South Asia Citizens Wire - 29 August 2016 - No. 2907 [via South Asia Citizens Web - sacw.net since 1996]
Contents: 1. Bangladesh: Counter-narrative to combat extremist violence | Muhammad Nurul Huda 2. Himal Southasian magazine to suspend publication - Press Release 3. New Low of Jingoism in India: Actor faces a sedition case for talking of peace with Pakistan 4. India: The Supreme Court, Gandhi and the RSS | Dilip Simeon 5. Eminent citizen's appeal to Prime Minister of India to respond on the grave scenario in Narmada Valley 6. Hoping Against Hope | Nyla Ali Khan 7. Interview with Venkat Dhulipala 'We live with Partition effects on a day to day basis' | Aarti Tikoo Singh 8. Kuldip Nayar on Partition 9. Recent On Communalism Watch: India: Uniform rights, not a uniform law (Flavia Agnes) How India's justice system is giving in to the mob (Samar Halarnkar) India: The first Parliament attack took place in 1966 – and was carried out by gau rakshaks India: The barricaded Muslim mind (Saba Naqvi) India: Left divided over Maoists’ call for united front against Hindutva issue (Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Hindustan Times) Cartoon on On cow vigilantes (Livemint.com, 11 August 2016) Dalit Uprising and After … (subhash gatade) India: Historian D.N. Jha takes on Hindutva historiographical format Bhaarata ::: URLs & FULL TEXT ::: 10. Nepal: A tightrope for Prachanda | Deb Mukharji 11. Top UN Committee Says Tamil, Muslim And Christian Minorities Continue To Be Discriminated In Sri Lanka 12. Pakistan: Reverberations of Quetta | Ghazi Salahuddin 13. Pakistan: Karachi and our conscience | Khurram Husain 14. India: You keep the cow’s tail - A post card from Una, Gujarat, August 15 | Anand Patwardhan 15. India: The Paranoid Art of Nationalism | Shiv Visvanathan 16. India: The Forgotten Armenian Romantic | R. V. Smith 17. Seeing Through His Eyes | Asif Farrukhi 18. Nehru Kin & Amnesty Ex-Top Gun Slams Support To Terror Outfits | Aarti Tikoo Singh 19. The Heart Of Africa. Interview With Julius Nyerere On Anti-Colonialism 20. Moving Us-Russia Relations Beyond Confrontation 21. Review: Palmer On Drake, 'Paris At War: 1939-1944' 22. By The Black Sea | James Morris ======================================== 1. BANGLADESH: COUNTER-NARRATIVE TO COMBAT EXTREMIST VIOLENCE | Muhammad Nurul Huda ======================================== Undoubtedly, there is a quarter that wants to project our polity as one that is predisposed to becoming a wellspring of violence, unless it is somehow suitably moulded and rounded-up to accommodate and live with modernity. This quarter would like others to believe that the so-called religiously motivated extremist groups are trying to redefine the concept of “nation state”. http://www.sacw.net/article12916.html ======================================== 2. HIMAL SOUTHASIAN MAGAZINE TO SUSPEND PUBLICATION - PRESS RELEASE ======================================== The Southasia Trust regrets to announce the suspension of publication of Himal Southasian, the pioneering magazine promoting ‘cross-border journalism' in the region. A decision to this effect was taken by the Trust's Executive Board on 22 August, due to non-cooperation by regulatory state agencies in Nepal that has made it impossible to continue operations after 29 years of publication. http://www.sacw.net/article12912.html ======================================== 3. New Low of Jingoism in India: Actor faces a sedition case for talking of peace with Pakistan ======================================== India's Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar recently made an irresponsible statement on 16th of August, when he said that "Going to Pakistan is the same as going to hell." Kannada actor turned politician Ramya, who is also an ex-MP from Congress, referred to Parrikar's statement when sharing her experience of recently having visited Pakistan to attend a SAARC Young Parliamentarians Conference in Islamabad. She said "Pakistan is not hell. People are just like us. They treated us very well". As a result of this statement, a sedition case has been filed against her under Section 124A of the IPC by K. Vittal Gowda, a Coorg-based advocate. The matter is posted for hearing on August 27th. http://sacw.net/article12911.html ======================================== 4. INDIA: THE SUPREME COURT, GANDHI AND THE RSS by Dilip Simeon ======================================== The Supreme Court recently took up a PIL challenging a statement made by Rahul Gandhi alleging that the RSS killed Mahatma Gandhi. (Rahul Gandhi was then reported to have amended his statement, and the RSS demanded an apology. A comment sent to me by a friend indicates that Rahul Gandhi did not amend his statement although the media tried to present it as such. It appears that he had said "RSS people" killed Gandhi and he stuck to that statement throughout. It seems the SC assumed that he had held the RSS collectively responsible. They asked him to apologise. When the Court record showed the original statement to be different, the SC backtracked. By then the media had taken off with its sensationalism). http://www.sacw.net/article12915.html ======================================== 5. EMINENT CITIZEN'S APPEAL TO PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA TO RESPOND ON THE GRAVE SCENARIO IN NARMADA VALLEY ======================================== It's with a heavy heart that we want to bring to your attention the plight of the communities affected by the Sardar Sarovar (Narmada) dam. http://sacw.net/article12913.html ======================================== 6. HOPING AGAINST HOPE | Nyla Ali Khan ======================================== The Kashmir conflict is driven by nationalistic and religious fervor, each side pointing to the violence and injustice of the other, each side pointing to its own suffering and sorrow. The distrust, paranoia, and neurosis permeating the relationship between a large number of people of J & K and the Indian Union has intensified the conflict. The guerilla war in the state has gone through a series of phases since 1990 but repressive military and political force remains the brutal reality in the State, which cannot be superseded by seemingly abstract democratic aspirations. http://sacw.net/article12914.html ======================================== 7. INTERVIEW WITH VENKAT DHULIPALA 'WE LIVE WITH PARTITION EFFECTS ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS' | Aarti Tikoo Singh ======================================== Venkat Dhulipala is Associate Professor of South Asian and Global history at University of North Carolina Wilmington. His first book, 'Creating a New Medina: State Power, Islam, and the Quest for Pakistan in Late Colonial North India', published last year, has created a stir in academic circles. He spoke with Aarti Tikoo Singh about how popular mobilization for the achievement of Pakistan took place and why its history is important to understand the present. http://www.sacw.net/article12917.html ======================================== 8. KULDIP NAYAR ON PARTITION ======================================== The British have the reputation of leaving their colonies in a mess when they have to withdraw by force or otherwise. One method they have adopted is to partition the country they have ruled. They did this in Ireland, Palestine-Israel and, of course, India. http://www.sacw.net/article12918.html ======================================== 9. RECENT ON COMMUNALISM WATCH: ======================================== India: Uniform rights, not a uniform law (Flavia Agnes) How India's justice system is giving in to the mob (Samar Halarnkar) India: The first Parliament attack took place in 1966 – and was carried out by gau rakshaks India: The barricaded Muslim mind (Saba Naqvi) India: Left divided over Maoists’ call for united front against Hindutva issue (Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Hindustan Times) Wanted Bangladeshi man arrested in Malaysia India: Defying Supreme Court Order, Maharashtra Celebrates Dahi Handi The British Left’s Hypocritical Embrace of Islamism - Maajid Nawaz India: ANHAD invites you to a Symposium on Attack on Sufism and Syncretic Culture (3 Sept, 2016, New Delhi) India: Jamia checks, RSS-affliation & 'politicising education' stump Prakash Javadekar India: Bombay High Court Upholds Women's Right to Equal Access to Haji Ali Shrine India: For VHP it’s mission Hinduism 2017 India: 1st death anniversary of Prof. M. M. Kalburgi - appeal to participate in protest scheduled at Dharwad on 30 Aug 2016 Cartoon on On cow vigilantes (Livemint.com, 11 August 2016) Dalit Uprising and After … (subhash gatade) India: Historian D.N. Jha takes on Hindutva historiographical format Bhaarata http://sacw.net/article12909.html -> available via: http://communalism.blogspot.com/ ::: URLs & FULL TEXT ::: ======================================== 10. NEPAL: A TIGHTROPE FOR PRACHANDA by Deb Mukharji ======================================== (The Indian Express - August 13, 2016 Nepal’s new PM must address Madhesi aspirations and bring relations with India on even keel. Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, president of the United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has returned as prime minister of Nepal after seven years, in alliance with the Nepali Congress. The agreement between the two parties stipulates that Dahal and Sher Bahadur Deuba, the president of the Nepali Congress, shall each hold the post of prime minister for nine months before the national elections, due in 2017. Prachanda’s election comes after the resignation of K.P. Oli, leader of the CPN (UML) as prime minister in the face of an impending no-confidence motion in parliament where he had ceased to command a majority. With frequent changes in the post of prime minister over the years, the election of Dahal is not, by itself, a matter of great importance, except to those directly involved. It could be seen as part of the process of political adjustment in an era of unstable coalitions. But the circumstances leading to it and the challenges ahead, both for his party and for the state of Nepal, are significant. K.P. Oli had led a government that sought to divide and not unite the nation. In the debate on the no-confidence motion against his government, senior members of his own party had expressed dismay at his methods and manner of functioning. Oli had decided that the future lay with hill-based castes and classes and treated Madhesi aspirations with open disdain. His reaching out to China in the pursuit of Nepali national interests cannot be faulted, but his palpable stoking of anti-Indian sentiments may not have been in Nepal’s interests. Dahal inherits a legacy of having to provide effective relief to Madhesi aspirations and bringing relations with India on an even keel. The former will be difficult. The issue of demarcation of state boundaries, which is at the core of Madhesi demands, will not be possible without constitutional amendments, and this, in turn, cannot be effected in the present parliament without the support of Oli’s UML. At the least, there would need to be engagement with the Madhesis and movement wherever possible. For both Dahal (and Deuba, nine months down the line) the deadline is end-2017 when fresh elections are constitutionally mandated. Display of good governance would be useful, and picking up the pieces of the lives affected by the earthquake would be a good beginning. The world had responded generously after Nepal’s devastating earthquake of April 2015. But successive governments remained too preoccupied with the politics of Kathmandu to be able to utilise even a fraction of the aid offered. This should engage the attention of the new prime minister. Dahal himself has undergone several changes of image since his heady days as supremo of the Maoist insurgents, fighting the Nepali state to a standstill. As defender of the rights and aspirations of the underprivileged janjati, who had formed the backbone of the insurgency, he gradually became identified with the preservation of the status quo, as signally demonstrated by the indifference to Madhesi aspirations at the time of the framing of the constitution. Dahal had, in the past, shown his preference for conflating Nepali nationalism with anti-Indian sentiments (instead of basing it on anti-feudalism, which had been Baburam Bhattarai’s prescription). This plank will no longer be available to him, as it has now been convincingly taken over by K.P. Oli, who can, and does, proudly claim to have created unprecedented bonds with China and reduced Nepal’s dependence on India. Ground realities with regard to delivery may tell a different story, but Oli has certainly succeeded in bolstering China’s image in Nepal as an all-weather friend. Dahal would need to capitalise and build on Oli’s openings to China for the benefit of Nepal, without needlessly aggravating India. Xi Jinping’s proposed visit to Nepal in October should be indicative of how seriously the Chinese wish to pursue the proposals mooted during Oli’s visit, which appeared at the time to reflect a Nepali wish list. For Prachanda, finding a new relevance for his party and himself in the post constitution and pre-election scenario would be the greatest challenge. Oli has unambiguously positioned the UML as the defender of Nepali sovereignty (against Indian hegemony), thus becoming the ideological successor to the defunct monarchy, while still wearing its Marxist-Leninist badge. Even a change in leadership of the UML and the advent of more sober leadership may make it difficult for the party to change course in the short term. The Nepali Congress would always have an attraction for people in the centre of the political spectrum and may be able to persuade people that traditional values can lead to stability, In the recent past, it has been under criticism for not permitting a new, more vigorous leadership to emerge. A new element has been introduced by Baburam Bhattarai and his New Force Party. Perhaps more than most politicians, Bhattarai does have a reputation for probity, and his move away from the parent UCPN (Maoist) for whom he had been the chief ideologue for decades had been on issues of principle. He had been scathing about the raw deal meted out to the Madhesis for centuries and critical of the new constitution for not meeting the demands of the Madhesis and the Tharus. For his new party, Bhattarai’s emphasis is on development and economic prosperity. In a sense, this changes the rules of the game of politics in Nepal, governed hitherto by politics. But the demands of the Madhesis and the janjati go beyond economics into issues of identity. These would need to be addressed as well for any lasting stability to the polity. For their own reasons, the CPN (ML) and the NC are likely to stay together in governance in the coming months, but they and others would be jockeying for positions of advantage keeping in view the elections in 2017. Deb Mukharji is former Indian ambassador to Nepal ======================================== 11. TOP UN COMMITTEE SAYS TAMIL, MUSLIM AND CHRISTIAN MINORITIES CONTINUE TO BE DISCRIMINATED IN SRI LANKA ======================================== (Colombo Telegraph - 26 August 2016) Just days ahead of the visit by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit to Sri Lanka, a top United Nations Committee has highlighted that discrimination against Tamil, Muslim and Cristian minorities persisted despite the coalition government’s commitment to promote and protect human rights in the country. This was highlighted by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) recently in Geneva which concluded the examination of the combined tenth to seventeenth periodic report of Sri Lanka on its implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. During the discussion, Experts welcomed the new Government’s commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights in Sri Lanka, but noted that despite efforts, discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities persisted, referring particularly to discrimination against Muslims and against plantation communities. Presenting the report, Ravinatha Aryasinha, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that the new Government of Sri Lanka was committed to provide stability, protect human rights and strengthen democracy. He listed a number of measures aimed at strengthening human rights protection and the rule of law, particularly the introduction of the nineteenth amendment to the Constitution, the recent establishment of an Office on the Missing Persons, and current consultations relating to the National Human Rights Action Plan 2017-2021. He referred to past abuses by separatist terrorist groups and said that several issues had remained unaddressed since the end of the conflict in 2009, including violations of human rights and humanitarian law by both sides. Jose Francisco Cali Tzay, Committee Member and Country Rapporteur for Sri Lanka said that discrimination against Tamil, Muslim and Christian minorities persisted, and that antagonist attitudes continued to take place. He regretted that Sri Lanka’s periodic report failed to address the complexity of the situation on the ground. Cali Tzay however noted with satisfaction the adoption of the nineteenth Constitutional Amendment as well as the Government’s commitment toward reconciliation, but noted that progress was needed to consolidate the national human rights commission, protect witnesses and abolish capital punishment. “It was regrettable that the report did not contain data on human rights violations and prosecutions. The shadow report presented by civil society organizations, together with United Nations resolutions and reports by United Nations human rights mechanisms, offered a very different image of that presented by the Government. These discrepancies were very concerning. The starting point to achieve reconciliation was to recognise errors of the past and address current challenges. Continuing to deny problems would not solve the problems,” he said. Continuing, he noted that the Tamil population continued to suffer discrimination, and to lack access to public services in their own language. The police agents in the north of the country for the most part did not speak the Tamil language. What measures had been taken to protect Tamil women from multiple discrimination that they continued to face?, he asked. “Communities continued to live in fear, the Rapporteur said, particularly of the continued presence of the military in the area. Furthermore, he underlined the importance that the Tamil population had access to public places to bury and commemorate their dead, and regretted discrimination against them in that regard, which could constitute an obstacle to lasting peace and reconciliation. He asked what measures had been taken to resettle internally displaced persons, Tamil refugees and members of the Muslim minority? What was being done to prevent sexual harassment against these persons? Continuing, the Rapporteur asked whether human rights training was provided to law enforcement personnel, and if so what the effects of such training had been on the protection of minorities from discrimination and abuse. The delegation said that initiatives had been taken to promote tolerance and harmony and to combat hate speech, including intercultural and interfaith dialogues. Steps had been taken to prosecute cases of violence against places of worship. “The Government did not condone any form of hate speech or intolerance,” the delegation said. Another Expert asked for detailed figures regarding the ethnicity of those detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. She noted that this legislation belonged to a particular era, and asked whether the Government was considering repealing it. In response, Aryasinha said that all were equal under the law, and there was no discrimination against any particular group with regard to detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Meanwhile, the UN Secretary-General will visit Sri Lanka from August 31 to September 2. While in Sri Lanka, the Secretary-General will also visit a resettlement site in Jaffna in the North, and participate in an event on the role of youth in reconciliation and coexistence in Galle, in the South. ======================================== 12. PAKISTAN: REVERBERATIONS OF QUETTA | Ghazi Salahuddin ======================================== (The News - August 14, 2016) We cannot close our eyes to the fact that this Independence Day is being celebrated under the shadow of one of the most horrific acts of terror in the blood-dripping annals of our recent history. The incident took place on Monday in Quetta. What kind of an impact has it left on the nation’s mind? How deeply have our leaders been touched by this soul-destroying atrocity? Has there been an intense and sincere deliberation on what this means, in the light of our ongoing war against terrorism and the professed resolve to dig out its roots from our society? Yes, the initial shock was very real. Quetta has suffered some really gruesome terrorist attacks. It is hard to forget the images of vigils held by Hazara families after massive terrorist attacks on their community. But the blast at the emergency ward of the city’s Civil Hospital came at a time when the situation had greatly improved. Still, the meticulous planning that seemed to have gone into this act of terror and the target chosen would naturally raise many questions. This time, the terrorists went specifically for the lawyers. And they were able to able to achieve their purpose in an astounding operation. First, Bilal Anwar Kansi, president of the Balochistan Bar Association, in a gun attack. When a larger number of lawyers had arrived at the hospital to receive his body, a suicide bomber blew himself in their midst. Hence, most of the more than seventy persons killed in the attack – with more than one hundred injured – were lawyers. Their number is said to be about 60. They constituted the cream of the fraternity. To some extent, the entire edifice of the judicial system of the province was shaken. It is easy to see how great the loss is in human terms. There was an immediate response on the part of the civil and military leadership of the country. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif were in Quetta on the day of the incident. But they did not travel together. This was noted by Mehmood Khan Achakzai, leader of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, in his speech in the National Assembly on Tuesday. It was this speech that stirred controversy and led to some unsavoury and contentious remarks. To return to the questions I raised at the outset, it is sad that the national discourse on seminal issues that relate to security and governance of the country has not remained sober and thoughtful. A forbidding thought it is but it seems that the talk shows of our news channels have dictated the norms of the debate at the higher political level, including in the National Assembly. There is hardly a pause for genuine deliberation. Questions raised remain unanswered. There is little respect for facts. The main players in this game lack the capacity, intellectually, to understand and analyse a situation. In his speech in an almost deserted National Assembly, Achakzai said that our intelligence agencies had failed in their duty to protect us and that it was not right to blame foreign agencies such as RAW and Mossad for these acts of terror. These comments prompted a quick rebuttal from the patriotic brigade and, typically, Sheikh Rashid – the epitome of the talk show idiom – told reporters in Quetta that he believed that Achakzai was an ‘Indian agent’. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan also expressed his displeasure over Achakzai’s remarks, and staunchly defended the security agencies. A lot of dust was also raised by Chaudhry Nisar’s press conference on Friday. What made the headlines was his assertion that the PPP had sought relief for Dr Asim Hussain and ‘super model’ Ayyan Ali. Expectedly, there was a counter-attack from the ranks of the PPP. They, on both sides of an argument, are quite good at it. You do find some comic relief in these political repartees. But one shudders to think that the core issue was the Quetta blast and our war against terrorism and extremism. A matter of life and death for the entire nation, to be sure. When it comes to being serious about these matters, comments made by Gen Raheel Sharif during a high-level security meeting held at the General Headquarters on Friday have attracted much attention and may excite some whispers in the corridors of power. It is significant that the army chief’s words have been quoted verbatim in the ISPR press release. This is what he is reported to have said while reviewing the progress of the military operation against terrorists: “The National Action Plan is central to achievements of our objectives and its lack of progress is affecting the consolidation phase of Operation Zarb-e-Azb”. This concern over lack of progress on NAP had earlier been reported but now it is not conveyed through a tweet of Lt-Gen Asim Bajwa, head of the ISPR. Gen Raheel Sharif is saying this himself. It is also to be noted that the army chief’s observation has come after high-level meetings held between the civil and army leaders to review NAP, which was launched after the massacre of our schoolchildren in Peshawar on December 16, 2014. It is adequately comprehensive in its pursuit of a terror-free Pakistan. For instance, its last – and twentieth – point is about revamping and reforming the criminal justice system. How can you even move in that direction when judges and lawyers feel so insecure? It is true that in the wake of Operation Zarb-e-Azb and the Karachi operation, with its limited scope, terrorists are on the run. Statistics confirm this impression. Yet, the Quetta blast certifies their presence and their organisational capacity. Beyond this front, the political and social spheres are in a state of disorder. Nawaz Sharif’s absence, when he was in London for health reasons, had encouraged his detractors to hope for a change, though no one could decipher how it was possible. During this week, he has been on the spot. But he is under pressure. Imran Khan is at it again. The PPP is also making noises. This also means that the Sharif administration will be distracted from the urgency of implementing NAP – if it is mindful of what it requires. Meanwhile, the Pakistani society is in a mess and ordinary citizens are angry and upset about the rigours of their everyday existence. The Independence Day celebrations will cheer them up only for a while. The writer is a senior journalist. ======================================== 13. PAKISTAN: KARACHI AND OUR CONSCIENCE by Khurram Husain ======================================== (Dawn, Aug 25, 2016) IT is this city’s sad predicament that it embraces all with open arms and is yet endlessly vilified with glee. Following the utterly despicable speech by Altaf Hussain on Monday night, a kind of open season has been declared on the MQM. But what troubles me more is how much of this spills out onto the general citizenry of Karachi. This is how the line goes: if the people of Karachi still vote for the MQM candidate in the mayoral elections happening on Wednesday, it will prove that they want pain and not change. There is a certain prejudice against Karachi and its citizens amongst my upcountry friends that I am always struck by. At a personal level, we are all entitled to our feelings and opinions. However, the problem is that when this attitude finds its way into policy thinking, or politics, it is then no longer a personal but a public matter. Let me give an example. Many years ago, I was interviewing a former official from the privatisation ministry about the various privatisation transactions of the Musharraf regime. When it came to KESC, as K-Electric was then known, he let out a sigh of frustration. “I personally pushed for the privatisation of this entity,” he said. “It was a terrible entity, always asking for subsidies, riddled with rackets and losses.” Was it worse than the power distribution companies of the rest of the country, I asked. Yes, came the response, much worse. Then he launched into a description of how bad the enterprise was and I couldn’t help but notice that he was describing a mental image of the city of Karachi more than the entity itself. The way in which people upcountry relate to Karachi is similar to how expats or foreigners relate to Pakistan. In subsequent encounters with Wapda officials, and this was before the bifurcation of the entity into hydro and power sides, I found this unique disdain for KESC. Whenever discussing other entities in the power sector, they had reasons for why things were in a dilapidated state. When it came to KESC, there were no excuses and no sugar-coating. At the time, I didn’t make much of this and took their view that the losses at KESC were the number one problem and the entity must be jettisoned at almost any price. It was, indeed, jettisoned to a private party that could not manage it. Then another management came in during 2008, and slowly things turned around. Now the losses are gone and the entity is profitable and line losses are coming down. How this is happening is another story, but since the line at the time was that the losses are high and it must be jettisoned at any cost, I though perhaps officialdom in the power sector would be happy. But no. Recent conversations with upcountry folks in the power sector confirm once again that the same entity which is now called K-Electric, is the subject of the same disdain. They all opposed privatisation of the power sector, and in doing so, pointed towards K-Electric. “Do you want us to become like them?” What’s wrong with them, I asked? They’re profitable, line losses are coming down, investments are being made, so where is the problem? And now there was a different story. “They’re overbilling their customers,” said one. “They’re only selling electricity taken from the national grid, nothing more,” said another. “If they have their own power plants, why do they take power from the grid?” asked yet another. Then it struck me. No matter what happens, Karachi’s power utility will always be a whipping boy for the rest of the country, not because of its performance issues but because it is in Karachi. After all, Pepco keeps some of its plants shut while there is load-shedding in the rest of the country too. And why should Karachiites not be entitled to the cheaper hydropower in the national grid? Is there no overbilling in the distribution companies owned by Pepco? And how exactly did K-Electric declare a profit of Rs22 billion through overbilling alone without there being any kind of an uproar in the city? Here’s another example. A while back, I wrote an article complaining about the massive inconvenience caused to the city’s residents on account of the IDEAS expo being held here. Comments I received in return were “if the city’s residents can endure countless closures on the orders of a political party, what is a few more days of traffic jams?” The answer is simple: every day of traffic and school closures is a lot for a city this size, and nobody enjoys the city’s closures on the dictates of a political party either. Often I find that the way in which people upcountry relate to Karachi is similar to how expats or foreigners relate to Pakistan as a whole. They see the headlines and generalise about the people. If people want to really understand why a substantial vote bank exists for the MQM in spite of everything they see on TV, all they have to do is understand that voter behaviour is rarely influenced by what happens on television. Elections are decided on local issues, and most people I meet who may have strong feelings about Karachi know very little about the local issues of the city. Again and again, I keep encountering such blinkered and deeply prejudiced views about Karachi. Yet this is one city where in a single stretch of a market near my house, the paanwala is Burmese, the tea vendor behind him is Pashto-speaking, the tyre guy next to him is Urdu-speaking and the AC repairman next to him is from southern Punjab. And you have to experience the friendly vibes between them to understand that this is the only city in the country that brings together so many different people from so many backgrounds, and let’s them all call themselves a Karachiwala. The writer is a member of staff. ======================================== 14. INDIA: YOU KEEP THE COW’S TAIL - A POST CARD FROM UNA, GUJARAT, AUGUST 15 by Anand Patwardhan ======================================== (The Indian Express - August 26, 2016) The march that reached Una on August 15 marked the most significant Independence Day I have ever witnessed. Mainstream media, barring exceptions, paid scant heed, focusing instead on the prime minister’s usual sabre-rattling. Headlines gleefully reported that Narendra Modi had laid down the gauntlet against Pakistan. You mess with Kashmir and we will mess with Balochistan, he declared, tacitly admitting a democratic failure in both countries. What transpired at Una was dramatically different. The trigger was last month’s public parading and flogging of Dalit youth who had been skinning a dead cow. The “cow protectors” recorded and circulated their feat on social media. As the clip went viral, Dalits were shocked into action. Gujarat has often seen anti-Dalit atrocities with the police displaying its upper caste bias. By 2002, a new right-wing strategy emerged. Dalits were recruited as foot-soldiers to attack Muslims. In the next decade, as the RSS aspired to capture national power, Ambedkar began to appear on BJP banners and an alliance with Dalits appeared possible. But while Ambedkar’s icon was desirable, not so his egalitarian vision and deep distaste for misogynist Hindu shastras. Predictably, caste violence increased in proportion to Dalit assertion. In 2012 at Thangadh, the police used AK 47s to kill three unarmed Dalit protesters. With Modi as PM, cow vigilantes and Hindutva militants were further emboldened. With seven per cent Dalits in Gujarat, mass mobilisation has never been easy. Valiant leaders like Valjibhai Patel are in their 80s, while sops and inertia have robbed the community of effective elders. It is in this vacuum that a young Dalit like Jignesh Mevani emerged. He and other youth leaders like the Parmars, Suresh Aadya and Advocate Shamshad Pathan have given shape to the spontaneous uprising after Una. This potent mix of young Dalits and Muslims also has the invaluable support of people like Rahul Sharma, one of the bravest IPS police officers who tried to stem the Gujarat riots of 2002, only to face innumerable obstacles ever since. Support poured in from across the country. The ambitious route covered 400 kilometers in 10 days, partly on foot and partly in assorted vehicles, stopping before every town so people could proceed on foot to be greeted by a welcoming party from the approaching town. Fed and refreshed they set off, again on foot towards the next town, accompanied for a part of the journey by their recent hosts. The support base kept growing until the caravan reached the outskirts of Una on August 14. Here, they faced the first signs of upper caste resistance. Near Samter, where the Dalit youth had first been assaulted, the OBC Durbar community staged a road block. The marchers avoided confrontation and took a detour to reach Una by the 14th afternoon. The previous night, Grishma of Dalit Camera had gone to Samter village after hearing about their aggression. She barely managed to get back with her equipment intact. The next day she went again with a young reporter to interview Durbar men when they suddenly went on the offensive. As the reporters were escaping on a motorbike, a car deliberately chased and knocked them down and then sped off. Both suffered injuries, but bandaged and bleeding, were back on the job that very night. On the 15th, Una rang with cries of “Jai Bhim” as people arrived in droves. We stopped at an Ambedkar statue where, under a tent, a large family was sitting on a hunger strike. We heard the heartrending tale of the Sarvaiyya family. They were the only Dalits in a Koli (OBC) village and owned 15 acres of irrigated land. Four years ago, young Lalji Sarvaiyya was burnt alive in his hut by a mob that suspected he had eloped with a Koli girl. The Sarvaiyyas are now jobless and homeless as promises to grant them an alternate plot have not materialised. By now, despite roadblocks and stone pelting, 20,000 had reached Una. Apart from local Dalits, there were Rohith Vemula’s mother and brother, Dontha Prashanth of Ambedkar Students Association and many more from all castes and creeds representing various shades of the politics of reason. Speeches from the stage were limited as getting home safely was a priority that could be ensured only if the meeting concluded early. On August 15, as the tricolour unfurled in the presence of Radhika Vemula and other affected Dalit families, the Jana Gana Mana was sung by thousands of voices that this country has rarely been interested in hearing. Jignesh called out: “You can keep the cow’s tail. But give us our land!” An oath was administered: “We vow not to enter your sewers and not to skin your dead cattle.” The government was given 30 days to grant every Dalit family five acres of land, failing which a rail roko would be launched. Jignesh’s speech was followed by JNU’s Kanhaiya Kumar who had come to Una despite running a high fever (later diagnosed as malaria). His speech was short and ended with the now famous chant demanding azadi from Brahminism, casteism, capitalism, and fascism. Babu Sarvaiiya, father of the boys beaten at Una, spoke about the terror being unleashed in the countryside. Radhika Vemula spoke of how after Rohith’s death, her new family consists of oppressed Dalits everywhere. The meeting concluded at noon but the day had not ended. A backlash was underway. On the Samter side of the bridge leading out of Una, Durbar youth were stopping vehicles and beating up presumed Dalits. Ambulances screamed up and down the road. On the Una side, Dalit supporters began creating their own roadblock. The police concentrated on persuading Dalits not to indulge in violence. The situation was volatile. As tempers soared, organisers reminded people that Ambedkar had never resorted to violence. The Gir Somnath police chief ingenuously assured us that arrests of Durbars would be done as soon as law and order was restored. Jignesh’s presence meant that Dalits would keep gathering around him so it was decided that he should return to Ahmedabad through alternate routes. We stayed back with cameras to keep the pressure on the police to ensure the safety of the protesters. We visited a government hospital in Una where four injured Dalit boys had been brought in. Their motorcycles were destroyed. One had a brother missing. They recognised their Durbar attackers. A Dalit was brought in with a bullet injury in his leg. We went back to the police station to ask them to file FIRs. Again we were assured that this would be done “once law and order was restored”. The police finally cleared the road to Samter, resorting to firing in the air. We left town that night and heard of no further major incidents. The positive impact has been huge but criticism exists that local Dalits bore the brunt. Yet when we talked to the injured in Una, they were very proud to have helped end the silence. Landless Dalits forever forced to do jobs no one else would do have demanded both respect and land. Dead cows now litter many villages of Gujarat — a lesson for the whole country. Patwardhan is a documentary filmmaker ======================================== 15. INDIA: THE PARANOID ART OF NATIONALISM by Shiv Visvanathan ======================================== (The Hindu - August 26, 2016) The BJP’s nationalism is like a nervous tic which agitates itself every time the party runs out of ideas A great scholar once claimed that patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels. If he had lived another hundred years, he could have added that the nation state is the first home of the insecurely authoritarian. Today, the nation state has become a police operation, censoring categories, modes of thought that do not march in uniform with its official definitions of citizenship. Oddly, this process of the nation state as a panopticon, an institution for policing thought, has to be seen today as a part of an electoral democratic phenomenon. Majoritarianism in India has combined with a jingoist nationalism to carry out two separate sets of policing operations. At a local level, vigilante forces like the Bajrang Dal police the body and guard against any threat of sexuality either in terms of dress or in terms of the creativity of art and cinema. The policing of sexuality at the local level goes with policing of thought at the national level. If America had a Ku Klux Klan on race, India is creating a network of vigilantes on the nation. Citizenship and thought policing This vigilantism of patriotic and chauvinist groups has the seal of official approval. A good citizen is not only someone who is corseted in dress but one who wears a corseted mind. Majoritarian nationalism creates a new kind of thought policing where the deviant, the dissenting, the marginal and the minoritarian find it different to fit into the chorus of the nation state. Parties like the BJP realise that anxiety about jobs, security, the body creates a vulnerability which the nation state can exploit. Anyone who differs from you becomes anti-national. The transition from nationalism of the independence movement, which was a costume ball of ideas, to the uniformity of the nation state is complete. Citizenship becomes a proactive idea of thought policing. Any sign of difference confronts the mob and the lynch squad. Thanks to this arid mentality of nationalism, democracy becomes a threat to a democratic way of life. The irony is virtually complete. While Narendra Modi pretends to play statesman immersed in the problems of governance, his electoral double, Amit Shah, plays impresario to this knee-jerk nationalism, adding a surreal gravitas to what is both farcical and lethal. Mr. Shah is a menacing figure whose pronouncements become virtual diktats to party workers. He creates a fetish around nationalism which even threatens free speech blatantly. He is clear that nationalism is too sacred to be even questioned through free speech. He transforms it both into a theology and an official state ideology such that reasons of the nation state become even more sacrosanct than democracy. He is clear that what he labels as propaganda against the nation should not be considered as part of free speech. Such ‘free speech’, he claims, insults the martyrs of the freedom movement. In a fell swoop, past and present move under majoritarian control. He cites Bhagat Singh without realising he was a more open ended mind than Amit Shah is. Bhagat Singh would never endorse the Gujarat riots of 2002. This appropriation of the freedom movement by the RSS is a card-sharping act worthy of examination. Since character building seems to be beyond the BJP, this fiction of being the custodian of ‘nationalist character’ lets it beat back dissent or difference of any kind. Rajnath Singh as Home Minister plays second fiddle to Mr. Shah contending that Pakistan has been deliberating misleading Indian youth. At one sweep, he exonerates Delhi, the police, the local government from any kind of error, locating the source of mischief in an external enemy. Blaming Pakistan is easy, while realising your own mistakes takes courage. Not be left behind, Manohar Parrikar, the Defence Minister, recently claimed going to Pakistan is like going to “hell”. Ramya, the former actress and Congress member who visited Pakistan as part of a delegation, was quick to retort, “Pakistan is not hell.” In a sane civil way, she observed, “People are just like us. They treated us well.” This was enough to spark an accusation of sedition, and a complaint against her was filed by a Kannada advocate. The lawyer, Vittal Gowda, alleged that Ramya had insulted Indian patriots by praising Pakistan. Updating themselves, BJP activists who earlier advocated the train to Pakistan to any dissenter now insisted that anyone who thought Pakistan was heaven should take the next flight. Sedition now becomes the easiest label to tar your opponent with. All one needs is a simple difference of opinion. Fortunately, Ramya is a sensible person, who, in an article, matter of factly said, “we need to build enduring bridges with our neighbours.” The BJP’s attempt to create its storm in a teacup was quietly foiled by the film star. In fact, Bollywood known for its melodrama seems sane, allowing the BJP to monopolise all the hysterical roles. Ramya’s sanity is a perfect antidote to the ruling regime’s hysteria. Uses of a nervy nationalism The question one has to ask is, why are the BJP and its cohorts adopting this knee-jerk jingoism? Part of it is because as a party it has sought a theory of uniformity as unity without any real faith in inclusion. The backstage and the front stage of its politics just do not hold together. A nervy nationalism becomes its real claim to solidarity. The BJP’s attitude to Dalits has undermined any hope of inclusion. As election time approaches, this nervy nationalism nitpicking at every source of dissent becomes its one electoral plank. It is as if its majoritarianism by habit has nothing else to resonate with. Its inability to resolve issues in Kashmir, its illiteracy about the agony of Kashmir weaken its sense of problem solving. Besides, student revolts at JNU and Hyderabad have dented its claim to be the party of the youth. At a time when its claims to justice and competence are beginning to sound hollow, the drumbeat of nationalism seems to be its only calling card. By fusing majoritarianism and this spectacle of nationalism, it makes dissent to be against the nation. It is only this false fusion that gives it a sense of unity. The strategy is shortsighted and creates two casualties at the level of ideas. It aborts the power of nationalism as a process, disguising the many doubts about nationalism which stalwarts like Tagore or Gandhi had. It attempts to remove their voices from history to create its own meaner version of it. It demolishes the creativity of civil society by turning every act of dissent and difference into a canned idea of sedition. Protest and differences which sustained both nationalism and democracy are now emptied out. As this new nationalism unfolds, one realises its lack of organic embeddedness. As it has no sense of communities beyond a conscripted uniformity, it is forced to rely on a false sense of leadership by inflating the reputation of one person and his alleged charisma or becomes an excuse for technocratism seeking a modernism around its uncritical acceptance of technology. Such empty bullying by nationalism eventually degenerates to a fascism that flies on democracy. Dialogue becomes impossible, and difference and debate unrealistic. Whatever the short-term popularity, it is becoming clear that this is not the world Nehru, Gandhi and Patel dreamt of. Nationalism rather than becoming a way of life becomes a symptom of an inferiority complex where the regime eventually lacks the cultural imagination to challenge the West or China. The regime has made the singing of the National Anthem compulsory. Here nationalism is converted into a form of church attendance. What could have been a way of life becomes a ritual for scrutiny. Such a perspective is illiterate about history and unprepared for any cosmopolitan future. It substitutes the unity of the flag with uniformity, the mob mentality of vigilantism. It fails to understand that both cadre and mob lack the nuance, the subtlety or mentality of a plural nation. The BJP’s current view of history and the nation is inaugurating not an epic of nationalism but a jingoistic tragedy that threatens democracy both as plural imagination and a way of life. The BJP’s nationalism is like a nervous tic which agitates itself every time the party runs out of ideas. Shiv Visvanathan is the Director of Centre for the Study of Knowledge Systems and Professor, Jindal Global Law School. ======================================== 16. INDIA: THE FORGOTTEN ARMENIAN ROMANTIC by R. V. Smith ======================================== (Metro Plus / The Hindu August 15, 2016) Blast from the past http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/02971/ARMENIAN_CEMETERY_2971290e.jpg SLICE OF HISTORY The remains of an Armenian chapel Photo: The Hindu Archives. The Hindu Sarmad was not the only Armenian poet who enchanted Delhi. Decades ago there was Shameer, the lovelorn verse writer who had girls swoon over him Sarmad was not the only Armenian to have lost his heart to Delhi. There were others too, among them Shameer T. Shameer, a lovelorn poet, whose 35th death anniversary fell on August 6. A great romantic, Shameer never married and lived practically his whole life with his bhabhi (sister-in-law), widow of an elderly cousin. Alice Bhabhi predeceased him but both rest in the Kishanganj cemetery. Shameer never worked, except as a tourist guide on the Delhi-Agra-Jaipur Golden Triangle when short of money, otherwise schoolmistress Alice provided for him after her husband Robin Tajar’s death. “The Heart of Shima,” a novel by M. Akbarabadi, now out of print, gives some insight into Shameer’s unconventional life. Here are some excerpts, courtesy the late shoe merchant Akbar Mian: “In her heart of hearts Alice liked Shameer even more than Robin. She remembered a New Year’s Eve dance to which she had gone with him. They made a good pair, with everyone taking them to be husband and wife. And then on the way back he kissed her, the cigarette aroma on his whisky-laden breath smelling nice to Alice as he held her tight in the house porch. Alice however knew she was not the sweetheart Shameer was after but just a diversion in his passionate existence, for it was to Shima that he had sold his heart.” Robin was 16 years older than her and Shameer about the same age. The two would have been centenarians now. “Shima was a Taurean and Shameer a Capricornian, both earth signs and should have been ideal companions for life. But Shima was a Brahmin girl and Shameer a cosmopolitan after centuries of Armenian Christian interaction with Hindu and Muslim India.” He, however, was a lover of Nawabi culture with an addiction to paan and seekh kabab washed down with the amber stuff. His interest in Sufism made him frequent shrines of the Khwajas, 22 of whom lie buried in Delhi. One Thursday evening he visited the shrine of Sheikh Sahib in Old Delhi as usual while a party of qawwals was singing praises of the saint. To quote from the novel: “There were many people around. Under a tree stood a eunuch who could have passed off for a girl to the undiscerning. He salaamed gracefully and Shameer returned the salutation awkwardly. This handsome transgender too was a devotee and among the regular visitors. No wonder some bisexuals paid double to enjoy Jasmina’s company.” Shameer’s roving eye spotted a tall woman who, though passed her prime, was still attractive. Living near the dargah she sometimes invited him to taste a special dish prepared by her. He called her Basso Bi and often gave money to her children, who never went to school but ran about with their noses dripping. Their father was a factory worker more interested in playing cards and the Hijras than in looking after his family. Shameer sometimes wondered if Basso Bi had an eye on him. But she was forever asking him to get married, “You are good for nothing Bhai Sahib,” she said. “Don’t make lame excuses. I tell you if you waste time you’ll grow old and nobody would be interested in marrying you. Remember the saying, ‘Kharbooza mange loo ko/Aam mange mei/Nari mange zor ko/Balak mange sneh’ (melons like the hot wind loo, mangoes demand rain, women like manly vigour and a child grows up on love). Shameer smiled at her assertion, shook his head and walked away. As he sat down in front of the Pir’s grave, “Eman eman, eman (faith, faith), remarked an overzealous toothless woman. But the girls sitting near her were pretty. He wondered if one of them was Razia about whom Basso Bi had spoken to him. But he said mentally, “For me it will always be Shima and no one else.” Next day he courted Shima and presented a gajra of motia flowers for her hairdo. But the girl put off his advances as she was in a bad mood. So he went to the Kotha of Sitara Jaan, who was abducted from her village at the age of 14 and sold to a bordello madam in Delhi, where she became the chief attraction of those in search of pleasure. Sitara was preparing for a Mujra and on seeing Shameer invited him to attend it. “What would you like to hear Dilbar (beloved),” she asked. “Anything from you Sitara, bulbul-ki-awaz, is exhilarating,” replied Shameer. “Then hear a ghazal. It’s my favourite.” She broke into it softly: “Har ekbaat peh kehte ho ki tu kiya hai/Tunhi batoo ki yeh andaz-e-guftgoo kiya hai”? Shameer recognized it as a masterpiece of love-talk by Ghalib. “He swayed as Sitara jingled her ankle ghongroos. Her bosom twitched and also her hips as the musicians struck the right chord. And then she began whirling like a fairy who had flitted into the room after sundown.” Later when Shameer kissed her she reminded him, “Remember the love of a courtesan is like a bubble” Sitara then winked coyly at and saw him down the stairs of the Kotha. “Come again,” she cooed lovingly as Shameer walked out of the door and into the street. A week later he went to a mushaira where he pinched the sexy saqi (cup-bearer) and the next day accompanied Shima and her college friends to Badkal lake, where Shima slipped from the makeshift bridge and fell into the water. Who, but Shameer, rescued her. But eventually she married someone else and Shameer was saved from acute depression by the childless Alice. They were buried in the same grave but last week one couldn’t trace it as the Kishanganj cemetery has been vandalised and there’s no trace of the last of the Armenian romantics of Delhi after Sarmad Shaheed. The author is a veteran chronicler of Delhi ======================================== 17. SEEING THROUGH HIS EYES by Asif Farrukhi ======================================== (Dawn, Books & Authors, August 28, 2016) August is the month for paying tribute to Bhisham Sahni and commemorating the enduring legacy of his writings. He was born in August and would have celebrated his 101st birthday this year. Through his books, his devoted readers still commemorate his legacy. August is doubly relevant as this month marks the tumultuous events of Independence and Partition, which bifurcated his life into two halves, each half now belonging to a different country. He became one of the most remarkable chroniclers, emblematic of his times, as he went on to write Tamas. Having mentioned Tamas, I must say at the outset that Sahni has a claim to fame as a writer of not just one but many masterpieces. The date of his birth is not very clear. He wrote that while his father did mark his birth in the family register, his mother did not pay much heed to calendars but remembered significant events in relationship to each other. For her, Bhisham was born one year and 11 months after his brother, who was to become a luminary of Indian cinema himself. More than the date, it was the place which was to become memorable. His family had moved from Peshawar and settled in Rawalpindi, which has its claim to fame as being the setting for Tamas. The year of his birth puts him in close proximity to Ismat Chughtai, Krishan Chander and Rajinder Singh Bedi, while making him a little younger than Saadat Hassan Manto — all of them very different from each other and all remarkable fiction writers. Their centenary years have been marked with varying degrees of fanfare, but Sahni’s birth centenary went largely unnoticed in the city where he was born and the city where he completed his college education and began his literary career. I wonder if we have stopped taking any interest in some writers because they belong to a pre-Partition past that we do not wish to relate to or engage with. On 101 years of Bhisham Sahni, a prolific writer whose Hindi short stories, novels and plays are as much enjoyed in their English translations Anniversaries come and go, but a writer like Bhisham Sahni continues to be relevant in Pakistan, particularly for Tamas. Only a handful of his books were once available in Pakistan, but new translations have made his work more accessible. A volume of selected short stories was made available a few years ago, and Penguin India has now published attractive paperbacks of his novels Basanti, Boyhood and Mansion in the Modern Classics series, which seems to me to be indicative of his status. A new translation of Tamas, the third so far, has been published by Penguin. The translator, Daisy Rockwell, is a well-known scholar who has also translated Upendranath Ashk’s remarkable Urdu-Hindi novel Girti Deewarein as Falling Walls. Rockwell’s introduction makes its case for a new translation and, in hers, the novel reads even better. Translated by Snehal Shingavi, the memoir Today’s Pasts, a remarkable feat by Sahni in his later years, has recently been published as a Penguin Classic in a handsome hardback edition. From his early days spent in Rawalpindi and Lahore to writing his remarkable books, this memoir puts his entire life and literary career in fine perspective. This book is especially relevant reading for local readers and scholars for Sahni’s analysis and experience of the Progressive Writers Movement, and his encounters with a number of Urdu writers. A retrospective look at a life full of significant moments and a sort of summing up, Today’s Pasts is a remarkable read, offering a vantage point for an assessment of its author’s life and literary career. In the translator’s introduction, Shingavi offers his assessment of the book as “perhaps one of the most important pieces of intellectual and cultural history we have of 20th-century India, written by one of the most significant personalities of 20th-century Hindi theatre and fiction.” High praise indeed, but well deserved. The swift flowing narrative is close in spirit to his fiction, in its remarkable readability and the way it imprints itself on the reader’s mind. In the first few pages we have a toddler who is given to wandering all over by himself and has to be brought back by a brother or a servant, until he is made to wear a brass medallion around his neck that tells people what his name is and the address he should be sent back to. Red chilli powder was the punishment he would find at home. The medallion is perhaps the beginning of an identity tag characterising his work. He wrote that he was still given to wanderlust and had found much pleasure in it. In a remarkable vignette, we are told that the family had moved from Peshawar following a series of murderous attacks by people who would descend for a looting spree and then dash back up to their encampments. He describes the small lanes and bazaars with great flourish, just as he brings to life the many characters inhabiting the area. In a few brushstrokes he manages to say much more than many writers: “Rawalpindi was a city suspended between two other cities — Lahore on one side, and Peshawar on the other, in between was Rawalpindi. The people of Peshawar were old-fashioned, while Lahore was a modern city. The people from Peshawar were known as Pathans. A Pathan meant being quick to kill or die, being angry, wearing shirts with hundreds of wrinkles, and walking around with a bandolier across the chest. On the other hand, people from Lahore were thought to be skinny, bespectacled, calculating, sharp, intellectual and independent-minded. Rawalpindi was influenced by both of them. But in order to maintain its independence, it sang praises of Peshawari arrogance and Lahori modernism.” For several years Sahni worked in Moscow as a translator; his impressions of the problems that Soviet Russian citizens encountered are first-hand and sharply etched. He does not get into political commentary, but his narrative builds up a sense that the Soviets cannot continue like this and are headed for disaster. Sahni initially gained fame as a short story writer and became associated with the Nayi Kahani movement. While I don’t know his work as a playwright, I first read his stories in Urdu translations. I did not really care for his Partition stories as much as I did the work of other writers. I still recall the story ‘Cheel’, which I read in manuscript form when it was translated by the poet Inaam Nadeem. His most ambitious book is Mansion, bigger in scope and volume than his other novels. It shows how the Khalsa rulers lost their hold over Punjab and how the British established their control. Then there is ‘Basanti’, a dramatic story of a defiant girl from Delhi’s slums, who would surely have been killed in the name of ‘honour’ had she been born in Pakistan today. Included in this smart new Penguin set is Boyhood, an intense coming-of-age short novel better described by its original name, Jharokay, in which childhood and sexual awakening are sensitively captured. Readable and interesting as his other novels are, his best known work remains Tamas. The source for Govind Nihalani’s justly famous mini-serial, the novel demands to be read. The opening scene, in which Nathu slaughters a pig without realising that its carcass will be thrown near a mosque to inflame a riot, is unforgettable. Dramatic in the way it unfolds, the tension builds up as the inevitable riot is unleashed upon the city. The literary genre of ‘fasadat kay afsaney’, or stories about riots, was much in vogue with Urdu writers and critics around Partition. Tamas, it seems to me, is the riot novel par excellence. It describes the anatomy of a riot, according to its translator Rockwell, who considers the riot to be the main protagonist of the novel, creating its unusual form, since it offers no neat endings or tidy narrative patterns. The narrative comes to a stop but the story does not end; further riots remain an open possibility. I had the honour of meeting Sahni in Delhi during a Saarc Writers Conference, organised by Ajit Cour. He seemed shy and pensive, and back then I had not read much of his work. The conversation with him that I found most revealing was recorded by Alok Bhalla in his invaluable Partition Dialogues, along with conversations with Intizar Hussain, Bapsi Sidhwa, Krishna Sobti and others. In response to questions put forward by Bhalla, Sahni spoke of how a writer draws upon his experience and memories, and then went on to say that, “the partition of the country should have put an end to the riots, but it didn’t.” No wonder then, that the latter-day riots in Bhiwandi made him relive the violence of 1947. I see Sahni in fiction’s hall of fame, standing in close proximity to Intizar Hussain. Not because of any ideological affinity. In fact, they were poles apart. Sahni was a full blown progressive and remained close to socialist-realist fiction, while Hussain, who maintained his distance from any kind of ideology, moved from realism towards fables and myths. They could be described as parallel lives, moving in opposite directions. After 1947, Sahni moved from Lahore to Delhi while Hussain travelled in the opposite direction. I find another affinity between the two, this time in their memoirs. There is a kind of shyness and hesitancy in Sahni that Sanghavi describes as “omissions”. “It is almost as if Sahni is consistently and constantly erasing his footprints from his own story, trying very hard to reroute his book into the story of something other than himself,” he writes in his introduction. In a similar vein, Hussain’s memoir, Charaghon Ka Dhuwan, is so full of people that it takes a while to realise that the author is not at the centre of the stage. In spite of this, in both books you begin to look at the world through the eyes of the respective author. Each, in his place, gifted with a distinct, personal voice and the ability to impart to their readers the gift of seeing the world anew. The author is a writer and critic who is currently teaching Partition literature at a private university. His latest book is a study of the life and works of Intizar Hussain. ======================================== 18. NEHRU KIN & AMNESTY EX-TOP GUN SLAMS SUPPORT TO TERROR OUTFITS by Aarti Tikoo Singh ======================================== (The Times of India - Aug 17, 2016) NEW DELHI: Nehru kin and former head of Amnesty International's gender unit, Gita Sahgal, on Tuesday condemned the sedition charges against its India chapter but also slammed the NGO for its continuing support to Kashmiri terror groups. She called on Amnesty and other human rights NGOs "to live up to the standards they demand of others: be transparent, accountable and impartial". She said, to defend human rights in the future, organisations must be able to look at their own institutional failures. A sedition case was filed against unnamed members of Amnesty International India on Monday, two days after a panel discussion on Kashmir organized by the NGO which allegedly turned into a platform for anti-India, anti-Army and pro-freedom slogans at the United Theological College, Bengaluru. Sahgal had quit Amnesty in 2010 after an eight-year association, accusing it of "ideological bankruptcy" over its relations with Islamist terror groups. She had objected to Amnesty's dealings with Cage, an Islamist advocacy group headed by Moazzam Begg, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee and Britain's most famous supporter of the Taliban. On Tuesday , the human rights advocate told TOI, "I think the sedition complaint is dangerous and designed to shut down organisations like Amnesty . But it's typical of Amnesty to claim to be neutral on `the right to self-determination' while giving more space to people who give it political support." "As far as I know, they have never examined the full range of violations by both the state and the non- state actors. They have never looked at cross-border infiltration or the support to Kashmiri jihadi groups in Britain, including by their hero Moazzam Begg, whose bookshop published jihadi literature by a man called Dhiren Barot, glorifying the Kashmir jihad in the 90s as a means of establishing an Islamic state," Sahgal revealed. Nehru's grand-niece, the daughter of writer Nayantara Sahgal said, "Amnesty was always battling between people promoting jihadis and trying to get them included on research missions and treat jihadis as human rights defenders. It failed to examine Begg's early support for jihad when deciding to partner with him. Amnesty's history on Palestine is similar; it gives space to Hamas supporters rather than secular and human rights voices from Palestine." Last year, The Times in UK exposed how an Amnesty employee continued to defend the charity's partnerships with the Sharia advocacy groups and NGOs that believed in Islamist extremism. In a leaked email, Mustafa Qadri an Amnesty researcher had expressed disappointment over Amnesty's attempt to distance itself from Cage, which he called "a really important NGO". Cage, embarrassingly, had very good relations with Mohammad Emwazi, the Briton who has been identified as the Islamic State (IS)'s notorious terrorist 'Jihadi John'. Emwazi beheaded at least five Western hostages in Syria. Qadri defended Cage while complaining about "a lot more heat and real risks" while defending Amnesty's position on cases like 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab's execution. Sahgal revealed that a secular Pakistani researcher at Amnesty for a year had battled against these attitudes. "He told me there was little concern for people being murdered by the Pakistani state in Balochistan. The campaigning programmes on closing Guantanamo only wanted to look at 'war on terror' detainees although there were many others who had no international publicity. At that time, he managed to prevent a Cage member being sent as an Amnesty mission delegate. But if Qadri were in charge, it seems that there would have been no problem about this, even after Cage were exposed as a pro-jihadi group," she said. "It is quite astonishing that an organisation that prides itself on the quality of its research, has supported numerous jihadis who have come to Britain from jihadi organisations in Algeria, Egypt, Libya and others; and managed to treat all of them simply as victims of state torture. The organisation never looked at their links with groups that commit grave human rights violations," Sahgal said. Amnesty India on Tuesday said none of its employee had shouted any anti-India slogan at an event on Kashmir in Bengaluru, allegations based on which sedition charges were slapped against the human rights body. The NGO said allegations mentioned in a complaint by an ABVP representative against it were "without substance". "No Amnesty International India employee shouted any slogans at any point," it said ======================================== 19. THE HEART OF AFRICA. INTERVIEW WITH JULIUS NYERERE ON ANTI-COLONIALISM ======================================== (New Internationalist Magazine, issue 309, January-February 1999) "Anti-colonialism was a nationalist movement. For me liberation and unity were the most important things. I have always said that I was African first and socialist second. I would rather see a free and united Africa before a fragmented socialist Africa. I did not preach socialism. I made this distinction deliberately so as not to divide the country. The majority in the anti-colonial struggle were nationalist. There was a minority who argued that class was the central issue, that white workers were as exploited as black workers by capitalism. They wanted to approach liberation in purely Marxist terms. However, in South Africa white workers oppressed black workers. It was more than class and I saw that. Jomo Kenyatta was clearly capitalist and we were trying a different course. But I must confess I did not see myself as charting out something for the rest of Africa. One picks one's way. I never saw the contradictions that would prevent Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania from working together. I was naive, I guess. Even now for me freedom and unity are paramount." http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/30/049.html ======================================== 20. MOVING US-RUSSIA RELATIONS BEYOND CONFRONTATION ======================================== 23/08/2016 Former Foreign Service officer Louis Sell reflects on the past and future of US-Russian relations in this op-ed inspired by the anniversary of 1991’s failed coup that ultimately led to the end of the USSR. Sell’s new book is From Washington to Moscow: US-Soviet Relations and the Collapse of the USSR. https://dukeupress.wordpress.com/2016/08/23/moving-us-russia-relations-beyond-confrontation/ ======================================== 21. REVIEW: PALMER ON DRAKE, 'PARIS AT WAR: 1939-1944' ======================================== (H-War August, 2016) David Drake. Paris at War: 1939-1944. Cambridge: Belknap Press, 2015. 592 pp. $35.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-674-50481-3. Reviewed by Kelly Palmer (University of Colorado Denver) Commissioned by Margaret Sankey David Drake’s Paris at War, 1939-1944 examines life in occupied Paris through the lens of resisters, collaborators, and everyday people. His impetus for the book came from a photo exhibit of wartime Paris; he was struck by the different experiences of those in Britain and France. Drake’s goal is to contribute to the growing historiography of what war was like for everyday people in Paris “in a national context” (p. 5). Those in the occupied zone were subject to both German and Vichy laws. Like Shannon Fogg’s excellent The Politics of Everyday Life in Vichy France: Foreigners, Undesirables, and Strangers (2009), Drake’s work gives readers a comprehensive window into wartime Paris. Paris at War is a sweeping book that is organized chronologically and thematically. As Drake moves through the war, each chapter examines a wide range of issues, including mass protests, anti-Semitism, Jewish deportations, and resistance movements. Sources such as diaries, witness testimonies, police reports, and newspaper articles provide a solid foundation for Drake’s account. His narrative is compellingly readable as the sources are used to vividly portray everyday life in wartime. Drake begins in the Paris of the Phony War to show how the eventual German occupation changed daily lives as material privation and Jewish persecution became realities. The testimonies Drake draws from show the “ambiguities” rather than a monolithic story of Nazi triumph followed by liberation (p. 4). The book concludes with an epilogue that examines the postwar fate of each of the individuals studied. Since the publication of Robert Paxton’s seminal Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940-1944 (1972), scholars have attempted to show the varying complexities of French resistance and collaboration. A lot of scholarship has focused on the decisions made by Vichy officials particularly in regard to Jews in France. While Drake includes Vichy into his narrative, his examination of German officials and their interactions with the French is noteworthy. He examines the diversity of collaborationist France, which is often treated as a monolith, in addition to putting a spotlight on the diversity of Resistance movements. In terms of collaboration, there are several sections devoted to the conflicts between pro-Nazi French activists and the Vichy government. Drake describes the pro-Nazi French press in its attempts to discredit Vichy while, at the same time, trying to find common ground with German Nazis who had no interest in their support. Otto Abetz, German ambassador to Paris, worked closely with the collaborationist press to show that “Vichy is betraying France’s national interests” (p. 181). His goal was to try to reinstate Pierre Laval to power after Philippe Pétain fired him. Parisian collaborationists, such as Marcel Déat, were loudly anti-Vichy as they hoped to establish a Nazi-style party in France which no Nazi, including Abetz, endorsed. At the same time, there was mutual distrust among Charles DeGaulle’s Free French and emerging resistance groups in France, many of which were underpinned by Communist ideology. Drake devotes several sections of chapters to the plight of naturalized and non-naturalized Jews in Paris. Scholars have focused on the Vel d’Hiv roundups over two days on July 16 and 17, 1942. The arrests of over thirteen thousand Jews including four thousand children carried out by French police on Nazi orders is examined. In addition, Drake adds new insight into the work of the SS in Paris and in the internment camp Drancy, outside of Paris. He describes the brutal treatment doled out by Alois Brunner, an SS captain, appointed by Reinhard Heydrich to run the camp. Under Brunner, the camp was run in a similar fashion to those in eastern Europe in which he “cynically and cruelly exploited the demoralization, despair and fear that permeated the camp” (p. 341). As difficult as these passages are to read, they are important contributions in the historiography of French Holocaust history. Many of the more fascinating stories come from the diaries of school child Micheline Bood and Free French supporter Liliane Jameson. Drake shows how conflicted everyday people such as Bood felt about Germans in their city. She had to “reconcile the polite young man with the cruel and treacherous barbarians” (p. 185). Ultimately, she chose the latter feeling in dealing with the Germans. Drake digs into the everyday lives of Parisian women by exploring the dynamics of waiting in lines for food and other supplies. The lines could be places of gossip but also denunciations. It is noteworthy that Drake includes gender and class into the narrative as much as possible given the scarcity of sources from demographics such as factory workers. Paris at War is a comprehensive, captivating, and well-researched book. It expands the historiography of wartime France to include not only the stories of everyday people in Paris but also the complicated and thorny relationships among French collaborators and resisters. ======================================== 22. BY THE BLACK SEA by James Morris ======================================== (London Review of Books - 25 August 2016) In winter, the Black Sea earns its name. The waters churn and it’s easy to imagine how the Evangelia ran aground in October 1968, leaving its rusting carcass to become a tourist attraction off the Romanian coastline, a few hundred metres from the Costinești shore. The resort was still under development then – the Romanian Communist Party intended it to be a summer camp – and in winter a dull gloom dims the colourful buildings. It’s empty much of the year; a problem that was noted at the time of construction. The first wave of Communist-era resorts were built in the late 1950s and 1960s without concern for expense, but in 1967 Ceaușescu demanded building costs be halved: ‘We must take into account that these hotels are not being built in Bucharest, Brașov, or other parts, but at the seaside, where they remain unused for eight months of the year.’ Out of season – from October to May – stray dogs run in the streets and chase passing cars, and not a single hotel is open in the interconnected resorts of Olimp, Neptun, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn, which line the coast between Costinești and Mangalia. But in the early 1960s they held out a promise of health and relaxation as modern as anything in the West. The architecture was ambitious, and the experience affordable: two-week summer holidays were enshrined in law, and holiday packages were subsidised by unions and the Party. A picture in Enchanting Views: Romanian Black Sea Tourism Planning and Architecture of the 1960s and 1970s shows the shopping centre in Mamaia at night, illuminated by fluorescent tubes. In the centre, two women in long patterned skirts look at traditional craft objects; on the left a couple gaze at musical instruments. The man wears a dark suit and the woman a chic white dress that cinches at the west – a Dior look. It’s a stage-managed image, but it points to the contradictions of Communist Romania in the 1960s, when the country was not sealed off from the West. Tourism was a government priority. A British Pathé film from 1964 advertised Romania’s attractions, describing it as a ‘vivacious young girl flirting with Western ideas’, and promised that Black Sea resorts were ‘in swing with the best Western traditions’. It showed children playing in the water and women in bikinis lounging on Mamaia’s beaches. The more upmarket hotels had Comturist shops that offered Western clothes and cosmetics to customers paying in foreign currency, and rock and roll songs played in nightclubs and on hotel terraces. There were benefits for Romanian tourists too. Adelina Ștefan writes in Enchanting Views that the black market thrived on the resorts’ nudist beaches, which were less strictly controlled and gave Romanians unmediated contact with foreign holiday-makers. The resorts could undermine official ideology, but they also served Party interests. Juliana Maxim notes that 85 per cent of the buildings in Bucharest were single-storey when the first resorts opened, and ‘a summer stay in the airy, efficient, sun-drenched and collective rest houses was a powerful way to convince the residents of the advantages, even the delights, of life in a multi-unit high-rise’. Romania abandoned its internationalist stance after Ceaușescu’s 1971 visit to North Korea and the publication of his July Theses. A decade later, the decision to repay the country’s foreign debts as quickly as possible led to harsh austerity and shortages. Foreign tourist numbers dwindled, and Party apparatchiks exerted ever greater control over the best hotels and the chains of beachfront villas. I discovered recently that a friend grew up in one of these resorts during the 1990s. She told me there were three apartment blocks in Olimp that were inhabited year-round, and her family moved there when she was nine. Capitalism brought the rise of the private rental market. ‘The way it worked,’ she said, ‘was that you had a sign with the word cazare [accommodation] written on it, and you would hold it out when the trains arrived.’ Residents agreed a fee, passed their keys to holidaymakers, and went to stay with relatives for the summer. But over time, fewer visitors came, and those that did arrived later and later in the season. Alina moved to Constanța for high school in 2003, and by then her parents had stopped letting the apartment. The family moved to Denmark when Romania joined the European Union. _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ South Asia Citizens Wire Buzz for secularism, on the dangers of fundamentalism(s), on matters of peace and democratisation in South Asia. Newsletter of South Asia Citizens Web: www.sacw.net/ ##### #### _\_ ________ ##=-[.].]| \ \ #( _\ | |------| # __| | |||||||| \ _/ | |||||||| .--'--'-. | | ____ | / __ `|__|[o__o]| _(____nm_______ /____\____ 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
