South Asia Citizens Wire - Dispatch #2 | 16-18 November, 2004 via: www.sacw.net
[1] India: The BJP in dire straits (Praful Bidwai)
[2] India: Letter to the Editor (Mukul Dube)
[3] India: The arrest of Sankaracharya . . .
(i) Two notion theory (Badri Raina)
(ii) Rationalists want mutts under scanner (Report in the Hindu)
(iii) Dalit organisation wants Kanchi mutt property seized (Report in Indian Express)
(iv) Stop politicising seer's arrest: CPI (Report in the Hindu)
(v) On Arrest of Kanchi Shankaracharya (statement by CPIM Politburo)
[4] Fund Raising Call from Saheli, New Delhi
[5] India - Upcoming events and Publications :
5.1 National Convention on Development, Displacement and Rehabilitation (30 Nov & 1 Dec, 2004)
5.2 Zubaan announces the publication of Dawn: A Novel by Arupa Kalita Patangia
5.3 Punjab Lok Rah, a theatre group from Pakistan, will perform four plays in Maharashtra
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[1]
The News International November 18, 2004
THE BJP IN DIRE STRAITS
Praful Bidwai
Not even the most inveterate critics of the Bharatiya Janata Party could have imagined that the party would prove so incapable of dealing with its recent election defeat that it would find itself in the hopeless and utter disarray that it does today. Last month, L K Advani had to take over as its party president amidst the washing of much dirty linen in public because no second-rung leaders would have survived in the job. But now even his authority stands undermined.
At last week's party office-bearers' meeting, Uma Bharati threw a remarkable tantrum, staging a grotesque political tamasha. She did something that no Jana Sangh/BJP leader has ever done: namely, challenge the party's top bosses in the full glare of cameras while abusing her own colleagues like M Venkaiah Naidu, Pramod Mahajan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. Even as Advani was detailing the crippling second-rung rivalry in the BJP, she defied him to take disciplinary action against her.
This episode caps numerous acts of protest and defiance by Bharati over the past three months, especially centred on her Tiranga Yatra, in which she tried to wrap the National Flag around vicious communalism. The so-called sanyasin cannot forgive the BJP for having considered her unfit to govern Madhya Pradesh as Chief Minister and for not approving of her brother's antics. She took her revenge in the way she knows best: loutish and strident.
However, the episode reveals much more. Most crucially, the BJP's leadership crisis has deepened. Not only can't it put together a relatively non-fractious "second-generation" leadership. Even its "first-generation" leaders' writ doesn't run. The greatest loser is none other Advani. This has severely undermined the desperate hope that he would somehow forge the party into a fighting machine.
Equally important is the growing rift between the BJP and the RSS, and the BJP and the loony Right represented by the VHP - despite Advani's attempts to placate them. For instance, his very first pronouncements on taking over as party president were all of the classic Hindutva variety, including the Ram temple, "foreign origins", and a Muslim demographic "invasion". And his very first trip outside Delhi was made to the RSS headquarters in Nagpur.
The parivar's fissures have become visible in three ways. First, a sustained attack by Ashok Singhal & Co on a hardliner like Advani (declared "unfit" for the job). Second, Bharati has clearly received significant encouragement from the sangh. In particular, she has been advised by K N Govindacharya, who was sacked by the BJP for his denigratory remarks about Vajpayee, but whom the RSS never disowned. And third, the RSS has indirectly reprimanded Advani for holding the first office-bearers' meeting in front of TV cameras.
A front-page editorial in RSS organ "Organiser" raps him on the knuckles for allowing "full-blast televising" of Bharati's remarks and permitting the media "to play a major role in BJP affairs... It is one thing to be media savvy, another to be captivated by the media". The article only mildly rebukes Bharati in one line for being "impulsive". Otherwise, it showers fulsome praise upon her as a "very effective campaigner; a mass mobiliser for the Hindu cause" and "a very dynamic leader, honest, and committed to high ideals", who will always "remain part of the sangh movement". The BJP is reportedly making conciliatory gestures towards Bharati. This can only further damage Advani's authority and strengthen the RSS's weight vis-a-vis the BJP.
The BJP today faces a manifold crisis. Six months after the Lok Sabha elections, it has failed to comprehend, accept or reconcile itself to its defeat. From outright denial, it has at best graduated to "internal" or question-begging causes: we lost our ideological moorings; our campaign on roads and electricity peaked too soon; our "India Shining" slogan was pitched too high... This basically denies that the party's appeal has fundamentally narrowed and its social base shrunk and that it offers no vision to the people. Programmatically, the BJP peddles a bankrupt mix of communalism, neoliberal economics and toxic, chauvinist nationalism.
The BJP's crisis today is far grimmer than in 1984, when it was reduced to a miserable two seats in the Lok Sabha. This is so despite the fact that it is in power in six states, while 20 years ago, it ruled in none. Then, the party was about to be buoyed up dramatically by the anti-Babri mosque movement. This catapulted it to 89 seats. Today, there is no broad social movement around. The Ayodhya temple campaign evokes no popular support.
In 1984, the BJP was still an untested entity and enjoyed a "novelty" advantage. Now, it has been tried, tested and rejected. Then, the BJP was a rising force especially in the Gangetic heartland. Today, it is in dire shape in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Earlier, it could capitalise on the Congress's historic decline and the shrinking of the Centre-Left space in politics. Now, that space is expanding and the Congress reviving.
In the mid-1980s, there was strong synergy between the BJP, RSS and VHP. The VHP mobilised numbers through the hate-driven anti-Babri agitation. The RSS provided the ideological cement and organisational muscle. And the BJP handled the parliamentary or "respectable" political side of this division of labour. Now, that has broken down. The VHP is in revolt. And the RSS wants to administer "shock treatment" even to Advani to remind him of his promise that the BJP "will return to Hindutva".
Three questions arise. Fifteen years after its meteoric rise, the BJP is shrinking. Does this signify a short downturn or long-term decline? Will the BJP split-into a hardline fringe party like the Jana Sangh, plus a relatively "moderate" parliamentary party? And does Hindutva, or rabid Hindu nationalism, have a future as an ideology or culture?
The BJP has probably entered a phase of long decline. Given the present trends in society and politics, it's hard to see how it can bounce back. There are no likely electoral victories anywhere. And sectarianism is so deeply ingrained in the party that it will continue to play a highly negative, confrontationist and obstructionist role, further eroding its credibility. Of course, its opponents could soon get discredited if they follow conservative policies or adopt a Right-wing course. But the UPA hasn't yet embraced that course.
The BJP could split especially if a succession struggle breaks out after Vajpayee and Advani (who is barely two years younger) fade out. New contenders could emerge for their mantle - eg Narendra Milosevic Modi, backed by the VHP-RSS, who might join hands with Bharati. In this case, less hardline leaders, allied to industrial houses, might break away.
However, a certain constituency for Hindutva will still remain. It was always there - even at the high noon of the Freedom Movement, and during the wave of anti-RSS sentiment after Gandhi's assassination. But this will be a marginal, fringe constituency, with a mindset based on visceral hatred of Muslims, and on rejection of a plural, multi-ethnic, multi-religion India. But that hardly spells a bright future for a party that ruled India for six years.
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[2] [Letter to the Editor]
D-504 Purvasha Mayur Vihar 1 Delhi 110091
16 November 2004
The NDA says that while it still holds that all must accept the verdict of the judiciary in the Ayodhya matter, it "prefers a negotiated settlement" because our judicial process is slow. Some questions arise.
1. What if a settlement is negotiated but the judicial verdict, whenever it arrives, goes counter to that settlement?
2. In the negotiations, who will represent Hindus and who will represent Muslims? Neither side has an electoral college or elected leaders. Each side has many religious leaders who are often arrayed against one another. Will lung power decide, or else the presence of the words "Hindu" and "Muslim" in the names of organisations? Are we to have two more Election Commissions?
3. All negotiation includes the use of pressure. Might the NDA's preference for negotiation be a result of its inability to pressure the courts and its demonstrated ability to pressure the other side?
4. Negotiations conducted in, to quote the NDA's resolution, "an atmosphere of communal peace, mutual trust and good- will", must involve give and take. Have we not seen, in the last several years, that one side at least can take but cannot give?
The answers to these questions will identify the substance a load of which makes up the NDA's resolution.
Mukul Dube
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[3] [On the Arrest of the Shankaracharya of Kanchi . . . ]
(i)
Hindustan Times November 16, 2004 | Op-Ed.
TWO NOTION THEORY Platform | Badri Raina
By any reckoning, the arrest of the Shankaracharya of Kanchi is an extraordinary event in Independent India. Some sections of society already view the occurrence as a not-to-be-endured challenge to what they have been accustomed to thinking of as a repository of unquestionable social power. Others, perhaps disbelievingly, see in it the expression of a new self-assurance on behalf of the State.
Clearly, the arrest and the contentions that surround it bring into sharp focus the central coordinate of a debate that ought to have been resolved by now: should certain centres of social authority be deemed to be beyond the pale of the Constitution that authorises the existence of the Republic? Or should the majesty of the law override structures of assertion that pre-date the constitutional republic? This continuing fault-line still sometimes divides the consciousness of India's expanding civil society and diverse social interests that from time to time seek to reinstitute precedence over the legitimate operations of the State as by law established.
Looked at in this way, the logic of the support expressed by some Muslim clerics and Christian fathers to the Shankaracharya can be understood. Often divided along communal loyalties - sometimes violently - the holy leaderships across communities close ranks against the supremacy of laws sanctioned by the secular State.
In this context, it is a matter of no small significance that the prosecution of the Shankaracharya has been ordered by the Tamil Nadu government. Given the well-known fact that the chief minister of that state bears profound allegiance to the Hindu faith, and meticulously observes all that it enjoins, the prima facie case against the Shankaracharya has to have been fairly decisive for the arrest to have been sanctioned. That such sanction was granted must also be read as testimony to Jayalalithaa's admirable strength of allegiance to her oath of office. Indeed, it is an example that cannot but serve the republic truly well in consolidating the sanctity of its foundational principles.
As the controversy is fuelled, three imperatives suggest themselves. One, that the central government give all due constitutional deference to the judgment of the Tamil Nadu government and desist from making any sort of intervention, except to ensure that no sectarian interests are permitted the licence to cause lawless mayhem or inter-community strife. Two, that consistent with the high standards and record of the Indian judiciary, the courts in question continue to look the case in the eye with customary objectivity which is second nature to our lordships, letting both fear and favour take a backseat in deference to the majesty of the Constitution and the law. And, three, that all organs of civil society function as correctives to interested social opinion, and argue on behalf of the legitimacy of the republic and the rule of law.
It must be emphasised that quite apart from the particular case and its outcome - whatever it may be - the matter of the deepest watershed significance will be how the State and civil society conduct themselves during and after its pendency. It may not be an exaggeration to say that far too much more for the life of the republic may depend on that conduct than we may at the moment envisage.
With due respect, one may address a plea to our several leaders of organised religious opinion as well. Is it not time that they gave their acknowledgement and assent to the separation of the domains of faith on the one hand and of the conjoint obligations of the State towards all citizens as stipulated by the Constitution? Do they consider it possible that we can continue to exist as a democracy - of which we are everyday proud - if contending religious claims are together permitted to thwart the operations of a regime of laws meant to be applicable to every Indian?
It is entirely legitimate and desirable that our holy men and women insist that in all such cases, the State function without prejudice. But any clamour that the claims of religious identity are above the claims of universal law, or that, worse still, of some one particular religion above also all other religions, can only speed the disintegration of the very democracy that we are so justly proud of. Surely, those to whom so many Indians trust their souls understand this better than ordinary mortals.
Therefore, the sooner they put their stamp of approval upon the Republic as at present constituted, the finer might become the produce of their elevated endeavours to look after the spiritual health of the nation. After all, whenever rajdharma has been allowed to be vitiated by the unemancipated self-absorptions of dogma, the results for everybody - not excluding those who set such proceedings in motion - have always been bitter and self-defeating.
Let us learn to give to God what is God's and to Caesar what is Caesar's - except that in our case Caesar is only the Republic that we have given to ourselves.
o o o o
(ii)
The Hindu November 16, 2004
RATIONALISTS WANT MUTTS UNDER SCANNER
By Our Staff Reporter
HYDERABAD, NOV.15. The Federation of Atheist and Rationalists' Association (FARA) has demanded that the Government keep a watch on the activities of all mutts in the light of the arrest of the Sankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, Jayendra Saraswathi.
In a statement here on Monday, N. Innaiah, coordintor, and eight other activists of various rationalist and social organisations, accused holy persons attached to mutts, ashrams, churches and wakfs of indulging in "nefarious" activities and amassing wealth.
`Withdraw exemptions'
They said the arrest and quick action followed by the detention of the Kanchi seer should be an eye-opener to all governments regarding activities of these religious institutions. Referring to the protest by "fundamentalist religious sections" against the arrest, they said this indicated the danger of "getting exemptions from criminal activities on the pretext of spiritualism."
The FARA asked the Government to withdraw all exemptions and tax reliefs on properties and incomes extended to religious institutions and separate religion from State affairs.
These organisations should confine their activities to only religion without any involvement of State expenditure.
Mr. Innaiah urged the State Government to reopen the Puttaparthi case of murders involving Sri Satya Saibaba and enquire into activities of Kalki Bhagwan.
o o o o
(iii)
Indian Express November 15 2004
DALIT ORGANISATION WANTS KANCHI MUTT PROPERTY SEIZED
MYSORE: The district Dalit Sangharsha Samiti has demanded that the Tamil Nadu government seize the property of Kanchi mutt, as its pontiff has been arrested on charges of murder.
Welcoming the initiative of the Tamil Nadu police, the Samiti termed the arrest of Kanchi seer as legal, adding that the procedures followed by the police were well within the limits of the Constitution.
In a press release issued here on Sunday, the members condemned protests staged by the Bajrang Dal, VHP and RSS activists, stating that they should respect the Indian Constitution. ��Laws are the same for anyone, whether a king or seer,�� they stated. The Samiti urged the Madras High Court to order a thorough probe into the murder.
o o o o
(iv)
The Hindu November 16, 2004
STOP POLITICISING SEER'S ARREST: CPI
NALGONDA, NOV.15. The Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary and Nalgona MP, S. Sudhakar Reddy, has advised Sangh Parivar to "stop giving political colour'' to the arrest of the Kanchi Sankaracharya.
Speaking to reporters at the party district headquarters here on Monday, Mr. Sudhakar Reddy took exception to the "efforts of the saffron brigade'' to project the arrest as an act against a particular religion. "No one is above law. Courts will decide whether the Sankaracharya is guilty or innocent,'' he added.
o o o o
(v)
November 14, 2004
Press Statement
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:
ON ARREST OF KANCHI SHANKARACHARYA
The arrest of the Kanchi Shankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi has taken place in the background of an investigation by the police in a murder case. The prosecution has stated that sufficient evidence exists to proceed against Sri Jayendra Saraswati. Nobody is above law and the judicial process should proceed unhindered.
The efforts of the VHP and some other forces to give a communal angle to this affair is condemnable. While the case should be pursued with sensitivity keeping in mind the religious status of the individual concerned, it must be emphasized that this is not a religious matter. The Tamilnadu state government should not give into any pressures and allow the law to take its course.
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[4]
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2004 04:44:19 +0530
Dear Friend,
SUB: Fund Raising Call from Saheli, New Delhi
As always, warm greetings from Saheli.
We started 23 years ago with, as the saying goes, '8 women, Rs. 80, two jhadoos and our convictions' to be an autonomous women's group. Beginning as a crisis-intervention centre to offer support to women in distress, Saheli has over the years, evolved into a campaign group working on a range of issues pertaining to women's health, safety and legal rights while at the same time challenging the spectrum of violence and aggression that women face - from sexual assault to communalism to sex determination to war.
In order to do so, we at Saheli work in many ways to register protest and raise awareness. From being solidarity space and support group for several autonomous groups, to hands-on action, to taking legal recourse to conducting surveys, doing research to outreach programmes that include presentations and talks, discussions, film shows, plays, audio cassettes, etc.
Select areas of our current work include:
� Sexual harassment at the workplace: raising awareness to make the workplace safe for women employees, helping individual women to deal with the problem and access justice, and working on emerging legislation on the issue.
� Women's health and wellbeing: with specific focus on hazardous contraceptives, coercive population control policies, and the practice of sex-determination and sex-selective abortions.
� Rising communalism and conservatism: how it affects and controls women's rights, liberties and sexuality; its correlation with rising casteism and caste/religion based violence, and the resurgence of retrograde practices like sati, honour killings, etc.
� Violence against women: joint campaigns to raise awareness of and strengthen women's struggle against sexual harassment, sexual assault, violence and rape, as well as against prejudice and violence on lesbian women and other sexual minorities.
� Self Defence training to empower women to better assess and prepare themselves against physical and mental assault.
� Periodic publication of newsletters in English and Hindi, monographs, reports, posters, stickers and other campaign material.
� Active on several committees and forums, as well as other local, national and international networks on university campuses, with student groups, women's groups and other peoples' movements.
Over the years, the faith of countless women and men like you, your inputs, encouragement, criticism, and energy have been our major source of strength. So today we write to ask you for more: Your increased participation to fortify us in these hard times, and some of that other dirty thing called 'money'!
As you all know, our financial needs at Saheli are modest - all of us are volunteers, yet printing, publication and running an office does cost us some. But for most part we manage to raise funds for our functioning primarily from individual donors and supporters of our work, and through the sale of a variety of publications / campaign material on issues we are working on. In addition, we have organised just a couple of fund raising events with corporate contributions over the years - a music concert with Gangubai Hangal, 1988 and a screening of the film Unishe April, 1995.
Currently, our bank balance is hitting rock bottom, so we are writing to ask you to please offer a personal donation to Saheli as soon as possible. (All donations are Tax Exempt under Section 80G.) [...]
It would be best if your contribution could be slabs of :
� r Rs 100 / r Rs 500 / r Rs 1000 / r Rs 2000 / r Rs 5000 / r More
that you would like to offer as a
� r One-time / r Monthly / r Yearly commitment.
If you are a supporter living outside India, you could also send us personal cheques in foreign currency.
All Cheques/Demand Drafts should be made in favour of SAHELI WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTRE.
Also, if you know of other friends who may like to support our work, please feel free to pass this appeal on to them.
Your prompt response is all the more important because we are planning to dovetail this personal contributions drive with a fund raising event (to which all contributors will get a free invitation of course) in early December. We will keep you posted on developments on that front as they get finalised too.
As always, rest assured your contributions will help us continue our efforts towards a life of dignity and equality for all women.
In solidarity,
Deepti, Laxmi, Sadhna, Satnam, Shweta, Vani, Vineeta
for SAHELI WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTRE Saheli, Above Shop 105-108, Defence Colony Flyover Market, Defence Colony, New Delhi 110 024 [India]
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[5] [UPCOMING EVENTS AND PUBLICATIONS ]
5.1)
National Convention on Development, Displacement and Rehabilitation: Asserting Rights, Demanding Justice and Evolving Strategies
Dates: 30 November & 1 December, 2004 Venue: New Delhi
Draft Agenda
Day I: November 30, 2004
No. Time Session Invitees / Resource Persons
1
10.30 am - 11.30 am Registration
2
11.30 am - 1.00 pm Inauguration Eminent persons, and representatives of the affected people
3
1.00 pm - 2.00 pm
Lunch
4
2.00 pm - 6.00 pm
Presentation on Development Planning; Impacts; Mitigation and Rehabilitation - sector wise
Representatives of Peoples� Movements, Researchers and Activists
5
7. 00 - 8.00 pm
Dinner
6
8.00 - 9.00 pm Regional Meetings
7
9.00 onwards Cultural programme / Documentaries
Day II: December 1, 2004
No. Time Session Invitees / Resource Persons
1
9.00 am - 9.30 am
Displacement and Development in the International context and forum Smitu Kothari and Miloon Kothari
2
9.30 am 11.00 am
Group Discussions on the proposed National policy and Strategies NAPM, Centre for Equity Studies, Indian Social Institute
3
11.30 am - 1.00 pm Reporting in the plenary
4
1.00 pm - 2.00 pm Lunch
5
2.00 pm - 3.30 pm Strategy Planning
6
3.30 pm - 5.00 pm
Interaction, Response and Declaration
Ministers, Chairpersons of National Commissions, Members of Parliament and invitees from political parties
Convened by: National Alliance of People's Movements, Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Labourers� Union, National Fish Workers Forum, Lokayan, Shoshit Jan Andolan and Shahar Vikas Manch (Maharashtra), Narmada Bachao Andolan; Delhi Forum; Indian Social Institute; Habitat International Coalition - Housing and Land Rights Network; Matu Jana Sangathan and Rajendra Prasad Academy, New Delhi.
o o o o
5.2)
ZUBAAN ANNOUNCES THE PUBLICATION OF DAWN: A NOVEL BY AWARD WINNING ASSAMESE WRITER, ARUPA KALITA PATANGIA.
Dawn
A Novel
Arupa Kalita Patangia
Translated by Ranjita Biswas
300pp Pb o Rs 295
o ISBN 81 86706 84 4 o All rights available
Set in the heady years preceding independence, this is the story of young Binapani growing up in a small Assamese town. Headstrong, stubborn and high-spirited, this independent minded girl is confronted with a host of questions as she attempts to come to terms with the changing reality around her: why are girls not allowed to study? Why do some families have to live in poverty while others are feted and fawned upon by townspeople? Why does a nationalist hero have to be hidden away, a Christian boy termed an outcasete? Before she can even begin to find answers to any of these questions - in which her only support is her aging grandmother, Jashodha - Binapani is married off to a much older man whom she has always disliked. A lifetime of drudgery, relieved by the birth of her children, her occasional visits to her grandmother, follows and then, just as life threatens to become empty of joy, a chance encounter with an old friend brings change. Binapani realizes that the world is still a beautiful place and life can still have meaning. This beautifully crafted tale describes a moment of profound hisotrical change, against which it weaves a fine web of changing relationships, of people's joys and sorrows, as seen through the eyes of a young girl and her painful journey to adulthood.
Arupa Patangia Kalita is one of Assam's leading, award-winning novelists. She has more than ten novels and short story collections to her credit including Mriganabhi (1987) and Millenniumar Sapon (2002). A Ph.D in English Literature, she teaches English at Tangla College, Assam.
Ranjita Biswas has translated a number of well-known Bengali and Assamese novels into English.
For any further enquiries or for ordering copies of the book, please contact Jaya Bhattacharji or Satish Sharma at:
Zubaan, K-92, First Floor, Hauz Khas Enclave, New Delhi - 110016 INDIA Tel: +91-11-26521008, 26864497 and 26514772 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
o o o o
5.3)
[ Punjab Lok Rah (PLR), a theatre group from Pakistan, will perform four plays in Maharashtra between 20th November and 25th November at the invitation of Pakistan India Peoples' Forum For Peace And Democracy (PIPFPD).
20 November at YB Chavan auditorium (Pune) 22 November at 8.00pm at Ravindra Natya Mandir, Prabhadevi (Bombay) ]
o o o o
(The Times of India, NOVEMBER 18, 2004)
City to host 'dramatic' Indo-Pak event
PUNE: The much-talked about people-to-people dialogue between India and Pakistan finally reaches Pune this weekend in the form of the play, Sidq (The truth).
A delegation of 24 actors from the acclaimed Lahore group, Punjab Lok Rahs, will stage the play, based on the story of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, at the Y.B. Chavan auditorium at 5 pm on November 20. The group will arrive in the city on November 19 as part of a 12-day India tour, Sanjay Sangwai and Anwar Rajan of the Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) told reporters on Wednesday. The tickets are available at the venue as well as at Modern Furniture, Pune camp and Books and Bakery, LIC building, opposite Alaka theatre. The 50-minute play will be followed by an interactive session with the audience, which should prove the first opportunity in a long time for Puneites to exchange views with Pakistani citizens. Interactions with several other groups, including one at the Pune municipal corporation and the Centre for Performing Arts, University of Pune, has also been planned during their two-day tour.
After Saturday's inaugural show, several others have been planned at Aurangabad, Mumbai (Ravindra Natyamandir), Nagpur, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and other cities.
"This is just the beginning. The two peoples have a lot in common, and such interactions will increase the pressure on the governments to shift the agenda from military expenditure to health and development. If the process begins well in Pune, the message will go down well in the rest of Maharashtra," Sangvai said.
"The group is one of the progressive groups in Pakistan. The choice of Bhagat Singh as a subject is an interesting example, considering earlier governments have tried to play down the freedom struggle, which is part of the common past of the two nations," Anwar Rajan said.
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Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on matters of peace and democratisation in South Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit citizens wire service run since 1998 by South Asia Citizens Web: www.sacw.net/
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