South Asia Citizens Wire | 16-17 April, 2006 | Dispatch No. 2238 [1] Pakistan: A jirga's rash edict (Editorial, Dawn) [2] Nepal: Pictures of the twenty-four detainees at the Armed Police barracks in Duwakot [3] India: In Defense of Secularism and Democracy (Ram Puniyani) [4] India: 16 April - Press Release of Narmada Bachao Andolan [5] India: Damned, as always (Harsh Mander) [6] India: People's Union for Civil Liberties Gujarat in Solidarity with Narmada Bachao Andolan [7] India: An appeal to Dr. Singh : Take the decision on your own (Sanjay Sangvai) [8] India: A new kind of history textbook (Sumit Sarkar)
___ [1] Dawn April 16, 2006 Editorial A JIRGA'S RASH EDICT IT is disappointing to hear that a jirga in the Upper Dir region of the NWFP has banned the registering of honour crimes on the pretext that they are part of local culture. In vowing to uphold their tradition, tribal elders have also warned of strict action against anyone who registers an FIR against an honour crime, adding that they would be equally harsh against those who "misused" the custom to settle feuds or financial disputes. That jirgas feel that they have the right to pass such sweeping edicts - which only serve to harm the people they claim to represent - is disturbing. The government should take notice of the matter and rectify the situation before more harm is done. It is imperative for the area's elected representatives to talk to jirga members on the illegality of this edict. Irrespective of how honour-related crimes are seen by locals, jirga members need to be made to realise that these are contrary to the law of the land and by passing arbitrary orders forbidding people from reporting a crime, they are in violation of the law and can be held legally answerable for that. Law enforcement agencies in that area will also need to make their presence felt by urging citizens to step forward and report on crimes, assured that their complaints will be dealt with according to the law. It should be handled as firmly as the matter of women being barred from voting during the last local body elections in Dir - a move that was also supported by local political parties. Then the Supreme Court had issued a strict warning to ensure that women were allowed to exercise their right of franchise. Now too, the government will have to exhibit strong will if it is to prevent such regressive steps. At the heart of the matter, however, is successive governments' inability to integrate this region into the national mainstream - which is why much of the area is steeped in backwardness. The absence of the intelligentsia in such matters is deeply felt. Until they step forward and begin to engage the tribal society in an enlightened dialogue, things are not likely to change easily. ____ [2] BLOG OF THE CHAUBISE (MEANS 'THE 24') BEING HELD BY THE AUTHORITIES IN NEPAL www.chaubise.blogspot.com Kunda Dixit Editor, Nepali Times ____ [3] In the 10th April 2006 issue, Outlook magazine carried an opinion piece by Prof. Jagdish N.Bhagwati. Prof Bhagwati makes the argument in this article that most religious communities have a nation playing for them/for their religion, barring the Hindus. As per him most of the western countries are playing for Christianity, while Hindus have no such country for them as India is, 'Secularism in one country'. According to him Indian state has/had equal contempt for all religions. He presents the arguments of Hindutva politics in a sympathetic way and also gives the justification for the Hindutva sympathies of India Diaspora. I have communicated the following rejoinder to the Outlook magazine... -- Rejoinder to Should we Legalise Opium- J.N.Bhagwati (Outlook April 10 2006) -- IN DEFENSE OF SECULARISM AND DEMOCRACY by Ram Puniyani Jagdish N. Bhagwti's, "Should we Legalise Opium" (Outlook, 100406) is flawed at both factual and conceptual level. Let's have a look at facts first. Contrary to what Bhagwati states, the tragic death of 58 Hindus in Sabarmati express was not a massacre but result of an accident, which Modi on purpose projected as the onslaught of Islamic terrorists without any proof. The analysis of events, report of Forensic Laboratory (Ahamedabad) and the Bannerjee Commission report have shown this. The killings of Muslims in the post Godhra tragedy was not a 'tit for tat' killing but a planned pogrom by the BJP ruled state Government, which has become indistinguishable from the outfit of RSS and its affiliates. The missionary, who was burnt, Pastor Graham Stains, was not proselytizing as shown by Wadhwa Commission report. Religious practices of all religions were respected by the Nehruvian state. The Kumbh Melas were taken care of and the Haj pilgrims were provided subsidies. Is it what Bhagwati calls as 'contempt for all religions'? Bhagwati is disturbed by the fact that there was appeasement of Muslim minority. What was this appeasement? In no way their representation in cabinets and elected offices has shown any semblance of appeasement. As a matter of fact in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas the proportion of elected representatives from amongst Muslims has been declining constantly over a period of years, all over the country. The Muslim representation in Judiciary and bureaucracy and police force is abysmally low. One is surprised that an intellectual of his stature is unaware of these basic facts! Surely the incidents like Shah Bano were the one's where the Muslim fundamentalists (section of Maulanas) were appeased but the Muslim community as a whole has been sliding down on the indices of human development. Gopal Singh Commission did bring it out. It is the cleverness of RSS propaganda that they could let the Hindus at large believe that Muslims are being appeased. The 'Hindus are feeling agitated' is the constant propaganda of Hindu right wing organizations. It is a move to deflect the social discontent in general. The idea is to show that it is due to Muslim appeasement that Hindus are suffering. As a social phenomenon it is not anything which is new. Hitler did similar manipulation of social thought some decades ago. The overall dissatisfaction of German society was attributed to the Jews and what happened next is too horrible to recount. Currently also the rise of discontent in the earthly matters has been shifted to the communal terrain. Indian state, the Nehruvian model, was principally secular but the society was in the grip of religion, religious clergy to be precise. In most of these matters the dichotomy of Gandhi and Nehru has no substance. Though challenging this is going against the grain of broadly accepted social thinking, the fact is that Nehru, a socialist of sorts, did respect the religious feelings of people and Gandhi while talking in the language of religion was secular to the core as far as the polices of the state were concerned. Somanath temple reconstruction by the state was opposed by both, though in different languages. Nehru saying it is not the business of state to build the places of worship (incidentally he also used the religious imagery while describing modern industries and places of modern learning as the new temples of India), while Gandhi saying that Hindus do not require the assistance of the state to build a temple. As far as respecting the practices of followers of different religions are concerned, it applied equally to all. If at all, it were not Muslim, as pointed out by Bhagwati, but Hindu norms and deities which entered in the secular space, police stations, public places of various sorts, the practice of inauguration of new projects by breaking coconut and having full Hindu rituals at such occasions. He falls prey to the prevalent notions in an uncritical way to accept that Muslim practices were respected at the cost of the practices of other religions. As far as Hindu Code bill was concerned it was initiated by the independent state not because they wanted to tamper only with Hindu norms but because Nehru-Ambedkar duo wanted to set an example to all the communities by beginning with the largest community, so that others take the lead and initiate the same in their communities. It is because of the opposition to this bill, and its subsequent dilution that they had to give up. While Bhagawati understands the role of Pakistan, it needs to be added that Pakistan could promote terrorism in Kashmir only because the democratic processes in Kashmir were strangulated with the arrest of Sheikh Abdullah, who wanted the Indian government to stick to the treaty of accession, which gave autonomy to Kashmir, and not to trample on the wishes of Kashmiri people. Later US initiated and sponsored Al Qaeda terrorists joined in to complicate the problem in Kashmir in particular and India in general. The political backdrop of this is important so that we do not reduce the political phenomenon into religious ones. The psychology of NRIs who are trying to show their long distance patriotism is very interesting phenomenon. I will concede one of the factors for supporting Hindu right by NRIs is that NRIs cannot digest the notion of gender equality, what ever be its degree, prevalent in the lands where they inhabit. The other point, that every person feels that a state should play for their religion, is a make believe social common sense drilled in to the heads of section of Indians and to alienated insecure NRIs. Religion and nationalism are two separate entities. Bhagwati is committing a factual error to state that all Muslim countries come together in their foreign policies. He seems to have forgotten seven year's long Iraq-Iran war and the divergent attitude of Muslim countries to the US invasion of Iraq just a couple of years back. Hinduism is not a prophet based religion, it is exclusionary because of its caste system so it is generally not propagated, its' not open for others to adopt it, so logically it has major following in the country of its origin only, unlike Christianity and Islam which spread far and wide. Earlier this 'nation playing for my religion' was never a point of discomfort. Of course there is the Hindu Rashtra of Nepal for those who want some state to play for Hinduism. Till just decades ago it was difficult to say that the Britain and US are Christian countries. It is unfortunate that setting up of terrorist outfits, Al Qaeda, by US, to drive the USSR's armies away from Afghanistan, has taken the logical course of promoting fundamentalism amongst it promoters themselves, where by 9/11 and London tube blasts are taking place, giving a fillip to fundamentalism in these democracies also. It will be sweeping to call all the Western democracies as mere religious Christian states and helpless Hindus are just having India as the sole secular state, 'Secularism in one state'. The point is, secularization process which was on ascendance in the decades of 50s and went on till 70s is being pushed back. Democracy-Secularism are not fixed entities, they are in a state of flux depending on the interests and opposition of diverse social forces Western democracies have predominantly secular currents even today. The formulation of secularism in one country as the tragedy of India is the 'brilliant' Hindutva formulation, though no where near the truth. In the times when Godses' concept of nationalism seems to be coming to the fore, the learned Professor needs to be reminded about what Gandhi, Godse's victim, wrote on these matters, on religious freedom and secular state, "In India, for whose fashioning I have worked all my life, every man enjoys equality of status, whatever his religion is. The state is bound to be wholly secularreligion is not the test of nationality but is a personal matter between man and God religion is a personal affair of each individual, it must not be mixed up with politics or national affairs" ____ [4] Narmada Bachao Andolan * 62 Gandhi Marg, Badwani, Madhya Pradesh 451551. * C/o B-13 Shivam Flats, Ellora Park, Vadodara, Gujarat 390023. * Maitri Niwas, Tembewadi, Dhadgaon, dist. Nandurbar, Maharashtra. Press Release Date: April 16, 2006 · FAST CONTINUES INTO 19TH DAY, RELAY FAST CONTINUES 55 protesters demanding meeting with PM arrested from front of his house: No explanation for the PM's reluctance to suspend dam construction except bowing to Modi's pressure The indefinite fast continues into the 19th day even as the health condition of all three fasters - Bhagvatibai, Jamsing and Medha Patkar - deteriorates. Meanwhile the relay fast by Prof. Deven Singh, Rajendra Ravi, Bela Bhatia, Dr. Vandana Prasad, Amarnathbhai, Dr. Sachidanand and Dayabai entered third day. Tomorrow, Andolan has given a call for going on hunger strike en masse. 55 protesters seeking a meeting with the PM to ask him to perform his duty as directed by Supreme Court in its October 18, 2000 judgement were arrested by Delhi Police today afternoon from in front of his house. Those arrested included Swami Agnivesh, Vinod Raina, Kamal Mitra Chenoy, Achin Vanaik, Shabnam Hashmi, Vinod Dua, students from JNU and DU as well as other supporters. These supporters, in a peaceful manner, approached the PM's house and submitted a memorandum and made requested for a meeting with the PM. Immediately the Rapid Action Force and police were brought in and the supporters ushered into buses. The police is holding them in custody at Chanakyapuri Police Station. Where as Supreme Court judgement puts the responsibility on PM, to deliver his decision, in event of disputes between party states at RCNCA; its really sad to note that his media advisor is misguiding the press stating that the dam construction is not going to be stopped, even as the PM keeps entertaining the pro-Dam delegations of politicians from Gujarat. Since the people to be affected are not rehabilitated as per the Supreme Court orders and the Narmada Tribunal Award, there is no legal ground for raising the dam height. The Supreme Court directions are clear in stating that the affected families be rehabilitated with alternate cultivable and irrigable land six months in advance of the submergence. Moreover, acting as devil's advocate, let us for the time being put aside all the sound arguments for SSP not being the most appropriate option for water needs of Gujarat or power needs of the western India. Thus, even if we look at the benefits angle, there is no justification for the proposition as Gujarat has not been able to use even 10% of the water available at current height. Irrigation: For example, as per the claim of the official website of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam ( www.sardarsarvordam.org), Gujarat has been able to irrigate 57 002 ha from the SSP, which is just 10% of the irrigation possible in phase I of the project. The main reason why more irrigation has not been achieved is that Gujarat has not developed the distribution system and the command area for irrigating more areas. Among all the components of the SSP, development of the canal network right upto the field is the most expensive one. Because of the delay in the development of the command area (this has no direct relation with the height of the dam), SSP has become the costliest irrigation project in India today. As per the Mid term appraisal of the 10th Five year plan, the cost of just the irrigation component of SSP has gone up to Rs 30823 crores (2005 prices), and cost of irrigating one ha has gone up to a whopping Rs 1 72 000. Had SSP been planned properly, it could have started irrigating at least 5 lakh ha in 2004 (even earlier since the Irrigation By Pass Tunnel was inaugurated on Aug 20, 2002 ), but that objective is unlikely to be achieved for at least 5 more years if we go by the past performance. The project authorities should be held accountable for this delay. Their hankering for increase in height of the dam, rather than use of the available water has done a great disservice to the people and public resources of Gujarat . This also applies to Rajasthan as Rajasthan can get its share of water without increase in height of the dam as once water enters the gravity flow canal (as it has been happening since 2002 through IBPT and since 2004 through Canal Head Power House), water can flow to Rajasthan. Drinking water: The second claimed benefit is the drinking water from SSP. The total allocation of water for Municipal and Industrial supply from SSP is 1.06 MAF. This amount of water has been available at least since 1999 when the dam height reached 85 mts. It was only in 2001 that pumping of water from SSP into canals was started. From that date, if the drinking water distribution system as planned were in place, Gujarat could have provided drinking water to all the 135 towns and 8215 villages as per the plans. There is no need for increase in height of the dam for achieving that objective. However, since the distribution system is not in place even today, the objective has not been achieved. If there is anyone to be blamed for this delay, it is only the Gujarat government and not NBA or the affected people. The ambitious Sardar Sarovar Narmada Canal Based Bulk Water Transmission Project commenced in the year 1999-2000 and was scheduled to be completed by 2002, but was lagging behind due to "defective planning and lack of coordination among different agencies" and not because of litigations or non raising of the dam height, as borne out from the findings of the CAG reports for the year ending March 31, 2003 and 2005 . As per the CAG report on Gujarat (civil) for the year ending March 31, 2003 , "The gross average daily intake during the two years of its operation (December 2000 to November 2002) was 119.80 MLD against the envisaged capacity of 287 MLD ( i.e. 42 percent of capacity utilisation) only. Of the envisaged coverage of 1860 villages/ towns, benefit reached only to 543 villages. So, even after two years of execution, at the cost of Rs 464.17 crores, benefits could be derived to the extent of 44 percent of the envisaged population only". The CAG report on Gujarat (civil) for the year ending March 31, 2005 covers the implementation and performance of the second route of Sardar Sarovar Canal Based Bulk Water Transmission Project. At Para 3.2.8.3 CAG mentions that due to delay in execution of distribution works, "only 29 percent of installed capacity of water was used and only 415 of 1342 targeted villages/ towns ( i.e. 31 percent) were covered". Elaborating on this, CAG states, "as a result of delay in execution of distribution works, the gross daily intake during May 2003 to June 2005 was 145.17 MLD (29 percent) against the envisaged capacity utilisation of 500 MLD". Power generation The third claimed justification for increase in height of the dam is the power generation. If optimum power generation were the objective of the project authorities, all the units of the power component should have been in place by June 2004 when the dam height of 110 m was achieved. However, that is not the situation even today. It should be noted that installation of the power units is not dependent on the height of the dam. If all the units are not in place, it is only because of the mismanagement of the project authorities. It is the project authorities that should take the blame for the lower than possible power generation from SSP. It is true that if the height of the dam is increased, the installed units would be able to generate slightly (maximum 7.7%, reducing to nil once irrigation develops in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh) higher power as they would have greater head of water for power generation. However, this increase would be marginal. It cannot be the case of any civilized society that homes and livelihoods of thousands of people can be destroyed for such marginal gains. If the authorities had achieved the rehabilitation as required under the law, they could have a justified case for increase in height of the dam. Today they have none. On power front it should also be noted that MP and Maharashtra power sectors (they share 57% and 27% of the power generated at SSP respectively) have power T&D losses in excess of 30%, which can be brought down to less than half that level. More needs to be done on this front, that would make available a lot more power than going for the inhuman, illegal and unjust option of submerging homes and lives of thousands of people. It is thus strange as to why the Gujarat Govt and the Union Water Resources Ministry are pushing for increase in height of the dam, which is neither just, not justified. All concerned should keep this in mind as they debate the issue of stopping the construction of SSP Dam till R&R is completed as required. ____ [5] Hindustan Times April 9, 2006 DAMNED, AS ALWAYS by Harsh Mander In the shadows of the tall offices of the nation's power elite in the capital, for some flickering moments, a few hundred dispossessed women and men gathered tenuously. They were desperate because their homes and lands were shortly to be drowned forever. Years of brave resistance failed to prevent this day, because they are powerless before a government and courts that refuse to see and care. It was perhaps fitting that they were arrested in the dead of night by a battery of policepersons several times their numbers, to silence and exile them into their customary oblivion. The greatest success of numberless local struggles of people displaced by large development projects over the many decades after Independence have cumulatively been in breaking the muffled silences that surround the astounding inequities of their dispossession by the State. They have also raised searching questions, which we have still not answered, about the nature and 'price' of development and who is condemned to pay it. With the advent of planned development after freedom, the visibility, scale and sweep of mega-dams made them potent emblems of the reconstruction and regeneration of the battered economies of long-suppressed post-colonial nations. Leaders and policy-makers typically viewed the forced uprooting of substantial populations as legitimate and inevitable costs of development, acceptable in the larger national interest. Nehru, while laying the foundation stone for India's first major river valley project, the Hirakud Dam in Orissa in 1948, said to the tens of thousand facing the grim prospect of displacement: "If you have to suffer, you should do so in the interest of the country." It is important to recognise that the staggering, unremitting and largely untold human suffering of people displaced by big dams is the direct outcome of State policy and law, and their implementation and interpretation by officials and courts. Among the recurring trends in the experience of displacement and rehabilitation as a result of big dams in India, is that the State typically refuses to consult with and inform the people condemned to eventual submergence. There is typical confusion among resettlers in virtually every large project about even the precise contours of submergence - which villages or segments of villages would be submerged, and when. In the Narmada valley, even which persons are affected and who are to be compensated and rehabilitated has not been resolved, although their homes and lands have been submerged. Again, typically oustees are rarely consulted or even informed about the phasing and content of their rehabilitation package, their entitlements and their choices. The only significant reparation for displaced persons guaranteed by law is the payment of monetary compensation for compulsorily acquired individual assets, mainly land or houses. However, the manner in which the law is framed and interpreted ensures that the displaced land-owner or house-owner is invariably the loser. Rural, especially tribal people, are unused to a monetary economy, and usually spend their money in consumption and repaying loans and in barely months are left pauperised. Landless farmers, fisherfolk and artisans, who lose their livelihoods but few assets, are barely compensated. It is only in recent years that, chiefly under the impact of people's movements, project authorities, state governments and international funding agencies have accepted responsibility for rehabilitation - one that extends beyond the payment of monetary compensation for expropriated individual assets and the provision of house sites. Involuntary relocation is always extremely painful, but a sensitive project bureaucracy can do much to relieve its trauma. In practice, however, it has been observed that the driving objective of project authorities has not been to assist the families to relocate. Instead, frequently the only objective is to vacate the submergence zone of what are perceived to be its human encumbrances, with the brute force of the State. In many parts of the Narmada valley, this forced relocation occurs without even settlement of compensation claims. Resettlement sites are often inhospitable, their locations are selected without reference to availability of livelihood opportunities, or the preferences of displaced persons. In the Narmada valley, even years after the relocation, basic facilities are not established in the resettlement sites. The locations themselves are sometimes small islands or at the far end of the reservoir, perched on top of hilltops, surrounded by kilometres of reservoir waters. For many settlements, small perilous wooden boats are still the only uncertain modes of transportation. Earth roads are submerged six months in a year. Similarly, health and education facilities are 'provided' merely by the creation of buildings for sub-health centres or schools. Health workers or teachers are not positioned, health centres are not provided with the requisite equipment and infrastructure and in the end, buildings crumble and begin to resemble ghost town structures. People are abandoned to live and die, often literally in darkness, without even elementary healthcare, clean drinking water, electrification and education. The Narmada Award requires oustees to get irrigated agricultural land in lieu of land they were forced to sacrifice. If implemented sincerely, this provision alone could have enabled affected people to rebuild their lives. But this has rarely been done. The government of Madhya Pradesh, in particular, continues to flout this provision with elaborate and shameful official subterfuge. It is an unconscionable failure of our legal system that courts have permitted the expeditious completion of the dam, even though the limited rights of rehabilitation of affected people are flouted with impunity by state governments. Opponents of big dams have argued persuasively that these are part of a development strategy that intrinsically impoverishes poor people. The debate around big dams in India, in fact, have been inextricably intertwined with largely irreconcilable ideological battlelines about the nature and impacts of State-induced development. The opponents to big dams have also challenged the dominant orthodoxy that development, especially State-induced development, necessarily entails the human costs of displacement or involuntary resettlement. They are not opposed to the expansion of irrigation or the generation of electricity. All they argue is that technologies exist and should be further developed, which provide water and energy to people with far less devastating human and environmental costs. The staggering costs of any mega dam, for instance, could permit the creation of innumerable small water harvesting and micro-irrigation systems for every village, that do not require vast populations to be dispossessed nor precious forests to be submerged. The construction of large dams raises fundamental questions of equity, fairness and justice before law, in the matter of distribution of benefits and burdens. The deprivation suffered by displaced people also raises vital issues of constitutional norms and human rights, including the right to survival, and the basic right to live with dignity. It forces us to answer why people who already are impoverished must always pay the price of what we call development, whereas others who already live with privilege continue to reap the benefits of this development. ____ [6] People's Union for Civil Liberties 13, Pratap Kunj Society, Karelibaug, Vadodara - 390018 PRESS RELEASE 16th April 2005 · In the absence of due priority to rehabilitation of the affected people by the states concerned, political parties at the States and Centre these issues have embroiled themselves into futile political conflict and have entered into competitive showpiece populism and one-upmanship in trying to show that they are "patriots" of Gujarat. · People's Union for Civil Liberties, Gujarat Appeal for an amicable solution to the ongoing Narmada Dam debate We the citizens of Gujarat appeal for a peaceful and democratic solution to the recent Narmada Dam controversy. The issues of rehabilitation of people, drinking water and the provision of water for irrigation are crucial for the growth and development of the people of Gujarat. There is an urgent need to address these issues in a democratic and peaceful ways on a priority basis. In this contest we condemn the ransacking of the NBA office in Baroda and attempts to intimidate and thwart any democratic dialogue. The issue here is of right to life for many people, mostly very poor Adivasis, who have lost their homes, land & livelihoods and many thousands more are likely to lose their dwelling places as more villages come under submergence. As of today even people displaced at the 110 m height are not resettled. It is unfortunate that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has not taken a stand in favour of the poor people displaced and not yet rehabilitated. In the absence of due priority to rehabilitation of the affected people by the states concerned, political parties at the States and Centre these issues have embroiled themselves into futile political conflict and have entered into competitive showpiece populism and one-upmanship in trying to show that they are "patriots" of Gujarat. And in the same breadth painting everybody asking for rehabilitation as "traitors." We also appeal to Ms Medha Patkar, Ms. Bhagwatiben Patidam and Shri Jamsingh Nargave fasting activists of the Narmada Bachao Andolan to end their fast so that the issues can be taken up on the table on the basis of hard evidence of the extent of rehabilitation that needs to be carried out further. There is need to have a comprehensive rehabilitation policy for all people displaced by development projects. PUCL has also filed a written complain to police commissioner and the Collector of Vadodara to protect the office of NBA. Copy is attached with press release. Kirit Bhatt Trupti Shah Renu Khanna Amrish Brahmbhatt Kantibhai Mistry Rohit Prajapati Chinu Srinivasan Naginbhai Patel Raj Kumar Hans Dipti Bhatt Manzoor Saleri Human Rights Activists of Gujarat People's Union for Civil Liberties 13, Pratap Kunj Society, Karelibaug, Vadodara - 390018 MOST URGENT BY FAX 16th April 2005 To, The Police Commissioner Vadodara The Collector Vadodara Sub: Regarding the Fresh Attack on the Office of the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Dear Sir, This is with regard to the attack on the Narmada Bachao Andolan office in Vadodara on 15th April at around 7 pm by some people belonging to the leading political party. We anticipated this and had informed the Police Commissioner personally at around 6.30 pm. Around 4.30 pm we had warned the Police Control room of such an eventuality. In spite of such prior notice, the attack took place and in the presence of police personnel. We are surprised that no arrests have taken place till now the video footage of the attack and ransacking is available with the leading city cable channels. A similar kind of attack had taken place on the NBA office on March 20, 1994 in the Dandia Bazar area of the city. While a complaint had been launched after the 1994 attack, no action was taken. We wish to state that we fear yet another attack will take place if proper precautions are not taken at the earliest to protect the office of the NBA. This kind of incident should not recur as it has larger repercussions on society at large. We are concerned at these sorts of repeated attacks, which are extremely undemocratic in nature apart from giving the State of Gujarat a bad name, as a place where dissent from the dominant opinion is not tolerated. It is also expected that personal attacks are going to be launched on those who are questioning the degree of rehabilitation undertaken in reality. Sincerely, Kirit Bhatt Rohit Prajapati Chinu Srinivasan People's Union for Civil Liberties, Gujarat ____ [7] 15 April 06 AN APPEAL TO DR. SINGH : TAKE THE DECISION ON YOUR OWN We are surprised to hear that the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assigned the matter regarding suspending the raising of the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam (SSP) to the Supreme Court, on April 15, even after the Review Committee has recommended to stop the construction work on the dam until the rehabilitation of the affected people according to the Narmada Tribunal award and Supreme Court ruling. This is nothing but a delaying tactic, facilitating the work on the dam to be completed upto 121.92 meters, flaunting all logic, law and reality to the dustbin of petty politicking. Is this the 'human face' of the decisions? Why the Prime Minister has developed the cold feet on the serious issues, when all the reality, ground situation and legal-judicial provisions make it incumbent upon him to stop the construction work on the dam immediately, thus saving over 35,000 farmers' and tribals' families from submergence, displacement and destitution. Why he could not take the decision to suspend the illegal work on the project, when his own Cabinet colleagues, even after a truncated half-day tour of the valley, could see the dismal situation of rehabilitation in Madhya Pradesh? And we fail to understand the logic of assigning the issue again to the Supreme Court, when the latter had in no unequivocal terms laid down, in its verdict in October 2000, that in case of differences in the NCA and among the party states, the Prime Minister shall be the final authority? What could be the logic behind the move, pray? The Court procedures are bound to delay the entire matter even farther, as our Courts are not known to be expeditious enough in case of poor and exploited people, marginalised and underprivileged sections, as they are prompt in case of the interests of the corporates and elites of the country. That the Courts have to be reminded that the person who drafted the Constitution, of which they are supposed to the guardians, clearly stated in his speeches in Constituent Assembly, that the freedom has no meaning without economic, social and political equality. At least, we are entitled to expect from the popular governments - though headed and overmanned by the members of the Upper House- to protect the rights of the common people and be accountable to them. This would delay the decision for another week, fortnight or months together or so. Forget about the Narmada Bachao Andolan activists including Medha Patkar, Jamsinghbhai and Bhagwatibehn in their 18th day of fast. The Indian Supreme Court has been extremely rude and contemptuous about the people's movements. In the famous words of Justice Kirpal, the movements have been seeking 'publicity interest litigation'. This the Court cannot say about the Ambanis or Narayan Murthys, but definitely about Medha Patkar and others. So it will not be surprising if the Supreme Court cares two hoots if Medha Patkar and others die or the Adivasis are submerged year after year. So, we can expect only the government responsible to the people to respond positively to the issues raised by the people's movements. But, alas, Dr. Singh is not wiling to heed that. And lastly, the threats issued by Narendra Modi. They are atrocious, fascists and as such dangerously hilarious. Modi kept ranting about the democracy and state's responsibility. Look who is talking about it? He knows too little of democracy and Raj-dharma. The Gujarat Congress too joined him in the competitive politics. He is saying that Supreme Court has given the Award to take the dam to final height. No, SC had specifically said to complete the resettlement according to the Narmada Tribunal Award BEFORE raising of the height, even in otherwise hostile judgement. The Congress is afraid of the political price it will have to pay in Gujarat, as Gujarat Congress is to with Modi. But, even from the point of view of the petty political gains, Congress has hardly any presence in Gujarat. It could have gained immensely in Madhya Pradesh, had it taken a clear-cut decision to save the farmers and tribals from submergence and stop the work on the dam. Here too Mr. Singh could have shown little more political maturity. Any way, there is the decision. However, there is still time of one day. Congress party and Dr. Singh still salvage the situation and the people. Here Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has shown more political sagacity and experienced nuance of a politician. Despite the stiff resistance from his own bureaucrats, he dared to side with Mr. Soz and Mr. Raja in challenging the combined might of Modi and his other counterparts from BJP-ruled states. There is still time. Dr. Singh, please decide on your own, to protect and save the Narmada valley people from the certain calamity. And in the event, you may positively respond to the indefinite fast by Medha Patkar and others which had started since March 29. All the conscientious citizens of the country may ask the government to mend its ways. Sanjay Sangvai [Sanjay Sangvai has been associated with the NBA since the 80s.] ____ [8] The Hindu April 17, 2006 A NEW KIND OF HISTORY TEXTBOOK by Sumit Sarkar Books just brought out by the NCERT teach history in creative ways. All themes are sought to be looked at from the angle of everyday life and its changing patterns, bringing history down from the distant skies, as it were. A FEW days ago, I came across the three History textbooks just brought out by the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), for Classes VI, IX, and XI. I opened the second - India and the Contemporary World, from roughly the French Revolution to the mid-20th century - with the idea of just turning over some pages, for it was a very busy day for me. But soon I was engrossed, and could not stop reading till the end, so exciting did it seem, so different from what one expects from school or college textbooks. The other two books proved to be just as interesting. For reasons of space, however, let me dwell mainly on the second book. What makes the new books such an unexpected pleasure to read - a feeling, I am sure, the students and their teachers will also share? Their physical appearance, first of all. The books are filled with illustrations, most of them in colour: photographs of historical sites, inscriptions, monuments, reproductions of paintings, posters and pages from leaflets: an immense range of visual material going back to the times being described. Thoughtful designing has achieved a sense of space, very different from the usual cramped, breathless impression one gets when reading history books, filled with closely packed text. The books teach history in creative ways. There are extracts from contemporary documents, many of them of contrasting kinds: the French Declaration of the Rights of Man set beside Olympia de Gouges' feminist alternative, an official Soviet account of collectivisation alongside a letter from a peasant who hated the changes. Students are introduced to the basics of historical research: both to documents and to understanding how open-ended historical reconstruction is. Every section is accompanied by questions and suggested classroom activities, visualising creative student-teacher interaction in place of enforced rote-learning. After reading about the coming of modern agriculture in England, students are asked to look at the previous, open field system from the points of view of a rich farmer, a labourer, and a peasant woman. An activity suggested after the chapter on Nazi Germany recommends writing one-page histories of it from the points of view of a schoolchild studying there, a Jewish survivor, and a political opponent of the regime. The chapter on the Roman Empire in the Class XI book on "Themes in World History" asks students to imagine the shopping list of a city housewife in those times. Let me add, though, that books like these will require a fundamental transformation also in the pattern of setting questions in CBSE examinations, which so long have been of a so-called `objective' type, totally unsuitable at least for history, social sciences, and the humanities in general. I do hope that such changes will be brought about as quickly as possible. What made such textbooks possible? Fundamentally, a simple innovation, pedagogically vital: the clear break with the earlier dominant assumption that textbooks must be `comprehensive,' `cover' all `relevant' facts. Never mind the overcrowding, sheer boredom, rote-learning - followed by quick oblivion, as those of us who have been teachers at college or postgraduate levels have often encountered. One can anticipate that this will be the line possible critics of the new books will take, and they will find it easy enough to point to much that has been `left out.' But the point surely is that no book, not just meant for schools but really at any level, can ever cover `everything,' one always has to be selective. The need is to stimulate interest and curiosity, some understanding about what history today is really about and why it is important. The points or themes of entry here always suggest broader patterns. Some students might be stimulated to read further about them. To take an instance from Class VI, about Ancient India: giving comprehensive lists of archaeological sites relevant for a particular period may place a great burden on memory. Instead, one or two sites or inscriptions have been chosen here, but these are looked at in detail, with profuse illustrations followed by discussions about what can and cannot be inferred from them. Similarly, we have French and Russian Revolutions but not all the 19th century European revolutions; Nazi Germany but not Fascist Italy. These, however, are studied in profuse and interesting detail. An incidental gain is that the burden of dates gets reduced, particularly at lower levels. Time-charts are introduced in Class XI. They are divided according to continents, with an additional one for South Asia. They indicate at a glance that one must not assume a single, linear, pattern of development for all times and places. But surely history has a special role in schools, its purpose is, above all, the promotion of `national unity,' `identity,' `integration,' pride in one's country? And so should not every region and community be covered at the same level of detail, all prominent figures mentioned? To have all that all would consider important is not possible within any textbook, however voluminous. Moreover, there will always be conflicting political opinions about what is important and what is not. The choice will then depend on the dominant view of political correctness, and not on pedagogical needs or the logic of the subject. We saw some of these problems during Bharatiya Janata Party rule. But even state-of-the-art notions of history or progressive values need to be conveyed in interesting and interactive ways. Otherwise they remain facts and values that are memorised, reproduced, and then speedily forgotten, while the assumptions and stereotypes current in their immediate environment, often retrogressive or obscurantist, live on in the minds of the new generation. The approach of these books is very different. After a searing account of Nazi atrocities and the Holocaust, for instance, a question is posed about whether students have ever encountered stereotypes of other communities among people around them, and how they could have come about. I cannot think of a better way of providing a pointer towards the dangers of narrow identity politics of every kind, and the need for basic secular and human values. More than trivia Are not some chapters about `trivial' things, though - what has a `serious' history textbook to do with cricket, or the social history of clothing (Class IX)? On the contrary, students are bound to get interested as they discover that these, too, have histories, and so the subject is not about remote and dead matters alone. Both lead on to other themes, including more conventional ones the importance of which no one will deny. The handicrafts that declined under colonial rule, the mills of Lancashire and Bombay, were all inseparable from clothes and changing tastes about them, while at the core of Gandhian mass struggle lay boycott, the wearing of khadi, and the Mahatma's conversion to the loincloth. The books quietly introduce students to many of the new ways in which history is developing in recent times. There are sections in all three volumes about the lives of hunters, foodgatherers, and pastoralists, and the ways in which their more interactive relations with nature have been disrupted in modern times: themes that recent environmental history foregrounds. Women are central to all the narratives. The section about clothing mentions its relations with social hierarchies: class in pre-Revolutionary France, or caste in South India. Above all, all themes are sought to be looked at from the angle of everyday life and its changing patterns, bringing history down from the distant skies, as it were. The crucial point emerges that literally everything, every kind of relationship, has histories. The social world, as Vico proclaimed in a foundation text of modern history almost three centuries ago, is made by human beings, not divinity or nature, and it can be changed, too, through human endeavour. In all these ways, these textbooks both respect and enhance the students' imagination and critical thinking. (The author is an eminent historian of modern India.) _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on matters of peace and democratisation in South Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit citizens wire service run since 1998 by South Asia Citizens Web: www.sacw.net/ SACW archive is available at: bridget.jatol.com/pipermail/sacw_insaf.net/ DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers. _______________________________________________ Sacw mailing list [email protected] http://insaf.net/mailman/listinfo/sacw_insaf.net
