality Rate for whole of India is 68 and is 72 for the state of UP that is primarily caused due to malnutrition and subsequent diseases due to micronutrient deficiencies. Though reports of starvation deaths in UP, MP, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Orrisa and Bihar and suicides by farmers and other low-income population in UP, Karnataka and Maharashtra have become a regular feature in the newspapers. Governments are not recognizing starvation and hunger. The reason can partially be the lack of a proper definition of starvation and partially the lack of maintenance of records or data regarding starvation. Even after intervention of the Hon' able Supreme Court, the situation has not much improved. In this regard a case is already pending in the apex court .The apex court has also issued interim orders to check the starvation deaths and effectively implementation of all welfare schemes for the poor. In this regard FIAN Norway and FIAN- UP are jointly organizing a conference on "Right to Food and Right to Life". In this context, you are requested at the conference as guest of honour.We have received confirmation from many distinguished guests such as Ms.Kristin Kjaeret and Mr.Trond from Norway,Mr.Ravi P Verma,MP,Loksabha,Dr.EMS Natchiappan,MP Rajya Sabha and Chairman Parlimetary Standing Commettee on Public Grievances,Law and Justice. A line regarding your participation would be highly appreciated the venue and time of the conference is as follows: Venue- Ravindralaya Opposite Lucknow Railway Station, Charbagh, Lucknow. Date: 26th November. Time: 10 am to 2 pm. Looking forward to hearing from you. With kind regards,! Anuj Tiwari Programme In charge FIAN-Uttar Pradesh 12/597,Indira Nagar Lucknow-226016,Tel. 0522 2349556 ___ (ii) CONFERENCE ON PEOPLE'S FOREIGN POLICY: 7 - 8 DECEMBER 2006 Cama Hall, Fort, Mumbai, India The perceptible shift in India's Foreign Policy over the recent years towards closer strategic ties with the US and Israel, has created an urgent need for all progressive forces to come together to examine, critique and counter the sinister dimensions of such a shift and also work out and offer an alternative people's foreign policy geared towards the goal of creating a just and peaceful world. The Indo-US nuclear deal, India's stand vis-à-vis Iran's nuclear programme, its increasing cooperation with the apartheid state of Israel, together with the consequent abandonment of the long-standing support to the Palestinian quest for an independent nation, epitomise a betrayal of India's claims of having a sovereign and independent foreign policy. India's increasing military ties with the USA, joint military exercises, its emergence as the biggest arms purchaser from Israel and its ill-concealed ambitions to emerge as a regional hegemon basking in the reflected glory of the global hegemon, will have serious ramifications not only on India's independent and sovereign status but also for all of Asia in terms of its security, trade and development. Last but not the least, this is a setback to the process of both regional and global disarmament. Hence, there is a strong need to take stock of the evolution of India's Foreign Policy so far and also to demystify and decode the concept of "Foreign Policy" so as to bring it into the domain of "people's politics". It bears reiteration that the Foreign Policy of a country impacts the lives of ordinary people in a number of ways. 'War' is of course the most evident and extreme example. But then, immigration policy, international trade treaties, defence deals in the global market and even nuclear policy are all closely intertwined with the Foreign Policy, and seriously impact the lives of common people. So there is an immediate need for a wider engagement and debate on the issues concerned. It is precisely in this context, that the Citizens Against War and Occupation - an all-India body, has decided to have an international conference on "People's Foreign Policy" in Mumbai from 7 - 8 December 2006 . The main themes of the conference will include opposition to US hegemony (including discussions on WMDs and the 'Global War on Terror'), crises in West and Central Asia, South Asian issues like nuclearisation, militarisation and ongoing conflicts, economic dimensions of the Foreign Policy, evolution of India's Foreign Policy, etc. This conference is meant to be not an end in itself but a launching pad for a sustained nationwide campaign. The idea is to have a series of meetings in many more cities and regions capitalising on the momentum generated by the conference. Participants are expected from India and its neighbours and as well as from West Asia, including resource persons like Kalpana Sharma, Aijaz Ahmed, Bhadrakumar, Chaudhury Manzoor Ahmed, M.V. Ramana, Farhad Mazhar, Arjun Karki, Achin Vanaik, Anuradha Chenoy, Kamal Chenoy, Karamat Ali, Asim Roy, Pallab Sen Gupta, Mazher Hussain, Christopher Fonseca, Gautam Navlakha and others All those activists, individuals, political parties, socio-political movements, civil society organisations and groups that are in opposition to India's strategic alliance with Israel and the United States and therefore support their unconditional and immediate withdrawal from Central and West Asia are invited to attend and be a part of this conference and collective endeavour . We expect that that this conference will be a landmark attempt on the part of the people's movements and progressive political forces to forge a meaningful alliance to stake their rightful claim in formulating a people-oriented foreign policy for our country. We hope to have you amongst us on both the days and actively participate in the debates that ensue, thus providing the necessary intellectual and political impetus to the anti-war movement world over. A limited number of accommodations will be available to the delegates on the first come first served basis. For further information on programme and venue please contact on the below mentioned address or email id. ----------------------------------------------------- Citizens against war and occupation All India Federation for Trade Union, All India Peace & Solidarity Organisation, All India Trade Union Congress, All India Youth Federation, Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament & Peace, COVA, Delhi Science Forum, Development Research & Action, Focus on the Global South, Henrich Boll Foundation, Indian Social Action Forum, Indian Social Institute, Lok Raj Sangathan, NAPM, National Federation of Indian Women, Nirantar, People's Union for Civil Liberties, Popular Education & Action Centre, SAMA (Resource Centre for Women & Health), SEEDS, SEWA, Third World Studies Centre, VISION, NTUI, PEACE MUMBAI Local Hosts: PEACE MUMBAI AIPSO, BUILD, New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI), PEACE, COVA, Yuva Bharat, CEHAT, Salokha , Vidrohi, Action Aid International, Shodhan Weekly, , Peoples' Media Initiative, Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India Marxist (CPM), Jan Morcha,Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP), National Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM), India Center for Human Rights and Law (ICHRL), Asia South Pacific Bureau for Adult Education (ASPBAE), Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA), National Youth Federation (NYF), Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), Bombay Urban Industrial League for Development (BUILD), Focus on the Global South, India, Indo-Pak Youth Forum for Peace, Media for People, Vikas Adhyayan Kendra (VAK), Akshara, Documentation Research and Training Center (DRTC), Explorations, Initiative, Institute For Community Organization and Research (ICOR), Movement for Peace and Justice (MPJ), Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Bombay Aman Committee. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citizens Against War and Occupation, C/o. Focus on the Global South, India, A - 201, Kailash Apartments, Juhu Church Road, Juhu,, Mumbai - 400 049. India Tel : +91-22-6592 1141 / 51, Telefax : +91-22-2625 4347 , Email : [EMAIL PROTECTED] _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ 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