South Asia Citizens Wire | May 16-17, 2007 | Dispatch No. 2406 - Year 9 [1] Trojan Horse as a South Asian Theme (J. Sri Raman) [2] Pakistan: Law and order (Tariq Ali) + Pakistan Christians demand help / Running Pakistan's biggest city - from London (BBC) [3] Himal Censored in Bangladesh: A press release by Himal [4] India: More on Hindutva assault on Baroda's art school - On-line Petition to the Governer of Gujarat - Attack on M. S. University Autonomy - 'Free art, fight fascism' Times of India (15 May, 2007) - Eye on Art: Freedom of expression (Mallika Advani) - Beauty And The Beast (Anil Dharker) - Hurt sentiments and moral policing (Editorial, The Hindu) - Romila Thapar seeks Kalam's intervention in Vadodara issue [5] India: Maharashtra style Moditva (Suhas Palshikar) + Bhopal: Bajrang Dal, [hateful exhibit as] right to expression (Milind Ghatwa) [6] India: Concern about the safety of Dr Binayak Sen (Peoples Union for Civil Liberties) [7] UK: Commissioner on Integration reportedly pays tribute to admirer of Nazism and Fascism (AWAAZ) [8] India Events: (i) [Late announcement] Anhad Press conference (May 16, 2007) (ii) India: Sit-in and Press conference - to condemn the arrest of Dr. Binayak Sen (Delhi, May 17) (iii) Launch of Amnesty International Report 2007 (23 May 2007) ____
[1] truthout.org, 16 May 2007 TROJAN HORSE AS A SOUTH ASIAN THEME by J. Sri Raman Forty persons died in bloody street battles in Pakistan's Karachi on May 12. Tension grips the Terai plains of Nepal, where militants of the ethnic Madhesi movement cock a snook at Kathmandu and paralyze transport and public life. And a nerve-racking "normalcy" reigns in Bangladesh, where a deceptive peace has been restored by severe restraints on political parties and their democratic activities. Do the situations in the three South Asian countries present a common syndrome? Yes, says Shaidul Alam, a Bangladeshi writer and photographer. A Trojan horse is the common theme, as he sees it. Like the Trojan horse that ancient Troy greeted, the device Alam talks about is a beast that hides the military in its belly. In plain prose, all three countries are being made to wait for a military savior or solution. On the face of it, this may not appear to be true of Pakistan. Appearances, however, can be deceptive. Before we come to the prospects of the latest of Pakistan's popular movements, a look at the scenario in Bangladesh may be in order. Many observers, in addition to Alam, have more than once pointed to the apparent eagerness and even anxiety of the Bangladeshi army to learn or unlearn from the Pakistani example, besides the failed experiments in brazen-faced military rule at home in the past. The army, under Moeen U Ahmed, has chosen to avoid a direct military takeover, though it is an open secret that it is the real force and power behind the caretaker government of Fakhruddin Ahmad. The Trojan horse, in this case, was a victorious anti-corruption vehicle, welcomed as such by wide sections of people in the initial phase. It did not take long, however, for the militarist character of the campaign to become public. The Trojan horse was exposed as an internal war engine once Lt. General Moeen publicly ruled out "a return to electoral democracy" of the kind the country knew. The army seemed actually determined not to learn from Pakistan's experience when it made a serious effort to send into exile and political wilderness the country's two most important political leaders - Sheikh Hasina Wajed of the Awami League (AL) and Begaum Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The efforts to block Hasina's return from holiday in the US boomeranged, with an embarrassed West constrained to disapprove of such tactics. Plans to shunt Khaleda off to Saudi Arabia, in return for a respite from the anti-corruption offensive against her sons, were also shelved subsequently. The real power behind the army's political role is also, meanwhile, learning its lessons. William B. Milam, former US ambassador to Bangladesh and Pakistan, had given the game away earlier when he talked of the caretaker rule creating conditions conducive for the growth of such safe political parties as the one eminent economist Mohammed Yunus promised. As for Bangladeshis grumbling about a denial of democratic freedoms, Milam taunted them in a newspaper article with the sage counsel: "Be sure what you wish for, you may end up getting it." Yunus, however, has now announced his decision to opt out of politics. The envoys of the US and its Western allies are only trying to be seen as exerting pressure on the army and the caretaker government to announce a schedule for elections, which are promised to be held before the end of 2008. In Kathmandu, meanwhile, observers are talking of defeated royalists planning to repeat Bangladesh in Nepal. The ever-growing ethnic disturbances are expected, in certain quarters not overly sympathetic to the pro-democracy struggle, to provide a return route for overthrown King Gyanendra, who still enjoys overt support from the Nepal army's top brass. Reverting to Pakistan, an end seemed to be in sight for the politics of exile in Islamabad too, when keen Musharraf-watchers started talking of a "done deal" with Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister and Pakistan People's Party chief. Actually, she was expected to return home any time this month in terms of an unwritten agreement, which would have made her the prime minister once again, but under President Musharraf, with or without his uniform. The trouble in Karachi, Bhutto's hometown and power base, however, has put paid to such hopes for the foreseeable future. Both Bhutto and the other former prime minister in exile, Nawaz Sharif, have condemned the role of the president and his political ally, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a ruling party in the Sindh Province (with Karachi as capital), in the violence. The bloodbath resulted when the MQM resisted with brute force a rally led by former Pakistan Chief Justice Iftikar Mohammad Chaudhary, who had been sacked unceremoniously by Musharraf earlier. The outcome of a political confrontation in Pakistan is unpredictable. Some expect Musharraf to ride out the storm, just as he survived a Balochi backlash after the killing of tribal chief Nawab Akbar Bugti. The analogy may not be apt, as the current revolt is led by the Punjabi elite, the predominant section in Pakistan's establishment. Optimists among observers hope that Musharraf will find it harder to face popular opposition on a secular, constitutional issue than a 'jihadi' offensive (which can also win him the vital US support). The president has, in addition, ruled out imposition of an emergency. This does not, however, rule out the return of the Trojan horse. Fears of a military-fundamentalist backlash are not ill-founded, according to many in Pakistan's peace movement. One of them, eminent scientist Pervez Hoodbhoy, spells out the scary prospect. Says Hoodbhoy: " Military generals and fanatical clerics have been symbiotically linked in Pakistan's politics for decades. They have often needed and helped the other attain their respective goals. And they may soon need each other again - this time to set Islamabad ablaze. An engineered bloodbath that leads to the army's intervention, and the declaration of a national emergency, could serve as excellent reason for postponing the (promised) October 2007 elections. Although Musharraf denies that he wants a postponement, a lengthy martial law may now be his only chance for a continuation of his dictatorial rule into its eighth year - and perhaps beyond." We can only hope that the Trojan Horse tactic of mythological hoariness does not triumph in South Asia today. _____ [2] The Guardian May 16, 2007 LAW AND ORDER In Pakistan, the general should discard his uniform, the judge should forego his black robes and the two men should battle it out on the electoral terrain. by Tariq Ali Sixty years old this August, Pakistan has been under de facto military rule for exactly half of its life. Military leaders have usually been limited to a 10-year cycle: Ayub Khan (1958-69), Zia-ul-Haq (1977-89). The first was removed by a nationwide insurrection lasting three months. The second was assassinated. According to this political calendar, Pervez Musharraf still has another year and a half to go, but events happen. On March 9 this year, the president suspended the chief justice of the supreme court. Unlike some of his colleagues, the judge in question, Iftikhar Chaudhry, had not resigned at the time of the coup, but like previous supreme courts, had acquiesced to the bogus "doctrine of necessity" that is always used to judicially justify a military takeover. He was not known for judicial activism and the charges against him are related to a "corrupt misuse of his office", but its hardly a secret that Chaudhry's recent judgments against the government on a number of key issues, including the rushed privatisation of the Karachi Steel Mills in Karachi, the demand that "disappeared" political activists be produced in court and taking rape victims seriously, panicked Islamabad. Might this turbulent judge go so far and declare the military presidency unconstitutional? Paranoia set in. TV stations engaged in objective reporting were raided by the police, thus destroying the regime's proud boast (hitherto largely true) that it interfered less with the media than all its predecessors. The decision triggered off a remarkable social movement. Initially confined to the country's 80,000 lawyers and several dozen judges, it soon began to spread. This in itself came as a surprise to a country whose people have become increasingly alienated from elite rule whose roots are rotten. Also worth noting is that this civil society opposition to a crude decision had nothing to do with religion. It was a defence of judicial independence (however nominal) against the executive. The lawyers who marched on the streets did so to insist on a separation of constitutional powers. There is something delightfully outmoded and old-fashioned about this struggle. It involved neither money nor religion, but principle. As respect for the movement grew, bandwagon careerists from the opposition (some of whom had organised their own thuggish assaults on the supreme court when in power) made the cause their own. As often happens in a crisis, Musharraf and his advisers, instead of acknowledging that a mistake had been made and moving rapidly to correct it, decided on a test of strength. As Iftikhar Chaudhry's cavalcades became more and more popular, Islamabad plotted its counter-strike. The judge was due to visit the country's largest city, Karachi. Political power here rests in the hands of the MQM, an unsavoury outfit created during a previous dictatorship, addicted to violence and protection rackets and insensitive to moral and human realities. It consisted largely of poor muhajir families (Muslim refugees who fled to Pakistan at the time of partition in 1947), who felt abandoned by the state. Musharraf too, hails from a middle-class refugee background. For this reason, the MQM adopted him as one of their own (even though Musharraf's mother was a Communist sympathiser and the family as a whole was progressive). On Islamabad's instructions, the MQM leaders now decided to prevent the judge from addressing any meeting in Karachi. That is what led to armed clashes and nearly 50 deaths in the city a few days ago. Footage of the killings, screened on Aaj (Today) TV led to the station being assaulted by armed MQM volunteers. All this provoked a successful general strike, isolating the regime. Were a presidential election to be held today there is little doubt that the judge would defeat the general. Justice Chaudhry's popularity can only be understood in a context where traditional politicians had become thoroughly discredited. The failure by Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan People's Party) to do anything substantial for the poor who had voted her into office resulted in mass disillusion. She was removed from office, allegedly for corruption, and in the subsequent elections her old rival Sharif (Pakistan Muslim League) won a large majority on the basis of a very low turnout (under 30%). Bhutto's disgusted supporters stayed at home. Nawaz Sharif made his brother Shahbaz the chief minister of the Punjab. His late father became the unofficial president of Pakistan and was involved in negotiations with a disaffected army. It was old man Sharif who advised his sons that generals, not being angels from heaven, could also be bought and sold in the marketplace. But not all of them. And not Musharraf. Nawaz Sharif's comic-opera attempt to retire Musharraf backfired disastrously. 9/11 made Pakistan's president a key player in the region. For the native elite this was a godsend. Money began to pour in, nuclear-related sanctions were lifted, and the EU granted trade concessions worth over a billion euros and simultaneously relaxed tariffs on Pakistani textile exports. As the US became more closely involved the Pakistani military and political elite fell into line. Everyone - venal politicians, grovelling high officials, and harebrained society hostesses - applauded Pakistan's return to its old status as a frontline state. Not the Islamists, of course, since the new war was against them and their friends in Afghanistan. For a while the only opposition to the regime came from the Islamists, moderates and extremists alike, though the methods were different in each case. The attempt to browbeat a judge has released a new fissure in Pakistani society. The violence in Karachi makes compromise difficult for both sides. There is an easy solution. The general should discard his uniform, the judge should forego his black robes and the two men should battle it out on the electoral terrain without hindrance from the MQM or the numerous apparatuses of the state. It may seem like attempting to square a circle, but there are imminent dangers unless the generals agree to compromise. o o o BBC News - 16 May 2007 PAKISTAN CHRISTIANS DEMAND HELP Christians in north-west Pakistan are demanding government protection following threats of bomb attacks if they do not become Muslims. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6663305.stm RUNNING PAKISTAN'S BIGGEST CITY - FROM LONDON by Alastair Lawson http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6658231.stm _____ [3] [Himal Censored in Bangladesh] Press Note HIMAL MAGAZINE REGRETS DHAKA AUTHORITIES' ACTION The editors of Himal Southasian magazine regret that authorities in Bangladesh have obstructed the proper distribution of our May 2007 issue. The issue has been allowed to be distributed only after the pages containing the editorial "Khaki Politics in Dhaka" and the article "The Dhaka Regime's Messy Surgery" were removed. We regret this course more so because the Bangladeshi press continues to carry independent pieces much like the one carried by Himal. We would also like to alert readers that the cover feature of the upcoming June 2007 issue of Himal will address the ongoing political experimentation in Bangladesh. The expunged editorial and article from our May 2007 issue will be found at www.himalmag.com/2007/may/commentary_bangladesh_hasina.htm www.himalmag.com/2007/may/analysis_bangladesh.htm Himal Southasian The Southasia Trust (publisher) www.himalmag.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] himalsouthasian.blogspot.com/ +977-1-5552141 (phone & fax) _____ [4] India: More on Hindutva assault on Baroda's art school : [everyone on this list must sign the below electronic petition to the Governer of the state of Gujarat] ON-LINE PETITION TO THE GOVERNER OF GUJARAT - ATTACK ON M. S. UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY http://www.petitiononline.com/MSUAUTO/ 'FREE ART, FIGHT FASCISM' Times of India (15 May, 2007) http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mumbai/Free_art_fight_fascism/articleshow/2046136.cms EYE ON ART: FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION by Mallika Advani It was disheartening to read about M F Husain's continuing problems with the legal system last week, all purportedly fuelled by his choice and interpretation of a subject that upset Hindu sentiments. While the underlying reasons for this furor against him are an entirely separate debate, the issue that is becoming increasingly relevant in today's Contemporary context is the right to artistic interpretation and freedom of expression. For hundreds of years, art has managed to elicit negative responses and criticism in some way, shape or form. Be it at the birth of the Renaissance, Caravaggio's new Realism or the Impressionist movement. At the Salon held in Paris in 1863, the jury and audience alike were up in arms at the works of Edouard Manet and his contemporaries, balking equally at the subjects as much as the style of painting. Of course, this has continued tenfold over the last century as the definition of art has expanded to include photographs and 'found' objects, both of which heighten the viewing experience by their very nature. One of the best known examples, even today, almost a century after it was first displayed, is Marcel Duchamp's signed Urinal (an actual full-size urinal installed unadorned on a wall), which when viewed in 1917 had people in a tizzy. Today, it may seem tame in comparison to some of the Contemporary works that have been created since. Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's photorealist sculpture of the Pope being struck down by a meteorite and Young British Artist Chris Ofili's Virgin Mary, showing a dark-skinned Virgin Mary surrounded by photos of cut-out genitalia and his trademark elephant dung, have generated protests around the world. Closer home, India has had its fair share of protests. Although Classical art, for reasons possibly dictated by political agendas, has escaped the wrath of fundamentalists, Modern artists have gotten into trouble as early as the 1950s. In addition to Husain's several skirmishes over the years, Akbar Padamsee was dragged into court for what has since become one of his seminal works. Lovers, showing a man's hand on a woman's bare breast drew an obscenity charge from the High Court that was later dismissed. A well-known recent example was the exhibition at the Jehangir Art Gallery titled Tits, Clits N Elephant Dicks, which was shut down after protestors deemed both its title and content obscene and offensive. One school of thought would say that if an artist has managed to evoke any response from his viewing audience, he has succeeded. Today, that's an oversimplification. A lot of art is sensationalist, created specifically to stir controversy, which in turn leads to increased viewership as everyone wants to see these works first-hand. However, artists should have the right to create works independent of restrictions. Their work is an exercise in creativity and an expression of their times, and should be viewed with an open mind. Whether it meets critical acclaim is a separate issue. Art is also subject to interpretation. No one looks at art with a clean slate. The artists' intent will often be coloured by the viewers' preconceptions and knowledge, with the result that the original point may be either lost or misunderstood as two people can take away two divergent thoughts from the same work. Objectivity, therefore, becomes critical. It enables the audience to read the works in the context the artist intended rather than weave it into individual situations that could skew the meaning. An introduction to the artist's background helps. By walking into a show, viewers take on a responsibility to give the works a fair shot and only then pass a final judgment. (The columnist is an independent art consultant) o o o The Times of India 17 May, 2007 BEAUTY AND THE BEAST by Anil Dharker Who is Chandramohan Srilamantula? Is he such a famous artist that the entire art community is staging protests against his arrest? Actually, Chandramohan is only 23 and still a student, and it is his project work that's made an impact far beyond his wildest imagination. A few details in case you missed them. Baroda University's Fine Arts faculty is acknowledged as one of the finest art schools in the country. It has a tradition of asking its final year students to mount an exhibition of their submissions, a display meant for other students and staff to see, assess and discuss. It was this show that a group of VHP activists led by Niraj Jain, a small-time local advocate, barged into, vandalised and then manhandled Chandramohan. The policemen present acted only after the damage was done, and then arrested not the ransackers but the artist. Even though Chandramohan has since been released, what is pertinent is that this skewed view of justice was shared by the vice-chancellor. He urged Chandramohan to stay in jail and asked the head of the department, Shivaji Panikkar, to close down the exhibition (and when he refused, promptly suspended him).What has made the artists come together in protest is that this attack isn't an isolated one, but one more in a series now increasing in both frequency and wantonness. Chandramohan is the straw that broke the camel's back. This particular attack raises more than the usual questions. To start with, there's the university administration taking on the role of predator when we had assumed that educational institutions are liberal in their outlook and encourage the free flow of ideas and the dissenting view. That certainly was the case at the M S University which has had distinguished vice-chancellors like Bhikhu Parekh, and earlier, syndicate members of the standing of former president of India, S Radhakrishnan.Gujarat's CM, Narendra Modi, has syste-matically changed that. Nothing exemplifies that more than the elevation of Manoj Soni to the VC's post at the age of 40, while he was a mere Reader. Apparently, what impressed Modi was Soni's brand of scholarship, particularly the book, In Search of Third Space, on the Gujarat carnage of 2002, in which he took a strong Hindutva line. Soni is said to allow the RSS and BJP members of the university senate to wield so much influence that he is called Chhote Modi on campus. Then there's the role of the police, whom we, out of force of habit, call law enforcers. The Gujarat police's record in this field is a tragic joke, but then other states have not distinguished themselves either. The Mumbai police stood by when Shiv Sainiks attacked cinema theatres showing a Deepa Mehta film, while the Pune police did nothing when a mob destroyed priceless original documents in the Bhandarkar Institute (because Richard Laing had done some research for his Shivaji book there). Recently, Mumbai cops did some moral policing of their own, arresting young couples found in "compromising position" (policespeak for young men and women having their arms around each other). Leading these attacks are religious groups of many colours: Muslim groups (Satanic Verses), Christian groups (Da Vinci Code), but most of all Hindutva groups (everything). They are led by people like Niraj Jain, apparently a leading light in the Vadodara BJP who has been known to brandish a revolver, and throw eggs at the Gujarat education minister for including them in school mid-day meals. Or people like Babu Bajrangi, a key suspect in the Naroda Patia massacre of Muslims, who stopped the screening of Parzania recently. Or Amit Thaker who launched a campaign against all Aamir Khan films because the actor expressed support for Medha Patkar. Which brings us to the question of the media's role. We have been brought up to believe that its primary role is to report. But what happens when reporting becomes a spotlight? A few goons enter a museum, destroy what's on display and claim that it's done to protect the interests of the general morality or whatever. The group is generally small (say 15 people) and represents nobody, yet its impact is far larger than it should be because the media gives it prominence. To take the Baroda example, did anyone even in the university have an inkling of the exhibition? Should the media blank out such incidents altogether? The time has come for an evolved consensus because we have reached a stage when undemocratic forces take advantage of democratic institutions to enforce their illiberal ideas. This consensus is necessary when you see that the state itself (whatever its political colour) will continue to play a passive role. When forced to act, it will generally take the path of least resistance (which means banning the book, closing the exhibition, turning the victim into the accused). In other words, it joins the ranks of moral and religious zealots, which now include academia, politicians, enforcers and even the judiciary. The danger is that, ultimately, this will bring about self-censorship, as artists become "careful" under the continuing assaults on their freedom. Their role is to provoke, to expand vocabularies and get under our comfortable skins. If they cannot do that, their art becomes decorative. And a society whose art is purely decorative becomes intellectually dead. The writer is a journalist. o o o The Hindu May 16, 2007 EDITORIAL - HURT SENTIMENTS AND MORAL POLICING Hurt sentiment in India has become a cynical euphemism for moral policing and vigilantism. The recent incidents in Gujarat relating to Chandramohan, a fine arts student of Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara, highlight this. A gang of Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists enters the institution, roughs up the young artist, and vandalises his on-campus exhibition. The local police arrest him under Section 153(A) of the Indian Penal Code, which relates to the promotion of enmity and the hurting of religious sentiment. The artist spends almost a week behind bars before being granted bail. The Chandramohan incident - which follows the M.F. Husain and Shilpa Shetty controveries - points to a rising tide of intolerance and fanaticism. The charge that Chandramohan's works offended Hindu and Christian religious sentiments makes no sense given the context in which the works were displayed. The faculty of MS University has clarified that they were part of a student exhibition, an exercise that was wholly internal and academic. Given this, what possible offence could they have caused except to the fanatical storm troopers? The answer is none at all. But the pattern of the attack, the ideological affiliation of the mob, and the high-decibel sound bites to television cameras suggest that the reason for creating the controversy has little to do with sentiment and a lot to do with politics. It is an irony that organisations that thrive on promoting enmity between communities routinely accuse others - artists, filmmakers, actors, writers - of doing exactly the same. The enormous influence these groups wield in Gujarat's cultural space was reflected in MS University's outrageous decision to suspend Shivaji Panikkar, the Dean of the Fine Arts Department. It was Mr. Panikkar who mobilised democratic solidarity with his student, resisted the decision to close down the exhibition, and criticised the University authorities for buckling under pressure from extreme right wing groups. The community of artists, to whom creative freedom is like oxygen, has done well to come together in an unprecedented show of solidarity. In cases relating to cultural freedom, the lower courts have shown a tendency to accommodate vexatious complaints rather than dismiss them with exemplary penalties. By doing so, they have provided the space for moral vigilantes and mischief-makers to abuse the legal process. All democrats look up to the higher judiciary for the protection of artistic freedom and the freedom of expression guaranteed in the Constitution - and for putting an end to a distressing situation in which vandals can make a mockery of this fundamental right. o o o The Hindu May 16, 2007 ROMILA THAPAR SEEKS KALAM'S INTERVENTION IN VADODARA ISSUE New Delhi: Prof. Romila Thapar, Emeritus Professor of History, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and Prof. Deepak Nayyar, Professor of Economics, JNU, New Delhi, and former Vice-Chancellor, Delhi University, have written to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam expressing concern over the recent incidents at the Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara and urged his intervention. The letter said: "This letter comes to you as a reflection of our concern and that of many other persons of the academic community, over the recent incidents at the M.S. University in Vadodara. "We regard both the incident as well as the Vice-Chancellor's action on it, unacceptable to the functioning of a University. No action has been taken against the known members of the public who entered the Faculty of Arts of the M.S. University, unlawfully destroyed the work of a student and organised his arrest on the absurd grounds that his work offended this particular group of people. What is equally appalling is that when the Dean attempted to get the student released from police custody, the Vice-Chancellor suspended the Dean. "There is no way in which either of these actions can be justified. On the contrary, such actions become precedents and are thereby conducive to the destruction of the university as an institute of learning and of academic freedom. "We are addressing this letter to you both as the President of the country and in your capacity as Visitor to various premier universities. We would, therefore, request you to intervene in this matter, if necessary through the Governor, and insist upon an immediate legal reading of both actions, to examine whether they are admissible in terms of the statutes by which a university is governed. If not, we would request you to direct remedial action." ______ [5] Indian Express May 17, 2007 MAHARASHTRA STYLE MODITVA by Suhas Palshikar A research institute demands a ban on a book. A 'secular' government ignores it and 'secular' parties behave like Gandhi's three monkeys. Academia remains silent The vandalism at MS University and the abject complicity of the university authorities in the episode are a sad sign of the failure to expand democracy to our civil and social lives. But before the MS University controversy arose, a small news item appeared in section of the media and then died down without much attention from media and the intellectuals alike. This concerned the infamous controversy over a reference to Shivaji Maharaj in James Lane's book Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India. The Maharashtra government banned the book. The ban was challenged in the Bombay High Court and only recently the court ruled that the ban was indefensible. The aggrieved parties decided to appeal to the Supreme Court as the apex court had almost at the same time upheld a ban on a book in another case originating in Karnataka. But one research institution decided that books not only need to be banned but that research institutions can serve the academic cause better by demanding a ban on books. So, the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute of Pune (BORI) formally passed a resolution and its office bearer, Vijay Bhatkar, publicly stated that the BORI has demanded that the book be banned. Ironically, it is the same book that brought BORI into trouble three years ago when angry protestors stormed into the institute's library and ransacked it on charges that the institute was complicit in the "insulting" writing in Lane's book. Following that incident, public sympathy and support flooded the BORI; large amounts of public funds were allocated to it for modernisation and digitisation of its library. Having benefited from the attack, now the BORI finds it convenient to demand a ban on the book. Let us keep out the details of the controversy. What is painful is that the institute crawled when it may have simply be expected to bend. This episode shows the importance our academic institutions give to the issue of freedom of expression and autonomy of academic establishments. In the case of the MS University, it is a well-known fact that the university, which once used to be a matter of pride for Gujarat, has recently turned into a playground of narrow-minded politics propped up by self-appointed protectors of Hindutva. So, while it is sad that the vice chancellor and the establishment have thrown academic freedom to the wind; it is something one was not ignorant about. In contrast, the BORI case poses an even more serious challenge. Both when the controversy emerged and today, the state government is run by parties that have avowedly come together to counter the communal menace. The Congress-NCP government did not protect academic freedom; nor did any of the other secular parties in progressive Maharashtra come forward to intervene on behalf of freedom of expression. That was when the Lok Sabha elections were round the corner and at least the NCP tried to derive mileage from the controversy; some sections even tried to revive the old brahmin-non-brahmin dispute. The issue of academic freedom was quickly overshadowed by pseudo-progressivism based on one's caste origin. Two, when the ban had to be lifted following court orders, the book was publicly burnt in a number of places to create an atmosphere of terror. Again, the government chose to ignore it and the secular parties together constituted Mahatma Gandhi's three monkeys. Three, a research institute entrusted with thousands of valuable manuscripts and rare books demanded a ban on the book. Could one trust it for retaining the intellectual heritage with fortitude in the light of this act? Four, ever since the BORI passed this resolution, there is no whimper of protest from the academic community. Is not the BORI a public institution and does it not have to answer to the academic community? The episode at the MS University Baroda only showcases what may be a more generic ailment with the academic and intellectual community in India. The idea of creative and academic autonomy is not ingrained in Indian academia. It is easy to blame it on parties and governments and protestors. But are we as academics really interested in the idea of academic freedom? Are we too afraid to pay the price of upholding the freedom? Or is it just that we are so callous as an intellectual community, and so removed from the world of ideas and creativity, that we genuinely do not appreciate the value of academic autonomy? Combined with the near unanimous disregard of academic freedom by the entire political establishment across party lines, the abdication of its role by the academic community is indicative of our democratic pretensions. The writer teaches political science at the University of Pune o o o Indian Express Here Bajrang Dal fights for right to expression Milind Ghatwai http://www.indianexpress.com/story/31107.html ______ [6] People's Union for Civil Liberties Press Statement For favour of publication May 15, 2007 Dr Y P Chhibbar, General Secretary, People's Union for Civil Liberties, has issued the following statement: CONCERN ABOUT THE SAFETY OF DR BINAYAK SEN "The PUCL strongly condemns the arrest of the General Secretary of the Chhattisgarh State branch of the PUCL, Dr Binayak Sen, on trumped up charges under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2005 and the unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 as amended in 2004. These laws do not have provisions like bail, appeal, etc. "The PUCL is specially concerned on the development of events in the wake of the wave of custodial violence cases unfolding in various parts of the country after the revelation of the fake encounter case of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in Gujarat. "The PUCL is also concerned about the illegal detention of Shri Piyush Guha, who has been in detention for more than a week in contravention of Supreme Court guidelines. "The National General Secretary of the PUCL has sent the case to the National Human Rights Commission. "The undersigned has been receiving anxious enquiries about the wellbeing of Dr Binayak Sen from all over the country from members of the PUCL and also from other fraternal organisations. He is thankful to all of them and appeals to them to send letters of concern to the NHRC and the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh". (Y P Chhibbar) Ph D General Secretary ______ [7] [United Kingdom and its officially prescribed mad multiculturalism disease is making publicly acceptable groups that ought to be ostracised : Official tailors of Hinduness, Muslimness are part of the Govt. Commission on Integration and Cohesion. Poor British National Party is left out for inexplicable reasons. The commissions Hindutva creep celebrates India's admirer of Fascists. But that's no problem in Britain. Read the awaaz statement below ] o o o AWAAZ STATEMENT: TUESDAY 15 MAY 2007 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Telephone: (+ 44) 020 8843 2333 http://www.awaazsaw.org UK COMMISSIONER ON INTEGRATION REPORTEDLY PAYS TRIBUTE TO ADMIRER OF NAZISM AND FASCISM Ramesh Kallidai, a member of Secretary of State Ruth Kelly's Commission on Integration and Cohesion, paid glowing tribute to an extremist who admired and promoted Nazi-like, fascist and violent ideas in India and who believed that what occurred to European Jews under Nazi Germany was a model that India could learn and profit from - according to recent reports. Mr. Kallidai was speaking at an event to celebrate the birth centenary of M. S. Golwalkar (1906-1973), the second "supreme leader" of the Indian neo-fascist organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Mr. Kallidai, who is general secretary of the Hindu Forum of Britain, was reported in the RSS's weekly paper as saying that trying to pay homage to M. S. Golwalkar "was like holding a candle to the Sun". The paper writes that he went on to praise the expansion of the RSS and its "exemplary" ideology. The RSS's extremist ideology of Hindu supremacism has been widely blamed for large-scale anti-minority violence in India. The RSS has been banned three times in India since Independence. The murderer of M. K. Gandhi was a former RSS member. The event in London on the 12th April was organized by the supremacist Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), the British branch of the Indian Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Golwalkar continues to be universally venerated by the organization despite his support for Nazi-like views. The event took place at the Advait Cultural Centre in Wembley, north-west London. Earlier, in December 2004, Ramesh Kallidai, speaking at the Parliamentary Select Committee on Home Affairs, defended the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP, World Hindu Council), an offshoot of the RSS, from the accusation that it is an extremist organisation. Kallidai said that the VHP works for the "social and moral upliftment of Hindus". According to Human Rights Watch, the VHP was among the organisations "directly responsible" for the anti-Muslim pogroms in Gujarat in 2002, in which thousands were killed over the course of three days of carnage. (We have no orders to save you: State Participation and Complicity in Communal Violence in Gujarat, Human Rights Watch, April 2002, page 4.) The Indian RSS's joint general secretary, Suresh Soni, was a major guest at the Wembley event. The event was also attended by key figures from the National Council of Hindu Temples, the Swaminarayan Mandir, ISKCON - Bhaktivedanta Manor, the Hindu Council UK, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (UK), Singh Sabha Gurudwara (Southall) and other Hindu organizations. The Commission on Integration and Cohesion was set up by the Secretary of State, Ruth Kelly and one of its main tasks is to address the dissemination of extremist ideologies. "Next month, the Commission on Integration and Cohesion is due to publish its findings on how communities can tackle extremist ideologies and overcome tensions between different groups. The credibility of the Commission's findings may be seriously limited if its own Commissioners are seen to endorse individuals widely considered to be extremist", said Arun Kundnani, spokesperson for Awaaz - South Asia Watch. Awaaz deplores the fact that someone who the British government has appointed as a Commissioner working towards good community relations and harmony between groups appears to have commended and endorsed a man whose life-long ambition was to promote ideas and organizations in India inspired by Nazi, fascist and racist thinking, organisations that have been repeatedly indicted for anti-minority extremism, intolerance and violence. [ENDS] NOTES Who was M. S. Golwalkar? Madahav Sadashiv Golwalkar (1906 - 1973) was the second leader of the paramilitary RSS, a Hindu supremacist organization formed in 1925 devoted to turning India into an exclusive Hindu state. Golwalkar supported Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. In his key book We, or our nationhood defined, published in 1939, he openly supported the anti-semitic policies of Nazi Germany towards German-Jews, openly supported Hitler's violent invasion of other sovereign territories, lauded Fascist Italy and said these were models which India could learn and profit by: "German race pride has now become the topic of the day. To keep up the purity of the Race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the semitic Races - the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has shown how well nigh impossible it is for Races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by." (Golwalkar, We, or our nationhood defined, Bharat Publications, Nagpur, [1939] 1944, page 37.) In the 1950s, even when the horrors of Nazi Germany was known across the world, the RSS called these ideas of Golwalkar an "unassailable doctrine of nationhood" Golwalkar also stated that in India, minorities deserved no rights whatsoever, not even any citizen's rights. Minorities could "live only as outsiders, bound by all the codes and conventions of the Nation, at the sufferance of the Nation and deserving of no special protection, far less any privilege or rights. There are only two courses open to the foreign elements, either to merge themselves in the national race and adopt its culture, or to live at the sweet will of the national race. That is the only logical and correct solution. That alone keeps the national life healthy and undisturbed. That alone keeps the Nation safe from the danger of a cancer developing into its body politic of the creation of a state within a state. From this standpoint, sanctioned [by] the experiences of shrewd old nations, the non-Hindu peoples of Hindusthan must either adopt the Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and hold in reverence Hindu religion, must entertain no ideas but those of the glorification of the Hindu race and culture i.e. they must not only give up their attitude of intolerance and ungratefulness towards this land and its age-long traditions but must also cultivate a positive attitude of love and devotion instead - in a word they must cease to be foreigners, or may stay in the country wholly subordinated to the Hindu nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment - not even citizen's rights." (Golwalkar, We, or our nationhood defined, Bharat Publications, Nagpur, [1939] 1944, pages 48-9.) For Golwalkar, minorities were to either give up their beliefs or live at 'the sweet will of the majority'. In 2002, the RSS stated that the safety of Muslims in India lies in 'the goodwill of the majority'. Golwalkar also actively promoted racism and race superiority as central to the Indian nation: "It is superfluous to emphasise the importance of Racial Unity in the Nation state. A Race is a hereditary Society having common customs, common language, common memories of glory and disaster; in short it is a population with a common origin under one culture. Such a race is by far the most important ingredient of a Nation.We will not seek to prove this axiomatic truth, that the Race is the body of the Nation, and that with its fall, the Nation ceases to exist." (Golwalkar, We, or our nationhood defined, Bharat Publications, Nagpur, [1939] 1944, page 21.) What is the RSS? The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS, National Volunteers' Corps) was formed in the period 1925-1926 by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in Nagpur, Maharashtra state, north-west India. Golwalkar became its second "supreme leader" after Hedgewar's death. The RSS is an exclusively male organization devoted to the political ideology of Hindutva (or Hindu nationalism) and represents an Indian version of fascism. Hedgewar formed the RSS as an organization of young boys and men that was based on military drills, physical exercise, weapons training, propagation of the ideology of Hindutva and anti-minority hatred. Hedgewar, together with another key founder of the RSS, Balkrishna Shivram Moonje, was also influenced by Fascism and Nazism. In 1934, Hedgewar presided over a meeting in Nagpur aimed at propagating Mussolini's fascist thought in India. Moonje not only met Mussolini but was a strong admirer of Nazism and Fascism. He is today called Dharamveer - hero in the religious struggle - by the RSS. He said that India not only needed a dictator like Hitler but that a scheme to bring such a dictator had to be urgently carried out. The RSS is not a democratic organization but based on the idea of one 'Supreme Leader' (sarsanghchalak), obedience to the one Supreme Leader (ek chalak anuvartitva) and of the Supreme Leader as "the principle one who is to be venerated" (parampoojaniya). Today, the RSS is at the core of a large family of extremist Hindu nationalist organizations operating in India and transnationally, including the UK. Original report from RSS newspaper, The Organiser The Organiser May 13, 2007 p.5 Shri Guruji birth centenary celebrations in UK Sangh meet turns out a grand Hindu Sangam http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=183&page=5 _____ [10] EVENTS: (i) [Received from Shabnam Hashmi following intimidation by Hindutva goons. The below announcement may be late but people interested can get in touch for information ] Anhad 1914, Karanjwala Building Opposite Khanpur Darwaza Ahmedabad 9879567079- nafees khan June 15, 2007 Subject: Press Conference June 16, 2007, 4pm Dear Sir, We request you to kindly depute a reporter and a photographer to attend a press conference on June 16 th, 2007 at 4pm at the Anhad office: 1914, Karanjwala Building, Opposite Khanpur Darwaza, Ahmjedabad. ( Tel- 25500844) Yesterday VHP, Bajrang Dal in collision with the local media chased the vehicles in which our youth group was returning from Vadodara and stopped them and surrounded them around the Toll Naka and threatened them to give statements against their wishes. Before that they had attacked three of them during the peaceful demonstration. We wish to brief the media about the whole incident and the unethical means applied by some section of the local media. Shabnam Hashmi will brief the media and some of the young volunteers will be at the press conference. Yours sincerely Manan Trivedi o o o (ii) PROTEST & PRESS CONFERENCE - 17th MAY 2006 To condemn the arrest of Dr. Binayak Sen, General Secretary, PUCL Chhattisgarh A dharna and press conference is being organised to protest against the arrest of Dr. Binayak Sen, General Secretary, PUCL (Chhattisgarh) and Vice President, PUCL (National) under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2006. Dr. Binayak Sen has been targeted as PUCL Chhattisgarh has been actively speaking out against the Salwa Judum as also against other atrocities committed by the security forces in Chhattisgarh. The arrest is possibly to deflect attention from the murder of 12 adivasis in Bijapur District on 31st March which the police had tried to pass off as an encounter killing and which had been investigated by PUCL. Besides being a highly respected civil rights activist of long standing, an alumnus of the Christian Medical College Vellore and former faculty member of Jawaharlal Nehru University , as a medical doctor Binayak Sen has also been actively involved in reaching health care to the poorest people as well as monitoring the health and nutrition status of the people of Chhattisgarh. DHARNA Chhattisgarh Bhawan, 7, Sardar Patel Marg, New Delhi 12 Noon 17th May 2007 PRESS CONFERENCE Press Club of India , 1 Raisina Road , New Delhi 3 pm 17th May 2007 o o o (iii) Invitation Polycentric Peoples Launch 23 May 2007 Amnesty International Report 2007 the state of the world's human rights Freedom from Fear Use of Fear by Powerful Governments, Repressive States, Armed Groups No Right is Sacrosanct, No Person is Safe! Fear to fuel Inequalities, Division and Discrimination Investment in Human Security Sustaining Respect for Human Rights Report Launch and Panel Discussion Bhubaneswar: Rabi Ray and Others, Jayadev Bhavan, 6.00-8.00 pm, Contacts: 0674-2573533, 09811793127 Delhi: A G Noorani and Others, Women's Press Corps, 4.00-5.00 pm, Contacts: 9818448041, 8911033419 Kolkata: Mahashweta Devi and Others, Press Club Maidan, 3.00-5.00 pm, Contacts: 033-24122637, 09830049689 Thiruvanthapuram: Binoy Vishwan and Others, Press Club, 2.30-4.30 pm, Contacts: 9447077822, 09868114470 Launch Programme in Other Places The Report Release will also happen in Amroha, Allahabad, Agra, Banda, Kanpur and Khalilabad (Uttar Pradesh)* Dhanbad, Jamshedpur (Jharkhand)*Guntu & Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh)* Imphal (Manipur) * Mumbai (Maharashtra)* Nadiad (Gujarat)* Poonch (J&K)* Raigarh and Raipur, (Chhatisgarh)* Satna (Madhya Pradesh). Amnesty International India C-1/22, First Floor, Safdarjung Development Area, Hauz Khas, N Delhi 110016 011-41642501, 26854763, <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED], <http://www.amnesty.org.in/>www.amnesty.org.in _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ Buzz for secularism, on the dangers of fundamentalism(s), 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