GANG WAR ERUPTS IN BHENDI BAZAAR
and/or www.mantra.com/jai
Thursday, February 18, 2010
So what do we have here? A close aide of a Member of the Legislative
Council in Mharashtra, a Congressman, is killed in a gang war. Along
with him, a former MCOCA detainee who also actively campaigned for
the Congress party in the last parliamentary elections, is injured.
And are the concerned citizens in Mumbai concerned?
Namaste
Ashok Chowgule
Gang war erupts in Bhendi Bazaar
By Mateen Hafeez
The Times of India
February 14, 2010
Introduction: MLC Aide Among 2 Killed, One Of The Three Injured Is
Ex-MCOCA Detainee
Two persons, including a close aide of MLC Bhai Jagtap, were shot
dead near Bhendi Bazaar on Saturday night. A former Maharashtra
Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) detainee and two others were
injured in the firing by unidentified assailants. Though the motive
was yet to be ascertained, the police said it was a case of gang war.
The deceased have been identified as Shakeel Modak (42) and Irfan
Qureishi (50), while the injured are former MCOCA detainee Asif Khan
alias Asif Dadhi (40) and daily wage labourer Gangubai. The third
wounded is yet to be identified.
The incident occurred around 9 pm outside Phool Gali mosque near Null
Bazaar. According to residents of the area, the victims were sitting
and chatting in the lane when at least three persons rode in on
motorcycles and shot at them.
The people of the area said the target could have been Asif Dadhi,
who sustained a bullet injury in his arm. He has been admitted to the
ICU of JJ Hospital.
"The victims were sitting on chairs near the mosque and talking among
themselves. All of a sudden, three to four men appeared on two
motorcycles and fired at them,'' said a resident of the area.
"Immediately, the assailants fled the spot and nobody even dared to
catch them.''
Modak, a close friend of MLC Bhai Jagtap, owned a fishing trawler at
the Gateway of India and a boat that ferries people between Ferry
Wharf and Uran. Qureishi worked in his father in-law's printing
press, Print Red, at Pragati Industrial Estate in Lower Parel.
Gangubai, said locals, worked at a bamboo basket-making unit.
A resident of Princess building at JJ Junction, Asif Dadhi, who now
runs a garment shop, was arrested by the crime branch in 1999 under
the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and again in
2001 for another offence. In the first case, Dadhi was acquitted by
the court and in the second case, he was discharged. Dadhi worked for
the Congress in the last Lok Sabha elections. In fact, a controversy
erupted when his photographs with a Congress minister were shown on
television. The minister was later given a clean chit by the state
government. End of forwarded message from Ashok Chowgule
End of forwarded message from Ashok Chowgule
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
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bademiyansubhanallah
Vice President
Vishwa Hindu Parishad
Maharashtra, India
Access contact information!
Find more info on this person at Intelius.com
Ashok's profile was created using:
53 online sources [ view sources ]
. Employment History
Vice President
Vishwa Hindu Parishad
President
Vishwa Hindu Parishad
President of Maharashtra State Unit
Vishwa Hindu Parishad
Executive Director
Chowgule and Co.
Chairman and Managing Director
Chowgule and Co.
President
VHP-America
Senior Member
VHP-America
President
Maharashtra
President
Goa Pranth
Shipyard-Division Executive Director
Goa Pranth
Vice President
Vishwa Hindu Paris
Board Memberships and Affiliations
Honorary Secretary (past)
Baripada Leprosy Home
Certifications
No certification information is available.
Education
Economics and Statistics
Bristol University
Case Western University
Biography
No biography information is available.
1-10 of 53 online sources for Ashok Chowgule
www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamWarWithinIslam_1.aspx?Ar - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 11/10/2009 Last Visited: 12/9/2009
Ashok Chowgule,Vice-President, VHP
...
From: Ashok Chowgule
To: Sultan Shahin Edi...@NewAgeIslam.com
...
Ashok Chowgule, Vice-President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad
...
Ashok Chowgule
...
From: Ashok Chowgule
...
Ashok Chowgule
www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?Artic - [Cached
Version]
Last Visited: 12/10/2008
Ashok Chowgule
Ashok Chowgule
...
Ashok Chowgule
www.sprisminvest.com/CompanyProfile/corporateinner.aspx - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 2/5/2009 Last Visited: 2/5/2009
Ashok V Chowgule
www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS& - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 10/30/2003 Last Visited: 12/10/2007
Ashok Chowgule
Deceased Graham Stewart Staines (hereinafter referred to as 'Staines')
as an Australian National whose tryst with Mayurbhanj in Orissa began
in the year 1965 when he made rendezvous with its District Headquarter
at Baripada for treatment and eradication of Leprosy amongst the poor
and did an excellent job in the field.He became the honorary Secretary
of Baripada Leprosy Home.He was also the Secretary of the Evangelical
Missionary Society of Mayurbhanj (EMSM).As a missionary, he was
preaching Gospel and spreading the tenets of Christianity in jungle
camps held in different tribal belts in the district of Mayurbhanj and
Keonjhar.
www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamRadicalIslamismAndJihad_ - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 9/29/2009 Last Visited: 12/9/2009
Ashok Chowgule, Vice-President, VHP
...
Ashok Chowgule, Vice-President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad
conoship.com/uk/press/page55.htm - [Cached Version]
Published on: 10/6/2006 Last Visited: 9/8/2007
Yard boss Ashok Chowgule says Indian coastal shipping is still
undeveloped and presents revenue-earning opportunities.
...
Ashok Chowgule: in shipbuilding for the long haul.
...
The industrial and shipping group was started by Chowgule & Co
executive director Ashok Chowgule's grandfather with a small
manufacturing business.
Today, the group is involved in industrial explosives, salt and gases,
as well as brewing, marketing agencies and machine fabrication.Its
iron-ore mining generates around three million tonnes of exports per
year, some two million tonnes to Japan and one million tonnes to
China.All are free-onboard (FOB) contracts.
Involved in the business are the Chowgule brothers, Ashok and group
chief executive Vijay, and their first cousins.Ashok and Vijay's
father is now 91 years old but is described as being "still not
exactly retired".
Ashok says India's manufacturing strength is not appreciated given its
educated workforce, industrial knowledge and strong, commercial and
legal infrastructure, 'which, he claims, makes it relatively easy to
operate in the country.
Things happen slowly in India but those who get into shipbuilding,
given the environmental-impact hoops they have to go through, are
serious players and will be there for the long term, says Ashok
Chowgule.
www.hinduvoice.net/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi?flavor=archive - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 5/24/2007 Last Visited: 5/24/2007
On 5/22/07, Ashok Chowgule
www.letindiadevelop.org/resources.html - [Cached Version]
Published on: 4/24/2006 Last Visited: 5/18/2009
by Ashok Chowgule in association with Hindu Vivek Kendra
www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamDebate_1.aspx?ArticleID= - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 7/14/2009 Last Visited: 12/9/2009
Ashok Chowgule has posted an 18 month old off-topic article in this
dicussion of the veil. While sanghis and VHP-ites write frequently in
Muslim oriented outlets, Muslim community leaders, including even the
editor of Milli Gazette, cannot get their letters published in
newspapers such as the Pioneer!
7/15/2009 9:50:11 AM Ashok Chowgule, Vice President, Vishwa Hindu
Paris
...
Ashok Chowgule
toSultan Shahin...@NewAgeIslam.com
...
Ashok Chowgule, Vice President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)
www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamWarOnTerror_1.aspx?Artic - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 11/1/2001 Last Visited: 12/9/2009
Ashok Chowgule
With reference to the enclosed article.
...
Ashok Chowgule, Vive President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad
10/31/2009 1:42:21 AM
11-20 of 53 online sources for Ashok Chowgule
www.conoship.com/uk/press/page54.htm - [Cached Version]
Published on: 9/8/2007 Last Visited: 9/8/2007
Yard boss Ashok Chowgule says Indian coastal shipping is still
undeveloped and presents revenue-earning opportunities.But first,
cargo has to be generated.
Chowgule Group is widely known for its iron-ore mining activities and
bulker fleet but it is now playing a key role in the country's rise to
prominence on the international shipbuilding scene.
Early last year, Chowgule secured contracts for six multipurpose
cargoships (Multi Purpose Cargos) from a joint venture involving
Navigia, the Dutch affiliate of Germany's Rudolf Schoning, and Hamburg
based Apollo Shipping.
...
All this is a huge leap from Chowgule building inland barges for the
domestic market.Its sights are now set on constructing coastal vessels
for the group's own use and eventually containerships and products
tankers.
Chowgule's international presence has been achieved by becoming an
associate member of the Groningen, Holland-based Conoship marketing
and design organization.
Conoship is assisting Chowgule develop its Loutulim and Rassaim yards
in the state of Goa and has put it in touch with equipment suppliers,
including hatch-cover and main engine manufacturers.It has also
organised the design house in Holland for the Multi Purpose Cargo
production drawings.
Also, Conoship helped educate Chowgule in how ships of this size are
produced in Holland.New computer numerical control (CNC) cutting
equipment was purchased from Australia based on broad specifications
outlined by Conoship.The 20 identical Multi Purpose Cargo's of 4,450
dwt have an aggregate price of around $120m based on an average of $6m
per unit.
Ashok Chowgule, the group's shipyard division executive director, says
the origins of the shipyard business can be traced back to the
family's iron-ore mining activities and its building and repair of
mechanized barges for hauling the ore by river to ports.
Grab and suction dredgers, deep-sea fishing trawlers, tugs, hopper
barges and coastal ships have all been produced over the years - more
than 100 so far in total.But Ashok Chowgule says that for a long time
it remained a relatively small production, partly because of India's
environmental regulations preventing the establishment of large
private-sector shipyards.When circumstances changed in the 1990s,
Chowgule started investing and within the space of 18 months built
around 23 inland barges totaling roughly 55,000 dwt.
Infrastructure improvements have in recent years included upgrading
Rassaim from repair to newbuildings, concreting areas of the yards and
currently converting workshops for fabrication usage.Also, new covered
areas are manufacturing hatch covers designed by Roden Staal, which
will also be present to supervise final construction and fitting.
Currently, the Chowgule yards employ around 45 people in
administration, accounts, commercial and technical roles, while around
500 to 600 workers are subcontracted in depending on requirements.
"We have invested in getting them trained for the requirements of a
modern yard," insisted Ashok Chowgule.He claims that as regards
steelwork, standards are already 99% of those found inEurope.The
quality of machinery installation is less clear, although still "good"
with the help of sup- pliers.
Much depends on improving management skills and giving them the "right
tools to do the job" adds Chowgule.
There are no European managers employed at the yards but overseas
consultants are used regularly.
Ashok Chowgule concedes that India has benefited from the general
overspill of work from full yards in China.One obvious advantage,
however, is labour costs being a fraction of competitors in the West.
Typical yard pay is about EUR 0.50 ($0.60) per hour, as compared with
EUR 20 in Holland.
Conoship introduced owners to Goa, where Ashok Chowgule says it did
not take long to convince them of its potential.The initial contact
with Conoship took a long time but it did not take long to persuade
them to work together. . Holland was targeted as a partner because of
its excellent track record in building smaller cargoships.
The shipyard chief hopes that within the next few months, when
Chowgule is scheduled to deliver the first Multi Purpose Cargos, it
can prove it has fast-tracked in achieving European levels of
workmanship.
Its 20-strong series of Multi Purpose Cargos is scheduled for
completion between January 2007 and December 2009.Ashok Chowgule
believes that because of investments in the yards, the last may even
be a few months early.
...
Yards in the global market as reliable suppliers of cargoships of up
to 6,000 dwt, says Ashok Chowgule.They will focus on building
containerships and possibly products tankers once the Multi Purpose
Cargos are delivered.
"At the moment we aren't actively in those markets because we want to
concentrate our energies in making the yards efficiently" he said.
We have introduced many new things and know it will take a lot of
effort and a certain amount of time.
He estimates the Multi Purpose Cargos are costing between 5% and 7%
below European prices.
www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamWarOnTerror_1.aspx?Artic - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 9/28/2009 Last Visited: 12/9/2009
Objective Condition/Matter is the primary source for the idea, It can
lead Buddha to go to jungle in search for Nirvana, conditions could
lead a small time thief Ajmal Kassab to come to India along with his
compatriots on a so-called Jihad mission and kill innocent civilians,
Conditions is the First and foremost factor that it can give a super
constitutional authority to Mr Chowgule to put to test any Muslim
citizen in India for trustworthiness, religious beliefs etc.
...
Instead of welcoming this great moment and great efforts on the part
of two dignitaries, who are an authority in their respective field,
Mr. Chowgule has targeted the integrity of Malauna, who really don't
need any certificate from anyone, including Sang Parivar and its
progenies to prove his credentials.
...
If Ajma Kassab and Ashok Chowgule are the faces of same coin, so
please don't be surprised if you may come to know, Afghan Jihadi-Anti
War Forces are two sides of the same coin.
...
Ashok Chowgule, Vice-President, VHP
...
From: Ashok Chowgule
...
Ashok Chowgule, Vice-President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad
9/30/2009 5:43:48 AM
www.hvk.org/specialarts/ichr/articles/0009.html - [Cached Version]
Published on: 7/8/1998 Last Visited: 3/23/2007
Posted By Ashok V. Chowgule (ash...@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in)
www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleListWithGroup.asp - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 12/10/2008 Last Visited: 4/7/2009
Ashok Chowgule, Vice President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)
www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamLetters.aspx?GroupID=43 - [Cached
Version]
Last Visited: 12/9/2009
Ashok Chowgule, Vice President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad
...
Ashok Chowgule, Vice President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)
www.hvk.org/ram/a3.html - [Cached Version]
Published on: 3/23/2007 Last Visited: 3/23/2007
Ashok Chowgule President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Maharashtra
The Ram Janmabhoomi issue has revolutionised the politics of the
country.A fragmented Hindu samaj has been united to an extent unheard
of in recent times.
www.hvk.org/ram/a4.html - [Cached Version]
Last Visited: 3/23/2007
Ashok Chowgule President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Maharashtra.
www.hvk.org/Publications/ludden.html - [Cached Version]
Published on: 8/7/2006 Last Visited: 3/23/2007
Ashok Chowgule, President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Maharashtra, India
www.conoship.com/content/view/62/59/text/javascript/tex - [Cached
Version]
Last Visited: 9/27/2008
Yard boss Ashok Chowgule says Indian coastal shipping is still
undeveloped and presents revenue-earning opportunities.
...
Ashok Chowgule: in shipbuilding for the long haul.
...
Ashok Chowgule
...
The industrial and shipping group was started by Chowgule & Co
executive director Ashok Chowgule's grandfather with a small
manufacturing business.
...
Involved in the business are the Chowgule brothers, Ashok and group
chief executive Vijay, and their first cousins.Ashok and Vijay's
father is now 91 years old but is described as being "still not
exactly retired".
Ashok says India's manufacturing strength is not appreciated given its
educated workforce, industrial knowledge and strong, commercial and
legal infrastructure, 'which, he claims, makes it relatively easy to
operate in the country.
Things happen slowly in India but those who get into shipbuilding,
given the environmental-impact hoops they have to go through, are
serious players and will be there for the long term, says Ashok
Chowgule.
"Desaffronization" or Apology? - [Cached Version]
Published on: 1/30/1995 Last Visited: 7/7/2004
Ashok Chowgule, President of Maharashtra State unit of the Vishwa
Hindu Parishad in his book Christianity in India - The Hindutva
Perspective has narrated the acts of atrocities by the Catholic Church
on the Hindus.
21-30 of 53 online sources for Ashok Chowgule
9. Are Indian tribals Hindus? - [Cached Version]
Last Visited: 3/10/2009
But there is also, mostly in the BJP, a strong no-nonsense wing of
businessmen, more or less the old (pro-Western, anti-socialist)
Swatantra Party constituency, which has no patience with such
sentimentalism, and refuses to "turn India into a conservation site".
116 Thus, the VHP president for the Mumbai region, Ashok Chowgule,
owned (until 1998, when he sold it) a company which furnished cement
to the Narmada Dam.
A Factual Response to the Hate Attack on the India... - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 4/24/2006 Last Visited: 5/18/2009
At the time, the President of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP),
Maharashtra Pranth, Ashok Chowgule commented as follows:
...
To this, Ashok Chowgule responded as follows:
...
[107] This section draws extensively from "An analysis of the report :
'The Foreign Exchange of Hate - IDRF and the American funding of
Hindutva' " prepared by Ashok Chowgule in association with Hindu Vivek
Kendra (http://www.hvk.org)
A Factual Response to the Hate Attack on the India... - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 4/24/2006 Last Visited: 12/25/2008
Ashok Chowgule is an industrialist, managing sections of the family
business, a well-known, successful, and respected business house. The
group is headquartered in Goa. The family has set up schools and a
college in Goa, operations in which Ashok takes keen interest.
Ashok completed his schooling in Belgaum, India after which he went on
to graduate in Economics and Statistics from Bristol University in the
U. K., and completed his business studies at the Case Western
University in Cleveland, Ohio. Upon returning home, he has looked
after the finance and administration of the business group, and lately
has been supervising the shipbuilding component of the family
business.
As a part of his social responsibilities, he has been actively
involved in the Vishwa Hindu Parishad since 1991, and at present is
the President of the Maharashtra State unit of the organisation. He
has written several articles and books on the socio-political issues
of Hindutva. Ashok and Hindu Vivek Kendra (HVK) have also recently
published an analysis and of the Sabrang/FOIL Report titled "An
Analysis Of The Report 'The Foreign Exchange Of Hate."
A Tribute to Hinduism - [Cached Version]
Published on: 10/30/2000 Last Visited: 7/10/2006
By Ashok Chowgule
...
(Ashok Chowgule, President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Maharashtra).
AWAAZ - South Asia Watch - [Cached Version]
Last Visited: 8/17/2008
But VHP's Ashok Chowgule said in an interview: "We deny all the
allegations.
...
But Ashok Chowgule, a senior member of the VHP (World Council of Hindu
Churches), a prominent affiliate of the RSS, said: "We deny all of the
allegations.
Adelaide IMC: newswire/8876 - [Cached Version]
Published on: 9/9/2004 Last Visited: 8/13/2005
Ashok Chowgule, president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Maharashtra
region, counters in an email statement that 'if this provocation
argument has to be accepted, then we have to accept that the terrorist
attacks of September 11 on the USA was entirely justified because the
terrorists have said that they have been provoked by the policy of the
USA'.
Ashok Chowgule | Rating of NGOs | www.karmayog.org - [Cached Version]
Published on: 6/2/2007 Last Visited: 11/25/2008
Ashok Chowgule ash...@chowgulegoa.com
Assocham -- Managing Comittee Members - [Cached Version]
Published on: 6/12/2000 Last Visited: 2/2/2001
Mr. Ashok V. ChowguleDirectorChowgule & Co.Ltd.Bakhtawar4th Floor,
Nariman PointMUMBAI - 400 021
BJP FRIENDS - Old Article - [Cached Version]
Published on: 4/17/1996 Last Visited: 2/16/2009
Ashok Chowgule
Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue To Hold... - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 10/12/2004 Last Visited: 10/23/2005
BANGALORE INITIATIVE FOR RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE (BIRD) & THE CAREY SOCIETY
(United Theological College) have jointly arranged a talk by Mr. Ashok
Chowgule, President, Maharashtra unit of the VHP, on "The Hindu view
on Religious Conversions", followed by an interactive session, at 5.30
p.m., Thursday, 5 August 2005, at the United Theological College, 63
Millers Road.
31-40 of 53 online sources for Ashok Chowgule
Campaign to Stop Funding Hate - [Cached Version]
Published on: 3/8/2004 Last Visited: 11/7/2009
But VHP's Ashok Chowgule said in an interview: "We deny all the
allegations.
Campaign to Stop Funding Hate - [Cached Version]
Published on: 2/26/2004 Last Visited: 11/7/2009
But Ashok Chowgule, a senior member of the VHP (World Council of Hindu
Churches), a prominent affiliate of the RSS, said: "We deny all of the
allegations.
Campaign to Stop Funding Hate - [Cached Version]
Published on: 4/12/2006 Last Visited: 2/7/2010
Ashok Chowgule, the suave spokesman for Hindutva gave us a hint of the
post script even as IDRF kept insisting carefully that it has no
connections with the RSS.
...
Ultimately, did Ashok Chowgule, Vinod prakash, Narayanan Komerath,
Ramesh Rao Yvette Rosser and Belu Mehra and lesser planets, asteroirds
and others who pulled their weight behind the 200 page report support
the emergence of an ugly world ? Legally no.
ChaloMumbai.Com - The Complete Digital Guide to the... - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 3/3/2002 Last Visited: 3/3/2002
For a man who almost brought Mumbai to a halt on March 1, Ashok
Chowgule, president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Mahrashtra is
a picture of peace.Seated in his high-rise apartment at Peddar Road,
which is painted white and has huge paintings adorning the walls,
Chowgule said that the Ayodhya mission is not the culmination of
failed talks with the Muslims but with so-called secularists.
At what point did the dialogue with the Muslim leadership fail?Why
such haste in the plans?It is not failed talks with Muslims that has
created this situation but the failure of talks with those who call
themselves secularists that has made us more steadfast in our aim.And
we had explained our plans in great details earlier.After the 100-day
maha yajna ends on March 15, we will claim what is ours at Ayodhya.
ChaloMumbai.Com - The Complete Digital Guide to the... - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 3/14/2002 Last Visited: 3/14/2002
Ashok Chowgule, the state unit president of the organisation is out of
India, according to the organisation's activists.
VHP are expected to offer what they call 'nam smaran' pujas in temples
like the Sanyas Ashram, Khar.The pujas involve chanting of Lord Rama's
name.
Chowgule Steamship taps into coastal trade | Conoship... - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 12/29/2008 Last Visited: 1/8/2010
Yard boss Ashok Chowgule says Indian coastal shipping is still
undeveloped and presents revenue-earning opportunities.
...
Ashok Chowgule: in shipbuilding for the long haul.
...
Ashok Chowgule
...
The industrial and shipping group was started by Chowgule & Co
executive director Ashok Chowgule's grandfather with a small
manufacturing business.
...
Involved in the business are the Chowgule brothers, Ashok and group
chief executive Vijay, and their first cousins. Ashok and Vijay's
father is now 91 years old but is described as being "still not
exactly retired".
Ashok says India's manufacturing strength is not appreciated given its
educated workforce, industrial knowledge and strong, commercial and
legal infrastructure, 'which, he claims, makes it relatively easy to
operate in the country.
Things happen slowly in India but those who get into shipbuilding,
given the environmental-impact hoops they have to go through, are
serious players and will be there for the long term, says Ashok
Chowgule.
Companies & Industry - [Cached Version]
Published on: 10/1/2005 Last Visited: 10/31/2005
All vessels are of 4450 DWT capacity which will be delivered in next
three years," Chowgule and Company Ltd Executive Director Ashok V
Chowgule said.
With this new orders, Chowgule's shipbuilding division is marking
change in its profile by building cargo ships, he said.At present, the
company is focussing on iron ore barges, passenger vessels, deep sea
refrigerated fishing trawlers, grab and cutter suction dredgers, tugs,
twin hull catamarans and floating restaurants.
"The shipyard will not be accepting any fresh orders as the capacity
is full.It is planning to upgrade its capacity to construct 8 vessels
against existing capacity of three years per year," he said.
Chowgule said the company would invest Rs 40 crore to upgrade the
existing facilities by inducting advanced machines.
"It has already invested Rs 10 crore and has installed CNC Plasma
cutting machine which can cut steel plates of 12 metres," he said.
The shipyard, located at Loutulim (Goa), has a good water front, two
construction bays, full fledged workshop, outfitting jetty and
sufficient skid for pre-fabrication facility.
Commenting on the possibilities of acquiring minor shipbuilding
facilities, Chowgule said that the company is now more focussing on
organic growth and would concentrate on ensuring quality of
construction and punctuality in deliveries.
Cybernoon.com - [Cached Version]
Published on: 4/6/2004 Last Visited: 4/7/2004
I discovered that the person was Mr. Ashok Chowgule, the President of
the VHP in Maharashtra and Goa.He obviously felt that I needed to know
more about the plight of the Hindu pandits in Kashmir who had been
mercilessly driven out of their homeland to languish in camps across
Jammu and Delhi.
...
I am grateful to Mr. Ashok Chowgule for sending me the book first and
then the film narrating the tales of terror and horror amongst the
survivors who are living in makeshift tents for the last twelve years
with nowhere to go in their own country and no one to listen to their
tales of horror and anguish.
Differences between people and the need to value the... - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 5/1/1999 Last Visited: 1/15/2005
Says Ashok Chowgule, spokesperson of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad,
Mumbai, "Conversion is an attack on the Hindu ethos."Ask Immanuel
Kingsley of the Pentecostal group, House of Prayer, and he will tell
you with terrifying certainty, "We are not intolerant but we love
people and want to take them to Jesus so they will not perish in
hell."
Fundamentalist political parties such as the Shiv Sena are challenging
all forms of freedom of expression.
Divyabhoomi - an encyclopaedia of Indian Culture - [Cached Version]
Published on: 3/6/2003 Last Visited: 3/6/2003
Ashok V Chowgule Ashok Chowgule is an industrialist and the Executive
Director of Chowgule and Company Limited.With degrees in engineering
and business management from England and the United States of America,
he has been Managing Director, Narmada Cement, the country's first
large private sector cement plant, until recently a Chowgule group
company.He has been instrumental in achieving a sustained growth for
the group over the past few decades.A keen student of Indian culture,
he is the president of the Maharashtra and Goa Pranth of the Vishva
Hindu Parishad.
Nanik Rupani The Chairman of Priyadarshni Academy, Nanik Rupani is a
self-made, first-generation entrepreneur with interests in industries
as diverse as telecommunications, information technology, electronics
and finance.A humanist and a patron of Indian art and culture, he has
been instrumental in promoting and encouraging several deserving
organisations, programmes and individuals aimed at bettering the human
condition as well as art and culture.The Academy recognises persons
who have contributed exceptionally to society and presents awards
every year.He is a director on the board of many leading institutions
and companies and a philanthropist.
Jayraj Salgaokar Publisher and Managing Director of Sumangal
Publishing that brings out India's largest selling publication,
Kalnirnay, Jayraj Salgaokar has played a key role in making his brand
a household name not just in India but in Indian homes across the
world.Kalnirnay today is as successful a product as it is an
advertising vehicle.He reads widely on Indian culture and is a
connoisseur of performing art and Marathi literature.He writes and
lectures on mass communication, printing technology and management at
institutions and universities.
41-50 of 53 online sources for Ashok Chowgule
Freeindiamedia.com, Express your impartial, radical,... - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 9/29/2003 Last Visited: 5/28/2006
In the words of the President of Maharashtra VHP, Ashok Chowgule, "The
Ram Janmabhoomi issue has revolutionised the politics of the country.
GOANEWS - BY SANDESH PRABHUDESAI - [Cached Version]
Published on: 10/11/2000 Last Visited: 8/21/2003
"The final decision would be taken at the Dharm Sansad, based on a
concrete proposal which would be discussed at the Goa meeting",
informed Ashok Chowgule, the VHP president for Goa and Maharashtra,
who is also a leading mine owner here.
In fact Goa's all the three leading industrial houses have come
together to organise the meeting at Ramnathi temple with Shivanand
Salgaoncar heading the reception committee while Shrinivas Dempo
heading the organising committee.
As half of the ongoing work of carving of pillars for the Ram temple
at Ayodhya and Rajasthan would be completed by next year, Chowgule
says the process to decide about the construction date should also
begin.
"It cannot be at any other place than where the Babri masjid was
situated", he asserts, adding that seeking permission of the central
government to begin the construction work would also be one of the
main issues to be discussed at the Ramnathi meeting.
Stating that the VHP has its own agenda than the Bharatiya Janata
Party, Chowgule also informed that the Bajrang Dal and Durga Vahini
would not be involved in the meeting officially but only its
activists.
...
Equally topping the agenda of the meeting is the issue of religious
conversions allegedly carried out by the Roman Catholic Church and
alleged terrorist activities at the behest of the Baptist churches in
the North Eastern region, informs Chowgule.
The meeting, he said, would also discuss the threat caused to Haridwar
and Ganga due to the Tehri dam and a grand ceremony to be organised
next year on the occasion of completion of 50 years of the Somnath
temple.
Objecting strongly to the statement made by Pope John Paul II that
mankind can get salvation only through Jesus Christ, Chowgule also
demanded a reaction from the Indian church whether they have a
different viewpoint on it.
Justifying the demand made by the RSS for a swadeshi church, he also
reiterated the VHP stand that Hinduism is the real nationalism in
India and those who believe in Hindu civilisation can only be called
the nationalists."I am not saying that Indian Christians are anti-
nationals", he added.
Expressing fear over Pope's call to dedicate the new millennium to
convert whole Asia into Christianity, he said the margadarshak mandal
would deliberate upon how to counter the threat of religious
conversions and save Hinduism in the Asian region.
Goan Voice UK: Newsletter. Issue 2006-46. Nov. 16, 2006 - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 11/16/2006 Last Visited: 2/7/2010
Goa's Chowgule Group is mulling an entry into building ships for
overseas markets, Ashok Chowgule, the group's shipyard-division
executive director revealed during a visit this week to London. They
are currently building ships at their Loutolim and Rassaim yards in
the state of Goa
ITI-GOA-photogallery - [Cached Version]
Published on: 2/11/2006 Last Visited: 11/6/2009
Chowgule seen 'inking' the M.O.A.
State Director & Shri. Ashok Chowgule, Exec. Dir., M/s. Chowgule
Shipyard Pvt. Ltd., Vasco exchanging the M.O.A. documents State
Director giving a listening ear to our Hon'Minister, Shri.
Iraq\'s maritime industry expects boost with Gulf... - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 11/6/2004 Last Visited: 4/10/2006
Ashok Chowgule, chairman and managing director of Chowgule and Co. in
India, as a Gulf Maritime participant, agreed.
?We specialize in building barges and other carriers for many years in
India.Gulf Maritime, we are confident, will give us the opportunity to
tap the increased demand for the same in this region,?Chowgule said.
MiddleEastEvents.com - The rebuilding of Iraq to fuel... - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 9/11/2003 Last Visited: 9/5/2006
Mr. Ashok Chowgule, Chairman and Managing Director of Chowgule and Co.
from India, a participant at Gulf Maritime readily confirms this
trend.
Navhind Times on the Web: Openspace - [Cached Version]
Published on: 8/30/2003 Last Visited: 9/4/2003
The President of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (Goa and Maharashtra) Ashok
Chowgule asks in an interview with Umesh Mahambre why no Christian
organisations are protesting when the churches in UK and US disallow
yoga classes inside their premisesThe VHP welcomed the Tamil Nadu
legislation banning religious conversions, saying it should be adopted
by all states.Isn't it an anti-constitutional demand?
‘RSS-VHP Serve Their Political Agenda'
The activities of Graham Staines - Christian Aggression - [Cached
Version]
Published on: 10/30/2003 Last Visited: 4/1/2008
Ashok Chowgule
Deceased Graham Stewart Staines (hereinafter referred to as 'Staines')
as an Australian National whose tryst with Mayurbhanj in Orissa began
in the year 1965 when he made rendezvous with its District Headquarter
at Baripada for treatment and eradication of Leprosy amongst the poor
and did an excellent job in the field.He became the honorary Secretary
of Baripada Leprosy Home.He was also the Secretary of the Evangelical
Missionary Society of Mayurbhanj (EMSM).As a missionary, he was
preaching Gospel and spreading the tenets of Christianity in jungle
camps held in different tribal belts in the district of Mayurbhanj and
Keonjhar.
The zealots who would inherit - [Cached Version]
Published on: 2/16/1999 Last Visited: 5/1/2002
From: Ashok ChowgulePresident,
Vishva Hindu Parishad - [Cached Version]
Published on: 2/5/2002 Last Visited: 6/29/2006
SECULARIST ANGST - ASHOK CHOWGULEVishva Hindu Parishad
51-53 of 53 online sources for Ashok Chowgule
nude police -- nude police - [Cached Version]
Published on: 1/12/2001 Last Visited: 7/2/2006
NEWS : Police question Husain over nude painting Posted By Ashok V
Chowgule (ash...@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in) Sat, 18 Jan 97 22:30:33 EST
Messages sorted by: [ author ] [ date ][ subject ][ thread ...
‘I want what is mine’ - [Cached Version]
Published on: 7/27/2001 Last Visited: 4/14/2002
‘I want what is mine' Ashok Chowgule, explains the logic behind the
VHP's agenda
For a man who almost brought Mumbai to a halt on March 1, Ashok
Chowgule, Maharashtra president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), is
a picture of peace.Seated in his high-rise apartment at Peddar Road,
which is painted white and has huge paintings adorning the walls,
Chowgule said that the Ayodhya mission is not the culmination of
failed talks with the Muslims but with so-called secularists.
At what point did the dialogue with the Muslim leadership fail?Why
such haste in the plans?
It is not failed talks with Muslims that has created this situation
but the failure of talks with those who call themselves secularists
that has made us more steadfast in our aim.And we had explained our
plans in great detail earlier.After the 100-day maha yagna ends on
March 15, we will claim what is ours at Ayodhya.
‘I’m happy organisers had sense’ - [Cached Version]
Published on: 2/19/2007 Last Visited: 2/19/2007
When contacted, VHP president Ashok Chougule said, "I am happy the
organisers had some sense in them."
http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.aspx?PersonID=39038676
...More to follow about this Hindu rascal
...and I am Sid Harth
bademiyansubhanallah
> Version]
> Published on: 11/10/2009 Last Visited: 12/9/2009
> Ashok Chowgule,Vice-President, VHP
> ...
> From: Ashok Chowgule
>
> To: Sultan Shahin Edi...@NewAgeIslam.com
> ...
> Ashok Chowgule, Vice-President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad
> ...
> Ashok Chowgule
> ...
> From: Ashok Chowgule
> ...
> Ashok Chowgule
>
> Version]
> Last Visited: 12/10/2008
> Ashok Chowgule
>
> Ashok Chowgule
> ...
> Ashok Chowgule
>
> Version]
> Published on: 2/5/2009 Last Visited: 2/5/2009
> Ashok V Chowgule
>
> Version]
> Published on: 10/30/2003 Last Visited: 12/10/2007
> Ashok Chowgule
>
> Deceased Graham Stewart Staines (hereinafter referred to as 'Staines')
> as an Australian National whose tryst with Mayurbhanj in Orissa began
> in the year 1965 when he made rendezvous with its District Headquarter
> at Baripada for treatment and eradication of Leprosy amongst the poor
> and did an excellent job in the field.He became the honorary Secretary
> of Baripada Leprosy Home.He was also the Secretary of the Evangelical
> Missionary Society of Mayurbhanj (EMSM).As a missionary, he was
> preaching Gospel and spreading the tenets of Christianity in jungle
> camps held in different tribal belts in the district of Mayurbhanj and
> Keonjhar.
>
> Version]
> Published on: 5/24/2007 Last Visited: 5/24/2007
> On 5/22/07, Ashok Chowgule
>
> Published on: 4/24/2006 Last Visited: 5/18/2009
> by Ashok Chowgule in association with Hindu Vivek Kendra
>
> Version]
> Published on: 7/14/2009 Last Visited: 12/9/2009
> Ashok Chowgule has posted an 18 month old off-topic article in this
> dicussion of the veil. While sanghis and VHP-ites write frequently in
> Muslim oriented outlets, Muslim community leaders, including even the
> editor of Milli Gazette, cannot get their letters published in
> newspapers such as the Pioneer!
>
> 7/15/2009 9:50:11 AM Ashok Chowgule, Vice President, Vishwa Hindu
> Paris
> ...
> Ashok Chowgule
>
> ...
> Ashok Chowgule, Vice President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)
>
> Version]
> Published on: 11/1/2001 Last Visited: 12/9/2009
> Ashok Chowgule
>
> With reference to the enclosed article.
> ...
> Ashok Chowgule, Vive President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad
>
> 10/31/2009 1:42:21 AM
>
Sid Harth
BJP workers damage railway station in Madhya Pradesh
Bhopal, Feb 26 – The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) workers
Friday tried to set a train on fire and damaged property at Jabalpur
railway station in Madhya Pradesh, alleging the city’s interests were
overlooked in the railway budget.
The violent workers were protesting extension of Jabalpur-Mumbai Garib
Rath up to Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh and Jabalpur not getting a
railway division status.
Government Railway Police (GRP) baton charged the workers to disperse
them.
Later, more than a hundred protesters, led by BJP MP from Jabalpur
Rakesh Singh, courted arrests against the move to extend Garib Rath’s
run to Allahabad.
IANS
http://www.indiatalkies.com/2010/02/bjp-workers-damage-railway-station-madhya-pradesh.html
BJP workers clash with police in Uttar Pradesh
Lucknow, Feb 25 – Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists clashed with
police here Thursday when their protest against the central
government’s failure to contain rising prices took a violent turn.
Police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse
the protesters, who threw stones at the security personnel. Police
were trying to stop the protesters from marching towards the state
assembly.
Police claimed no one was injured in the incident, but the opposition
party alleged 12 of their workers and leaders sustained injuries after
police baton charged them.
Led by senior leaders including Rajnath Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi and
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, BJP workers from across the state, converged at
the Jhule Lal Vatika to participate in a ‘Maha rally against
inflation, corruption’.
After the senior leaders’ address, party workers marched towards the
assembly, but were stopped by police. Agitated party workers then
started clashing with police and tried to force their way out of the
barricades put up to stop them.
IANS
http://www.indiatalkies.com/2010/02/bjp-workers-clash-police-uttar-pradesh.html
MNIK opens across Madhya Pradesh amidst minor protests
Bhopal, Feb 12 – Shah Rukh Khan’s latest film ‘My Name is Khan’
released all over Madhya Pradesh except Jabalpur Friday, amidst some
protests by the Shiv Sainiks. The film drew huge crowds with all the
shows going ‘house full’.
Police had to use mild force to disperse Shiv Sena activists who
pelted stones at the Jyoti Talkies in Bhopal. A handful of Shiv Sena
activists, around 20, earlier in the day held a demonstration at the
cinema hall but their attempt to disrupt the show was unsuccessful.
Heavy police force was deployed at all the three theatres where the
movie was released in Bhopal.
Shiv Sainiks, however, returned during the evening show and pelted
stones after which police baton charged them and took a few of them in
custody.
The movie could not be screened in Jabalpur district as the theatre
owners there said there was no communication from their association in
Mumbai and hence, they were unable to begin the screening.
Elsewhere in the state including Gwalior and Ratlam the movie was
released amidst minor protests, said MP Cinema Exhibitors Association
Secretary Aziz Bhai.
Meanwhile, noted lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar said: ‘Shah Rukh’s
statement was not controversial. Shah Rukh also said ‘how can I take
the Pakistani players because there is a problem between India and
Pakistan’. But unfortunately this part of the statement is not
mentioned.’
IANS
http://www.indiatalkies.com/2010/02/mnik-opens-madhya-pradesh-minor-protests-2.html
INOX Cinemas restart advance bookings for ‘MNIK’ in Mumbai
Mumbai, Feb 10 – Multiplex chain INOX Cinemas restarted advance
bookings for ‘My Name is Khan’ here Wednesday evening after shutting
it down for much of the day due to the threat of violent protests by
Shiv Sena activists.
‘Advance booking is now on at our halls,’ an official from INOX
Cinemas told IANS.
Cinema halls in India’s film capital had stopped advance bookings for
the Shah Rukh Khan starrer following violent protests by Shiv Sena
activists Tuesday. On Wednesday, the violence was restricted to
tearing of hoardings, at least till the afternoon.
Multiplex chains like PVR and Cinemax halted their advance bookings
for the film in the morning, as did single screen theatres like Mehul
in Mulund and Shreyas in Ghatkopar, their officials said. Fun Cinemas
also halted advance bookings.
Activists of the right wing Shiv Sena continued to demonstrate against
the movie since Shah Rukh supported the inclusion of Pakistani
cricketers in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The activists have been vandalising cinema halls and tearing up
hoardings, despite the Mumbai Police assuring security cover at the 63
cinema halls and multiplexes that are still scheduled to show the
movie here from Friday.
Set in post 9/11 US, the film also features actress Kajol.
IANS
http://www.indiatalkies.com/2010/02/inox-cinemas-restart-advance-bookings-mnik-mumbai.html
BJP workers clash with police in Lucknow
Lucknow, Feb 25 – Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists clashed with
police here Thursday when their protest against the central
government’s failure to contain rising prices turned violent.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets and used water cannons to
disperse the protesters, who threw stones at the security personnel.
Police were trying to stop the protesters from marching towards the
state assembly.
Police claimed no one was injured in the incident, but the opposition
party alleged a large number of party workers were seriously injured
after police baton charged them.
‘We are getting calls from several hospitals, where hundreds of our
workers were admitted after they received serious injuries in police
lathi charge and other violent methods adopted against us by the
security personnel,’ Pankaj Singh, son of former BJP president Rajnath
Singh, told reporters.
Rajnath Singh told reporters: ‘Our’s is a democratic country, still
police today (Thursday) behaved in an autocratic manner to suppress
our peaceful demonstration… Police threw stones at our leaders and
also resorted to force against them without any reason. Even I had to
use a chair as a cover to protect myself from police.’
‘Police without reason used force against us and injured several of
our leaders. It’s disgraceful on the part of the Uttar Pradesh
government, on whose directions we were targeted today. We will
definitely raise the issue in parliament,’ he added.
Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi said that police atrocities
against the party workers reflected ‘the inhumane nature of the
government that prompted police to resort to violence against the
party workers who were carrying out peaceful demonstrations’.
‘Police repeatedly ignored the appeals of Rajnath ji and other party
leaders to not use force against us… However, not paying any heed
towards such appeals, the police continued to bash us,’ he alleged.
Led by senior leaders including Rajnath Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi,
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Vinay Katiyar, BJP workers from across the
state converged at the Jhule Lal Vatika to participate in a ‘Maha
rally against inflation, corruption’.
After they were addressed by the senior leaders, party workers armed
with saffron flags marched towards the assembly but were stopped by
police. Agitated party workers then started clashing with police and
tried to force their way through the barricades put up to stop them.
Venting their ire against the security personnel, agitated BJP workers
even manhandled Superintendent of Police (Trans-Gomti) Paresh Pandey
after holding him captive for some time.
Pandey could only be rescued after the intervention of Rajnath and
other party leaders of the party, who appealed to the BJP workers to
release the police officer.
IANS
http://www.indiatalkies.com/2010/02/bjp-workers-clash-police-lucknow.html
BJP workers clash with police in Lucknow, Chandigarh
Lucknow, Feb 25 – Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists clashed with
police in Lucknow and Chandigarh Thursday when their protest against
the central government’s failure to contain rising prices turned
violent.
In the Uttar Pradesh capital, police fired tear-gas and rubber bullets
and used water cannons to disperse the protesters, who threw stones at
the security personnel. Police were trying to stop the protesters from
marching towards the state assembly complex.
Police claimed no one was injured in the incident, but the opposition
party alleged a large number of party workers sufferd serious injuries
after police baton charged them.
‘We are getting calls from several hospitals, where hundreds of our
workers were admitted after they received serious injuries in police
lathi-charge and other violent methods adopted against us by the
security personnel,’ Pankaj Singh, son of former BJP president Rajnath
Singh, told reporters.
Rajnath Singh told reporters: ‘Our’s is a democratic country, still
police today (Thursday) behaved in an autocratic manner to suppress
our peaceful demonstration… Police threw stones at our leaders and
also resorted to force against them without any reason. Even I had to
use a chair as a cover to protect myself from police.’
Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi said that police atrocities
against the party workers reflected ‘the inhumane nature of the
government that prompted police to resort to violence against our
party workers who were carrying out peaceful demonstrations’.
Led by senior leaders Rajnath Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi, Mukhtar
Abbas Naqvi and Vinay Katiyar, BJP workers from across the state
converged at the Jhule Lal Vatika in Lucknow to participate in a ‘Maha
rally against inflation, corruption’.
After senior leaders addressed them, party workers armed with saffron
flags marched towards the state assembly complex but were stopped by
police. Agitated party workers then started clashing with police and
tried to force their way through the barricades.
Venting their ire against the security personnel, agitated BJP workers
even manhandled Superintendent of Police (Trans-Gomti) Paresh Pandey
after holding him captive for some time.
Pandey could only be rescued after the intervention of Rajnath and
other party leaders, who appealed to the BJP workers to release the
police officer.
Meanwhile, the state BJP unit has announced plans to observe Feb 26 as
Black day to protest the police actions against party workers.
To protest the police action and the alleged autocratic functioning of
the BSP government, the BJP has called for a state-wide bandh March
2.
In Chandigarh also, led by Haryana BJP president Krishna Pal Gurjar,
party workers held a protest rally and raised slogans against the UPA
government.
The protesters turned violent when police stopped them from moving
towards the Haryana Raj Bhavan, official residence of state Governor
Jagannath Pahadia.
‘They were not listening to us and were disturbing the law and order
situation of the area. Therefore, we used mild force to control them.
We have also arrested 35 of them,’ said a police officer.
Over 200 BJP workers from various parts of Haryana gathered here
Thursday on a call given by Gurjar to protest the UPA government
failure to control rising prices of general commodities.
‘We just wanted to meet the governor and to submit our memorandum to
him. But Chandigarh police started pushing and misbehaving with us.
They have mercilessly beaten our party workers and during the melee
scores of our party workers have sustained serious injuries,’ said
Gurjar, who was also arrested by the police.
IANS
http://www.indiatalkies.com/2010/02/bjp-workers-clash-police-lucknow-chandigarh.html
Sid Harth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Subramanian Swamy
Member of Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha), Union Cabinet
Minister for Commerce & Law
In office
1973–1991
Prime Minister Chandrasekhar
Preceded by A. G. S. Ram Babu
Succeeded by P. Mohan
Born September 15, 1939
Nationality Indian
Political party Janata Party
Spouse(s) Roxna
Profession economist, Politician
Religion Hindu
Dr. Subramanian Swamy (b. 15 September 1939 at Chennai, sometimes
spelt as Subramaniam Swamy) is a politician from India. He is also a
trained economist.
Personal life
Subramanian Swamy has two daughters, Gitanjali Swamy and Suhasini
Haider. Suhasini is a journalist with Indian television channel CNN-
IBN. His wife Dr. Roxna Swamy is an Advocate in the Supreme Court of
India.
Association with Harvard
Following his time at the Indian Statistical Institute, he was awarded
a doctorate by Harvard University in 1964. Two of his advisors at the
time were Simon Kuznets and Paul A. Samuelson[1]. For a time, while
completing his dissertation in 1963, he worked in the UN Secretariat
at New York as Assistant Economics Affairs Officer. He subsequently
worked as a resident tutor at Lowell House, and as an assistant
professor for the Harvard Economics department where he later became
an Associate professor in 1969. Subsequently he has been a regularly
teaching at the rank of full Professor at the Harvard Summer School.
He is accounted by some to be an authority on the comparative study of
India and China[2] and is also well-versed in the Mandarin Chinese
(Hanyu) language[3].
Association with IITs
He was Professor of Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology
Delhi from 1969. He was removed from the position by its board of
Governors in the early 1970s but was legally reinstated in the late
1980s by the Supreme Court of India. He continued in the position till
1991 when he resigned to become a cabinet minister. He served on the
Board of Governors of the IIT, Delhi (1977-80), and on the Council of
IITs (1980-82).
Political career
He is regarded as a proponent of Hindutva as a political concept. He
first came into spotlight for protesting against the emergency imposed
in 1975. He was one of the founding members of the Janata Party and is
its president since 1990. He was elected member of parliament 5 times
between 1974 and 1999. He has twice represented the city of Mumbai
North East during 1977 and 1980, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the
Parliament.
He is known for his efforts in normalizing relations with China and
Israel. In 1981, he persuaded Deng Xiaoping to open the Kailash
Mansarovar in Tibet to Hindu pilgrims from India[4]. In 1990-1991, he
was a minister in the Chandra Shekhar cabinet and was in charge of the
ministries of Commerce and Law and Justice.
He was also a member of the Planning Commission between 1990 and 1991.
Between 1994 and 1996, he held the position of Chairman of the
Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade (equivalent to
the rank of a cabinet minister) under the P. V. Narasimha Rao
government. Dr. Swamy has been subject to several defamation cases. He
is known to argue these cases himself without the agency of lawyers.
He has enjoyed a strange maverick relationship with J. Jayalalithaa.
He was perceived as instrumental in bringing the disproportionate
assets case of J. Jayalalithaa into public notice in the 1990s but by
1997, he had become her political adviser and was instrumental in
convincing her to withdraw support from the Vajpayee Government in
1999. The alliance with Jayalalithaa ended after she lost the General
Elections held in the same year.
In October 2004, he along with other members of the erstwhile Janata
Party established the Rashtriya Swabhiman Manch to oppose the policies
of the ruling UPA.
He has played an important role in fighting for the cause of
preventing the destruction of Rama Sethu bridge. He moved the Supreme
Court of India and successfully obtained a stay for the Sethusamudram
Shipping Canal Project at the final hours on August 31, 2007. The case
is under hearing before the Supreme Court.
Most recently Dr. Swamy has been crusading for proper electoral
governance in the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in the
Indian Elections. Dr. Swamy has been one of the few petitioners, who
has successfully petitioned the Indian Courts to look in to serious
electoral mis-management potential in the use of Electronic Voting
Machines (EVM) during the Indian Elections from 2001 through 2009.
Following a preliminary hearing in the Delhi High Court in late 2009,
the Chief Justice of the High Court concurred with Dr. Swamy's
petition and admitted the matter for a full hearing in early 2010. Dr.
Swamy has argued that any electoral mechanism such as an EVM must
provide full audit-ability, account-ability and transparency and that
Indian Election Commission's current EVM has neither of the three.
Additionally the technology is in direct violation of the Indian
Information Technology Act. The matter is currently under
consideration in the Indian Courts.
He has been very effective in the Courts fighting for justice and has
used the Courts effectively on issues of public importance. It is
worth noting that he is an economist but has been very successful
arguing PILs in Court for the public good.
Stance against the LTTE
He is noted for his consistent stance against the LTTE which is
proscribed as a terrorist organization by 31 countries
(see list)
Commenting:
“ LTTE is a terrorist organization which moreover killed Rajiv Gandhi
and has spewed poison online about India[5] ”
“ LTTE is a part of the Sri Lankan problem, and can never be a part of
the solution[6] ”
His stance against the LTTE has had five successive Indian governments
place him in the Z category of Indian security, with security cover of
at least 22 personnel because of the high LTTE threat to his life.[7]
Subramanian Swamy was attacked by a group of pro-LTTE lawyers .[8]
Violent clashes between the Tamil Nadu police and practicing lawyers
occurred on the 19th of February 2009 on the Madras High Court
premises.
Books
Dr. Subramanian Swamy is the author of numerous books and writes
regularly in various journals and newspapers, some of his books are :-
Economic Growth in China and India, 1989
Hindus Under Siege. (2006)
Notes
^ Boumans 167
^ Prospects for India-U.S. relations better: Swamy The Hindu - January
23, 2008
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/01/23/stories/2008012360151400.htm
^ About Dr. Subramanian Swamy
http://www.kamakotidevotees.org/london/dr-swamy.html
^ Pilgrims' route The Tribune - September 26, 1998
http://www.tribuneindia.com/1998/98sep27/spotlite.htm
^ Subramanian Swamy on LTTE, Defence Agreement and the right to
station Indian Troops in non-Tamil areas in Sri Lanka Asian Tribune -
June 28, 2004
^ India will Never Support Eelam; Dr Subramanian Swamy Says Nidahasa
News - October 8, 2007 http://news.nidahasa.com/news.php?go=fullnews&newsid=348
^ Transcripts - Parliament of India http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/lsdeb/ls12/ses2/0405089808.htm
^ [1] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/Lawyer_arrested_for_pelting_eggs_at_Swamy/articleshow/4152259.cms
References
Boumans, Marcel (2005). How Economists Model the World Into Numbers.
Routledge. ISBN 0415346215.
External links
Biography on Janta Party site http://www.janataparty.org/president.html
Subramaniam Swamy's views on the influence of Hinduism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQhDXwZztSU
Subramaniam Swamy in Janata Party's website
An article by Dr. Subramanian Swamy on how to face defamation
litigation
http://www.hindu.com/2004/09/21/stories/2004092103551000.htm
Subramaniam Swamy fined Rs. 5 lakhs by the Delhi High Court for making
libellous allegations against Jayalalitha Jayaram
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060104/nation.htm#16
Basic Islam for Hindu Dhimmis - Subramanian Swamy
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=159&page=31
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subramanian_Swamy"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subramanian_Swamy
Swamy sees insecurity among minorities
By Our Staff Reporter
RAMANATHAPURAM, FEB 26. The people belonging to minority communities
will always live in fear if the Bharatiya Janata Party is voted to
power again in the coming Lok Sabha elections, the Janata Party
president, Subramanian Swamy, told presspersons at Pasumpon village on
Thursday.
Dr. Swamy said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance had failed to
ensure the welfare of minorities and it was evident from the fact that
Muslims were put to untold hardships in Gujarat. "They feel a sense of
insecurity throughout the country."
The Government should take necessary steps to arrest the general
secretary of the MDMK, Vaiko, if he continued to support the LTTE or
praise its leader in public meetings.
No party would get simple majority in the coming Lok Sabha elections,
he said and predicted a hung Parliament.
Dr. Swamy wondered how the DMK president, M. Karunanidhi, could
tolerate the issue of the foreign origin of the Congress president,
Sonia Gandhi, as he had termed the former Chief Minister, M.G.
Ramachandran, a Malayalee when the AIADMK formed the Government in the
State.
Dr. Swamy urged the Government to give no objection certificate to the
Central Government to name the Madurai airport as Pasumpon
Muthuramalinga Thevar Airport. The State Government had twice rejected
the requisition of the Central Government.
The Janata Party would approach the court to issue a direction to the
State Government in this connection after the elections.
Earlier, speaking at a function organised by the family of
Muthuramalinga Thevar in recognition of his (Dr. Swamy's) efforts in
installing the Thevar statue in Parliament House, Dr. Swamy said the
Janata Party would take the necessary steps to set up a modern
university in the name of Thevar at Pasumpon.
He appealed to the Government to include the life history of Thevar as
one of the subjects in the college curriculum in order to facilitate
the younger generation to know about the heroic deeds of Thevar and
his dedication towards the betterment of society.
http://www.hindu.com/2004/02/27/stories/2004022706661100.htm
Need for ‘Hindu vote bank’: Swamy
Special Correspondent
TIRUPATI: Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy on Monday said the
only way to counter vote-bank policies blindly pursued by governments
and political parties was to develop a strong and formidable “Hindu
vote bank.” It was the only way to check the “continued neglect and
subjugation of Hindus and Hindu temples,” he said.
Dr. Swamy criticised the United Progressive Alliance government for
its attempt to “bend over backwards” to protect mosques and churches
while showing “utter indifference” to protect the Hindu shrines and
sentiments.
He was addressing a convention organised by the Andhra Pradesh Hindu
Temples Protection Committee.
Dr. Swamy said that though there were 42 mosques in Ayodhya where no
prayers were offered, Muslims were laying claim to the disputed Ram
Janmabhoomi alone.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/17/stories/2009021759811100.htm
GOVERNMENT
Pulls and pressures
The days leading up to the swearing-in of the BJP Government were
marked by hard bargaining by some of the party's allies.
V. VENKATESAN
in New Delhi
IMMEDIATELY after the Election Commission formally notified the
results of the Lok Sabha elections and informed President K.R.
Narayanan about it on March 10, the President began a consultative
process to constitute a new government. The Election Commission had
earlier announced that the new Lok Sabha would be constituted before
March 12, and the leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its
allies, which had emerged as the largest combination of pre-election
allies but had fallen short of a majority in Parliament, were under
the impression that the numbers game would begin on or after March 12.
The initial public statements of leaders of the Congress(I) and the
United Front seemed to indicate that they would endeavour to prevent
the BJP from coming to power.
Thus, when the President invited BJP Parliamentary Party leader Atal
Behari Vajpayee for a discussion on government formation on March 10,
BJP leaders were taken by surprise. Vajpayee was holding talks with
the alliance partners when the President's invitation was received.
Vajpayee read out the contents of the letter to newspersons. In his
letter, Narayanan offered his felicitations to Vajpayee on his
election as the leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party. He gave
Vajpayee the first opportunity to let him know whether he would be
able and willing to form a stable government which could secure the
confidence of the Lok Sabha. The President noted that the BJP had
emerged as the single largest party in the Lok Sabha and the political
formation that it headed was the largest combination of pre-election
allies.
However, when Vajpayee gave a written undertaking to the President
that he was in a position to form a stable government that could
command the confidence of the House, the President asked for documents
to support the claim that the BJP and its allies had strength of 252
seats. The BJP had hardly expected the President to insist on
documentary proof of its parliamentary support.
Only a day earlier, the leaders of the BJP and its allies had met at
Vajpayee's residence in New Delhi to discuss the contents of the
National Agenda for Governance, a programme of action for a government
of the BJP and its allies. It did not occur to any of the BJP's
strategists that they should secure formal letters of support from the
leaders of the allies. The BJP took the support of its pre-election
allies for granted, when it publicised the letters of support given by
the post-election allies and some independents. With the assured
support of 12 more MPs - either independents or those belonging to
post-election allies - the saffron alliance was seemingly in a
position to secure 264 votes.
In the belief that the process of securing letters of support from the
alliance partners would be a mere formality, Vajpayee decided to get
back to the President on March 11 with the letters. But trouble arose
when four of the BJP's five allies in Tamil Nadu - the All India Anna
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the Pattali Makkal Katchi, the
Janata Party and the Tamizhaga Rajiv Congress - did not send in their
letters. (The fifth ally, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(MDMK), had sent its letter of support by facsimile to the President
and a copy of it to Vajpayee.)
Unable to secure all the letters, Vajpayee postponed his meeting with
the President to March 12. Anxiety was writ large on the faces of BJP
leaders as AIADMK general secretary Jayalalitha, who was coordinating
the actions of the smaller parties in her alliance in Tamil Nadu,
continued to hold back although she had repeatedly made public
statements right up until March 9 to the effect that her party and its
allies would offer "unconditional support" to a Vajpayee-led
government. The BJP was also concerned that the perception of a
misunderstanding with a major alliance partner would not bode well for
its claim to form a stable government.
A senior leader in charge of party affairs in the southern States said
that the delay had been occasioned by the fact that Jayalalitha was
unwell on March 11. All of March 12, BJP leaders in Delhi desperately
tried to contact Jayalalitha in Chennai, but she was incommunicado.
More ominously for the BJP, she persuaded the MDMK to withdraw the
letter of support it had faxed to the President.
SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY
AIADMK general secretary Jayalalitha leaving Rashtrapati Bhavan after
the swearing-in ceremony.
The first indication of the reasons for the delay in the despatch of
the letters from Chennai came from Janata Party leader Subramanian
Swamy. Appearing on television, Subramanian Swamy said that
Jayalalitha had requested the BJP to appoint him Finance Minister and
TRC leader Vazhapadi K. Ramamurthy Home Minister. Subramanian Swamy
said that BJP leaders had refused to concede the request. Subramanian
Swamy's references to the demand for the dismissal of the Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Government in Tamil Nadu in the light of the
February 14 Coimbatore blasts seemed to indicate that a commitment on
that was a "pre-condition" for the AIADMK's "unconditional" support
for a BJP-led government.
Although some sections in the BJP were in favour of conceding
Jayalalitha's "demands", Vajpayee and party president L.K. Advani were
unwilling to appease her beyond a point. The BJP refused to concede
Jayalalitha's request on ministerial appointments, and were not quite
so categorical on the demand for the dismissal of the DMK Government.
It was for this reason that the AIADMK and the PMK said that they
would not join a BJP-led ministry.
BJP leaders were nevertheless optimistic that the letters of support
would arrive in Delhi with a special messenger on the morning flight
from Chennai on March 12. What they did not know was that the letters
of support had already been despatched to Delhi: they were in the
custody of a senior AIADMK leader who was waiting for a nod from
"Amma" in Chennai so as to deliver the letters to the President.
After waiting for nearly two days, Vajpayee virtually gave up his
efforts: he met the President at 7.30 p.m. on March 12 and furnished a
list of 240 MPs from whom he had letters of support. The names of the
three MDMK MPs who had withdrawn their letters of support, however,
figured in this list. In effect, as on March 12, Vajpayee had the
support of only 237 members of the Lok Sabha, considerably short of a
majority. Vajpayee, therefore, did not stake his claim, but left it to
the discretion of the President to decide whether he could be invited
to form a government. The President then announced that he would begin
consultations with leaders of the other political formations without
dismissing the BJP's claim.
Meanwhile, Subramanian Swamy stepped up his efforts to widen the gulf
between Jayalalitha and the BJP. He accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) of blocking his appointment as Finance Minister - for
which, he claimed, he was eminently qualified, given his teaching
experience in Harvard. Ramamurthy suggested that the BJP was paying
the price for taking its allies in Tamil Nadu for granted.
Subramanian Swamy refused to concede that the AIADMK-led grouping's
alliance with the BJP had broken down or that it would have to explore
other alternatives. He, however, said that he believed that the door
was open for talks with the Congress(I) and that he expected
Congress(I) leaders to open channels of communication with Jayalalitha
in the changed political context. Subramanian Swamy envisaged a grand
alliance, which would include the Congress(I), the AIADMK and its
allies, all the United Front constituents except the DMK, the Tamil
Maanila Congress and the Telugu Desam Party, a few other minor parties
and some independents. Senior Congress(I) leader Sharad Pawar was
reportedly in touch with Jayalalitha, seeking her support for a
Congress-led government.
In their meetings with the President, leaders of the Congress(I) and
the U.F. reportedly sought four days' time to hold consultations and
explore the possibility of forming an alternative government. This in
effect gave the BJP and the AIADMK an opportunity to patch up. But
even on March 13, Jayalalitha showed no signs of relenting. She denied
that she had insisted on the allotment of key portfolios for her
allies or the dismissal of the DMK government in Tamil Nadu as a pre-
condition for extending support.
However, she accused the BJP leadership of displaying a "negative
attitude" when she raised issues that were of importance to Tamil Nadu
at a meeting of the BJP and its allies in New Delhi on March 9 (see
separate story). BJP leaders, in turn, wondered why Jayalalitha had
not raised the issue when she addressed newspersons and expressed her
total and unconditional support to a BJP-led government after the
meeting. They said that while all her demands could be negotiated, the
manner in which she had raised them - on the eve of the President's
invitation to Vajpayee to form a government - was somewhat mystifying.
"We expected her to behave in a mature way," a senior BJP leader from
the South said.
Finally, on March 14, Jayalalitha announced her decision to forward
the letters of support to the President. Relieved, the BJP prepared to
send a senior emissary on behalf of Vajpayee to meet her on March 15
in Chennai. Senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh, who met her in Chennai on
March 15 and showed her a draft of the National Agenda, succeeded in
persuading her to drop her demand to give Subramanian Swamy a
ministerial post; he also got her to agree to the AIADMK, the PMK and
the TRC joining the Ministry.
The draft of the National Agenda incorporated, even if only in
somewhat vague terms, all her publicly stated demands.
WHAT explains the turnaround by Jayalalitha? AIADMK leaders in Delhi
explained that she was persuaded to fall in line and support the BJP
in view of the adverse criticism in the media holding her responsible
for blocking Vajpayee's assumption of office as Prime Minister.
Jayalalitha's decision that the AIADMK and some of its allies would
join the Ministry was prompted by the knowledge that the President was
unlikely to invite Vajpayee to form a government unless these allies,
which command a combined strength of 27 MPs in the Lok Sabha, were
ready to join the Government.
On March 15, after Jayalalitha announced in Chennai that the AIADMK,
the PMK and the TRC would join the Government, the President contacted
the AIADMK's Parliamentary Party leader, G. Swaminathan.
He indicated that only if all the constituents of a coalition
participated in the government would the coalition remain cohesive; he
further indicated that his decision on whether to invite Vajpayee to
form a government would hinge on this.
Shortly after receiving her confirmatory message, the President
appointed Vajpayee Prime Minister and set March 19 as the date of the
swearing-in of the government. He also asked Vajpayee to seek a
confidence vote in the Lok Sabha by March 29.
Significantly, the President did not consider it necessary to insist
on a commitment from the Trinamul Congress, a member of the BJP-led
alliance, that it would participate in the government. The Trinamul
Congress has only seven MPs in the Lok Sabha, whereas the AIADMK-led
combine has 27 members.
In a communique issued on the night of March 15, in which he detailed
the consultation process he had initiated since March 10, the
President referred to Congress(I) president Sonia Gandhi's reported
remarks to newspersons that the party did not have the numbers to form
a government.
He also took into consideration the Telugu Desam Party's stand -
ascertained in a telephonic discussion with its leader N. Chandrababu
Naidu - that the party would remain neutral during the vote of
confidence.
It was these two factors that finally convinced the President that a
Vajpayee-led Government would be able to secure the confidence of the
House.
India's National Magazine
From the publishers of THE HINDU
Vol. 15 :: No. 07 :: Apr. 4 - 17, 1998
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1507/15071180.htm
India's National Magazine
From the publishers of THE HINDU
Vol. 15 :: No. 10 :: May 09 - 22, 1998
COVER STORY
Dealing with Jayalalitha
After the Jaswant Singh-Jayalalitha meeting, the AIADMK has fallen
silent; Subramanian Swamy, however, has stepped up his offensive
against the BJP.
T.S. SUBRAMANIAN
in Chennai
GOING by the current mood in BJP circles in Tamil Nadu, the party will
adopt a tough stand with respect to the All India Anna Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). AIADMK general secretary Jayalalitha will
now have to choose between the BJP and Janata Party leader Subramanian
Swamy. The BJP is said to have indicated to her that she would have to
make her choice before the Budget session of the Lok Sabha begins on
May 27. BJP sources in Chennai told Frontline that the party would not
accept Subramanian Swamy's presence in the AIADMK-led front in Tamil
Nadu if he continued to say that he would topple the Vajpayee
Government.
BJP leader Jaswant Singh flew in from Delhi and met Jayalalitha at her
Payyanoor retreat, 60 km from Chennai, on April 25. Sources said that
Jaswant Singh did some "plain talking". He apparently told Jayalalitha
that the BJP would not accept her three major demands: dismissal of
the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Government in Tamil Nadu; the
removal of Ram Jethmalani and Ramakrishna Hegde from the Union
Cabinet; and action against a private television channel based in
Chennai. The sources added that Jaswant Singh ruled out a place for
Subramanian Swamy in the coordination committee. He also told her to
put an end to attacks by some AIADMK functionaries on Jethmalani and
Hegde.
Jaswant Singh met Jayalalitha against the background of a slanging
match between Jethmalani and Hegde on the one hand and AIADMK
Ministers at the Centre, M. Thambi Durai, R. Janarthanan and R.K.
Kumar, on the other. The row followed the April 8 resignation of Union
Surface Transport Minister Sedapatti R. Muthiah of the AIADMK after a
Chennai court framed charges against him in a case of acquisition of
assets disproportionate to his known source of income during his
tenure as the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly from July 1991 to
October 1994.
VINO JOHN
Jaswant Singh outside Jayalalitha's Payyanoor Bungalow retreat near
Mamallapuram.
The situation worsened a week later. After a meeting of the AIADMK
executive committee on April 15, Jayalalitha demanded that all Union
Ministers who were charge-sheeted in corruption cases resign or be
dismissed by the Prime Minister. The next day, Jethamalani and Hegde
strongly criticised her and predicted that these "pinpricks" would end
soon.
On April 18 Jayalalitha wrote to Vajpayee naming three Ministers -
Communications Minister Buta Singh, Urban Development Minister
Jethmalani and Commerce Minister Hegde - as being involved in cases of
corruption and demanding their removal or the re-induction of Muthiah.
On April 19 Jethmalani again launched a broadside against Jayalalitha.
He took on Subramanian Swamy too. "It is clearly Dr. Subramanian Swamy
who is pushing her into making all these wild demands," he said. Hegde
wanted Vajpayee to go in for fresh elections instead of giving in to
Jayalalitha's "blackmail". In reply, Thambi Durai, Kumar and
Janarthanan, in a statement on April 23, asked Vajpayee to "advise Mr.
Hegde to either shut up or get out."
It was at this stage that the BJP high command intervened and sent
Jaswant Singh to meet Jayalalitha. Jaswant Singh had earlier come in
March to placate her when she delayed giving the letters of support
that would enable Vajpayee to form the government. BJP sources said
that this time Jaswant Singh made it clear that junior Ministers of
the AIADMK should not speak out of turn. If the AIADMK leadership had
something to say, Jayalalitha should be the one to say that, he said.
He also advised her against rushing to the media. The BJP high command
was annoyed that her letter to Vajpayee had been released to the
media.
Jaswant Singh was reportedly categorical about the BJP's decision not
to invoke Article 356 to dismiss the DMK Government. A senior BJP
source said: "We are tightening the screws. The idea is that this war
of words cannot go on... You will find a change from now on."
There was no word from Jayalalitha about the meeting. Sources in
Chennai indicated that there was no meeting ground between Jayalalitha
and Jaswant Singh. Jaswant Singh, however, claimed that the "mission
was a success". On the welter of charges and counter-allegations made
by Union Ministers, he said that the Prime Minister "will take such
action as he deems fit and proper."
The same day K.L. Sharma said in New Delhi that Subramanian Swamy
would not be included in the coordination committee because he had
failed to vote for the Government in the vote of confidence.
WHETHER by accident or design, a DMK executive meeting presided over
by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on April 25 condemned the demand for
the dismissal of the Government that emanated from an "enemy party"
and Union Ministers belonging to it as "blatant blackmail" and "devoid
of any merit at all". It added that the demand was made "to subserve
their vested interests, with palpable mala fides in order to avoid
accountability to the courts of law in the pending cases of
corruption."
The resolution also condemned the transfer of Union Special Secretary
for Home Ashok Kumar, one of two officials sent as part of the Central
team to study the law and order situation in Tamil Nadu, and said that
this was done because he told the "truth". The resolution said that
this approach amounted to "burying" federalism and marked a
"dictatorial trend in interfering in the State Government's affairs."
The resolution added: "In the event of any such proclamation (for
dismissal) being made in Delhi because of the blackmail of the vested
interests," it would be "resisted by constitutional, lawful and
peaceful methods in courts of law." The executive committee appealed
to all democratic forces "to support this resistance movement."
When a reporter asked Karunanidhi whether the resolution was driven by
the fear that his Government would be dismissed, he said: "This is
only a reply to the threats from some terrorists in Poes Garden."
The Chief Minister called the resolution "an advance notice to the
Centre that it should not give room to some people who have been
trying to paralyse the administration and disrupt law and order by
repeatedly claiming that the DMK Government will be dismissed."
AFTER the Jaswant Singh-Jayalalitha meeting, AIADMK leaders fell
silent. However, Subramanian Swamy stepped up the offensive once it
was known that he was not welcome to the coordination committee. He
alleged on April 26 that the BJP citing his not having voted for the
Government was an "excuse" to exclude him from the coordination
committee. According to him, the real reason for the crisis was the
"asymmetrical application of the criterion" on who should be a Union
Minister. He said that while Muthiah was asked to resign, "tainted"
Ministers such as Hegde and Advani were allowed to continue. Advani's
crime - he was charge-sheeted in the Babri Masjid demolition case -
was not a "political crime", he said, but "a crime against humanity
and the integrity of the nation..."
Swamy met Jayalalitha in Chennai on April 27 and said that he was
"free to explore the possibility of creating an alternative, secular,
patriotic front" at the Centre. He declared that henceforth "in
national politics, I am a free bird." He claimed that Jayalalitha had
told him that Jaswant Singh "never discussed the matter" of his
exclusion from the coordination committee. Although he would consider
breaking away from the BJP-led alliance, he asserted that he continued
to be part and parcel of the AIADMK-led front in Tamil Nadu.
Jayalalitha, BJP sources said, was faced with a difficult situation.
"If Swamy remains in the AIADMK front in Tamil Nadu, then there is
nothing wrong in the BJP getting close to somebody who is against her,
such as the DMK. She has to choose between the BJP and Swamy."
Meanwhile, Subramanian Swamy has been busy floating the idea of a
secular front to oust the BJP-led coalition Government at the Centre.
He met Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Samajwadi Party president
Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Laloo Prasad
Yadav. Meanwhile, Congress(I) leader Madhavrao Scindia met Jayalalitha
in Chennai, apparently in a bid to build bridges between his party and
the AIADMK.
Political analysts believed that Jayalalitha was left with "no
choice". She could not part company with the BJP because the stakes
involved were high - there were corruption cases pending against her
and her former Ministers, and breaking away from the BJP would weaken
her.
The response of the other constituents of the AIADMK-led front to
Swamy's challenge will have a bearing on Jayalalitha's future course
of action. Of the three of them - Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam (MDMK), the Pattali Makal Katchi (PMK) and the Tamizhaga
Rajiv Congress (TRC) - the PMK and the TRC are participants in the
Central Government. The PMK had indicated its position when its leader
S. Ramadoss hinted that his party would not play along with
Subramanian Swamy.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1510/15100120.htm
Swamy seeks Manmohan’s sanction to prosecute Raja
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI: Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy has sought the Prime
Minister’s sanction to prosecute Union Communications Minister A. Raja
in the wake of CBI raids on Sanchar Bhavan offices to investigate
alleged irregularities in spectrum allotment.
In a statement, Dr. Swamy said he filed a petition for sanction as
early as on November 29, 2008 with Dr. Singh, as required under the
Prevention of Corruption Act, to launch a criminal investigation
against Mr. Raja under Sections 11 and 13 of the Act.
The CBI raids made the granting of permission by Dr. Singh a “mere
formality,” Dr. Swamy said.
An independent case filed by him in the designated sessions court for
trying cases under the Act would be the best recourse for a fair trial
of the spectrum deals and the CBI investigation could supplement the
legal process, he said.
Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 24, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version
http://www.thehindu.com/2009/10/24/stories/2009102461211000.htm
Sanatana Dharma Foundation Honors Dr Subramanian Swamy and Dr S.
Kalyanaraman for their Courageous Effort in Protecting the Historic
Rama Sethu Sanatana Dharma Foundation, Dallas, Texas organized its
first Hindu Unity Day, at the DFW Hindu Temple, in Dallas on the 19th
and 20th of July, 2008. Symbolizing Hindu Unity, Representatives of
Dallas Chapters of several organizations like the Art of living
Foundation, Ammachi Satsang, Hare Krishna ISCKON group, Gayatri
Parivar, Brahmakumaris, Carribbean Mandir, Chinmaya Mission, Hanuman
Temple, Sathya Sai groups, Datta Yoga Peetam and other prominent Hindu
personalities from the local Dallas-Fort Worth community in Texas,
were present at this unique event. Dr Subramanian Swamy's latest book
"Rama Sethu Symbol of National Unity" was released and distributed at
the Event, to key members of these organizations and other prominent
members of the community.
Rama Sethu Symbol of National Unity
Hindu Dharma Rakshaka Kshatriya Award
This award, a first of its kind, has been instituted to honor and
celebrate the 'Kshatriya Spirit', specifically the courage shown by
Hindus in taking risks and standing up to fight for the protection and
preservation of Dharma. The word Kshatriya is a Sanskrit word that
refers to the royal and noble class of Hindus who historically
defended their nation, and the Dharma of the land.
Rama Sethu Symbol of National Unity
Dallas, Texas (PRWEB) July 26, 2008 -- Dr Subramanian Swamy, PhD,
visiting professor of Economics, Harvard University and former Union
Law Minister of India, and Dr S. Kalyanaraman, Director, Saraswati
River Research Center, and President of Sri Rameshwaram Rama Sethu
Raksha Manch, received awards in Dallas, Texas for their courageous
effort in protecting the historic Rama Sethu, from being destroyed by
the Government of India in the name of a development project.
NASA Photograph of Rama Sethu
Rama Sethu is the original Sanskrit name given to a bridge built by
the legendary King Rama, who crossed over to Sri Lanka from India to
fight the King of Lanka, Ravana, recover his wife Sita, and restore
Dharma (Order) in the land of India. While it is difficult to
establish the exact historical age of these events, the bridge is
thought to be at least 5000 years old, if not much older, making it
the oldest causeway built across an ocean channel. The Rama Sethu is
referred to in numerous ancient Sanskrit texts and scriptures, as a
man made structure, and in recent times, it has been vividly
photographed by both NASA and Indian Satellites.
When India fell under Colonial rule, the British renamed this
construction as "Adam's Bridge". The Government of India, in recent
years, has been trying to establish a Shipping Channel between India
and Sri Lanka, by breaking and destroying the continuity of this
ancient structure. Hindus in India and around the world have been
protesting and fighting this decision of the Government of India, and
have demanded that the Rama Sethu be declared a monument of historic
importance and a world heritage site. On May 8th, 2008, the Supreme
Court of India directed the Government of India to go back to the
drawing board to see if it can create an alternate shipping route, and
at the same time, study the Rama Sethu as a monument of historic
importance. It is yet to be seen if the Government of India will
comply with the Court's direction, and thereby uphold due
constitutional process, or continue on its path of destroying the Rama
Sethu, dis-regarding the Supreme court's direction.
Sanatana Dharma Foundation, (www.sdfglobal.org) a Dallas based Non-
Profit organization inspired by the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha,
(www.acharyasabha.org) the apex body of Hindus in India, presented the
"Hindu Dharma Rakshaka Kshatriya Award" to Dr Subramanian Swamy & Dr
S. Kalyanaraman on the occassion of the Hindu Unity Day organized at
the DFW Hindu Temple in Dallas, Texas on July 19, 2008. Speaking on
the occasion, the President of Sanatana Dharma Foundation, Kalyan
Viswanathan, said that "This award, a first of its kind, has been
instituted to honor and celebrate the 'Kshatriya Spirit', specifically
the courage shown by Hindus in taking risks and standing up to fight
for the protection and preservation of Dharma. The word Kshatriya is a
Sanskrit word that refers to the royal and noble class of Hindus who
historically defended their nation, and the Dharma of the land."
The Highlight of the Hindu Unity Day Event was the speech by Dr
Subramanian Swamy on his personal experiences during his defense of
Rama Sethu in the Supreme Court of India, which was greeted by a
spontaneous standing ovation. In presenting the "Hindu Dharma Rakshaka
Kshatriya" Award, his fearless defense in the Supreme Court of India,
getting a critical and timely stay order, the subsequent withdrawal of
the Government of India's petition, and the later Verdict of the
Supreme Court were all highlighted.
Dr S. Kalyanaraman made a scholarly presentation on the River
Saraswati, highlighting the recent research findings, the origins of
the Vedic civilization on the banks of River Saraswati and the fact
that it holds the central "Key" to the re-writing of the history of
India and re-establishing the real historicity of the Vedas. While
presenting the Award, his dedicated research in supporting the
struggle of the Rama Sethu, and his pioneering contributions in
researching and resurfacing the River Saraswati were lauded.
Symbolizing Hindu Unity, Representatives of Dallas Chapters of several
organizations like the Art of living Foundation, Ammachi Satsang, Hare
Krishna ISCKON group, Gayatri Parivar, Brahmakumaris, Carribbean
Mandir, Chinmaya Mission, Hanuman Temple, Sathya Sai groups and other
prominent Hindu personalities from the local Dallas-Fort Worth
community in Texas, were present at this unique event. Dr Subramanian
Swamy's latest book "Rama Sethu Symbol of National Unity" was released
and distributed at the Event, to key members of these organizations
and other prominent members of the community.
Smt. Ranna Jani, President, DFW Hindu Temple in Texas speaking on the
occassion on behalf of the Temple, thanked both Dr Subramaniam Swamy &
Dr S. Kalyanaraman for coming to Dallas and sharing their experiences
with the participants. On the second day, a workshop was organized,
where challenges facing Hinduism today, were discussed. Presentations
on the state of Hindu Temples in India, challenges posed by
Christianity and Islam were also discussed. The session was very
interactive, and educational, as per the feedback received.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/Sanatana/Dharma/prweb1146784.htm
CHENNAI, January 22, 2010 Swamy against Nalini’s release
Special Correspondent
Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy calling on Tamil Nadu
Governor Surjit Singh Barnala at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai on
Thursday. Photo: Special Arrangement
Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy on Thursday met Tamil Nadu
Governor Surjit Singh Barnala and urged him not to sign any
recommendation of the State government for freeing Nalini Sriharan, a
life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
Dr. Swamy told the Governor that the issue pertaining to premature
release of Nalini was still pending before the Madras High Court, and
any decision on the issue would amount to contempt of court.
He also made a mention before the First Bench to expedite the hearing
of his writ appeal in the matter.
Later speaking to journalists, Dr. Swamy said that he came to know
from a section of the media that the review board had reportedly
decided to release Nalini.
He said that he had mentioned before the bench comprising Chief
Justice H.L. Gokhale and K.K. Sasidharan that any decision of the
board would render infructuous his appeal against the single judge
order to the State government to reconstitute the board to decide the
case of Nalini.
The Chief Justice had asked him to file an application to the High
Court Registry for speeding up his appeal, he said.
He said the constitution of the board itself was illegal. He planned
to move for restoration of death penalty for Nalini. He said the State
government had earlier said that it would oppose the premature
release, now it cannot go back on its stand.
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article87758.ece
Hindu's under SIEGE
aumprakash
January 14, 2007
it's fromt the talk given by Dr.subramanya swamy on the day of his
book relese "hindu's under siege- the way out" http://www.kksfusa.org/
it's fromt the talk given by Dr.subramanya swamy on the day of his
book relese "hindu's under siege- the way out"
http://www.kksfusa.org/
Hindu's under SIEGE
3:13
Added: 3 years ago
From: aumprakash
Views: 3,128
All Comments (30 total)
Loading...nazimquraishi (1
politicians since nehru and including him (the pundits alinged with
the raja of kashmir, who wanted kashmir to not be free like rest of
india)
found themselves out of power. so they figured out a formula to get
back in power in the democratic structure of india and it worked.
so wake the f up (my indians) my hindus. politicians are only about
themselves and their ideas. Not about you.
nazimquraishi (1 week ago) Hindu was a generic term used to refer to
anyone who lives south of hindukush mountains and south of Hindu River
(Indus per the brits).
Hindu = citizen of hindustan, indian = citizen of india & french =
citizen of france.
Prior to monotheism most countries were polytheists.Ancestors of
Indian Muslims were polytheists too.
The confusion between religion and nationality was caused and
encouraged by the british after they realized what a rebellion like in
1857 could do to them.
anirudhnandan (10 months ago) Comment removed by author
raghaa (3 weeks ago) thats what they learnt from birtish my friend.
What will a poor hindu will do if there is no basic fullfilment? he
will convert into christian. its happening right now ;)
winnerji (11 months ago) When his lips are pronouncing HINDUS...it's
all about only Brahmins....Will he do anything for Dalith
people....is he considering Dalith as Hindus.....?????? FRAUD....
NanakLove (1 year ago) stand up for dharma my brothers. the 9th Sikh
Guru even gave his life for kashmiri pundits.
ndshastri (1 year ago) Show S.Swamy orkut comm
search :::::: Sri Subramanian Swamy
Metaemipricus (1 year ago) Christian Evangelists, Islamic Jihadis and
leftist naxal terrorists - the three most violent sectarian cults have
come together to destroy India. Wake up Hindus.
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nmohan101 (1 year ago) this guy is a racist; Hinduism in not under
siege...
dd1857 (1 year ago) who say not.. Every where that is the case..
Christanity and Muslims...are book based.. attacking all
kafirpandit (1 year ago) Hindus are the bravest people on the earth.
All Muslims and Christian missionaries should be thrown out of
Bharatvarsh.
tonyshit80 (11 months ago) I saw Muruga last week, he motion less
pls help him my dear friends
TAPS711 (1 year ago) Leave the Hindus alone. They have a right to
believe what they want. They are peaceful people.
tonyshit80 (11 months ago) No, I will not allows the such things
happen....
Radian1991 (1 year ago) Hindu Society has been suffering a sustained
attack from Islam since the 7th century, from Christianity since the
15th century, and this century also from Marxism. The avowed objective
of each of these three world-conquering movements, with their massive
resources, is the replacement of Hinduism by their own ideology, or in
effect: the destruction of Hinduism.-Dr.Koenraad Elst
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arnotkaling (1 year ago) swamy bastard should be shot. He supports
sinhala terrosm in sri lanka. he fully supported indian terrost
invasion of sri lanka.
NanakLove (1 year ago) not just hindu's but sikhs too..we gotta stand
up together brothers
TAPS711 (1 year ago) You are right.
emperor0989 (1 year ago) sikhs are hindus only, and hindus are sikhs.
we are cousins, if not brothers.
haridham (1 year ago) Show Hide 0 Marked as spam Reply lol
haridham (1 year ago) Show Hide 0 Marked as spam Reply watch?
v=XcFA8iSXf2c
EXChristian0 (2 years ago) Excellent video clip! Thanks! DOWN WITH
ANTI-HINDU ELEMENTS (anti-hindu govt, pseudo-secular anti-hindu
media, Christlamist Communist thugs, deceitful and cunning missionary
pests). Come on Hindus, WAKE UP, UNITE AND FIGHT FOR DHARMA! Jai Hind!
EXChristian0 (2 years ago)
DOWN WITH ANTI-HINDU ELEMENTS (anti-hindu govt, pseudo-secular anti-
hindu media, Christlamist Communist thugs, deceitful and cunning
missionary pests, ISLAMIC jihadis etc). Come on Hindus, WAKE UP, UNITE
AND FIGHT FOR DHARMA! Jai Hind!
chocolayer (2 years ago)
Aumprakash a digital RSS propagandist. A muslim hater and non brahmin
hater. His lowly life is based on lies and he survived on lies.
humbleRaj (2 years ago)
Nice ideo Aumprakash Ji :)
badmashguy (2 years ago)
It might be true for Hinduism....but isn't it true for every other
religion too....
humbleRaj (2 years ago) Show Hide +3 Marked as spam Reply Nope,None
of American Politicians speak against christianity or None of The
leaders from Islamic Countries condemn Islam, but Indian politicians
abuse Hinduism in India.
Peenp (3 years ago)
I agree with you Aum.
http://www.youtube.com/comment_servlet?all_comments&v=IFU-iAP43M0&fromurl=/watch%3Fv%3DIFU-iAP43M0
Hinduism under siege, says Subramanian Swamy
Coventry, UK | December 07, 2005 8:11:13 PM IST
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=184292&cat=India
Janata Party President and former Union Minister Dr. Subramanian Swamy
today told a large UK Hindu gathering at the Sri Krishna Temple here
that to combat the invisible and multi-dimensional siege against
Hinduism, all the Dharmacharyas of Hindu religion must come together
in a formal body with a permanent secretariat in New Delhi.
He said that Swami Dayananda Saraswati of Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, near
Coimbatore had already convened a Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha in Mumbai
in mid-October last, and resolved to do so.
Dr. Swamy said that the siege has a religious dimension because of the
pernicious and subtle denigration of Hindu icons and Institutions such
as through filing bogus cases against the Kanchi Shankaracharya, a
psychological dimension by inculcating a confused mindset through a
one-sided secularism, a cultural dimension in propagating that Indians
are Caucasian invaders from beyond Afghanistan through the baseless
Aryan-Dravidian theory, and in the physical dimension by induced
conversions to Christianity and Islamic terrorism.
"Hindus are being driven out from their homelands in Kashmir,
Bangladesh and even Mau in UP, but the political leadership in India
lacks the virile mindset to challenge this denigration of Hindus in a
83 percent Hindu populated nation" he added.
Dr. Swamy further said that India is distinctive only because of it's
Hindu foundation and continuing civilisation. Hence India as Hindustan
means a nation of Hindus and those Muslims and Christians who accept
their ancestors are Hindus.
Parsis may have come from Persia but they accept Hindu culture as
their own. This is our Hindustani identity. Hence, those Christians
and Muslims who do not accept their ancestors as Hindus should go back
from where they came from or lose their voting rights.
Even Hindus who claim to be racially Aryans or Dravidians have no
place in Hindustan. In Rig Veda "Arya" only meant civilised, while
Dravida is a Sanskrit word coined by Adi Sankara to mean south India-
where three seas meet.
Dr. Swamy said that without demolishing the caste system a cogent
cohesive Hindu identity can not be forged. Hence the Acharya Sabha
should issue a nirdesh" (direction) that according to the Vedas and
Uttara Gita, varna and jati are not birth based but determined on
gunas (merits) and occupation.
"Varna is a choice not a compulsion," he added. (ANI)
http://www.nchtuk.org/content.php?id=288
December 21, 2008
Out of the box
By Subramanian Swamy
The India of today would not have been in existence had the attempts
to divide Hindus succeeded. In the 20th century, a sinister attempt to
divide the Hindu community on caste basis was made in 1932 when the
British imperialists offered the scheduled castes a separate
electorate.
What does the despicable terror and mayhem in Mumbai on November 26
signify for India? Shorn of the human tragedy, wanton destruction, and
obnoxious audacity of the terrorists, it signifies a challenge to the
identity of India from radical Islam. Cinema actor Shahrukh Khan may
wax eloquent about the ?true Islam? on TV, but it is clear that he and
other such Muslims have not read any authoritative translations of the
Koran, Sira and Hadith which three together constitute Islam as a
theology, and which is a complete menu of intolerance of peoples of
other faiths derisively labeled as kafirs. Hence, instead of talking
about the ?correct interpretation? of Islam they ought instead be
urging for a new Islamic theology consistent with democratic
principles.
In 2003, two years after the 9/11 murderous and perfidious Islamic
assault on USA, resulting in killing of more than 3000 persons within
two hours, and which was perpetrated by leveraging the democratic
freedoms in USA, the Saudi Arabian Embassy in the website of its
Islamic Affairs Department [www.iad.org] laid down what a ?good?
Muslim is expected to do. Dr. Steven Stalinsky of the Middle East
Media Research Institute[MEMRI] based in Washington DC accessed it and
published it in issue No.23, of the Institute newsletter, dated
November 26[what irony!] 2003. I have to thank a NRI in US, Dr.
Muthuswamy for this reference. In that site it is stated:
?The Muslims are required to raise the banner of Jihad in order to
make the Word of Allah supreme in this world, to remove all forms of
injustice and oppression, and to defend the Muslims. If Muslims do not
take up the sword, the evil tyrants of this earth will be able to
continue oppressing the weak and helpless?
Now who is more authoritative?Sharukh Khan or Saudi Arabia ? Obviously
the latter. The above quote is what in substance is being taught in
every madrassa in India, and can be traced back to the sayings of
Prophet Mohammed. I can quote a plethora of verses from a Saudi
Arabian translated Koran [e.g., verses 8:12, 8:60, and 33:26] which
verses justify brutal violence against non-believers. If I delved into
Sira and Hadith for more quotes, then I could risk generating much
hatred, so it will suffice to say that Islam is not only a theology,
but it spans a brutal political ideology which we have to combat
sooner or later in realm of ideas.
Some may quote back at me verses from Manusmriti about brutality to
women and scheduled castes. But as a Hindu I have the liberty to
disown these verses [since it is a Smriti] and even to seek to re-
write a new Smriti as many, for example, Yajnavalkya have done to
date. Reform and renaissance is thus inbuilt into Hinduism. But in
Islam, the word of the Prophet is final. Sharukh Khan and other gloss
artists cannot disown these verses, or say that they would re-write
the offensive verses of the Koran. If they do, then they would have to
run for their lives as Rushdie and Taslima have had to do. Leave alone
re-writing, if anyone draws a cartoon of Prophet Mohammed, there will
follow world-wide violent rioting. But if Hussein draws Durga in the
most pornographic posture, the Hindus will only groan but not
violently rampage.
We Hindus have a long recognised tradition of being religious liberals
by nature. We have already proved it enough by welcoming to our
country and nurturing Parsis, Jews, Syrian Christians, and Moplah
Muslim Arabs who were persecuted elsewhere, when we were 100 per cent
Hindu country.
Moreover, despite a 1000 years of most savage brutalisation of Hindus
by Islamic invaders and self-demeaning brain washing by the
Christians, even then, Hindus as a majority have adopted secularism as
a creed. We have not asked for an apology and compensation for these
atrocities. But the position of Hindus in this land of Bharatmata,
where Muslims and Christians locally are in majority, in pockets?such
as in Kashmir and Nagaland, or in small enclaves such as town
panchayats of Tamil Nadu, is terrible and despicable. Even in Kerala
where Hindus are 52 per cent of the population, they have only 25 per
cent of all the prime jobs in the state, and are silently suffering
their plight at the hands of 48 per cent who vote as a vote bank.
The 26/11 Mumbai slaughter therefore should teach us Hindus that the
time has come to wake up and stand up?it is now or never. If we do not
stand up now to Islamic terrorism, then India will end up like Beirut,
a permanent battlefield of international terrorists, buccaneers,
pirates and missionaries.
What does it mean in the 21st century for Hindus to stand up ? I mean
by that a mental clarity of the Hindus to defend themselves by
effective deterrent retaliation, and also an intelligent co-option of
other religious groups into the Hindu cultural continuum.
Mental clarity can only come if we are clear about the identity of the
nation. What is India? An ancient but continuing civilisation or is it
a geographical entity incorporated in 1947 by the Indian Independence
Act of the British Parliament ? What then does it mean to say ?I am an
Indian?? A mere passport holder of the Republic of India or a
descendent of the great seers and visionaries of more than 10,000
years ? Obviously our identity should be of a nation of an ancient and
continuing Hindu civilisation, legatees of great rishis and munis, and
a highly sophisticated sanatana philosophy.
If Hindu culture is our defining identity then how can we co-opt non-
Hindus, especially Muslims and Christians ? By persuading them by
saam, dhaam, bheda and dand that they acknowledge with pride the truth
that their ancestors are Hindus. If they do, it means that they accept
Hindu culture and enlightened mores. That is, change of religion does
not mean change of culture. Then we should treat such Muslims and
Christians as part of our Brihad Hindu family.
Noted author and editor M.J. Akbar calls this identity as of ?Blood
Brothers?. It is an undeniable fact that Muslims and Christians in
India are descendents of Hindus. In a recent article in the American
Journal of Physical Anthropology, an analysis of genetic samples [DNA]
show that Muslims in north India are overwhelmingly of the same DNA as
Hindus proving that Muslims here are descendents of Hindus who had
been converted to Islam, rather repositories of foreign DNA deposited
by waves of invaders.
Akbar thus asks rhetorically: ?When have the Muslims of India gone
wrong?? and answers: ?When they have forgotten their Indian roots?.
How apt ! Enlightened Muslims like Akbar therefore must rise to the
occasion and challenge the reactionary religious fundamentalists. That
is India is not Darul Harab to be trifled with. In a conciliatory
atmosphere the minorities would willingly accept this. It is also in
their interest to accept this reality. Hindus must persuade by the
time honoured methods Muslims and Christians to accept this and its
logical consequences.
This identity was not understood by us earlier because of the
distorted outlook of Jawaharlal Nehru who occupied the Prime Minister?
s chair for seventeen formative years after 1947 and for narrow
political ends, had fanned a separatist outlook in Muslims and
Christians.
The failure to date, to resolve this Nehru created crisis, has not
only confused the majority but confounded the minorities as well in
India. This confusion has deepened with winter migratory birds such as
Amartya Sen descending on the campus of the India International Centre
to preach inane taxonomies such as ?multiple identities?.
There has to be an over-riding identity called national identity, and
hence we should not be derailed by pedestrian concepts of multiple or
sub-identities.
?Without a resolution of the identity crisis today, which requires an
explicit clear answer to this question of who we are, the majority
will never understand how to relate to the legacy of the nation and in
turn to the minorities. Minorities would not understand how to adjust
with the majority if this identity crisis is not resolved. In other
words, the present dysfunctional perceptional mismatch in
understanding who we are as a people, is behind most of the communal
tension and inter-community distrust in the country.
?In India, the majority is the conglomerate or Brihad Hindu community
which represents about 81 per cent of the total Indian population,
while minorities are constituted by Muslims [13 per cent] and
Christians [3 per cent]. Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, and some other
microscopic religious groups, represent the remaining three per cent.
Though also considered minorities, but really are so close to the
majority community in culture that they are considered as a part of
Hindu society. Unlike Islam and Christianity, these minority religions
were founded as dissenting theologies of Hinduism. Even Zoroaster can
be traced to leader of Vahikas in Mahabharata who migrated to Persia.
Kaikeyi in Ramayana was from Persia when that country was hundred per
cent Hindu. Thus these religions share the core concepts with Hindus
such as re-incarnation, equality of all religions, and ability to meet
God in this life. That they feel increasingly alienated from Hindu
society nowadays is also the consequence of India?s identity crisis
caused by British historians and their Indian tutees in JNU.
The India of today would not have been in existence had the attempts
to divide Hindus succeeded. In the 20th century, a sinister attempt to
divide the Hindu community on caste basis was made in 1932 when the
British imperialists offered the scheduled castes a separate
electorate. But shrewdly understanding the conspiracy to divide India,
Mahatma Gandhi by his fast unto death and Dr. Ambedkar by his
visionary rejection of separate electorate, foiled the attempt by
signing the Poona Pact.
But the possibility that such attempts at dividing India socially may
be made again in the future, a possibility that cannot be ruled out.
Indian patriots will have to watch such attempts very carefully.
Segmentation, fragmentation, and finally balkanisation have been part
of the historical process in many countries to destroy national
identity and thereby cause the political division of the nation
itself. Yugoslavia is a recent example of this, which has now been
divided into four countries, largely due to Islamic separatism and
Serbian over-reaction.
Virat Hindutva can be achieved in the first stage by Hindu
consolidation, that is achieved by Hindus holding that they are Hindus
first and last, by disowning primacy to their caste and regional
loyalties. This would require a renaissance in thinking and outlook,
that can be fostered only by patient advocacy and intellectual
ferment.
For this we need a new History text, and a proper understanding of the
distinction between the four varnas [not birth based but by codes of
behavior for devolution of power in society] and jati [which is birth
based and mostly for marriages]. Just as Valmiki and Vyasa are
regarded as Maharshis despite being of different jati from Parasuram,
hence Dr. Ambedkar should be called a Maharishi for his sheer depth of
knowledge of Indian history. That he had become bitter because of
Nehru systematically sidelining him is no reason not to do so.
India thus needs a Hindu renaissance today that incorporates modern
principles, e.g., of the irrelevance of birth antecedents, fostering
gender equality, ensuring equality before law, and accountability for
all. It is also essential to integrate the entire Indian society on
those principles, irrespective of religion. Uniform Civil Code for
example, is something that the vast majority of Muslim women want, but
because this demand has been usurped by those who deny the equality of
nationality to the Muslims, hence comes the resistance to a eminently
reasonable value. The Muslims think that this is the first step in
several to subjugate them or wipe out their identity. But Muslims have
quietly accepted Uniform Criminal Code [the IPC] despite that it
contradicts the Sharia.
In other words, Hindutva has two components?one that Hindus can accept
[such as caste abolition, eradication of dowry etc.] without any other
religion?s interests to consider. The other is the embracing by
minorities of the core secular Indian values which have Hindu roots.
This would require, particularly Muslims and Christians, to
acknowledge that their ancestry is Hindu, and thus own the entire
Hindu past as their own legacy, and to thus tailor their outlook on
that basis. This would integrate Indian society and make the concept
of an inclusive[Brihad] Hindutva and rooted in India?s continuing
civilisation.
Thus, if India has to decide to have or not have good relations with
Israel, Pakistan, Iran or US, it cannot be on the basis how it will
impact on India?s Muslims and Christians, but on what India?s national
interests require. If India has to dispatch troops to Afghanistan,
Iraq, Sri Lanka or Nepal to combat terrorism, that policy too has to
be decided on what is good for India, and not what any religious or
linguistic group identifies as it?s interest.
Thus such an Hindutva is positive in outlook, while raw Hindu
xenophobia is negative and based on Hindu hegemony which will frighten
all. Such a Hindutva will resolve our current energy-sapping identity
crisis, which otherwise will completely emasculate India in the long
run. The choice for the patriotic Indian is thus clear: We need a
clear and positive view of our national identity based on our Hindu
past and a Hindu renaissance to unite the Hindus with constructive
mind-set as well as persuade the minorities to be co-opted culturally
with Hindu society.
Once being Indian means Virat Brihad Hindutva, we can tackle terrorism
by an effective strategy of defence. What are the components of that
strategy is the subject matter of my next column here.
(To be concluded)
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=268&page=10
December 28, 2008
Out of the Box
Isolate and confront the rogue state, war no option
By Subramanian Swamy
Hindus and such Muslims and Christians together constitute the
Hindustan nation. All others are either permanent residents or
foreigners, but therefore should have no voting rights. NRIs abroad
who also acknowledge to be of Hindustani descent can be permitted to
be voters in India.
Since the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi has yet not condemned Pakistan
for allowing its territory to be used by ?non-state actors?, such a
Commission is all the more necessary. Pakistan cannot be allowed to
wash its hands off responsibility in this by silence of those who are
paid to speak in Parliament by the tax-payer on behalf of the Indian
nation.
Coming back to the question of retaliation for the Mumbai 26/11
attack, I advocate US-Israel-India coordinated aerial strikes at all
the prominent training bases of the LeT and JeM in PoK, which action,
since it is on a part of India, will not mean an act of war, whatever
Pakistan may think. This is the mirror-image of the argument that
Pakistan itself has used while invading India in 1999 in the Kargil
sector i.e., since they consider J&K not a part of India, hence
Pakistan can invade it!
Terrorist attacks such 26/11 Mumbai carnage can be deterred only by
effective retaliation which will serve as a deterrence against future
attacks. What is an effective retaliation for the 26/11 attacks ? In
my view, it is bombing of LeT camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-held
territories. That means war declared by Pakistan. War is however a
terrible event in human affairs. It is against the finer and civilised
instinct of the human being and a temporary triumph of the base
emotions. Wars are imposed either on evil intentions or by
miscalculations. Civilised societies to survive have to be prepared
for such wars. My quick answer thus to the question whether war with
Pakistan is then inevitable is: Yes!
My substantive answer is that the war will be imposed on us anyway
whether we retaliate or not, by the compulsions of Pakistan?s polity,
and we should prepare for a formal war with that country which could
come anytime within the next four years. The terror genie is now out
of the bottle in Pakistan, and an informal ad hoc proxy war is already
on between India and Pakistan through Pak-trained terrorists. It
cannot be ended without a decisive formal war. We cannot also go on
bleeding like we have during last 20 years, each occasion at the time
and place of choosing of the terrorists of Pakistan. To top it all, we
are being dished out Pakistan?s inane argument on the need providing ?
proof?, by a government which is a puppet of the trainers of these
terrorists.
Unlike the 1965, 1971, and 1999 wars with Pakistan, this time we
should first prepare instead react by reflecting on who are our real
allies in this coming war, and what the post-war situation of a
destructed and disarmed Pakistan should be. In 1971, USSR was claimed
to be our ally, but it would not let us smash the West Pakistan
military machine when the Pakistan army was on all fours on the
floor.
This time, because of nuclear weapons on both sides, the war has to be
decisive. Pakistan must be sanitized and/or further dismembered beyond
recognition. The new Pakistan or the former Pakistans must be led by
those who understand India?s retaliatory capacity.
One thousand years of the foreign invasions of this land have proved
that Hindus will not submit, no matter what the tribulation and
personal tragedy. Iran, Babylonia, Turkey, Egypt and others of the
Middle East had in contrast submitted and became majority Muslim
countries within a few decades. But Hindus as a whole, despite 1000
years of brutality and impoverishment, have stood defiantly. In Akhand
Hindustan, we are still 75 per cent of the total population despite
all the atrocities.
But now defiance is no more enough. Now we must decisively and finally
settle the issue and defeat our centuries? old tormentors and the
violent theology behind it.
In my last column I had stated that Islamic terrorism cannot be fought
unless we adopt a virat brihad Hindutva concept of identity for
Indians, which identity I defined as the mindset of Hindus, who are
proud of their Hinduness, and ready to co-opt Muslims and Christians
as blood brothers and sisters if they too proudly acknowledge the
truth that their ancestors are Hindus and that despite change of
religion their culture does not change [Culture is a secular concept
defined on the myriad of human relations and attitudes].
Hindus and such Muslims and Christians together constitute the
Hindustan nation. All others are either permanent residents or
foreigners, but therefore should have no voting rights. NRIs abroad
who also acknowledge to be of Hindustani descent can be permitted to
be voters in India.
This mindset in responding to terror must focus on retaliation as a
deterrent against terrorism, which is the real meaning of ?zero
tolerance? for terrorism. The retaliation cannot be confused with
vengeance but has to be defined as effective actions to nullify the
political objectives of the patrons of terrorists.
What is, for example, the retaliation for the 26/11 terrorist attack
on Mumbai? Or for that matter, the ?menu? of retaliation for all the
terrorist attacks since 1989 beginning with when 500,000 Hindus and
Sikhs were driven out by terrorists from the Kashmir valley?
The retaliation has to be tailored in each terrorist attack to nullify
the political objective of the patrons which objective motivates that
attack.
In the 26/11 attack, the political objective was to demonstrate to the
world that India is a wobbly, flabby, and corrupt country that cannot
defend itself, that anyone can bribe his way with Indians to achieve
his nefarious goal. Hence, they want to demonstrate that India is a
corroding civilisation, and unworthy being a reliable ally of any
country. That is why foreign tourists of friendly countries, such as
US and Israel, were chosen for murder.
The terror patrons of Pakistan have, in my opinion, achieved
substantially this objective by putting a question mark on our
integrity as a people. How could such an operation, foreigners now
ask, be put through without the intelligence having a clue? Is it
because India ignored timely US intelligence of September that made
the LeT postpone its dastardly project scheduled of September 27th to
26/11?
The truth is more bizarre: Intelligence Bureau and RAW did know, but
the information was not acted on by the Maharashtra government. Why?
It is rubbish to say that the information was not ?actionable?, i.e.,
not specific enough to take counter measures. I have had access to
some of the intelligence supplied to the Maharashtra government, some
of it are dated two years ago, which disproves this claim.
One such advisory actually states that LeT-trained terrorists
numbering about a dozen are likely to enter from the sea in the
Gateway area, and take control of high profile targets such as hotels!
Is this not actionable? Or was the Maharashtra Police prevented from
taking action by Ahmed Patel on behalf of Sonia Gandhi as alluded to
by former Chief Minister of the state, Mr. Narayan Rane?
I thought therefore the Opposition in Parliament would have demanded
at least a Commission of Inquiry headed by a sitting judge of the
Supreme Court to go into all the lapses. Instead they wallowed in
talking of national unity. This is not the time to talk of unity with
the government. We are not yet in a formal war to need to talk of
unity with the government. A horrible incident had taken place, and it
is over now. Hence, it is the duty of the Opposition to put the
government in the dock, and at least demand a Commission to go into
the lapses. When a formal war is launched we can at that stage unite
with the government in a show of unity.
But not now. Since the UPA chairperson Ms. Sonia Gandhi has yet not
condemned Pakistan for allowing its territory to be used by ?non-state
actors?, such a Commission is all the more necessary. Pakistan cannot
be allowed to wash its hands off responsibility in this by silence of
those who are paid to speak in Parliament by the tax-payer on behalf
of the Indian nation.
Considering that the first employer in London in 1965 of Ms. Sonia
Gandhi was a Pakistani called Salman Thassir, a dubious business
magnate with perhaps ISI connection, and that the guest of honour at
the select gathering of just 35 invitees to her daughter Priyanka?s
wedding, was Farida accompanied by her husband Munir Ataullah, both
known bag persons of prominent Pakistan politicians with ISI
connections, hence, it is a matter of concern that Ms. Sonia Gandhi
has not condemned Pakistan for the 26/11 attack, and in fact she has
not condemned even one terrorist attack starting Mumbai 1993.
Coming back to the question of retaliation for the Mumbai 26/11
attack, I advocate US-Israel-India coordinated aerial strikes at all
the prominent training bases of the LeT and JeM in PoK, which action,
since it is on a part of India, will not mean an act of war, whatever
Pakistan may think. This is the mirror-image of the argument that
Pakistan itself has used while invading India in 1999 in the Kargil
sector i.e., since they consider J&K not a part of India, hence
Pakistan can invade it!
The US and Israel will probably not agree at present to help in a
military strike since India has never come to the assistance of US or
Israel in their hour of grief. In fact when on the day Saddam Hussein
was toppled in 2003, a joint BJP-Congress resolution was passed by the
Lok Sabha condemning US ?imperialism? in Iraq! Nor have we ever
offered Israel help whenever a terrorist attack took place in that
country?
Hence, to get the US and Israel effectively on our side in this war on
terror, we too have to commit to help them in this war, not merely by
ministers paying a visit to Washington and waxing eloquent about
being ?natural allies?. For all their duplicity, Pakistan under
Musharraf in contrast had made a world of difference to the US in its
war on terror. Hence the soft corner for Pakistan in US and Europe.
For example, when New York Times reporter Daniel Pearl?s throat was
slit by LeT, the Pakistan government caught the mastermind Omar Sheikh
[whom we had released in the IC hijack matter at Kandahar] and sent
him to Guantanomo prison without making noises about ?proof?. More Al
Qaeda leaders have been captured or killed by the US with the
cooperation of Pakistan than by direct action of the US. Nor can the
US keep the Taliban out of Afghanistan without the active support of
Pakistan. Hence, it is understandable that the US is in a catch-22
situation on Pakistan and we in India, if we want US cooperation, have
to concretely provide a way out of that.
If we strike at the terrorists camps in PoK, the various governments
of Pakistan cannot sit quiet. There are four other governments of
Pakistan besides one headed by Zardari. In addition to his government,
there is the Army government operating through the seven corp
commanders, the ISI government working abroad through fake currency
and beautiful women, the Mullah government through Friday prayers in
mosques and by brainwashing in madrasas, and the de facto Taliban
government in the frontier areas. Anyone of these four governments can
declare a war against India on the war cry of jehad, and the other
four will have to follow. So war is the outcome of any retaliatory
action of India.
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=269&page=6
Opinion - Leader Page Articles
Defamation litigation: a survivor's kit
By Subramanian Swamy
The Supreme Court judgment in the Nakkeeran case is the main tool in
the survival kit for honest media and other critics of politicians
against libel litigation.
ON SEPTEMBER 17, the Tamil Nadu Government filed an affidavit in the
Supreme Court stating that it had ordered the withdrawal of 125
defamation cases filed against The Hindu and various other
publications. This is a tribute especially to The Hindu `parivar' for
showing guts and challenging the constitutionality of the cases filed
against its representatives. The Jayalalithaa Government chose
discretion over valour by not risking the Supreme Court striking down
the libel statute itself as unconstitutional. Rather than lose
permanently the weapon of state harassment of critics that defamation
law represents, the Government chose to back down.
This is the second time that the AIADMK State Government has directed
a carte blanche withdrawal of defamation cases. The first time was on
January 1, 1994 when the Tamil Nadu Government withdrew numerous
defamation cases filed against me in several Sessions Courts in the
State. The reason then was the same: the Supreme Court Bench of Chief
Justice M.N. Venkatachalaiah and Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy had heard
extensive arguments from me as petitioner in person and the Tamil Nadu
Government counsel on the defamation law, and then orally asked why
the law should not be struck down. The Government counsel then asked
for time, and came back a week later to say that all the cases against
me had been withdrawn. Hence, the cause of action for my petition
disappeared, and my petition became infructuous. I was personally
relieved but the law survived for use on another day.
But Justice Jeevan Reddy, who had listened to me with great care, went
on to write a landmark judgment in the Nakkeeran case [1994] that
incorporated the core of my arguments and citations from the United
States Supreme Court and the United Kingdom's House of Lords. That
judgment today c. The judgment however needs to be developed further
by more decided cases further clarified by continued challenge to
state-sponsored defamation litigation that has become far too frequent
in the country, so that freedom of speech and expression can become
more deep and extensive than at present.
Under the Indian Constitution, the fundamental right to free speech
(Article 19) is subject to "reasonable restrictions." What is
reasonable is subjective in a society; it can only be developed to
some objectivity by cases decided in courts [`case law'] and according
to the political culture of the times. At present, reasonableness is
codified in two laws — first, in exceptions to criminal culpability
incorporated in Sections 499 and 500 of the British colonial statute
known as the Indian Penal Code (1870), and second, the limits to civil
liability incorporated as tort law. In India, defamation proceedings
can be initiated under either or both, together or in sequence. Most
democratic countries have however done away with the criminal law,
which is archaic and draconian. But India has not yet done so.
What is one to do if one receives a court summons for alleged
defamation? For example, I once received a summons from a Delhi court
because I had called a BJP leader, V.K. Malhotra, "an ignoramus." The
remark was made by me during the Lok Sabha proceedings, but lifted by
a sub-editor and inserted in a column I wrote for the magazine.
Under the law, I had to prove that it was true — or face imprisonment.
Now, how does one prove that a person is an ignoramus in a court of
law? Add to that the harassment I would have to suffer of travelling
to court at least 10 times a year for at least five years to attend
the case or face a warrant for my production in court. Or I would have
to engage a lawyer who would charge me a hefty sum. All this for a
mild rebuke of a political leader? The editor of the magazine decided
he could not stomach it, so he apologised for printing the remark. I
was left holding the bag.
However, I fought the case and won. Mr. Malhotra was directed to pay
me Rs.8,000 as compensation for my petrol bills, which he paid with
some reluctance. Now how did I do it?
I pulled out of my survival kit the first tool of defence: in a
defamation case, the aggrieved person must prove "publication," which
means Mr. Malhotra would have to prove first that I had, in the
original text given to the magazine, written what was printed. The
onus was on him to produce the original. Now which magazine keeps the
original? He failed to produce it and I won.
In a 1997 press conference, I made some charges against Chief Minister
M. Karunanidhi. He used Section 199 of the Criminal Procedure Code to
get the Public Prosecutor to file a defamation case. This meant the
contest in court was between me and the state, and not between me and
the Chief Minister personally. Thus the Government would spend the
money out of the public exchequer and use Government counsel to
prosecute me, a totally unequal contest and wholly unfair (even if
legal).
If Section 199 had not been there, the Chief Minister would have
personally been the complainant and I would have had the right to
cross-examine him. Now which busy politician would like that? Hence, I
pulled out the second tool in my survival kit. I filed an application
before the judge making the point that the alleged defamation related
to the personal conduct of the Chief Minister and not to anything he
did in the course of public duty. I argued that Section 199 would not
apply. Thereafter, the State Public Prosecutor quickly lost interest
in the case. Had the judge rejected my prayer, I would have gone in
appeal to the Supreme Court and got Section 199 struck down. But alas,
I could not.
In 1988 another Chief Minister, Ramakrishna Hegde, filed a suit
against me under tort law for Rs.2 crore damages for my allegation
that he was tapping telephones and using his office to benefit a
relative in land deals. Although ultimately, the Kuldip Singh
Commission and a parliamentary committee studying the Telegraph Act
upheld my contentions, I would have had a problem had the court
decided the case before these inquiry reports came out.
So I pulled out the third tool in my survival kit, namely the U.S.
Supreme Court case laws, the most famous of which was The New York
Times case decided in 1964. Contrary to popular impression, U.S. case
laws on fundamental rights are applicable to India following a Supreme
Court judgment in an Indian Express case in 1959.
Furthermore, since 1994, these U.S. case laws have become
substantially a part of Indian law, thanks to Justice Jeevan Reddy's
judgment in the Nakkeeran case.
The principle in these case laws, restricted to public persons suing
for damages, is wonderfully protective of free speech: if a person in
public life, including one in government, feels aggrieved by a
defamatory statement, then that person must first prove in court that
the defamatory statement is not only false, but that the maker of the
statement knew it to be false. That is, it must be proved by the
defamed plaintiff to be a reckless disregard of the truth by the
defamer defendant. This principle thus reversed the traditional onus
on the defamer to prove his or her allegation, and placed the burden
of proof on the defamed.
This reversal of burden of proof is just, essentially because a public
person has the opportunity to go before the media and rebut the
defamation in a way aggrieved private persons cannot do. If criticism
and allegations against a public person have to be proved in a court
of law, what is likely to happen is that public spirited individuals
will be discouraged and thus dissuaded from making the criticism. This
is what the U.S. Supreme Court in the famous New York Times case
characterised as a "chilling effect" on public debate; it held this to
be bad for democracy.
Hence the need to balance the protection of reputation in law with the
democratic need for transparency and vibrant public debate. The U.S.
Supreme Court admirably set the balance for freedom and democracy.
Since Mr. Hegde was an intelligent man, he recognised what my survival
strategy meant. He would have come on the stand in court. He would
have been examined and cross-examined on why what I said was not true,
and how he knew that I had known all along that my charges were false
and yet I made them. He therefore sent me a message one day wanting to
know if I would call it quits. So his defamation case went from one
adjournment to another, until it lapsed upon his death. Before his
passing, Hegde and I met. Both of us agreed that it was unwise for
politicians who have so much access to the media to rebut charges to
file defamation cases and waste the time of already overburdened
courts. I got the impression that some sharp lawyer was behind his
temporary loss of judgment in filing the case.
Today, with developing case laws, defamation litigation has become a
toothless tiger for politicians to use against the media. There are
enough dental tools in my survival kit to ensure this. I am therefore
writing a full Manual on how to expose dishonest politicians and get
away without being harassed in court. I hope honest critics will no
more hesitate to speak their minds about what they know to be the
truth even if they cannot prove this in court beyond a reasonable
doubt.
I am happy therefore that The Hindu chose to fight it out rather than
capitulate. More should follow its lead for a better democracy and a
freer media.
(The author, an economist, is a former Union Law Minister. As a rule
he argues his own cases in court without the agency of lawyers.)
http://www.hindu.com/2004/09/21/stories/2004092103551000.htm
Swamy fined for charge against Jaya
New Delhi, January 3
The Delhi High Court today imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on Janata Party
President and former Union Minister Subramaniam Swamy for levelling
charges against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa that she
knew about the plan of the LTTE to assassinate former Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi at Sriperumbudur in May 1991.
Mr Justice Pradeep Nandrajog said Mr Swamy had failed to establish
that Jayalalithaa had received information and money from the banned
LTTE for the assassination of Gandhi.
“The defendant (Swamy) had exceeded the limits of qualified privilege
as his statement was quite unconnected with and irrelevant to the
situation and suffers from redundancy of the expression,’’ said the
order.
The M.C. Jain Commission of Inquiry was constituted on August 23, 1991
by the Centre to look into the circumstances leading to the
assassination of Gandhi.
Appearing before the commission, Mr Swamy had said Ms Jayalalithaa was
tipped by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) about the
assassination of Gandhi by its suicide bombers on April 17, 1991. —
UNI
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060104/nation.htm#16
December 03, 2006
Thinkpad
Basic Islam for Hindu Dhimmis
By Subramanian Swamy
Temples have been demolished in the Valley on a daily basis. The world
could not care less. An American had once told me: ?Why should we
care? Indian democracy is led by the majority who are Hindus and you
want us to talk about the human rights of the community of rulers??
We do not have much time, in fact about 45 years, as the X-graph of
statistical regressions estimated by J.S. Bajaj and colleagues shows. ?
X? represents the two trends?Hindu percentage declining and Muslim
percentage rising, and intersecting in the year 2061.
We Hindus must understand the true nature of Islam before we can
formulate a strategy to defeat those who threaten us.
Thanks to Shri Vedantamji of the VHP, I had visited Thondi and
Rasathipuram Municipalities of Ramanathapuram and Vellore districts
respectively, and was truly shocked by what I saw. Both these
municipalities are in Muslim-majority areas, and the local bodies
election had empowered the Muslims with their capture of the
municipalities.
The Muslim-ruled municipalities have thereafter converted these areas
into mini Dar-ul-Islams, in a Hindustan of 83 per cent Hindus! The
minority Hindu areas of the municipality were thus denied civic
amenities, funds for schools, garbage clearing etc., and sent notices
in Urdu. Hindus were bluntly told convert to Islam if they wanted
civic facilities.
I could not believe that in South India this was possible where Hindus
are actually above national average at 90 per cent of the population.
I know that in Kashmir Valley, Muslims who are in majority have
actively or passively connived in driving out half a million Hindus
out of their homes and made them refugees in their own country.
Temples have been demolished in the Valley on a daily basis. The world
could not care less. An American had once told me: ?Why should we
care? Indian democracy is led by the majority who are Hindus and you
want us to talk about the human rights of the community of rulers??
Such atrocities are happening not only in Kashmir, but in other parts
of India as well in pockets wherever Muslims are in majority, e.g.,
Mau and Meerut. In pocket boroughs of India, thus, Dar-ul-Islam has
today returned to India after two centuries. Considering that a
demographic re-structuring is slowly but surely taking place, with
Hindu majority shrinking everywhere, Dar-ul-Islam in pockets might
indeed, like amoeba, proliferate, coalesce, and jell into a
frightening national reality?unless we Hindus wake up and take
corrective action now, actions for which we shall of course not get a
Nobel Peace Prize.
Dar-ul-Islam is a Muslim religious concept of a land where Muslims
rule, and the non-believers in Islam are termed as Dhimmis. The term
Dhimmi was coined after the Jews were crushed in Medina [Khaybar to be
exact], and the defeated Jews accepted that if they did not convert to
Islam, then they would accept second-class status politically,
culturally, and religiously. This included zero civil rights including
the right to modesty of women, and the special tax jaziya.
There is thus no scope for Muslims and non-Muslims uniting as equals
in the political, cultural, or social system in a Dar-ul-Islam where
Muslims rule. Secular order in India thus is possible only when
Muslims are not in power. Thondi, Rasathipuram and other places prove
that the Muslim mind suffers from a dangerous duality?of seeking
secularism when out of power and imposing a brutal demeaning theocracy
for non-Muslims when in power.
It is this duality that patriotic Hindus must re-shape by modern
education and other means, as also retain its demographic overwhelming
majority in India. We do not have much time, in fact about 45 years,
as the X-graph of statistical regressions estimated by J.S. Bajaj and
colleagues shows. ?X? represents the two trends?Hindu percentage
declining and Muslim percentage rising, and intersecting in the year
2061.
The dhimmitude of Jews in Medina and later in Mecca represents the
beginning of religious apartheid inherent and basic to Islamic mores,
and practised long before what we saw in South Africa on the basis of
colour and race, and that which became prevalent during the Islamic
imperialist rule in parts of India. Hindus had been dhimmis for six
hundred years in those parts of India despite being a bigger majority
in the country than even today. Hence, a majority is not enough.
Hindus need also a Hindu mindset to be free.
In his presidential address to the Muslim League in Lahore in 1940,
Mohammed Ali Jinnah had articulated this concept of apartheid in his
own inimitable way:
?To visualise Hindus and Muslims in India uniting to create a common
nation is a mythical concept. It is only a fancy dream of some
unawakened Hindu leaders?. The truth is that Hindus and Muslims are
two different civilisations?. since their thought process grow on
different beliefs.?
Large sections of Muslims in India then had rejected Jinnah and his
concept of non-compatibility of Muslims with Hindus. But after
Independence and Partition, instead of building on this rejection by
many Muslims, the Nehru era saw increasing pandering precisely to the
religious element that believed in this apartheid. Indira Gandhi
vigorously continued this appeasement thereby nurturing the apartheid
mentality of Muslim orthodoxy.
But the final undermining of the enlightened Muslim came when the
government capitulated in the Shah Bano case. Thousands of Muslims had
demonstrated on the streets demanding that the government not bring
legislation that would nullify the Supreme Court?s judgment in the
Shah Bano case but in vain. Rajiv Gandhi, I learnt later, on counsel
from his Italian Catholic family, had surrendered to the hard line
clerics who protested that the Supreme Court had no right to interfere
and to de facto amend the Shariat, the Islamic law code. These
relatives on a directive from the Vatican thought that if secular law
would be applied to Muslims, it can be to the Christians too.
This was a nonsense argument of the Muslim clerics, since the Shariat
had already been amended, without protest, in the criminal law of
India. The Indian Penal Code represents the uniform criminal code that
equally applies to all religious communities. I therefore ask the
clerics: if a Muslim is caught stealing, can any court in India direct
that his hand at the wrist be cut off as the Shariat prescribes? If
Muslims can accept a uniform criminal code what is the logic in
rejecting the uniform civil code?
In India, Dhimmi status for Hindus during Islamic imperialist rule has
had other social implications. Defiant Brahmins and Kshatriyas, who
had refused to convert and chose to remain Hindus, were forced to
carry night-soil and suffer great indignities for their women folk. Or
it meant gross mental torture. Guru Tegh Bahadur, for example, had to
see his sons sawed in half, before the pious Guru?s own head was
severed and displayed in public.
The debasement of Hindu society then was such that those targeted
valiant Brahmins and Kshatriyas, who had refused to convert and thus
made to carry night-soil, were disowned by other Hindus and declared
to be asprashya or ?untouchable?. The ranks of the Scheduled Caste
community, which was not more than 1 per cent of the population before
the advent of Islam in India, swelled to 14 per cent by the time
Mughal rule collapsed.
Thus, today?s SC community, especially those who are still Hindus,
consists mostly of those valiant Brahmins and Kshatriyas who had
refused to become Muslims but preferred ostracization and ignominy in
order to remain Hindus. Hindu society today should offer koti koti
pranams to them for keeping the Bhagwa Dhwaj of Hindu religion flying
even at great personal cost and misery.
I have already written enough in these columns about Hindus being
under siege from Islamic fanatics and Christian proselytizers. I have
suggested that we can lift this siege only if we develop a Hindu
mindset, which is a four dimensional concept. But that mind must be
informed, and understand why others do what they do to Hindus before
we can defeat their nefarious designs. Here I suggest therefore that
we Hindus must understand the true nature of Islam before we can
formulate a strategy to defeat those who threaten us. In a later
column I will write about the true nature of Christianity and how to
combat the menace of religious conversions of Hindus.
At this juncture let me add even though I oppose conversion as
violence, as Swami Dayanand Sarasvati boldly wrote to the Vatican
Pope, nevertheless if an Indian Muslim or Christian changes his
religion to Hinduism today, I will not regard it as conversion because
it is a return to the Hindu fold of those whose ancestors had been
forcibly converted.
Unlike Hinduism, which says not a word against non-believers, in fact
says that other religions also lead to God, Islam is harsh on them,
and justifies violence against them as sacred. The choice to non-
believers in Islam is: convert or accept dhimmitude. Hence, the
explanation for Thondi, Rasathipuram, Mau etc., and the duality in
ethics practised by Muslims everywhere. A true Muslim is Dr. Jekyll
when in minority, and Mr. Hyde when in majority.
So what should we Hindus do? First, recognise that being a pious Hindu
is not enough. Hindus must unite and work to install a Hindu-minded
government. If 35 per cent of the 83 per cent Hindus unite to vote for
a party, absolute majority is attainable. If Hindu Dharma Acharya
Sabha, RSS, and VHP decide to mobilise the voter to support a party
that espouses an approved Hindu agenda, then the union government is
within reach through the ballot box. Second, search for those Muslims
who are ready to openly and with pride declare that their ancestors
were Hindus. My guess is that about 75 per cent of Muslims will be
ready to do so. These are the Muslims who can be co-opted by Hindus to
fight Islamic fundamentalism. If we do not do so, then the Muslim
clerics will have a free run of their fanaticism.
For this a required reading is Sri Sri Ravishankar?s Hinduism & Islam:
Dedicated to the People of Pakistan Who have Forgotten Their Own Roots
[www.artofliving.org]. In this Sri Sri Ravishankar has shown how ?
Muslims have completely forgotten that their forefathers were Hindus,
so they have every right to Vedic culture?. He in fact traces the pre-
Islam origins of the K?aaba. Third, invest heavily in primary
education to make it world class, ban the madrasas for any student
below 21 years, and make Sanskrit a compulsory language for all
students.
(The writer is a former Union Law Minister.)
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=159&page=31
Sid Harth
James Heitzman and Robert L. Worden, editors. India: A Country Study.
Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1995.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank individuals in various agencies of the
Indian and United States governments and private institutions who gave
their time, research materials, and special knowledge to provide
information and perspective. These individuals include Hardeep Puri,
Joint Secretary (America) of the Ministry of External Affairs;
Madhukar Gupta, Joint Secretary (Kashmir) of the Ministry of Home
Affairs; Bimla Bhalla, Director General of Advertising and Visual
Publications, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; Amulya Ratna
Nanda, Registrar General of India; Ashok Jain, director of the
National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies; T.
Vishwanthan, director of the Indian National Scientific Documentation
Centre; G.P. Phondke, director of the Publications and Information
Directorate of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research; Air
Commander Jasjit Singh, director of the Institute for Defence Studies
and Analyses; G. Madhavan, deputy executive secretary of the Indian
Academy of Sciences; Sivaraj Ramaseshan, distinguished emeritus
professor, Raman Research Institute; H.S. Nagaraja, public relations
officer of the Indian Institute of Science; Virendra Singh, director
of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research; Bhabani Sen Gupta of
the Centre for Policy Research; Pradeep Mehendiratta, Vice President
and Executive Director, Indian Institute of American Studies; and
Richard J. Crites, Chat Blakeman, Peter L.M. Heydemann, and Marcia
S.B. Bernicat of the United States Embassy in New Delhi. Special
thanks go to Lygia M. Ballantyne, director, and Alice Kniskern, deputy
director, and the staff of the Library of Congress New Delhi Field
Office, particularly Atish Chatterjee, for supplying bounteous amounts
of valuable research materials on India and arranging interviews of
Indian government officials.
Appreciation is also extended to Ralph K. Benesch, who formerly
oversaw the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program for the Department
of the Army, and to the desk officers in the Department of State and
the Department of the Army who reviewed the chapters. Thanks also are
offered to William A. Blanpied, Mavis Bowen, Ainslie T. Embree, Jerome
Jacobson, Suzanne Hanchett, Barbara Leitch LePoer, Owen M. Lynch, and
Sunalini Nayudu, who either assisted with substantive information or
read parts of the manuscript or did both.
The authors also wish to thank those who contributed directly to the
preparation of the manuscript. They include Sandra W. Meditz, who
reviewed all textual and graphic materials, served as liaison with the
Department of the Army, and provided numerous substantive and
technical contributions; Sheila Ross, who edited the chapters; Andrea
T. Merrill, who edited the tables and figures; Marilyn Majeska, who
supervised editing and managed production; Alberta Jones King, who
assisted with research, making wordprocessing corrections to various
versions of the manuscript, and proofreading; Barbara Edgerton and
Izella Watson, who performed the final wordprocessing; Marla D.
Woodson, who assisted with proofreading; and Janie L. Gilchrist, David
P. Cabitto, Barbara Edgerton, and Izella Watson, who prepared the
camera-ready copy. Catherine Schwartzstein performed the final
prepublication editorial review, and Joan C. Cook compiled the index.
Graphics support was provided by David P. Cabitto, who oversaw the
production of maps and graphics and, with the assistance of Wayne
Horne, designed the cover and the illustrations on the chapter title
pages; and Harriet Blood and Maryland Mapping and Graphics, who
assisted in the preparation of the maps and charts. Thanks also go to
Gary L. Fitzpatrick and Christine M. Anderson, of the Library of
Congress Geography and Map Division, for assistance in preparing early
map drafts. A very special thank you goes to Janice L. Hyde, who did
the research on and selection of cover and title-page illustrations
and photographs, translated some of the photograph captions and
textual references, and helped the editors on numerous matters of
substance and analysis. Shantha S. Murthy of the Library of Congress
Serial Record Division provided Indian language assistance. Clarence
Maloney helped identify the subjects of some of the photographs.
Finally the authors acknowledge the generosity of individ-uals and
public and private organizations who allowed their photographs to be
used in this study. They have been acknowledged in the illustration
captions.
http://countrystudies.us/india/1.htm
Preface
This edition supersedes the fourth edition of India: A Country Study ,
published in 1985 under the editorship of Richard F. Nyrop. The new
edition provides updated information on the world's second most
populous and fastest-growing nation. Although much of India's
traditional behavior and organizational dynamics reported in 1985 have
remained the same, internal and regional events have continued to
shape Indian domestic and international policies.
To the extent possible, place-names used in the text conform to the
United States Board on Geographic Names, but equal weight has been
given to spellings provided by the official Survey of India.
Measurements are given in the metric system.
The body of the text reflects information available as of September 1,
1995. Certain other portions of the text, however, have been updated.
The Bibliography lists published sources thought to be particularly
helpful to the reader.
http://countrystudies.us/india/2.htm
History
THOSE "WHO WEAR COTTON CLOTHES, use the decimal system, enjoy the
taste of [curried] chicken, play chess, or roll dice, and seek peace
of mind or tranquility through meditation," writes historian Stanley
Wolpert, "are indebted to India." India's deep-rooted civilization may
appear exotic or even inscrutable to casual foreign observers, but a
perceptive individual can see its evolution, shaped by a wide range of
factors: extreme climatic conditions, a bewildering diversity of
people, a host of competing political overlords (both local and
outsiders), enduring religious and philosophical beliefs, and complex
linguistic and literary developments that led to the flowering of
regional and pan-Indian culture during the last three millennia. The
interplay among a variety of political and socioeconomic forces has
created a complex amalgam of cultures that continue amidst conflict,
compromise, and adaptation. "Wherever we turn," says Wolpert, "we
find . . . palaces, temples, mosques, Victorian railroad stations,
Buddhist stupas, Mauryan pillars; each century has its unique
testaments, often standing incongruously close to ruins of another
era, sometimes juxtaposed one atop another, much like the ruins of
Rome, or Bath."
India's "great cycle of history," as Professor Hugh Tinker put it,
entails repeating themes that continue to add complexity and diversity
to the cultural matrix. Throughout its history, India has undergone
innumerable episodes involving military conquests and integration,
cultural infusion and assimilation, political unification and
fragmentation, religious toleration and conflict, and communal harmony
and violence. A few other regions in the world also can claim such a
vast and differentiated historical experience, but Indian civilization
seems to have endured the trials of time the longest. India has proven
its remarkable resilience and its innate ability to reconcile opposing
elements from many indigenous and foreign cultures. Unlike the West,
where modern political developments and industrialization have created
a more secular worldview with redefined roles and values for
individuals and families, India remains largely a traditional society,
in which change seems only superficial. Although India is the world's
largest democracy and the seventh-most industrialized country in the
world, the underpinnings of India's civilization stem primarily from
its own social structure, religious beliefs, philosophical outlook,
and cultural values. The continuity of those time-honed traditional
ways of life has provided unique and fascinating patterns in the
tapestry of contemporary Indian civilization.
http://countrystudies.us/india/3.htm
Harappan Culture
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Vedic Aryans
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Kingdoms and Empires
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The Mauryan Empire
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The Deccan and the South
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Gupta and Harsha
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The Coming of Islam
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Southern Dynasties
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The Mughals
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The Marathas
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The Sikhs
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The Coming of the Europeans
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The British Empire in India
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Company Rule, 1757-1857
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The British Raj, 1858-1947
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Sepoy Rebellion, 1857-59
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After the Sepoy Rebellion
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The Independence Movement
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Mahatma Gandhi
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Political Impasse and Independence
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Independent India
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National Integration
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Jawaharlal Nehru
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Indira Gandhi
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Rajiv Gandhi
http://countrystudies.us/india/25.htm
Geography and Demographics
Geography
Coasts and Borders
Rivers
Climate
Earthquakes
Population
Population Projections
Population and Family Planning Policy
Health Conditions
http://countrystudies.us/india/35.htm
Health Care
Education
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Religion
The Vedas and Polytheism
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Karma and Liberation
Jainism
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Buddhism
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The Worship of Personal Gods
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Vishnu
Shiva
Brahma and the Hindu Trinity
The Goddess
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Local Deities
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The Ceremonies of Hinduism
Domestic Worship
Life-Cycle Rituals
Temples
Pilgrimage
Festivals
Islam
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Sikhism
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Tribal Religions
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Christianity
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Zoroastrianism
http://countrystudies.us/india/59.htm
Judaism
http://countrystudies.us/india/60.htm
Modern Changes in Religion
http://countrystudies.us/india/61.htm
Language, Ethnicity, and Regionalism
Linguistic Relations
Diversity, Use, and Policy
Languages of India
Hindi and English
Hindi
English
Linguistic States
The Social Context of Language
http://countrystudies.us/india/69.htm
Tribes
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Jews and Parsis
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Portuguese
http://countrystudies.us/india/72.htm
Anglo-Indians
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Africans
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Regionalism
http://countrystudies.us/india/75.htm
Telangana Movement
Jharkhand Movement
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Uttarakhand
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Gorkhaland
http://countrystudies.us/india/78.htm
Ladakh
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The Northeast
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Society
Themes in Indian Society
Family
Veiling and the Seclusion of Women
Life Passages
Children and Childhood
Marriage
Adulthood
Death and Beyond
Caste and Class
The Village Community
Urban Life
The Economy
Structure of the Economy
The Role of Government
Labor
Industry
Government Policies
Manufacturing
Energy
Mining and Quarrying
Tourism
Science and Technology
Agriculture
Crops
The Green Revolution
Livestock and Poultry
Forestry
Fishing
Government and Politics
The Constitution
Politics
The Congress
Opposition Parties
Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rise of Hindu Nationalism
http://countrystudies.us/india/113.htm
Communist Parties
Regional Parties
Caste-Based Parties
http://countrystudies.us/india/116.htm
Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir
http://countrystudies.us/india/117.htm
Hindu-Muslim Tensions
http://countrystudies.us/india/118.htm
Corruption
http://countrystudies.us/india/119.htm
The Media
The Rise of Civil Society
Foreign Relations
Pakistan
http://countrystudies.us/india/123.htm
Bangladesh
http://countrystudies.us/india/124.htm
Sri Lanka
http://countrystudies.us/india/125.htm
Nepal
http://countrystudies.us/india/126.htm
Bhutan
http://countrystudies.us/india/127.htm
Maldives
China
http://countrystudies.us/india/129.htm
Southeast Asia
Middle East
http://countrystudies.us/india/131.htm
Central Asia
Russia
http://countrystudies.us/india/133.htm
United States
http://countrystudies.us/india/134.htm
Britain, Australia, Canada, Western Europe, and Japan
United Nations
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FOCUS GROUP ASIAN SUBCONTINENT:
Muslim-Hindu Relations in India
Beside being one of the most populous nations in the world, India is
also one of the most religiously and ethnically diverse. Islam and
Hinduism are the main religions in India, however, and the two have
had a very long and sometimes violent coexistence. After the British
left India in 1947, in particular, the continent split into the
nations of the Muslim Pakistan and a majority-Hindu India in a violent
partition which cost the lives of approximately one million people and
dislocation of no fewer than eleven million.
Since 1947 India and Pakistan have fought three wars with each other
since then; and violence between Hindus and Sikhs and Muslims in India
itself have also been bitter and violent. The secular regime in
democratic India that Mahatmas Gandhi help establish in 1947 professes
to be one country for all Indians, no matter their religion; but
enmity between religions continues to plague India. The tide of Hindu
communalism continues to roll across the Indian subcontinent, and with
a literacy rate of just 30% and horrific poverty India's democracy
faces strong challenges in the future. Combine that with the
conflicts in Kashmir with Pakistan and the proliferation of nuclear
weapons in the area, and the situation is particularly dangerous.
Questions to keep in mind: What historical events in history
contribute to present day bad feelings between Muslims and Hindus on
the Asian subcontinent? What are the wars, conflicts, rivalries that
Muslims and Hindus have suffered between them? What was the influence
of the life and death of Mohandas Gandhi? How many Muslims are there
compared to Hindus and Sikhs in present day India? What conflicts
have arisen on sites considered "holy" by both Muslims and Hindus?
RESOURCES:
At Yahoo! check out the following categories: Indian history in
general, India by time period, and Mohandas Gandhi. Also check out
this excellent CNN perspective on India and Pakistan: 50 Years of
Independence. This is also an excellent article about Indian and the
recent elections there.
Check out these links also: Redif India Online, Discover India, India
Express, Hello India!, India Review, Inet India, and India on
Internet.
Check out these official Indian government pages: Indian Parliament
Home Page, and The President of India.
This is a cool link about Hindu vs. Muslim values in India. This is
also good. Read this article about tensions between Indian Muslims
and Hindu nationalists.
Check out the below NPR radio broadcasts to get an in-depth analysis
of events:
India-Pakistan: Tit for Tat
Tensions rise anew with the shooting down of a Pakistani military
plane and a reported retaliatory missile firing (8/23/99)
CNN broadcasts: Pakistan/India Partition, India/Pakistan at 50, India
Acquires Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan Nuclear Weapons, India Hindu-Muslm
Tensions, India Diverse Country (good link!)
http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/India/Arts_and_Humanities/Humanities/History/
http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/India/Arts_and_Humanities/Humanities/History/By_Time_Period/
INDIA ELECTION '98
March 4 1998
The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Transcript
Leaders of a Hindu nationalist party are demanding the right to form
India's next government after nearly complete election returns show
the party winning the most seats in the parliament. But conflicting
claims have led to bitterness and confusion. Fred de Sam Lazaro has
this report on the party's rise to power.
A RealAudio version of this segment is available.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Ramesh Chand Thomar has served in India's
parliament since 1991, representing a semi-rural district in the
Northern, Uttar Pradesh province. He began this campaign day with a
stop at a Hindu temple, part of a routine that emphasizes the central
theme of his BJP or India People's Party. Called Hindutva, the slogan
has few specifics but declares India "a nation of Hindu values." He
insists this does not violate the secular democratic tradition of
Mahatma Gandhi, on which the nation was founded. Thomar says it simply
calls on Indians to be patriotic.
RAMESH CHAND THOMAR: Indian must think first of India, the development
of India, the prosperity of India, we like that. The people are living
here and they are thinking about other countries.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: What other countries specifically?
RAMESH CHAND THOMAR: Neighboring countries, whatever they have in
their mind, I cannot say.
BJP strategy: anti-muslim rhetoric?
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The BJP's critics say that's code language aimed
at India's Muslim minority. They are often accused of being loyal to
Pakistan, India's Islamic neighbor and adversary in three wars,
according to Syed Shahabuddin, a former member of parliament and
publisher of a journal called Muslim India.
SYED SHAHABUDDIN, Publisher, Muslim India: This is precisely their
method of trying to undo, or rather to do a minority out of its due
share. Point one, look, he's the enemy, he is the other, he is the
enemy, he is the adversary, he's with them; he's the fifth columnist.
He's at the beck and call of Pakistan. And Pakistan, of course, you
know, is always leaving difficult responsibilities against us. And
this is how you create a miasma of fear, and that is how you create
distrust. That is how you inject poison into the body politic of this
country, and that is how you create an atmosphere in which any amount
of violence can take place.
Religious tensions become political issues.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Critics blame the BJP for trying to reignite
religious tensions that date back centuries. In the early 1990's, the
party led a campaign to remove a 16th century mosque, called Babri
Masjid, and replace it with a Hindu temple. They claimed India's
Muslim conquerors built it in a sacred spot; the birthplace of the
Hindu God Rama. Murali Manohar Joshi, a BJP leader, explained the
campaign to foreign reporters.
MURALI MANOHAR JOSHI: If Hitler would have been victorious in the
second world war and there would have been a statue of Hitler in
Trafalgar Square, and in 1990 the Britishers would have been liberated
from Hitler's yoke, what would they have done to that statue of
Hitler?
The ruling party faces voter resentment.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: In 1992, rioters stormed the mosque called Babri
Masjid and razed it. The incident sparked violent clashes that claimed
dozens of Hindu and Muslim lives, and for a while, it seemed to
alienate many voters from the BJP, but political observers say it also
hurt the ruling Congress Party government, which was criticized for
not cracking down on the rioters. At the same time, the Congress
government, which had ruled India almost uninterrupted for four
decades, began to face increasing voter resentment for policies that
failed to deliver even basic amenities. It's frustration that's still
very much in evidence.
MAN: (speaking through interpreter) Take a look at the condition of
our village. Do you see any water taps? We have to go two kilometers
to get water, and we still get water from an open well.
TEACHER: (speaking through interpreter) The minister came here, he
promised to expand this school. We're still waiting. We only go to the
fifth grade. I'd love to see kids go to the eighth.
SECOND MAN: (speaking through interpreter) When it comes time for our
votes, they say they'll do this, they'll do that, in the end they
don't do anything.
THIRD MAN: (speaking through interpreter) The Congress Party has been
in power for a long time. They haven't done anything for the poor, the
lower castes.
The Congress Party faces allegations of corruption.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Perhaps the biggest reason for the Congress
Party's fall from grace were allegations of widespread corruption.
It's an issue the BJP has seized. A BJP promise to clean up politics
has struck a responsive chord, even among some Congress Party members,
like Colonel Ram Singh.
COLONEL RAM SINGH: I really got so disgusted. Every minister, barring
four or five of us, there is about 65, every minister was looting the
country literally with both hands, and it was shameful.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Singh, who ran for parliament this time as a BJP
candidate, believes his adopted party is divorcing itself from its
extremist past.
COLONEL RAM SINGH: I think that is gradually being removed. I mean, my
total outlook has always been, and will always be that every religion
should have equal place, equal rights, and they should be no
persecution of anybody on religious grounds.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Singh describes himself as a moderating force in
the BJP and the party has gone out of its way to tone down its
Hindutva rhetoric, according to H. K. Dua, editor of the Times of
India.
H. K. DUA, Editor, The Times of India: They are trying to project more
a centrist party, keen to do the business of the state, taking the
others along, than the kind of image they had tried to project
earlier. Possibly they are seeing it's politically necessary. They
won't be able to come to power if they are taking an extreme position.
So there is a definite attempt to demarcate themselves from the old--
the old Hindu image. But they're doing it softly, lest they may lose
their old constituency.
RAMESH THOMAR: India is a secular country, and it will remain always
secular.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Hard-line BJP candidates, like Ramesh Thomar,
insist they're committed to freedom for all religions, but at the same
time, Thomar says a temple must be built at the site of the demolished
Babri mosque.
RAMESH THOMAR: Construction of the temple is the permanent solution,
and most of the Muslim people also wants that the temple of Rama in
Ayodhya that should be constructed.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: So you would like to see a temple constructed
in--
RAMESH THOMAR: Must, must, must.
Which party will control the future of India?
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Election results show the BJP won the most seats
in parliament but not the majority needed to form a government. Its
position on the temple and other issues will be the subject of intense
and difficult negotiations as it seeks coalition partners. Kuldi
Nayyar is a columnist and former diplomat.
KULDIP NAYYAR, Columnist: The roots of tolerance, the roots of secular
polity, the roots of sense of accommodation are very deep, because
even last time, they tried their best to get others to join them.
Fourteen, fifteen parties came together to keep them away because
these people represent a philosophy or an ideology which is alien to
this country.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Opposing the BJP in the race to form a coalition
government is the once dominant Congress Party, whose campaign was led
by a woman with India's best-known political name, Sonia Gandhi. It
finished a distant second and will try to team with a group of smaller
parties called the United Front to stop the Hindu Nationalists.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/jan-june98/india_3-4.html
bademiyansubhanallah
There is a popular saying about the newly appointed president of BJP,
Nitin Gadkari … that he manages to elicit results with the least of
efforts. It was with great pomp that Gadkari had raised the apt issue
in Indore that the party was in need of combative people, not of
sychophants or yes-men. But it is not hidden from anyone as to how
serious the gentleman, whom Gadkari himself kept portraying as Mr
Genius from Indore to Delhi, is about political issues. Even
otherwise, in Gadkari’s regime the people who were first appointed to
various posts are all known to be the flagbearers of the practice of
doing the rounds of the powers that be. For example, the newly-
appointed president of Punjab BJP Ashwini Sharma or Khimi Ram,
Himachal’s executive president who has been made a full president by
Gadkari. The BJP president wanted to send Prabhat Jha as the president
of Madhya Pradesh BJP; in Bihar he is advocating the need of handing
over the reins to another loyal-tag owner Mantoo Pandey alias Mangal
Pandey. One Alok Kumar has been appointed the chief of the all India
training camp of the party. Or the saffron flag of aggression of the
yes-brigade is flying high during the Gadkari rule.
Gadkari's Govindacharya
BJP president Nitin Gadkari has started the process of selecting his
team. But for Gadkari, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe is the most important
person right now and if sources are to be believed then Gadkari’s is
moving fast forward on Sahasrabuddhe’s brains. In a way Sahasrabuddhe
is working as the political secretary of Gadkari. This association is
exactly like the relationship Govindacharya once shared with Advani.
Sanjay Joshi and Bal Apte are also going to play an important role in
identifying and selecting the new team for Gadkari. In view of the
importance of the forthcoming Assembly election in Bihar, Leader of
Opposition in the Upper House Arun Jaitley is being made the in-
charge. One finds it difficult to recall if earlier a Leader of
Opposition had played the role of an election in-charge. What kind of
a precedent is being set by Gadkari?
Poll
Is BJP a sinking boat?
Yes (67.12%)
No (32.88%)
BJP too trying to earn some brownie points
Anita Saluja
First Published : 07 Mar 2010 03:49:00 AM IST
NEW DELHI: Sensing that history may be created on the centenary of
International Women’s Day in India, if the Rajya Sabha succeeds in
passing the controversial Women’s Reservation Bill, enabling 33
percent reservation of seats for women in Parliament and State
Assemblies, the BJP on Saturday lent a helping hand to the UPA
Government.
The BJP core group meeting, which was convened by BJP president Nitin
Gadkari, appealed to all political parties to vote in favour of the
Women’s Reservation Bill.
After the meeting, leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj said, “The
BJP was the first party to demand one-third reservation for women in
Parliament and state Assemblies. It has promised the Centre full
support to the Bill in the Rajya Sabha.” Leader of the Opposition in
the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley was optimistic of the passage of the
Women’s Bill in the Upper House and said that on its own, the BJP was
mobilising support for the Bill.
Claiming that the BJP has always stood for empowerment of women, being
the first party to give one-third reservation to women in the party
organisation, Gadkari said that it had issued whip to all the party
members of Rajya Sabha.
He said that it was the NDA Government, which first moved the Bill in
Parliament and mooted the idea to set apart 33 percent of the total
seats in Parliament and state Assemblies for women in BJP National
Council meeting at Vadodara.
Unlike in 1996, when the BJP was riven with dissensions on the Women’s
Reservation Bill, with firebrand leader Uma Bharti opposing the
legislation inside the Lok Sabha, this time around, there is no
dissenting voice.
Uma Bharti is no more in the BJP and with Sushma Swaraj leading the
party in the Lok Sabha, no one dares to challenge her ruling. “We have
to prove our own credibility,” remarked a senior leader from the Rajya
Sabha.
Apart from the three Yadavs, Mulayam Singh of the SP, Lalu Yadav of
RJD and Sharad Yadav of JD (U), the BJP alliance partner in
Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena, is also opposing the Bill in its present
form.
Comments
Right & time demand step by leading political parties in national
interest.
By Kapil Pathak
3/7/2010 10:04:00 AM
I don’t want to make a show of it
BJP youth wing leader Poonam Mahajan spills the beans on why she
skipped her brother’s big fat TV wedding
By Anand Holla and Vickey Lalwani
Posted On Monday, March 08, 2010 at 03:12:45 AM
The Mahajans have a way of making it to the headlines. This time it is
Rahul, who tied the knot, for the second time, with a 21-year-old
Bengali model and item girl in a televised event on Saturday which was
attended by his mother, but not his sister.
Poonam Mahajan-Rao
Poonam Mahajan-Rao, who had always stood by her elder brother during
the darkest phases of his life - the drug scandal for instance – was
missing from the scene.
This sent the media and commentators in a tizzy, as Rahul and his
spokespersons found themselves struggling to deal with speculations
that Poonam, who is a BJP youth wing leader, wanted to stay away from
the reality drama.
After considerable effort, Mirror managed to speak to Poonam. “I am a
very private person, and for me, an event like a marriage is a private
affair.” However, Rahul’s ‘private affair’ was a high-voltage mega-TRP-
driven event with millions watching it live as it unfolded. When asked
why she didn’t join in the much-watched ceremony, Poonam defended, “I
am the kind of person who prefers to sit at home rather than make a
show out of things. I even keep my son’s birthday party as private as
possible. That’s how I am.”
Incidentally, Poonam was very much around when Rahul married his
childhood sweetheart Shweta in a private ceremony in 2006. They
divorced two years later.
Speaking about her own wedding which was a low-key affair, Poonam
said, “Ten years ago, I made a choice of getting married to the person
I wanted to. Now, Rahul has made his choice and being his sister
support him entirely.”
Rahul with his newly-wedded wife Dimpy Ganguly after the reality show
concluded
When asked if there are any differences within the Mahajan family over
Rahul’s choice and decision, Poonam said, “Rahul is my elder brother
and his decisions are totally his. I will be there for him just like
I’ve always been there for him, even during the tough times. I wish
him all the luck with this marriage. Together, we want to take forward
our father’s legacy by helping each other.”
Not just Poonam, missing from what was purported to be Rahul’s big day
was his uncle Gopinath Munde, BJP national general secretary and MP.
Munde has been constantly by the side of late BJP leader Pramod
Mahajan’s family since he was shot dead three years ago by younger
brother Pravin.
BJP sources said Munde along with national president Nitin Gadkari and
leader of state legislature Eknath Khadse were in Nashik for their
felicitation. “The felicitation programme was finalised few months ago
and Munde had accepted the invitation. In fact he made it a point to
attend the Nashik event as his absence at previous felicitation event
in Aurangabad was being blamed on intra party tussle with Gadkari,’’ a
party leader remarked.
But the speculations over Poonam’s absence refuse to die down. “Poonam
may have deliberately avoided not to attend the much publicised
wedding show for political reasons. She is keen to establish herself
politically and does not want to get embroiled in any controversy,’’
the source said.
Parties divided, but government determined to push women’s bill
PM says the Centre is moving towards providing one-third reservation
for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures
By PTI
Posted On Sunday, March 07, 2010 at 04:12:40 AM
New Delhi: Affirming his commitment to women’s empowerment, Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the Government is moving
towards providing one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and
state legislatures.
Inaugurating the women’s leadership summit here, he said the
Government is committed to social, economic and political empowerment
of women, whatever effort and resources the task might take.
Minister of State (Independent Charge), Women and Child Development,
Krishna Tirath welcomes Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the
inauguration of the Women’s Leadership Summit 2010
The Women’s Reservation Bill providing for 33 per cent reservation of
seats for women in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies is expected to come
up in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
Observing that reservation for women in local bodies has
revolutionised governance at the grass-roots level, he said, “We hope
to give this movement of political participation of women further
fillip by increasing the number of seats reserved in Panchayats and
city and town governments to 50 per cent.
“More significantly we are moving towards providing one-third
reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures," he
said.
UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, in a message read out by Women and Child
Development Minister Krishna Tirath, said women in the country have
broken glass ceilings but those in rural areas have not been able to
avail of many opportunities.
LS Speaker Meira Kumar said that though Indian tradition provides high
status to women by worshipping them as gods, the practise is reversed
in society.
The three-day summit being held as part of women's day celebrations
would be attended by women achievers from all fields.
JD-U divided
However, sharp divisions have emerged among the opponents of the Bill
with Bihar Chief Nitish Kumar supporting the measure, pitting himself
against his party President Sharad Yadav who is opposed to it.
SP also opposes
The Samajwadi Party, which opposes the Bill in its present form, on
Saturday said it will register its “protest” on Monday. The SP has
suggested reservation within reservation for OBC women, not more than
20 per cent.
BJP supports
Asserting that it was determined to ensure passage of the Bill, BJP
sought to make political capital on the issue by stating that since
the UPA coalition was in minority in the RS, the onus of getting it
adopted was with the main opposition.
BJP President Nitin Gadkari on Saturday convened an emergency meeting
of the party Core Group to discuss the Bill.
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News -
Nation§id=3&contentid=2010030720100307041240664ef9a81db
JD(U) Hints At Softening of Opposition to Women’s Bill
New Delhi, March 7 – With the numbers favouring the passage of the
women’s reservation bill in the Rajya Sabha Monday, the Janata Dal-
United (JD-U), a prominent party opposing it, Sunday indicated a
softening of its position.
JD-U chief whip in the Rajya Sabha Ali Anwar Ansari said the party
will consider the opinion of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in
support of the bill, which seeks to reserve 33 percent seats for women
in parliament and state legislatures.
‘A meeting of JD-U MPs will be held at party president Sharad Yadav’s
residence Monday morning. We will take a unanimous decision,’ Ansari
told IANS.
The JD-U has not issued a whip to its MPs to either support or oppose
the bill.
Ansari said the bill is expected to be passed by the upper house of
parliament and ‘there is no point of opposing it for the sake of
opposition’.
‘We are taking the opinion of all our members and a decision will be
taken,’ he said.
Ansari, who spoke to both Yadav and Nitish Kumar Sunday, ruled out the
possibility of the party abstaining from the vote on the bill.
Nitish Kumar, who will lead the JD-U charge in campaign for Bihar
assembly elections later this year, Saturday spoke in favour of the
bill.
With more and more parties coming out in favour of the legislation,
the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) remained
its only two vocal opponents. Both parties are demanding quotas for
backward classes and minorities within 33 per cent reservation for
women. While the SP has 11 members in the Rajya Sabha, the RJD has
four.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which has 12 members in the upper
house, has not opened its cards yet with regards to the bill.
For the bill to be passed, it has to be supported by two-thirds of
those present and voting. This figure should also be at least 50
percent of the total number of members in the house.
With an effective strength of 233, the Constitution (108th Amendment
Bill), 2008, needs support of 155 members in the Rajya Sabha if all
the members are present.
While the combined strength of the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) and the Left – three main supporters of the bill – comes to 138
in the upper house, many other parties, including the DMK, AIADMK,
Biju Janata Dal, National Conference, Nationalist Congress Party and
Shiromani Akali Dal have expressed their support for the path-breaking
legislation.
With the ruling Congress having timed the consideration of the bill
with the International Women’s Day and party president Sonia Gandhi
making a strong pitch for its passage, the BJP too has joined the race
to claim credit.
BJP president Nitin Gadkari, who appealed to all parties to support
the bill, said the party was conscious that the ruling coalition was
in minority in the Rajya Sabha. He said the National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) government had first moved the bill in parliament.
The Constitution (108th Amendment Bill), 2008, provides for
reservation of one-third seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies
for 15 years from the date of commencement of the Act on rotation
basis.
The proposal to provide such reservation to women has been pending for
the last 13 years due to lack of political consensus.
Posted by Vamban on Mar 7, 2010 @ 6:00 PM
http://www.vamban.com/jdu-hints-at-softening-of-opposition-to-womens-bill/
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http://www.vamban.com/womens-bill-moved-torn-to-shreds-in-rajya-sabha/
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http://www.vamban.com/85-million-women-missing-in-india-china-undp/
http://www.vamban.com/jdu-hints-at-softening-of-opposition-to-womens-bill/
BJP to oppose any proposal for autonomy to Kashmir
By IANS
January 19th, 2010
NEW DELHI - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari
Tuesday said his party will oppose any proposal for granting autonomy
to Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking at a function here to mark 20 years of exodus of Kashmiri
Pandits from the valley, he said a solution to the Kashmir problem
should be found within the parameters of the Indian Constitution.
“We will oppose autonomy with full force. If such a proposal comes to
Parliament, we will be against it,” he said.
Gadkari termed as “dangerous” the report of Justice Saghir Ahmad - who
headed the working group on Centre-State relations - recommending
giving autonomy to the state. The report was submitted to the Jammu
and Kashmir government last month.
The BJP chief blamed the Congress for the problems in Jammu and
Kashmir. “Congress has messed up things in the state,” he said, adding
that the “mistakes” should not be repeated.
The function was organised by the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Foundation.
Dhumal ordered tap on Virbhadra Singh’s phone, CD tells
By IANS
January 19th, 2010
SHIMLA - In another twist to the corruption cases against union Steel
Minister Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh, a new audio
compact disc (CD) from an unknown source was circulated here Tuesday
in which Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal is purportedly directing the
vigilance chief to tap the phones of the couple.
Two other CDs were also released here — one audio in which Dhumal was
heard talking about former union ministers Sukh Ram and Shanta Kumar
and the other video in which Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
parliamentarian Virender Kashyap was shown accepting some cash in
regard to granting permission to an educational institute in the
state.
In the alleged conversation recorded in the first CD, Director General
of Police (Vigilance) D.S. Manhas asked Dhumal regarding Singh and his
wife’s phone tapping. At this Dhumal replied: “Do it.”
Manhas then said: “Yes, we will do it, we will do it. If the CID
(Criminal Investigation Department) is doing it, its staff will leak
it.” Dhumal replied: “This is right.”
Dhumal and Manhas allegedly also talked about some Rs.25 crore (Rs.250
million).
However, a senior police official said there was no proof of the
authenticity of the CD. “It is released when the vigilance is almost
ready to start within a month the prosecution against Virbhadra Singh
and his wife,” he said.
The cases against Singh and his wife were registered Aug 3, 2009,
under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The complaint against Singh
alleges misuse of his official position and criminal misconduct when
he was the chief minister of the state in 1989.
Interestingly, they were booked on the basis of an audio CD released
by Singh’s political adversary Vijay Singh Mankotia in 2007.
Meanwhile, Dhumal refuted the allegations in the new CD. He told IANS
on phone from Delhi Tuesday: “Right now I am not in the state. I have
not seen the CD and not even heard about it. I am not in a position to
comment on it.”
“The government machinery is not involved in phone tapping of Singh
and his wife. It’s just a white lie,” he added.
The CD that showed BJP parliamentarian Virender Kashyap talking to
someone on the issue of granting permission to an educational
institute in the state was recorded April 17, 2009 when Kashyap was
only a party activist.
In the conversation, Kashyap was insisting and telling the person
sitting opposite to him to first complete the formalities and then
seek formal permission. The CD also showed Kashyap being offered some
cash, which he hesitantly accepted.
However, Kashyap was not available for comments.
Prosecution against Virbhadra likely within month: Police
By IANS
January 1st, 2010
SHIMLA - Police is likely to start within a month the prosecution
against union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha
Singh in corruption cases registered against them, an official said
here Friday.
“We are still awaiting a few forensic reports from a Central Forensic
Science Laboratory (CFSL)… most likely the prosecution against
Virbhadra Singh and his wife would start within a month,” Director
General of Police (Vigilance) D.S. Manhas told reporters.
Regarding the questionnaires sent to the couple, Manhas said: “We got
the replies to the questionnaire. Both the questionnaires have about
25 questions.”
The cases against Singh and his wife were registered Aug 3, 2009, by
the state vigilance and anti-corruption bureau under the Prevention of
Corruption Act.
The complaint against Singh alleges misuse of his official position
and criminal misconduct when he was chief minister of the state in
1989.
According to police, they were booked on the basis of an audio CD
released by Singh’s political adversary Vijai Singh Mankotia in 2007.
In the CD, Singh was heard referring to some monetary transactions on
the phone with former Indian Administrative Officer (IAS) officer
Mahinder Lal, who is now dead. The CD also contained recordings of his
wife and some industrialists.
Manhas said that four of the nine people identified in the CD are
dead.
“Four are dead out of the nine accused. It is still to be decided that
who is the main accused,” the police official added.
Singh has already refuted the allegations, saying the state’s ruling
Bharatiya Janata Party was trying to malign him.
Revival of Friends of BJP
March 8th, 2010
I was part of a small team from Friends of BJP that was invited to
attend the BJP National Council meet in Indore in mid-Feb. It was
quite a gathering - over 5,000 people brought together from all over
the country.
Among the announcements made was that of the revival of Friends of
BJP.
Here is what Nitin Gadkari said in his Presidential Address: “We are
also planning to revive Friends of BJP, an associate organisation of
the non-member Well Wishers of the party. All patriotic citizens,
especially all young professionals who look forward to BJP as an
instrument of making India a resurgent republic are welcome to join
this forum.”
We will be back with more details soon. My hope is that we can help
bring about a change in India’s political and policy climate in the
coming years.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Santosh // Mar 8, 2010 at 10:29 am
Rajesh,
I was one of the individuals who wanted BJP voted back to power in
2004 because of what they achieved in their last term. And I firmly
believe that BJP was pro-reforms in their term.
But seeing what India has been able to achieve in last 6 odd years
shouldn’t be undermined. Ofcourse, Congress isn’t the reformist that
most urban Indians want and India has managed the growth because of
sheer efficiencies of private enterprise.
For what we have achieved in last 6 years, I don’t go all out against
them. Today, I don’t see any reason why BJP should be supported -
There is no great leader remaining whom we can trust to take our
country forward. They don’t play the role of constructive opposition
at all. They find baseless arguments in blocking/ criticizing every
Congress move.
I fail to understand what is it that you see so strongly in BJP to go
& support them. I don’t to vote for a government shouts from roof-top.
I want a clear plan of what they would do & who is the team that is at
work. Unfortunately, I don’t see either.
2 Alok Mittal // Mar 8, 2010 at 11:17 am
What is really needed is not revival of Friends of BJP, but revival of
BJP itself. I think Congress has won a lot of erstwhile BJP supporters
over the past 6 years; and BJP has lost a lot of supporters over the
past 2 years. There is a critical distinction between the two, and the
latter can only be addressed by the BJP leadership itself.
3 Adarsh Jain // Mar 8, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Alok and Santosh,
I think for the future of the country there should be a worthy
opposition. After Nitin Gadkari became party president, I believe BJP
is ready for transformation and play the role of constructive
opposition till next election
http://emergic.org/2010/03/08/revival-of-friends-of-bjp/
India's women quota bill triggers uproar in parliament
Foreign 2010-03-08 17:23
NEW DELHI, March 8 (AFP) - An attempt by India's government to pass
legislation reserving a third of all seats for women in parliament
provoked uproar on Monday as opposition politicians forced repeated
adjournments.
The government had been confident that the Women Reservation Bill,
which has been stalled for 14 years, would gather the required votes
to pass in the upper house on Monday after being presented on
International Women's Day.
The upper house was adjourned twice on Monday as politicians opposing
the bill shouted down speakers and refused to allow the introduction
of the proposed legislation and a scheduled debate.
The ruling Congress party, its allies and the main opposition
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have pledged their support in public, but
several socialist parties oppose it.
They argue that the law, which would reserve a third of seats for
women in the parliament and state assemblies, would lead to a monopoly
by upper-caste women at the expense of lower caste and religious
minority Muslims.
"We are not anti-women but we want reservations for women hailing from
minority and backward classes first," Mulayam Singh Yadav, a leader of
the pro-Muslim Samajwadi (Socialist) party said outside parliament.
Attempts to pass the bill have been blocked by various political
groups in the past who have demanded separate quotas for women from
Muslim and low-caste communities.
Yadav said the bill was an attempt by the Congress and the BJP to
appease the rich and the influential upper class.
The controversial proposal to reserve 33 percent of seats, first
introduced in parliament in 1996, would dramatically increase women's
membership in both houses of parliament where they now occupy about
one in 10 seats.
Because the bill involves a constitutional change, it needs the
approval of two-thirds of legislators in the upper house after which
it will go before the lower house where it also requires a two-thirds
majority.
Women currently occupy 59 seats out of 545 in the lower house. There
are just 21 women in the 248-seat upper house.
"Our government is committed towards women empowerment. We are moving
towards one-third reservation for women in parliament and state
legislatures," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a women's leadership
summit on Saturday.
Sonia Gandhi, president of the Congress party and regarded as India's
most powerful politician, has thrown her weight behind the bill,
saying she attaches the "highest importance" to it.
It will be a "gift to the women of India if it is introduced and
passed" on International Women's Day, she told party lawmakers last
week.
Political analysts said the government was testing the waters by
introducing it in the upper house first instead of the lower house,
where most proposed legislation is sent.
Some accused the government of playing politics by seeking to appease
women by proposing the legislation but without having any realistic
chance of it passing.
Politics in India has traditionally been a male bastion, but women now
hold prominent positions, including President Pratibha Patil and Sonia
Gandhi. India has had one female prime minister, Indira Gandhi.
Panchayats -- local governing bodies in towns and villages -- already
reserve a portion of their seats for women and experts say the move
has given women greater status in their communities. (By Rupam Jain
Nair/ AFP)
MySinchew 2010.03.08
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/36074
Why Lalu-Mulayam exit worries government
NDTV Correspondent, Monday March 8, 2010, New Delhi
The Prime Minister is holding emergency meetings with his senior
ministers to discuss the Women's Bill and the impact of Lalu Prasad
and Mulayam Singh Yadav announcing they will withdraw their support to
this government. (Read & Watch: Mulayam, Lalu withdraw support to
govt)
Lalu and Mulayam have said the Women's Bill is being forced upon them
by the Congress, and that it does not protect the interest of Dalit
and Muslim women.
The Rajya Sabha is meant to vote on the bill today.
For the Women's Bill, the government is not worried about the numbers
because the Opposition - the BJP and the Left, along with smaller
parties, are in favour of the bill.
However, the Finance Bill has not yet been passed. And that's what the
government is worried about.
The UPA government believes that without Lalu and Mulayam's MPs, it
can still count on 274 votes in favour of Pranab Mukherjee's budget.
The number of votes required to pass it is 273. So the government's
margin is tiny. And that's what the BJP and Left will try to exploit.
Both have already attacked Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee over the
budget, in particular, over the hike in petrol and diesel prices. The
government's key allies including the DMK and Mamata Banerjee have
also expressed their concern over the fuel hike, and the government's
new numbers weaken its position if it finds it must negotiate with
these allies.
http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/why-lalu-mulayam-exit-worries-government-17380.php
Women's Bill: Mulayam, Lalu withdraw support to government
NDTV Correspondent, Monday March 8, 2010, New Delhi
The Congress-led UPA government finds itself in a spot. Set to table
and get the Women's Reservation Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha, it now
has to contend with the threat of withdrawal of support from two
traditional opponents of the Bill - the Samajwadi Party and the RJD.
Both parties have announced they are withdrawing support to the UPA
government over the Bill. While the government does not need their
support to pass this Bill, since the BJP and the Left will vote in
favour, it will find itself on an uncomfortable, wafer-thin majority
for other legislation, like the crucial Finance Bill, without the
buffer of the 22 Samajwadi Party MPs and 4 RJD MPs in the Lok Sabha.
(Read: Why Lalu-Mulayam exit worries government)
Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Yadav have said they oppose the Women's
Bill because it does not protect the interests of minorities and Other
Backward Castes.
The bill reserves 33% seats for women in Parliament and in state
assemblies.
"Reservation should be for Muslims and Dalits," said Mulayam Singh
Yadav.
"The government is trying to force the bill upon us. The Congress
does not listen to anyone. The bill must bring the Asli Bharat
forward...the Congress is leaving women and Muslims behind, " said
Lalu.
The government is in a huddle right now on what next steps should be.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is holding meetings with senior
colleagues like Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Parliamentary
Affairs Minsiter PK Bansal to evolve a strategy.
Not to press ahead with the Women's Bill today will mean a big loss of
face, especially given that the Bill is close to Congress President
Sonia Gandhi's heart and the many statements that she and other
Congress leaders and ministers have already made. But the party cannot
risk Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav actually carrying out
their threat and officially withdrawing support.
Along with the BSP, the two parties have already ensured that
Parliament proceedings are anything but smooth. As Lok Sabha opened in
the morning, Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh rushed to the Well of the
House.
In the Rajya Sabha too, the SP and RJD disrupted Question Hour. Here
they demanded the implementation of the Ranganath Mishra Commission
report first. (Read: Chaos in Parliament over Women's Bill)
Both Houses reconvened at noon only to be adjourned again.
http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/mulayam-lalu-to-withdraw-support-to-government-17373.php
Chaos in Parliament over Women's Bill
Press Trust of India, Monday March 8, 2010, New Delhi
Mulayam Singh Yadav, and Lalu Yadav have announced the withdrawal of
their outside support to the UPA government over the Women's
Reservation Bill.
The government is attempting history in the making, but the
proceedings have got off to a very rocky start. There was chaos in
both the houses when they opened on Monday morning.
Rajya Sabha:
The Rajya Sabha witnessed unprecendented scenes leading to an
adjournment for the third time on Monday as determined SP, RJD, LJP
and BSP members entered the well of the House, ripped off mikes and
tore up papers in an attempt to stall the Women's Reservation Bill
from being taken up for consideration.
An attempt was made to snatch the Bill from the Chairman's table which
was prevented by marshals. However, they snatched some papers from the
Secretary General's table and tore them up.
Mr Kamal Akhtar of Samajwadi Party, Mr Sabir Ali of LJP and Mr
Gangacharan Rajput of BSP along with other party members spearheaded
the stalling tactics. Some of them then got on the reporters' table in
the well of the House.
All members of various political parties were on their feet. Seeing
these antics many looked shocked.
The ruling Congress party members, especially women, were seen making
a protective ring around Law Minister M Veerappa Moily who will move
the Bill for consideration.
Shocked over these developments, the Chairman adjourned the House till
3 pm.
Earlier, the House was adjourned twice within minutes of assembling as
members of the SP, RJD, LJP, and BSP raised slogans from the well of
the House demanding implementation of the Ranganath Mishra Commission
report.
Lok Sabha:
The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the third time on Monday afternoon
when SP, RJD and JD(U) members trooped into the well protesting the
Women's Reservation Bill in its present form.
When the House, which was earlier adjourned twice on the same issue,
reassembled at 2 pm, members of these parties led by RJD chief Lalu
Prasad, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and JD(U) President Sharad Yadav,
stormed the well shouting slogans.
As the slogan-shouting continued, Trinamool Congress members including
its chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, were seen singing the
famous song - "We shall overcome some day".
Other Trinamool members, including Minister of State for Health Dinesh
Trivedi, chief whip Sudip Bandopadhyay and cine-star turned MP
Shatabdi Roy, were heard singing the song in the House.
As the din continued, Deputy Speaker Karia Munda adjourned the House
till 3 pm.
http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/rajya-sabha-adjourned-after-uproar-over-womens-bill-17368.php
BJP too to quit JAC?
Express News Service
First Published : 08 Mar 2010 05:43:00 AM IST
HYDERABAD: The BJP is contemplating quitting the Telangana political
JAC and evolve its own programme of action to rouse public opinion in
favour of separate Telangana State.
The State leadership of the party wants to strengthen the party’s base
at ground level in villages. It will have `Jai Telangana’ slogan in
Telangana areas and `Jai Andhra’ in Andhra districts.
The party’s approach to Telangana that all legislators should resign
and force a constittutional crisis has changed after it encountered
opposition within the party. Those who opposed it argued that MLAs of
neither the Congress nor the TDP resigned.
This was the reason why these elements got together and ensured the
election of Kishan Reddy as the party’s State president who too
subscribed to the idea and refused to resign. In such an event, the
point that is being discussed at length is why stay in the JAC when
the party is not in a position to honour its decisions (of quitting
the Assembly).
To make this easy for Kishan Reddy’s supporters, the BJP National
Committee too expressed displeasure over the BJP continuing in the JAC
and wanted it to make an honourable exit from the panel so that it
would not be misconstrued by the people.
Already, the ABVP, which has an ideological affiliation with the BJP,
is carrying on the movement for Telangana without joining the JAC and
has already made a mark. The BJP wants to toe the same line so that it
will be able to preseve its identity and strengthen its base.
The Stare party leadership has asked the district units to organise
Telangana programmes in districts only in the name of the party and
will not have anything to do with the JAC. This apart, the JAC leaders
are not on good terms with the new chief of the State unit.
Comments
PEOPLE AND STUDENTS OF T-REGION REJECTED KCR/TRS & TRAITORS IN
TELANGANA CONGRESS FOR PUBLICITY STUNTS AND RESIGNATION DRAMAS AND KCR/
TRS MP NOT RESIGNED AGAINST THEIR OWN ADVISE TO OTHERS AND KCR
ATTENDING RAJ BHAVAN DINNER EVEN AFTER KNOWING THE WITH SRI KRISHNA'S
TOR- SEPARATE-T NOT FEASIBLE HAS GONE AGAINS THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.
TRS/KCR WILL REALISE THIS IN BYE-ELECTION RESULTS THAT IS WHY KCR/TRS
MP NOR RESIGNED.
By JAC-T= KCR/TRS+KO-DANDA ONLY.
3/8/2010 1:19:00 PM
BJP demands bill on bifurcation
Express News Service
First Published : 08 Mar 2010 05:42:00 AM IST
HYDERABAD: The BJP State Council has demanded that the Centre
introudce a bill in Parliament for bifurcation of the State.
The council, which met here yesterday, said in its political
resolution that the constitution of the Justice BN Srikrishna
Committee was intended to prolong the issue and saw no need for the
party to make a presentation to the Srirkrishna panel since it
beleived that the committee’s purpose was other than formation of two
States.
“Bifurcation of the State is the only answer to backwardness of the
two regions,’’ it said and criticised other parties for their
dichotomy on the issue.
By another resolution the council expressed concern over the
deteriroration of administration which led to increase in the prices
of essential commodities as well as breakdown of law and order.
The murder of Sri Vaishnavi in Vijayawada and the hooch tragedy in
East Godavari district were indicative of the breakdown of the law and
order machienry, the council said. It alleged that the State
Government had miserably failed to come to the rescue of people
affected by the unprecedented floods in Kurnool, Mahaboobnagar,
Krishna and Guntur districts.
Though the Centre annoucned Rs 1,000 crore for mitigation of the
suffering of the flood-affected people, the funds had so far not been
transferred, it pointed out.
A resoultion said that the adminsitraion was in a state of suspended
animation with Chief Minister K Rosaiah, who was asked to step into
the shoes of YS Rajasekhara Reddy who died in a helicopter crash,
being unable to perform.
By another resolution the party demanded that the State should take
immediate steps for controlling the prices of essential commodities
which have been going through the roof and supply power for nine hours
to the farm sector to save standing crops.
Lalu declares 'war' against women's Bill
TNN, Mar 8, 2010, 05.42am IST
Women's Bill: 'Conspiracy to eliminate minorities'PATNA: RJD chief
Lalu Prasad on Sunday declared he will fight tooth and nail against
women's reservation Bill. "Yuddh hoga (There would be a war)," he
thundered and added the OBC brigade will roll up sleeves against the
move.
Lalu said BJP and Congress are making a 'historical blunder' by
issuing a whip to their MPs to vote for the Bill in its present form.
"If they (Congress and BJP) think they will get women's votes, they
are mistaken. It's a male-dominated society (where women go by what
their menfolk say while voting). If I ask my wife, Rabri Devi, to vote
for a particular party, do you think she will vote for another party?"
he asked at a presser and added nowhere in the world women get
reservation in legislative bodies.
Even if it has to be given, there should be quota for deprived
sections within this reservation, Lalu said and added the faces of
women belonging to minority community, backward castes, Dalits and
tribals should be visible through this reservation. "The quota should
be for those who cannot enter the legislative bodies on their own," he
said.
By introducing the Bill, the RJD leader said, the Congress is trying
to divert people's attention from main issues like price rise,
unemployment, growing regionalism and threat to national security.
"The BJP and Congress want to get votes of Muslims, Dalits and OBCs,
but they do not want to safeguard their interests," he said.
Lalu hit out at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar for changing tack on
the issue. "Nitish is a `bahurupiya' (a master of disguise)," Lalu
said, recalling Nitish earlier gave a note of dissent as a member of
the parliamentary committee which looked into this issue.
Also, Nitish's party colleague and JD(U) national president Sharad
Yadav once declared he would consume poison if the women's reservation
Bill in its present form was introduced. "By advising Sharad to ensure
the passage of the Bill now, Nitish has shown his real face to the
Muslims, Dalits and OBCs," Lalu said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/opinions/5656141.cms
. BJP, Justice Sagheer in agreement on Kashmir Accord
Working Group Report on Centre-State Relations-V
Syed Junaid Hashmi
JAMMU, Mar 7: The historical comment of former Prime Minister late
Indira Gandhi “The clock could not be put back in this manner” is
central theme of ‘some kind of restoration of autonomy’ recommended by
Justice Sagheer Panel on centre-state relations and clearly, in
contrast to vehement claims of ruling coalition.
The recommendation is in agreement with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
led union cabinet’s decision on Autonomy resolution of Jammu and
Kashmir on July 5, 2000. The then union cabinet while rejecting
autonomy resolution of then National Conference (NC) led government in
Jammu and Kashmir had accepted that there is a clear case for
devolution of more financial and administrative powers and functions
to the states alongside taking suitable steps to ensure harmonious
centre-state relations in the light of the recommendations of the
Sarkaria Commission.
Interestingly, the union cabinet had then rejected autonomy resolution
by referring to Kashmir accord, more commonly known as Indira-Sheikh
Accord. It had said that issue of restoring constitutional situation
in Jammu and Kashmir to its pre-1953 position had been discussed in
detail by late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah with former Prime Minister
late Indira Gandhi in 1974-75. The decision had noted that agreement
signed after these negotiations had affirmed that provisions of the
Constitution of India already applied to the state of Jammu and
Kashmir without adaptation or modification are unalterable.
Justice (Retd) Sagheer in his report on Pages 93 and 94 has referred
to speech of former Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi in the
parliament on February 24, 1975 in which she had remarked, “The
constitutional relationship between state of Jammu and Kashmir and the
union will continue as it has been and extension of further provisions
of constitution to the state will continue to be governed by procedure
prescribed in Article 370.”
Justice Sagheer further notes, “Sheikh Abdullah was very anxious that
to start with, the constitutional relationship between the state and
the centre should be as it was in 1953 when he was in power. It was
explained to him that the clock could not be put back in this manner.
Mirza Afzal Beg pressed for transfer of provisions relating to
fundamental rights to state constitution, removal of the supervision
and control of Election Commission of India over elections to the
state legislature and the modification of Article 356 to require the
state government’s concurrence before imposing president’s rule in the
state.”
Late Indira Gandhi while outrightly rejecting these demands had said,
“It was not found possible to agree to any of these proposals. I must
say to the credit of Sheikh Abdullah that despite his strong views on
these issues, he has accepted the agreed conclusion.” After this,
Justice (Retd) Sagheer has referred to clause 3 and 4 of the Kashmir
Accord.
The panel while referring these two clauses has concluded that if any
provision of the constitution of India had been applied to the state
of Jammu and Kashmir without adaptations and modifications, then such
modifications are unalterable. But with respect to provisions applied
with adaptations and modifications, it was agreed that they can be
altered or repealed by an order of President under Article 370 but
each individual proposal in this behalf would be considered on its
merits;
“With a view to assuring freedom to the State of Jammu and Kashmir to
have its own legislation on matters like welfare measures cultural
matters, social security, personal law and procedural laws, in a
manner suited to the special conditions in the State, it is agreed
that the State Government can review the laws made by Parliament or
extended to the State after 1953 on any matter related to the
Concurrent List and may decide which of them, in its opinion, needs
amendment or repeal. Thereafter, appropriate steps may be taken under
Article 254 of the Constitution of India. The grant of President's
assent to such legislation would be sympathetically considered,”
Justice Sagheer has noted from the Kashmir Accord as relevant to
present discourse on autonomy.
Concluding debate on autonomy, Justice Sagheer Ahmed has referred to a
Supreme Court decision in Sampat Prakash vs. State of Jammu and
Kashmir in which it was held that inspite of the dissolution of
constituent assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, the constitutional
provisions could be extended to the state of Jammu and Kashmir with
such adaptations and modifications as the president may deem fit. It
is after these referrals that Justice Sagheer has recommended for
examining the question of autonomy in the light of Kashmir Accord.
Interestingly, the ruling coalition through 10 page recommendatory
notes of report had claimed that Justice Sagheer had recommended what
National Conference (NC) led government had proposed central
government through a resolution properly passed and vetted by more
than 60 members of state legislative assembly on June 26, 2000. The
resolution which was rejected by the then BJP led NDA government on
July 5, 2000.
[Kashmir Times]
Related news
:. Saghir reports to Omar, 24 Dec 2009
http://www.kashmirwatch.com/showheadlines.php?subaction=showfull&id=1261696873&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1&var0news=value0news
Posted on 08 Mar 2010 by Webmaster
chhotemianinshallah
Between despair and hope
PRAFUL BIDWAI
The Rae Bareli court's discharge of L.K. Advani in the Ayodhya
demolition case is a mockery of justice, but the Supreme Court's
intervention in the Best Bakery matter revives hopes that the Indian
legal system might prevail in bringing the perpetrators of communal
hate crimes to book.
THE waywardness of India's police and justice delivery systems has few
parallels when it comes to punishing communal offences and hate
crimes. What began as a devious process of manipulation of the first
information reports in the Babri mosque demolition case, and the
totally illegitimate dropping of conspiracy charges against the
principal accused, turned into a grotesque parody of justice on
September 19 when the Special Court of Magistrate Vinay Kumar Singh in
Rae Bareli framed charges against seven persons, including Murli
Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharati, Vinay Katiyar and other Vishwa Hindu
Parishad leaders, but discharged Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani.
Advani is the man who spearheaded, planned and ideologically inspired
the raucous agitation that led to the razing of the mosque on December
6, 1992.
Precisely what charges are framed against the remaining seven will be
only known on October 10. The list of offences filed by the CBI under
the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is not long: Section 147 (rioting), 149
(committing a crime), 153A and 153B (spreading communal hatred) and
505 (creating ill will). But it is clear that the indictment will not
include the all-important charge of criminal conspiracy, nor offences
under Sections 295 and 295A of the IPC (defiling places of worship and
indulging in acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any
class).
Thus, the perpetrators of one of the worst hate crimes in India's
history - who pulled down a monument which had become a symbol of
pluralism - will not even stand trial for destroying a mosque and
exploiting communal hatred, which they so clearly did.
This is bad enough. What is downright outrageous is that Advani, who
was the most important leader of the anti-Babri movement which the BJP
took over in the late 1980s, and who conducted the infamous Somnath-to-
Ayodhya rath yatra and played a direct, preponderant role in the
events leading to December 6, has been let off the hook. The
ostensible reason made public for this is the curious argument that
the CBI cited two conflicting testimonies, one of which claimed that
Advani tried to calm down the restive crowd (while the other said he
did nothing to restrain leaders like Uma Bharati and Sadhvi
Ritambhara, with whom he shared the dais who made extremely
inflammatory speeches).
Basing himself on this claimed contradiction, the Magistrate gave
Advani the "benefit of the doubt". Strangely, he cited the Supreme
Court's ruling in the Praful Kumar Samal case, that if the scales of
evidence presented against the accused during a trial are "even" then
that is a fit ground for acquittal. This conforms to the canonical
rule that a person must be considered innocent until proved guilty.
Logically, this rationale can come into effect only at the conclusion
of a trial, not before it, at the stage of framing charges. It does
not stand to reason that a person against whom there is weighty prima
facie evidence should be simply let off. The Supreme Court had said:
"If an element of grave suspicion is there and the accused has
explained the doubts then he can be discharged." Advani manifestly did
not explain away any "doubts".
The Magistrate has erred in exonerating Advani. Independent
investigations have turned up overwhelming evidence of Advani's
pivotal role in the processes and events that led to the demolition,
including the happenings of December 6. The Citizens' Tribunal on
Ayodhya, comprising Justices O. Chinappa Reddy, D.A. Desai and D.S.
Tewatia documented Advani's role at length in its Report of the
Inquiry Commission (July 1993) and in the Judgement and
Recommendations (December 1993), both published by the Tribunal (K-14
Green Park Extension, New Delhi 110016).
These show that Advani was central to the build-up to the events of
December 1992 - from numerous kar sevas, the 1990 rath yatra, and
manipulation of the State government (then under the BJP's Kalyan
Singh), to misleading the courts, and organising crucial coordination
meetings of the Sangh combine. The intention to raze the mosque was
repeatedly and unambiguously stressed during these events. The very
purpose of the rath yatra was to kindle "Hindu pride" and "get even"
with history - of "conquest and humiliation" of the Hindus by
"foreigners". The main slogans of the yatra were provocative: "there
are only two places for Muslims - Pakistan or kabristan
(graveyard))".
The Inquiry Commission recorded detailed testimony of eyewitnesses to
show that plans for December 6 were launched by the BJP-VHP-Bajrang
Dal with a lalkar saptah starting November 29. By December 2, 90,000
kar sevaks had gathered at Ayodhya. By December 3, they numbered
150,000. On December 5, Advani addressed a public meeting in Lucknow
and was to go to Varanasi, reaching Ayodhya/Faizabad on December 5.
He, however, altered his plans so as to reach Faizabad to join an all-
important closed-door meeting at Vinay Katiyar's house, where the
ultimate, detailed, nuts-and-bolts plans for December 6 were
finalised.
Among those present were the RSS' H.V. Seshadri and K.S. Sudershan,
the VHP's Ashok Singhal, Vinay Katiyar and Acharya Dharmendra, the
Shiv Sena's Moreshwar Save, and the BJP's Pramod Mahajan. Meanwhile, a
rehearsal of the demolition operation took place the same day near the
Babri mosque.
According to the Commission, on December 6, Advani arrived at the site
at the same time as Joshi (10-30 a.m.). He, among others, addressed
the kar sevaks. His speech was intemperate. Meanwhile, some kar sevaks
had breached the security cordon and were in a highly excited state.
At 11-30 a.m., Uma Bharati made a highly inflammatory speech,
including slogans "tel lagao Dabar ka, naam mitao Babar ka", "Katue
kate jayenge, Ram-Ram chillayenge", and so on.
At 11-45, Advani reportedly announced, "We don't need bulldozers to
pull down the mosque; [we can do it manually by removing chunks of its
wall]". The assault on the mosque began. Advani then ensured that the
demolition would continue and be completed without the intervention of
Central paramilitary forces stationed nearby. At 3-15 p.m., he urged
kar sevaks "to block all entry points to Ayodhya to prevent Central
forces from entering, and warned the armed forces not to touch the kar
sevaks." The eight accused were present at the site for a full seven
hours and made no gesture to distance themselves from the destructive
and illegal actions of the day.
The December 6 events were videographed and photographed by numerous
journalists, by Indian and foreign TV channels and, above all, by the
Intelligence Bureau, which reportedly has nine hours of tapes.
(Curiously, the CBI did not present all of these to the special
court).
Yet, the Sangh Parivar has launched a disinformation campaign which
claims that Advani did his best to restrain the kar sevaks and shed
tears at the demolition! It is relevant to ask if these were tears of
sorrow or of joy: Advani has consistently described the anti-Babri
agitation as a "national" movement for Hindu self-assertion, which
finally removed what he called the "ocular" insult in the form of the
mosque.
The disinformation and evasion of responsibility speaks of monumental
cowardice on the part of Advani & Co. They revelled in the
destruction, and hugged one another in exultation and mutual
congratulation.
The BJP rode to political power at the Centre on the anti-Babri Masjid
movement. In all honesty, its leaders must face trial and declare
either that they stand by their role or that they regret and repent it
and apologise. They cannot both take credit for the act and attribute
its planning and execution to mysterious, unknown and unknowable
forces - as Sangh ideologue K.R. Malkani once did, by blaming the
CIA.
There was a clearly identifiable human agency behind December 6: the
BJP-VHP-RSS-Bajrang Dal-Shiv Sena's top leadership, including Advani
and Joshi. But cowardice is a Sangh characteristic. Following Gandhi's
assassination, the RSS was banned. Thousands of its members quickly
stopped participating in its activities and claimed they were never
its members.
The Rae Bareli order is odious. But Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister
Mulayam Singh Yadav has decided not to appeal against it - on the
grounds that "I am a firm believer in the judiciary and of the view
that the court verdict on Ayodhya should be acceptable to all ... I
welcome the court's decision and have nothing more to say ... " Amar
Singh has gone even further to say that the government cannot appeal
against it. This strengthens the suspicions of a secret collusive deal
between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party. Mulayam Singh Yadav has
decided to accept the BJP's Kesarinath Tripathi as Speaker and not to
poach on the party's MLAs. This makes the whole matter all the more
sordid. It sets back hopes of a just trial and further shakes the
public's confidence in India's justice delivery system.
IN contrast to this comes the Supreme Court's intervention in the Best
Bakery case. Through two hearings on September 12 and 19, the court
effectively began piloting and guiding the Gujarat government in its
handling of the consequences of a "fast-track" special court's
judgment exonerating all the accused for the burning of 14 Muslims.
While questioning Gujarat's Chief Secretary and Director-General of
Police directly, Chief Justice V.N. Khare obtained an assurance that
Gujarat's Advocate-General would now take full charge of the matter.
He would redraft the appeal against the "fast-track" court verdict.
The Supreme Court tried to establish three things: the Best Bakery
investigation was faulty because 37 of the 43 witnesses turned
hostile; there was miscarriage of justice; and there is a case for re-
trial of the accused outside Gujarat. The Gujarat government did admit
that there was miscarriage of justice and there is a case for re-trial
(although that should not be outside Gujarat). It also claimed the
investigation was not faulty. However, the Supreme Court asked it to
file an affidavit on October 9 to say on what lines its appeal would
be drafted. This suggests close supervision or stewardship of the
process of litigation.
Welcome as this intervention is, the Court needs to go beyond the Best
Bakery case and look at the horrendous crimes committed during the
Gujarat pogrom in their totality. Crimes Against Humanity, the report
of the Concerned Citizens' Tribunal, comprising eminent jurists and
scholars, concluded, after examining 2,094 statements and 1,500
witnesses, that the pogrom that lasted several weeks amounted to
genocide in the strict sense of the term. The pattern of violence
shows: selective targeting of Muslims, inhuman forms of brutality,
military precision and planning, and use of Hindu religious symbols.
This was planned, sustained and prolonged through hate speech,
intimidation and terror by the RSS, the BJP and the VHP-Bajrang Dal,
with the complicity and participation of policemen and bureaucrats,
encouraged by Narendra Modi.
It is clear that Muslims were targeted not because they did this or
that act, but simply because they were Muslims. The killer mobs'
declared intention, as revealed by their own slogans, was to
liquidate, mentally harm, humiliate and subjugate Muslims and "destroy
them", "wipe them out from Gujarat", and cleanse the state of Islam.
The physical violence directed against Muslims, the calculated
destruction of the economic basis of their survival, and sexual
assaults against Muslim women as an instrument of terror, all point to
genocide.
Article II of the International Convention on Genocide, 1948 defines
genocide as "any of the following acts committed with intent to
destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or
religious group" like: "(a) killing [its] members; (b) causing [them]
serious bodily or mental harm; (c) deliberately inflicting on the
group conditions ... calculated to bring about its physical
destruction... ; (d) imposing measures intended to prevent births
within the group; (e) forcibly transferring [its] children ... to
another group."
The Gujarat pogrom unambiguously fits the definition. As a signatory
to the Convention, India is obliged to punish the perpetrators of
genocide through a competent court. This demands a special independent
National Tribunal for hate crimes and genocide. This alone can meet
the ends of justice.
For this to happen, we must see the numerous cases of violence not as
discrete acts, but in their totality as genocide. This sui generis
process of litigation will need special agencies for investigation and
prosecution as well as victim protection. It would be a historic
tragedy if the Indian state once again fails to bring the perpetrators
of hate crimes to book.
Volume 20 - Issue 20, September 27 - October 10, 2003
India's National Magazine
from the publishers of THE HINDU
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2020/stories/20031010005312500.htm
India's National Magazine
From the publishers of THE HINDU
Vol. 16 :: No. 04 :: Feb. 13 - 26, 1999
COVER STORY
A bitter aftermath
The pattern set in the aftermath of the Staines killing shows that
there are enough voices in positions of authority willing to justify
heinous crimes committed in the name of religion.
SUKUMAR MURALIDHARAN
SENSITIVITY to public opinion was at a premium in the aftermath of the
grisly murder of Australian missionary Graham Stewart Staines and his
two young boys by a lynch mob in Orissa on January 23. Union Home
Minister L.K. Advani put on record his strong condemnation of the
event, as did Minister for External Affairs Jaswant Singh, the latter
describing it as a "crime against humanity". But for each such
concession to the demands of rectitude, there was a gesture that
tended to work to the contrary purpose. One such act was Advani's
preemptive exculpation of the Bajrang Dal - his claim that he had
authoritative information that the organisation was not involved in
the crime. Another was BJP president Kushabhau Thakre's assertion that
Christian missionaries were inviting trouble through their activities.
He said: "I appeal to the missionaries that they are sitting on a
stack of hay. They better be careful."
Thakre's remarks conformed to a pattern of morally dubious conduct by
the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliate organisations
after the Staines murder. In what could only be construed as a gross
act of dishonouring the dead, Vishwa Hindu Parishad vice-president
Giriraj Kishore asserted that the work of Graham Staines amidst
leprosy sufferers was a facade, since there were no such people within
a wide radius of where he lived and worked. As an intervention in an
emotionally fraught situation, this was only slightly less coarse than
that of Hindu Jagran Manch's Orissa unit president Subhash Chouhan. He
said that Graham Staines was killed because he was engaged in
proselytisation. The pattern set in the aftermath of the killing was
very clear. Adherents to the RSS worldview who happen to be in the
Government felt obliged to issue deprecatory noises. But those outside
the Government felt few such restraints.
EASTERN PRESS AGENCY
Australian Christian missionary Graham Stewart Staines with wife
Glade and children Philip, Esther and Timothy, in a picture from the
family album.
A three-member team of Cabinet Ministers visited the site of the
murder as part of the Government's crisis management strategy. Prior
to his departure to the spot, Union Minister for Steel and Mines
Naveen Patnaik made it clear that he looked at the event through the
miasma of his antagonism to the Orissa unit of the Congress(I).
Defence Minister George Fernandes and Human Resource Development
Minister Murli Manohar Joshi chose a strategy of prudence in advance
of their visit - the former because he is a key member of the BJP-led
Government's crisis management effort and the latter because of his
well-advertised proximity to hardline elements in the RSS.
The ministerial trio spent one hour at the scene of the crime. On its
return to Delhi, the team issued a statement which ascribed
responsibility for the crime to an "international conspiracy" by
"forces which would like this Government to go". If this effectively
ruled out the culpability of the Sangh Parivar and its affiliates, the
team also urged that a judicial commission of inquiry be constituted
to look into the murder in order to uncover the conspiracy.
Shortly afterwards the Government announced, on the advice of the
Chief Justice of India, that a sitting Judge of the Supreme Court,
Justice D.P. Wadhwa, had been appointed as a one-man commission of
inquiry into the Staines killing. Union Minister for Information and
Broadcasting and Cabinet spokesman Pramod Mahajan said that the
inquiry report would be completed by April, so that it could be placed
in Parliament in its next session.
The Director-General for Investigations in the National Human Rights
Commission, D.R. Karthikeyan, visited the scene of the crime. His
report is expected to be submitted by the middle of February, though
with the appointment of the judicial commission it could become an
input for the broader inquiry. Certain suggestions that he made in the
context of the local police investigation, such as entrusting it to
the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the State police and
putting an officer of the rank of Superintendent in charge of it, have
been accepted.
A two-member team from the National Commission on Minorities
comprising James Massey and N. Neminath also went to the site. Its
report is also expected to be an important input into the inquiries of
the judicial commission.
AP
During their visit to Manoharpur village in Orissa a few days after
the murder of Graham Stewart Staines and his sons, members of the
Cabinet team, Defence Minister George Fernandes, Human Resource
Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and Minister for Steel and
Mines Naveen Patnaik, make inquiries.
IN the midst of these exertions, the ambivalence of official
utterances continues to cause disquiet. It is well known that the
Bajrang Dal - as in the case of most organisations in the RSS
constellation - does not maintain membership rolls. Established in
1984, just when the Ram Janmabhoomi movement was beginning to take
shape in the strategies of the RSS, the Bajrang Dal honed its
agitational and inflammatory skills in the lethal campaign to bring
down the mosque in Ayodhya. The slogans it crafted as part of this
campaign still ring with menace and were often chanted by the riotous
mobs which took a heavy toll of human life during the six years
leading up to the demolition.
Many modern legal systems have a category of offence known as "hate
speech". Slogans and declamations that tend to engender a sense of
antipathy towards any group of people are an offence in themselves.
And if they are issued in close temporal or spatial connection with
actual incidents of violence against these groups, a direct
association is drawn. The onus is then on those who raise the
inflammatory slogans to prove that there is no connection with the
actual act of violence.
By this reasonable benchmark, the BJP spokesmen who have, at every
juncture since the cycle of anti-Christian violence began, exerted
themselves in the cause of strife rather than harmony bear a share of
the blame for the Staines killing. And their conspicuous lack of
remorse after the event has certainly contributed to the sustenance of
an atmosphere of violence. This has been most recently exemplified in
the alleged gang-rape of a Catholic nun on February 3 in Mayurbhanj
district in Orissa. Heinous crimes have been justified by the supposed
sense of rage at the incursions of alien religions into what is deemed
to be Hindu territory. For the BJP leaders who today represent
governmental authority, this has concurrently become an alibi for a
complete abdication of responsibility.
http://www.flonnet.com/fl1604/16040220.htm
Volume 24 - Issue 08 :: Apr. 21-May. 04, 2007
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
COLUMN
Politics of intimidation
PRAFUL BIDWAI
The Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to browbeat the Election
Commission and its critics on the anti-Muslim CD issue.
SUBIR ROY
BJP State president Kesri Nath Tripathi with senior leader Lalji
Tandon in Lucknow on March 30.
NO Indian political formation can even remotely match the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) when it comes to violating norms of political
decency, defying the law, and pursuing an outrageously divisive and
sectarian agenda. The latest instance is its release on April 3 of a
viciously anti-Muslim compact disc (CD) entitled Bharat ki Pukar (the
call of India) as part of its campaign material for the Uttar Pradesh
Assembly elections.
The BJP has disowned the CD and feigned ignorance of how it got to be
commissioned, written, approved and released — without sincerely
apologising for it. Worse, it has tried to turn the tables on a
constitutional authority, the Election Commission, as well as its
political opponents. It has also used threats and intimidation to
resist reasonable pressure to play by the ground rules of electoral
politics.
Even more disgracefully for the Indian political system, the BJP has
for all practical purposes got away with its offensive conduct. As
this is being written, during the third round of polling in the seven-
phase U.P. elections, it seems highly unlikely that the BJP will be
made to pay politically for its defiance of the prohibition against
using hate speech to win votes, itself a crime against democracy.
The Election Commission issued the BJP a notice asking the party to
explain why it should not be punished under the Representation of the
People Act, 1951 and its Model Code of Conduct, which was in force
when the CD was released. But the BJP, true to type, launched a
counter-offensive and tried to divert attention from this central
issue by demanding that Naveen Chawla, one of the Election
Commissioners, recuse himself from hearing its case. It took this
secondary issue to the Supreme Court on April 13, which has deferred
its hearing to May 8.
Regrettably, the BJP has thus succeeded in getting any resolution of
the issues raised by the CD postponed until it ceases to matter for
the all-important election campaign in U.P.
Now, it can hardly be disputed that the CD is flagrantly anti-Muslim.
It perversely portrays all Muslims as anti-Hindu and anti-national.
They are depicted as duplicitous devils: they trick Hindus into
selling them cows by pretending they will look after them, only to
butcher them in a gory way. They oppress their own women and turn them
into mere reproductive machines - so as to change India's demographic
balance.
The CD shows Muslim men abducting innocent Hindu girls and eloping
with them - only to convert them forcibly. (The effect of this was
reinforced in real life by the systematic hounding of mixed couples
from Bhopal and elsewhere, and by orchestrated "protests" against
their marriage, including a typical Hindutva-style attack on a Star
News studio in Mumbai.)
The CD was clearly calculated to incite hatred against a religious
community, divide citizens, and provoke a militant reaction - probably
with a view to triggering a Hindu-communal backlash. There is nothing
vague or unambiguous of its purpose: it is to win votes in U.P., where
the BJP faces a double-or-nothing prospect.
It simply will not do for the BJP to pretend that the CD was
unauthorised and produced by a junior-level "worker" without prior
approval by the party's top leaders, including Lalji Tandon and State
unit president Kesri Nath Tripathi. According to Virendra Singh,
director of the Bulandshehr-based Fakira Films, which produced the CD,
the State BJP leadership was consulted "at every stage of the writing
of the CD" and whenever the script was "modified... and fine-tuned...
" This stands to reason. Withdrawing the CD cannot mitigate the
original offence because the disc is in circulation and has been
viewed by large numbers of people - in excerpts aired on television,
as well as original copies.
V.V. KRISHNAN
The controversial CD.
Prima facie, there is an irrefutable case against the BJP for
violating the election law in a depraved manner and for offending
Sections of the Indian Penal Code that pertain to spreading hatred
against a particular group or using appeals to religious identity and
which prohibit and punish the use of inflammatory communal material.
The Election Commission was not only right to issue a notice to the
BJP, it was duty-bound to act against it. Logically, such action can
take many forms: publicly reprimanding the BJP, imposing a hefty fine,
and derecognising it at least so far as the use of the lotus symbol is
concerned. The E.C. is not merely meant to disqualify a candidate in
retrospect for communal propaganda. Article 324 of the Constitution
gives it a broad mandate, which includes preventing, precluding and
punishing the use of such propaganda during elections.
The "retrospective" argument just does not stand up to scrutiny. The
E.C.'s core job is to do all it can to prohibit effectively the use of
unfair electoral practices. That is why it is empowered to requisition
police and paramilitary forces, transfer and appoint civil servants,
and set rules for the conduct of the electoral process in its minutest
details.
Implicit in, and central to, the E.C.'s function as a statutory
authority is preventive and pre-emptive action so as to guard the
sanctity of elections. To use an analogy, its principal task is not to
punish arsonists but to prevent fires, which vitiate the selection of
the people's representatives - a process vital and indispensable to
democracy. The E.C. would be perfectly within its powers to demand an
explicit, binding commitment from any political party that it will not
use communal means of canvassing electoral support, a breach of which
would automatically entail disqualification and derecognition.
The case for doing so is especially strong because only last December,
the BJP officially released a CD similar to the April avatar. This was
done during its National Council meeting in Lucknow, where the CD
featured as part of the press kit. The BJP fully owns and stands by
this CD. It cannot claim innocence about its cousin/derivative.
It has since produced equally obnoxious advertisements questioning the
patriotic intentions of Muslims through the caption: Kya inka irada
Pak hai? (Are their intentions pure). Several of its top leaders,
including its chief ministerial candidate Kalyan Singh, have publicly
defended their content as "truthful".
The plain truth is that the BJP has tried to browbeat its opponents -
by raising a diversionary issue and by resorting to the melodramatic
(but mercifully aborted) tactic of courting arrest and launching a
self-righteous protest agitation against the E.C.'s notice. (It is
another matter that it also put up a dummy candidate in Tandon's
constituency - his own son - in case the U.P. BJP's topmost leader
faces punitive action.)
This is not the first time that the BJP has resorted to bluff and
bluster, by threatening a "mass agitation", by pretending that any
E.C. action against it would amount to an "electoral emergency", and
by creating a climate of fear. This is a familiar tactic. It takes
recourse to majoritarianism and arouses concern that should a Hindutva
force be even brought to book, the consequences in the form of
disruption of order would be unacceptable.
The BJP did exactly this after the Babri Masjid was demolished in
December 1992, when it prevailed upon the Centre to allow the patently
illegal makeshift Ram-Lala temple built on its rubble to remain.
Indeed, even before that ghastly episode, our courts were reluctant to
take pre-emptive action except of a tokenist variety against it. So
was the government, which retreated each time the BJP adopted an
aggressive posture.
Here too, the fear of a "majoritarian backlash" trumped all
considerations of constitutional propriety, defence of secularism and
plain legality. Since December 1992, no government has dared to assert
the law of the land. Nor have the demolition's planners and
perpetrators been brought to book.
A similar fear gripped the Establishment after the Gujarat pogrom. The
Centre failed to dismiss the BJP-ruled State government although it
had caused, and continued to preside over, a total breakdown of all
constitutional order: even High Court judges and senior police
officers had to flee their homes in fear. The Opposition too failed to
mount enough pressure on the Centre to impose President's Rule, for
which there has never been, and could not have been, a fitter case.
Worse, elections were allowed to be held while a whole community had
been terrorised, democratic governance had collapsed, and free and
fair canvassing, polling and exercise of rational choices had become
impossible — given the continuing harassment and intimidation of
Muslims, inflamed Hindu-communal sentiments, the BJP-VHP's (Vishwa
Hindu Parishad) goonda raj, and the prevalence of a generalised
climate of fear.
All that the E.C.'s initial and salutary intervention in Gujarat
resulted in was postponement of the elections by a few months - when
the obvious remedy was President's Rule, followed by full return to
normalcy and systematic prosecution of the pogrom's perpetrators. The
Supreme Court's off-the-cuff pronouncements indicating its opposition
to deferring elections did not help.
S. SUBRAMANIUM
Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami flanked by Election
Commissioners S.Y. Quraishi and Naveen Chawla, in New Delhi.
The Establishment, in effect, has repeatedly permitted the BJP to hold
and exercise a veto over vital political processes, exercise of police
and prosecution powers, and the running of the administration in
crisis situations such that it would be suborned by the forces of
Hindu communalism.
This does not argue that the Indian government/Establishment has
turned actively communal over the years, only that it has made
deplorable compromises with Hindu communalists or passively accepted
that they deserve to be treated differently from other communalists,
as well as secularists. It is both noteworthy and shameful that the
worst abuses of freedom and the most ferocious attacks on democracy,
secularism and the rule of law in India's recent history have occurred
in situations where Hindu communalism was ascendant or rampant.
Similarly, the Establishment has allowed the BJP and its associates
virtual veto power on a number of policies, especially those
pertaining to religion and politics, to Kashmir, to relations with
Pakistan and other neighbours, and to defence and national security.
BJP leaders have arrogantly begun to assert such "primacy". Three
years ago, L.K. Advani claimed: "The BJP alone can find solutions to
our problems with Pakistan because Hindus will never think whatever we
have done is a sell-out."
The underlying assumption seems to be that by virtue of being
majoritarian or Hindu-communal, the BJP or the Sangh Parivar is a more
authentic representative of Indian opinion than other political
currents or parties. Nothing could be more false. Looked at
historically, the BJP has been a minority current in Indian politics
until the 1990s. Even at its peak, it has never commanded more than a
quarter of the national vote.
Even more important, the assumption is dangerously misguided and
unbecoming of a society and state that aspires to be secular by
drawing a line of basic demarcation between religion and politics. It
simply cannot accord primacy to a particular religious group by virtue
of its large numbers.
This situation must be remedied. That can only happen when progressive
political opinion and civil society pressure is mounted on the
Establishment so that it stands up to the bullying tactics of the
majoritarian communalists. One must hope that the E.C. will set a
positive example in the CD case.
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2408/stories/20070504002810800.htm
Volume 17 - Issue 13, June 24 - July 07, 2000
India's National Magazine
from the publishers of THE HINDU
COMMUNALISM
An assault on Christians
Emboldened by the weak response of governments to attacks against
Christian places of worship, the affiliates of the Sangh Parivar
unleash a new wave of terror against the community.
PARVATHI MENON
in Bangalore
EVER since the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance
government assumed power at the Centre, there has been a low-intensity
war against Christians in India, especially nuns and priests, by
groups and organisations loyal to the Sangh Par ivar. A wave of
attacks against Christian evangelists and places of worship through
1998 culminated in the murder of the Australian missionary Graham
Staines and his two sons on January 23, 1999. Dara Singh, a Hindutva
fanatic with links to the Sangh Par ivar, has been arrested in that
connection. A second wave of terror against Christian missionaries,
that extends now to the States of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and
Andhra Pradesh, has culminated this June in a series of bomb blasts in
churches in Ka rnataka, Goa and Andhra Pradesh.
SHERWIN CRASTO/AP
During a peace march in Mumbai on June 17, Christian priests carry a
portrait of Brother George Kuzhikandam, who was bludgeoned to death in
Mathura.
The bombs that went off in churches in the towns of Vasco in Goa, Wadi
in Karnataka, and Ongole and Tadepalligudem in Andhra Pradesh, point
to a qualitatively new phase in the campaign of organised violence
against Christians in the country. Although the identity of the forces
behind the blasts is yet to be established, the nature of the attacks,
their target and timing, point the finger of suspicion at the Sangh
Parivar. In fact, the month of May alone saw two bomb attacks in
Andhra Pradesh; the first in Machlipatnam where 30 persons were
injured in a bomb blast at a prayer meeting on May 21, and another in
Vikarabad where an explosive device planted in a church was
fortunately defused in time. The simultaneous bomb blasts in the four
towns suggest th at the perpetrators have been emboldened by what has
been seen as a weak and non-serious state response to the terror
campaign so far.
At 6 a.m. on June 8, a bomb exploded on the precincts of the St. Ann
Catholic Church in the industrial town of Wadi in Gulbarga, shattering
glass panes. A second blast occurred at 9 a.m. after the police had
reached the spot, surveyed the area and recove red residual material
of the earlier blast. When a car parked in the church precincts was
moved, a tin box was found protruding from the ground. But it exploded
before the bomb disposal squad could defuse it. One person was injured
in the blast. Wadi has a Christian population of about 80 families.
Around the same time a blast at the St. Andrews Church in Vasco in
south Goa shattered windowpanes and twisted grills out of shape. At
8-15 a.m. that day, the Gewett Memorial Baptist Church in Ongole was
the scene of a bomb blast which because it took pl ace after the
morning service, only injured three persons. A bomb went off at the
Mother Vannini Catholic Church at Tadepalligudem in West Godavari
district, around the same time.
The police have already established certain significant facts with
regard to the blasts. "We are now certain that the same group of
conspirators were behind all the three blasts," C. Dinakaran, Director-
General of Police, Karnataka, told Frontline . In all the cases, he
said, the timing device and the detonators used were of the same type.
While in Andhra Pradesh the explosive had a plastic casing, in Goa and
Karnataka the explosives were encased in tin. The bombs were placed,
in all the cases, ne ar the gates or windows of the church. Gelatine,
an explosive commonly used for blasting in the stone quarries and
cement factories of Gulbarga in Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh was the
raw material used. "The other significant fact is that all the towns
have railway stations and we suspect that this may have determined the
choice of place. The conspirators possibly took trains from one place
to another," said Dinakaran.
K. RAMESH BABU
Inside the Mother Vannini Catholic Church at Tadepalligudem in West
Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh which was damaged in a bomb blast
on June 8.
THE serial blast mark a new phase in the continuing two-year-long
violence against the Christian community in the country. The fact of a
conspiracy is now clearly established. This points not only to careful
and coordinated planning, but also to new leve ls and strategies of
planned violence suggestive of a deadly seriousness of purpose. No
longer need mobs be mobilised in the destruction of places of
Christian worship as in the past. The terrorism of the bomb gives the
criminal a degree of invisibility, and widens the range of attack. The
serial bombs were in the nature of a message of intimidation, not just
to those who work for Christian organisations but to Church
congregations, from prayer meetings to Sunday school gatherings. With
the perpetrators of the crime distanced from the scene of the crime,
it is much easier for a compliant state machinery to give them
protection. The fear of indiscriminate strikes anywhere and at any
time has already created a sense of panic amongst Christians. After
all , ifa bomb can be planted in a town as innocuous as Wadi, it could
happen anywhere in the country.
"I read in all this a pattern of violence. These were similar
explosive devices that were used, " Fr. Dr.H.R. Donald De Souza,
deputy secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India
told Frontline. "We suspect an organised movement b y fundamentalist
groups who have been emboldened by the inaction of the government," he
added.
The serial blasts give the lie to the theory of 'secular violence'
that the BJP and the government it heads have put out regarding the
recent attacks on minorities in different parts of the country.
Despite evidence to the contrary, the government held t hat the
innumerable acts of violence against members of the Christian
community, in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and elsewhere, was not communally
motivated but were incidents of "dacoity and loot" by "criminal
gangs".
According to the United Christian Forum for Human Rights (UCFHR),
there have been 35 recorded anti-Christian crimes between January and
June this year. The most recent of these was the murder of Brother
George Kuzhikandam, who was bludgeoned to death in the Paulus Memorial
School in Navada, Mathura, in U.P. on June 7. Within days of this
incident, a group of nuns were attacked in Mathura by a couple of
scooter-borne assailants. In the case of George Kuzhikandam, U.P.
Chief Minister Ram Prakash Gupta ins isted that money was the motive
behind the murder. "The BJP and the State government reach conclusions
even before the police start investigation," John Dayal, national
convener of the UCFHR said. "Why would a gang of thugs choose to kill
a poor priest i n his school during the holidays ? Or attack nuns who
run a convent school that charges the lowest fees in the area?" Dayal
said that the U.P. Police had promised to post police units at
Christian institutions but these were soon withdrawn. "A police out
post was stationed at the nuns' ashram in Agra. They proved more of a
nuisance as they insisted on being fed and looked after, and were in
any case taken off duty a few days later!" The U.P. government's stand
on the attacks received support from an unexpected quarter. The
National Minorities Commission (NMC) sent an investigative team to the
Agra-Mathura region and its report upheld the official view that the
cases of physical viol ence and murder were committed by anti-social
elements. "The NMC report was prepared by nominees of the present
government. So it is not surprising that they arrived at the
conclusion they did,"said Fr. Donald De Souza. "A group of Christian
parliamentar ians led by P.C. Thomas conducted another enquiry and on
the basis of the same evidence wholly disagreed with the NMC report,"
he added.
THE BJP responded to the serial blasts even before the government did.
While the Home Ministry "waited for reports from the States," the BJP
announced that the blasts were the handiwork of Pakistan's Inter-
Services Intelligence (ISI), which, it said, is bent on fomenting
hatred between Hindus and Christians in the country. Prime Minister
Atal Behari Vajpayee had no information to give as to what action the
State governments had taken when a delegation from the UCFHR called on
him three days after the bl ast. By then police investigations could
not establish any ISI involvement.
K. RAMESH BABU
The facade of the church.
Preliminary investigations into the blasts appear to discount the
theory of ISI involvement. "We cannot rule out anything," said DGP
Dinakaran. "But if an organisation as well-funded as the ISI is
involved, we expect they would use more sophisticated bom bs. Why must
they depend on gelatine and not the more expensive and deadly RDX
(research department explosive)?"
Christian leaders attach importance to the proliferation of hate-
literature that has provided the fuel for the attacks, and which also
provides evidence, for a law enforcing agency that wishes to use such
evidence, of who is behind the violence. Hate-lit erature is freely
printed and distributed in States where the Sangh Parivar is active,
and in States where the BJP is in government or is an ally of the
government, as in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. Most hate-pamphlets do
not carry the name of an organis ation that has an address. For
example, there are pamphlets signed by the 'Hindu Jagaran Manch,
Kashi', or by 'Supporters of Dara Singh, the God Who Descended from
Heaven'. While some of the books are directly incendiary, others come
in the garb of work s of historical 'research', and yet others are
books/pamphlets on how to harass Christian missionaries in order to
prevent them from proselytising. For example, a booklet published in
Gujarat suggests that one way to prevent missionaries from working is
to foist false cases on them so that they are always tied up in the
courts.
These are faceless, addressless, front organisations of the Sangh
Parivar. If the law enforcing mechanism is slow in apprehending the
culprits in an attack of communally motivated violence, it is even
slower in tracing and taking action against the print ers and peddlers
of hate-literature. The environment in all the three States where the
serial blasts occurred has been vitiated by the activities of the
Sangh Parivar. "We are alarmed at the statements of important people
in the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamseva k Sangh) and the BJP, such as B.K.
Modi and Ashok Singhal, who have been talking of the need to build a
pan Buddhist-Hindu alliance against Christianity and Islam in South
Asia," said Dayal. "The RSS chief speaks of an "Epochal War". What
does all this m ean?" he asked. The NDA government has already swept
the uncomfortable issue of the serial blasts, which they were briefly
confronted with, under the carpet. A passing worry presented itself
when Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidu was reported to
have tol d a delegation of Christian leaders that he would even
consider withdrawing support to the BJP-led government if the rights
of the minorities were not protected. But that concern too was
dispelled when the Telugu Desam Party leader denied that he had sai d
anything of the sort.
To the Christians in the country, the targets of a sustained two-year-
long cycle of violence, there is little room for comfort. And for
assurances there are few positive measures that have been taken for
their protection.
http://www.flonnet.com/fl1713/17130210.htm
India's National Magazine
From the publishers of THE HINDU
Vol. 15 :: No. 26 :: Dec. 19, 1998 - Jan. 01, 1999
COLUMN
RSS and Christians
The Sangh Parivar's violent hatred against Christianity is deep-rooted
and decades old, as is the case with its animosity against several
other communities.
A. G. NOORANI
ON December 4, 1998, nearly 23 million Christians across the country
observed a protest day demanding that the governments at the Centre
and in the States check the growing violence against members of the
community. A letter of protest, drawn up by the United Christians'
Forum for Human Rights (UCFHR), said: "Since January 1998 there has
been more violence against the Christian community than in all the 50
years of the country's Independence. Nuns have been raped, priests
executed, Bibles burnt, churches demolished, educational institutions
destroyed and religious people harassed." This is persecution in the
strict dictionary meaning of the word "pursue with enmity and ill-
treatment". Mabel Rebello of the Congress(I) told the Rajya Sabha that
day that "50 per cent of these (incidents) have occurred in Gujarat
where the BJP is in power".
On October 8, Gujarat's Director-General of Police, C.P. Singh,
confirmed in an interview to Teesta Setalvad, co-editor of Communalism
Combat (October 1998): "One thing was clear in the pattern of
incidents. It was the activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and
Bajrang Dal who were taking the law into their own hands, which posed
a serious danger to peace in Gujarat. Many of the attacks on the
minorities were after these organisations had whipped up local
passions of conversions (by Christian missionaries) and allegedly
forced inter-religious marriages... our investigations revealed that
in most cases these were entirely baseless allegations."
Two disturbing features of the campaign stand out in bold relief. One
is that the attacks mounted steeply after the Bharatiya Janata Party-
led Government assumed office in March 1998. The Archbishop of Delhi,
Alan de Lastic, said: "What I have noticed is that ever since this
Government came to power at the Centre, the attacks on Christians and
Christian missionaries have increased" (Sunday, November 22). The
other is the Government's wilful refusal to condemn them. Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's remarks on December 5 were virtually
forced out of him. Union Home Minister L.K. Advani has been false to
his oath of office ("do right to all manner of people in accordance
with the Constitution and the law without fear or favour, affection or
ill-will"). He said in Baroda on August 2 (The Hindu, August 3):
"There is no law and order problem in Gujarat." Three days later the
DGP said, according to The Hindustan Times (August 6), that "the VHP
and the Bajrang Dal were taking the law into their own hands." He also
said that incidents of communal violence had increased manifold over
the last few months; recently the crime rate in the State had
increased by as much as 9.6 per cent. On an average, 39 crimes of
serious nature like murder, rape and dacoity were reported in the
State every day." A member of the investigation team sent by the
Minorities Commission revealed: "After initial reluctance, the
officials named VHP and Bajrang Dal allegedly involved in the mob
attacks on Christians and Muslims" (The Indian Express, August 12).
Advani's certificate of good conduct speaks for itself.
Christians did not rush to register their protest, as they did on
December 4, but for long kept pleading for succour. On October 1, the
national secretary of the All India Catholic Union (AICU), John Dayal,
pointedly remarked: "The AICU is surprised that Union Government and
members of the ruling coalition, including the BJP, have not come out
categorically in denouncing the violence against Christians."
The Bajrang Dal has threatened Christian-run educational institutions
in Karnataka with dire consequences if they did not "Hinduise" them.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Rajendra Singh declared at an RSS
camp in Meerut on November 22: "Muslims and Christians will have to
accept Hindu culture as their own if Hindus are to treat them as
Indians" (an Agence France Presse: report in The Asian Age; November
23). The UCFHR bitterly complained in an open letter published on
November 19: "The state has failed to do its duty in protecting the
life, dignity and property of the victims. At many places, it seems as
if the Centre and the State governments have tacitly supported the
communal groups. How is it otherwise that the State governments have
not taken any action against the virulent and anti-national statements
of the VHP, RSS, Jagran Manch and Bajrang Dal?" (emphasis added,
throughout).
While the Sangh Parivar's animosity towards Muslims is well-known, its
attitude towards Christians has taken many people by surprise. But,
Vishwa Hindu Parishad general secretary Giriraj Kishore said in
Chandigarh on November 25: "Today the Christians constitute a greater
threat than the collective threat from separatist Muslim elements."
Describing G. S. Tohra, president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak
Committee, as a "separatist", he said, "all minorities including
Muslims and Christians must accept that their ancestors were Hindus."
Ergo, they must all return to the Hindu fold.
Violence in speech inevitably inspires violent acts. As the Jaganmohan
Reddy Commission that went into the Ahmedabad riots (1969) noted, once
communal tension is created in a city, all that is needed is "only a
match to set on fire and a fan to fan the city ablaze." Riots erupt
over trifling incidents only because the atmosphere has been fouled
up. Hence, the need for "a proper appreciation of the communal
atmosphere in a State, in a town or in any particular area," the
Commission stressed. Those who spread hate are the real perpetrators
of violence. The ones who wield the weapon are their mindless agents.
We have tended to ignore a fact that brooks no neglect - the real
cause of the communal riots is the rise of the Sangh Parivar. There
was communal peace even in the early years after Partition. A Home
Ministry review presented to the National Integration Council in 1968
noted: "From 1954 to 1960, there was a clear and consistent downward
trend, 1960 being a remarkably good year with only 26 communal
incidents in the whole country. This trend was sharply reversed in
1961. "That was when riots erupted in Jabalpur - thanks to the Jan
Sangh, the BJP's ancestor. Communal violence has not "looked back"
since.
Justice P. Venugopal, a former Judge of the Madras High Court, who
inquired into Hindu-Christian clashes in Kanyakumari district in March
1982, noted: "The RSS adopts a militant and aggressive attitude and
sets itself as the champion of what it considers to be the rights of
Hindus against minorities. It has taken upon itself the task to teach
the minority their place and if they are not willing to learn their
place, teach them a lesson. The RSS has given respectability to
communalism and communal riots and demoralise administration (sic).
The RSS methodology for provoking communal violence is: (a) rousing
communal feelings in the majority community by the propaganda that
Christians are not loyal citizens of this country..." Report after
report has indicted the RSS specifically or its affiliates (Ahmedabad
1969; Bhiwandi 1970; Tellicherry 1971; Jamshedpur 1981; and Mumbai
1993).
VIOLENCE is an integral part of the RSS credo. "It should be used as a
surgeon's knife... to cure the society... Sometimes to protect non-
violence itself violence becomes necessary," RSS leader M.S. Golwalkar
said in 1952. (Spotlights: Guruji Answers, pages 110 and 188). In his
fine work India as a Secular State, Donald Eugene Smith recalled the
desecration of a church in Bihar in 1955 and the almost total
destruction in 1957 of the Gass Memorial Centre at Raipur.
V.D. Savarkar wrote repeatedly in his book Hindutva (1923): "Hindutva
is different from Hinduism." For once, he was right. Hinduism is a
great religion, it is ancient. Hindutva is an ideology of hate. It is
recent. He grouped Muslims and Christians together as ones who do not
share "the tie of the common homage we pay to our great civilisation -
our Hindu culture." He added: "Christian and Mohammedan communities
who were but very recently Hindus... cannot be recognised as Hindus as
since their adoption of the new cult they had ceased to own Hindu
civilisation (Sanskriti) as a whole... For though Hindusthan to them
is Fatherland, as to any other Hindu, yet it is not to them a Holyland
too. Their holyland is far off in Arabia or Palestine."
They are not the only offenders: "Look at the Jews; neither centuries
of prosperity nor sense of gratitude for the shelter they found can
make them more attached or even equally attached to the several
countries they inhabit."
Golwalkar revealed on May 15, 1963 that his first book We or Our
Nationhood Defined was based on Savarkar's brother Babarao's book in
Marathi on the same theme, Rashtra Mimamsa. Golwalkar's second book,
Bunch of Thoughts, praised the book Hindutva and amplified its
ideology. The BJP has used it as a political weapon with dangerous
consequences. Chapter XII of Bunch of Thoughts is devoted to three
"Internal Threats" - Muslims, Christians and the Communists. Of the
first two he wrote: "Together with the change in their faith, gone are
the spirit of love and devotion for the nation. Nor does it end there.
They have also developed a feeling of identification with the enemies
of this land. They look to some foreign lands as their holy places."
They are asked to return to the Hindu fold.
Not that that will be of much help. "For a Hindu, he gets the first
sanskar when he is still in his mother's womb... We are, therefore,
born as Hindus. About the others, they are born to this world as
simple unnamed human beings and later on, either circumcised or
baptised, they become Muslims or Christians." The hatred is
unconcealed. They have no right to proselytise. Hindus alone have it,
for, "returning to one's ancestral faith is not conversion at all, it
is merely home-coming."
Bunch of Thoughts first appeared in 1966 but the good work has been
stepped up since. To the three "internal threats", a fourth is added -
"Nehruism" - and among the perils we face is "Macaulayism". In Delhi
functions an outfit, Voice of India, which proclaims: "We are not
general booksellers and handle only books listed in this catalogue.
Please do not ask for other books." It is an outfit with a mission.
For the catalogue has an "appeal" which reads thus: "Hindu society and
culture are faced with a crisis. There is a united front of entrenched
alien forces - Islam, Christianity, Communism, Nehruism - to disrupt
and discredit the perennial values of the Indian ethos. All who care
for India need to know what is happening, and what is to be done if a
major tragedy is to be averted. Voice of India aims at providing an
ideological defence of Hindu society and culture, through a series of
publications."
SOME people were surprised by Advani's assertion at a seminar on
November 6 at Sarnath that "the Buddha did not announce any new
religion. He was only restating with a new emphasis the ancient ideals
of the Indo-Aryan civilisation." The Buddha, he added, derived his
teaching from the Bhagvad Gita and was an avatar of Vishnu. Rebuttals
from Buddhists were swift and sharp (see "Hindutva's fallacies and
fantasies", Frontline, December 4, 1998).
However, no one familiar with the stuff churned out by this factory,
for over four decades, would have been surprised. Its literature is
intolerant of any cultural and religious diversity. It fosters a siege
mentality among Hindus and speaks disparagingly of all others - not
excluding Sikhs and Jews. That is not all. A Hindu who does not share
its bigotry is attacked as being "anti-Hindu". Its literature
represents the spirit, outlook and ethos of the Sangh Parivar. The
writings cited below reveal a revolting virulence. Its moving spirit
is one Sita Ram Goel.
The Parivar's organ Organiser only recently (October 18, 1998)
published a paper he had written in 1983. He wrote: "The English-
educated Hindu elite which controls the commanding heights in
government, educational institutions and mass media has failed the
test either because it has become indifferent to Hindu society, as a
result of having imbibed the current cosmopolitan culture, or because
it has been trained to look at Hindu society through eyes which are
not of its own ancestral culture and, as a result, has become
sceptical about, if not actually hostile to, the merits of Hindu
society. This desperate situation has been made more difficult by a
degenerate politics through which vote-hungry, sloganised, short-
sighted and nominally Hindu politicians weaken Hindu society by
dividing it on the basis of caste, sect, language and region, disarm
Hindu society by sanctimonious and one-sided appeals in the name of
traditional Hindu tolerance, strengthen alienated and aggressive
communities by supporting their separatist demands in the name of
secularism." His intolerance brings all within the sway of his
indictment, bar the Parivar itself.
TO return to Advani's notions on Buddhism, a pamphlet entitled
"Buddhism vis-a-vis Hinduism" published 40 years ago by Ram Swarup for
the outfit asserts: "Buddha, his spiritual experiences and teachings,
formed part of a Hindu tradition... A good Buddhist has perforce to be
a good Hindu too." He went on to attack "foreign" religions. "The
indigenous religions of the countries of the two Americas have been
completely overwhelmed. In the African sub-continent (sic) the local
religions are under a systematic attack from Islamic and Christian
ideologies." The Parivar takes a dim view of the United States.
Golwalkar was asked in July 1967: "What is your opinion about present-
day America?" There was lot to comment about - racial conflict,
Vietnam policy, and so on. All he could say was: "Do you not yourself
see that the American youth is fast dissipating himself in all kinds
of sensual indulgence?" Simplistic, sweeping, defamatory judgment
comes easily to the tribe.
Ram Swarup's tract Hinduism vis-a-vis Christianity and Islam continued
his refrain about "native" faiths. "What is happening in India is also
happening elsewhere. In America even the vestiges of once (sic), a
rich spiritual culture of the Indians, is no more." He developed the
theme in its sequel Hindu View of Christianity and Islam (1992). "The
two ideologies have been active and systematic persecutors of pagan
nations, cultures and religions... We have spoken here with sympathy
and respect not only of pagan Americas and Africa but also of the
pagan past of Egypt, Greece, Rome, Iran, Syria and Arabia." V.S.
Naipaul is in good company with the Sangh Parivar. Unlike him, it
indicts Christianity as well as Islam on this score.
"Hinduism can help all peoples seeking religious self-renewal, for it
preserves in some way their old Gods and religions, it preserves in
its various layers religious traditions and intuitions they have lost.
Many countries now under Christianity and Islam had once great
religions; they also had great Gods who adequately fulfilled their
spiritual and ethical needs... during the long period of neglect, they
lost the knowledge which could revive those Gods, Hinduism can help
them with this knowledge. In its simplest aspect, Europeans can best
study their old pre-Christian religion by studying Hinduism."
Ram Swarup goes on to quote approvingly: "Gore Vidal says that from a
'barbaric Bronze Age text known as Old Testament, three anti-human
religions have evolved - Judaism, Christianity and Islam'; he also
calls them 'sky-god religions'."
Ram Swarup damns all three religions as "great persecutors". The Hindu
response of old was wrong. He writes:
"First, they tried to 'reform' themselves and be like their rulers...
One God, a revealed Book and prophets.... The Brahmo Samaj, the Arya
Samaj, and the Akalis also claimed monotheism and iconoclasm ... in
the case of the Akalis, the new look has also become the basis of a
new separatist-militant politics....
"The second way the Hindus adopted was that of 'synthesis'. The
synthesizers claimed that all religions preach the same thing. They
found in the Bible and the Quran all the truths of the Upanishads and
vice versa. They culled passages from various scriptures to prove
their point... It is by such methods that they proved that the Bible
and the Quran were no different from the Upanishads...."
The wrath wells up as he proceeds and delivers a message which
explains why the country has had to undergo what it has all these
years, especially since 1990: "India became politically free in 1947,
but it is ruled by anti-Hindu Hindus. The old mental slavery continues
and it has yet to win its cultural and intellectual independence.
India is entering into the second phase of its freedom struggle; the
struggle for regaining its Hindu identity. The new struggle is as
difficult as the old one. Hindus are disorganised, self-alienated,
morally and ideologically disarmed. They lack leadership; the Hindu
elites have become illiterate about their spiritual heritage and
history and indifferent and even hostile towards their religion...
India's higher education, its academia and media are in the hands of a
Hindu-hating elite."
Note what Ram Swarup has to say of the caste system:
"Once when Hinduism was strong, castes represented a natural and
healthy diversity, but now in its present state of weakness these are
used for its dismemberment. Old vested interests joined by new ones
have come together to make use of the caste factor in a big way in
order to keep Hindus down.
"Hindus have been kept down too long. Everyone including the victims
think that it is the natural order of things. Therefore, now when the
Hindu society is showing some signs of stir, there is a great
consternation. Already a cry has gone out of Hindu fundamentalism, we
must expect more of it in future." The readers have been warned. But
India will not be the only country to be saved. "America is awaiting
to be rediscovered in a characteristically Hindu way, not the
Christian way".
THIS represents a worse-than-narrow world-view. It is redolent of the
bigotry of medieval times. This book was published in 1992. His
earlier pamphlet, "Cultural Self-Alienation and Some Problems Hinduism
Faces", also characterised "castes and denominations" as expressing a
"natural and healthy diversity". The ignorance is astounding. "To
Marx, the British conquest of India was a blessing." Hinduism faces
attacks "both from inside and outside. While the forces of self-
alienation are increasing within society, external enemies have
intensified their attack.... Communism, Islam, Christianity have
powerful international links... their World-Centres. Commu-nists have
their Comintern working overtly or covertly." By 1987, Ram Swarup
ought to have known that the Comintern was dissolved on May 22, 1943
and that the "Islamic International, a kind of Muslim Vatican, Rabitah
al'-alam al-Iscaniya" (Muslim World League) is a Saudi-sponsored non-
governmental organisation (1962) which counts for little in India.
Hindus, by comparison, are at a disadvantage, he moans. "They do not
even have a government of their own." Socially, they are falling prey
to "vulgarity"; that is, "gambling, drinking, vulgar film music...
Cinemas (sic) are becoming great moral and social pollutants."
ANU PUSHKARNA
The Christian missionary centre at Nawapara in Jhabua district,
Madhya Pradesh, where four nuns were gangraped on September 23.
So, combat these and go over to the offensive and "look at Islam,
Christianity and Communism... from the Hindu angle." Sikhs are not
spared. Ram Swarup adopts a dual approach in Hindu-Sikh Relationship
(1985). He woos them as "the members of Hindu society" and denounces
them for thinking that "they were different". Base motives are freely
attributed: "Thanks to the Green Revolution and various other factors,
the Sikhs have become relatively more rich and prosperous. No wonder,
they have begun to find that the Hindu bond is not good enough for
them and they seek a new identity readily available to them in their
names and outer symbols. This is an understandable human frailty."
He defends the storming of the Golden Temple. It "became an arsenal, a
fort, a sanctuary for criminals. This grave situation called for
necessary action which caused some unavoidable damage to the
building." There followed "protest meetings, resolutions", which he
deprecates. "The whole thing created wide-spread resentment all over
India which burst into a most unwholesome violence when Mrs. Indira
Gandhi was assassinated. The befoggers have again got busy and they
explain the whole tragedy in terms of collusion between the
politicians and the police. But this conspiracy theory cannot explain
the range and the virulence of the tragedy. A growing resentment at
the arrogant Akali politics is the main cause of this fearful
happening."
This is of a piece with the Organiser's defence of Mahatma Gandhi's
assassination in its editorial (January 11, 1970) - "turned the
people's wrath on himself." Its editor then, K.R. Malkani, is now vice-
president of the BJP.
SITA RAM GOEL does not lag behind. His pamphlet "Hindu Society under
Siege" (1981) paints a frightening future: "The death of Hindu society
is no longer an eventuality which cannot be envisaged. This great
society is now besieged by the same dark and deadly forces which have
overwhelmed and obliterated many ancient societies. Suffering from a
loss of its elan, it has become a house divided within itself... Hindu
society is in mortal danger as never before."
One is reminded of the loonies of California, the minutemen who lived
in dread of a Soviet conquest of the U.S. The familiar ghosts of old
are revived - "Islamism", "Christianism" and a new one to keep them
company, "Macaulay-ism" (the educated Hindu who rejects the Parivar's
voodoo credo and the mumbo-jumbo of its shrill rhetoric).
"Ideologically, Communism in India is, in several respects, a sort of
extension of Macaulayism, a residue of British rule. That is why
Communism is strongest today in those areas where Macaulayism had
spread its widest spell." In no other parts of the country, though,
are Indian languages and culture more highly respected than in West
Bengal and Kerala. "Macaulayism is wedded to Secularism and Democracy.
It has to find out for itself as to who are the enemies of Secularism
and Democracy and who their best friends. This can be done only by
looking beyond the United Front of Islamism, Communism and
Christianism."
In the U.S., the minutemen belonged to the lunatic fringe. In India,
the Parivar's ideology is espoused by the party in power, even if it
be through dubious alliances. Scruples are not the Parivar's
strongpoint. On April 4, 1980, L.K. Advani and A.B. Vajpayee endorsed
a formulation in the National Executive of the Janata Party which
pledged its members to accept "unconditionally and strive to preserve
the composite culture and secular state established in our country."
After splitting the Janata Party both rejected the concept of India's
"composite culture." On April 8, 1998, at the BJP's Agra session, its
then president, Advani, denounced the concept of composite culture -
just as the Jan Sangh had done in December 1969.
HARSH NARAIN was a Visiting Professor at Aligarh Muslim University and
Reader at the North-Eastern Hill University. His Myths of Composite
Cultural and Equality of Religions (1990) reveals the unspoken
thoughts of the Parivar; the sub-text beneath the avowed text.
"Mere permanent settlement in a country does not entitle a plunderer
to be looked upon as indigenous. It must first be seen whose interests
he is out to serve. What is his attitude towards Indians? Take an
example. European settlers entered America and ruined the original
inhabitants, whom they named 'Red Indians'. To expect the remaining
Red Indians to regard their European-born rulers as equally indigenous
would be a cruel joke beyond their understanding.
"Islam was out to deal a death blow to the equilibrium, exuberance,
and cosmopolitan character of Indian humanity, later designated as
Hindu culture in juxtaposition to Indian culture."
To him, the Taj and the Qutub Minar are specimens exclusively of
Muslim, not Indian, sculpture. For, he holds: "The Muslims have been
religiously indifferent to, if not contemptuous of, Indian sculpture.
Thanks to the taste of the Sufis, the Muslims took some fancy to
Indian music. The main gamut of Indian literature has also been
untinged with Muslim literature and historic-cultural allusions...
Urdu language and literature, the much-vaunted symbols or vehicles of
composite culture, are not the result of intermingling of Hinduism and
Islam but reflected the Muslim image in Indian garb... nor have the
Hindu heroes and servants been fortunate enough to be honoured by the
Muslim community."
This can only be deliberate falsehood, since he flaunts familiarity
with Urdu. The much-maligned Iqbal wrote whole poems in praise of the
Buddha, Ram, Guru Nanak, and Swami Ram Tirtha. He was an admirer of
the Sanskrit poet, Bhartruhari, and had drunk deep at the fount of the
Gita and the Upanishads. Another great poet, Maulana Hasrat Mohani, a
confirmed leftist, wrote nostalgically of the soil of Mathura and in
praise of Krishna. He was also an ardent admirer of Bal Gangadhar
Tilak. But this is understandable of one who stoops to libel one of
the greatest mystics and martyrs of all time, Mansur al-Hallaj. He was
beheaded and his life forms the subject of the feat of scholarship,
Louis Massignon's four-volume The Passion of al-Hallaj. He is accused
of converting to Islam "the Dudwalas and Pinjaris of Gujarat." No
authority is cited in support of the charge.
Harsh Narain holds that while "a sizable section of the Sufis had been
comparatively free from the proverbial emphasis on coercion ... the
role of Sufi tradition in bridging the gulf between Islam and Hinduism
or laying the foundations of a composite culture has been greatly
exaggerated."
All this and more only in order to expose "the mad propaganda of
composite culture" and to prove that "Muslim culture cannot be said to
be an integral part of Indian culture and must be regarded as an
anticulture or counter culture in our body politic." This is no
different from the RSS chief's demand (November 22, 1998) that the
minorities Hinduise themselves.
The author turns his attention to Jainism ("failed to develop any
cultural identity of its own") and Buddhism ("basically a life-
negating religion, having little interest in social order, strictly
speaking"). Conclusion? "Our national culture, Indian culture, is a
unity describable as Aryan culture, Hindu culture... Indian culture is
Hindu culture... Muslim and Christian cultures are counter-cultures."
And Parsi culture is "something like" a sub-culture.
So "Hindu culture alone deserves the credit of recognition as the
national culture (abhimanin) of this country, as the culture owning
and possessing this great nation, along with other Indian-born
cultures like Buddhist and Jain cultures as its sub-cultures; Muslim
and Christian cultures being in the nature of tenant-cultures. The
distinction of master-possessor-owner culture and tenant-parasitic
culture has its own significance." One can guess what he is hinting
at.
Sita Ram Goel writes in the same vein. His ardour is reflected in his
three books Catholic Ashrams, Papacy and History of Hindu-Christian
Encounters (304-1996). His preface to the second edition (1996) of the
book on Hindu-Christian encounters explains a lot: "The Sangh Parivar,
which had turned cold towards Hindu causes over the years, was
startled by the rout of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 1984
elections, and decided to renew its Hindu character. The
Ramajanmabhumi Movement was the result. The Movement was aimed at
arresting Islamic aggression. Christianity or its missions were hardly
mentioned. Nevertheless, it was Christianity which showed the greatest
concern at this new Hindu stir, and started crying 'wolf'. Its media
power in the West raised a storm, saying that Hindus were out to
destroy the minorities in India and impose a Nazi regime. The storm is
still raging and no one knows when it will subside, if at all." Thus
"the storm" was unleashed for reasons of power through election
victories.
Goel's writings alone prove that the Parivar's ire against Christians
is decades old. In an article published in March 1983 he had asserted
that the ancient Hindu precept sarva dharma samabhava (all religions
are equal) should not be applied to Christians or Muslims.
IT is with some hesitation that one turns to Goel's book Jesus Christ:
An Artifice for Aggression (1994); so wantonly offensive it is. The
focus now is not on the missionaries, or politics, or history. The
target is the faith itself; Christianity as a religion. Why? Because
hitherto "we Hindus have remained occupied with the behaviour patterns
of Muslims and Christians and not with the belief systems which create
those behaviour patterns. We object to Christian missions, but refuse
to discuss Christianity and its God, Jesus. We object to Islamic
terrorisms, but refuse to have a look at Islamic and its prophet,
Muhammad. I see no sense or logic in this Hindu habit."
Is there any other country in the world where such theses are written
for such a purpose? One wonders. "Now, I could see why the history of
Christianity had been what it had been. The source of the poison was
in the Jesus of the gospels."
The Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary is attacked wantonly. There
are chapters on Jesus of history, of fiction and of faith. The thesis?
He did not exist in history. "The quantum of crimes committed by
Muhammad's Islam was only slightly smaller than that of the crimes
committed by the Christianity of the Jesus Christ... The parallel
between Jesus and Hitler was seen as still more striking. The Nazi
creed, as laid down by Hitler, did not sound much different from the
Christian creed as preached by Jesus in the gospels."
Goel is dismayed to find that Jesus Christ "should continue to retain
his hallow" (sic) in India. "Christianity is accepted as a religion
not only by the westernised Hindu elite but also by Hindu saints,
scholars, and political platforms."
Jesus Christ has been "praised to the skies, particularly by Mahatma
Gandhi." But, "it is high time for Hindus to learn that Jesus Christ
symbolises no spiritual power, or moral uprightness. He is no more
than an artifice for legitimising wanton imperialist aggression. The
aggressors have found him to be highly profitable so far. By the same
token, Hindus should know that Jesus means nothing but mischief for
their country and culture. The West where he flourished for long, has
discarded him as junk. There is no reason why Hindus should buy him.
He is the type of junk that cannot be re-cycled. He can only poison
the environment."
THE virulence of the language reveals the depths of the hatred. This
is what Indians are up against - a powerful hate group, enjoying the
patronage of many politicians in power and in the administration,
which is out to wipe out all traces not only of secularism and
democracy but of religious tolerance, religious and cultural diversity
and, indeed, of decency itself from India.
It shall not come to pass. The answer lies not in forging a united
front of the minorities; it lies in a renewal of the secular ideal in
our politics and in the nation at large.
http://www.flonnet.com/fl1526/15261230.htm
Volume 19 - Issue 09, Apr. 27 - May 12, 2002
India's National Magazine
from the publishers of THE HINDU
Plumbing new depths
No Indian Prime Minister has justified a communal pogrom the way
Vajpayee has. The BJP's Goa conclave marks the lowest point in
Hindutva's hardline evolution, underlining the need to punish the BJP
politically.
ATAL BEHARI VAJPAYEE'S public address at the April 12 BJP National
Executive meeting in Goa has rudely convulsed the secular conscience
of India's citizens. Many were jolted out of the complacent
assumption, promoted by sections of the media, that Vajpayee is some
kind of "moderate" or "liberal" - "the right man in the wrong party" -
a leader "secular" at heart, whose political "compulsions" regrettably
drive him from time to time to compromise with Hindutva. Yet others
attributed the tone and tenor of his speech to his interaction with
the party's young "hardliners" immediately before the Goa meeting,
such as Pramod Mahajan, Arun Shourie and M. Venkaiah Naidu, or to the
temporary "influence" of L.K. Advani, which made him reverse the
stance he adopted during his April 4 Gujarat visit.
The significance of Vajpayee's address goes much beyond his personal
"unmasking". His adoption of a virulent communal posture - which looks
at Indian society in terms of a division between Hindus and Others,
and accords social and political primacy to the majority community -
is shocking, but not really surprising. Vajpayee has never claimed to
be secular in the sense of separating religion from politics, or even
to have cut his umbilical cord to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Several public statements can be readily cited, which indicate
Vajpayee's ideological-political inclinations: for instance, "the
Sangh is my soul" (1995), "I will always remain a
swayamsevak" (September 2000), the Ram temple agitation is a "national
movement", not a sectarian-parochial one (December 2000), and his
Uttar Pradesh election speech in February 2002, in which he chided
Muslims for not voting for the BJP, but also warned them it could come
to power without their support. These are not aberrations. Nor is his
annual obeisance to the Sangh in the form of guru dakshina. Vajpayee
is as dedicated to Hindutva or "cultural nationalism" as any RSS
pracharak.
The true significance of Vajpayee's disquisition in Goa lies in its
relationship to the BJP's recent rightward evolution, and secondly, in
the new low political depths it plumbs. Never before has a Prime
Minister of India, of whatever persuasion, descended to making a hate-
speech against Muslims or Christians, castigating them as "outsiders".
Never before were our religious minorities humiliated by a Prime
Minister who would want them to feel grateful for being "allowed to
pray" - that is, for exercising their fundamental constitutional
right.
Never before has an Indian Prime Minister used such aggressive body
language to justify the Gujarat pogrom by citing the "who-cast-the-
first-stone" argument. Vajpayee blamed the victims of India's worst
communal pogrom for their own suffering. No other Prime Minister has
so blatantly undermined public confidence in the rule of law and in
the possibility of minimal justice for all in this society.
We now know, from numerous independent media accounts, and from
several highly credible and sensitive reports*, that the Godhra
killing of 59 Hindus was not, causally, "the first stone". The post-
February 27 carnage in Gujarat, which has claimed upwards of 850
lives, would probably have occurred even if the Godhra incident had
not. The conditions were ripe for the massacre of Muslims in that
"Hindutva laboratory" State. Elaborate preparations had been under way
for weeks before the massacre, in particular after kar sevaks were
dispatched daily to Ayodhya following the stepping up of the temple
campaign.
For instance, according to sources in Vadodara, lakhs of anti-Muslim
leaflets were illegally printed on slow treadle machines - which must
have taken months. Bombs and trishuls were stockpiled over a period of
weeks. The gap, exceeding 24 hours, between the "trigger event" and
the anti-Muslim violence - in contrast to, say, the immediate reaction
in Delhi to Indira Gandhi's assassinatio - only confirms the
organised, unspontaneous, planned nature of the pogrom.
Reconstruction of the Godhra incident, for example in the Citizens'
Forum report, suggests that it was a spontaneous, rather than an
elaborately planned, over-reaction to the daily harassment of local
Ghanchi Muslims (oil-pressers by occupation) by communally charged kar
sevaks returning from Ayodhya. Had there been serious preparation for
the attack on the Sabarmati Express, scheduled to reach Godhra at 2-55
a.m., there would have been a large crowd on the railway platform at
dawn. There was not.
When the train rolled in five hours late, there were only a handful of
vendors, porters and passengers on the platform. An altercation broke
out between the kar sevaks and Muslim tea vendors. It was only when a
rumour spread that young Sophia Khan had been dragged into coach S-6
that a crowd gathered near Signal Fadia, a basti known for communal
tension and criminal activities.
Seven weeks on, the government has failed to provide credible evidence
linking the Godhra episode to a "conspiracy" involving Pakistan's
Inter-Services Intelligence or even an organised group in Gujarat or
elsewhere. Nor can it explain why towns such as Ratlam, which are
physically far closer to Godhra, and which have a similar composition
of Hindus, Muslims and Adivasis, did not register any "retaliatory"
violence, while distant Ahmedabad did.
The reasons are self-evidently Gujarat-specific and political. They
have to do with the Narendra Modi government's conscious decision to
support the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's February 28 bandh call and the
authorities' decision to transport the bodies of the Godhra victims by
train to Ahmedabad in a ceremonial manner calculated to inflame
passions. It is impossible to separate the post-February 27 violence
either from the Modi government or Gujarat's communalised context.
The fact that Vajpayee stooped to endorse Modi's "action-reaction"
logic to justify violent retribution upon a falsely constructed
collective culprit (Muslims) speaks of an utterly debased mind. The
logic of such revenge is ultimately the logic of "getting even" with
history, of Nazism, of barbarism. That is now unfolding before our
eyes.
Clearly, the BJP has decided to embrace a virulent form of Hindutva,
one that bases itself on a contemporary version of the "Two-Nation"
theory. Its disgraceful defence of Modi, its coercive tactics in the
NDA, its prolonged refusal to discuss Gujarat under Rule 184 in the
Lok Sabha, and its wholly unapologetic, brazen, attitude towards the
continuing climate of fear, intimidation and terror in Gujarat all
confirm this. The very fact that the BJP seriously threatened to hold
mid-term Assembly elections in Gujarat in a vitiated atmosphere, and
used it as a bargaining chip in negotiating with its allies, testifies
to its cynicism.
The consequences of this stance are already apparent. Thus, BJP
spokesman V.K. Malhotra made a revoltingly aggressive statement
likening the Congress to the pre-Partition Muslim League - merely
because the Congress expressed concern at the butchery of Muslims
(although not to the exclusion of concern for Hindus too). And one
cannot fail to note Modi's deviousness in transferring honest police
officers who tried to maintain a semblance of impartiality, or his
gross insensitivity to traumatised Muslim children in thrusting
examinations on them at centres located in areas where Muslims were
butchered.
Gujarat is a fit case for compelling the State government to abide by
the Constitution under Article 355 and for imposing President's Rule
under Article 356. True, Article 356 has been repeatedly misused to
dismiss Opposition governments. The demand for its use is being voiced
by forces with an extremely dubious record. But there could be no
fitter case than Gujarat to which the following description from the
Constitution applies: "a situation has arisen in which the government
of the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of
the Constitution."
The constitutional machinery patently broke down in Gujarat on
February 28 when scores of citizens were massacred with the full
complicity of the state, and when it could not even protect a guardian
of the constitutional order, a High Court Judge, who happened to be a
Muslim.
It is precisely for such contingencies that President's Rule was
envisaged. The Gujarat situation cannot get normalised with Modi's
replacement alone. If hardcore sanghis like Goverdhan Zadaphia or
Ashok Bhatt were to take over, it could worsen. It is essential, but
not enough, that Modi be sacked. The whole government must be
dismissed and Gujarat placed under President's Rule with advisers of
impeccable integrity and experience, recommended by Parliament as a
whole.
It will take months for Gujarat to recuperate and achieve normalcy in
any real sense. Such normalcy must include reconciliation between
estranged neighbours and communities, full physical, psychological and
economic rehabilitation, and restoration of public confidence in the
impartiality of the government as regards different religious groups.
The danger of half-hearted reconciliation should be obvious. If the
one lakh Muslims who are in relief camps - and three or four times as
many, whose livelihoods have been affected - are forced to fend for
themselves without state and community assistance, they will probably
leave Gujarat altogether, or create "safe" ghettos for themselves. The
greater the ghettoisation, the greater the mutual estrangement of
religious groups, the lesser their social interaction - and the
greater the scope for conflict.
That is the last thing Gujarat needs. Indeed, it would be a recipe for
another communal pogrom. That is precisely what Hindutva craves most.
If the BJP succeeds in its game plan in Gujarat, by whipping up anti-
Muslim hysteria, it will replicate the same trick nationally - if
necessary, by staging another Godhra. If the Nazis could stage the
Reichstag fire, the BJP can create a Godhra-II, through agents
provocateurs.
These comparisons are not far-fetched. In foundational premises of its
ideology and politics, the BJP shares a great deal with the Italian
fascists, the German Nazis and the Taliban. They all reject the
emancipatory heritage of the Enlightenment. They privilege tradition
(itself ill-defined and distorted) over modernity. They are profoundly
intolerant of difference. They hate democracy and equality. And they
do not believe in just and fair means to achieve just ends. They are
prone to despotic methods and barbaric violence.
It will take a lot of effort to fight a force like the BJP-RSS-VHP. It
has already captured a number of institutions and key positions in
government and civil society. It has a dedicated, if fanatical, cadre.
Even in the short run, it will not be possible to isolate the Hindutva
forces unless the perpetrators of the Gujarat violence are severely
punished for their grave crimes, along the lines described in the
previous Frontline column (issue of April 26), and unless the BJP is
politically punished, that is, made to pay a heavy price through
systematic boycott and isolation.
One wishes this would happen both nationally, in the National
Democratic Alliance, and in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP is about to
form a government with the Bahujan Samaj Party. Regrettably, the BSP
leadership seems to be bent on using its Dalit base as virtual common-
fodder for Hindutva - for dubious, at best petty, short-term gains.
Fighting Hindutva will be a long haul. But the struggle would not even
have been joined unless the Opposition mounts relentless pressure on
the NDA, both inside and outside Parliament, through dharnas, rallies,
public meetings and mass mobilisation. The People's Front should
consider launching a relay dharna in Gujarat's major cities.
The Opposition will do well to join hands with citizens' groups such
as SAHMAT, Aman Ekta Manch, People for Secularism and the Citizens'
Initiative (Ahmedabad), which have done a great deal to highlight the
Gujarat issue and collect donations for the victims' relief. For
instance, SAHMAT mobilised artists to donate their paintings and
raised Rs.5.5 lakhs through their sale.
One thing is clear: it will be a crying shame if the BJP is allowed to
go unpunished for its grievous assault on India's secular-democratic-
constitutional order, and on the foundations of this plural, diverse,
multi-cultural society.
*Citizens' Forum: Gujarat Carnage 2002, by an independent fact-finding
mission composed of S.P. Shukla, K.S. Subramanian, Achin Vanaik, and
Kamal Mitra Chenoy; State-Sponsored Carnage in Gujarat, Report of a
CPI(M)-AIDWA delegation; The Survivors Speak, by a Women's Panel
sponsored by Citizen's Initiative, Ahmedabad; Ethnic Cleansing in
Ahmedabad, by SAHMAT; and A Report on the Gujarat Carnage, prepared by
the People's Union for Civil Liberties.
http://www.flonnet.com/fl1909/19091280.htm
Undermining India
Sitting here in our village home, keeping in touch with the world
through the Internet, the newspapers and magazines like yours, we ask
ourselves, how many fires can we fight? And yet it appears that there
is really no option except to keep fighting them and to stand up for
what we see as the values and beliefs which are intrinsic to the
foundations on which this civilisation (if indeed we can use that term
any longer) is based.
We have been reading the comprehensive coverage in your magazine of
the ghastly and inhuman murder of members of the Staines family in
Manoharpur and the hard-hitting articles on the politics of hate
("Undermining India", February 12). We have also read (on the
Internet) the highly slanted report of the murders (from Rashtradeep -
Orissa) with its not so oblique insinuations that Staines and his
family deserved what they got. What a coincidence that the Santhals
and the Kolhas apparently lost their patience 34 years after Graham
Staines came to work and live in Keonjhar and decided to attack him
when there is a BJP Government at the Centre, and the Sangh Parivar
has targeted Christians as the new enemies! It is hard to believe that
the so- called educated people hold these views and, more sinister,
use their power and technology to propagate these views in the most
dangerous fashion on the Internet from their comfortable spaces in
American universities. It is also interesting that the fact that
millions of dollars are sent by non-resident Indians to support
fascist activities in the name of Hindutva is not questioned or
attacked.
If only we can learn from history, we would see that we are moving
inexorably towards fascism - and the silence of the majority can only
hasten this process.
We too are Hindus, comfortable in the freedom of thought that it
provides, and because of this we can also look at our own tradition
critically and see and understand all the warts and distortions that
it accommodates. But what is propagated in the name of Hinduism is a
far cry from the philosphy to which we subscribe. Had we been born
Dalits or tribal people, or experienced oppression and discrimination
in the name of religion, we too might have opted for Christianity,
Islam, Buddhism or any faith which promised us a better deal and the
hope of social justice and dignity. Certainly, India's Constitution
guarantees each of us that freedom.
In all the polemics and passion that we see around us, one hears
little, if any, questioning or critiquing of the built-in inequities
of Hinduism - only the shrill and fearful howls of the advocates of
Hindutva with its distorted and dangerous ideology of linking religion
with nationalism and patriotism. If we believe that it is the spirit
of inquiry and search for truth that is the hallmark of both science
and religion, then let us stop blaming others and begin looking
inwards in the real quest for self-knowledge and encourage our people
to bring about the changes within, rather than demonising other
faiths, other denominations. But the politics of hate is so much
easier to practise than the quest for truth. It has always been
convenient to mobilise mobs - be it against masjids or mandirs,
Dalits, tribal people, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, 'Madrasis',
'Bangladeshis', 'Pakistanis'. We continue to rely on fanning the
flames of hatred for 'the other', to exercise power instead of coming
to grips with the real issues of this country - poverty, education,
employment and all-pervasive inequality. The issue is not one of
conversions or Christianity, but of how to exploit people who have no
identity or no hope of getting a space under the sun, as the foot
soldiers in the service of the armies of destruction and mayhem who
can terrorise, garner votes when needed, and ensure political power at
all costs. Ultimately, it is through economic policy decisions and the
right kind of education in our classrooms that we can hope to build
the kind of India that our Constitution has promised. For now, we can
only ask and hope that the right-thinking majority of people in this
land, regardless of their religious affiliations, will speak up before
it is too late.
Admiral Ramu Ramdas
(former Chief of the Naval Staff)
Lalita Ramdas
Bhaimala, Maharashtra
* * *
Your crusade against the diabolical designs of the Sangh Parivar is
commendable.
The riots in Suratkal, the persecution of Christians in Gujarat, and
the outrage against a missionary in Orissa expose the Parivar's game
plan. When the Babri Masjid was demolished, people in authority
remained passive spectators. They remain so when the minorities are
attacked. As long as the minorities have insufficient representation
in the police force and secular values are not instilled in the
guardians of law, there is no hope.
The biggest irony is that L.K. Advani, one of the accused in the Babri
Masjid demolition case, has become the Home Minister of this country.
A.B. Vajpayee has proved to be the weakest Prime Minister of India.
During his visit to Gujarat, instead of assuaging the hurt feelings of
Christians, he suggested a national debate on conversions. With this
he dropped his mask of moderation.
Ubedulla
Mysore
* * *
It was with a sense of dismay and shame that one watched the Home
Minister making a humiliating trip to Mumbai to pacify the Shiv Sena's
"paper tiger". It is a pity that the BJP Government with all the power
at its command could not counter the threat to a visiting cricket
team. The Shiv Sena's attack on the BCCI's office or threats to
release poisonous snakes into the playground only proved its
cowardice. If India is to progress, the culture of violence and
terrorism should give way to goodwill, harmony and peace.
Dr. A.K. Tharien
Oddanchatram, Tamil Nadu
* * *
January 23, the day Graham Stewart Staines and his two young sons were
burnt alive, was the blackest day in the history of our country. One
is at a loss to understand why such a harrowing punishment was meted
out to the missionary who had served leprosy patients in India since
1965.
Why does the Prime Minister hesitate to take stringent action against
Bal Thackeray, at whose instigation the cricket pitch at the
Ferozeshah Kotla stadium was damaged and the BCCI office in Mumbai was
ransacked? Is the Sena chief so indispensable?
Mani Natarajan
Chennai
* * *
It was a unique and informative Cover Story. The need of the hour is
unity, integrity and peaceful coexistence of various communities. We
should uphold our secular values and fulfil the hopes and aspirations
of every citizen.
Shaik Rafeeq Ahamed
Rayachoty, Andhra Pradesh
* * *
The expectation that the experience of heading a government in a
modern democracy will soften Hindu fundamentalists, has been belied.
With the assumption of power by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the
process of undermining India started. The aim is to throw the country
back into an era when power, wealth and education were concentrated in
the hands of people who belonged to the upper strata of society. But
we have come a long way. A government which owes allegiance to the
Constitution has to go by the principles enshrined in the
Constitution.
A. Jacob Sahayam
Vellore, Tamil Nadu
Arundhati Roy
Indian culture is rich and vibrant and Dalits' contribution to it is
no less than that of any other section of our society. Unless this
aspect is researched and brought out, Dalits will not get the kind of
respect they deserve. In this context, Arundhati Roy's proposal to the
Dalit Sahitya Akademi on the publication of the Malayalam translation
of her novel was really pathbreaking ("In solidarity", February 12).
Dhiraj Kumar
Delhi
Role of bureaucrats
I read with great interest A.G. Noorani's article on Admiral Bhagwat's
case in your February 12 issue. As usual Noorani's article is very
scholarly and unbiased and would serve as reference material. I would,
however, like to point out two references made to me in the article.
First, Noorani should have mentioned that I had also said in my letter
to The Times of India that "he will therefore have to look for another
Cabinet Secretary". This would have clarified that my intention was
that I would rather vacate the post of Cabinet Secretary than sign the
notification.
Secondly, the reference to the 1989 general elections. I do not know
the basis on which it is mentioned that "and that the announcements in
that behalf should be made by the Commission forthwith and before 2.00
p.m. on that date, in any case". This was not my belief at all. In an
article I wrote on T.N. Seshan, published in November 1994, I have
said that "I can only write about late Peri Shastri because I knew him
well. It required a lot of courage to stand up to a strong Prime
Minister like Rajiv Gandhi who decided to appoint two Election
Commissioners obviously to control Peri Shastri. Seshan may say that
he was not consulted here but he went out of his way to force the Law
Ministry to issue the notification urgently. When Rajiv Gandhi decided
to announce the general elections, an urgent Cabinet meeting was held
when the Cabinet approved the proposal. Seshan as Cabinet Secretary
should have been sent to Peri Shastri to convey the decision, but
Rajiv Gandhi said, 'let us not send the bull into the China shop. Let
Deshmukh go and settle it in his own quiet way.' I accordingly went
across after sending a message to Peri Shastri. When I entered his
room, I found him agitated, saying that he would not be dictated to by
the Government in fixing the dates for the elections. There was a
sharp exchange between us and tempers rose. I then decided to keep
quiet and let Peri Shastri blow off steam. When he quietened down I
convinced him that the Government was right in suggesting the dates as
it had to make various administrative arrangements. Ultimately, the
notification was issued accordingly."
This should make it clear that I was not the "civil servant who was
sent as an errand boy". My brief was to persuade Peri Shastri to agree
to the Government's suggestion. It should also be added that at that
time I was not a serving civil servant but was re-employed to hold the
post in the Prime Minister's Office.
B.G. Deshmukh
Mumbai
A.G. Noorani writes:
I was not called upon to mention, as B.G. Deshmukh insists, that he
had asked the President "to look for another Cabinet Secretary". His
intimation to President Zail Singh that he would not notify any order
dismissing Rajiv Gandhi in 1987 as Prime Minister, was wrong enough.
It was not his place to do so; least of all ask the President "to look
for" a substitute especially since the office is in the bounty of the
Prime Minister.
As for the 1989 Lok Sabha elections, the words in quotes are taken
from Justice P.B. Sawant's judgment in the case brought by one of the
two Election Commissioners whom Rajiv Gandhi appointed to overrule
Peri Shastri, the CEC (S.S. Dhanoa vs Union of India & Ors. (1991) 3
Supreme Court Cases 567 at pages 581-582, para 22).
Deshmukh confirms my comment. It was based on Justice Sawant's
reference to his mission as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.
It is pointless to shift the blame to T.N. Seshan, then Cabinet
Secretary, when he himself carried out an order he knew to be illegal
and politically immoral. On his own showing, there was "a sharp
exchange" between him and the CEC Peri Shastri and "tempers rose".
This would not have happened unless a zealous Deshmukh had tried to
force the upright Peri Shastri to accept the election dates
peremptorily urged by Rajiv Gandhi. He relented because the two
Election Commissioners had been appointed to overrule him. "The bull
in the China shop" could hardly have performed worse than Deshmukh
himself did at the meeting. Significantly, Deshmukh has not a word of
criticism of the man who sent him, Rajiv Gandhi. His Cabinet's
decision was palpably illegal and politically immoral.
Judging by his own account, Deshmukh was far worse than the "civil
servant who was sent as an errand boy". Both Seshan and Deshmukh
carried out an illegal order with competitive enthusiasm. Servitors
while in service, lecturers on retirement. The Constitution makes the
CEC an umpire between the ruling party and the others. It is his
prerogative to fix the dates. Two of the foremost civil servants of
the day tried to suborn him.
Ban all Senas
The twin massacres by the Ranvir Sena in Jehanabad district are a
testament to V.D. Savarkar's call to "'militarise Hinduism". As the
blood of 12 Dalits (from Khoja Narayanpur, February 10) and of 23
Dalits (Shankarbigha, January 25) flows in central Bihar, the Sangh
(more like, Jang) Parivar offers its regret from one side of its
mouth, while it is gleeful on the other.
The Progressive Forum of India (PFI) condemns the Ranvir Sena for its
violence as well as the Jang Parivar (notably the BJP) and the
erstwhile Bihar Government for their studied negligence.
The Ranvir Sena, like the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra three decades
earlier, was set up in 1994 to counter the growth of Left
organisations in central Bihar. From the first, the organisation was
prone to violence. Before its formation, landlords (many of whom are
Bhumihars) formed private militias that massacred, for instance, seven
Dalits in Sawanbigha village in Jehanabad in 1991. In December 1997,
the Ranvir Sena killed over 60 people in Lakshmanpur-Bathe, again in
Jehanabad. Further, on January 9, 1999, a Ranvir Sena leader announced
that his fascist band planned to conduct a massacre larger than that
in Lakshmanpur in the near future. Neither the State Government nor
the Jang Parivar did anything against him. Progressive forces in Bihar
and elsewhere underscored the danger, but nothing was done. In fact,
The Times of India reported that Vinod Sharma (Ranvir Sena) travelled
with a police officer to Arwal at the time of the massacre. The PFI
condemns this nexus between the landlord militia, the Jang Parivar and
the institutions of the state.
The Ranvir Sena has been set up to undermine popular movements. It
resorts to violence and to authoritarian acts against the oppressed.
The PFI offers its support to those who feel the strong arm of such
organisations and we call upon all progressive people to condemn and
challenge such fascist bands.
Vijay Prashad
(for the Progressive Forum for India)
received on e-mail
http://www.flonnet.com/fl1605/16051120.htm
Volume 21 - Issue 02, January 17 - 30, 2004
India's National Magazine
from the publishers of THE HINDU
ANALYSIS
HOW ADVANI WENT SCOT-FREE
A.G. NOORANI
The Rae Bareli court judgment in the Ayodhya case discharging Deputy
Prime Minister L.K. Advani is against the weight of the entire
evidence and violates the law as declared by the Supreme Court.
VINO JOHN
Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani.
THE Deputy Prime Minister and Union Home Minister, Lal Krishna
Advani's discharge in the Ayodhya case on September 19, 2003, was no
"honourable acquittal" after a full trial on the merits. It was a
gross miscarriage of justice, which precludes a proper trial. A
perusal of the English translation of the 130-page judgment in Hindi
by Vinod Kumar Singh, Special Judicial Magistrate, Rae Bareli, reveals
that the grounds for his discharge could well apply also to other
accused such as Union Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and Madhya Pradesh
Chief Minister Uma Bharati. Conversely, the grounds on which charges
will be framed against them apply also to Advani. The judgment is
utterly unconvincing in the distinction it draws between him and the
other accused, including Ashok Singhal, V.H. Dalmiya, Giriraj Kishore,
Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Ritambara.
The judgment is against the weight of the entire evidence and violates
the law as declared by the Supreme Court. The reasoning is laboured to
a degree. It must be emphasised that what the Magistrate pronounced
was an order of discharge at the stage of framing the charge not an
acquittal on merits after a trial. A discharge does not bar another
prosecution, an acquittal does.
In the face of such a judgment the behaviour of the Central Bureau of
Investigation, the prosecuting agency, was true to form. It did not
move the High Court for quashing the order. The prescribed period of
limitation is three months. The CBI bestirred itself ostentatiously
thereafter in view of public censure. Rajnish Sharma reported in The
Hindustan Times (December 31, 2003) that "CBI sources claim that the
agency's top-brass still differ on whether to move the High Court or
not. Initially, it was decided that the CBI should not go in for an
appeal against Advani. However, faced with mounting criticism for
having failed to appeal against the lower court order, the opinion
seems to have changed.
RAMESH SHARMA
Murli Manohar Joshi.
"While announcing its decision, even the Rae Bareli court had strongly
criticised the agency's role as it felt the CBI had deliberately
weakened the case against Advani. Agency sources now claim that once
the courts reopen, they will file a petition explaining the reasons
for the delay."
IT is necessary to recall the background in order to appreciate the
judgment. The CBI had filed a charge-sheet in court against Advani and
other accused, on October 5, 1993, charging them with conspiring to
demolish the mosque. Two courts found that a prima facie case on this
charge did exist - Special Judicial Magistrate Mahipal Sirohi on
August 27, 1994, while committing the accused to the Sessions Court,
and the Additional Sessions Judge, Lucknow, Jugdish Prasad Srivastava,
on September 9, 1997, while framing the charges.
The Sessions Judge concluded that "in the present case a criminal
conspiracy to demolish the disputed structure of Ramjanmabhoomi/Babri
Masjid was hatched by the accused persons in the beginning of 1990 and
was completed on 6.12.1992". Advani and others hatched criminal
conspiracies "to demolish the disputed premises on different times at
different places". A prima facie case was found to charge Bal
Thackeray, Advani and others, including Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma
Bharati, under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
Advani and his colleagues, Joshi and Uma Bharati, faced two charges in
two courts - delivering inflammatory speeches on December 6, 1992,
prior to the demolition, and hatching a conspiracy to demolish the
mosque from 1990. Immediately after the mosque was demolished, two
first information reports were filed in the same police station. One
was filed at 5-15 p.m. against "lakhs of unknown kar sevaks" for
offences committed at 12-15 p.m.; mainly the demolition. Spread of
communal hate was one of them. Very properly, conspiracy was not
alleged since the facts were not known then and no particular person
was cited either. This was Crime No. 197 (demolition).
S. SUBRAMANIUM
Uma Bharati.
The next FIR, filed only 10 minutes later, was Crime No. 198
(speeches) against eight named persons - Advani, Joshi, Uma Bharati,
Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, V.H. Dalmiya, Vinay Katiyar and
Ritambara. It alleged that they had delivered communally inflammatory
speeches at 10 a.m. prior to the demolition (Section 153A IPC). This
charge was common to both FIRs. FIR 198 (speeches) said also that
"during the speeches of these leaders, repeated indications (sic:
"incitement") were given to demolish the mosque. As a result, lakhs of
kar sevaks attacked and pulled down the disputed structure". The
leaders were named because their identities were known. Conspiracy was
properly not alleged in either FIR because it requires a long probe.
There were 47 other FIRs for offences against the media.
After the imposition of President's rule in Uttar Pradesh, the
demolition case (197) was assigned to the CBI while the State police
dealt with the speeches case (198). Both were parts of the same
transaction and were linked inseparably. Eventually, the CBI was
assigned the speeches case as well. It, therefore, submitted a
composite, damning charge-sheet in court on October 5, 1993. But there
was a technical flaw in the assignment of the cases to courts, which
was pointed out by Justice Jagdish Bhalla of the Allahabad High Court
on February 12, 2001. He struck down as invalid the reference of Case
198 (speeches) to the Lucknow court from the Rae Bareli court. His
judgment of February 12, 2001, upheld everything else, including the
joint charge-sheet. He thrice said that the defect was "curable" by
another notification after consulting the High Court. Obviously,
justice required that the two cases, 197 (demolition) and 198
(speeches), be tried together in one court.
Neither the Rajnath Singh government nor the succeeding Mayawati
regime had any intention of "curing the defect". Nor has Mulayam Singh
Yadav's government now. The High Court issued a notification on
September 28, 2002, assigning Case No.198 (speeches) to the Rae Bareli
court. On November 29, the Supreme Court upheld it, holding that no
one had a right to insist on a particular venue. It overlooked the
background, the mala fides and the obvious miscarriage of justice. A
review petition has been filed against this order. (vide the writer's
article, `Reprimand for delay', Frontline, March 30, 2001).
To be precise, Justice Bhalla upheld: 1) the Sessions Judge's order of
September 9, 1997, framing the charges in Case No. 197 (demolition);
2) the validity of Vijai Verma's appointment as Special Judge and his
cognisance of all cases (save No.198); 3) the notification of the
Special Court in Lucknow; 4) the CBI's investigation; and 5) the
consolidated charge-sheet of October 5, 1993. Even if the one
concerning the speeches of December 6, 1992, is dropped, the
conspiracy case survives.
C.V. SUBRAHMANYAM
Ashok Singhal.
But let alone a notification to cure the defect and ensure trial of
both the connected cases in one court, in the interests of sheer
justice, the course which the two cases took subsequently in different
courts was, to say the least, surprising. The High Court's ruling was
set at naught by the Sessions Judge at Lucknow, Srikant Shukla, on May
4, 2001, which he had no right to do. Justice Bhalla had merely struck
down the transfer of the speeches case (198) from Rae Bareli to
Lucknow. Shukla went beyond it and dropped even the conspiracy charge
in Case No.197(demolition) before him. The reasoning was tortuous. He
confined FIR 197 (demolition) to kar sevaks alone; ignored the
conspiracy charges and exonerated the leaders. They were held
accountable only in FIR 198 (speeches) - which he could not try. He
wrote: "Two distinct cases were registered which are different. In the
first FIR were kar sevaks who pulled down the structure... and in the
other FIR are conspirators/abettors who instigated the kar sevaks.
This way, the State has considered both the cases different and
separate and has treated them so."
This was in flat contradiction to Justice Bhalla's judgment. What
Shukla did was to transpose the conspiracy charge, which properly
belonged to the demolition case (197) which he was trying, to the
speeches case (198), which he could not try. Having done so, he
dropped proceedings on the conspiracy charge against the eight accused
leaders who also figured in the speeches case and 13 others besides
who did not. Thrown back at the Rae Bareli court like a shuttle cock,
the conspiracy charge was buried there by the CBI two years later in
its charge-sheet of May 30, 2003. On September 1, the apex court
issued notices to Advani and other accused on a petition challenging
this omission. The CBI had curiously moved the High Court on June 19,
2001, against Shukla's order. On August 6, 2003, Justice N.K. Mehrotra
ordered stay of proceedings in the Lucknow court till September 24.
But the conspiracy charge cannot vanish so easily. It covers events
since 1990. Abetment by incitement occurred on December 6, 1992.
Shukla's reference to "conspirators/abettors who instigated" truncates
the conspiracy charge - and drops it. The CBI's joint charge-sheet of
October 5, 1993, explicitly said: "Investigations revealed that on
5.12.1992, a secret meeting was held at the residence of Shri Vinay
Katiyar which was attended by S/Shri L.K. Advani, Pawan Pandey, etc.
Wherein a final decision to demolish the disputed structure was
taken." Sessions Judge J.P. Srivastava's order of September 9, 1997
also mentioned this very date. He traced the beginning of the
conspiracy to 1990, how it picked up speed in 1991 and the stages
leading to its culmination with the demolition of the mosque. In each
stage Advani's role was narrated in detail. "Conspiracy is planned
secretly," he remarked. It cannot be limited to the public speeches on
December 6, as Shukla did. The High Court upheld the validity of the
conspiracy charge.
TWO recent disclosures support the charge. It has been revealed that
on October 1, 1993, the Home Ministry itself sanctioned the CBI's
charge. It mentioned an interesting detail: "In pursuance of the
criminal conspiracy", Pramod Mahajan and Ashok Singhal met Bal
Thackeray on November 21, 1992, and secured the Sena's participation
in the "kar seva". On June 7, 2003, five of the accused alleged
instigation by the leaders. R.N. Das, one of the priests at the site
where the idols were placed inside the mosque before its demolition,
told the media: "I was a witness in a meeting held by Advani and
others... on December 5 night" - and spilled the beans. Justice Bhalla
remarked: "According to the prosecution, the accused persons are
either rich, influential or politically strong." He recalled the
Supreme Court's remarks in the case of the former Chief Minister of
Karnataka, S. Bangarappa: "The slow motion becomes much slower motion
when politically powerful or rich and influential persons figures as
accused."
The demolition case (197) was thus put out of the way. All that the
leaders faced was the speeches case (198) alone. On May 30, 2003, the
CBI filed a supplementary charge-sheet in the Rae Bareli court trying
the speeches case. On July 5, the CBI's advocate, S.S. Gandhi, opened
the case and cited statements by witnesses testifying to inflammatory
speeches and to instigation of the kar sevaks to demolish the mosque.
He said he would produce audio and videocassettes as evidence. On July
30, astonishingly, the CBI said that "the video cassettes did not show
them giving any speech". Special Judicial Magistrate Vinod Kumar Singh
delivered judgment on September 19, 2003, in this case.
He begins by reproducing the FIR in case No. 198 which is revealing:
"I, Sub Inspector Ganga Prasad Tewari, in-charge of the police post
Ramjanmabhoomi, police station Ramjanmabhoomi, Faizabad, was engaged
today, on 06.12.92, in maintenance of peace and order during the kar
seva organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Checking duty near the
disputed Ram Chabutara and Sheshavatar Mandir, I reached the meeting
place in Ram Katha Kunj at about 10 a.m. where the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad General Secretary Shri Ashok Singhal, Joint Secretary Shri
Giriraj Kishore, Shri Lal Krishna Advani, Shri Murli Manohar Joshi,
Shri Vishnu Hari Dalmiya and BJP M.P. from Faizabad and Bajrang Dal
convenor Shri Vinay Katiyar, Uma Bharati, Sadhvi Ritambara, etc. all
the speakers were seated on the dais. The above mentioned speakers
were inciting the kar sevaks by their incendiary speeches; their
slogan was `Ek dhakkar aur do, Babri Masjid tod do,' and destroy this
khandahar (rubble) that is symbolic of the Mughal age slavery. Incited
by their incendiary speeches, the kar sevaks were now and then raising
slogans - "Jab katue kaate jaayenge, tab Ram Ram chillayenge; and
Ramlala, hum aayenge, Mandir yahin banayenge." The intention to
destroy the mosque was again and again indicated (in) these leaders'
speeches. As a consequence, lakhs of kar sevaks broke through the
barricades and destroyed the disputed structure, which has hurt the
national unity seriously. The said event was seen, apart from the
police and administration officials and employees, by the audience and
journalists. Therefore, the report must be entertained and necessary
action taken."
The secret meeting of December 5 was followed by the speeches on
December 6 which incited the demolition. The rest followed as planned.
The judgment recites statements by eyewitnesses on the leaders'
speeches, before the Babri mosque was demolished, as recorded by the
police under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, four video
cassettes, three audio cassettes, photographs and news reports. It is
well settled that at the stage of framing the charges all that the
court has to consider is whether a prima facie case is made out. It is
not to enter into a trial on the merits. Section 227 of CrPC says that
if the Judge considers "that there is not sufficient ground for
proceeding against the accused, he shall discharge the accused", as
distinct from an acquittal which can follow only after a trial on the
merits of the charges.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1979 that "even a very strong suspicion
founded upon material before the Magistrate, which leads him to form a
presumptive opinion as to the existence of the factual ingredients
constituting the offence alleged, may justify the framing of charge".
Nor is the court bound to consider evidence produced by the accused.
It has to consider whether the prosecution case, if unrebutted,
establishes a case in law. That is what a prima facie case means in
law.
KAMAL NARANG
Sadhvi Ritambara.
The sole issue before the Magistrate, therefore, was whether the
police statements produced before him by the prosecution established
such a case. Thirty-odd such statements are reproduced in the
judgment; some contradict others. The contradiction is to be resolved
only in the trial proper; not while framing the charges unless, of
course, the ones against the accused are manifestly untrue or absurd.
In this case, they were not.
Consider the very first two statements which the judgment quotes:
"Shri Ram Kripal Das, disciple of Mahant late Bharat Das, PS
Ramjanmabhoomi, Faizabad, has made, in the main, the following
statement under Section 161 CrPC: "On 6.12.1992 I remained near my
temple the whole day. Through my door and the windows inside, sounds
coming from the Ram Katha Kunj and words (like) Sheshavatar Mandir,
vivadit dhancha (disputed structure) vivadit chabutara (disputed
platform) can be heard. That day, a crowd of kar sevaks had started to
gather since morning. The kar sevaks were raising slogans and loudly
saying: today we would not stop even if some leader tries to stop us.
We will demolish it today... On the Ram Katha Kunj side, leaders were
making speeches one by one that a temple has to be built. There was a
lot of noise. Lal Krishna Advani, Ashok Singhal, Vinay Katiyar, Murli
Manohar Joshi, etc. spoke. All the leaders were making enthusiastic
speeches. I had seen with my own eyes the above leaders going towards
the temple. When there was a hullabaloo and they were demolishing the
disputed structure, none of the leaders was preventing them. If these
leaders had told the kar sevaks not to break any dome, they would have
obeyed it, because they had called the kar sevaks to come here. Vinay
Katiyar was much active from the very beginning and was prepared to do
everything right or wrong for temple construction" (emphasis added,
throughout).
Dhanpat Ram Yadav made the following statement under Section 161 CrPC:
"On 6.12.92, I was on the roof of the Sita Rasoi (Sita's kitchen) from
early morning. That day I saw Vinay Katiyar, Lal Krishna Advani, Uma
Bharati, etc. coming in a crowd of kar sevaks. They were making
speeches that were provoking the kar sevaks, saying Mandir bana kar
jaayenge, Hindu Rashtra banayenge (we will leave after building a
temple and we will build a Hindu Rashtra). When the kar sevaks had
climbed the domes in large numbers and were demolishing them, none of
the leaders prevented anyone or told to stop. All stood silent... "
Another 10 statements were in the same vein followed by that of
Chandra Kishore Mishra who said "inflamed by the very speeches of
these leaders, the kar sevaks brought down the structure". Advani was
specifically mentioned by him as one of them.
The Additional Superintendent of Police, Faizabad, Anju Gupta was
detailed to provide security to Advani. She saw people running towards
the mosque with tools in their hands. If she could see that so, one
would think, could "the leaders". She said "Then Shri Lal Krishna
Advani asked me what was happening inside the temple. I asked the
control room and came to know that kar sevaks had entered it and were
busy demolishing the structure; then I told him the same. I also told
him that many people had got injured and were being brought near the
Ram Katha Kunj for treatment. Then Advani told me: I want to go and
tell them to come down. I conferred with S.P. Intelligence and
Commandant of the 15th Battalion who were with Shri Murli Manohar
Joshi. He said it was not proper to go into the crowd as these people
were inflamed. Shri Advani talked to his comrades and told me that he
won't go but somebody would have to be taken there. Then I sent Uma
Bharati and two others there. The crowd surrounded my jeep near Dorahi
Kuwan and did not allow us to go ahead. Then Uma Bharati and we
proceeded on foot. I saw after sometime that people had come down from
the domes. They were talking of doing the kar seva from below, not
from above. Advani told me he wanted to talk to the DM. He also told
about talking to the Chief Minister, but I pleaded helplessness. One
person, who had come with Uma Bharati, was making fun of the Supreme
Court. After some time, Advani and Joshi went to the office of Ram
Katha Kunj, and told me they were talking to the Chief Minister. I saw
fire and smoke rising at all sides in Ayodhya. Advani told me... [page
92 bottom: seems some lines are missing here]... began to distribute
sweets... . Advani came back at about six and a half. With him there
were Murli Manohar Joshi, Vishnu Hari Dalmiya, Ashok Singhal and Vinay
Katiyar etc. About the speeches from the stage, I have already told. I
remember the atmosphere became surcharged with Advani's arrival.
People were raising slogans, but I could not hear any other slogan
because of being busy with other works. Joshi had spoken earlier, he
had said whatever Narasimha Rao could say, the temple would be
constructed here. I did not see these leaders making any attempt to
prevent the kar sevaks from demolishing the disputed structure. Advani
was sad that people were falling from the domes and dying... on the
fall of the first, second and third domes, Uma Bharati and Ritambara
had embraced each other; sweets were also distributed. The two had
also embraced the males. Embracing Advani, Joshi and S.C. Dixit, Uma
Bharati and Ritambara were expressing their happiness. On the fall of
the domes, all the said eight accused and Acharya Dharmendra etc were
congratulating one another. All were expressing happiness."
Vinay Katiyar.
Renu Mittal confirmed reports in The Hindu and The Indian Express
(December 7, 1992): "L.K. Advani began to address the kar sevaks over
the mike from the protection of the Ram Katha Kunj platform. In the
rush of shouts and the milling confusion he could be overheard telling
the kar sevaks to block all entry points to Ayodhya to stop anyone
entering the town. He also announced that the kar seva that begun
today would only end once the mandir nirman was completed... . At 3-30
p.m. the left dome of the Babri Masjid was demolished. Many of the kar
sevaks were injured and some of them were buried under the falling of
the debris of the dome."
Triyugi Narayan Tewari told the police: "The RSS workers also climbed
the domes and demolished the disputed structure. Sh. Ashok Singhal,
L.K. Advani, Uma Bharati, Vinay Katiyar, Murli Manohar Joshi, Acharya
Dharmendra, Sadhvi Ritambara were also present there and were inciting
the kar sevaks."
A few statements, about 5 or 6, averred that Advani urged the kar
sevaks to climb down; evidently for their own protection. For, some
were buried in the debris.
Vishnu Hari Dalmiya.
The Magistrate's observations on the course the case took are
significant. "This is an indisputable fact that the High Court had
before itself a combined charge-sheet in cases 197/92 (demolition) and
198/92 (speeches) and, compared to this court, the High Court was
presented with much more evidence/statements of witnesses. Apart from
it, the High Court had before it the charge under Section 120 IPC
(conspiracy), which was not included in the charge-sheet filed in this
court. After the said judgment, an order was passed by the Special
Judge (Ayodhya Prakaran), Lucknow, in which 21 accused were recognised
as accused in case 198/92 (speeches) and proceedings against them were
ordered to be stopped. These included the eight accused named in the
charge-sheet filed in this court. Thereafter, the CBI requested the
State government to rectify the said shortcoming in the notification
dated 8/10/93, but the said shortcoming was not rectified by the State
government. After that, special writ petitions were filed by Bhure Lal
and three others against the said judgment of the High Court, on which
the Supreme Court issued its judgment/order on 29/11/2002. Under the
said order of the Supreme Court, a petition has been filed by the CBI
in this court constituted under the former notification, on which the
CBI was directed to get the papers in case 198/92 (speeches) and
present in this court. The record of case 198/92 (speeches) was
received and then the CBI filed a supplementary charge-sheet. At
present the case is being heard in this court under the Supreme Court
order dated 29/11/2002. Thus this court has considered the material
presented to it about this charge. Statements of some more witnesses
were considered after the CBI filed a charge-sheet and some evidence
along with it and, later, after its advance investigation."
THUS the CBI itself dropped the conspiracy charge (Section 120 IPC).
The Magistrate lists some 19 considerations for framing the charges.
Two of them read thus: (2) "If the case falls in the area of doubt, it
cannot take the place of proof at the conclusion of the hearing. But
if there is serious doubt in the initial stage and it leads the court
to think that there is ground to believe that the accused has
committed the offence, then the court is not allowed to say that
enough ground is not there for proceeding against the accused... (8)
If material has been presented before the court and that creates
serious doubt against the accused and has not been adequately
explained, it is justified for the court to frame charges and start
hearing." He violated both.
He recorded: "In the videocassettes presented to the court, no leader
is seen making a speech during the demolition of the said structure on
6/12/92. From a perusal of all the statements under Section 161 CrPC
and the available material, it appears prima facie that there were two
groups during the event - one was demolishing the disputed structure
while the other was, along with the security forces, attempting to
prevent the demolition of the disputed structure. The prosecution
witness Shri Ram Kripal Das has said in his statement, among other
things, that the kar sevaks were greatly excited and loudly telling
that (they) would not stop even if some leader tried to stop them.
AJIT KUMAR/AP
Acharya Giriraj Kishore.
"In her statement, Anju Gupta has specifically said that on 6/12/92
she was deployed for Lal Krishna Advani's security. She has also said
that the S.P. Intelligence and the Commandant of the 15th Battalion
were with Murli Manohar Joshi Ms. Anju Gupta is an IPS officer and, as
is evident from her statement, she was deployed for Lal Krishna
Advani's security. Therefore, Anju Gutpa's statement is extremely
important regarding L.K. Advani. She has said the following in her
statement: "I had seen some boys advancing towards the disputed
structure from the Kuber Tola side, with tools in their hands. Then
Shri Lal Krishna Advani asked me what was happening inside the
temple... ."
"From this statement, the prima facie conclusion emerges that at that
time L.K. Advani did not know that demolition of the disputed
structure had started. Besides, Advani's contention in Anju Gupta's
statement that `I want to go and tell them to come down' generates
another view contrary to the prima facie charge against him. In her
statement, Anju Gupta has not indicated any such contention by any
other leader. She has also said Advani had asked her what was
happening at other places and she had said she did not know. The fact
of Advani inquiring about what was happening at other places prima
facie reveals his ignorance." How does his ignorance of what was
happening at "other places" in the city prove his ignorance of what
was happening before his and everyone else's eyes - demolition of the
mosque. His reasoning is palpably wrong. First, there were no "two
groups" of leaders, implying that Advani belonged to one that tried to
pacify the mob while the rest instigated it. Who were Advani's allies
in the pacificatory effort or was he alone in this? There were in fact
two sets of statements before the court. It is not the number but the
quality that matters. Even so, the overwhelming majority explicitly
implicated Advani along with the rest as an instigator. The minority
is not only small but pathetically laboured in its apologia.
Secondly, from a mere query by Advani to Anju Gupta, Vinod Kumar Singh
jumps to the astonishing conclusion that "L.K. Advani did not know
that demolition of the disputed mosque had started." The demolition
was surely there for all to see. The query was "what was happening
inside the temple" (sic.). His concern was not to stop the demolition,
else he would not have urged barricading of the roads to prevent
Central forces from arriving. The reason for his disquiet was
different as she clearly mentioned: "Advani was sad that people were
falling from the domes and dying."
DOUGLAS E CURRAN/AFP
Kar sevaks stop the Babri Masjid five hours before the structure was
demolished on December 6, 1992.
Thirdly, the Magistrate holds that "Anju Gupta has not indicated any
such contention (sic.) by any other leader." On the strength of this
solitary statement, Advani alone is exonerated. Her statement itself
is palpably misconstrued. Lastly, the Magistrate embarked on the
evaluation of the evidence. He singles out her statement, misconstrues
it, and ignores the enormous bulk, which clubbed Advani with the rest.
This is in clear breach of the law as laid down by the Supreme Court.
The Magistrate holds: "On the basis of the material presented to the
court, and having considered the extensive possibilities and the total
impact of the evidence in the light of both sides' arguments, I am of
the opinion that two views appear probable only about the prima facie
charge brought against the accused Lal Krishna Advani. One view is
that, prima facie, the crime was caused by Lal Krishna Advani to be
committed and the other view is that, prima facie, the crime was not
caused to be committed by him. After having considered the available
material and the two sides' arguments, in my opinion, suspicion but no
serious suspicion, seems to exist about the accused Lal Krishna Advani
having caused the crime to be committed under Sections 147/149/153A/
153B/505 IPC. On the contrary, having considered the available
material on record in the light of the two sides' arguments, I am of
the opinion that serious suspicion exists about the crime having been
caused under Section 147/149/153A/153B/505 IPC by the other accused
Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, Ashok Singhal, Vishnu Hari Dalmiya, Acharya
Giriraj Kishore, Sadhvi Uma Bharati, Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi
Ritambara, which the said accused have been unable to explain... . As
per the above discussion, as two views are possible regarding the
accused Lal Krishna Advani's offence and there exists only suspicion
(keval sandeh) that he caused the said crime to be committed,
therefore under the said ruling the accused Lal Krishna Advani
deserves to be acquitted from the charge in the case in question.
"As per the above discussion, serious suspicion (ghor sandeh) exists
that the crime was caused to be committed by the accused Dr. Murli
Manohar Joshi, Ashok Singhal, Vishnu Hari Dalmiya, Acharya Giriraj
Kishore, Sadhvi Uma Bharati, Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Ritambara, which
the said accused have been unable to explain, therefore in the light
of the said ruling, a prima facie case is made against the accused Dr.
Murli Manohar Joshi, and the rest."
The Magistrate, in effect, tried Advani on the merits instead of
framing charges against him since a prima facie case was disclosed
warranting a full trial. Only at the end is the accused entitled to
benefit of the doubt. The reasoning is tortuous in the extreme. The
conclusion is manifestly demonstrably wrong. Magistrate Vinod Kumar
Singh's judgment prevents Advani's trial on grounds that are
manifestly wrong. Criminal proceedings in the Ayodhya case have taken
a bizarre course. In the Sessions Court at Lucknow, the Judge Srikant
Shukla drops the conspiracy charge on May 4, 2001, in breach of the
High Court's ruling on February 12, 2001. In the Rae Bareli court the
CBI drops that charge in its "supplementary" charge-sheet on May 30,
2003. What are we coming to? The civil proceedings are as disquieting;
especially after the order for excavation by the Special Bench of the
High Court last March. As for the CBI's role the less said the
better.
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2102/stories/20040130002204700.htm
Resolved Question
Hindu Hate Crimes?
Why doesn't anyone ever point out the Hindu hate crimes against
Muslims in India and Pakistan while they are talking about Religious
Extremism?
3 years ago
Additional Details
Thomas, please see answer below, thanks
3 years ago
by Thomas B Member since:
June 12, 2007
Total points:
5188 (Level 5)
Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
Dear Please list some.
Most Hindu attacks in India are retaliation to what the stupid Muslims
start.
Please show us a proof of Muslim oppression with facts to support your
claim.
Whatever Kalebow has stated comes from an extremist platform christian
news network. I am a Christian and still don't buy this BS spread by
the Evangelical Christian Media. Just the same I don't buy that
Muslims in Pakistan want peace.
All what Kalebow has said has supposedly happened in Burma and Sri
Lanka, he does not answer your question about India, please provide
proof of Hindu crimes against Muslims in Pakistan? are you joking.
When India and Pakistan were separated in 1947 Hindu population in
Pakistan was more than 14% today entire Pakistan is has less than 2%
minorities Pakistan is 98% Muslim State.
Where as India at Sepration had a 7% Muslim population which today is
more than 12% and 12% Muslims in India equal to the entire population
of Pakistan.
Please check your facts about ethnic cleansing then talk.
3 years ago
60% 3 Votes
Other Answers (4)
by MikeInRI Member since:
July 06, 2006
Total points:
87738 (Level 7)
Because for most people in the west they never hear about them and
lets face it Hindus are not mass killing Christians and Jews like
Muslims have been trying to do - it just does get the interest of most
in the west. Most actions taken by Hindus - although are bad - are
usually retalitory in nature which makes thems to a certain extent
seem justified to some.
Good Luck!!!
3 years ago
0% 0 Votes
3 Rating: Good Answer 1 Rating: Bad Answer Report Abuse by Cathy
Member since:
May 09, 2007
Total points:
10890 (Level 6)
Because there comes a point in discussing Religious Extremism where
you just have to start leaving religions and incidents out--EVERY
religion has zealots that commit such crimes.
3 years ago
2 Rating: Good Answer 1 Rating: Bad Answer Report Abuse by wwhy
Member since:
May 03, 2007
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The Buddhist state of Burma openly plans to Abolish Christianity and
nobody calls them terrorists ?
The Burma Government May Move to Abolish Christianity With Buddhist
Support ?
Government officials have shut down churches in this capital city and
have disallowed the construction of new church buildings. The number
of bibles allowed for import is limited and in-country printing of
bibles and Christian literature is restricted.
"Some Buddhist monks came and started shouting, 'don't worship God
here – he has nothing to do with us,'” David said. “They said we were
trying to establish Christianity in the village and they did not want
it. The monks and others threw stones at us. They hit us like a hard
rain. Some of us were hit in the cheek, the neck and the forehead."
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/cwn/012607Bur…
Report: Burma Plans to Wipe Out Christianity
A leaked secret document claims to reveal plans by the Burmese
military regime to wipe out Christianity in the southeast Asian
country.
Inside the memo were detailed instructions on how to force Christians
out of the country, according to Telegraph.
Instructions included imprisoning any person caught evangelizing,
capitalizing on the fact that Christianity is a non-violent religion.
“The Christian religion is very gentle,” read the letter, according to
Telegraph, “Identify and utilize its weakness.”
Burma, also known as Myanmar, has a Christian population of about four
percent, according to the CIA World Factbook. Persecution against
Christians have come in the form of church burnings, forced conversion
to the state religion of Buddhism, and banning children of Christians
from school.
http://www.christianpost.com/article/200…
Christian children forced to become Buddhist monks.
CHILDREN from Christian families in Burma, between the ages of five
and ten, have been lured from their homes and placed in Buddhist
monasteries. Once taken in, their heads have been shaved and they have
been trained as novice monks, never to see their parents again.
http://www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-…
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_s…
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/ch…
Buddhist Extremists Attack Christian-Run Children’s Home in Sri Lanka
A 200-man mob, accompanied by extremist Buddhist monks, has attacked a
children’s home, which was being run by the Dutch Reformed Church in
central Sri Lanka at the beginning of August.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a human rights organisation
which specialises in religious freedom, has reported that the mob
fiercely attacked the home, following which, they climbed to the roof
and planted a Buddhist flag on the roof.
Tina Lambert, Advocacy Director of Christian Solidarity Worldwide
(CSW), said: "We are extremely concerned about the continuing violence
against Christians in Sri Lanka. This latest incident, in which child
care workers have been threatened, is unacceptable and we urge the Sri
Lankan authorities to bring the perpetrators of such violence to
justice."
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/bu…
Hindu and Buddhists united to opose Christian evangelism
Hindu and Buddhist priests from across Asia are uniting to oppose
Christian proselytism. The 1,000 delegates to a three-day conference
in Lumbini, Nepal, discussed Pope John Paul II's recent call to
evangelize Asia. Evangelism constitutes "a war against Hindus and
Buddhists" and is a "spiritual crime," they said.
Hindus attacking Christian churches and
Reports of Christian persecution in Nepal continue
http://www.wtcf.org/www.viamission.org/n…
Buddhist Cambodia Limits Christian Activities :
Cambodia's government issued a directive preventing Christians from
promoting their religion in public places, or using money or other
means to persuade people to convert, officials said Tuesday.
Cambodian Buddhists generally tolerate other religions, but last year
about 300 Buddhist villagers DESTROYED a partially built Christian
church near Phnom Penh.
Also last year, a group of Christian worshippers was caught
distributing sweets to young people in the countryside while trying to
convert them, Sun Kim Hun said. Such activities are illegal.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wire…
INDIA (Newsroom) – Six Christian missionaries participating in a
gospel campaign called "Love Ahmedabad" were beaten so savagely in the
state of Gujarat last week that one of the men may lose his arms and
legs.
Members of the Hyderabad-based Operation Mobilization (OM) were
distributing Bibles and religious tracts in Ahmedabad, about five
miles from Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat, the afternoon of May 5
when they were attacked by members of the Hindu extremist groups
Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). Operation Mobilization
ships tons of Christian literature around the country. The assailants
also burned copies of the Bible and tracts.
http://www.worthynews.com/news-features/…
Christian missionaries beaten in public for 'converting' Hindus
Television channels showed Hindu activists kicking and punching the
two young priests while dragging them through Maharashtra's Kolhapur
town.
News footage showed an activist knee one priest in the groin, making
him double up in pain. Another kicked the missionary in the head. The
crowd accused the priests of forcibly converting poor Hindus, and
handed them over to police.
http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/…
The violence of Buddhist extremists it’s being compared to the killing
fields of Cambodia. In Sri Lanka religion has become mixed with
politics and nationalism - creating a toxic brew of hatred and fear.
They are…… forcibly trying to convert people to Buddhism and forcing
people to kneel down to declare Buddha is our god! Read about it
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=7…
3 years ago
2 Rating: Good Answer 2 Rating: Bad Answer Report Abuse by
anser_qu... Member since:
January 22, 2007
Total points:
1489 (Level 3)
great answer Thomas...
Unfortunately these bigots that make these false calims only see
though their lens and are not mature enough to realise the facts..
3 years ago
Any my Hindu brother will accept nithyananda swamiji is their guru,
after his crime...? if s why..?.?
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=As4N.azjWH.QVon7PCP20wjd7BR.;_ylv=3?qid=20100308072451AAYK8du
Any one accept nithyananda swamiji is their guru, after his crime...?
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AotF_sqWOe_Lk7tfFDNher7d7BR.;_ylv=3?qid=20100308072237AAd8GeG
Christians, can you give several examples of scriptures (to add to
this) that show us how precious...?
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AnF9GzIAaTjwzchT.UEaegHd7BR.;_ylv=3?qid=20100308072220AAxqgd2
Why do religious people think that suicide is a sin?
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ApdmH190JzBD8onJU9H2_W3d7BR.;_ylv=3?qid=20100308072151AAI7dpX
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070724133507AAtHOJI
THE OTHER HALF
From the land of hate
KALPANA SHARMA
`We have found a lot of happiness here,' said one girl. Happiness?
After spending just three days in an overcrowded, hot, dirty city?....
The story of 19 young Muslim women from Gujarat.
ON the surface they looked like any group of college girls. A little
conservative, perhaps, compared to their counterparts in Mumbai. But
these were not just college girls. You could tell if you looked more
closely, if you looked into their eyes, if you noticed the anxiety.
Nineteen young Muslim women from Gujarat with 19 stories to tell. All
of them unexceptionally disturbing and tragic. They were invited to
visit Mumbai by Aawaz-e-Niswan, a remarkable organisation that works
with Muslim women in Mumbai and is now extending its work to women in
other cities. The very ordinary, mostly lower middle class Muslim
women from this organisation, many of whom have been personally seared
by communal riots such as those that tore Mumbai apart in 1992-93,
decided to reach out to their sisters in Gujarat after the communal
carnage of 2002. They visited some of the worst affected areas; they
heard the stories from women who did not know how they would pick up
the threads of their lives again. And they decided that they would do
something for the younger women, many of whom expressed a
determination to continue with their education, to seek professional
qualifications and to work and be independent.
For some of the girls from Dahod, Fatehpura, Jalod and Vadodara, even
travelling in a train was a novel experience. The five from Fatehpura,
a small town bordering Rajasthan, had never seen a film in a cinema
theatre. The women from Jalod said there was a theatre in their town,
but women never went there. So one of the highpoints of their visit to
Mumbai was seeing a film in a theatre. They could not get over the
fact that as women they could do this.
Also for the first time, these women travelled around the city by
night. Mumbai by night, or any city by night, was something they could
not have imagined doing in their wildest dreams. Yet they went around
and no one looked at them strangely. They were just some among
thousands of men and women who inhabit Mumbai's public spaces till all
hours of the night.
"We have found a lot of happiness here," said one girl. Happiness?
After spending just three days in an overcrowded, hot, dirty city?
"The love we see on the faces here we don't see there," said another.
"We never get izzat (respect) anywhere in Gujarat," said another. It
was interesting to see how the very anonymity of a big city can mean
so much to people who live surrounded by hate.
That hate lurks around every turn, they said. Everyday they see on the
streets the perpetrators of the crimes that led to the death and
destruction of their community. "Even now if we pass by, they shout at
us, use bad language," said a primary school teacher from Godhra. "We
can see our things, our furniture, even our clothes, being used by
other people," said a student from Fatehpura. She broke down as she
spoke of how her house was burnt and looted, forcing her family to run
across the border to Rajasthan.
If there is one good thing that has come out of this evil, say many of
the girls, it is the increasing emphasis on women's education. "We
girls thought that if we had been educated, we could have taken a good
job and supported our families," said one. Families with no earning
member left did not get anything more than a meagre compensation.
This, she said, forced many parents to realise the value of education
and professional training.
So what did they want to do once they graduated? Most said they wanted
to become teachers. But at least two said they wanted to join the
police.
But the down side is that many girls never had a chance to make that
choice. With parents worried about the future of their daughters in
the immediate aftermath of the violence, many girls were married off
to men they had never met at the relief camps. It is unlikely that
these young women will have the freedom to travel to Mumbai at the
invitation of a women's group, to go to the theatre, to wander around
the city at night, to travel in trains and buses.
Life for the Muslim women of Gujarat, as was evident from the way
these 19 spoke, consists of "earlier" and "now". "Earlier", they had
Hindu friends, went to each other's homes, even celebrated each
other's festivals. "Now" this is not possible, they are even afraid to
go through Hindu areas and the question of enjoying each other's
festivals does not arise. "Even today we are told, Pakistan is yours,
go to Pakistan. The Hindus have come back to the city, the Muslims
have moved out. India has already been divided but now even our city
of Vadodara is divided into India and mini-Pakistan," said Nilofer.
Just a day before we met these women, the Supreme Court had ordered
the reopening of over 2,000 cases filed during the communal trouble of
2002 that the local police had closed. A 10-member committee has been
set up.
The process is forcing all of us to revisit the horror of those days.
The arrest of Police Sub-Inspector R.J. Patil, for instance, who
admitted that he had burnt 13 bodies of the victims of what is known
as the Ambika Society massacre, without sending specimens for forensic
analysis, is only the beginning of more gruesome details that will
emerge.
Yet, even this tentative beginning represents hope for many Muslims in
Gujarat. Said Nilofer from Vadodara, "Even if these cases are
reopened, and regardless of whether there is justice or not, at least
in front of society these people will be named." She felt that the
arrest of men like Patil was an important gesture for her traumatised
community.
E-mail the writer ksh...@thehindu.co.in
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2004/09/05/stories/2004090500290300.htm
No time for coffee in Copenhagen
TABISH KHAIR is not writing about the numerous lives lost in a
senseless and criminal act of violence on September 11. Instead, he
writes about the voices he has heard thereafter; a sound that has a
certain tone to it and which has set him wondering about abstract
hatred and prejudice.
THERE are moments that cleave Time into two. Everything that happens
afterwards happens in a different world. World War II was one such
moment for Europe. The suicide-hijack-crashing of four passenger
planes and the destruction of the World Trade Center is such a moment
for the world.
I will not write about the 5,000 lives lost in a senseless and
criminal act of violence. Such human loss escapes the limits of
language and representation. One can only stand silent in front of the
monuments of sorrow that tens of thousands - relatives, friends,
colleagues - will carry in their hearts for the rest of their lives.
It is a sorrow the rest of us can only share in silence.
I cannot write about silence. And I should not for, in Copenhagen, I
have been deluged with sound: the opinions of ordinary people, the
film-like coverage of the tragedy by Cable News Network (CNN), the
voices of commentators and politicians. Much of this sound had a
certain tone to it and that tone set me wondering. Is there much of a
difference between the terrorists who struck back at a group of
politicians by targeting tens of thousands of innocent people and
those voices that seem to be using the cruel act of a handful of
presumed Islamic terrorists to tarnish and blame entire populations of
Muslims and Arabs? Do not both the acts demonstrate the same type of
abstract hatred and prejudice?
But the questions never end. On the margins of time, in the split
space between worlds, one is always deluged with questions.
For example, the first Danish person who brought me news of the
tragedy said that he was against violence of any kind and added that
he would understand it if Americans decided to hit back. Why is it
that we always justify our own violence, while the violence of the
enemy is sheer sacrilege? Isn't that why there were shocking pictures
of some Palestinians celebrating: people who have become so used to
the idea of missiles being launched at their own buildings by Israeli
forces and the notion of reciprocal violence that they could not feel
the inhumanity of their celebration?
But, then, is this what we can write about: this spiral of violence
and inhumanity? Is this immense tragedy going to remain at such a
general level of discourse?
The answer seems to be "yes" if various media discussions in the West
are to be believed. But it has to be "no" if we are to salvage some
sense from the wanton destruction.
It is easy for us to sit here in our cosy sitting rooms in Copenhagen,
holding a cup of coffee, munching a biscuit, watching the tragedy
unfold almost as fluently as a film on the idiot box, and speak in
general terms. What we are doing is celebrating our own humanity, and
all human beings - even terrorists - are convinced of their own
superior humanity. Many of the most inhuman acts known to humanity
have been the consequence of such a conviction. We need to go beyond
it. We owe it to the victims of the tragedy to go beyond it.
The second person who called me with news of the tragedy was my
father: a devout Muslim doctor who has lived most of his life in a
small town in Bihar. He was shocked by the news. How could anyone do
this, he said again and again. The word he used was "anyone". I went
back to the TV and, in spite of the fact that no one knew anything
about the identities of the terrorists, I did not hear too many people
say "anyone". I heard "Muslim", "Islamic", "Middle Eastern", "Arab".
These were people who had already decided to exclude entire
populations from the circumference of their definitions of humanity.
My father's "anyone" had been reduced by many of these contributors to
"Arab" or "Muslim", even to the very type of an Arab or Muslim. I
could feel the irreligious "Muslim" in me cringe every time I heard
such discussions. I could feel my father being put in the dock.
It is so comfortable, this celebration of our own humanity. It can be
so inhuman, this celebration of our own humanity.
But what about violence?
Thomas Burnet, the late 17th century English divine, wrote that the
Roman Catholic Church persecuted prophets of Apocalyptic violence
(even though Apocalypse and the millennium were prophesied in the
Bible and, as such, should have been welcome to the church), because
it was in those days a church of privilege. Apocalyptic violence,
Burnet argued, was always the last resort of the persecuted and would
be disliked by those who "have lived always in pomp and prosperity".
Violence, in other words, is seldom a free choice. It is predicated
upon most individuals by circumstances. These individuals are usually
those who labour under an overpowering feeling of injustice and
deprivation. However senseless it might be, behind all violence lies
the rubble of shattered hopes, of real and imagined injustices, of
human desperation and, consequently, inhuman hatred. Let us not take
refuge in the easy excuse that we are against violence. For all of us,
given certain circumstances, are capable of violence or sympathy with
violence. While a thousand candles have been lit in Copenhagen for
those who died in the United States, let us also light a candle or two
for those who die - and thousands do every day, with or without
"Western" complicity - in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Rwanda .... Let
us not traffic in the worth of human lives.
No, large descriptions like "violence" do not help if we stay confined
to that general level. Neither does the kind of cry for vengeance that
one heard in the voice of many Americans and Europeans. It is true
that we have to take a stand against violence. Not just violence of
one kind, we have to take a stand against all kinds of violence - the
violence of terrorists as well as the violence of State agencies,
physical violence that leads to the death of bystanders as well as
economic violence that leads to the starvation of millions in a world
that has enough to go around. More than enough.
It is time we in the West think a bit before we bite into the cake of
our affluence and drink the coffee of our civilised condemnation.
If general sentiments will not do, what, then, about the specific
lessons that we can draw from this tragedy?
One of the things that this outrage has demonstrated is the
ineffectiveness of any kind of military shield. The only shield that
can be effective is the shield of a more just world. And for the world
to be made just and equal, it not only needs some of the resources of
the affluent, it also has to be made democratic.
Unfortunately, the U.S. has made itself into the target of extremist
groups largely because it has tried to go solo or exert undue
influence in certain international quarters. The internal democracy of
the U.S. seldom gets translated into international democracy. Had
certain decisions been taken through the channels of the United
Nations (not a military alliance of the privileged, like the North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)), the U.S. would have been only
one nation among many. The burden, the "blame" and the risks would
have been shared. There are advantages to democracy at the
international level, but it has to be true democracy. And the final
lesson is that of the dangers of abstract hatred and prejudice. The
act of one leader or a group cannot be blamed in a generalised way on
an entire people or country, as the terrorists seem to have done. But
this is a lesson that we should also remember every time someone uses
the dastardly act of a handful of presumed Islamic terrorists to
implicitly or explicitly blame entire populations of Muslims and
Arabs.
The crashes that reduced the World Trade Center to rubble and the two
terror-inducing plane crashes elsewhere have cleft our age into two.
On the other side of this smoking chasm of blood and bitterness, lies
another world. It can be a world in which all the mistakes of the past
- global inequality, socio-economic exploitation, lack of
international democracy, lack of national democracy and literacy in
some nations, prejudice, hatred - all these mistakes are consolidated
into a world of greater violence and suffering. Or we may, finally,
learn to work towards a world, a very different world, where we will
tackle not the consequences of senseless tragedies but the reasons for
them. A world in which we will condemn not only a certain kind of
violence, but all violence; a world in which we will love not only our
humanity, but all humanity.
In order to make this choice we have to look deep into our own hearts
before we tidy away the tea things and swap the channel in places like
Copenhagen.
People who commit hate crimes against Americans with Middle Eastern
backgrounds in the wake of the terrorist attacks will be prosecuted
"to the fullest extent of the law", according to a top Justice
Department official.
According to new federal hate crime statistics released recently:
* Hate crimes accounted for nearly 3,000 of the roughly 5.4 million
victim-related crimes examined in a study which looked at cases
reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by local police
in more than a dozen states from 1997 to 1999.
* Among the racially motivated incidents, 60 per cent targeted Blacks,
30 per cent targeted Whites and the rest targeted Asians and American
Indians. Forty-one per cent of the incidents involving religious bias
targeted Jewish people.
* Violent crime was the most serious offence in 60 per cent of the
hate crimes, typically involving intimidation or simple assault.
* More than half of the violent hate crime victims were 24 years old
or younger. Among the offenders, 31 per cent of violent offenders and
46 per cent of property offenders were under age 18.
Source: Internet
(The writer is Assistant Professor, Department of English, Copenhagen
University, Denmark.)
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/10/07/stories/13070612.htm
Sid Harth
Based on “Tabai Roas Jagio” by Dr. Sukhpreet Singh Udokay
Last week’s announcement by the VHP of putting portraits of Guru
Gobind Singh and Sree Guru Granth Sahib in Hindu Mandirs has shocked
Sikhs worldwide. The fact is that attacks on the Sikh faith and
history have been ongoing for years in order to show Sikhs to be a
part of Hinduism.
How Did This Begin?
Brahminism has always feared the Sikh faith. The Sikh Gurus proclaimed
the equality of all humanity and rejected practices like caste, holy
threads and worship of the cow. The exploitation of simple people by
the Brahmin was eliminated. Although Hindu fundamentalists have taken
a keen interest in destroying Sikhism for centuries, this latest cycle
of Hindu attacks on Sikhism can be traced to 1993. The Sikh Liberation
Movement had been brutally crushed in Punjab and was on its final
breaths. Sikh villagers were afraid of being identified as being
practicing Sikhs and roves of young Sikh men were cutting their hair
so that they would not be harassed or killed by the police.
It was at this point that a new “Sikh” organization, the Rashtri Sikh
Sangat began to enter Sikh villages. This organization began to
distribute literature about the Sikh faith and hold meetings. Many
villagers thought that it was an attempt to revive Sikh pride, but in
fact, the literature was written to show Sikhs to be a part of
Hinduism.
Akali Dal/BJP/RSS Alliance
Badal & RSS Leaders
The “Akali” party of Punjab, while claiming to represent Sikhs, is
lead by the same old men who allowed the 1978 Amritsar massacre and
the martyrdom of Bhai Fauja Singh and 12 other fellow Singhs. They are
the same ones who let Gurbachana Narakdhari go unpunished.
The Akali party, in an alliance with the Hindu BJP began to rule
Punjab. The RSS activity in Punjab also increased. Sangh programs were
held in places like Guru Nanak Dev Stadium (Ludhiana) with the
presence of Parkash Badal and other Akali/BJP leaders. On November 16,
1997, Badal while introducing the new RSS chief sad, “I can say with
confidence that the Sangh, under the leadership of Raju Bhaiya is
working towards removing all its shortcomings. Whenever this country
has faced either internal or external danger, the Sangh and it’s
workers have been on the front lines.
Today, I am feeling very lucky to be a part of this gathering.”
Raju Bhaiya in his speech that day, in the presence of Badal,
declared, “All Hindus are Sikhs and Sikhs Hindus. We are all one. Some
grow hair and some don’t. I say that All Hindus are Sikhs and all Sikh
are Hindus. Our principles are the same. With the help of unity, we
become very powerful…People are right when they say that Hindus have
the power to make Hindustan a leader in the world!”
An RSS Poster for Punjab
Under the watchful guidance of this unholy alliance, the RSS increased
its parchar amongst the Sikhs. It was a perfect time to move in for
the kill. The Sikhs had been beaten very badly by the Indian
government and their confidence had been shaken. The RSS would give
the Sikhs sweet poison. They shouted loudly that the RSS and all
Hindus LOVED Sikhs. They would preach that Sikhs were after all no
different than Hindus. The Sikh Gurus were true Hindus and Brahma,
Shiva and Vishnu blessed the Sikh faith. The Sikhs, they claimed,
should feel proud as the sword-arm of Hinduism.
In this way, the RSS has tried to make the Sikh masses try to take
pride in establishing a link between Sikhism and Hinduism. Once this
link becomes solid, the RSS has already devised a plan to decay the
foundations of the Sikh faith and history.
India's "Heros": Guru Nanak an equal of Indira Gandhi?
Who is the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat?
The Rashtriya Sikh Sangat (RSS) was officially formed on November 23,
1986 in Amritsar. The founder was one “Shamsher Sinh”
The express goals of the RSS are
1) To strengthen the bonds between Sikhs and Hindus to promote
National unity, awareness and patriotism.
2) To make Guru Nanak’s “Hindustan Smaalsee Bola” a reality and
maintain national patriotism and unity.
3) To promote Sri Guru Bani fro Sri Guru Granth Sahib
4) To perform seva with “Sarbat Da Bhala” in mind.
The Rashtriya Sikh Sangat has 500 branches across India and publishes
the magazine “Sangat Sandesh”.
Other goals of this organization are the creation of a Mandar at
Ayodhya’s “Ram Janam Bhoomi” and also a Gurdwara to commemorate visits
by Guru Nanak, Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh.
Every month, the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat has a function in which
occasionally Sri Guru Granth Sahib is parkash and sometimes not.
Usually the function takes place with paintings of Guru Nanak, Guru
Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh at the front. These paintings are
accompanied by paintings of Ram and Krishna. The paintings are
garlanded with flowers.
The meeting begins with 5 readings of the Mool Mantar and then 20
minutes of keertan. After this, Sukhmani Sahib or Ram Avtar or Krishan
Avtar are read. This is followed by a singing of “Vanday Matram”.
The meeting concludes with a 20 minute lecture on the history the
original RSS founder Golvarkar and discussion of the role of Sanskrit
in Sri Guru Granth Sahib or some other similar topic.
Some Quotes…
* “Instead of sacrificing humans, Guru ji sacrificed goats and started
the tradition of Punj Pyaaray. All five Pyaaras were followers of the
Hindu faith” {Dr. Himmat Sinh in Rashtra Dharam)
* “The Sikh Gurus showed faith in the Hindu faith and visited Hindu
pilgrimage sites to show this” (Rashtra Dharam, p. 31)
* “When Guru Arjan was doing the Kar Seva of Harimandeir, Vishnu
reflected and said, “Lakshmi, the Guru is my own form. There is no
difference between us. He is making my temple. Let us go and see the
building of our new temple…” (Rashtra Dharam, 90)
* “The difference between Hindus and Sikhs was the creation of the
English mind.” (Rashtra Dharam, 98)
* “If today someone were to make a portrait of Guru Nanak without a
beard and turban, his life would be in danger but in fact, the
practice of keeping long hair and beards began only in the 20th
Century. (Madhu Kishvara, Hindustan Times Aug 21, 1999)
* “Guru Arjan Dev and Guru Tegh Bahadur used to pay obeisance to the
feet of the Devi” (Surindar Kumar, Jag Bani)
* “Guru Gobind Singh with the blessings of the Avtars (Brahma, Vishnu,
Shiva) created the Khalsa Panth.” (Sangat Sandesh, Sept 1998)
* “Maharana Partap, the Rani of Jhansi and Guru Gobind Singh were all
great patriots” (Rashtra Dharam)
* “The Sangh [RSS] is the Khalsa” (Ravani, Dec 1997)
“Guru Mati Das Sharma”???
Bhai Mati Das jee is a famous Shahid of the Sikhs who happily faced
death by being sawn alive but did not forsake his faith. Bhatt Vehis
record the history of this Shahid and it is known that Bhai Mati Das’s
grandfather, Bhai Paraga jee was a Sikh of Guru Hargobind and also
became a Shaheed in the battle of Ruhila.
Bhai Mati Das jee was of course then born into a Sikh family. The
family had been Sikh since the time of Guru Ram Das. Bhai Sati Das was
Bhai Sahib’s brother. Bhai Mati Das accompanied Guru Tegh Bahadur in
his travels to Assam, Bengal and Bihar. When Guru Sahib was arrested
and brought to Delhi, Bhai Mati Das was also brought with him. When
offered the choice to forsake the Sikh faith and become a Muslim or to
face death, Bhai Mati Das happily accepted the latter and only asked
that he die while facing the Guru. Even when Bhai Sahib’s body had
been cut in two, Japji Sahib could be heard from both halves.
Bhai Sati Das was also offered the choice to forsake Sikhi or death,
and accepted death. He was wrapped in cotton and burnt alive.
Hindu fundamentalist organizations, in an effort to demean Guru Tegh
Bahadur’s Shaheedee, have appropriated Bhai Mati Das and Bhai Sati Das
as Hindu heros. Yearly events are held to commemorate their martyrdoms
but they are presented as Hindus who died for their faith.
Bhai Hakeekat Singh jee was a young Sikh who is recorded in Bhatt
Vehis as “Hakeekat Singh” but later was appropriated by Hindus as
their own. Just like Bhai Hakeekat Singh is now referred to as
Hakeekat Rai even by Sikhs, these groups hope Sikhs will also give up
these two Sikh Shaheeds.
Sikhs and Raam
Another fallacy being promoted by the RSS is that the Sikh Gurus were
from the family of Raam. That throughout history, Vishnu has supported
the Sikhs. No Hindu text gives the family tree of Raam, and so there
is no foundation for this claim. Giani Puran Singh gave this lie
credence by repeating it publicly when he was Jathedar of the Akal
Takhat. The only support this lie has is in a work by Kesar Singh
Chhiber that has been corrupted. It claims the link between Raam and
the Gurus but it also claims that Guru Gobind Singh worshipped Durga
and took permission to keep his kesh from her. It also claims that the
Sikh Gurus accepted Sanatan Hindu rites.
Baba Banda Singh Bahadur or Veer Banda Bairagi?
"Veer Bandai Bairagi"
One of the RSS’s early targets has been Baba Banda Singh Bahadur. Baba
Banda Singh is a Sikh hero who first created a Sikh Rule in Punjab and
struck a Sikh coin. Baba Banda Singh is also a great Sikh martyr who
sacrificed his life but did not compromise his faith.
The RSS has attempted to turn this great Sikh hero, into a Hindu
Patriot. In the book “Veer Banda Bairagi” by Bhai Parmanand, Guru
Gobind Singh was a defeated man who went to Nander in sadness. There
he met the Hindu, Banda Bairagi who agreed to help Guru Sahib take
revenge for the death of his sons. Banda Baigragi had with him Rajput
warriors and a he gathered a Hindu army to punish the evil Wazir
Khan.
Guru Gobind Singh giving "Veer Bairagi" arms
The new Hindu history claims that Banda Bairagi never became a Sikh
and was an example of a pious Hindu helping his Sikh friend.
This story is of course utterly false. There was never any character
named “Banda Bairagi”. Baba Banda Singh was known as Madho Das. He
became a Sikh of Guru Gobind Singh by receiving Khanday Kee Pahul.
This fact is confirmed by the oldest sources including Tavarikh-Iradat
Khan (1714) and Panj Sau Sakhi (1734). The Bhatt Vehis mention how
Guru Gobind Singh himself gave Baba Banda Singh the five kakaars and
tied a keski on his head.
Baba Banda Singh’s own hukumnamas all make clear that he was a Sikh of
the Guru and call upon “srbqR Akwl purK jIE dw Kwlsw”[.
The question arises, if “Banda Bairagi” had an army of Hindu warriors,
why wouldn’t he have taken revenge for the Mughal excesses at Kanshi
and Mathura? Why are none of the famous Hindus in his army recorded in
history? Why were the Faujdars of conquered areas always Sikhs? Why do
even his own family accounts (Bansavalinama) refer to him and his sons
with the name “Singh”?
It is a blatant lie by the RSS to appropriate a Sikh hero and make him
into a Hindu.
A 25-Point of Attack
The RSS has 25 points with which it hopes to attack the Sikh faith and
lead to its eventual assimilation. All 25 points are very easily
refuted but lack of education and knowledge coupled with the RSS’s
organized attack make this a serious danger.
These points are already being incorporated into school text books and
taught as real history. This skewed history is already taught in many
areas.
1) Sikhs are an inseparable part of Hindu society.
2) If Hinduism is a tree, Sikhism is a fruit on that tree.
3) Gurbani is like the Ganga, it emerges from the Gangotri of the
Vedas
4) The Khalsa was crated to protect Hinduism and Hindustan
5) Japji Sahib is a summary of the Gita
6) The Failure of the 1857 “War of Independence” [in reality an
unorganized uprising by Poorbiya soldiers who 8 years earlier helped
the British conquer Punjab] was defeated only by the Sikhs
7) Banda Singh Bahadur was really Veer Banda Bairagi
8) The Sikh Gurus worshipped the cow
9) Condemning Bhai Kanh Singh Nabha and Bhai Veer Singh
10) Use examples from Trumpp and other anti-Sikh western scholars
11) The Sikh Gurus used Vedic ceremonies
12) Guru Gobind Singh worshipped the Goddess Durga
13) Guru Sahib was from the family or Ram and his devotee
14) Sikhs are from Lav-Kush
15) Baba Ram Singh was the legitimate Guru of the Sikhs
16) Create posters which challenge Sikh principles but appear to be
pro-Sikh
17) Insist on using the Bikrami calendar and share Hindu festivals
18) Call Bhai Hakeekat Singh, Hakeekat Rai and illustrate him as a
clean-
shaven Hindu
19) Claim [with no historical basis] that Guru Gobind Singh sent his
army to liberate Ram Janam Bhumi in Ayodhya from the Mughals
20) To create the Khalsa, Guru Gobind Singh seeked blessing from the
gods and goddesses and used Hindu mantras. The Kakaars were also
blessings from the gods.
21) Equate ÅÆ with “OM”
22) Call Bhai Mati Das “Guru Mati Das Sharma”
23) To do parkash of Sree Guru Granth Sahib in Mandirs and put
pictures of
Hindu Gods in Sikh Gurdwaras
24) Project Guru Gobind Singh as having taken a different ideology
from Guru Nanak and to make him into a Patriotic Hero of India
Guru Gobind Singh with Rana Partap and other Hindu "Heros"
25) Make all of Sikh history take a Hindu tint.
Small Steps to Oblivion
The RSS recognizes that Hinduism is many hundreds of years old and it
can slowly assimilate the Sikhs with time. By establishing links
between Vishnu/Raam and the Gurus, they hope that Sikhs will see these
Hindu gods as their own. With time, perhaps pictures of Raam and
Vishnu will find their way into Gurdwaras. The RSS has commissioned
paintings and posters that mix Hinduism and Sikhism and present Sikh
figures receiving blessings from Hindu gods.
Idol worship, which is taboo in Sikhism is also being slowly
introduced. Idols of Guru Gobind Singh and Guru Nanak can now be
purchased from many stores. Some Nanaksar Thaats have also installed
these idols. If idols of Sikh Gurus are acceptable, then perhaps with
time Hindu idols can be accepted. Gurdwara Manikaran is a good example
of what the RSS would like to see more common.
By putting Guru Granth Sahib in Hindu mandirs, simple Sikh villagers
will begin to go to pay obeisance regularly. With Sikhs attending
Hindu Mandirs, they will also offer worship to the Hindu gods and
goddesses there. Sikh marriages may also begin to take place in
Mandirs. Eventually, Hinduism in Punjab will be a mish/mash of Sikhism
and Hinduism and the Sikhs will lose their distinct identity. Given a
few generations, Guru Nanak will be an Avtar of Vishnu just like the
Buddha has become and the Sikhs will be eliminated.
Today, Hindu Mandirs and idols again surround Sree Darbaar Sahib in
Amritsar. In total, nine mandirs surround the Darbar Sahib complex,
with some even in the galleria. When will these small mandirs be
turned into massive buildings? When they are, what will the Sikhs have
to say?
The Sikhs today are facing dark days. The Sikh Liberation Movement has
been destroyed along with Sikh self-confidence. Hindu Fundamentalist
organizations are making deep inroads into the community and still
there is no reaction. We will be remembered as the first generation of
Sikhs to have accepted defeat and subjugation from an adversary.
Will we wake up when it is too late?
http://www.sikhlionz.com/hinduizationofsikhi.htm
INTRODUCTION TO THE POLITICAL FACTIONS IN INDIA
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)- National Volunteers Association
The RSS was founded in 1925 by Keshav Baliram Hegdewar is the
ideological fountainhead of the modern Hindutva movement. Organized
around the concept of Shakas, a local cell formation where young men
would gather for physical and ideological training, under the tutelage
of a brother or dada, the RSS ideology as espousing the national cause
was articulated over the next decade or more. Madhav Sadashiv
Golwalkar, who was anointed head of the RSS shortly before his death
by Hegdewar, clarified the idea of the nation in his treatise "We, or
Our Nationhood Defined":
We belive that our notions today about the Nation are erroneous... It
is but proper therefore, at this stage, to understand what the Western
Scholars state as the Universal Nation idea and correct ourselves (p.
21).
Based on a racial idea of Nation Golwalkar in praise of Hitler says:
To keep up the purity of the Race and its culture, Germany shocked the
world by her purging the country of the semitic Races - the Jews...
Germany has also shown how well nigh impossible it is for Races and
cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into
one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and
profit by (p. 35).
The above two quotes are only samples of what is a very clearly
articulated twin pronged ideology of exclusion (of other races/
religions) and supremacy (of Hindus). The RSS, cell like Shaka
formation and the discipline inculcated within are central to its
success as a fascist force. The RSS cultural and ideological work has
not stayed within the boundaries of India. In the 1980's the RSS
itself broached out. The Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), an
organization modeled along RSS lines emerged in the US in the 1980's,
openly claiming allegiance to the founding principles of the RSS.
The RSS was founded in 1925 by the Maratha Brahmin Keshav Baliram
Hegdewar [ Biju ] on the Aryan Vaishnava Holy day of Vijaya Dashami
(the 10th day of the moon) when the Aryan invader Rama destroyed the
Dravidian Empire of Lanka [ Sangh ]. This was done to symbolise its
inherent anti-Sudra nature. Its organisation is highly skewed, with
the Sar Sangh Chalak (supreme dictator) at the top [ Roots ]. This
person can only be a Brahmin. It is the successor of Vivekananda and
Arya Samaj in the Neo-Brahmanist fundamentalist movement. The militia
is organised around local cells or `shakas' where weapons are
distributed to its hardcore members, who are drilled in a vigorous
program of harsh discipline. Vishnu temples serve as repositories of
weapons as well as centers of dissemination of its racist ideology of
Aryan supremacy. Its only leaders have been blue-eyed Sarasvat
Brahmins, a condition enshrined in its constitution. The Brahmin
Golwalkar, the second leader of the RSS, was trained as one of the
hardcore followers of Vivekananda.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)- Indian People's Party
This is Hindutva's parliamentary front which constantly makes efforts
to breach the secular formation through parliamentary actions -
elections, pushing for legislations of various kinds, making visible
the ideology in limited and constitutional ways within mainstream
political discourse. The BJP came into existence after the collapse of
the Janata Party which came to power after Mrs. Gandhi's Emergency in
1979. The erstwhile Hindu parliamentary party - the Jan Sangh - had
merged itself into the Janata Party in the wake of Emergency. However
to call it a parliamentary party is to ignore its actual working. The
party top leadership with few exceptions are all RSS cadre. The party
participates in joint meetings with RSS leadership often. The election
campaigns of the party are often significantly shaped and helped by
RSS cadres of the local region campaigning for the party's candidate.
In short, in more than one ways the relation between BJP and other
Hindutva organizations is quite clearly visible.Its top leaders are
all hardcore Brahminist RSS cadres. All its leaders have been Brahmins
too. Generally, RSS cadre graduate to the BJP.
VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad)- World Hindu Council
The VHP was founded on August 29, 1964 in Bombay with the clear aim of
being the activist wing, that would undertake aggressive actions in
civil society as a whole. The first general secretary of the VHP made
its goals clear as follows:
It is therefore necessary in this age of competition and conflict to
think of. and organise, the Hindu world to save itself from the evil
eyes of all three {all three being Christianity, Islam and Communism).
(From the Organiser, Diwali Special, 1964.)
The VHP has gone on to do just that - spread out as a extra-
parliamentary force throughout not just India, but the world. Its
primary functions in India are to mobilize forces for agitational and
violent purposes. It took part in the Cow Protection Movement though
out the 60's and the 70's. The entire Babri Masjid movement was
orchestrated by the VHP - steadfastly refusing to enter into any
negotiation, rejecting the right of the judicial system in
adjudicating on the issue and mobilizing often violent events with the
clear intent of polarizing society and creating a political movement
within public discourse of Hindutva - the Rath Yatras of the 1980's
and the final demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 were orchestrated
by the VHP in association with its "youth wing" the Bajrang Dal. Again
the strategy of the Hindutva combine as a whole is palpably apparent
here. BJP leaders for instance would participate in VHP sponsored
events, but when the results of such events came out - such as
violence and killings - the BJP would conveniently distance itself
temporarily from the VHP.
On the international front, the VHP's success lies in mobilizing
migrant Hindus, especially the middle class and lower middle class.
The VHP of America and its student wing the Hindu Student Council
(which is present on many US and Canadian campuses) is the most
obvious example of its international mobilization. The VHP of America
and HSC's for instance conducted the the World Vision 2000 conference
in Washington D.C in 1993, which became a rallying point for overseas
Hindus and a ground for further recruitment in the wake of what many
commentators called a "celebration" over the destruction of the mosque
in India. The VHP of America and UK primary success can be seen if not
in any other way in terms of financial clout - as it is the primary
mode of channeling dollars and pounds into Hindutva politics back in
India.
The council was established on August 29, 1964 in Bombay, Maharastra
[ Biju ] with a political objective of establishing the supremacy of
Hinduism all over the world. It obtains funds and recruits from Aryan
Hindus all across the globe, especially from the US, UK and Canada and
has grown to become the main fund-raising agency of Brahmanist
Fundamentalism. The council was instrumental in the demolition of the
holiest Islamic shrine in Oudh, the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya and has
organised several massacres of Muslims and Christians. It is in the
forefront in the call for a Hindu Rashtra, a Hindu State ethnically
cleansed of its non-Aryan populations.
Bajrang Dal- Party of Hanuman
The militant wing of the VHP, it was formed "to counter `Sikh
militancy' " during the Sikh Genocide of 1983-84 [ Bajrang ]. Created
with the objective of the eradication of Sikhs which it has termed
"Muslims in disguise", its cadres fought alongside Congress-backed
Hindutva militias during the massacre of 200,000 Sikhs under Indira
Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Recruits carry a " knife-like trident to be
slung across the shoulder - an answer to the Sikh kirpan
" [ Bajrang ]. It has subsequently expanded its targets to include
Muslims and Christians as well.
Ranvir Sena- Army of Ranvir
The militia was founded in 1994 by `the merger of several upper-caste
private armies such as the Savarna Liberation front and the Sunlight
Sena' [ Rama ] in order to combat Maoist Dalit organisations. It is
essentially the Brahmin private army of Bihar. Enjoying clandestine
Government support, the organisation is devoted to anti-Dalit
terrorism and the preservation of the Vedic apartheid system. Its
militiamen are known to be heavily armed with the most modern weaponry
which is financed by the VHP, and the Sena has openly claimed
responsibility for numerous massacres of landless Dalit Blacks and
mass rapes of Dalit women. Human Rights Watch estimates the private
army has been responsible for more than 400 deaths [ HRW ].
Shiv Sena- Shiva's Army
The Shiva Sena arose as a movement amongst Congress members. It
intitially unleashed a `physical annihilation' of Communists (who were
mainly Black) and against Dalits, and organised the mass murder of
Bombay's once-influential Black South Indian communities
(`lungiwallahs') and Gujaratis [ Roots ]. Subsequently, it engaged in
the mass murder of 3000 Muslims [ Sri ]
ABVP- Indian Universities Council
This front comprises students of Hindu religious schools (vidyalayas).
It has expanded its base by infiltration into `secular' universities.
Its higher-ranking cadres are well-equipped with weaponry; they often
organise communal campus disturbances against Christians, Muslims,
Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains. Most of its members graduate to become
hardcore RSS and VHP militants.
Bharatiya Jan Sangh- Indic Race Party
Founded in October 1951 with the Bengal Brahmin Shyama Prasad
Mookerjee as its president, who had resigned from the allied `soft'
Brahminist Congress in Apil 1950 [ Chandra ] was president until he
died in 1953. Its cadres were carefully chosen indoctrinated
activists. The second president, the Brahmin Mauli Chandra Sharma
resigned in 1954 to protest against RSS domination of the party. It
strove for an `Akhand Bharat' [ Chandra ] ethnically cleansed of its
Muslim, Christian and Black Sudroid Populations.
Hindu Mahasabha- Great Congress of Hindus
The Sabha began as `an extremist wing of the Congress Party' [ Perry ]
and was founded by the Maratha Brahmin Vinayak Damodar Sarvarkar.
Influenced by `German racism' [ Letter ] Sarvarkar sought to establish
a racially pure Hindu state ethnically cleansed of its non-Hindu
populations. Sarvarkar's followers were involved in the brutal
assasinations of of Sir Wyllie [ Sarvar ].
HSC (Hindu Students Council)- World Hindu Council
The `student wing' of the VHP [ Biju ]. It conducted the the World
Vision 2000 conference in Washington D.C in 1993 which was a
celebration over the destruction of Babri Masjid and the attendant
genocide of 5,000 Muslims [ Biju ]. It is involved in setting up
hardcore Hindutva websites across the internet, spewing hatred against
Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and Sikhs.
Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS)- Hindu Volunteers Association
The HSS was formed in the US in the 1980s, ` openly claiming
allegiance to the founding principles of the RSS' [ Biju ], in order
to organise Hindu terrorists in America.
Arya Samaj- Society of Aryans
Founded by Dayanand Sarasvat (born 12 Feb 1824) [ Rao ] Swami Dayanand
established the Arya Samaj in 1875. The Dayanand Anglo Vaidic schools
(DAVs) are its propaganda wing, designed to raise a generation of
brainwashed militants. Most of its students go on to become hardcore
RSS and ABVP members. The Arya Samaj is the fountain of the Hindutva
movement : `The rise of Hindu nationalism can be traced to the Arya
Samaj in the late nineteenth century' [ Perry ]. Dayananad Sarasvati
was a bigoted anti-Islamist. This is what he had to say regarding
Islam :
" Such teachings deserve to be utterly discarded. Such a book
[ Quran ], such a prophet [ Mohammed ] and such a religion [ Islam ]
do nothing but harm. The world would be better off without them. Wise
men would do well to discard a religion so absurd and accept the Vedic
faith which is absolutely free from error." [Polemics], [ Sarasvati, p.
633 ]
The raison-d'etre of the Arya Samaj was anti-Islamism and anti-
Sikhism :
" Both of the early leaders of the militant Aryas, Pandit Lekh Ram and
Lala Munshi Ram [in 1917 he became Swami Shraddhananda], died at the
hands of Muslim assassins as a direct result of their involvement in
communal activities -- polemics and conversions. Lekh Ram was killed
in 1897 due to hostile exchanges with the Ahmadiya sect of Qadian.
Shraddhanand was murdered in 1926 due to his shuddhi activities in
Delhi and the United Provinces." [ Polemics ]
Ram Rajya Parishad
Council of the Kingdom of Ram
Formed with the explicit purpose of re-establishing Ram-Rajya (the
Empire of Ram), its goal was the elimination of Sudroid Blacks
(Dalits, Dravidians, Adivasis, Kolarians) and to establish a racially
pure Aryan nation on the lines of Ram-Rajya. Jan Sangh, the Hindu
Mahasabha and the Ram Rajya Parishad was 10 seats with 6.4 per cent of
the votes. [ Chandra ] By 1967 it had disappeared.
Hindu hardliners have grown more vocal
Its founders felt the need to present Hinduism in a rigorous though
simplified form which would be comparable to most other world
religions. The superiority of other faiths was believed to stem from
their being far less diffuse and more uniform than Hinduism.
VHP is a hardline Hindu outfit with unmistakably close ties to its
parent organisation, the extremist RSS, whose objective to 'Hinduise'
the Indian nation it shares.
Central to the RSS ideology has been the belief that real national
unity and progress will come only when India is 'purged' of non-
Hindus, or, when members of other communities subordinate themselves
'willingly' to 'Hindu superiority.'
Linked groups
The VHP has tended to tone down the rhetoric of Hindu supremacy and
even make an occasional distinction between fellow (Muslim) citizens
of the present and (Muslim) 'marauders' of the past.
But the ambition of establishing a resurgent Hinduism by inculcating
what some historians call a carefully constructed common 'Hindu
spirit' is very much central to the VHP.
VHP extreme leaders Rallying for Nationalism in North India
The temple project enjoys a lot of support
This is also something it shares with the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), which currently leads the Indian Government at the centre.
Earlier known as the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), the BJP was
established in 1951 as a political wing of the RSS to counter rising
public revulsion after the revered independence figure Mahatma Gandhi
was assassinated by a former RSS member.
Some commentators say the party came close to obliteration in the
1960s with the Congress led by the charismatic and secular Jawaharlal
Nehru, leaving little room for hardline communal politics.
But a political emergency announced by Nehru's daughter, Indira
Gandhi, in 1975 enabled the BJS leaders, Atal Behari Vajpayee and LK
Advani among them, to gain near stardom after serving brief prison
sentences.
Many women have joined the hardliners' campaign,
But it didn't really emerge as a political presence until the early
1980s. A series of events in that decade including the mass conversion
of lower-caste Hindus to Islam pushed the BJP's close affiliate, the
VHP, to the forefront.
Historians say the VHP-led Hindu right considered the mass conversion
of "dalits" or lower-caste Hindus to Islam to be an unforgivable
insult.
The dalits, for centuries beholden to the upper castes, outraged Hindu
hardliners by daring to convert at all, and moreover, convert to
Islam.
The VHP saw this as a serious threat to its notion of Hinduism.
Despite murders of Dalit-Muslim converts, the leader of the VHP still
claims the VHP are 'peaceful'
It proceeded to whip up Hindu support for a re-defined communal force,
organising a series of religious meetings, cross-country marches and
processions through the 1980s.
This phase coincided with the launch of an electoral strategy by the
BJP to corner and hold on to the "Hindu" vote.
Temple controversy
Following the success of their campaign, senior VHP leaders announced
at a religious meeting in 1984 their programme to "liberate" a site in
Ayodhya from an ancient mosque to make way for a temple to the Hindu
god Ram.
Some 'moderate' Hindu leaders support the VHP
Analysts say this announcement heralded a turning point in the history
of the Hindu nationalist movement.
The VHP has since then claimed that the site belongs rightfully to
Hindu worshippers who believe that the mosque stood on the birthplace
of the god, Lord Ram.
Although the claim does not stand up to substantial archaeological or
historical scrutiny, the VHP and BJP are seen to have made possible
the creation of a shared Hindu symbol that cuts through most divisions
in Hindu society.
Sue Tao
http://www.sikhlionz.com/vhprssbjp.htm
Hindutva: The Web of Fascism in India
'Militant Hinduism' is a term that existed prior to the assassination
of Mahatma Gandhi by a former Rastriya Swayemsevak Sangh (RSS) member
but only became widely known after this incident. While the Indian
masses were battling their colonial rulers, the British, certain
groups amongst them were focusing on a perceived internal conflict.
Claiming to be the custodians of Hindu Nationalism, members of the RSS
(National Volunteer Corps) were organizing an ideological movement to
cleanse their society of foreign entities, specifically the Muslims
and any minorities that did not pledge allegiance to Hinduism. After
the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi the ruling Congress political
party banned the RSS. During this time period a report documenting the
ideology and structure of the RSS was circulated within the Congress
membership. This report labeled the RSS as a "purely Maharashtrian
Brahmin organization." [a]
It noted that the RSS was involved in "secret and violent methods
which promote Fascism," while disregarding the constitution and the
law. In order to understand this ideology we must understand its
roots, specifically Brahminism.
Brahmins are the apex of the hierarchical caste system predominant in
Indian Hindu society. This system classifies people into four groups
with the Brahmins at the throne and the untouchables, or Dalits, at
the bottom. Women are not given any recognition in this system, while
equating them to mere animals and property of man. This system is in
place to secure power for the few in order to socially, religiously
and politically oppress the masses of Hindu society. What we are
witnessing is Brahminism attempting to spread its wings and control
non-Hindu minority groups as well.
The objective of the RSS, a communal militant organization, is to
Hinduize India and rid it of any foreign elements. However, according
to Madhavrao Sadasivrao Golwalkar (a past leader of the RSS), foreign
elements may coexist within the Hindu Nation provided they, "adopt the
Hindu culture and language, learn to respect and hold in reverence the
Hindu religion, entertain no idea but the glorification of the Hindu
race and culture … they must not only give up their attitude of
intolerance and ungratefulness towards this land and its age-old
traditions, but must also cultivate the positive attitude of love and
devotion instead; in one word, they must cease to be foreigners or may
stay in the country wholly subordinated to the Hindu nation claiming
nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment,
not even citizen's rights." An analysis of this ideology reveals three
major ingredients which are required for its success: a homogenized
Hindu community based on Brahmanical scriptural prescriptions;
subordination, if not elimination, of the members of other
denominations; and the creation of an aggressive Hindu community.
While Adolf Hitlers' fascist regime committed genocide supported by
the ideology of race purity, the RSS and its affiliates have adopted a
similar philosophy with the exception that they are pursuing religious
purity. As noted by Aijaz Ahmad, unlike Hitler, "for whom the crossing
over from one race to another was simply impossible, Savarkar (past
Hindu Mahasabha leader and much-respected personality in RSS circles)
does offer to non-Hindu "races" an alternative, namely that they can
re-join this mainstream if they convert to Hinduism and bring up their
children as Hindus." [b]
Founded in 1925, the RSS adopted the German and Italian fascist
government model to further its agenda. The agenda was implemented by
an intricate structure of subsidiary groups, which infiltrated all
parts of the social fabric, including education, politics, labor
unions and economics. Amongst their affiliates, the most important and
influential were the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Shiv Sena, and their
political party the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), which was formed when
the original Jan Sangh party was disbanded to merge with a larger
political formation in 1977. Today these groups are collectively
referred to as the 'Sang Parivar.' The foundation of the Sang Parivar
remains the predominantly upper-caste (Brahmins) trade-professionals
while the henchmen are the lower middle-class youth. Italian scholar,
Marzia Casolari who draws parallels between Hindutva and the fascist
ideology of Italy, exposes the Sang Parivar's doctrine of separatism
and supremacy.
Marzia researched numerous publications issued during the early years
of the RSS and found that there existed evidence of direct contact
between leaders of the RSS and the Italian fascist government and also
the German representatives in India at the time. She notes that B. S.
Moonje's (founder of the parent of the RSS) trip to Italy in 1931
during which he met Mussolini, was more than just a politically
motivated visit.
The highlight of the visit was the meeting with Mussolini. An
interesting account of the trip and the meeting is given in Moonje's
diary, and takes thirteen pages. The Indian leader was in Rome from 15
to 24 March 1931. On 19 March, in Rome, he visited, among others, the
Military College, the Central Military School of Physical Education,
the Fascist Academy of Physical Education, and, most important, the
Balilla and Avanguardisti organizations. These two organizations,
which he describes in more than two pages of his diary, were the
keystone of the fascist system of indoctrination - rather than
education - of the youths. Their structure is strikingly similar to
that of the RSS. They recruited boys from the age of six, up to
eighteen: the youths had to attend weekly meetings, where they
practiced physical exercises, received paramilitary training and
performed drills and parades.
The RSS publications at the time, primarily the 'Kesari,' regularly
published editorials and articles about Italy, fascism and Mussolini.
Vinayak D. Savarkar (a.k.a. Veer Savarkar), president of the Hindu
Mahasabha, a subsidiary of the Sang Parivar, pronounced in front of
about 20,000 people in Poona on 1 August 1938 that, "India's foreign
policy must not depend on "isms". Germany has every right to resort to
Nazism and Italy to Fascism and events have justified that those isms
and forms of Governments were imperative and beneficial to them under
the conditions that obtained there." It was normal procedure for the
Sang Parivar to compare the Jewish problem in Germany to the Muslim
problem in India thus embedding the idea of the 'internal enemy' into
the Hindu masses who were willing to listen. The Sang Parivar's top
priority was to infiltrate all sections of the social and political
structure of the Indian Government because they understood that the
rise of fascism in Germany and Italy occurred through a combination of
street violence (carefully orchestrated by the upper echelons and
implemented with great mass support), deep infiltration into the
police, bureaucracy and army, and the connivance of political
leaders." Sumit Sarkar wrote, after the 1992 communal riots in Mumbai,
that "the triumph of Hindutva, 'hard' or 'soft', implies for Muslims
and other minority groups…a second-class citizenship at best, constant
fear of riots amounting to genocide, a consequent strengthening of the
most conservative and fundamentalist groups within such
communities." [c]
Partha Banerjee, who has had first hand experience with the Sang
Parivar for fifteen years of her life, notes that "the Hindu
fundamentalist RSS-BJP-VHP and the Shiv Sena are no different from
radical Muslim groups such as the Jamat-e-Islami or the Taliban." In
their attacks towards the Christian missionaries, the Sang Parivar
influenced the minds of their followers by using violent propaganda.
[d]
"Jesus is junk. It is high time for Hindus to learn that Jesus Christ
symbolizes no spiritual power, or moral uprightness. He is no more
than an artifice for legitimizing wanton imperialist aggression. The
aggressors have found him to be highly profitable so far. By the same
token, Hindus should know that Jesus means nothing but mischief for
their country and culture." [Sita Ram Goel. 1994. Jesus Christ-An
Artifice of Aggression. Voice of India, New Delhi. Prominent leader
and theorist of RSS]
Ms. Banerjee, who is writing a book about her experience, has
witnessed Sang Parivar activists climb the political ladder within the
BJP to become high-level politicians, influencing homeland and foreign
policies. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the current Prime Minister, is a life-
long RSS member. BJP's political ally Shiv Sena (SS) and its
dictatorial leader Bal Thackeray have been openly supportive of social
aspects of society that are racist and oppressive. Mr. Thackeray has
gone so far as to say that democracy is not for India and what Indians
need is a "benign dictatorship."
Mr.Golwalkar's book "We or Our Nationhood Defined" published in 1938
was a testament to the ideology the Sang Privar upholds. His
comparison of the Hindutva ideology with the fascist agenda of Germany
is alarming. An excerpt is provided below.
German race pride has now become the topic of the day. To keep up the
purity of the race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her
purging the country of the Semitic races-the Jews. Race pride at its
highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well-nigh
impossible it is for races and cultures, having differences going to
the root, to be assimilated into one united whole-a good lesson for us
in Hindusthan (i.e., the land of Hindus) to learn and profit by.
In order to implement its agenda, the Sang Parivar requires massive
financial support and this it receives from various covert charity
groups, which are dispersed throughout India and the diaspora.
According to Ms. Banerjee, financial support for the Sang Parivar's
activities comes from various charitable groups some of whom collect
under the banner of eradicating poverty and social upliftment.
However, these funds are funneled to support the activities of the
Sang Parivar.
Money is also reportedly pumped in and out by other organizations such
as the Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP), VHP of America, and the Hindu
Student Council or HSC of America. Traditionally conservative, but
apolitical Hindu temples in USA and Europe are now targeted by the
Sangh in order to mobilize second-generation Indian-American youth
through organization of VHP-sponsored Hindu summer camps and various
religious conventions of HSC. Under the guise of cultural education, a
whole generation is being indoctrinated to be blind, separatists, and
bigots. Many Indian immigrants, ignorant of the relationship of the
VHP and HSC with BJP and RSS, are being used to further the fascist-
like sociopolitical agenda of the Sangh Parivar.
In the 1990s the Sang Parivar invented the 'Ram Janam Bhoomi' platform
to build a Hindu temple at the site of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
This caused severe communal rioting during 1992 in Mumbai killing
thousands of innocent Muslims and Hindus. Their contention was that
the mosque, known as Babri Masjid (after the Islamic ruler Babar) was
built upon the ruins of a Hindu temple that was supposedly demolished
by "Muslim" invaders. This temple, the Sangh says, was built to mark
the holy birthplace of Rama, the God king. The Sangh contends that a
temple with pillars had indeed been there since the eleventh century.
However, even a devoted pro-BJP Belgian columnist, Koenraad Elst, in
his book argues:
"When that building (the temple) was destroyed, we do not know
precisely, there are no descriptions of the event extant anywhere.
Mohammed Ghori's armies arrived there in 1194, and they may have
destroyed it. It may have been rebuilt afterwards, or it may only have
been destroyed by later Muslim lieutenants. So it is possible that
when Mir Baqi, Babar's lieutenant, arrived there in 1528, he found a
heap of rubble, or an already aging mosque, rather than a magnificent
Hindu temple."
Other archeologists plainly assert that there has not been a single
piece of evidence for the existence of a temple of brick, stone or
both. This entire episode was clearly politically motivated being that
Uttar Pradesh (U.P.), where the incident occurred, has the largest
number of parliamentary seats and is important enough to sway the
outcome of the elections for one party or another. The result was
favorable for the BJP. They managed to form a short-lived coalition
government in U.P. in 1995, paving the way for a big win in the 1996
elections.
The anti-Pakistan sentiment, which reigns high on the BJP agenda, is
nothing new. Its predecessor the Jan Sangh was also anti-Pakistan.
According to Bipan Chandra, former Professor of History at Jawaharlal
Nehru University in New Delhi, the "Jan Sangh was strongly anti-
Pakistan." According to one of its resolutions passed at the end of
1960s, Pakistan's ``aim is to sustain the faith of Indian Muslims with
the ultimate objective of establishing Muslim domination over the rest
of India as well." Now with the BJP having significant influence in
the Indian polity with a member of RSS as Prime Minister, the anti-
Pakistan card is being played repeatedly with everything from everyday
crime to communal rioting being blamed on Pakistan along with the
militant excursions into Indian Kashmir. The massacre of innocent Sikh
Kashmiris during former US President Bill Clinton's visit to India,
which was initially blamed on Islamic militants supported by Pakistan,
has been exposed as an Indian Government plot by Amnesty International
and various other independent human rights groups. The related DNA
scandal, which exposed the governments plot to frame certain
individuals related to the massacre was spoiled when it was discovered
that the men had been dead prior to the incident.
While attempting to understand the psyche of the Sang Parivar, one
must not disregard its external influence, the bond with fascism made
by its founders, with the objective to convert the average citizen
into a soldier. Savarkar introduced the roadmap for the Sang Parivar
during a speech he made on August 1, 1938. While referring to the
situation in Germany and Italy he said:
Germany has every right to resort to Nazism and Italy to Fascism and
events have justified that those isms and forms of Governments were
imperative and beneficial to them under the conditions that obtained
there. Bolshevism might have suited Russia and Democracy as it is
obtained in Briton (sic) to the British people.
Marzia Casolari noted that the "continuous reference to German racial
policy and the comparison of the Jewish problem in Germany with the
Muslim question in India reveals the evolution of the concept of
'internal enemy' along explicitly fascist lines." This concept is now
coming to fruition with the state sponsored communal violence, which
is being unleashed sporadically with precision. The henchmen of the
RSS and VHP are provided lists of Muslim homes and shops from
government offices that are controlled by BJP politicians. Human
rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty
International (AI), have documented this fact during their
investigations of various violent communal outbreaks. One interesting
fact about these outbreaks is that they are unquestionably labeled as
'riots,' which would imply violent public disorder or unrest. However,
fatality figures show that a specific minority community is targeted
and suffers a disproportionately larger number of losses. Victims who
are protecting themselves and their families and property generally
cause fatalities on the other side and this is to be expected. Some
examples of pogroms, carried out by government sponsored hoodlums
armed with knives, kerosene, axes and lists of homes and business of
the targeted community, are the killings of innocent Sikhs after the
death of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in November of 1984, and the
murders of innocent Muslims in Gujarat in March of 2002 after the
Godra incident. Some trends of violence that have emerged from these
incidents are indicative of the zeal of the Sang Parivar and its
followers to humiliate and coerce a group into submission or eradicate
them.
The Indian society holds a woman's honor at a high stature, not so
much for the well being of the woman but more for the public standing
of the family she represents. Thus in order to demean a group the
tactic of sexual violence (including gang rape) against the women folk
is employed. The HRW report notes that, "tragically consistent with
the longstanding pattern of attacks on minorities and Dalits (or so-
called untouchables) in India, and with previous episodes of large-
scale communal violence in India, scores of Muslim girls and women
were brutally raped in Gujarat before being mutilated and burnt to
death." The report further states, that "testimonies collected by the
Citizens' Initiative, a coalition of over twenty-five NGOs, and
submitted to the National Human Rights Commission are replete with
incidents of gang rapes of Muslim girls and women." Another trend
which was noted during the anti-Sikh pogroms and also recently during
the communal violence in Gujarat is the burning of evidence. Victims
of rape and other atrocities are burned beyond recognition. The
assailants carry cans of kerosene with them for this purpose and also
to destroy property.
The report on the Gujarat incident issued by Human Rights Watch (HRW
April 2002 Vol. 14, No. 3(C)) cites evidence supporting the conclusion
that "groups most directly responsible for violence against Muslims in
Gujarat include the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal, the ruling
BJP, and the umbrella organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(National Volunteer Corps, RSS), all of whom collectively form the
sangh parivar (or "family" of Hindu nationalist groups)." The report
talks about the formation of the RSS, and states that its agenda is to
"propagate a militant form of Hindu nationalism which it promotes as
the sole basis for national identity in India." It also notes that the
Chief Minister of Gujarat during these events, Narendra Modi, is a
former RSS volunteer.
The United States Immigration and Nationality Act defines terrorist
activity to mean: any such activity which is unlawful under the laws
of the place where it is committed (reference Section 212 (a)(3)(B) of
the US Immigration and Nationality Act), clearly, the actions and
ideology of the RSS and its affiliates befit the definition of
terrorist activity as defined above. They commit unlawful acts of
violence against civilian communities. Such acts are considered
unlawful in India and would also be considered unlawful in the United
States. However, rarely are the assailants brought to justice in India
because the ruling polity is either a political branch of the rogue
organizations or seeks to benefit from such communal violence with
respect to politics. This was evident in the recent, post-Gujarat
communal violence, elections in which the culpable Chief Minister,
Narendra Modi, won another term based on a platform of communal
violence and Hindutva. HRW notes that violence against Christians
increased after the BJP came to power in 1998 and then a significant
escalation was noted in "the months preceding national parliamentary
elections in September and October 1999." (Politics by other means,
1999).
The Sang Parivar and its henchmen use conventional weapons (in some
instances use of chemical weapons has also been reported) and sexual
violence to spread fear and further their objectives. Destruction of
personal and business property and religious institutions is also
conducted to displace minority communities and prevent their return.
These terrorist activities are funded by donations collected by
organizations, which pose as social reform groups working for the
betterment of Indian Society. These groups convince Indians in the
diaspora, most of whom are unsuspecting, that they should provide
financial assistance for the upliftment of their poor brethren back in
India. One of the most respectable US based charitable groups linked
to the Sang Parivar is the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF).
While on the surface the IDRF claims to be a non-sectarian, non-
political charity that funds development and relief work in India, the
reality is quite the contrary. A report (Foreign Exchange of Hate) by
South Asia Citizens Web (SACW), based in France, documents the links
between the IDRF, a Maryland, US based charity, and certain violent
and sectarian Hindu supremacist organizations in India. The report
cites evidence that the IDRFs tax exempt certificate, form 1023, lists
nine organizations, which it supports in India, and all nine are
clearly identified by Sangh Parivar literature and websites as member
organizations.
[a] - National Archives of India (NAI), New Delhi, Sardar Patel
Correspondence, microfilm, reel n.3, undated document entitled "A Note
on the RSS".
[b] - The politics of hate by Aijaz Ahmad.
[c] - The Fascism of the Sangh Parivar by Sumit Sarkar.
[d] - In the Belly of the Beast - The Hindu Supremacist RSS and BJP of
India - An Insider's Story by Partha Banerjee.
References:
1. India - Politics By Other Means: Attacks Against Christians in
India. October 1999 Vol. 11, No. 6 (C).
2. The Foreign Exchange of Hate - IDRF and the American Funding of
Hindutva. © 2002, Sabrang Communications & Publishing Pvt. Ltd,
Mumbai, India, and The South Asia Citizens Web, France.
3. Hindutva's foreign tie-up in the 1930s: Archival evidence by Marzia
Casolari.
4. Towards a Hindu nation by KN Panikkar.
5. Jan Sangh: The BJP's Predecessor by Bipan Chandra.
6. RSS forays into Punjab by Praveen Swami.
7. US congressional record: Hon. Dan Burton of Indiana in the House of
Representatives, Tuesday, May 14, 2002.
8. India: Hate speeches on the violence in Gujarat must be stopped -
AI Index: ASA 20/019/2002 (Public) News Service No: 183, 16 October
2002.
9. India - Religious violence reaches unacceptable levels - AI Index:
ASA 20/03/99 25 JANUARY 1999.
Fifty Five years of Indian independence.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 15, 2002
On August 15, India celebrates 54 years of independence from British
rule. India's independence is also popularly known as the partition
period. But what was truly partitioned? The partition, which created
Hindustan and Pakistan, parted Punjab, the homeland of the Sikhs. The
events preceding this period were critical for the Sikhs as they were
in a position to secure autonomy for their homeland. This, however,
did not materialize due to reasons stemming from the socio-political
atmosphere of the time. The dominant political party, Congress,
assured the Sikhs that the constitution would not be ratified until it
satisfied their concerns regarding the autonomy of Punjab, the
sovereignty of the Sikh religion, and the security of the Sikh
Identity.
Prevalent leaders of the era, such as Mohan Dass Karam Chand Gandhi
and Jawahar Lal Nehru conceded various resolutions to assure the Sikhs
that their rights would be safeguarded in the new land. After
receiving such seemingly concrete and solemn promises from the
Congress leaders, the Sikhs decided to proceed alongside India and did
not pursue a separate nation. Today an individual with even a mediocre
knowledge of the events, which have transpired amongst the Sikhs and
their so-called keepers, between 1947 and today, will declare that the
Sikhs were betrayed.
More than 52,000 Sikh political prisoners are rotting in Indian jails
without charge or trial. Many have been in illegal custody since 1984.
Over 50,000 Sikhs have been arrested, tortured, and murdered by the
Indian police and security forces, then declared "unidentified" and
secretly cremated. General Narinder Singh has said, "Punjab is a
police state." U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher has said that for
Sikhs, Kashmiri Muslims, and other minorities "India might as well be
Nazi Germany." . Indian security forces have murdered over 250,000
Sikhs since 1984, according to figures reported in The Politics of
Genocide by Inderjit Singh Jaijee. The U.S. State Department reported
in 1994 that the Indian government paid out over 41,000 cash bounties
to police officers for killing Sikhs. Since Christmas 1998, a wave of
violence against Christians has seen priests murdered, nuns being
raped, churches being burned, Christian schools and prayer halls
destroyed, and no one has been punished for these acts.
Militant Hindu fundamentalists allied with the pro-Fascist RSS, the
parent organization of the ruling BJP, burned missionary Graham
Staines and
his two young sons to death. Recent news reports of DNA sample
tampering have confirmed that in March 2000 the Indian government
massacred 35 innocent Sikhs in Chithisinghpora to further their
haphazard campaign against the struggle for autonomy in the Kashmir
region (The Times of India, March 06, 2002 - J&K fudges DNA samples to
cover up killings). Amnesty International has also stated that the
evidence in the Chithisinghpora massacre points to the Indian State
(Amnesty International - Summary of Report - ASA 20/24/00 June 2000 ).
The Indian Government continues to use violent methods to quell
peaceful political activism, a right of an individual living in a
democratic state (18 hurt in Malout firing, Chander Parkash ,Tribune
News Service).
When independent Human Rights organizations have attempted to
investigate human rights violation in India they have been denied
access in order to veil the terror campaigns wielded by India on its
minorities. This was the case post 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom and recently
after the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujrat (BBC South Asia News,
Tuesday, 23 July, 2002). U.S. Congressman Joe Pitts has condemned the
atrocities committed by Hindu extremists in Gujarat, India, against
Muslims and other minority groups (House of Representatives - June 18,
2002). Human Rights Watch has indicted Indian officials for the Gujrat
genocide. The Indian polity is aligned with fascist terrorist
organizations such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the
Rashtriya Swayemsevak Sang (RSS) responsible for the oppression of non-
Hindus who refuse to assimilate into the ideology of Hindutva. These
groups have clearly stated that until minorities in India learn to
earn the goodwill of the Hindu majority by accepting Hinduism as the
umbrella religion they will continue to be persecuted (Hindustan
Times, March 28, 2002). Christians have also been victims of VHP and
RSS aggression in Gujrat (No season of goodwill for India's Christians
- BBC News, December 28, 1998).
On August 15, 2002, India celebrates 55 years of independence while
its minority citizens; the Sikhs, the Christians, the Muslims and the
Dalits observe 55 years of repression and state-sponsored carnage.
Latest book release
Lawyers for human rights international release new book
Genesis of State Terrorism in Punjab
http://www.sikhlionz.com/hindutva.htm
Shivsena
The Nation of Our Dreams
Balasaheb Thackeray's vision
(Mr. Bal Thackeray, writing in a sponsored feature in the Indian
Express, Mumbai on
October 11, 1998)
This is a Hindu nation. Here it is. Just as it was. And just as it
will be. Always, and forever....
After 300 long years, the saffron flies again over Maharashtra. The
saffron. The symbol of sacrifice. Prepare to welcome the saffron.
The march has begun, never to stop. Shiv Sainiks will carry the flag
to the East, to the West, to the North and to the South. Everywhere.
We will cross the Sahyadris. And we will breach the Himalayas. We will
paint the ramparts of the Red Fort in saffron. We must fulfil
Chhatrapati Maharaj's dram. We must build the Hindustan of our dreams.
It is a historic task we have set out to accomplish. So help us God.
Everywhere in the country people are turning to the Shiv Sena.
Anywhere you find a sense of insecurity among the Hindus, you will
also
find the Shiv Sena. For the endangered and the insecure, for the
deprived and the depraved (sic), the Shiv Sena is the only hope. The
Shiv Sena can never betray the trust reposed by the hopeless millions.
The Shiv Sena is not just a political party. It is a tree growing
huge,striking its roots into the soil of this land, spreading its vast
branches to protect and preserve Hindustan....
It is our Hindustan we have to build. We have to create a Hindustan
for Hindus. We have to create a country where Hindus are respected.
The country where Hindutva will shine in all its glory. A country
where
the anti-Hindu shall bow before the will of the Hindu. That is the
country we have to build.....
Look at our country. Our laws. Our rules. A whole long list of
don'ts meant only for Hindus. And who are the ones who are empowered?
The Mussalmans.
How long are we to tolerate this? How long are we to stand by and
watch these antics in the name of religion? How long will those in
power fool us? How long can we pretend not to see what goes on in the
name of concession to the so-called minorities?...
Let us have a little laugh over our peculiar brand of secularism. The
microphones blare at us spreading the word of Allah a good five times
a
day. But no Hindu can dare to play cymbals or beat the prayer drums
while he passes the house of Allah.
Secularism in our context is but an opportunistic impartiality, which
was never intended to be, and therefore never will. It's just another
coinage and convenience, a piece of useful jargon. But the intent is
deadly.
Look under the cover of this impartiality, and you will find an unholy
incest between purpose and intent.
Opportunism is the prophylactic (sic), but the demon will surely be
born.
Someday, someday very soon, when the purpose and the intent stand at
cross-purposes, the membrane will be torn. And the bastard will be
conceived. The monster will be born. And our land will be cursed.
Look at the population. The growth in Hindu population is gradually
slowing down. But the Mussalman is on a rampage. From 30 million to
130 million! As if he was born only to breed. Somehow, oh, somehow,
can we somehow convince them that they are citizens of this country;
tell them that their identity is not in danger; their existence is not
in danger.
I do not call the Mussalman a traitor. But unfortunately for them,
their leadership is treacherous. The undoing of the Mussalmans in this
subcontinent is the lack of proper leadership. They have not had a
single good leader. Neither before, nor after the partition. Leaders
of the stature of Maulana Azad and Hamid Dalwai failed to pass on
their
doctrines.
And what we are left with are the likes of Shahbuddin, Bukhari and
Banatwala. Tragicomic?.....
As I see it, there are only two sects of peoples in our country. One
has sworn allegiance to the country. The other is clearly against the
country.
And as far as I can see it, there has never been any other
sect.....For
being an Indian, it is not only important to abide by our laws, but it
is also important to live as we do, to accept our culture and to
respect
our traditions. And not only that, one must accept that Hinduism has
by
far the largest following in this country. This must be remembered.
Always.
Those who refuse to accept this have no right to live in this country.
Those who have all their lives spoken ill of Hindutva are not going to
be spared. Embrace this country in its entirety, as Hindustan. Else
leave.
Triumphant Tiger
Deccan Herald - Jan 23 1999
Though Sena Chief Bal Thackeray suspended the agitation launched
against the Indo-Pak cricket series, he has succeeded in establishing
himself as a parallel power centre.
The head office of the Board of Cricket Control in India is on the
first floor of Stadium House (Brabourne Stadium) situated oa busy road
in the central business district. The broad pavements are also crowded
with pedestrians and hawkers. There are shops below the office, busy
with customers. A narrow staircase where there is just enough room for
one person to climb, leads from the pavement to the upper offices. At
2.30 in the afternoon on Monday, about 40 to 50 persons armed with
hockey sticks, rods and cricket stumps entered and attacked the place
without anybody noticing it. They must have queued up outside on the
pavement to make their way in. They entered the office, damaged the
property and broke trophies which our cricketers had won with great
effort.
They also attacked Sharad Diwadkar, a former cricketer and officer in-
charge of the organisation whose vice-president is Manohar Joshi, the
chief minister of the state and Sena leader. Though the attackers were
Sena men, Joshi did not resign from the post he holds in the BCCI. Nor
did he assure of any action against the vandals. Nevertheless, Sena
leader Udhhav Thackeray declared that his party would take out a
morcha to the Police Commissioner`s office to protest the arrest of
''innocents.``
Now let us turn to Sena Chief Bal Thackeray. In 1991 the pitch of
Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai was damaged by his men to oppose the Indo-
Pak cricket match. This time he reiterated his resolve to disrupt the
present series on November 20 last year. He also declared that he
would dump the BJP on this issue and came down heavily on his long-
time friend and Defence Minister George Fernandes for criticising that
''Thackeray says something in the morning and forgets it by evening.``
But finally he proved Fernandes right as he suspended his agitation
after Union Home Minister L K Advani persuaded him on January 21. But
the Sena chief did achieve what he was eyeing for. He established
himself as a parallel power centre since the Union Government had to
secure clearance from him for the Indo-Pak cricket series.
Volte face
Union Home Minister L K Advani, who is being projected as an ''iron
man`` by the BJP, came down to Mumbai with a request to the extra-
constitutional authority that the Indo-Pak cricket series be allowed
to take place. Till the BJP came to power, Thackeray`s extra-
constitutional authority was confined to Maharashtra only, thanks to
the successive Congress governments. Now it has extended to New Delhi,
Chennai and other places outside the state.
The people of Maharashtra are well aware of Thackeray`s history of
making a volte face on various issues. During the Emergency he was on
his knees before the then prime minister Indira Gandhi. He also
backtracked from holding a meeting to force the state government for
scrapping its decision of renaming of the Marathwada University after
Dr B R Ambedkar. He did not even visit Aurangabad, as the police told
him flatly that he would be arrested if he entered the city. The Tiger
is very much
scared of being ensnared in a jail. But the successive Congress
governments did not dare touch him, for various reasons, injecting
life into the paper tiger.
The key of the large following that Thackeray is enjoying lies in the
fact that no government, police or court has touched him so far.
But after the four-year saffron rule, the Thackeray empire is
crumbling under its own weight. The trend was visible in the 1998 Lok
Sabha elections also as the saffron combine faced a near rout. It also
continued in subsequent Assembly by-polls and Zilla Parishad elections
in four districts.
Criticism
Two leading Marathi dailies - Maharashtra Times and Loksatta - hardly
spared a word to criticise Thackeray`s stand this time. Kumar Ketkar,
editor of Maharashtra Times even lambasted cricketers, Bollywood stars
and other eminent personalities including Lata Mangeshkar, Amitabh
Bachhan and Sunil Gawaskar for crawling before Thackeray. Arun
Tikekar, editor of Loksatta dissected the ''psuedo- nationalism`` of
Thackeray. In the opinion poll conducted by Lokprabha, a Marathi
weekly
of the Express Group which has over a lakh circulation, majority of
people have voted against Thackeray`s stand. Senior leaders at the BJP
office claim that Advani threatened Thackeray that his party would
snap ties with the Sena which would bring down the state government
headed by the Sena leader.
The Union home minister reportedly cautioned the Sena chief of ISI
design to disrupt the Indo- Pak cricket series under the garb of the
Sena men, taking advantage of Thackeray`s resolve and statements.
This theory hardly holds any water as invariably the BJP leaders are
the first to issue statements about continuance of the alliance even
as the Sena men act notoriously as directed by their chief.
The only plausible explanation is that the BJP came under severe
attack from its allies - J Jayalalitha, Mamata Banerjee, Chandrababu
Naidu and Samata Party - and the only option left for the BJP is to
sacrifice the Maharashtra government and face the elections, according
to Kumar Ketkar.
''And therefore the Sena chief did not have any option but to stage a
complete volte face,`` he said.
Nikhil Wagle, editor of Apla Mahanagar, a popular Marathi eveninger,
while talking to Deccan Herald said after the 1998 Lok Sabha
elections, the Sena chief is whipping up the Hindutva fever to divert
people`s attention from the failure of his government on all fronts.
''He did not touch issues like price rise but asked his sainiks to
disrupt Gulam Ali`s concert, imposed a ban on the censor cleared film
Fire and so on,`` he pointed out adding that the Sena chief did not
want the BJP to be the only saffron party to placate the Hindutva
agency.
Sunil Tambe in Mumbai
KING OF MUMBAI
Source: Economist, 2/3/96, Vol. 338 Issue 7951, p28, 7/9p, 1bw
Abstract: Reports on the power and leadership of Bal Thackeray, who
leads India's Shiv Sena party which dominates the state government of
Maharashtra. Thackeray's announcement of changing the name Bombay to
Mumbai; India's central government accepting this change; Thackeray's
background and personality; His reputation as a Hindu chauvinist; Talk
of India becoming `Hindustan' if Thackeray has anything to say about
it.
MUMBAI
SOME people laughed when the state government of Maharashtra, India's
most prosperous state, announced that it was changing the name of the
city of Bombay to Mumbai. But India's central government has accepted
the change and last month the venerable Times of India also made the
shift. Reluctantly, putting courtesy before convention, The Economist
will too.
The man responsible for the change is Bal Thackeray, who leads the
Shiv Sena party, which dominates the Maharashtra government. Mr
Thackeray seems to have other name changes in mind. He likes to talk
about "Hindustan" rather than India--a habit which illustrates exactly
why many Indians fear him. As India's leading Hindu chauvinist and a
scourge of Muslims, he threatens the country's tradition of tolerance
and secularism.
Mr Thackeray's latest campaign is aimed at the one religion all
Indians have in common--cricket--and specifically at the cricket World
Cup, which will be staged jointly by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
later this month. If Pakistan's team reaches the semi-finals, it will
have to play in India. Mr Thackeray has sworn it will not: "I will not
allow them to step on my motherland," he says. "We will damage the
pitch . . . The coach carrying them will not drive on the road from
the airport . . . They will not step into the stadium."
Mr Thackeray may not be able to make good his threats. The Pakistanis
will not be playing in Mumbai and have obtained official assurances
from India that their players will be safe. But his posturing will add
to his spiky reputation. He has even achieved international notoriety,
courtesy of Salman Rushdie, who has managed to enrage Hindu
chauvinists with a thinly disguised and unflattering portrait of Mr
Thackeray in "The Moor's Last Sigh", his most recent novel. Fear of
violence has led to the book being withdrawn in Mumbai.
A former newspaper cartoonist, Mr Thack eray is a Jekyll-and-Hyde
character. Visitors find a mild man, proud of his age--69 last month.
He says he used to enjoy drawing the "strong nose" of Indira Gandhi, a
former prime minister, and would like now to get to grips with the
sombre jowls of Narasimha Rao, the present prime minister. He holds no
official post, but controls the coalition from a closely guarded house
in a middle-class Mum bai suburb where he is building a dynasty,
grooming a son and a nephew as Shiv Sena leaders. Manohar Joshi, the
party's deputy leader, is Maharashtra's chief minister, but he has
little real power and openly admits the authority of "Mr Remote
Control".
Mr Remote Control (currently resting with a bad heart) has been more
restrained than many had feared. When his party came unexpectedly to
power in March, as part of a coalition with the Bharatiya Janata
Party, he talked about chasing non-Maharashtrans out of the state.
That was not a credible policy, so he has broadened his attentions to
Hindu fundamentalism. He insists that he does not want Muslims
expelled from India, and that his real ire is aimed at Pakistan and at
those Indian Muslims he sees as loyal to Pakistan. Businessmen credit
the coalition with running a relatively effective government that is
less corrupt (so far) than its predecessor, run by the Congress
party.
But Mr Thackerary is showing signs of reverting to rabble-rousing type
over the cricket tournament and other matters. Last week Maharashtra's
state government caused a storm by closing a three-year-old official
inquiry into communal riots that the Shiv Sena helped to incite. It
has also replaced the state's top civil servant who opposed some of Mr
Thackeray's plans.
The state government has extricated itself from the shambles it caused
by scrapping--then renegotiating--a power project with En ron, an
American company. But it remains equivocal about foreign investment.
Mr Thackeray says he welcomes foreigners, but wants to protect Indian
industries. "Don't come to kill our products, but if you have anything
new, then we welcome it," he says. That leaves plenty of room for a
xenophobic campaign in April's general election, in which, he hopes,
Shiv Sena will expand across the country.
In more violent moods Mr Thackeray prods and provokes with a
cartoonist's sense of the outrageous. He has even praised Hitler. He
condemns the Holocaust, but says he admires Hitler for having "the
charisma to cause a big earthquake for the whole world". He would like
India "to imbibe that militant spirit". Cricketers and Muslims take
note.
http://www.sikhlionz.com/shivsena.htm
BJP: IN INDIRA GANDHI'S FOOTSTEPS
Hindustan Times News Service
After years of marriage, goes the joke, husbands and wives end up
looking like each other. To that hoary old saw, let me add another
one: after years of opposing each other, Indian political parties
begin to sound like each other.
Take the BJP. For as long as I can remember — and even when it was
called the Jana Sangh — its leaders always told us that there was no
greater evil than the Congress. After the Emergency, they added a new
twist: there was no greater dictator than Indira Gandhi, and no
nastier dynasty than the Gandhis.
This is interesting. Because, over the last three months I have been
rubbing my eyes in disbelief each time I see BJP leaders on TV. The
reason is simple: they sound exactly like the Gandhis.
Let’s take the points of similarity, one by one.
The Foreign Hand: Whenever anything went wrong, Indira Gandhi had a
simple explanation — it was the foreign hand. Her government was doing
its best but what could it do? India was under threat from foreign
powers who were meddling in our affairs.
Mrs Gandhi never actually identified the foreign hand, but most of the
time, she meant America. So Congressmen (even under Rajiv) took to
blaming the CIA for every campaign against them (Bofors? Oh, that was
a CIA plot to destabilise India, etc etc) and for nearly every failure
to control law and order.
The BJP has adopted the same strategy. Except that everything is now
blamed on Pakistan. And rather than the CIA, it is the ISI that is
responsible for each of the government’s failures.
All law and order problems are attributed to terrorism and all
terrorism to the ISI. Any critics of the parivar are dismissed as
either unwilling dupes of the ISI or proper ISI agents.
Why did we need to rally around Indira Gandhi? Because the CIA was
destabilising India. Why do we need to rally around this government?
Because the ISI wants to destabilise India.
Given what we now know of the CIA’s covert activities, it seems
entirely probable that it was active in India during Mrs. Gandhi’s
reign. And similarly, there’s no doubt that the ISI has targeted
India.
But to blame everything on foreign agents? To go on and on about the
foreign hand to explain away your own failures?
That’s what this crowd has in common with Mrs. Gandhi.
Identifying ‘Terrorist Communities’: In 1984, the Congress released an
ad campaign that sought to play subliminally on Hindu fears of Sikh
terrorism. In the years of Bluestar and Mrs Gandhi’s assassination —
not to mention the Delhi riots — the ads had a huge impact. Such
headlines as “Will the Country’s Border Be Moved To Your Doorstep” and
copy that asked, “Should you be afraid to ride in a taxi driven by a
member of a particular community?” directly addressed (or aroused,
depending on your perspective) Hindu insecurities and fears about
Sikhs and the threat of terrorism.
The strategy worked: the Congress won by a landslide.
These days, the BJP is doing much the same sort of thing. It is
attempting to play on Hindu fears of Pakistani/jehadi terrorism. The
constant references to Mian Musharraf, the suggestion that we should
hold Indian Muslims responsible for Pakistan’s actions, and even the
view that enough Muslims did not condemn Godhra all recall the
atmosphere of 1984. Then too we heard how enough Sikhs did not speak
out against Bhindranwale, about how there was no Sikh condemnation of
Indira Gandhi’s assassins (“the only reason Sikhs were massacred” went
the apology, “was because they did not grieve for Mrs Gandhi”) and
about how every Sikh was a potential hijacker or terrorist.
Then it was Sikhs. Today its Muslims. But, Congress or BJP, the
strategy is exactly the same.
Action-Reaction: Referring to the Sikh riots of 1984, Rajiv Gandhi
told a public meeting, “When a big tree falls, the ground is bound to
shake.” God knows who was writing his speeches those days, but the
line would come back to haunt Rajiv so much the Congress would spend
hours explaining it away.
Referring to the Ahmedabad riots this year a variety of BJP leaders,
both national and regional, said that they were an inevitable
consequence of the Godhra incident. The Times of India quoted Narendra
Modi as suggesting that every action had an equal and opposite
reaction. That remark has haunted Modi so much that he has gone blue
in the face denying it or claiming that it was taken out of context.
The two statements — and the subsequent spin — echo each other
uncannily.
The Media and Elections: In the aftermath of Gujarat, the BJP is
claiming that the media actually distorted or suppressed news about
how well the party was doing because of journalistic bias.
This is a familiar allegation because the Congress has used it at
least thrice. In 1971, when Mrs Gandhi won a landslide in the mid-term
Lok Sabha election, she blamed the press (“which is against us”) for
failing to spot the wave. In 1979-80, when she came back to office,
she said the same thing (and yes, the press did truly hate her after
what it went through during the Emergency). And in 1984, Congressmen
were openly leery of the press’s failure to spot the wave.
The truth, I suspect, has little to do with journalistic biases.
Journos are simply not very good at predicting election results, even
when a wave is staring them in the face. Predictions are for
pollsters, not correspondents.
But the Congress blamed it on bias. And so, in exactly the same way,
does the BJP these days.
The Media in General: Mrs Gandhi famously described India Today (at a
press conference) as being anti-national only because it did not share
her perception of the national interest. When newspapers carried
reports of massacres during the visits of foreign dignitaries, they
were also called ‘anti-national’ or ‘determined to show India in a bad
light’.
When newspapers ran campaigns against the government, punitive action
had to be taken. Rajiv introduced a Defamation Bill to tame the press.
And his government made it a mission to destroy The Indian Express.
This government is following the same strategy. Ask any awkward
questions — about the Ansal Plaza shoot-out, for instance — and you
are anti-national. Focus on Narendra Modi’s role during the Gujarat
riots and you are embarrassing India in the eyes of the world. Speak
up for the minorities and you are either anti-national (ISI agents is
how the VHP’s Praveen Togadia, the ‘spiritual victor’ of Gujarat,
describes critical editors) or anti-Hindu, which, to this crowd, is
much the same thing.
And if you launch a campaign against them, they will make Rajiv’s
persecution of The Indian Express seem tame in comparison. Just look
at the manner in which Tehelka has been destroyed, its offices raided,
its journalists arrested, and its staff harassed. And, sure enough,
Tehelka has also been accused of being anti-national and ISI-
influenced.
And finally…: Do you begin to see the parallels? For all of the last
fortnight, I’ve imagined that Indira Gandhi is a ghostly presence at
BJP press conferences, there to bless the men she once jailed.
All of the rhetoric is strikingly similar. If the 1971 election was
the “voters’ reply to the vested interests,” then Gujarat is the
“voter’s” reply to secularists”. The allegations of governmental
complicity in the Gujarat riots are said to be bogus; “No NGO has
produced any evidence that will stand up in court.” Exactly what the
Congress said after the Delhi riots: ask Sajjan Kumar, he’s got the
acquittals to prove it.
Why, after the liberalisation and liberalism of the 1990s, have we
gone back to the clichés of the 1970s and 1980s? To the foreign hand;
to foreign intelligence agencies; to attempts to destabilise India; to
the need to call everybody we disagree with ‘anti-national’; to
turning Indian against Indian on the basis of religion; to destroying
critical media organisations; and most of all, to the opinionated self-
righteousness of Indira Gandhi, a woman who treated an attack on her
government as an attack on India?
And, at a more serious level, what does this say about our politics?
Does it suggest that all politicians are basically the same,
regardless of party? Is the BJP turning into everything it once said
it would oppose about the Congress? Is this Indira Gandhi’s ultimate
revenge — ensuring that her opponents become her political
descendants?
I don’t know the answers.
But don’t you think the questions are worth asking?
Vir Sanghvi
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news
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BAJRANG DAL
Indian fascism: Bajrang Dal
The wrath yatra
Vrinda Gopinath & Sharad Gupta
The Bajrang Dal, or vanar sena (army of apes), as it is
infamously called because of the wanton vandalism indulged by
its members, was born in 1984, just as the
Ramjanmabhoomi movement was beginning to roll off the
ground. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which was
spearheading the movement with the tacit blessing of the
Sangh Parivar, had planned the Sri Ram Janki Yatra, from
Ayodhya to Lucknow, which immediately ran into trouble with
the Uttar Pradesh state authorities. Stung by the state's
determination to stop the procession, the yatris made a clarion
call to Hindu youths in surrounding villages for protection. By
the time the yatra reached the state capital, a name was
already found for the band of Hindu `soldiers' -- the Bajrang
Dal.
What began as a temporary security arrangement, soon
swelled to a menacing army of misguided youths who were
preyed upon and infused with a fatal potion: a sense of
``colossal historical wrongdoing'' and ``wounded Hindu pride''.
Heady with a new sense of purpose anddirection, the Bajrang
Dal's Hindu Yuva Shakti (youth power) was successfully
employed to carry out a campaign of terror and destruction in
the Parivar's eternal quest to cleanse and purify Hindu society.
The Bajrang Dalis became the foot soldiers of the Parivar's
army, ready and alert for the call of battle. Training camps
were set up on the outskirts of Ayodhya, called Karsevapuram,
on the banks of the Gomti river, where youths lived in
dormitories and learnt the art of war. The combat wear was
equally fierce -- blazing saffron bandanas and shirts, glistening,
giant trishuls and swords in their hands, and provocative
slogans in the air. Hindutva had truly arrived.
As the militant, rabble-rousers muscled their way around and
successfully set up centres all over the cow belt, to the
satisfaction of the Parivar's patriarchs, the Bajrang Dal gave
the kickstart to the Ramjanmabhoomi movement. They
participated in the shilanyas after the doors of the Babri Masjid
were unlocked by a court order, organised bandhsand
demonstrations in the name of Ram, which most often ended
violently, but their first foray outside UP, however, was in
1989, when the organisation announced it would chant the
Hanuman chalisa in Jama Masjid, New Delhi. In a few
months, Dal activists joined the big league when they led L.K.
Advani's 1991 rath yatra, roaring alongside Advani's Toyota
chariot on motorbikes in full combat gear, leaving behind a trail
of violence and destruction.
It was in this atmosphere of hatred and fear, that the plan to
demolish the Babri Masjid quietly unfolded, and on December
6, 1992, the job was ruthlessly accomplished. But if there were
any hopes the Bajrang Dal would disband and go back to their
previous lives now that the ``historical slur had been wiped
clean'', soon evaporated after it announced it was now the
official youth wing of the VHP. Worse, the ban on the Bajrang
Dal with the RSS and VHP, after the demolition of the
mosque, gave it a separate identity. What was first dismissed
as a great nuisance value,the lunatic fringe of the Hindutva
movement, soon gave way to a group that was spread out,
organised, well-funded, and with immense muscle power.
Though the Dal has steadfastly maintained it has no political
ambitions but exists purely to ``liberate and unshackle Hindu
samaj'' and is not associated with any political party including
the BJP, its members (also from its parent organisation, the
VHP) however, soon filled Parliament and the UP Legislative
Assembly after the 1991 elections.
Arun Katiyar, the Dal's first convenor, was elected an MP,
and he was part of the clutch of sadhus and sants that
thundered into Parliament as elected members, brandishing
trishuls and kamandals. For a year-and-a-half, until the militant
organisations were banned (December 10, 1992), the BJP
looked on benignly as the sadhus and Dal MPs and MLAs
vociferously agitated for their demands raging from changing
the Constitution radically to the familiar one of a ban on cow
slaughter. But the Parivar's paternal indulgence on the``boys
and sants'' soon diminished as it sought to hide its aggressive
Hindutva image behind a more ``tolerant'' one. The sudden
decision came after the humiliating defeat of the BJP in the
Assembly elections in the Hindi belt, and the uncomfortable
truth sunk in that Hindutva alone will not bring in the votes.
To add to the BJP's discomfort, the sants kept up the pressure
to build the Ram temple in Ayodhya, many of them fell out
squabbling among themselves on who should lead the
temple-building, Katiyar stood completely discredited when he
was accused of raping of a young girl, Kusum Misra, whose
tale of continuous abuse and torture created an uproar, and
very soon the BJP and the Parivar began to distance itself
publicly from the militant outfits. In the 1996 general election,
unlike in the election before (in 1991), when Dal workers were
visible everywhere campaigning for the BJP, this time the
saffron wave was pushed back as BJP workers conducted
their own campaign. But the irrepressible Bajrang Dalsoon
surfaced to continue their ``service to Hindu samaj''.
In 1996, 26 Dal activists were jailed in Mumbai for smashing
the house of eminent artist Maqbool Fida Husain, for his
``nude'' paintings of a Hindu goddess. The next year, 17 beauty
contests were suspended in different parts of the country due
to Bajrang Dal's ``protests.'' It also forced 16 cigarette and pan
masala companies to stop using portraits of Hindu gods and
goddesses on their products. But it was in 1998, that the
Bajrang Dal was resurrected to give expression to the
Parivar's ``anger'' against Christian missionaries and get them
to suspend their ``chagai meetings'' (spiritual healing) in places
as far-flung as Haryana, Gujarat, UP, Punjab and Himachal
Pradesh. The violence and terror that has followed and last
week's ghastly murder of an Australian missionary and his two
sons, has once again brought back old nightmares. By calling
the violence against Christian missionaries a ``natural reaction''
of the local people to ``forcedconversions'', the Dal once again
thrust itself in the forefront, willing as always to start another
debate on the threat to Hinduism from minority communities.
"Enemies of Hindus must fear us"
Outlook Magazine on the Bajrang Dal
THE TRIDENT SPEAKS
Ideology thrown to the winds, Bajrang Dal says it will go the whole
hog
against missionaries
By Rajesh Joshi
Dr Surendra Jain, Bajrang Dal's all-India convenor, told Outlook it
was
not possible for the Bajrang Dal to stop its "work" unless Christians
apologised and broke their links with terrorist organisations.
Excerpts.
The Sangh parivar is in combat mode. Far from being cornered, the most
visible strong arm of the Sangh, the Bajrang Dal, has decided to go
the
whole hog against Christian missionaries. At a two-day conclave in
Delhi
last week, the organisation decided to reach out to "each and every
gram
pradhan and each and every household", to expose the "designs of the
missionaries to plant churches in every Indian village by 2001".
The Sangh clearly wants to kill two birds with one stone: take on
Christians, and target Sonia as well. A task made easier, they claim,
after Sonia Gandhi "insulted the Hindu dharma" by not signing the
register at Tirupati to declare her non-Hindu origins.
The RSS, in fact, started pushing its hardline Hindutva agenda right
after the state assembly election debacle. And pressed the Bajrang Dal
into service. For the self-styled "saviours of Hindus" in the Bajrang
Dal, the integral humanism propounded by Deen Dayal Upadhyay does not
appear to mean anything; nor do they believe in the ‘sober’ talks of
rashtra jeevan often put out by RSS pracharaks. This bratpack is on
the
offensive.
"We are ready to take up AK-47s if the need arises. Muslims want to
turn
this country into an Islamic state but we shall not let it happen,"
declares Ashok Kapoor, north Delhi convenor of the Bajrang Dal and son
of a refugee from Jhang, Pakistan. "I don’t believe in demonstrations;
I
believe that without a ‘danda’ nobody listens to you," he explains.
Prakash Sharma, co-convenor of the Bajrang Dal, is equally
belligerent:
"We have decided to write letters to all the gram pradhans about this
danger and will tell the people that they (the Christians) are doing
politics over the dead bodies of their children."
For a while, top vhp and Bajrang Dal leaders were hard put to distance
themselves from the Staines murder. Not any longer. By their own
admission, the Bajrang Dal has become "synonymous with terror for the
opponents of Hindus". The knife-shaped trident-wielding young men,
indoctrinated by an overdose of anti-minorityism, wearing saffron
bandannas, throng either a park or an abandoned field in their
mohallas
every morning and evening to practice martial arts.
These are the Balopasana kendras or the centres of Worship of Power.
Over 2,000 such kendras have sprung up across the country in the last
one year where the young men are told how Hindus are being persecuted
in
their own land and how Muslims and Christians are pushing an
"anti-national" agenda. And that the onus of saving the nation is on
them.
It is not all empty rhetoric. The organisation has shown time and
again
that when it comes to brasstacks it is always in the forefront. The
organisation takes pride in incidents where they have forced their way
or subjugated opponents. According to a publication of the vhp, the
Bajrang Dal "forcefully resisted the riots" on February 14, 1986, when
Muslims protested against the opening of the locked Ram temple at
Ayodhya. Similarly, says the publication, on October 14, 1988, the
Delhi
unit of the Bajrang Dal announced that it would recite the Hanuman
Chalisa at the Jama Masjid in Delhi. Following which all state units
announced the programme of organising kirtans and Hanuman Chalisa
recitations in masjids in their respective areas.
After every such action, a pat or two from the RSS top brass is more
than enough to keep a Bajrang Dal activist going. Although the Dal is
part of the Sangh, the RSS says it cannot be held responsible for
actions of other Sangh members. This time-tested tactic was chalked
out
initially when the RSS was banned for the first time in 1948, after
the
assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
"The RSS functions through its several organisations so that it could
not be squarely blamed for anything," says an RSS-watcher. It is not
necessary for the cadre to take permission from the top leadership.
Activists, especially in remote tribal areas, launch militant
anti-minority actions on their own—like loose cannons. And if the
situation goes out of control, it is easier for the RSS to distance
itself. This holds true not only for the Bajrang Dal but other Sangh
affiliates like the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram.
In August 1998, an activist of the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram in Ranchi
told
Outlook about a plan to demolish a church in a remote area of South
Bihar. He had noted down the name of the church, area and the date on
which the action was to be carried out. He said: "Our leaders have no
knowledge of my plans; we will tell them once we accomplish the task."
The particular church was razed to the ground on the day they had
decided on, August 31, 1998. Says Kapoor: "There is a famous saying in
the RSS that the RSS does not do anything and there is nothing which
the
RSS cadre does not do." That just about sums up the modus operandi of
Sangh affiliates.
The first thing the vhp and Bajrang Dal did after the Orissa incident
was disown the accused Dara Singh, while condemning the incident. They
also questioned the conduct of the missionary and dismissed the
incident
as a "local reaction". Asked whether the RSS would appeal to the
Hindus
to observe restraint as Mahatma Gandhi did after Chauri Chaura, a top
RSS leader retorted: "No way. Why should we appeal to Hindus to
observe
restraint? Gandhi did what he thought was right, we are doing what we
think is right."
The formation of the Bajrang Dal coincides with the anti-Sikh wave
that
swept the country in 1983-84 after Operation Bluestar. Then prime
minister Indira Gandhi had emerged as a strong Hindu leader and to
neutralise the Hindu support for her the RSS planned to launch an
all-out attack on the government on the issue of Ram Janmabhoomi.
Riding
the anti-Sikh sentiments, the Bajrang Dal organised several trishul
dhaaran functions throughout the country. The activists were given a
knife-like trident to be slung across the shoulder—an answer to the
kirpan. The Bajrang Dal has come of age during these 14 years. It has
faced a ban and successfully managed to mushroom into an all-India
organisation. Created to murder Sikhs- it has since identified
new targets...
http://www.sikhlionz.com/bajrangdal.htm
"Hindus are very intolerant"
by Amberish K Diwanji
Tell a lie a 1000 times and it becomes the truth. This was claimed by
none other than Josef Goebbels, minister for propaganda in Hitler's
cabinet. Except that he was wrong. Tell a lie a 1000 times and people
believe you easily, often thinking it is the truth.
But it is not the truth.
Today, there is a certain myth prevailing that Hindus are a very
tolerant people and that Hinduism is a very tolerant religion. That it
is the tolerance of Hinduism and the Hindu people which allowed and
allows other faiths, sects and beliefs to exist in this country in
perfect harmony. That because India is a Hindu majority country it is
secular (clearly implying that if Hindus are not in a majority, India
would not have been secular).
Alas, it is very easy to believe flattering things about ones own
self. Tell a man he is intelligent and handsome, he'll nod
approvingly; say he's not and you could end up in a fight! On what
basis are these premises made? It must be very ego satisfying for
Hindus nurturing delusions of grandeur to hold such beliefs about
their great faith, but it is not very true.
Despite its many social flaws, there is no doubt good reason to
believe that Hinduism, as a religion and philosophy, is very tolerant.
The reason is because Hinduism means different things to different
people. It does not have a single book (like the Bible or Koran) but
has many books -- the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagvad Gita, besides
books such as the Ramayan, Mahabharata, Ramacharita Manas,
Dnyaneshwari, and so on. In these books one comes across various
ideas, beliefs, stories and devotional songs to guide the common man.
Similarly, while Hinduism is at one end extremely ritualistic, it can
also be lived completely bereft of these rituals and sacraments. Even
those who insist that Hinduism has certain core beliefs have
difficulty listing them. You can even be an atheist and be a Hindu
(only Buddhism comes close in this respect). It is this elasticity,
this all-encompassing nature of this great philosophy and theology
that has ensured the survival of the world's oldest religion, a
religion assaulted more
from within than from outside.
However, are Hindus really tolerant, or do we simply believe that we
are and then propagate this lie so much that we end up believing it.
Reams have been written, scores of scholars, theologians, and
intellectuals of different persuasions quoted in seeking to prove the
tolerance of Hindus. Nothing is more satisfying that quoting some
white-skinned Westerner who chooses to attack Christianity and Islam
and praise Hinduism and Hindus. Yet when some brown-skinned Indian
chooses to find fault with Hinduism, he is called Macaulay's child,
brown sahib, a person who has never understood India, and so on.
Praise Hindus and you have understood India (and Hinduism); criticise
certain aspects of Hinduism and be damned! Is this not an
Inquisition?
How do you measure tolerance? Muslims today are called intolerant. Yet
history shows that for centuries, Jews were safest in Muslim lands
while being hounded in Christian lands, until the creation of Israel
changed that. Today, Christian-majority nations and states are pushing
the frontiers of liberty, equality, fraternity and justice, ideas that
India imported and Indians (mostly Hindus) today seek proudly to
defend because these ideas are for the benefit of all citizens. Ideas
cannot to be condemned simply because they come from another land or
from people of a different faith.
While there is no doubt about Hinduism per se being tolerant, all
Hindus cannot claim that privilege. Every society and religion has its
outsiders. The Jews had their gentile, Christians their pagan, Muslims
their kafirs. Hindus had their mlechha (the impure outsiders and lower
castes). But while other faiths only targeted outsiders, Hindus also
targeted people within their faith: the so-called untouchables and
lower castes. A great amount of energy and effort was expended by the
so-called upper castes in keeping down the lower castes by creating a
maze of laws that were inhuman to say the least.
There is much boasting about how other faiths could flourish in India,
the inference being about how Hindus were tolerant. Yet what kind of
tolerance is it that is kind to some while cruel to others? Is it to
do with fear? Christianity and Islam both first came to India along
the Malabar coast (ironic, but the great Shankaracharya, who revived
Hinduism in India and ousted Buddhism, also came from the region now
known as Kerala), but then they were small settlements with a limited
impact. The major impact of both came with the conquerors. The fact is
that (upper-caste) Hindus were tolerant to both Muslims and Christians
because being conquerors and rulers, to not tolerate them and their
faith meant instant death! And their intolerance to their own lower
caste brethren drove the latter into the arms of other faiths.
The fact is that no Hindu would dare have treated a Muslim the way he
did an untouchable: the Muslim rulers/kings/warriors would have
chopped off his head. Ditto when the Europeans came. Would any upper
caste Hindu have dared prevent a Muslim or Christian from entering his
house or his locality? On the contrary, the upper caste Hindus forged
close alliances with the rulers of the day to improve their positions
in society and became part of the élite. (Upper-caste) Hindus were
tolerant towards Muslims and Christians because the latter had swords
and guns; but the same Hindus were intolerant of lower-caste Hindus
who came with their hands folded, seeking to pray in the temple and
live with dignity in the village. Both of which were denied to them!
Today, both the Muslim and Christian conquerors and rulers are no
longer in our midst. And the result is an upsurge of Hindu
intolerance, whether it is in the massacres in Bihar (remember, dalits
are hardly ever treated as equal Hindus), in the killing of Stains, in
the communal violence that so pervades our society. Tolerance is how
the ruling class and society treats its people of all kinds, and our
record is no great shakes.
What is mentioned above can be said of all peoples of all communities.
Christians, exhorted to love their neighbours, have perpetuated the
worst crimes in history against native people across the globe. For
centuries, the Church supported apartheid and racism, and the
imperialism of the West. The killings in the name of Islam (despite
Prophet Mohammed's message never to convert by force) are endless and
gory, the destruction of temples and the forced conversions of Hindus
and others (offering them the Koran or the sword) in India and
elsewhere are part of Islam's history.
Yet, the point I am trying to make is that the people of all religions
have shown incredible cruelty towards others weaker than them at a
given point in history. It is not much different for Hindus. Upper
caste Hindus centuries ago, were not tolerant of people weaker than
them (who were then the so-called lower castes). Hence when Hindus
boast of their tolerance, let us take it with a large pinch of salt.
Certainly, Hinduism has never been involved in a clash with Buddhism
(like how Christian and Islam fought) and this is due to the accepting
and open philosophies of both. Yet, all religions preach certain
values of love, brotherhood, service, etc. Humans have failed to
understand them. When some of us (of any religious denomination)
criticise the actions of some Hindu bigots (as we do that of Muslim
and Christian fanatics), it is only because our religions teach us
better.
http://www.sikhlionz.com/hindusareveryintolerant.htm
http://www.sikhlionz.com/antisikh.htm
bademiyansubhanallah
OR
THE PARTITION OF INDIA
BY
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
"More brain, O Lord, more brain! or we shall mar,
Utterly this fair garden we might win."
(Quotation from the title page of Thoughts on Pakistan, 1st ed.)
INSCRIBED TO THE MEMORY
OF
RAMU
As a token of my appreciation of her goodness of heart, her nobility
of mind and her purity of character
and also for the cool fortitude and readiness to suffer along with me
which she showed
in those friendless days of want and worries which fell to our lot.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
[Editor's Introduction]
Preface to the Second Edition
Prologue
Introduction
PART I -- MUSLIM CASE FOR PAKISTAN
CHAPTER I -- What does the League Demand?
Part I [The Muslim League's Resolution of March 1940]
Part II [Unifying the North-West provinces is an age-old project]
Part III [The Congress itself has proposed to create Linguistic
Provinces]
CHAPTER II -- A Nation Calling for a Home
[What is the definition of a "nation," and what "nations" can be found
in India?]
CHAPTER III -- Escape from Degradation
[What grievances do Muslims have against their treatment by the
Congress?]
PART II -- HINDU CASE AGAINST PAKISTAN
CHAPTER IV -- Break-up of Unity
[How substantial, in truth, is the unity between Hindus and Muslims?]
CHAPTER V -- Weakening of the Defences
Part I -- Question of Frontiers
Part II -- Question of Resources
Part III -- Question of Armed Forces
CHAPTER VI -- Pakistan and Communal Peace
Part I [The Communal Question in its "lesser intent"]
Part II [The Communal Question in its "greater intent"]
Part III [The real question is one of demarcation of boundaries]
Part IV [Will Punjabis and Bengalis agree to redraw their boundaries?]
PART III -- WHAT IF NOT PAKISTAN?
CHAPTER VII -- Hindu Alternative to Pakistan
Part I [Lala Hardayal's scheme for conversion in the North-West]
Part II [The stand of Mr. V. D. Savarkar and the Hindu Maha Sabha]
Part III [Mr. Gandhi's tenacious quest for Hindu-Muslim unity]
Part IV [The riot-torn history of Hindu-Muslim relations, 1920-1940]
Part V [Such barbaric mutual violence shows an utter lack of unity]
CHAPTER VIII -- Muslim Alternative to Pakistan
Part I [The proposed Hyderabad scheme of legislative reform is not
promising]
Part II [The "Azad Muslim Conference" thinks along similar lines]
CHAPTER IX -- Lessons from Abroad
Part I [The case of Turkey shows a steady dismemberment and loss of
territory]
Part II [The case of Czechoslovakia, a country which lasted only two
decades]
Part III [Both were brought down by the growth of the spirit of
nationalism]
Part IV [The force of nationalism, once unleashed, almost cannot be
stopped]
Part V [Hindustan and Pakistan would be stronger, more homogeneous
units]
PART IV -- PAKISTAN AND THE MALAISE
CHAPTER X -- Social Stagnation
Part I [Muslim Society is even more full of social evils than Hindu
Society is]
Part II [Why there is no organized movement of social reform among the
Muslims]
Part III [The Hindus emphasize nationalist politics and ignore the
need for social reform]
Part IV [In a "communal malaise," both groups ignore the urgent claims
of social justice]
CHAPTER XI -- Communal Aggression
[British sympathy encourages ever-increasing, politically calculated
Muslim demands]
CHAPTER XII -- National Frustration
Part I [Can Hindus count on Muslims to show national rather than
religious loyalty?]
Part II [Hindus really want Dominion status; Muslims really want
independence]
Part III [The necessary national political loyalty is not present
among Muslims]
Part IV [Muslim leaders' views, once nationalistic, have grown much
less so over time]
Part V [The vision of Pakistan is powerful, and has been implicitly
present for decades]
Part VI [Mutual antipathies have created a virus of dualism in the
body politic]
PART V
CHAPTER XIII -- Must There be Pakistan?
Part I [The burden of proof on the advocates of Pakistan is a heavy
one]
Part II [Is it really necessary to divide what has long been a single
whole?]
Part III [Other nations have survived for long periods despite
communal antagonisms]
Part IV [Cannot legitimate past grievances be redressed in some less
drastic way?]
Part V [Cannot the many things shared between the two groups be
emphasized?]
Part VI ['Hindu Raj' must be prevented at all costs, but is Pakistan
the best means?]
Part VII [If Muslims truly and deeply desire Pakistan, their choice
ought to be accepted]
CHAPTER XIV -- The Problems of Pakistan
Part I [Problems of border delineation and population transfer must be
addressed]
Part II [What might we assume to be the borders of West and East
Pakistan?]
Part III [Both Muslims and Hindus ignore the need for genuine self-
determination]
Part IV [Punjab and Bengal would thus necessarily be subject to
division]
Part V [A demand for regional self-determination must always be a two-
edged sword]
Part VI [The problems of population transfer are solvable and need not
detain us]
CHAPTER XV -- Who Can Decide?
Part I [Partition is a very possible contingency for which it's best
to be prepared]
Part II [I offer this draft of a 'Government of India (Preliminary
Provisions) Act']
Part III [My plan is community-based, and thus more realistic than the
Cripps plan]
Part IV [My solution is borne out by the examination of similar cases
elsewhere]
Epilogue -- [We need better statesmanship than Mr. Gandhi and Mr.
Jinnah have shown]
TABLES
-- 003a -- Revenues raised by Provincial and Central Governments
-- 101a -- The Congress's Proposed Linguistic Provinces
-- 205a -- Resources of Pakistan
-- 205b -- Resources of Hindustan
-- 205c -- Areas of Indian Army Recruitment
-- 205d -- Areas of Recruitment During World War I
-- 205e -- Changes in the Composition of the Indian Infantry
-- 205f -- Changes in the Communal Composition of the Indian Army
-- 205g -- Communal Composition of the Indian Army in 1930
-- 205h -- Communal Percentages in Infantry and Cavalry, 1930
-- 205i -- Provincial Composition of the Indian Army, 1943
-- 205j -- Communal Composition of the Indian Army, 1943
-- 205k -- Contributions to the Central Exchequer from the Pakistan
Area
-- 205l -- Contributions to the Central Exchequer from the Hindustan
Area
-- 206a -- Muslim Population in Pakistan and Hindustan
-- 206b -- Distribution of Seats in the Central Legislature (Numbers)
-- 206c -- Distribution of Seats in the Central Legislature
(Percentages)
-- 307a -- Casualties of the Riots in Sukkur, Sind, November 1939
-- 308a -- Proposed Hyderabad Scheme of Communal Reforms
-- 410a -- Married Females Aged 0-15 per 1000 Females of That Age
-- 411a -- Legislative Councils (Act of 1909): Communal Proportion
between Hindus and Muslims
-- 411b -- Communal Composition of the Legislatures, 1919
-- 411c -- Representation of Muslims According to the Lucknow Pact,
1916
-- 411d -- Actual Weightage of Muslims According to the Lucknow
Pact
APPENDICES
-- 01 -- Appendix I : Population of India by Communities
-- 02 -- Appendix II : Communal distribution of population by
Minorities in the Provinces of British India
-- 03 -- Appendix III : Communal distribution of population by
Minorities in the States
-- 04 -- Appendix IV : Communal distribution of population in the
Punjab by Districts
-- 05 -- Appendix V : Communal distribution of population in Bengal by
Districts
-- 06 -- Appendix VI : Communal distribution of population in Assam by
Districts
-- 07 -- Appendix VII : Proportion of Muslim population in N.-W. F.
Province by Districts
-- 08 -- Appendix VIII : Proportion of Muslim population in N.-W. F.
Province by Towns
-- 09 -- Appendix IX : Proportion of Muslim population in Sind by
Districts
-- 10 -- Appendix X : Proportion of Muslim population in Sind by
Towns
-- 11 -- Appendix XI : Languages spoken by the Muslims of India
-- 12-- Appendix XII : Address by Muslims to Lord Minto, 1906, and
Reply thereto
-- 13 -- Appendix XIII : Allocation of Seats under the Government of
India Act, 1935, for the Lower House in each Provincial Legislature
-- 14 -- Appendix XIV : Allocation of Seats under the Government of
India Act, 1935, for the Upper House in each Provincial Legislature
-- 15 -- Appendix XV : Allocation of Seats under the Government of
India Act, 1935, for the Lower House of the Federal Legislature for
British India by Province and by Community
-- 16 -- Appendix XVI : Allocation of Seats under the Government of
India Act, 1935, for the Upper Chamber of the Federal Legislature for
British India by Province and by Community
-- 17 -- Appendix XVI : Allocation of Seats under the Government of
India Act, 1935, for the Upper Chamber of the Federal Legislature for
British India by Province and by Community
-- 18 -- Appendix XVIII : Communal Award
-- 19 -- Appendix XIX : Supplementary Communal Award
-- 20 -- Appendix XX : The Poona Pact
-- 21 -- Appendix XXI : Comparative Statement of Minority
Representation under the Government of India Act, 1935, in the
Provincial Legislature
-- 22 -- Appendix XXII : Comparative Statement of Minority
Representation under the Government of India Act, 1935, in the Central
Legislature
-- 23 -- Appendix XXIII : Government of India Resolution of 1934 on
Communal Representation of Minorities in the Services
-- 24 -- Appendix XXIV : Government of India Resolution of 1943 on
Representation of the Scheduled Castes in the Services
-- 25-- Appendix XXV : The Cripps Proposals
ERRATA -- [corrections have now been incorporated into the text]
MAPS
-- Punjab -- Bengal & Assam -- India --
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/ambedkar_partition/index.html#contents
Editor's Introduction
The text of this complete online book has been taken from Dr.
Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches, Vol. 8 (Bombay: Education
Department, Government of Maharashtra, 1990). The work was first
published by Thacker and Co., Bombay, December 1940. Second edition:
February 1945. Third edition: 1946. The Government of Maharashtra's
text is that of the third edition.
This online edition has been edited for research use by most readers
(apart from some academic specialists, who will of course want to
consult the various original print versions). Here is a description of
the editing:
= Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
= All the errors in the book's list of "Errata" have been corrected in
the text.
= A few omissions of section numbers, or misnumberings of sections,
have been corrected.
= Nothing whatsoever has been omitted from the original text.
= All paragraph breaks are those of the original text.
= In a few cases, punctuation has been adjusted for clarity.
= All editorial annotations by FWP have been enclosed in square
brackets.
= All embedded quotations that are not Dr. Ambedkar's own words are in
10-point type.
= Such embedded quotations have been reproduced exactly as in the
printed text.
Needless to say, Dr. Ambedkar's opinions about many matters discussed
in the text were then, and are now, controversial. In addition, some
of the historical accounts on which he relied for factual information
have now been rendered obsolete by later, and better-grounded,
research. (For example, Chapter IV would surely have been quite
different if Dr. Ambedkar had had access to more complex studies like
that of Romila Thapar on Mahmud Ghaznavi, or Richard Eaton on temple
destruction.)
That being said, it's a unique and fascinating work, and well deserves
the new readers it will now be able to find.
-- Fran Pritchett
Columbia University
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/ambedkar_partition/000fwpintro.html
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
The problem of Pakistan has given a headache to everyone, more so
to me than to anybody else. I cannot help recalling with regret how
much of my time it has consumed when so much of my other literary work
of greater importance to me than this is held up for want of it. I
therefore hope that this second edition will also be the last. I trust
that before it is exhausted either the question will be settled or
withdrawn.
There are four respects in which this second edition differs from
the first.
/1/The first edition contained many misprints which formed the subject
of complaints from many readers as well as reviewers. In preparing
this edition, I have taken as much care as is possible to leave no
room for complaint on this score. The first edition consisted only of
three parts. Part V is an addition. It contains my own views on the
various issues involved in the problem of Pakistan. It has been added
because of the criticism levelled against the first edition that while
I wrote about Pakistan, I did not state what views I held on the
subject. The present edition differs from the first in another
respect. The maps contained in the first edition are retained but the
number of appendices have been enlarged. In the first edition there
were only eleven appendices. The present edition has twenty-five. To
this edition I have also added an index which did not find a place in
the first edition.
The book appears to have supplied a real want. I have seen how the
thoughts, ideas, and arguments contained in it have been pillaged by
authors, politicians and editors of newspapers to support their sides.
I am sorry they did not observe the decency of acknowledging the
source even when they lifted not merely the argument but also the
language of the book. But that is a matter I do not mind. I am glad
that the book has been of service to Indians who are faced with this
knotty problem of Pakistan. The fact that Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Jinnah in
their recent talks cited the book as an authority on the subject which
might be consulted with advantage bespeaks the worth of the book.
The book by its name might appear to deal only with the X.Y.Z. of
Pakistan. It does more than that. It is an analytical presentation of
Indian history and Indian politics in their communal aspects. As such,
it is intended to explain the A.B.C. of Pakistan also. The book is
more than a mere treatise on Pakistan. The material relating to Indian
history and Indian politics contained in this book is so large and so
varied that it might well be called Indian Political What is What.
The book has displeased both Hindus as well as Muslims though the
reasons for the dislike of the Hindus are different from the reasons
for the dislike of the Muslims. I am not sorry for this reception
given to my book. That it is disowned by the Hindus and unowned by the
Muslims is to me the best evidence that it has the vices of neither,
and that from the point of view of independence of thought and
fearless presentation of facts the book is not a party production.
Some people are sore because what I have said has hurt them. I
have not, I confess, allowed myself to be influenced by fears of
wounding either individuals or classes, or shocking opinions however
respectable they may be. I have often felt regret in pursuing this
course, but remorse never. Those whom I may have offended must forgive
me, in consideration of the honesty and disinterestedness of my aim. I
do not claim to have written dispassionately, though I trust I have
written without prejudice. It would be hardly possible--1 was going to
say decent--for an Indian to be calm when he talks of his country and
thinks of the times. In dealing with the question of Pakistan, my
object has been to draw a perfectly accurate, and at the same time, a
suggestive picture of the situation as I see it. Whatever points of
strength and weakness I have discovered on either side, I have brought
them boldly forward. I have taken pains to throw light on the
mischievous effects that are likely to proceed from an obstinate and
impracticable course of action.
The witness of history regarding the conflict between the forces
of the authority of the State and of anti-State nationalism within,
has been uncertain, if not equivocal. As Prof. Friedmann /2/ observes:
—
"There is not a single modem State which has not, at one time or
another, forced a recalcitrant national group to live under its
authority. Scots, Bretons, Catalans, Germans, Poles, Czechs, Finns,
all have, at some time or another, been compelled to accept the
authority of a more powerful State whether they liked it or not.
Often, as in Great Britain or France, force eventually led to co-
operation and a co-ordination of State authority and national
cohesion. But in many cases, such as those of Germany, Poland, Italy
and a host of Central European and Balkan countries, the forces of
Nationalism did not rest until they had thrown off the shackles of
State Power and formed a State of their own. . . ."
In the last edition, I depicted the experience of countries in
which the State engaged itself in senseless suppression of nationalism
and withered away in the attempt. In this edition I have added by way
of contrast the experience of other countries, to show that given the
will to live together it is not impossible for diverse communities and
even for diverse nations to live in the bosom of one State. It might
be said that in tendering advice to both sides, I have used terms more
passionate than they need have been. If I have done so it is because I
felt that the manner of the physician who tries to surprise the vital
principle in each paralyzed organ in order to goad it to action was
best suited to stir up the average Indian who is complacent if not
somnolent, who is unsuspecting if not ill-informed, to realize what is
happening. I hope my effort will have the desired effect.
I cannot close this preface without thanking Prof. Manohar B.
Chitnis of the Khalsa College, Bombay, and Mr. K. V. Chitre for their
untiring labours to remove all printer's and clerical errors that had
crept into the first edition, and to see that this edition is free
from all such blemishes. I am also very grateful to Prof. Chitnis for
the preparation of the Index, which has undoubtedly enhanced the
utility of the book.
B. R. AMBEDKAR
1st January 1945,
22, Prithviraj Road,
New Delhi.
/1/ In the first edition there unfortunately occurred through
oversight in proof correction a discrepancy between the population
figures in the different districts of Bengal and the map showing the
lay-out of Pakistan as applied to Bengal which had resulted in two
districts which should have been included in the Pakistan area being
excluded from it. In this edition, this error has been rectified and
the map and the figures have been brought into conformity.
/2/ The Crisis of the National State (1943), p. 4.
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/ambedkar_partition/001pref.html
PROLOGUE
It can rightly be said that the long introduction with which this
treatise opens leaves no excuse for a prologue. But there is an
epilogue which is affixed to the treatise. Having done that, I thought
of prefixing a prologue, firstly, because an epilogue needs to be
balanced by a prologue, and secondly, because the prologue gives me
room to state in a few words the origin of this treatise to those who
may be curious to know it and to impress upon the readers the
importance of the issues raised in it. For the satisfaction of the
curious it may be stated that there exists, at any rate in the Bombay
Presidency, a political organization called the Independent Labour
Party (abbreviated into I.L.P.) for the last three years. It is not an
ancient, hoary organization which can claim to have grown grey in
politics. The I.L.P. is not in its dotage and is not overtaken by
senility, for which second childhood is given as a more agreeable
name. Compared with other political organizations, the I.L.P. is a
young and fairly active body, not subservient to any clique or
interest. Immediately after the passing of the Lahore Resolution on
Pakistan by the Muslim League, the Executive Council of the I.L.P. met
to consider what attitude it should adopt towards this project of
Pakistan. The Executive Council could see that there was underlying
Pakistan an idea to which no objection could be taken. Indeed, the
Council was attracted to the scheme of Pakistan inasmuch as it meant
the creation of ethnic states as a solution of the communal problem.
The Council, however, did not feel competent to pronounce at that
stage a decided opinion on the issue of Pakistan. The Council,
therefore, resolved to appoint a committee to study the question and
make a report on it. The committee consisted of myself as the
Chairman, and Principal M. V. Donde, B.A.; Mr. S. C. Joshi,
M.A.,LL.B., Advocate (O.S.), M.L.C.; Mr.R.R.Bhole, B.Sc., LL.B.,
M.L.A.; Mr. D. G. Jadhav, B.A., LL.B., M.L.A.; and Mr. A. V. Chitre,
B.A., M.L.A., all belonging to the I.L.P., as members of the
committee. Mr. D. V. Pradhan, Member, Bombay Municipal Corporation,
acted as Secretary to the committee. The committee asked me to prepare
a report on Pakistan which I did. The same was submitted to the
Executive Council of the I.L.P., which resolved that the report should
be published. The treatise now published is that report.
The book is intended to assist the student of Pakistan to come to
his own conclusion. With that object in view, I have not only
assembled in this volume all the necessary and relevant data but have
also added 14 appendices and 3 maps, which in my judgement, form an
important accompaniment to the book.
It is not enough for the reader to go over the material collected
in the following pages. He must also reflect over it. Let him take to
heart the warning which Carlyle gave to Englishmen of his generation.
He said:
"The Genius of England no longer soars Sunward, world-defiant, like an
Eagle through the storms, ' mewing her mighty youth,'.... the Genius
of England—much like a greedy Ostrich intent on provender and a whole
skin. . . . ; with its Ostrich-head stuck into....whatever sheltering
Fallacy there may be, and so awaits the issue. The issue has been
slow; but it now seems to have been inevitable. No Ostrich, intent on
gross terrene provender and sticking its head into Fallacies, but will
be awakened one day—in a terrible a posteriori manner if not
otherwise! Awake before it comes to that. Gods and men did us awake!
The Voices of our Fathers, with thousand fold stern monition to one
and all, bid us awake."
This warning, I am convinced, applies to Indians in their present
circumstances as it once did to Englishmen, and Indians, if they pay
no heed to it, will do so at their peril.
Now, a word for those who have helped me in the preparation of
this report. Mr. M. G. Tipnis, D.C.E., (Kalabhuwan, Baroda), and Mr.
Chhaganlal S. Mody have rendered me great assistance, the former in
preparing the maps and the latter in typing the manuscript. I wish to
express my gratitude to both for their work which they have done
purely as a labour of love. Thanks are also due in a special measure
to my friends Mr. B. R. Kadrekar and Mr. K. V. Chitre for their
labours in undertaking the most uninteresting and dull task of
correcting the proof sand supervising the printing.
B.R. AMBEDKAR.
28th December, 1940,
'Rajagrah'
Dadar, Bombay, 14.
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/ambedkar_partition/002prolog.html
INTRODUCTION
The Muslim League's Resolution on Pakistan has called forth
different reactions. There are some who look upon it as a case of
political measles to which a people in the infancy of their conscious
unity and power are very liable. Others have taken it as a permanent
frame of the Muslim mind and not merely a passing phase and have in
consequence been greatly perturbed.
The question is undoubtedly controversial. The issue is vital and
there is no argument which has not been used in the controversy by one
side to silence the other. Some argue that this demand for
partitioning India into two political entities under separate national
states staggers their imagination; others are so choked with a sense
of righteous indignation at this wanton attempt to break the unity of
a country, which, it is claimed, has stood as one for centuries, that
their rage prevents them from giving expression to their thoughts.
Others think that it need not be taken seriously. They treat it as a
trifle and try to destroy it by shooting into it similes and
metaphors. "You don't cut your head to cure your headache," "you don't
cut a baby into two because two women are engaged in fighting out a
claim as to who its mother is," are some of the analogies which are
used to prove the absurdity of Pakistan. In a controversy carried on
the plane of pure sentiment, there is nothing surprising if a
dispassionate student finds more stupefaction and less understanding,
more heat and less light, more ridicule and less seriousness.
My position in this behalf is definite, if not singular. I do not
think the demand for Pakistan is the result of mere political
distemper, which will pass away with the efflux of time. As I read the
situation, it seems to me that it is a characteristic in the
biological sense of the term, which the Muslim body politic has
developed in the same manner as an organism develops a characteristic.
Whether it will survive or not, in the process of natural selection,
must depend upon the forces that may become operative in the struggle
for existence between Hindus and Musalmans. I am not staggered by
Pakistan; I am not indignant about it; nor do I believe that it can be
smashed by shooting into it similes and metaphors. Those who believe
in shooting it by similes should remember that nonsense does not cease
to be nonsense because it is put in rhyme, and that a metaphor is no
argument though it be sometimes the gunpowder to drive one home and
imbed it in memory. I believe that it would be neither wise nor
possible to reject summarily a scheme if it has behind it the
sentiment, if not the passionate support, of 90 p.c. Muslims of India.
I have no doubt that the only proper attitude to Pakistan is to study
it in all its aspects, to understand its implications and to form an
intelligent judgement about it.
With all this, a reader is sure to ask: Is this book on Pakistan
seasonable in the sense that one must read it, as one must eat the
fruits of the season to keep oneself in health? If it is seasonable,
is it readable? These are natural queries and an author, whose object
is to attract readers, may well make use of the introduction to meet
them.
As to the seasonableness of the book there can be no doubt. The
way of looking at India by Indians themselves must be admitted to have
undergone a complete change during the last 20 years. Referring to
India Prof. Arnold Toynbee wrote in 1915—
"British statesmanship in the nineteenth century regarded India as a
'Sleeping Beauty,' whom Britain had a prescriptive right to woo when
she awoke; so it hedged with thorns the garden where she lay, to
safeguard her from marauders prowling in the desert without. Now the
princess is awake, and is claiming the right to dispose of her own
hand, while the marauders have transformed themselves into respectable
gentlemen diligently occupied in turning the desert into a garden too,
but grievously impeded by the British thorn-hedge. When they politely
request us to remove it, we shall do well to consent, for they will
not make the demand till they feel themselves strong enough to enforce
it, and in the tussle that will follow if we refuse, the sympathies of
the Indian princess will not be on our side. Now that she is awake,
she wishes to walk abroad among her neighbours; she feels herself
capable of rebuffing without our countenance any blandishments or
threats they may offer her, and she is becoming as weary as they of
the thorn-hedge that confines her to her garden.
"If we treat her with tact, India will never wish to secede from the
spiritual brotherhood of the British Empire, but it is inevitable that
she should lead a more and more independent life of her own, and
follow the example of Anglo-Saxon Commowealths by establishing direct
relations with her neighbours. . . ."
Although the writer is an Englishman, the view expressed by him in
1915 was the view commonly held by all Indians irrespective of caste
or creed. Now that India the "Sleeping Beauty" of Prof. Toynbee is
awake, what is the view of the Indians about her? On this question,
there can be no manner of doubt that those who have observed this
Sleeping Beauty behave in recent years, feel she is a strange being
quite different from the angelic princess that she was supposed to be.
She is a mad maiden having a dual personality, half human, half
animal, always in convulsions because of her two natures in perpetual
conflict. If there is any doubt about her dual personality, it has now
been dispelled by the Resolution of the Muslim League demanding the
cutting up of India into two, Pakistan and Hindustan, so that these
conflicts and convulsions due to a dual personality having been bound
in one may cease forever, and so freed from each other, may dwell in
separate homes congenial to their respective cultures, Hindu and
Muslim.
It is beyond question that Pakistan is a scheme which will have to
be taken into account. The Muslims will insist upon the scheme being
considered. The British will insist upon some kind of settlement being
reached between the Hindus and the Muslims before they consent to any
devolution of political power. There is no use blaming the British for
insisting upon such a settlement as a condition precedent to the
transfer of power. The British cannot consent to settle power upon an
aggressive Hindu majority and make it its heir, leaving it to deal
with the minorities at its sweet pleasure. That would not be ending
imperialism. It would be creating another imperialism. The Hindus,
therefore, cannot avoid coming to grips with Pakistan, much as they
would like to do.
If the scheme of Pakistan has to be considered, and there is no
escape from it, then there are certain points which must be borne in
mind.
The first point to note is that the Hindus and Muslims must decide
the question themselves. They cannot invoke the aid of anyone else.
Certainly, they cannot expect the British to decide it for them. From
the point of view of the Empire, it matters very little to the British
whether India remains one undivided whole, or is partitioned into two
parts, Pakistan and Hindustan, or into twenty linguistic fragments as
planned by the Congress, so long as all of them are content to live
within the Empire. The British need not interfere for the simple
reason that they are not affected by such territorial divisions.
Further, if the Hindus are hoping that the British will use force
to put down Pakistan, that is impossible. In the first place, coercion
is no remedy. The futility of force and resistance was pointed out by
Burke long ago in his speeches relating to the coercion of the
American colonies. His memorable words may be quoted not only for the
benefit of the Hindu Maha Sabha but also for the benefit of all. This
is what he said:
"The use of force alone is temporary. It may endure a moment but it
does not remove the necessity of subduing again: a nation is not
governed which is perpetually to be conquered. The next objection to
force is its uncertainty. Terror is not always the effect of force,
and an armament is not a victory. If you do not succeed you are
without resource; for conciliation failing, force remains; but force
failing, no further hope of reconciliation is left. Power and
Authority are sometimes bought by kindness, but they can never be
begged as alms by an impoverished and defeated violence. A further
objection to force is that you impair the object by your very
endeavours to preserve it. The thing you fought for (to wit the
loyalty of the people) is not the thing you recover, but depreciated,
sunk, wasted and consumed in the contest."
Coercion, as an alternative to Pakistan, is therefore
unthinkable.
Again, the Muslims cannot be deprived of the benefit of the
principle of self-determination. The Hindu Nationalists who rely on
self-determination and ask how Britain can refuse India what the
conscience of the world has conceded to the smallest of the European
nations, cannot in the same breath ask the British to deny it to other
minorities. The Hindu Nationalist who hopes that Britain will coerce
the Muslims into abandoning Pakistan, forgets that the right of
nationalism to freedom from an aggressive foreign imperialism and the
right of a minority to freedom from an aggressive majority's
nationalism are not two different things; nor does the former stand on
a more sacred footing than the latter. They are merely two aspects of
the struggle for freedom and as such equal in their moral import.
Nationalists, fighting for freedom from aggressive imperialism, cannot
well ask the help of the British imperialists to thwart the right of a
minority to freedom from the nationalism of an aggressive majority.
The matter must, therefore, be decided upon by the Muslims and the
Hindus alone. The British cannot decide the issue for them. This is
the first important point to note.
The essence of Pakistan is the opposition to the establishment of
one Central Government having supremacy over the whole of India.
Pakistan contemplates two Central Governments, one for Pakistan and
the other for Hindustan. This gives rise to the second important point
which Indians must take note of. That point is that the issue of
Pakistan shall have to be decided upon before the plans for a new
constitution are drawn and its foundations are laid. If there is to be
one Central Government for India, the design of the constitutional
structure would be different from what it would be if there is to be
one Central Government for Hindustan and another for Pakistan. That
being so, it will be most unwise to postpone the decision. Either the
scheme should be abandoned and another substituted by mutual agreement
or it should be decided upon. It will be the greatest folly to suppose
that if Pakistan is buried for the moment, it will never raise its
head again. I am sure, burying Pakistan is not the same thing as
burying the ghost of Pakistan. So long as the hostility to one Central
Government for India, which is the ideology underlying Pakistan,
persists, the ghost of Pakistan will be there, casting its ominous
shadow upon the political future of India. Neither will it be prudent
to make some kind of a make-shift arrangement for the time being,
leaving the permanent solution to some future day. To do so would be
something like curing the symptoms without removing the disease. But,
as often happens in such cases, the disease is driven in, thereby
making certain its recurrence, perhaps in a more virulent form.
I feel certain that whether India should have one Central
Government is not a matter which can betaken as settled; it is a
matter in issue and although it may not be a live issue now, some day
it will be.
The Muslims have openly declared that they do not want to have any
Central Government in India and they have given their reasons in the
most unambiguous terms. They have succeeded in bringing into being
five provinces which are predominantly Muslim in population. In these
provinces, they see the possibility of the Muslims forming a
government and they are anxious to see that the independence of the
Muslim Governments in these provinces is preserved. Actuated by these
considerations, the Central Government is an eyesore to the Muslims of
India. As they visualize the scene, they see their Muslim Provinces
made subject to a Central Government predominantly Hindu and endowed
with powers of supervision over, and even of interference in, the
administration of these Muslim Provinces. The Muslims feel that to
accept one Central Government for the whole of India is to consent to
place the Muslim Provincial Governments under a Hindu Central
Government and to see the gain secured by the creation of Muslim
Provinces lost by subjecting them to a Hindu Government at the Centre.
The Muslim way of escape from this tyranny of a Hindu Centre is to
have no Central Government in India at all./1/
Are the Musalmans alone opposed to the existence of a Central
Government? What about the Hindus? There seems to be a silent premise
underlying all political discussions that are going on among the
Hindus that there will always be in India a Central Government as a
permanent part of her political constitution. How far such a premise
can be taken for granted is more than I can say. I may, however, point
out that there are two factors which are dormant for the present but
which some day may become dominant and turn the Hindus away from the
idea of a Central Government.
The first is the cultural antipathy between the Hindu Provinces.
The Hindu Provinces are by no means a happy family. It cannot be
pretended that the Sikhs have any tenderness for the Bengalees or the
Rajputs or the Madrasis. The Bengalee loves only himself. The Madrasi
is.bound by his own world. As to the Mahratta, who does not recall
that the Mahrattas, who set out to destroy the Muslim Empire in India,
became a menace to the rest of the Hindus whom they harassed and kept
under their yoke for nearly a century. The Hindu Provinces have no
common traditions and no interests to bind them. On the other hand,
the differences of language, race, and the conflicts of the past have
been the most powerful forces tending to divide them. It is true that
the Hindus are getting together and the spirit moving them to become
one united nation is working on them. But it must not be forgotten
that they have not yet become a nation. They are in the process of
becoming a nation and before the process is completed, there may be a
setback which may destroy the work of a whole century.
In the second place, there is the financial factor. It is not
sufficiently known what it costs the people of India to maintain the
Central Government and the proportionate burden each Province has to
bear.
The total revenue of British India comes to Rs. 194,64,17,926 per
annum. Of this sum, the amount raised by the Provincial Governments
from provincial sources, comes annually to Rs. 73,57,50,125 and that
raised by the Central Government from central sources of revenue comes
to Rs. 121,06,67,801. This will show what the Central Government costs
the people of India. When one considers that the Central Government is
concerned only with maintaining peace and does not discharge any
functions which have relation to the progress of the people, it should
cause no surprise if people begin to ask whether it is necessary that
they should pay annually such an enormous price to purchase peace. In
this connection, it must be borne in mind that the people in the
provinces are literally starving and there is no source left to the
provinces to increase their revenue.
This burden of maintaining the Central Government, which the
people of India have to bear, is most unevenly distributed over the
different provinces. The sources of central revenues are (1) Customs,
(2) Excise, (3) Salt, (4) Currency, (5) Posts and Telegraphs, (6)
Income Tax and (7) Railways. It is not possible from the accounts
published by the Government of India to work out the distribution of
the three sources of central revenue, namely Currency, Posts and
Telegraphs, and Railways. Only the revenue raised from other sources
can be worked out province by province. The result is shown in the
following table :—
REVENUE RAISED BY PROVINCIAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENTS
It will be seen from this table that the burden of maintaining the
Central Government is not only heavy but falls unequally upon the
different provinces. The Bombay Provincial Government raises Rs.
12,44,59,553; as against this, the Central Government raises Rs.
22,53,44,247 from Bombay. The Bengal Government raises Rs.
12,76,60,892; as against this, the Central Government raises Rs.
23,79,01,583 from Bengal. The Sind Government raises Rs. 3,70,29,354;
as against this, the Central Government raises Rs. 5,66,46,915 from
Sind. The Assam Government raises nearly Rs. 2 1/2 crores; but the
Central Government raises nearly Rs. 2 crores from Assam. While such
is the burden of the Central Government on these provinces, the rest
of the provinces contribute next to nothing to the Central Government.
The Punjab raises Rs. 11 crores for itself but contributes only Rs. 1
crore to the Central Government. In the N.W.F.P. the provincial
revenue is Rs. 1,80,83,548; its total contribution to the Central
Government however is only Rs. 9,28,294. U.P. raises Rs. 13 crores but
contributes only Rs. 4 crores to the Centre. Bihar collects Rs. 5
crores for itself; she gives only 1 1/2 crores to the Centre. C.P. and
Berar levy a total of 4 crores and pay to the Centre 31 lakhs.
This financial factor has so far passed without notice. But time
may come when even to the Hindus, who are the strongest supporters of
a Central Government in India, the financial considerations may make a
greater appeal than what purely patriotic considerations do now. So,
it is possible that some day the Muslims, for communal considerations,
and the Hindus, for financial considerations, may join hands to
abolish the Central Government.
If this were to happen, it is better if it happens before the
foundation of a new constitution is laid down. If it happens after the
foundation of the new constitution envisaging one Central Government
were laid down, it would be the greatest disaster. Out of the general
wreck, not only India as an entity will vanish, but it will not be
possible to save even the Hindu unity. As I have pointed out, there is
not much cement even among the Hindu Provinces, and once that little
cement which exists is lost, there will be nothing with which to build
up even the unity of the Hindu Provinces. It is because of this that
Indians must decide, before preparing the plans and laying the
foundations, for whom the constitutional structure is to be raised and
whether it is temporary or permanent. After the structure is built as
one whole, on one single foundation, with girders running through from
one end to the other; if, thereafter, a part is to be severed from the
rest, the knocking out of the rivets will shake the whole building and
produce cracks in other parts of the structure which are intended to
remain as one whole. The danger of cracks is greater, if the cement
which binds them is, as in the case of India, of a poor quality. If
the new constitution is designed for India as one whole and a
structure is raised on that basis, and thereafter the question of
separation of Pakistan from Hindustan is raised and the Hindus have to
yield, the alterations that may become necessary to give effect to
this severance may bring about the collapse of the whole structure.
The desire of the Muslim Provinces may easily infect the Hindu
Provinces and the spirit of disruption generated by the Muslim
Provinces may cause all round disintegration.
History is not wanting in instances of constitutions threatened
with disruption. There is the instance of the Southern States of the
American Union. Natal has always been anxious to get out from the
Union of South Africa and Western Australia recently applied, though
unsuccessfully, to secede from the Australian Commonwealth.
In these cases actual disruption has not taken place and where it
did, it was soon healed. Indians, however, cannot hope to be so
fortunate. Theirs may be the fate of Czechoslovakia. In the first
place, it would be futile to entertain the hope that if a disruption
of the Indian constitution took place by the Muslim Provinces
separating from the Hindu Provinces, it would be possible to win back
the seceding provinces as was done in the U.S.A. after the Civil War.
Secondly, if the new Indian constitution is a Dominion Constitution,
even the British may find themselves powerless to save the
constitution from such a disruption, if it takes place after its
foundations are laid. It seems to be, therefore, imperative that the
issue of Pakistan should be decided upon before the new constitution
is devised.
If there can be no doubt that Pakistan is a scheme which Indians
will have to resolve upon at the next revision of the constitution and
if there is no escape from deciding upon it, then it would be a fatal
mistake for the people to approach it without a proper understanding
of the question. The ignorance of some of the Indian delegates to the
Round Table Conference of constitutional law, I remember, led Mr.
Garvin of the Observer to remark that it would have been much better
if the Simon Commission, instead of writing a report on India, had
made a report on constitutional problems of India and how they were
met by the constitutions of the different countries of the world. Such
a report I know was prepared for the use of the delegates who framed
the constitution of South Africa. This is an attempt to make good that
deficiency and as such I believe it will be welcomed as a seasonable
piece.
So much for the question whether the book is seasonable. As to the
second question, whether the book is readable no writer can forget the
words of Augustine Birrell when he said:
"Cooks, warriors, and authors must be judged by the effects they
produce; toothsome dishes, glorious victories, pleasant books, these
are our demands. We have nothing to do with ingredients, tactics, or
methods. We have no desire to be admitted into the kitchen, the
council, or the study. The cook may use her saucepans how she pleases,
the warrior place his men as he likes, the author handle his material
or weave his plot as best he can; when the dish is served we only ask.
Is it good?; when the battle has been fought, Who won?; when the book
comes out, Does it read?
"Authors ought not to be above being reminded that it is their first
duty to write agreeably. Some very disagreeable men have succeeded in
doing so, and there is, therefore, no need for anyone to despair.
Every author, be he grave or gay, should try to make his book as
ingratiating as possible. Reading is not a duty, and has consequently
no business to be made disagreeable. Nobody is under any obligation to
read any other man's book."
I am fully aware of this. But I am not worried about it. That may
well apply to other books but not to a book on Pakistan. Every Indian
must read a book on Pakistan, if not this, then some other, if he
wants to help his country to steer a clear path.
If the book does not read well, i.e., its taste be not good, the
reader will find two things in it which, I am sure, are good.
The first thing he will find is that the ingredients are good.
There is in the book material which will be helpful and to gain access
to which he will have to labour a great deal. Indeed, the reader will
find that the book contains an epitome of India's political and social
history during the last twenty years, which it is necessary for every
Indian to know.
The second thing he will find is that there is no partisanship.
The aim is to expound the scheme of Pakistan in all its aspects and
not to advocate it. The aim is to explain and not to convert. It
would, however, be a pretence to say that I have no views on Pakistan.
Views I have. Some of them are expressed, others may have to be
gathered. Two things, however, may well be said about my views. In the
first place, wherever they are expressed, they have been reasoned out.
Secondly, whatever the views, they have certainly not the fixity of a
popular prejudice. They are really thoughts and not views. In other
words, I have an open mind, though not an empty mind. A person with an
open mind is always the subject of congratulations. While this may be
so, it must, at the same time, be realized that an open mind may also
be an empty mind and that such an open mind, if it is a happy
condition, is also a very dangerous condition for a man to be in. A
disaster may easily overtake a man with an empty mind. Such a person
is like a ship without ballast and without a rudder. It can have no
direction. It may float but may also suffer a shipwreck against a rock
for want of direction. While aiming to help the reader by placing
before him all the material, relevant and important, the reader will
find that I have not sought to impose my views on him. I have placed
before him both sides of the question and have left him to form his
own opinion.
The reader may complain that I have been provocative in stating
the relevant facts. I am conscious that .such a charge may be levelled
against me. I apologize freely and gladly for the same. My excuse is
that I have no intention to hurt. I had only one purpose, that is, to
force the attention of the indifferent and casual reader to the issue
that is dealt with in the book. I ask the reader to put aside any
irritation that he may feel with me and concentrate his thoughts on
this tremendous issu : Which is to be, Pakistan or no Pakistan?
/1/ This point of view was put forth by Sir Muhammad lqbal at the
Third Round Table Conference.
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/ambedkar_partition/003intro.html
EPILOGUE
[We need better statesmanship than Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Jinnah have
shown]
Here I propose to stop. For I feel that I have said all that I can
say about the subject. To use legal language, I have drawn the
pleadings. This I may claim to have done at sufficient length. In
doing so, I have adopted that prolix style so dear to the Victorian
lawyers, under which the two sides plied one another with plea and
replication, rejoinder and rebutter [=rebuttal], surrejoinder and
surrebutter, and so on. I have done this deliberately, with the object
that a full statement of the case for and against Pakistan may be
made. The foregoing pages contain the pleadings. The facts contained
therein are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. I have also
given my findings. It is now for Hindus and Muslims to give theirs.
To help them in their task it might be well to set out the issues.
On the pleadings the following issues seem to be necessary issues:
(1) Is Hindu-Muslim unity necessary for India's political
advancement? If necessary, is it still possible of realization,
notwithstanding the new ideology of the Hindus and the Muslims being
two different nations?
(2) If Hindu-Muslim unity is possible, should it be reached by
appeasement or by settlement?
(3) If it is to be achieved by appeasement, what are the new
concessions that can be offered to the Muslims to obtain their willing
co-operation, without prejudice to other interests?
(4) If it is to be achieved by a settlement, what are the terms of
that settlement? If there are only two alternatives, (i) Division of
India into Pakistan and Hindustan, or (ii) Fifty-fifty share in
Legislature, Executive, and the Services, which alternative is
preferable?
(5) Whether India, if she remained [=remains] one integral whole, can
rely upon both Hindus and Musalmans to defend her independence,
assuming it is won from the British?
(6) Having regard to the prevailing antagonism between Hindus and
Musalmans, and having regard to the new ideology demarcating them as
two distinct nations and postulating an opposition in their ultimate
destinies, whether a single constitution for these two nations can be
built, in the hope that they will show an intention to work it and not
to stop it.
(7) On the assumption that the two-nation theory has come to stay,
will not India as one single unit become an incoherent body without
organic unity, incapable of developing into a strong united nation
bound by a common faith in a common destiny, and therefore likely to
remain a feebler and sickly country, easy to be kept in perpetual
subjection either of [=to] the British or of [=to] any other foreign
power?
(8) If India cannot be one united country, is it not better that
Indians should help India in the peaceful dissolution of this
incoherent whole into its natural parts, namely, Pakistan and
Hindustan?
(9) Whether it is not better to provide for the growth of two
independent and separate nations, a Muslim nation inhabiting Pakistan
and a Hindu nation inhabiting Hindustan, than [to] pursue the vain
attempt to keep India as one undivided country in the false hope that
Hindus and Muslims will some day be one and occupy it as the members
of one nation and sons of one motherland?
Nothing can come in the way of an Indian getting to grips with
these issues and reaching his own conclusions with the help of the
material contained in the foregoing pages except three things: (1) A
false sentiment of historical patriotism, (2) a false conception of
the exclusive ownership of territory, and (3) absence of willingness
to think for oneself. Of these obstacles, the last is the most
difficult to get over. Unfortunately thought in India is rare, and
free thought is rarer still. This is particularly true of Hindus. That
is why a large part of the argument of this book has been addressed to
them. The reasons for this are obvious. The Hindus are in a majority.
Being in a majority, their view point must count! There is not much
possibility of [a] peaceful solution if no attempt is made to meet
their objections, rational or sentimental. But there are special
reasons which have led me to address so large a part of the argument
to them, and which may not be quite so obvious to others. I feel that
those Hindus who are guiding the destinies of their fellows have lost
what Carlyle calls "the Seeing Eye" and are walking in the glamour of
certain vain illusions, the consequences of which must, I fear, be
terrible for the Hindus. The Hindus are in the grip of the Congress
and the Congress is in the grip of Mr. Gandhi. It cannot be said that
Mr. Gandhi has given the Congress the right lead. Mr. Gandhi first
sought to avoid facing the issue by taking refuge in two things. He
started by saying that to partition India is a moral wrong and a sin
to which he will never be a party. This is a strange argument. India
is not the only country faced with the issue of partition, or shifting
of frontiers based on natural and historical factors to those based on
the national factors. Poland has been partitioned three time,s and no
one can be sure that there will be no more partition of Poland. There
are very few countries in Europe which have not undergone partition
during the last 150 years. This shows that the partition of a country
is neither moral nor immoral. It is unmoral. It is a social, political
or military question. Sin has no place in it.
As a second refuge Mr. Gandhi started by protesting that the
Muslim League did not represent the Muslims, and that Pakistan was
only a fancy of Mr. Jinnah. It is difficult to understand how Mr.
Gandhi could be so blind as not to see how Mr. Jinnah's influence over
the Muslim masses has been growing day by day, and how he has engaged
himself in mobilizing all his forces for battle. Never before was Mr.
Jinnah a man for the masses. He distrusted them./1/ To exclude them
from political power he was always for a high franchise. Mr. Jinnah
was never known to be a very devout, pious, or a professing Muslim.
Besides kissing the Holy Koran as and when he was sworn in as an
M.L.A., he does not appear to have bothered much about its contents or
its special tenets. It is doubtful if he frequented any mosque either
out of curiosity or religious fervour. Mr. Jinnah was never found in
the midst of Muslim mass congregations, religious or political.
Today one finds a complete change in Mr. Jinnah. He has become a
man of the masses. He is no longer above them. He is among them. Now
they have raised him above themselves and call him their Qaid-e-Azam.
He has not only become a believer in Islam, but is prepared to die for
Islam. Today, he knows more of Islam than mere Kalama. Today, he goes
to the mosque to hear Khutba and takes delight in joining the Id
congregational prayers. Dongri and Null Bazaar once knew Mr. Jinnah by
name. Today they know him by his presence. No Muslim meeting in Bombay
begins or ends without Allah-ho-Akbar and Long Live Qaid-e-Azam. In
this Mr. Jinnah has merely followed King Henry IV of France—the
unhappy father-in-law of the English King Charles I. Henry IV was a
Huguenot by faith. But he did not hesitate to attend mass in a
Catholic Church in Paris. He believed that to change his Huguenot
faith and go to mass was an easy price to pay for the powerful support
of Paris. As Paris became worth a mass to Henry IV, so have Dongri and
Null Bazaar become worth a mass to Mr. Jinnah, and for similar reason.
It is strategy; it is mobilization. But even if it is viewed as the
sinking of Mr. Jinnah from reason to superstition, he is sinking with
his ideology, which by his very sinking is spreading into all the
different strata of Muslim society and is becoming part and parcel of
its mental make-up. This is as clear as anything could be. The only
basis for Mr. Gandhi's extraordinary view is the existence of what are
called Nationalist Musalmans. It is difficult to see any real
difference between the communal Muslims who form the Muslim League and
the Nationalist Muslims. It is extremely doubtful whether the
Nationalist Musalmans have any real community of sentiment, aim, and
policy with the Congress which marks them off from the Muslim League.
Indeed many Congressmen are alleged to hold the view that there is no
different [=difference] between the two, and that the Nationalist
Muslim[s] inside the Congress are only an outpost of the communal
Muslims. This view does not seem to be quite devoid of truth when one
recalls that the late Dr. Ansari, the leader of the Nationalist
Musalmans, refused to oppose the Communal Award although it gave the
Muslims separate electorates in [the] teeth of the resolution passed
by the Congress and the Nationalist Musalmans. Nay, so great has been
the increase in the influence of the League among the Musalmans that
many Musalmans who were opposed to the League have been compelled to
seek for a place in the League or make peace with it. Anyone who takes
account of the turns and twists of the late Sir Sikandar Hyat Khan and
Mr. Fazlul Huq, the late Premier of Bengal, must admit the truth of
this fact. Both Sir Sikandar and Mr. Fazlul Huq were opposed to the
formation of branches of the Muslim League in their Provinces when Mr.
Jinnah tried to revive it in 1937. Notwithstanding their opposition,
when the branches of the League were formed in the Punjab and in
Bengal, within one year both were compelled to join them. It is a case
of those coming to scoff remaining to pray. No more cogent proof seems
to be necessary to prove the victory of the League.
Notwithstanding this Mr. Gandhi, instead of negotiating with Mr.
Jinnah and the Muslim League with a view to a settlement, took a
different turn. He got the Congress to pass the famous Quit India
Resolution on the 8th August 1942. This Quit India Resolution was
primarily a challenge to the British Government. But it was also an
attempt to do away with the intervention of the British Government in
the discussion of the Minority question, and thereby securing
[=secure] for the Congress a free hand to settle it on its own terms
and according to its own lights. It was in effect, if not in
intention, an attempt to win independence by bypassing the Muslims and
the other minorities. The Quit India Campaign turned out to be a
complete failure.
It was a mad venture and took the most diabolical form. It was a
scorch[ed]-earth campaign in which the victims of looting, arson and
murder were Indians, and the perpetrators were Congressmen. Beaten, he
started a fast for twenty-one days in March 1943 while he was in gaol,
with the object of getting out of it. He failed. Thereafter he fell
ill. As he was reported to be sinking, the British Government released
him for fear that he might die on their hand[s] and bring them
ignominy. On coming out of gaol, he found that he and the Congress had
not only missed the bus, but had also lost the road. To retrieve the
position and win for the Congress the respect of the British
Government as a premier party in the country, which it had lost by
reason of the failure of the campaign that followed up the Quit India
Resolution and the violence which accompanied it, he started
negotiating with the Viceroy. Thwarted in that attempt, Mr. Gandhi
turned to Mr. Jinnah. On the 17th July 1944 Mr. Gandhi wrote to Mr.
Jinnah expressing his desire to meet him and discuss with him the
communal question. Mr. Jinnah agreed to receive Mr. Gandhi in his
house in Bombay. They met on the 9th September 1944. It was good that
at long last wisdom dawned on Mr. Gandhi, and he agreed to see the
light which was staring him in the face and which he had so far
refused to see.
The basis of their talks was the offer made by Mr.
Rajagopalachariar to Mr. Jinnah in April 1944 which, according to the
somewhat incredible/2/ story told by Mr. Rajagopalachariar, was
discussed by him with Mr. Gandhi in March 1943 when he (Mr. Gandhi)
was fasting in gaol, and to which Mr. Gandhi had given his full
approval. The following is the text of Mr. Rajagopalachariar's
formula, popularly spoken of as the C. R. Formula:—
(1) Subject to the terms set out below as regards the constitution
for Free India, the Muslim League endorses the Indian demand for
Independence and will co-operate with the Congress in the formation of
a provisional interim government for the transitional period.
(2) After the termination of the war, a commission shall be appointed
for demarcating contiguous districts in the north-west and east of
India, wherein the Muslim population is in absolute majority. In the
areas thus demarcated, a plebiscite of all the inhabitants held on the
basis of adult suffrage or other practicable franchise shall
ultimately decide the issue of separation from Hindustan. If the
majority decide in favour of forming a sovereign State separate from
Hindustan, such decision shall be given effect to, without prejudice
to the right of districts on the border to choose to join either
State.
(3) It will be open to all parties to advocate their points of view
before the plebiscite is held.
(4) In the event of separation, mutual agreements shall be entered
into for safeguarding defence, and commerce and communications and for
other essential purposes.
(5) Any transfer of population shall only be on an absolutely
voluntary basis.
(6) These terms shall be binding only in case of transfer by Britain
of full power and responsibility for the governance of India.
The talks which began on the 9th September were carried on over a
period of 18 days till 27th September, when it was announced that the
talks had failed. The failure of the talks produced different
reactions in the minds of different people. Some were glad, others
were sorry. But as both had been, just previous to the talks, worsted
by their opponents in their struggle for supremacy, Gandhi by the
British and Jinnah by the Unionist Party in the Punjab, and had lost a
good deal of their credit, the majority of people expected that they
would put forth some constructive effort to bring about a solution.
The failure may have been due to the defects of personalities. But it
must however be said that failure was inevitable, having regard to
certain fundamental faults in the C. R. Formula. In the first place,
it tied up the communal question with the political question in an
indissoluble knot. No political settlement, no communal settlement, is
the strategy on which the formula proceeds. The formula did not offer
a solution. It invited Mr. Jinnah to enter into a deal. It was a
bargain—"If you help us in getting independence, we shall be glad to
consider your proposal for Pakistan." I don't know from where Mr.
Rajagopalachariar got the idea that this was the best means of getting
independence. It is possible that he borrowed it from the old Hindu
kings of India who built up alliance for protecting their independence
against foreign enemies by giving their daughters to neighbouring
princes. Mr. Rajagopalachariar forgot that such alliances brought
neither a good husband nor a permanent ally. To make communal
settlement depend upon help rendered in winning freedom is a very
unwise way of proceeding in a matter of this kind. It is a way of one
party drawing another party into its net by offering communal
privileges as a bait. The C. R. Formula made communal settlement an
article for sale.
The second fault in the C. R. Formula relates to the machinery for
giving effect to any agreement that may be arrived at. The agency
suggested in the C. R. Formula is the Provisional Government. In
suggesting this Mr. Rajagopalachariar obviously overlooked two
difficulties. The first thing he overlooked is that once the
Provisional Government was established, the promises of the
contracting parties, to use legal phraseology, did not [=would not]
remain concurrent promises. The case became [=would become] one of the
executed promise against an executory [=yet to be executed] promise.
By consenting to the establishment of a Provisional Government, the
League would have executed its promise to help the Congress to win
independence. But the promise of the Congress to bring about Pakistan
would remain executory. Mr. Jinnah, who insists, and quite rightly,
that the promises should be concurrent, could never be expected to
agree to place himself in such a position. The second difficulty which
Mr. Rajagopalachariar has overlooked is what would happen if the
Provisional Government failed to give effect to the Congress part of
the agreement. Who is to enforce it? The Provisional Government is to
be a sovereign government, not subject to superior authority. If it
was unwilling to give effect to the agreement, the only sanction open
to the Muslims would be rebellion. To make the Provisional Government
the agency for forging a new Constitution, for bringing about
Pakistan, nobody will accept. It is a snare and not a solution.
The only way of bringing about the constitutional changes will be
through an Act of Parliament embodying provisions agreed upon by the
important elements in the national life of British India. There is no
other way.
There is a third fault in the C. R. Formula. It relates to the
provision for a treaty between Pakistan and Hindustan to safeguard
what are called matters of common interests such as Defence, Foreign
Affairs, Customs, etc. Here again Mr. Rajagopalachariar does not seem
to be aware of obvious difficulties. How are matters of common
interest to be safeguarded? I see only two ways. One is to have a
Central Government vested with Executive and Legislative authority in
respect of these matters. This means Pakistan and Hindustan will not
be sovereign States. Will Mr. Jinnah agree to this? Obviously he does
not. The other way is to make Pakistan and Hindustan sovereign States
and to bind them by a treaty relating to matters of common interests.
But what is there to ensure that the terms of the treaty will be
observed? As a sovereign State Pakistan can always repudiate it, even
if it was [=were to be] a Dominion. Mr. Rajagopalachariar obviously
drew his inspiration in drafting this clause from the Anglo-Irish
Treaty of 1922. But he forgot the fact that the treaty lasted so long
as Ireland was not a Dominion, and that as soon as it became a
Dominion it repudiated the treaty, and the British Parliament stood
silent and grinned, for it knew that it could do nothing.
One does not mind very much that the talks failed. What one feels
sorry for is that the talks failed [at] giving us a clear idea of some
of the questions about which Mr. Jinnah has been observing discreet
silence in his public utterances, though he has been quite outspoken
about them in his private talks. These questions are— (1) Is Pakistan
to be conceded because of the Resolution of the Muslim League? (2) Are
the Muslims, as distinguished from the Muslim League, to have no say
in the matter? (3) What will be the boundaries of Pakistan? Whether
the boundaries will be the present administrative boundaries of the
Punjab and Bengal or whether the boundaries of Pakistan will be
ethnological boundaries? (4) What do the words "subject to such
territorial adjustments as may be necessary" which occur in the Lahore
Resolution mean? What were the territorial adjustments the League had
in mind? (5) What does the word "finally" which occurs in the last
part of the Lahore Resolution mean? Did the League contemplate a
transition period in which Pakistan will not be an independent and
sovereign State? (6) If Mr. Jinnah's proposal that the boundaries of
Eastern and Western Pakistan are to be the present administrative
boundaries, will he allow the Scheduled Castes, or, if I may say so,
the non-Muslims in the Punjab and Bengal to determine by a plebiscite
whether they wish to be included in Mr. Jinnah's Pakistan, and whether
Mr. Jinnah would be prepared to abide by the results of the plebiscite
of the non-Muslim elements in the Punjab and Bengal? (7) Does Mr.
Jinnah want a corridor running through U. P. and Bihar to connect up
Eastern Pakistan to Western Pakistan? It would have been a great gain
if straight questions had been put to Mr. Jinnah and unequivocal
answers obtained. But instead of coming to grips with Mr. Jinnah on
these questions, Mr. Gandhi spent his whole time proving that the C.
R. Formula is substantially the same as the League's Lahore Resolution—
which was ingenious if not nonsensical, and thereby lost the best
opportunity he had of having these questions clarified.
After these talks Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Jinnah have retired to their
pavilions as players in a cricket match do after their game is over,
as though there is nothing further to be done. There is no indication
whether they will meet again, and if so when. What next? is not a
question which seems to worry them. Yet it is difficult to see how
India can make any political advance without a solution of the
question which one may refuse to discuss. It does not belong to that
class of questions about which people can agree to differ. It is a
question for which solution will have to be found. How? It must be by
agreement or by arbitration. If it is to be by agreement, it must be
the result of negotiations—of give and take, and not of surrender by
one side to the other. That [=surrender] is not agreement. It is
dictation. Good sense may in the end prevail, and parties may come to
an agreement. But agreement may turn out to be a very dilatory way. It
may take long before good sense prevails. How long one cannot say. The
political freedom of India is a most urgent necessity. It cannot be
postponed, and yet without a solution of the communal problem it
cannot be hastened. To make it dependent on agreement is to postpone
its solution indefinitely. Another expeditious method must be found.
It seems to me that arbitration by an International Board is the best
way out. The disputed points in the minorities problem, including that
of Pakistan, should be remitted to such a Board. The Board should be
constituted of persons drawn from countries outside the British
Empire. Each statutory minority in India—Muslims, Scheduled Castes,
Sikhs, Indian Christians—should be asked to select its nominee to this
Board of Arbitration. These minorities, as also the Hindus, should
appear before the Board in support of their demands, and should agree
to abide by the decision given by the Board. The British should give
the following undertakings :—
(1) That they will have nothing to do with the communal settlement.
It will be left to agreement or to a Board of Arbitration.
(2) They will implement the decision of the Board of Arbitration on
the communal question by embodying it in the Government of India Act.
(3) That the award of the International Board of Arbitration would be
regarded by them as a sufficient discharge of their obligations to the
minorities in India, and [they] would agree to give India Dominion
Status.
The procedure has many advantages. It eliminates the fear of
British interference in the communal settlement, which has been
offered by the Congress as an excuse for its not being able to settle
the communal problem. It is alleged that, as there is always the
possibility of the minorities getting from the British something more
than what the Congress thinks it proper to give, the minorities do not
wish to come to terms with the Congress. The proposal has a second
advantage. It removes the objection of the Congress that by making the
constitution subject to the consent of the minorities, the British
Government has placed a veto in the hands of the minorities over the
constitutional progress of India. It is complained that the minorities
can unreasonably withhold their consent, or they can be prevailed upon
by the British Government to withhold their consent, as the minorities
are suspected by the Congress to be mere tools in the hands of the
British Government. international arbitration removes completely every
ground of complaint on this account. There should be no objection on
the part of the minorities. If their demands are fair and just, no
minority need have any fear from a Board of International Arbitration.
There is nothing unfair in the requirement of a submission to
arbitration. It follows the well-known rule of law, namely, that no
man should be allowed to be a judge in his own case. There is no
reason to make any exception in the case of a minority. Like an
individual, it cannot claim to sit in judgement over its own case.
What about the British Government? I cannot see any reason why the
British Government should object to any part of this scheme. The
Communal Award has brought great odium on the British. It has been a
thankless task and the British should be glad to be relieved of it. On
the question of the discharge of their responsibilities for making
adequate provision for the safety and security of certain communities,
in respect of which they have regarded themselves as trustees, before
they relinquish their sovereignty, what more can such communities ask
than the implantation in the constitution of safeguards in terms of
the award of an International Board of Arbitration? There is only one
contingency which may appear to create some difficulty for the British
Government in the matter of enforcing the award of the Board of
Arbitration. Such a contingency can arise if any one of the parties to
the dispute is not prepared to submit its case to arbitration.
In that case the question will be: will the British Government be
justified in enforcing the award against such a party? I see no
difficulty in saying that the British Government can with perfect
justice proceed to enforce the award against such a party. After all,
what is the status of a party which refuses to submit its case to
arbitration? The answer is that such a party is an aggressor. How is
an aggressor dealt with? By subjecting him to sanctions. Implementing
the award of the Board of Arbitration in a constitution against a
party which refuses to go to arbitration is simply another name for
the process of applying sanctions against an aggressor. The British
Government need not feel embarrassed in following this process if the
contingency should arise. For it is a well-recognized process of
dealing with such cases and has the imprimatur of the League of
Nations, which evolved this formula when Mussolini refused to submit
to arbitration his dispute with Abyssinia. What I have proposed may
not be the answer to the question: What next? I don't know what else
can be. All I know is that there will be no freedom for India without
an answer. It must be decisive, it must be prompt, and it must be
satisfactory to the parties concerned.
/1/ Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in his autobiography says that Mr. Jinnah
wanted the Congress to restrict its membership to matriculates.
/2/ The formula was discussed with Mr. Gandhi in March 1943, but was
not communicated to Mr. Jinnah till April 1944.
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/ambedkar_partition/600epilog.html
chhotemianinshallah
Dear Friends:
Hinduism is facing a great many challenges, both external and
internal. On the outside, ill-wishers are trying to malign and
dismantle it. Within, we have practitioners and leaders who are
insensitive to, or unaware of the social, political, and ethical
forces that are sweeping the world. Navya Shastra consists of a group
of Hindus who deeply love and care for our rich and ancient tradition.
We are also very concerned about its future.
We strongly feel that one major blemish in the Hindu world (within
India) is the pernicious aspect of the caste system which denies equal
spiritual rights to all Hindus, and imposes a conceptual hierarchy
that considers some Hindus to be superior/inferior to other Hindus on
the basis of their birth. We do not think that the dehumanization of
Hindus or of any other people is part of the Vedas, Sanskrit or
Tamil.
If some shastras tolerated or encouraged caste-based social
injustices, we reject them, and declare it is time to formulate a
system of values consistent with the age in which we live
(yugadharma). We are against caste hierarchy and caste injustices, not
only because they are not sanctioned in the Vedas, but also because
they are morally wrong, unacceptable, and anachronistic in the world
in which we live. We also need to rid Hindu society of its caste
constraints, because they undermine the future of the religion as a
viable system in the modern world. We are dreaming of a day when the
loftier Hindu visions in Sanatana Dharma will spread all over the
world. There will come a time when practitioners of other religious
systems will resonate with the universal values and visions that are
implicit in the roots of Hinduism.
We invite all our Hindu brothers and sisters to join us in raising
their voices against casteism, and for making Hinduism a greater
religion than what she has ever been.
Lobby all dharmacharyas to reflect on the fossilized iniquities in
Sanatana Dharma. We will actively strive to catalyze the Hindu
leadership into addressing the caste issue and other salient social
issues.
Engender a national debate on a Navya Shastra--one that would redress
the inequalities inherent in the caste system. While the spiritual
intuition of our sages is timeless and eternal, the social tenets
which govern Hindu society have never been static--our lawgivers have
reinterpreted them in different eras.
Conduct a respectful dialogue on reformulating the social tenets of
Sanatana Dharma, in which all members of our community are welcomed to
participate.
Track and promote the efforts of Hindu/Indian organizations and
charities who are working to eradicate caste discrimination in India.
_________________________________________________
Special Announcement: Listen to Jaishree Gopal, Chairman of Navya
Shastra on National Public Radio
NAVYA SHASTRA VISION STATEMENT
Most Hindus are shocked to know that, according to the ancient
Dharmashastras, over 80% of the Hindu population is forbidden to read
the Vedas. These law books were written by sages as procedural and
legal outlines for governing society, and they have remained de facto
authority on religious matters to this day. For example, some
traditional mathas still forbid Vedic instruction to anyone who is not
a ?dwija?--a male born into one of the three upper castes.
A recent Supreme Court of India decision held that non-brahmins are
now entitled to serve as temple priests, effectively opening up the
Vedas and Agamas to all seekers. While the ruling is laudable, we
wonder whether this judicial activism is sufficient to transfigure the
often miserable status of the so called lower castes. Most religious
leaders have remained conspicuously silent on the decision and,
whether out of indifference or disapproval, have not publicly
reflected on the potential consequences of the decision for Hindu
society. Until we have a convergence of sentiment towards a true
casteless society--one acknowledged by religious leaders, the
government and the Hindu community alike--all steps towards
improvement will be tentative gestures, at odds with recrudescent
casteist power structures that operate frightfully and efficiently in
rural India.
Rather than bemoaning, with the fatalists, the inexorably static
nature of society, or assuming, with the optimists, that change is a
natural process, we have decided to take matters into our own hands by
inciting a public debate on the caste issue and other salient social
issues. Would a Navya Shastra (or a comprehensive reinterpretation of
existing Dharmashastras), proposing a more egalitarian configuration
of Hindu society, be a beneficial template for affecting change? We
believe shastric and social reform is important for several reasons.
1. The caste system, as it is currently structured, spiritually
disenfranchises the vast majority of Hindus: Shudras, Dalits,
Adivasis, women and converts. No one, we believe, has studied the
negative psychological implications of such birth-based
classifications on the so called lower castes. A recent wave of Dalit
atrocities morbidly reveals that caste discrimination is still rampant
throughout India. This leaves many spiritually inclined Hindus feeling
that they are unwanted, peripheral stragglers, giving credence to
Hegel?s assertion that the caste system breeds ?spiritual serfdom?. A
Navya Shastra would open the Vedas (as they are traditionally taught)
to everyone, regardless of birth.
2. Until we have a Navya Shastra, the old Dharmashastras will remain,
by default, the governing authority on matters concerning the
religious status of Hindus. It would be rather absurd for the
government to comment on every religious controversy affecting Hindus.
After all, in a truly secular society, the government does not
interfere in religious matters. The will to change must come from the
Hindu leadership itself.
3. Non-Hindus who wish to convert to Hinduism cannot truly do so,
because the Dharmashastras make no place for them. This is very
unfortunate; arresting what was once a great enthusiasm for the Hindu
Dharma in the West.
4. Women are treated as second class citizens. A Navya Shastra would
also increase the status of women.
5. Though there are many reformist sects that have sought to redress
these inequalities, we feel it is crucially important for orthodoxy to
assent to this effort. Otherwise we will have a fractured Hinduism,
with different groups asserting that they alone represent the truth.
Please join our effort by participating in our community forum. We
welcome all sincere strategies for social change. We have an
unprecedented opportunity to make a difference together. Let?s not let
anyone else make it for us.
Truth and Tension in Science and Religion, authored by noted physicist
and religious scholar V. V Raman
Exploring the Connections and Controversies Between Science and
Religion, August 11, 2009
Article on Dalits in Leading Brazilian Newspaper in Special Edition on
India
by Mukunda Raghavan, August, 2009
Navya Shastra on Article 377
Supporters Hail Delhi’s Landmark Pro-Gay Ruling
from India West, July 09, 2009
The organization was particularly critical of the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad, which came out against Article 377. "Unable to find any
strong theological basis in Hinduism for opposing homosexuality, the
VHP relied on the old canard that the family structure would somehow
be threatened by the decision," said Sugrutha Ramaswamy, a Navya
Shastra activist. "This is an unscientific understanding of
homosexuality, which is not a lifestyle choice but rather an inherent
human condition," she added. ....
Other news coverage
Edge Boston, July 10, 2009
India Abroad on Caste in the US
Caste Adrift, May 22, 2009
Caste and US, May 22, 2009
60 seconds chief
Hindu Business Line, March 16, 2009
60 seconds chief Blog, March 16, 2009
Story of a Reformer by Jaishree Gopal, a chapter in the book
Reflections by IITians published by Ram Krishnaswamy
Excerpt from Reflections by IITians, Dec 2008
I want to change what people do and believe in Hindu society,
especially with regards to caste and gender discrimination.
Dr. Jaishree Gopal, IITM & IITD Alumna
Co Founder of Navya Shastra
Interview with D. Murali of Hindu Business Line
Future of Religious Practice
from The Hindu Business Line, Dec 22, 2008
The Hindu, Dec 21, 2008
Food for Thought, Dec 20, 2008
Navya Shastra on Proposition 8
Hindus Urged to Vote Against Prop. 8
from The Advoocate, Nov 1, 2008
Navya Shastra, the international Hindu reform organization based in
Troy, Mich., sent out a press release Friday urging California voters
to reject Proposition 8, which would eliminate the right of same-sex
couples to marry under California law. ....
Other news coverage
Chakra News, Nov 3, 2008
Go Magazine, Nov 3, 2008
Navya Shastra on "Love Guru", the Movie
Hindu reform group opposes Love Guru protests
from Hindustan Times, May 20, 2008
...Navya Shastra, the organisation based in Troy, Michigan, which
earlier spoke out against astrology, female foeticide and Dalit
discrimination, has argued that hyper-sensitivity over inaccurate or
distorted religious depictions in mass media erodes the tradition of
tolerance of criticism in the Hindu faith....
Other news coverage
Zee News, May 22, 2008
Times of India, May 21, 2008
LA Times, May 2008
Asia Arts, UCLA, May 30, 2008
Navya Shastra on Female Feticide
Navya Shastra concern over India's foeticide epidemic
from The Indian Star, May 07, 2008
...Navya Shastra also called on the Hindu community and its
organizations to allow daughters to impart final rites at the funerals
of their parents. "One religious reason why boys are favored among
Hindus is because of the anachronistic belief that only a son can
formally conduct this ceremony, so a girl is totally worthless in this
regard," said Dr. Jaishree Gopal, Navya Shastra Chairman....
Other news coverage
Pro-Life Blog, May 07, 2008
Also appeared in Print Edition of India West
Navya Shastra on Malaysia
Navya Shastra condemns the Government of Malaysia for anti-Hindu
discrimination
from Asian Tribune, November 27, 2007
...One Navya Shastra member who participated in the rally reported
anonymously: "We have changed the political equations at home and
inspired minorities everywhere. We walked the talk. We smelled the
tear gas and it swelled our chests. Like Rosa Parks we said, 'No!'" It
further added that Navya Shastra stands in complete solidarity with
the Hindu community and all other minorities in Malaysia who are the
victims of government persecution.... ....
Navya Shastra Award of Recognition
Navya Shastra Award to two students from Karnataka
from Manglorean.com, August 15, 2007
...These two young women have demonstrated that by challenging
outmoded institutions and customs in a personal way, one can have an
impact on society at large. To paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi, it is
important for our youth to 'be the change' they want to see," said Dr.
Jaishree Gopal, Navya Shastra Chairman.... ....
Navya Shastra confers the title of Acharya Vidyasagar on Professor
V.V. Raman
Professor V.V. Raman receives title "Acharya Vidyasagar"
from Rochester Community Newsletter, May 28, 2007
...Navya Shastra of Troy, Michigan, the international Hindu reform
organization, honored Professor V.V. Raman by conferring on him the
title "Acharya Vidyasagar" in recognition of his many contributions to
Hinduism. Dr. Jaishree Gopal, Chairman of Navya Shastra, said “In
ancient India, an acharya was a teacher of profound truths, a guide on
the spiritual path, and someone an entire community looked up to....
Other news coverage
Metanexus Magazine, May 18, 2007
Navya Shastra on Temple Entry
Hindu reform organisation slams Jagannath temple priests
from Hindustan Times, March 5, 2007
..."We are appalled to know about the mindless throwing away of large
amounts of food by the Puri temple administration at the instigation
of pujaris (priests) with a medieval mindset at a time and place where
there are thousands of poor and hungry people," said the
organisation's chairman, Dr Jaishree Gopal. ....
Other news coverage
India's Tolerance Levels Tested as American Enters Forbidden
Sanctuary, March, 2007
Report from a Dalit village
Ghosts of the Past
from India Abroad, Feb 18, 2007
...It left me with the thought that true prosperity was impossible
until social advancement and a sense of equality became firmly
entrenched in our communities. ...
Navya Shastra on Manglik-related rituals of Aishwarya Rai
US Hindu reform group condemns rituals by Bachchan
from Daily News and Analysis, February 12, 2007
..."What concerns us is that millions of people may rationalise their
mistreatment of women based upon the Abhishek-Aishwarya example," said
Jaishree Gopal, Navya Shastra Chairman, in a press statement. ....
Other news coverage
Zee News, February 12, 2007
Malaysia Sun, February 12, 2007
Daily India, Fl, February 12, 2007
Philippine Times, February 13, 2007
Japan Herald, February 13, 2007
Yahoo India, Movies, February 12, 2007
The Telegraph, February 12, 2007
New Kerala, February 12, 2007
Navya Shastra Apology to Dalits
Navya Shastra Organization Apologizes for Untouchability
from Hinduism Today, hpi, December 20, 2006
We, at Navya Shastra, deeply regret and apologize for the atrocities
committed on the sons and daughters of the depressed communities of
India, including the tribals, the "untouchables" and all of the castes
deemed as low.... ....
An Unqualified Apology to Every Untouchable by Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta
from desicritic, February 2, 2006
...So here it is, I fully endorse and join Navya Shastra, in
apologising to the other castes, for what I and my forefathers may
have done and promise that I will raise my voice against this
disgusting practice, and hopefully help remove this by my words as
well as my behaviour.... . ...
Navya Shastra in Books
Opening the Doors of Wonder: Reflections on Religious Rites of Passage
by Arthur J. Magida
from Amazon, 2006
...thousand members of Navya Shastra and other reform groups are
seeking to go one step beyond Gandhi ....
Mending A Torn World: Women in Interreligious Dialogue (Faith Meets
Faith Series) by by Maura O'Neill (Paperback - Oct 31, 2007)
from Amazon, 2007
... Dr. Jaishree Gopal, a woman activist, commends the government of
India for working to end discrimination ..." ....
Navya Shastra on TV in Chennai
Temple inauguration in Dalit village, Idamani
Temple Inauguration, July 2006
...This event was aired on Chennai TV station, Thamizhan ....
California Textbook Controversy
Indian Groups Contest California Textbook Content
from New American Media, February 17, 2006
...They also say that it would serve the dalits' cause better if the
textbooks said that "untouchability is a living reality in India,"
instead of simply going by the Hindu groups' suggestion that the books
say that it is illegal to treat someone as an untouchable, Vikram
Masson, co-founder of Navya Shastra, a U.S.-based non-profit
organization that speaks out against caste-related issues, told India-
West. ....
Navya Shastra Organizations Calls for Fairer View in California
Textbooks
from HPI, February 2, 2006
...Navya Shastra is also dismayed that the school board is considering
redacting out any mention of Dalits. While the former untouchables of
India have been called or call themselves many things, including
Avarna and Harijan, the term Dalit is increasingly considered an
empowering symbol of unity among a section of the former untouchables,
including those who still retain their Hindu affiliation, and eliding
their identity must be viewed as an act of upper-caste hegemony. . ...
Hindu view on Papal Succession
Pope Vows to Pursue Outreach by Church
from Washington Post, Thursday, April 21, 2005; Page A18
..."A U.S.-based group of Hindu activists called Navya Shastra,
meanwhile, called on the pope to learn more about Hinduism. "Clearly
he is misinformed about the central practices and tenets which bind
the world's 800 million Hindus," said co-chairman Vikram Masson. ....
Other Faiths Recall Pope's Zeal as Faith Defender
from Reuters, April 20, 2005
...A U.S.-based group of world Hindu activists, Navya Shastra, hoped
the new Pope would learn more about its religion. "Ratzinger has
described Hindu meditative practices as 'auto-erotic' and has stated
that the Hindu doctrine of karma is 'morally cruel'," its co-chairman
Vikram Masson said. "Clearly he is misinformed about the central
practices and tenets which bind the world's 800 million Hindus....
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH'S VIEWS ON OTHER FAITH GROUPS, AND THEIR
REACTIONS
from Religious Tolerance
..."Dr. Jaishree Gopal, is co-chairperson of Navya Shastra. She wrote:
"What is needed now is ecumenism and mutual trust. We hope that the
new Pope comes to understand this, because religious difference and
competition is causing mounting global conflict." ....
US Hindu organisation accu
ses VHP of casteism
from Times of India, Mar 06, 2005
..."This is a bizarre act of conceptual dehumanisation," the statement
quoted Navya Shastra co-chairperson Jaishree Gopal as saying. The
statement urged all Hindu organisations involved in proselytising
activities to do away with attaching cast labels to new converts.
"Surely all modern Hindu reformers agree that there is no spiritual
merit attached to any caste affiliation," the statement added....
(This news item also appeared in various other publications: Hindustan
Times, Pluralism.org, Kerala News, Kerala Next, Express Newsline,
Yahoo India)
God's Wrath in India?
from Beliefnet, Jan 5, 2005
...Another Hindu group, the reformist Navya Shastra, issued a press
release condemning Hindu organizations that have bought into the act-
of-God view, comparing their remarks to those of Christian leaders
like Jerry Falwell. While acknowledging, like Vaishnav, that karma
could have played a role in the deaths, the group, made of Hindu
scholars, practitioners and priests outside India, suggested that it
was more important to focus on helping survivors than trying to
explain why the disaster happened. ....
Tsunami News Coverage
from Times of India, Dec 28, 2004
NEW YORK: With people relating tsunami to God's wrath, a Hindu group
is out to re-educate masses.
from Hindustan Times, Dec 28, 2004
A Michigan-based Hindu group has condemned labelling Sunday's tsunami
tragedy a "vengeful act of God" and asked the global Hindu community
to contribute generously to assist victims of the catastrophe....
from Express Newsline, Europe, Dec 28, 2004
Navya Shastra, a global organization of scholars, activists, priests
and lay people dedicated to fostering the spiritual equality of all
Hindus, has called upon the global Hindu community to contribute
generously to the victims of the December 26 earthquake-cum Tsunami
wave attack in South East Asia. ...
from Guardian UK, Dec 28, 2004
As the world grapples with the scale of the disaster of Indian Ocean
tidal wave, the Guardian's Martin Kettle poses a troubling question
for those who believe in God. ...But a Michigan-based Hindu group,
Navya Shastra, has condemned organisations in India for describing the
disaster as a "vengeful act of God" for the arrest of a Hindu seer, on
murder and other charges. ...
This news item also appeared in various other publications: Yahoo
India, MSN news, Bangladesh Sun, WebIndia, NetIndia, Manorama Online,
Kerala News, Kerala Next, ReligiousTolerance.org
Hindu American Foundation Files Amicus Brief with US Supreme Court in
Ten Commandments Case HPI
from hpi archives, Dec, 21, 2004
...The 34-page brief was signed by HAF, Arsha Vidya Pitham, Arya Samaj
of Michigan, Hindu International Council Against Defamation, Hindu
University of America, Navya Shastra, Saiva Siddhanta Church
(publisher through its teaching wing, Himalayan Academy, of Hinduism
Today and HPI), Federation of Jain Associations in North America,
Interfaith Freedom Foundation and prominent Buddhist scholar and
Director of Tibet House, Professor Robert Thurman....
Hindu group criticises Kanchi Shankaracharya
from Newindpress, Oct 15, 2004
...Navya Shastra research director Gautham Rao, said money for the
crown had come through donations and it could have been put to better
use. "Clearly at this time in Indian history, when the majority of
Indian citizens continue to live at or near poverty levels, we felt
the money should have been spent on social service," he
said.... ...Navya Shastra also questioned the participation of
(Christian) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in
the "opulent" (Hindu) ceremony.
(this news item also appeared in Yahoo India, MSN India, Indian angle,
123Bharat.com, New Kerala portals)
Hindu Temple Society of North America, et al. v. New York Supreme
Court, et al.
from Becketfund
...On September 2, 2004, ten organizations--representing various
religious denominations--submitted an amicus (friend of the court)
letter (PDF format, 66K) in support of The Becket Fund's motion for a
preliminary injunction against the defendants of the federal suit. The
Hindu American Foundation presented the letter on behalf of AGNI
Corporation, the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, the
Hindu Human Rights Group, the Hindu International Council Against
Defamation, Hindu University of America, Ile Obatala Oya, Kanchi
Kamakoti Seva Foundation, Navya Shastra, and the Queens Federation of
Churches....
NRI group battles Hinduism's "inequalities
from India Abroad, June 18, 2004
...While the Indian government has encouraged such reforms to an
extent, the organization insists that Hindus themselves should take up
the cause while avoiding factionalism. At the same time, the group has
been critical of Dalits for highlighting caste discrimination without
actively working with Hindu leaders to resolve the problem.... ....
US body condemns discrimination against Dalit student
from Newindpress, June 06, 2004
A Hindu organisation in the US has condemned reported discrimination
against a Dalit student who was allegedly victimised for offering
prayers in a Hindu temple in India's Andhra Pradesh state....
(this news item also appeared in Yahoo India, NRI Worldwide, MSN
India, Kerala News, Kerala Next)
Local priest supports movement to reform Hindu customs
from India Herald, May 24, 2004
...Navya Shastra is a large group of believers of the Hindu Dharma
domicled in various countries. We believe that chariot of Hindu
society cannot move forward if any of the five horses lag behind. We
have therefore committed ourselves to the mission of facilitating
optimal spiritual development of all Hindus regardless of caste or
gender....
Bound by the same thread
from India Abroad, Teenspeak, Jan 23, 2004
...Let us start modifying our traditions as seen fit without
destroying the essence, beginning with allowing women and all Hindus
to take part in Upanyanam and feel equal in this manner.
Hindu Group Criticizes Dalit Representatives at World Social Forum
from HPI Archives, Jan 23, 2004
Navya Shastra, a US-based global Hindu organization of scholars,
activists, priests and laypeople, has criticized the Dalit
representatives and organizers of the World Social Forum for
highlighting the Hindu dimensions of discrimination against the Dalit
community while refusing to work with the Hindu leadership to bring
about religious reforms...
Solar Flares by Harsh Kabra
from Outlook, Dec 15, 2003
..."The Vedas and its chanting tradition form the fountainhead, the
very epicentre, of the religious beliefs of over 800 million people,"
Vikram Masson, co-chairman, NS, told Outlook from New Jersey. "Be it a
farmer in Tamil Nadu or a fisherman in Bengal, some part of his
spiritual worldview has been inspired by the utterances of the rishis.
By closeting the Vedas with other cultural expressions, UNESCO has
marginalised and diminished the most important scriptures in the Hindu
tradition."....
End caste discrimination, Hindu leaders urged
from IANS, Nov 28, 2003
...Here we have a historic opportunity to declare to the world that
Hinduism will reform itself for ever of caste discrimination," said
Vikram Masson, Navya Shastra co-chairman. "Hinduism, which is
thousands of years old, has never had a significant reformist
movement,"...
Don’t place Vedas in a cabinet of curios
from Deccan Herald, Nov 26, 2003
...Several noteworthy Hindu reformers and thinkers, including Swami
Dayanada Saraswati and Dr. Sarvapelli Radhakrishnan, have advocated
that the Vedic tradition be open to all. We should not ignore their
wisdom.
Hindu group protests clubbing Vedas with folk arts
from Hindustan Times, Nov 19 2003
A US-based Hindu organisation has protested to Unesco against its
decision to club Vedic chanting tradition as a folk art along with the
Belgian carnival of Binche and Indonesia's Wayang puppet theatre....
(this news item also appeared in Newindpress, Hinduism Today, India-
Tribune, India-West)
A New Year Resolution for Hinduism: Opening Temple Doors to All
A recent report of a study conducted across 1,655 villages in the
Indian state of Gujarat, representing 98,000 Dalits, revealed the
shocking fact that 97% of them feel that they are unwelcome at Hindu
temples, religious gatherings and public discourses on scripture.
Researchers did not find a single village that was free from the
practice of untouchability. (“No temple entry for dalits in Gujarat,”
Times of India, 7 December 2009). Such exclusion is neither infrequent
nor limited to Gujarat. The BBC News (“Fury over south India temple
ban,”15 October, 2009) reported an incident of stone throwing to
protest Dalits entering a temple near Vedaranyam in the state of Tamil
Nadu. Last month the High Court of Chennai issued an order, against
the wishes of temple trustees, that a temple procession pass through a
Dalit community in the Villipuram District. Dalit (oppressed) is the
name preferred by those who have been relegated to the lowest rungs of
the caste ladder and regarded as untouchable by members of upper
castes. Dalits constitute around 20% of the Indian population.
Although the exclusion of Dalits from places of Hindu worship ought to
be a matter of deep concern and distress, there is hardly a ripple of
protest in the sea of Hindu complacency. Shutting the doors of Hindu
temples to Dalits stands in bewildering contrast to the anxiety in
other religious traditions about dwindling numbers and the expenditure
of considerable resources to attract the faithful. It should not
surprise that those debarred from Hindu sanctums enter, in significant
numbers, the open and inviting doors of others. Those in India and
outside who are vociferous opponents of religious conversion must
understand and acknowledge the Dalit experience of the Hindu tradition
as oppressive and negating their dignity and self-worth. Conversion is
a challenge for Hindus to consider the relationship between religious
practice and systemic oppression. Exclusion from temples is only one
manifestation of such oppression.
It troubles deeply also that, with notable exceptions, the principal
voices of protest over exclusion are not those of Hindu leaders. In
the case of anti-Dalit violence in the town of Vedaranyam, referred to
above, the protests were led by supporters of the Communist Party of
India –Marxist. In other cases, secular-minded human rights activists
are at the forefront of the agitation on behalf of the Dalits. Earlier
this year, Navin Pillay, UN Commissioner for Human Rights, condemned
caste as negating the human rights principles of equality and non-
discrimination and called for a UN convention to outlaw discrimination
based on caste. The response of silence from Hindus may be interpreted
as support for barring Dalits from places of worship. Even more
importantly, indifference gives validation to the wrong impression
that the Hindu tradition has no theological ground or core for
challenging the human inequality that is at the root of the Dalit
ostracization and oppression.
The assumptions of human inequality that explain the continuing
persistence of untouchability need an urgent, vigorous and unambiguous
theological repudiation originating from the non-negotiable heart of
the Hindu tradition. Although Hinduism is admittedly diverse, its
major traditions are unanimous in affirming the equal existence of God
in every being. “God,” the Bhagavadgita proclaims, “ lives in the
heart of all beings.” This core theological teaching must become the
basis for the assertion of the equal dignity and worth of every human
being and the motivation for challenging and transforming the
oppressive structures of caste that, in reality, deny and violate the
luminous presence of God in all. Although every unjust expression of
caste needs to be denounced, the shutting of temple doors to persons
pleading for the opportunity to worship challenges, in a special way,
the meaning and legitimacy of Hinduism as a religious tradition. For
this reason, Hindus must commit themselves with tireless determination
to the work of welcoming Dalits into every Hindu place of worship.
Such work must be seen as fundamental to Hindu identity and the
meaning of belonging to the community of Hindus.
While we must commend and support Hindu leaders and movements working
already for the well being of Dalits and their equality and dignity,
we must recognize also that many Hindu leaders may not be at the
forefront of such a religiously inspired movement. They are the
beneficiaries of the privileges of caste and immune to the pain of
those who live at the margins. All Hindus who understand the
contradiction between teachings centered on God’s embodiment in every
human being and the exclusion of people from places of worship must
embrace this cause. Hindus settled outside of India who enjoy the
privileges of living in free societies and the protection of the law
against unequal and unjust treatment, have special obligations in this
matter. They need to lift their voices in protest against practices in
the name of Hinduism that denigrate human beings. They must ensure
that Hindu leaders, and especially those who travel often to the West
and who are the recipients of their donations and reverence, hear
their voices. They must make clear the unacceptability of religious
discrimination and demand that leaders renounce silence and
indifference and become active advocates for change. Every Hindu
leader must be challenged to take a stand in this matter.
The Constitution of India specifies, “The State shall not discriminate
against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of
birth.” Constitutional and legal measures, as necessary as these are,
have not and will not eliminate all forms of discrimination based on
caste inequality. Legal measures can never cause the joyous embrace of
all that follows from awakening to God’s presence in each heart.
Religious vision and wisdom can be the source of such transformed
relationships. Hinduism needs an unequivocal theological proclamation
that complements constitutional law by repudiating caste injustice and
that commits Hindus to the equal worth of all human beings. Opening
the doors of all Hindu temples to Dalits is an important step, an
urgent religious matter and an opportunity for the Hindu tradition, in
our time, to define itself. Let this be our collective Hindu
resolution in 2010.
Anantanand Rambachan
Professor and Chair
Religion Department
Saint Olaf College
1520 Saint Olaf Avenue
Northfield
MN 55057
E-mail: ramb...@stolaf.edu
http://shastras.org/rambachan.html
Exploring the Connections and Controversies Between Science and
Religion
New book provides overview and historical perspective on centuries-old
debate
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
by William Dube, Aug. 11, 2009 —
Follow William Dube on Twitter
Follow RITNEWS on Twitter
A new book seeks to enhance understanding of the interconnections
between science and religion and promote greater harmony in the long-
running debate between the empirical and spiritual schools of thought.
Truth and Tension in Science and Religion, authored by noted physicist
and religious scholar V. V Raman, provides a historical overview of
the development and spread of scientific inquiry and its interaction
with various religious schools of thought. It also seeks to present a
balanced review of the key tenants of both science and religion and
explore the similarities and areas for cooperation between them.
“While most people can name the many differences between scientific
inquiry and faith, there are as many similarities between the two
schools and, in fact, one has been influenced by the other for
centuries,” says Raman, professor emeritus of physics and humanities
at Rochester Institute of Technology. “Science and religion are much
more interconnected than we often realize and by examining this I hope
to reduce the tension between theologians and scientists and increase
collaboration.”
For example, Jaishree Gopal, director of Navya Shastra, the
international Hindu reform organization, notes that “even while
quoting the best of ethics from various religious traditions, Raman’s
book makes it clear that it is the modern world view, imbued with the
scientific perspective, that has led to our collective moral awakening
regarding practices such as racism, slavery and untouchability.”
Raman has spent nearly three decades studying the intersections
between philosophy, religion and science and currently serves as a
senior fellow of the Metanexus Institute on Science and Religion. He
is the author of 11 books and in 2006 was awarded the Raja Rao award
for outstanding contributions to South Asian literature.
http://www.rit.edu/news/?v=46939
Indian GLBTs the World Over Hail Sexual Decriminalization Ruling
by Kilian Melloy
Friday Jul 10, 2009
Indian GLBT equality proponent Manohar Elavarthi
The decriminalization of same-gender intimacy between consenting
adults in India is viewed by GLBT equality advocates as a major step
forward, but not a cure-all for the societal prejudices faced by
Indian gays.
As reported at New American Media on July 10, the section of the
Indian penal code, Article 377--a relic of the days when Britain
dominated the country under colonial rule--was struck down on Jyly 2
by the Delhi High Court, which found the law to be in violation of
constitutional protections.
The article carried a quoted from GLBT equality proponent Sandip Roy,
who said, "The community here has reacted ecstatically. Most people I
talked to said over and over again that they did not think it would
happen in their lifetime."
Celebrations took place all over the globe. Said Roy, "There were
impromptu celebrations in many cities. People went down to the
Stonewall Inn in New York where the modern gay rights movement began
in 1969.
"In San Francisco, friends distributed mithai at a bar in Castro.
"With Facebook and e-mail these days, the news was huge news as soon
as it broke," Roy noted.
The article cited a Berkeley, CA life coach, Krishnakali Chaudhuri, as
also hailing the ruling, though he tempered his remarks with the
observation that societal bias still remains.
"I think overall it’s a small step in the right direction," said
Chaudhuri, "but we have a long way to go."
One specific point of note, said Choudhury, was the distinction
between decriminalizing same-sex consensual intimacy between adults
and making it legal.
Said Chaudhury, "The international community of human rights is really
applauding the ruling but we have to understand that we have just
decriminalized homosexuality but we haven’t legalized it yet."
Added the GLBT equality advocate, "We need to legalize homosexuality
and then we can make changes to all the qualities of workplace,
marriage unions or health or everything else."
The article said that an American organization comprised of Indian
Americans had also hailed the court’s decision.
The Michigan-based Hindu organization Navya Shastra issued a statement
reading, "For over a century, the law has given license to the state
to persecute individuals based on their sexual orientation.
"Navya Shastra urges the Government of India not to challenge the
ruling or to be swayed by religious chauvinists of any persuasion who
would deny equality to all citizens based on ancient interpretations
of religious texts."
The group took exception to the opposition of a Hindu political party
in India, which spoke out against the repeal.
Stated Navya Shastra’s Sugrutha Ramaswamy, "Unable to find any strong
theological basis in Hinduism for opposing homosexuality, the VHP
relied on the old canard that the family structure would somehow be
threatened by the decision."
Added Ramaswamy, "This is an unscientific understanding of
homosexuality, which is not a lifestyle choice but rather an inherent
human condition."
Others in India also spoke out against the repeal, including a guru
whose claims concerning the health benefits of yoga extend to saying
that gays can be "cured" through the practice of yoga.
A Rediff News.com article from July 10 reported that guru Baba
Ramdev’s insistence that homosexuality is a pathological condition,
and that it can be alleviated through yogic practice, was panned not
only by health professionals but also by his fellow yoga proponents.
The article said that Ramdev took his claims to the Indian Supreme
Court, which had previously been approached by a prominent astrologer
with a petition to re-implement the anti-gay statute.
Said the astrologer, Sushil Kumar Kaushal, "...even animals don’t
indulge in such activities," going on to assert that higher rates of
HIV/AIDS would result from the decriminalization of adult consensual
relations between gays.
But health care professionals in the country have long lobbied for the
end of the statute, pointing out that gay Indians were less likely to
get tested and to practice safer sex as long as legal sanctions were
in place against consensual same-sex adult intimacy.
Under the anti-gay law, same-sex intimacy could be punished by jail
terms of up to ten years.
Moreover, scientists have noted same-sex courtship behavior and even
long-term partnering among some 4,000 animal species.
Ramdev’s claims were rebuffed by, among others, a physician named Dr.
Devdutt Pattanak, who said, "Is his statement based on scriptural
evidence or evidence-based medicine? It is neither."
Added Dr. Pattanak, "It is just a subjective remark."
Dr. Pattanak went on to point out that health professionals had
arrived at a quite different conclusion than had Ramdev.
"Thousands of hours of research have gone into the classification of
diseases, and neither the World Health Organization nor any
psychiatric or psychology journal recognizes homosexuality as a
disease," Dr. Pattanak noted.
"Do we believe scientific research or just an individual’s opinion,
which may simply be a marketing gimmick?"
Yoga practitioner Deepika Mehta, who found healing through yoga after
being paralyzed in an accident, also spoke out against Ramdev’s
claims, the article said.
Ms. Mehta took exception with Ramdev’s essential thesis that
homosexuality is a disease, suggesting rather that, as most medical
experts attest, it is innate and natural to gays.
Said Mehta, "Yoga is about acceptance and coming to terms with who you
really are, your purest core.
"It helps you shed the layers imposed by society.
"And in my experience, yoga has helped a lot of people come to terms
with their sexual orientation, rather than live in denial," added Ms.
Mehta.
Furthermore, Ramdev’s medical claims have no more basis in spiritual
teaching than in medical fact. Said Dr. Pattanak, "Not even the
scriptures recognize homosexuality as a disease."
The article quoted from an article Dr. Pattanak, who is also an expert
in Indian mythology, had written.
"An overview of temple imagery, sacred narratives and religious
scriptures does suggest that homosexual activities--in some form--did
exist in ancient India," observed Dr. Pattanak’s article.
"Though not part of the mainstream, its existence was acknowledged but
not approved," the article continued. "There was some degree of
tolerance when the act expressed itself in heterosexual terms--when
men ’became women’ in their desire for other men, as the hijra legacy
suggests.’"
Nitin Karani, of the GLBT equality group Humsafar Trust, noted, "While
we don’t know what leads to it yet... we do know that homosexuality is
innate.
"And it is not a Western phenomenon, as some people are trying to
label it," added Karani.
"Neither is it a disease."
Noted Karani, "A lot of gay people I know are into yoga and meditation
and are extremely spiritual, but it has not resulted in any overnight
conversions."
In a separate interview published July 10, Rediff.com News spoke with
Indian GLBT equality proponent Manohar Elavarthi, who told the
publication, "Now it is a question of social tolerance. Just because
the law has changed it does not mean that the attitude of the people
will change.
"However, I must add that the court verdict has opened things up for
all of us. I only hope that the Supreme Court upholds the verdict."
Added Elavarthi, "What we want is a complete repeal of the Section 377
of the Indian Penal Code.
"The IPC is guided by a feudal set up and it has not changed with the
times," Elavarthi went on. "About social acceptance, we need to work
towards it.
Elavarthi reposnded to concerns that repealing the entire Article,
which also addresses sexual assault and abuse, by saying, "...along
with this we need to ensure that laws regarding sexual abuse, be it
male or female or children related laws need to be strengthened."
Elavarthi noted that religious objections were not entirely grounded
in scriptural sources.
"In Hinduism there is nothing to show that it is anti-homosexuality."
Indeed, added Elavarthi, "There are instances to show that some of the
Gods have undergone a sex change.
"I don’t understand how Baba Ramdev and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad are
opposing this.
"Where Christianity is concerned," Elavartha continued, "the community
is divided in its opinion.
"There are gay churches and the Vatican too says that gays should not
be criminalized.
"Speaking of Islam, there are few who claim that the Quran says that
it is anti homosexuality.
"Shariat law speaks of punishment for men indulging in homosexuality.
However we don’t have this law in India and the laws in India does not
speak of any punishment."
Kilian Melloy reviews media, conducts interviews, and writes
commentary for EDGEBoston, where he also serves as Assistant Arts
Editor.
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=93587
http://shastras.org/indiaabroad1
http://shastras.org/indiaabroad2
http://www.blonnet.com/mentor/2009/03/16/stories/0316.pdf
http://60secondschief.blogspot.com/
http://reflectionsbyiitians.blogspot.com/
Future religious practice
Jaishree Gopal, Co-Founder & Chairperson, Navya Shastra, US.
India is perhaps the only place in the world where people of different
religions have been interacting with one another for centuries. In the
West, however, this is the first time they are interacting with many
religions, including those from the East, as a result of modernisation
and globalisation.
Though traditionally religions have been dividing us all, we have
become more conscious of the differences as a result of increased
knowledge about other religions. However, eventually, people are going
to be learning from one another. For instance, yoga and meditation
practices from Hinduism are very common in the US. And some of the oft-
emulated messages of Christianity and Islam are charity and peace,
respectively.
Thus, even though you may continue to identify yourself to a
particular religion, you are going to be incorporating in your life
good elements from other people’s religion, while at the same time
discarding those aspects of your religion that don’t seem right to you
any more. As a result, compassion is going to increase for those whom
we call ‘others’. Definitely, the way we practise our religion is
going to change in the future, more and more.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/mentor/2008/12/22/stories/2008122250421100.htm
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Jaishree Gopal
It is very important for all Indians to get involved in social reform
movement of all kinds, and especially think of caste and gender issues
in Hinduism without being defensive or apologetic, with an eye to
reform rather than justify the current exclusive practices.
Jaishree Gopal, A contributor to 'Reflections by IITians', Co-founder
of Navya Shastra (http://www.shastras.org/)
December 20, 9.15 am
The future of religious practice
Posted by Murali at 9:15 AM
AM I A HINDU? International Best Seller said...
Namasthe Jaishree: What you wrote is very true.
Every religion and every culture has the GOOD, the BAD and UGLY
aspects in it and dwell on the negative aspects do not make any sense.
At the same time, we have to do everything in our power to eradicate
BAD and UGLY aspects where ever we find them.
The very best aspect of Hinduism is
"ABOSULTE FREEDOM OF THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS."
Voltaire in Essay on Tolerance wrote: "I may disagree with what you
say, but I will defend to the death, your right to say it. "Hinduism
is the symbolic representation of what Voltaire wrote.
May 26, 2009 7:41 PM
http://muralilistening.blogspot.com/2008/12/jaishree-gopal.html
November 01, 2008
Hindus Urged to Vote Against Prop. 8
Navya Shastra, the international Hindu reform organization based in
Troy, Mich., sent out a press release Friday urging California voters
to reject Proposition 8, which would eliminate the right of same-sex
couples to marry under California law.
Navya Shastra, the international Hindu reform organization based in
Troy, Mich., sent out a press release Friday urging California voters
to reject Proposition 8, which would eliminate the right of same-sex
couples to marry under California law.
The organization notes that Hinduism has never classified
homosexuality as a sin. While some ancient law codes have been
critical of homosexual acts, the denomination has never called for the
persecution of gays. In fact, there is ample evidence that alternative
lifestyles have been accepted throughout Hindu history. Several modern
Hindu leaders have also spoken positively of gay rights; however, many
American Hindus remain uncomfortable with homosexuality.
“According to the Hindu contemplative tradition, we are all
manifestations of the one universal spirit, straight or gay, and
worthy of the same respect and rights” said Jaishree Gopal, chairman
of Navya Shastra, in the release. “We urge American Hindus in
California to remember this central insight of their faith when they
vote on November 4.” (The Advocate)
http://www.advocate.com/article.aspx?id=42352
US-based Hindu group slams Jagannath temple priests
New York, March 05, 2007
Published: 17:21 IST (5/3/2007)
A US-based Hindu reform organisation has criticised the destroying of
huge quantities of food at the Jagannath temple in Orissa by the
temple authorities because an American had entered the complex - an
act seen as defiling the 12th century Hindu-only premises.
The Navya Shastra, an international Hindu reform organisation, said
the act of the temple authorities had no vedic sanction.
"We are appalled to know about the mindless throwing away of large
amounts of food by the Puri temple administration at the instigation
of pujaris (priests) with a medieval mindset at a time and place where
there are thousands of poor and hungry people," said the
organisation's chairman, Dr Jaishree Gopal.
A 59-year-old American engineer from New York was thrown out of the
temple complex last Thursday, fined, taken to a local police station
and later released, despite his protestations that he was unaware of
the temple's restrictions.
The Michigan-based Navya Shastra was founded in the United States in
2002. According to its website, the organisation stands against
"...caste hierarchy and caste injustices, not only because they are
not sanctioned in the Vedas, but also because they are morally wrong,
unacceptable, and anachronistic in the world in which we live.
"Given the high levels of malnutrition among India's children, this
act (throwing away food), assuredly without vedic sanction, must be
deemed unacceptable," a press release by the organisation, said.
"The organisation is saddened and surprised that no Hindu leader of
any consequence has protested this unconscionable and anachronistic
behaviour. Instead of purifying the premises, the priests should seek
to purify their own hearts and minds, and, along with other leaders,
set a positive example for all devotees," said Dr Bala Aiyer, an
advisor of the organisation said.
Foreigners are not allowed to enter leading Hindu temples in Orissa,
including the Jagannath temple at Puri and the Lingaraj temple there.
An American Christian woman, Pamela K. Fleig, who converted to
Hinduism after marrying an Indian from Uttar Pradesh, was denied entry
into the 11th century Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar in 2005.
Thailand's Crown Princess Sirindhorn was also not given permission to
visit the Jagannath temple in the same year, as she was a foreigner
and Buddhist.
Even late prime minister Indira Gandhi - a born Hindu - was not
allowed to enter the temple when she was in power because she had
married a Parsi.
http://shastras.org/mukundabrazil
Hindu group opposes Love Guru protests
New York, May 22: A Hindu reform organisation in the US has opposed
the growing protests by Hindu groups against upcoming Hollywood film
The Love Guru , saying that calling for a ban on the comedy starring
Mike Myers would be going too far.
Navya Shastra, the organisation based in Troy, Michigan, which earlier
spoke out against astrology, female foeticide and Dalit
discrimination, has argued that hyper-sensitivity over inaccurate or
distorted religious depictions in mass media erodes the tradition of
tolerance of criticism in the Hindu faith.
"Hindus have a remarkable history of freedom of thought and
expression. Unfortunately, this is being eroded these days by
hypersensitive and misguided chauvinistic pressure groups, perhaps
taking their cue from more chauvinistic traditions," Gautham Rao,
Navya Shastra's research director, was quoted as saying in a press
release.
It said while it respects the right of the groups in the US and
elsewhere to protest against the film, it strongly believes that
calling for a ban on the comedy goes too far.
The reform organisation further notes that in the era of electronic
media, monitoring and controlling religious depictions and imagery is
a daunting, near impossible task.
"Hindus should set a spiritual example for others by combating social
ills and discrimination," said Jaishree Gopal, Navya Shastra
chairman.
The protests against the film, which opens June 20, have been
spearheaded by Rajan Zed, Hindu leader based in Reno, Nevada. On
watching the film's trailer some weeks ago, he started accusing the
film of lampooning Hinduism.
Bureau Report
http://international.zeenews.com/inner1.asp?aid=201859&sid=bus
Navya Shastra concern over India's foeticide epidemic
From the Community
Posted: Wednesday, May 07, 2008, 01:17 am EST
Troy, Michigan: Navya Shastra, the international Hindu reform
organization has voiced concern over the declining female-to male sex
ratio in India.
It calls Indian feminist leaders to address the causes for this
deplorable situation and to urge their government to take more
effective action to curb and put an end to this sad and disgraceful
situation in the country.
It is ironic that the epidemic continues to worsen, despite a
burgeoning economy and rising literacy levels.
The bias against girls has existed for a long time across the
socioeconomic spectrum. Navya Shastra notes that even in the
wealthiest areas of the nation's metros, abortions of the girl-child
based upon prenatal ultrasound technology continue to rise, though
there seems to be a growing awareness of the problem.
"Clearly a cultural preference for boys in Indian society is the
driving force behind the rise in female feticide," says Rahul Saxena,
a Navya Shastra member from Bareilly, UP , "technology in this case is
simply serving an ancient prejudice."
Navya Shastra also called on the Hindu community and its organizations
to allow daughters to impart final rites at the funerals of their
parents. "One religious reason why boys are favored among Hindus is
because of the anachronistic belief that only a son can formally
conduct this ceremony, so a girl is totally worthless in this regard,"
said Dr. Jaishree Gopal, Navya Shastra Chairman.
(Compiled from a press release)
From India Abroad February 16, 2007, Pg M11
Ghosts of the Past
Ramya Gopal visits an Indian village where time and tradition appear
to have stood still
The urban scene of India has become a dichotomy between prosperity and
poverty, modernity and tradition. Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore are
hungry for steel: tall skyscrapers, metro stations, and multistoried
shopping complexes. However, the morning warbles of the subjilawallas,
the colorful temptation of street clothing, and the barber under the
banyan tree have refused to disappear into wistful oblivion.
This modern story of India is one with which we have all become
familiar; the miracle India praised on the covers of magazines and
newspapers. Yet in its villages, this dichotomy is replaced by a one-
sided reliance on ancient tradition. When I visited a village near
Chennai this past summer, I saw for the first time the archaic India
described in the stories of the Mahabharatha and the Ramayana.
As we drove away from Chennai, the roads dwindled from paved to dirt
and then sand. The air of the coast was permeated by a pungent odor of
fish, but one that the people seemed to relish. The hot sand calloused
my feet but there was no litter for me to avoid as I had in the
cities. Women in colorful saris and men in dhotis were squatted on the
slimy floor sorting the fish. Repulsed, I strayed away from the stink,
but it nostalgically reminded me that fishing villages initiated the
story of the Mahabharata. Satyavati, the embodiment of mothers in the
epic, was the daughter of a fisherman, and it seemed as if these
fishermen were continuing the legacy. Interrupting my musing, my host
beckoned me to a row of small motorboats shuddering against the coast.
Boats were the only method of transportation across the lake and to
the village.
On the island, I walked, with seaweed in my toes, past small huts with
thatched roofs. The main attraction in the island was an ornate temple
surrounded by everyone in the village. A tent had been strung beyond
with seats lined in rows like a movie theatre. I stood awkwardly in
the sun, unsure of the village mores, until a few older girls beckoned
to me. They had pulled out a chair and formed a towering circle around
me. The girls had matching plaits and silver anklets.
A few were wearing simple cotton pavadais (petticoats), more
traditional to Tamil Nadu, although one was wearing a nightgown. We
gawked politely at each other; American suburban girl meets Indian
village girls. "Why do you have your hair like that? In a bun?" they
asked me in Tamil. Taken aback, I didn't have an adequate response, so
I steered the conversation away from me to them. I discovered that the
girls were between 18 and 20 but had only studied in school until 10th
grade. In between giggles, they added that one of them was engaged.
The girls were at the ripe age for marriage and their parents were
looking for grooms for them. However, they could not marry out of
their village because it was the only "untouchable" village in the
area. This social discrimination as a result of caste distinction
echoed again in their stories about the old temple.
One reason for my visit to Idamani--the place I was in-- was to
witness the opening ceremony of a new temple. The old temple had been
destroyed by the tsunami two years ago. As the girls began to open up
to me, I listened to their stories of backward practices associated
with the temple. One example was the men's inability to wear a poonal,
the sacred thread, because they were not "upper caste". Other families
would not even visit their homes because they were untouchables. Women
were not allowed in the temple when the men held their meetings. These
restrictive traditions had been eradicated in the cities and other
parts of the world but persisted in this village.
The inauguration ceremony of the temple was announced by the ringing
tones of the nadaswaram and the temple quickly became crowded. Some
women looked out coyly from their thatched huts. Young girls were made
up in magenta colored lipstick, designs around their eyes, and traces
of dried turmeric on their faces. In the center of the temple was a
large (homam )fire and shahstri (priest) sang bhajans with the
villagers repeating after him, clapping. Colorful flowers, rice, and
butter for prasadam on aged yellow banana leaves completed the
ceremony.Interestingly, while members of the "higher" caste had rarely
visited the old temple, the inauguration ceremony had been attended by
many outsiders. The new temple would, hopefully, become an emblem of
caste reform.
Even as economic development brings modernity to India's villages,
strong social divides still linger. In this village, for instance,
water purification infrastructure has been put into place yet women
still quit studying in favor of marriage. It was the most striking
difference between the city and the village; caste lines more sharply
divided and a central part of daily life. It left me with the thought
that true prosperity was impossible until social advancement and a
sense of equality became firmly entrenched in our communities.
http://shastras.org/Untouchability_IA.html
India's Tolerance Levels Tested as American Enters Forbidden Sanctuary
Deepak Mahaan
Correspondent
New Delhi (CNSNews.com) - An American tourist caused an uproar when he
wandered into a Hindu temple strictly closed to non-Hindus, in an
incident that highlighted the challenges India faces in presenting
itself as an enlightened democracy.
Detained for several hours by local police in India's Orissa state,
Paul Roediger, a 59-year-old engineer from New York, was later
released on condition he pay a token fine, after what authorities at
the Jagannath temple called an "act of desecration."
Roediger's inadvertent wandering into the shrine of Hindu deity Vishnu
triggered calls from some Hindus for severe punishment, but local
policemen managed to convince temple administrators and angry
adherents that he had trespassed in error.
Unaware of rules banning entry of non-Hindus, the American, who is
interested in temple architecture, walked into the temple's inner
"sanctum sanctorum."
Roediger expressed regret but also blamed temple authorities, noting
that no guard had prevented him from entering the area.
Police Inspector Alekh Pahi said Roediger and two Indian companions
had been released as "there is no provision in law to take any action
against for entering the temple."
Temple authorities afterwards "purified" the "defiled" premises by
washing with water and milk. Food worth nearly $5,000, meant for
distribution among Hindu devotees as part of religious ritual, was
deemed "polluted" and destroyed.
The decision upset a U.S.-based Hindu reform organization, which said
it was appalled by the waste.
The Navya Shastra organization said it reflected "a medieval mindset
at a time and place where there are thousands of poor and hungry
people."
The incident has focused renewed attention onto controversial
religious and cultural practices that survive in India despite its
stated commitment to secular, democratic principles.
"Low-caste" citizens and "untouchables" (dalits) are still denied
entry to various temples or forbidden to use water wells, in
contravention of constitutional guarantees.
Dr. Rashmi Patni, director of the Gandhian Studies Centre at the
University of Rajasthan, argues that such customs go against the
tenets of Mahatma Gandhi who he said stood for human dignity and
equality irrespective of caste, sex, creed or color and fought for
temple entry for dalits.
"Like in every society, social discrimination in India is born out of
centuries' old legacy," she said. "It is similar to the problem and
differences among blacks and whites in the U.S. and cannot be
eradicated merely by enactment of constitutional statutes."
Patni said, however, that the growing affluence of the middle class,
increasing literacy levels and the spread of information technology
was making issues of caste, gender and religion of little importance
to younger Indians.
Sawai Singh, an activist espousing Gandhi's ideas, said successive
Indian governments have failed to curb the menace of religious
intolerance, because politicians prefer to pander to their respective
constituencies.
"If punishments for social discrimination and depravation were to be
severe, many of these evils would get eradicated automatically," Singh
argued.
Ironically, the Jagannath temple is immensely popular among pilgrims,
because unlike some centers, it does not discriminate between higher-
and lower-caste Hindus.
Nonetheless, the temple does not allow entry to non-Hindus or
foreigners - with the exception of Western Hare Krishna devotees, who
throng to the temple each year in large numbers.
Former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was once turned away from
the main gates of the shrine, as she was deemed to be non-Hindu,
having married outside of the religion.
Make media inquiries or request an interview about this article.
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/11531055/
An Unqualified Apology to Every Untouchable
December 19, 2006
Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta
http://desicritics.org/2006/12/19/103610.php
The untouchables of Hinduism are a wretched lot. For hundreds and
thousands of years, this group of people have been forced to inhabit
the bottom end of the Hindu totem pole.
While it is not at the level of genocide, it is an institutionalised
social
discrimination over a very long period of time. When I read a press
release from a Hindu reformist group apologising to the Untouchables
for the deep seated discrimination, it struck a chord in my mind and I
wanted to write about it, as well as share in this apology.
For example, only recently there was a big brouhaha when a temple in
India refused entry to dalits (who are also Hindu) simply because they
were of a lower caste. In this day and age! I was so furious and when
I complained bitterly that none of the mainstream Hindu organisations
or leaders in India did anything, I was accused of patronising them.
These so-called Hindu organisations are very quick off the mark when
absolutely silly things go on, but when there is clear cut painfully
evident confirmation that there needs to be reform, they are nowhere
to be found. This is absolutely ridiculous and a clear example of
intellectual incoherence at best and incompetence at worst. But I
digress.
Apologies are very strange and at the same time, very human. It is
extremely powerful and at the same time, looked upon with deep
cynicism. It is also extremely difficult to do so, while there is
nothing like this to draw the teeth out of any angst ridden situation.
Just ask me, I have to apologise regularly to my sister. But this
apology is one, which is valid on so many different levels and this is
an apology to the untouchables of Hinduism.
The basics of this religiously mandated behaviour are well known and I
will not spend too much time on going deeper into the intricacies of
this. Other than saying that the idea of difference and discrimination
was institutionalised despite a huge amount of debate on what this
differentiation meant. On one hand, there were statements effectively
saying that everybody is born the same, while on the other hand, there
are statements in religious books talking about how some are born from
the head and some from the foot. Irrespective of what the religious
justification is, one found that there are literally thousands of
groups who consider themselves different from other groups. This
groupism extended to bans on intermarriage, taking meals together and
even extended to group dedicated watering holes and wells.
Quite a lot of Hindu reformers ranging from Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma
Gandhi, Guru Rabindranath Tagore, Dayananda Saraswati, etc. kept a
strong pressure on changing this religious practise, but even when
India became independent, this was still present.
The then leader of the untouchables, Shri Bhimrao Ambedkar, a
brilliant lawyer, even incorporated caste based reservations into the
constitution, to provide them with the leg up.
As it so happens, this is something which I disagree with, because
this has institutionalised discrimination and is not leading anybody
anywhere towards the true equality in the eyes of the state and
citizens, but that's beside the point.
Discrimination was outlawed by the Indian constitution in 1936, but
little has changed for the 300-400 million people who belonged to the
Untouchable Castes of India. I am also conscious of the fact that
calling it 'the caste system' is dangerously simplifying it, as the
actual theological aspects behind the differentiation is much more
complex.
What is also beside the point is that all other religions and cultures
have had the same groupism and differentiation and were trying to
create a separate identity through religious or cultural factors.
Whether we are talking about the Japanese way of looking at the
difference between the samurai and peasants, the difference between
the faithful and the dhimmi, the difference between Catholics and
Protestants, the difference between white and black skin, the
difference between Christian and pagan, you name it, discrimination
has occurred all the time and everywhere. And yes, just because it
happened in other religious, regions and cultures, it just tells me
that it is pretty much human. This is, however, neither an excuse nor
a reason to stop trying to rip out this disgusting practise.
But what good is an apology? We have to address the cynics in our
midst as well, because I have seen this form of visceral reaction from
both sides.
The side of the Hindus, who totally refuse to accept that this
happened and go off into theological arguments and ignore the real
life actions around discrimination. The other side are the Dalits, who
would be happy to tear down the entire country to satisfy their rather
strange desire for revenge. Both extremely simplistic in the extreme
and frankly not worth talking to or about, but then, that's what
happens to fanatics. Their feet are planted firmly in the air!
But this is not for the fanatics, they won't listen anyway, it is for
the vast majority of Hindus, people who have a social conscience, care
about their culture and are conscious of a vast historical injustice
done to a whole group of other people. And it is not a simple binary
equation, high class Brahmins discriminating against lower class
dalits. It happens on every group intersection, so there is no point
in getting up on the high horse about just one group.
An apology is a very good means to bring things out in the open.
Hiding behind a religious tract or pointing at other instances does
not change the situation on the ground. Every Hindu has to be open
about this discrimination, and understand what this has done to us,
our culture, history and reputation. No longer! This apology means
that we understand and accept the fault. Not only that, but an apology
actually provides the impetus or the foundation to do something about
it.
This is the other good thing about an apology for the cynics out
there. Once one has gone through the cathartic process of apologising,
one can start to address this issue, if only by small measures. If a
friend says something demeaning about a lower caste person, even a
raised eyebrow is a small but significant step in telling people that
this form of behaviour is not appropriate.
One will definitely ask me the question if somebody might actually
accept the apology? I am afraid this is the wrong question. When Tony
Blair apologised for the British role in Slavery, he did not do it
because he was worried whether anybody might or might not accept it.
He did it because this was the right thing to do. Despite the fact
that I am personally not responsible for this reprehensible and
horrible historical fact, as a Hindu and as a human being, it is but
right to apologise. As a Hindu, I hold responsibility to my religion,
my nation, my society, my government, and indeed to my children as
well. An apology can, in a small way, lead towards making the world a
fairer place.
The Hindu Reformist group, Navya Shastra (http://www.shastras.org/),
who actually made the public apology, also invited a whole host of
other Hindu luminaries to join in this effort. I am not sure how far
this went but it should be remembered that this caste based
discrimination is not simply religiously mandated, but also socially
mandated. Hence besides religious figures, cultural and social figures
need to be brought into this as well. In many ways, an appeal by one
of the Bollywood actors may actually provide more push to changes in
behaviour, rather than very many Hindu religious leaders combined. But
still, more luminaries joining in to complain, apologise and push
Indians to remove this distressing social condition is good.
So here it is, I fully endorse and join Navya Shastra, in apologising
to the other castes, for what I and my forefathers may have done and
promise that I will raise my voice against this disgusting practice,
and hopefully help remove this by my words as well as my behaviour.
At the UN World Conference on Race (WCAR) held August 31-September 8
2001 in Durban, South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki said:"...there are
many in our common world who suffer indignity and humiliation because
they are not white ...These are a people who know what it means to be
the victim of rabid racism and racial discrimination. Nobody ever
chose to be a slave, to be colonised, to be racially oppressed. The
impulses of the time caused these crimes to be committed by human
beings against others."
And while there was quite a hullabaloo about whether 'casteism' is
appropriate in this race conference, this is quibbling over details.
Discrimination existed, it exists and it behoves us to address it. May
this apology be a first start to a better implementation of religion!
All this to be taken with a grain of salt!
Dr. Bhaskar Dasgupta works in the city of London in various capacities
in the financial sector. He has worked and travelled widely around the
world. The articles in here relate to his current studies and are
strictly his opinion and do not reflect the position of his past or
current employer(s). If you do want to blame somebody, then blame my
sister and editor, she is responsible for everything, the ideas, the
writing, the quotes, the drive, the israeli-palestinian crisis, global
warming, the ozone layer depletion and the argentinian debt crisis.
Indian Groups Contest California Textbook Content
India-West, News Report, Viji Sundaram, Posted: Feb 16, 2006
HAYWARD, Calif. – Even as the California Board of Education (CBE) is
trying to grapple with the contentious and loudly debated issue of
corrections requested from Hindu groups in proposed textbooks for
sixth-graders, another group is trying to make its voice heard over
the din.
Some dalits (widely thought of in India as an oppressed people) across
the U.S. are demanding that the term, dalit, used only in one of the
nine proposed textbooks currently being reviewed by the CBE, not be
elided (omitted), as the Hindu groups want, and that a photo of a
dalit cleaning a latrine be replaced with one of a dalit engaged in a
faith practice.
They also say that it would serve the dalits' cause better if the
textbooks said that "untouchability is a living reality in India,"
instead of simply going by the Hindu groups' suggestion that the books
say that it is illegal to treat someone as an untouchable, Vikram
Masson, co-founder of Navya Shastra, a U.S.-based non-profit
organization that speaks out against caste-related issues, told India-
West.
Acknowledging that "the Hinduism sections (in the textbooks) are
extremely poor to begin with" and need to be corrected, Masson, who is
himself not a dalit and is a parent of a school-going child in New
Jersey, observed: "It is curious (the Hindu groups) would want to
elide the word, dalit. We believe the heritage of Hinduism is positive
enough, and there is no need to cover up any inadequacies."
New Jersey resident Jebaroja Singh, whose dalit grandparents converted
to Christianity many years ago, seemed to echo those sentiments.
"When there has been a history of discrimination against dalits, why
should we paint a rosy picture in the textbooks?" asked Singh, who
teaches racism and sexism in the U.S. at William Patterson University
in Wayne, N.J. Masson is married to a Christian priest.
But others argue that since the textbooks primarily deal with ancient
India, a time when the word, dalit, was not even coined, to not remove
it would be inappropriate.
For over a year now, two U.S.-based Hindu groups - the Hindu Education
Foundation and the Vedic Foundation - as well as scores of Hindu
parents, have been pushing for corrections in the social studies and
history courses in the sixth-grade textbooks, saying that the books
not only do not accurately represent India's ancient culture and
history, they sometimes denigrate it. Every six years, textbook
publishers offer the CBE drafts of textbooks they plan to bring out
for the board's acceptance. Public hearings form an integral part of
the review process.
At those hearings last year, the Hindu groups asserted that the books
were historically inaccurate in saying such things as Hinduism evolved
in India from the Aryans who invaded the country in 1500 B.C.; that
Sanskrit was a dead language; that Hindi is written in Arabic script;
that the Aryan rulers had created a caste system, under which the
dalits were forced to perform menial tasks.
According to many scholars, prior to 600 A.D., the terms used in India
to describe a so-called untouchable were chandala and shudra, and only
about one percent of the population fell under that category.
Citing from the book, "The Wonder That Was India," by the late ancient
history scholar A.L. Basham, southern California resident and retired
UCLA ancient history professor Shiva Bajpai told India-West: "In fact,
it was not blood that made a group untouchable, but conduct."
"So a Brahmin could be viewed as a chandala if he behaved badly,"
Bajpai said.
Over the last several decades, the term dalit – a Marathi word that
means oppressed - has been gaining more currency in India, with the
rise of growing activism among the approximately 150 million people at
the bottom of the caste system, who accuse members of the upper caste
of pervasive discrimination for centuries.
The late Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution,
struggled to win dalits like himself equal rights. He renounced
Hinduism in the process, saying the religion perpetuated the caste
system. Mahatma Gandhi worked toward uplifting the dalits' status,
bestowing upon them the term, Harijan, which means "children of God."
However, many dalits and activists do not like to be called that.
"They say if you are born from God, your parentage is questionable,"
said Masson.
Even the group of historians and academics headed by Harvard
University Sanskrit professor Michael Witzel, who is opposing many of
the corrections the Hindu groups have suggested, accusing them of
attempting to whitewash Indian history, has accepted the Hindu groups'
suggestion to delete negative references to untouchability, said Santa
Rosa, Calif., resident Vishal Agarwal, who described himself as an
"independent scholar."
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http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=41bc3d55ffe78d0686112ba99ae75766
US Hindu organisation accuses VHP of casteism
IANS[ SUNDAY, MARCH 06, 2005 07:27:31 PM ]
Sign into earnIndiatimes points
MICHIGAN: A US-based Hindu organisation has accused the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (VHP) of "casteist practices" at a mass conversion campaign
in Etah in Uttar Pradesh last month.
Navya Shastra, the organisation which boasts of scholars and priests
"dedicated to fostering the spiritual equality of all Hindus" among
its followers, said the VHP, which claimed to have converted 5,000
Christians to Hinduism at Etah, had classified them as Dalits in their
new religion.
"While we applaud all efforts to spread the Hindu religion through
peaceful and legitimate means, we are utterly baffled that the VHP
would insist that the new converts be labelled as untouchables," it
said in a statement here.
"This is a bizarre act of conceptual dehumanisation," the statement
quoted Navya Shastra co-chairperson Jaishree Gopal as saying.
The statement urged all Hindu organisations involved in proselytising
activities to do away with attaching cast labels to new converts.
"Surely all modern Hindu reformers agree that there is no spiritual
merit attached to any caste affiliation," the statement added.
Organisations like the VHP, which envisions a caste-free society,
should follow their own advice, it maintained.
God's Wrath in India?
Hindu resentment over Christian activity in India fuels religious
explanations of tsunami tragedy.
BY: Arun Venugopal
Resize - Minus Resize - Plus As the world attempts to tackle the
tragedy in South Asia, the focus for the vast majority of South Asians
has been on relief. But the tsunami has also magnified already-
existing tensions between Hindus, Christians and others in the
devastated region. In India--a country often seen as a spiritual
battleground, where religions fight over the souls of the poor and
dispossessed--some conservative Hindus have used the tsunami to
criticize both a Hindu leader's arrest and the presence of Christian
missionaries in India. Meanwhile, evangelical Christian groups may
proselytize as they help tsunami victims.
Last week, a column on the widely-read Indian news site Rediff.com
suggested that the tsunami was a sign of retribution against
Christians, whose activities are seen as betraying India's essentially
Hindu character. (Full disclosure: I work for a publication owned by
Rediff.com, and my articles occasionally appear on Rediff.) Columnist
Rajeev Srinivasan pointed to several religion-related factors he sees
as pertinent. Referring to the earthquake as the "Christmas quake," he
implied that the timing wasn't mere coincidence. He also noted that
the tsunami hit a church at Velankanni, one of the most significant
Christian pilgrimage points in South India, resulting in the death of
50 people. Finally, he connected the tragedy to what many see as the
recent mistreatment of a revered Hindu leader.
In November, a holy man known formally as Shankaracharya Jayendra
Saraswathi was
arrested in connection with the murder of a former official of his
religious order. Hindus around the world decried the arrest, even
organizing mass email petitions maintaining that the entire affair was
politically motivated and related to a longstanding fight with the
current head of the state government of Tamil Nadu, where the most
tsunami-related deaths later occurred. Before long, the
Shankaracharya's sympathizers had solidified their opinion that anti-
Hindu forces were to blame, with some going so far as to point fingers
at the Vatican.
For Srinivasan, the Shankaracharya's arrest seemed the most plausible
explanation for the subsequent disaster. "The devastation by the
tsunami in Tamil Nadu, could it be a caveat from Up There about the
atrocities being visited on the [Shankaracharya]?" he asked. "About
adharma"--evil--"gaining ground?" In summarizing, he wrote, "It is
said that the very elements can be affected by the mystical powers of
sages who have acquired superhuman powers through meditation and
sadhana. I think we should all tread carefully, for now we are
treading on things we do not know."
Srinivasan's comments may seem like isolated rants--and even many of
his longtime readers rejected them--but other groups have echoed his
feelings. The Kanchi Kamakoti Seva Foundation, which defends the
Shankaracharya, recently sent an email to its supporters linking the
tsunami to the holy man's arrest. The email says "God has given a
strong signal with this disaster when the injustice to Dharmic
followers have crossed the tolerance limit." It instructs readers to
pray that the tsunami will be "an eye-opener for the Tamil Nadu
Administration and for the media to stop abusing their powers and
bring out false charges against H.H. [His Holiness]."
Most Hindus find the "act of God" tsunami theories irrelevant, if not
offensive. "Such a controversy, if at all there is one, is a product
of some small minds," said Gaurang Vaishnav of the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad of America, one of many Hindu organizations in the United
States that has rallied to aid the victims.
"Hindus do not believe in a vindictive God. There are always actions
and reactions in accordance with the theory of karma. But to attribute
a wholesale destruction and death of thousands of innocent people to a
single act of a state government is ridiculous, insensitive and
insulting to human compassion that crosses the boundaries of religion
at times of natural disasters."
Another Hindu group, the reformist
Navya Shastra
, issued a press release condemning Hindu organizations that have
bought into the act-of-God view, comparing their remarks to those of
Christian leaders like Jerry Falwell. While acknowledging, like
Vaishnav, that karma could have played a role in the deaths, the
group, made of Hindu scholars, practitioners and priests outside
India, suggested that it was more important to focus on helping
survivors than trying to explain why the disaster happened.
Such act-of-God charges also tap into larger Hindu resentment over the
notion that traditional Hindu culture is giving way to forces such as
Western materialism or other faiths. Opposition to Christian
missionary work and the conversion of Dalits, or low-caste Hindus, is
not confined to Hindu nationalists. Many people react negatively to
the idea that some of India's tribal peoples may be exposed to the
Bible even as they are taught how to read, or may take on a Christian
name. The state of Tamil Nadu has special significance for many
Hindus. It was there that a controversial Anti-Conversion Bill was
passed in 2002, meant to prevent poor Hindus from being forcibly
converted to Christianity, especially via financial inducements.
Christian leaders have denied offering such inducements.
But some mission groups see tsunami relief efforts as an opportunity
to spread the gospel in South Asia. In an
article on the evangelical website Crosswalk.com
, Dr. Ajith Fernando of Youth for Christ was quoted as saying, "We
have prayed and wept for our nation for many years. The most urgent of
my prayers has always been that my people would turn to Jesus. I pray
that this terrible, terrible tragedy might be used by God to break
through into the lives of many of our people."
Another evangelist, Gospel for Asia's K.P. Yohannan, said, "In times
like these, we know that God opens the hearts of those who suffer, and
we pray that as our workers demonstrate God's love to them, many of
them will come to know for the first time that real security comes
only through Him."
The statements were immediately distributed to watchful Hindus through
the e-mail news digest Hindu Press International ("Christians See
Conversion Opportunities in Disaster Relief"), a service from the
publishers of the U.S. magazine Hinduism Today.
For some Hindus, the Christian call to evangelize was expected, and
served to favorably contrast Hinduism's non-proselytization with what
they consider the insidious nature of certain Christian groups. "You
will not find an RSS or VHP volunteer converting a non-Hindu to Hindu
Dharma after helping him in his time of need," said Gaurang Vaishnav.
"This is the true meaning of seva"--service in the spirit of
sacrifice--"to a Hindu."
However, these same Hindu aid groups are themselves under scrutiny. An
email distributed by the leftist group
Campaign to Stop Funding Hate
told Indians interested in donating to disaster victims to avoid Hindu
groups such as the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak (RSS), Seva International
and the VHP of America. These organizations, says CSFH, have a history
of using grassroots efforts to advance a militant Hindu political
agenda. According to Kaushik Ghosh, an anthropologist at the
University of Texas, they may create organizational bases, increase
membership, establish political legitimacy or fundraise.
"During [2001's] Gujarat earthquake, the amount of money that flew
into these organizations was unbelievable," said Ghosh. "The
accounting of such money is relatively murky ...NGOs and relief-
development work can become the source of money for a whole range of
'behind-the-camera' projects." For its part, the VHPA states, "funds
for relief work are distributed without consideration of province,
race or religion."
Despite the religious struggles in the press and among advocacy
groups, the interfaith situation appears to be more positive on the
ground, where aid groups and neighbors are working together to help
survivors. One Indian blogger, Amit Varma, reported a growing
friendship between local people of different faiths responding to the
devastation. While spending time in the village of Parangipettai, in
Tamil Nadu, Varma wrote, "A deep bond had been formed between the
villagers, who were all Hindus, and these Muslim men who rushed to
help their neighbours because they believed that to be the way of
their religion. ...Faith, that can be so divisive in times of peace,
can also bring communities together in times of strife."
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Hinduism/2004/11/Gods-Wrath-In-India.aspx
Hindu group criticises Kanchi Shankaracharya
Friday October 15 2004 18:31 IST
IANS
NEW YORK: A US-based organisation has criticised India's leading Hindu
seer, Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati, for having been part
of a ceremony where a Rs.20 million ($425,000) diamond-studded crown
was placed on a deity, saying the money could have been spent on
social service instead.
The Navya Shastra, a Hindu organisation, said the seer was part of the
Oct 2 "kumbhabhishekam" ceremony in Andhra Pradesh state's Tirupati
temple where the deity, Lord Venkateswara, was adorned with the crown.
The crown, encrusted with two marble sized emeralds and rare Burmese
rubies besides diamonds, has been donated by the Goenka business
family of Kolkata, India.
Navya Shastra research director Gautham Rao, said money for the crown
had come through donations and it could have been put to better use.
"Clearly at this time in Indian history, when the majority of Indian
citizens continue to live at or near poverty levels, we felt the money
should have been spent on social service," he said.
"We had hoped the Acharya would use his considerable influence to
direct the funds for programmes for the betterment of struggling
Hindus and members of the lower castes, many of whom continue to live
on the peripheries of Hindu society," he added.
Navya Shastra also questioned the participation of Andhra Pradesh
Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in the "opulent" ceremony.
http://shastras.org/Kanchinews.htm
NRI group battles Hinduism's "inequalities"
by Arun Venugopal
When Tukaram, a 19-year-old Dalit fresh from his exams, prayed at a
Hanuman temple in Andhra Pradesh earlier this month, he probably never
anticipated the outrage it would cause.
Upper caste villagers issued an injunction against his entire
community, before scrubbing down the entire temple with cow dung and
urine in a symbolic act of purification.
Ths situation might have remained another footnote to the ongoing
story of India's caste divisions, but for the efforts of a group of
reformist NRIs. The group, Navya Shastra, publicly condemned the
actions of the upper caste villagers and announced a Rs 10,000 (about
$200) scholarship for Tukaram.
This is just the latest in a series of actions the group has taken to
address what it feels are inequities in the religion. Unlike secular
groups that rail against caste and gender discrimination, however,
Navya Shastra comprises devout, temple-going Hindus.
These include a leading priest from Houston and a number of academics,
as well as converts to the religion. Among the advisers is Arun
Gandhi, founder of the MK Gandhi Center for Nonviolence, and O P
Gupta, India's ambassador to Finland.
According to Jaishree Gopal, the molecular biologist in Michigan who
founded Navya Shastra with New Jersey resident Vikram Masson, the
group formed after discussions on an online Hindu bulletin board two
years ago.
"There are lots of apologists writing on the Net these days." said
Gopal. "We saw some articles posted that there is no caste
discrimination in Hinduism (but we know) that Dalits are discriminated
against."
Its this inequality, the group contends on its website, which has lead
to an "epochal tide of conversions to religions thats supposedly
preach egalitarian values. There is compelling evidence that the
number of actual conversions in India is vastly understated by both
missionary organizations and the government."
Aside from access to temples for members of all castes, the group
promotes the right for anyone--man or woman--to receive the sacred
thread and/or become a priest.
While the Indian government has encouraged such reforms to an extent,
the organization insists that Hindus themselves should take up the
cause while avoiding factionalism. At the same time, the group has
been critical of Dalits for highlighting caste discrimination without
actively working with Hindu leaders to resolve the problem.
According to Gopal, it is not a coincidence that Navya Shastra is
based outside of India.
"As NRIs, we become more aware of our religious identity when you are
young, as opposed to India, where it just permeates the atmoshere",
she said. "We are used to answering questions about caste over here.
And we can't always justify the discriminatory aspects."
Another member, Sri Rajarathina Bhattar, agreed with this assessment
and cited the grip of "superstitous beliefs" on many Hindus in India.
The priest emeritus at Houston's Sri Meenakshi Temple, Bhattar has
been conducting a letter writing campaign to newspapers and orthodox
leaders in India, stressing the need for reform.
So far, he said, there continue to be a number of priests who insist
on maintaining the status quo.
"But priests who are well educated seem to agree with me." he said.
"The main reason most of them disagree is due to the fear that they
may lose certain rights as a priest."
This article appeared in June 18, 2004 issue of India Abroad
http://shastras.org/ArunVenugopal.html
US body condemns discrimination against Dalit student
Monday June 7 2004 12:52 IST
IANS
TROY (MICHIGAN): A Hindu organisation in the US has condemned reported
discrimination against a Dalit student who was allegedly victimised
for offering prayers in a Hindu temple in India's Andhra Pradesh
state.
Navya Shastra, which professes spiritual equality of all Hindus, has
also promised financial assistance to Tukaram, 19, to meet his
educational costs.
The boy scored a first class in his intermediate examinations and
visited the village temple of Hanuman to make the traditional coconut
offering in Allapur, Andhra Pradesh. When members of the upper caste
community discovered this they condemned the boy and extorted Rs.500
fine from his apologetic father, Tulsiram.
They also purified the temple by washing it with cow urine and dung so
as to efface the imprints of an "untouchable," according to Vikram
Masson, co-chairman of the organisation.
Such community-based discrimination continues in India despite a
constitutional ban and strict legal safeguards against community
discrimination. "Tukaram must know that others in the Hindu world
strongly condemn such actions," said Jaishree Gopal, the other co-
chairman of the organisation.
"Navya Shastra will award Tukaram a scholarship to help his family
with Tukaram's educational costs and sincerely hopes that the Indian
government and religious leaders will pay more attention to the
apartheid in our midst," said Gopal.
http://shastras.org/Newindpress.com
End caste discrimination, Hindu leaders urged
New York, Nov 28 (IANS) A global Hindu group has urged leaders of the
faith to end caste discrimination in their institutions. The group,
Navya Shastra, also said in a press note that the Vedic chanting
tradition should be opened to all instead of being restricted to upper
caste Brahmins. Jaishree Gopal, Navya Shastra co-chairperson, said:
"The only way to save the Vedic chanting tradition is to initiate
sincere members of all castes, ...
…resulting in a dwindling supply of Vedic experts. The organisation is
lobbying Hindu leaders to implement caste blind initiation policies at
an Acharya Sabha meet to be held in Chennai from Saturday.
… "Here we have a historic opportunity to declare to the world that
Hinduism will reform itself for ever of caste discrimination," said
Vikram Masson, Navya Shastra co-chairman.
"Hinduism, which is thousands of years old, has never had a
significant reformist movement," said Arun Gandhi, Navya Shastra
adviser and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. "I believe the new millennium
now offers Hinduism an opportunity to change its ancient ...
http://news.eians.com/2003/11/28/28end.html , 27997 bytes
bademiyansubhanallah
(Adds more comments)
By Hideyuki Sano TOKYO,
March 10 (Reuters) -
Japanese Finance Minister Naoto Kan shot down the idea of a formal
policy pact with the Bank of
Japan as the government aims to strike a delicate balance
between pushing the central bank to ease policy further and
respecting its independence. The idea of a formal policy accord has
been floated in the
past by critics of the central bank who feel it could be doing
more to combat grinding deflation that has plagued the world's
second-largest economy for most of the past 15 years. But Kan, who has
also been calling on the BOJ to take
bolder action, said he saw no immediate need for such a pact,
echoing the view held by a majority of policy makers and
politicians wary of threatening the central bank's
independence. "I gather advocates of such a policy want an arrangement
where the government increases the deficits and the BOJ
cooperates by buying more government debt," said Izuru Kato,
chief economist at Totan Research. "They must be thinking central bank
independence allows the
BOJ to be too hesitant about buying government bonds and
therefore they should strip the BOJ of its independence," Kato
said. Kan steered clear of saying exactly what he wants the
central bank to do at its policy meeting next week, where
further easing is likely to be discussed. [ID:nTOE6230A7] BOJ board
member Miyako Suda, seen as hawkish on monetary
policy, said on Wednesday that the central bank will maintain a
very accommodative stance, but she added that the BOJ had
implemented an appropriate policy on prices. "Suda did not sound so
positive about taking more steps
blindly. It's not clear how strong the measures the BOJ takes
next week will be," said Naomi Hasegawa, senior strategist at
Mitsubishi UFJ Securities. With the government's room for further
fiscal stimulus
limited by a public debt that is already close to 200 percent
of GDP, the six-month old administration has put pressure on
the central bank to stem deflation. But the BOJ's options are limited
as long as the economic
outlook remains weak. Expectations of further price declines in future
could
persuade consumers and companies to delay spending and
investment even longer, adding more pressure on the economy.
Until demand picks up and more money flows into the system,
prices will struggle to recover. The BOJ has said prices will rise
eventually as the economy
mends. TOO MUCH INDEPENDENCE? Japan's central bank law guarantees the
BOJ independence in
its policy decisions, but it also requires the bank to
communicate with the government to ensure its policy is in line
with the government's economic policy. Few in the top circle of
Japanese policymakers see the need
for a change in those stipulations. "I am cautious about the framework
of an accord," Kan, also
deputy prime minister, told a parliamentary committee on
Wednesday in response to an opposition lawmaker's question. But some
politicians, mostly from the opposition, have said
the BOJ needs to be more accountable for its decisions, blaming
it for putting Japan in deflation for much of the past 15
years. The BOJ is likely to debate easing again at its March 16-17
board meeting, after introducing a new funding operation in
December amid a wave of government pressure as the yen climbed
versus the dollar. [ID:nTOE6230A7] "If they increase the cheap funding
operation to replace
the corporate support scheme that expires in March, that's
probably already priced in," said Hasegawa of Mitsubishi UFJ
Securities. The Bank of Japan's Suda dropped few hints, repeating the
BOJ's view that easy policy alone is no panacea for deflation.
"Although maintaining easy monetary policy is the top
priority, it is important for the Japanese economy to undergo
bold structural reform as much as it needs a recovery," she
said, referring to the need to fix Japan's pension system and
get public finances in order to reduce concerns about the
future. "If structural reform is delayed, it would undermine the
stimulative effect of monetary policy," she said. Japan's core
machinery orders fell slightly less than
expected in January from the previous month, data showed on
Wednesday, offering more evidence that capital expenditure will
keep growing slowly this year as manufacturers raise spending. Core
private-sector machinery orders, a highly volatile
series regarded as an indicator of capital spending, fell 3.7
percent in January, less than a median market forecast for a
4.1 percent decline, after a 20.1 percent jump in December.
[JPMORD=ECI] ECONJP But the data also showed non-manufacturers remain
wary on
capital spending, highlighting the weakness in domestic demand. Annual
wholesale price deflation eased to 1.5 percent in
February on a recent rise in commodity prices. But economists say
deflationary pressure is likely to
continue due to the big gap between supply and demand. Japan pulled
out of recession in April-June last year,
helped by a rebound in exports and industrial output as well as
a rise in consumption due to government subsidies. But
economists expect growth to slow early this year as the
government cuts public works and the impact of subsidies
fades.
(Additional reporting by Rie Ishiguro, Stanley White, Leika
Kihara and Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Kim Coghill)
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March 10, 2010, 12:52 a.m.
WORLD FOREX: Euro Ticks Up Vs Yen On Japan Importer Buying
By Miho Nakauchi
TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The euro ticked up against the yen in Asia
Wednesday, as Japanese importers buying the single currency on a
regular settlement day set the tone of the market amid a lack of other
trading cues.
But further gains are far from certain, dealers said, with the euro's
near-term direction resting on developments in the euro-zone's fiscal
problem and upcoming economic data.
As of 0450 GMT, the euro stood at Y122.44, slightly up from Y122.36 in
New York late Tuesday. Against the dollar, the unit traded at $1.3602
from $1.3601.
"Overall currency moves were very limited" with share markets almost
unchanged and a lack of major economic data, meaning that Japanese
importers' buying flows became more dominant and set the trend, said
Yuzo Sakai, a foreign-exchange manager at Tokyo Forex & Ueda Harlow.
Japanese importers tend to buy the currency on regular settlement
days, which fall on the 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th and 25th of each month.
At 0450 GMT, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average index was down 0.08%.
Dealers said the European single currency could fall toward $1.3300
and Y119.00 over the next few weeks if any negative news emerges on
Europe's fiscal issues, adding to concerns over its economic outlook,
dealers said.
The focus is on European countries' huge levels of debt, said Hideaki
Inoue, a chief foreign-exchange manager at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and
Banking Corp. "Growing expectations for sovereign debt default could
prompt mid- and long-term players to sell" the euro, he said.
Although most players are bearish toward the euro, better-than-
expected economic data could help restore investor confidence,
possibly buoying the risk-sensitive euro toward $1.3700 and Y123.50,
some dealers said. Investors will monitor U.S. retail sales for
February and Reuters/University Of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey
for March, both due Friday, for any hints on the health of the global
economy.
Elsewhere, the dollar stood at Y90.00 as of 0450 GMT, almost unchanged
from its New York level of Y89.97 Tuesday. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index,
which tracks the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of
currencies, was at 80.576 from 80.580.
The U.S. unit may fall toward Y89.50 in coming weeks, traders said.
Japanese exporters may repatriate overseas assets as we move toward
Japan's fiscal year-end on Mar. 31, which could weigh on the U.S.
unit, dealers said.
1.China's trade surplus shrinks further in February
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinas-trade-surplus-shrinks-further-in-february-2010-03-09
2.The rise and certain fall of the American Empire
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-rise-and-certain-fall-of-the-american-empire-2010-03-09
Currencies
March 10, 2010, 3:46 a.m. EST · Recommend · Post:
Dollar rises vs. euro as German trade data disappointView all
Currencies ›
By MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The dollar got a lift against the euro
Wednesday when trade data from Germany, a key euro-zone economy, came
in worse than expected.
News Hub: Economist Warns of More Volatility AheadAnirvan Banerji,
director of research at Economic Cycle Research, joins the News Hub to
discuss why he believes the U.S. economy will experience more frequent
recessions ahead.
Germany's exports increased by 0.2% and imports dropped by 1.4% in
January 2010 compared to the same month a year ago, the Federal
Statistical Office reported on Wednesday. Compared to December 2009,
exports fell by 6.3% in January and imports rose by 6.0%. Germany's
seasonally-adjusted foreign trade balance recorded a surplus of 8.7
billion euros in January, official data showed.
"This was the weakest reading since the March of 2009 when the global
economy was in the throes of its worst contraction in [the] post-war
period. The news was especially surprising given the decline in the
euro/U.S. dollar over the past several months," said Boris
Schlossberg, director of currency research at GFT.
He added that the trade balance data were "not helpful to the single
currency which has been battered by concerns over sovereign debt
problems of Greece, Portugal and Spain."
The euro slipped to $1.3551, from $1.3598 in late North American
trading Tuesday, and the British pound skidded to $1.4898, from
$1.4991.
The dollar index /quotes/comstock/11j!i:dxy0 (DXY 80.67, +0.08,
+0.10%) , which measures the U.S. unit against a trade-weighted basket
of six major currencies, rose to 80.851, from 80.580 late Tuesday.
The greenback bought 89.96 yen, compared with 89.98 yen late Tuesday.
But the Australian dollar was up 0.1% against its U.S. counterpart, to
91.43 U.S. cents.
The Aussie "outperformed, with better than expected Chinese trade data
underpinning global recovery hopes in the region," said analysts at
Action Economics.
China's trade surplus narrowed further in February to $7.6 billion
from $14.2 billion in January. When compared with the same month last
year, both exports and imports grew at a higher-than-expected rate,
with the value of imports climbing 44.7%, reflecting growing domestic
consumption in mainland China. The value of outbound goods and
services surged 45.7% from February 2009 on a recovery in demand for
Chinese goods. Read more on China trade data.
On Tuesday, the U.S. dollar advanced versus the euro and British
pound, finding support amid ongoing worries about debt problems in the
euro zone after warnings of downgrades from Fitch Ratings and Moody's
Investors Service. See Tuesday's Currencies report.
More Currencies
March 9, 2010 Dollar up; rating agencies revive debt worries
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/aussie-gets-lift-against-us-dollar-from-data-2010-03-09
March 8, 2010 Dollar turns up as U.S. stocks give up gains
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-slips-vs-rivals-in-asian-trading-2010-03-08
March 5, 2010 Dollar falls vs. euro as Greece fears subside
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-gains-on-yen-on-boj-easing-report-2010-03-05
March 4, 2010 Dollar up after U.S. data, Europe's rate news
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-yen-benefit-from-sagging-stocks-in-asia-2010-03-04
March 3, 2010 Dollar falls vs. euro on Greece debt-cut move
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-slips-against-most-rivals-in-asian-trading-2010-03-03
Raymond Richman - Jesse Richman - Howard
Richman
Richmans' Trade and Taxes Blog
The Obama Administration's Agenda to Balance Trade
Raymond Richman, 3/9/2010
On March 1, 2010, Ambassador Ron Kirk, United States Trade
Representative, disclosed “The President's 2010 Trade Policy Agenda”,
a suicide pill for the U.S. economy. For three decades, every
administration had more or less the same agenda. Ignore the trade
deficits or just accept them as the inevitable result of competitive
forces, which they are not. If China, Japan, Germany, and others want
to exchange their valuable goods for our money, why should we
complain? We can print more. It is hard to believe that that was and
continues to be the attitude of the vast majority of economists.
They’ve been brain-washed into believing that market forces must
inevitably restore a balance of trade. We pointed out in our book,
Trading Away Our Future (Ideal Taxes Assn, Jan., 2008) that free trade
was not justified by economic theory, that China, like Japan before
it, was deliberately pursuing the mercantilist policy of promoting a
surplus of exports over imports by erecting all sorts of barriers to
imports while subsidizing exports, keeping its currency artificially
undervalued to make its imports expensive and its exports cheap, by
buying U.S. financial assets to keep U.S.interest rates low to
American consumers, to discourage savings and encourage consumption.
Not until recently did an eminent economist like Prof. Paul Krugman
condemn China’s mercantilist practices and suggest U.S. counteraction.
Until then, he believed no country would find it in its interest to
accumulate financial assets rather than goods.
The slow-acting suicide pill suddenly accelerated in the mid-1990s.
The result was the loss of millions of U.S. industrial jobs. How many?
To balance trade at the level of imports in 2008, we would have to
create eight million industrial jobs. The defenders of U.S. trade
policy point to our achievement of full employment in 2007, neglecting
to mention that the competition of factory workers who lost their well-
paying jobs lowered workers’ earnings of all workers. As a result,
wages have stagnated over the past three decades, fewer workers enjoy
middle class incomes, income distribution has worsened, and the U.S.
is on the verge of becoming a second-rate industrial power if it has
not already achieved that distinction. ...
In an incredible display of sycophancy, the document asserts that the
administration’s goal is “Making Trade Work for America’s Working
Families.” America’s Working Families? They have been the big losers
as a result of our tolerance of our huge chronic trade deficits. The
document asserts that “President Obama’s economic strategy halted the
slide into a deep economic crisis and laid the foundation for renewed
American prosperity that is more sustainable, fairer for more of our
citizens, and more competitive globally.” That remains to be seen.
Since the President took office, the unemployment rate, including
those who lost their factory jobs as a result of the trade deficits,
has continued to grow and grow.
The Trade Representative gives lip service to the lip-service of the
G-20 nations who pledged in 2009 to work toward balancing trade. It
displays the same Pollyanna-ish reliance on market forces. All we have
to do is increase our exports by $800 billion. His report states that
the U.S. has reacted to unfair trade practices by imposing
countervailing duties on countries committing infractions of trade
rules like dumping (Chinese tires) and even getting China to further
open its market to “American wind energy products.” Just the other
day, there were protests in the Congress against imported wind
turbines, which, to add injury to injury, are heavily subsidized by
the U.S. government. The President has set a goal “of doubling U.S.
exports in the next five years” to create 2 million jobs. He created a
new bureaucracy called the Export Promotion Cabinet which will fund
export promotion programs, tools for small- and medium-sized
businesses, reduction in barriers to trade, and open new markets. It
joins hundred of federal agencies designed to do-good but end up doing-
nothing.
The report recites: “Effective trade policy helps increase exports
that yield well-paying jobs for Americans … studies show that firms
engaged in trade usually grow faster, hire more, and on average pay
better wages than those that do not. In recent years, exports of
manufactured goods have become an important source of employment,
supporting almost one in five of all manufacturing jobs.” No mention,
not a single mention of the jobs lost to imports, the amount of the
trade deficite, and the declining number of employees in industry,
month after month after month! There is this acknowledgment, “We have
to be frank in recognizing that some Americans lose jobs as markets
shift in response to trade.” So we have enacted a Trade Adjustment
Assistance Act to assist those who lose their jobs to adjust to their
new status. No new export jobs are created by the Act.
That is about all the response the loss of millions of American jobs
has occasioned. Nothing to balance trade except statements that we
need to be more competitive and the international community (the
G-20?) should increase their domestic consumption and imports as part
of a more balanced growth strategy! Don’t hold your breath.
It announces to the world that the United States is committed to the
multilateral trade rules of the WTO system, to trade liberalization
“through negotiation and a defense against protectionism”, the
strongest country in the world announcing that we will not take
unilateral action against the mercantilist practices of such “weak”
countries like China, Japan, Germany, and OPEC. They can continue
their practices, impose barriers to our exports, grant subsidies to
their exports until we petition the WTO for a remedy. The WTO rules
already authorize countries experiencing chronic trade deficits to
take unilateral action including the imposition of tariffs and other
barriers to imports. Why haven’t we done anything to protect our
industry and industrial workers from such destructive trade practices?
La-de-da, it would be so unbecoming a great nation. Our elitists want
to be loved by the world’s elite, who are by-and-large antii-American.
Attempting to counter the impression that it is doing nothing, the
report points to its action responding to “a harmful surge of Chinese
tire imports”, challenging restrictions on U.S. exports of
agricultural products, and filing suit over Chinese export quotas and
duties on raw materials needed by core U.S. industrial sectors from
steel and aluminum to chemicals. Good, those are useful actions but
the number of jobs created relative to the number of jobs lost to the
trade deficits is infinitesimal.
What the U.S. has been engaged in is talk, talk, talk. It needs to
concentrate on jobs, jobs, jobs. The government has engaged in
discussions, just talk, with China, India, Brazil, Russia. It
sponsored and entered into negotiations for a regional, Asia-Pacific
trade agreement, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
Agreement, with Australia, Brunei, Chile, NewZealand, Peru, Singapore,
and Vietnam. Not one industrial job has been created or ever will be.
Another initiative is the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
forum. The U.S. will host APEC in 2011. The report writes, “To this
end, we are coordinating with the 2010 host nation, Japan, on an
ambitious agenda that engages APEC’s broad membership on crucial trade
and investment topics for the region’s future. Initiatives in APEC are
a successfully demonstrated way of building a stronger and
constructive American role in the Asia-Pacific market.” Aside from
costing a lot of money and providing a free vacation to a lot of anti-
Americans, how many jobs producing goods for export will it create?
Not a single job.
The report recites that “Bilateral relationships are crucial. But as
we know, multi-faceted regional economic relationships are of major,
and even growing, importance for United States and for the world.”
Where is the evidence that it is important, let alone of increasing
importance, to the U.S. The administration is doing and plans to do a
lot of talking. In place of jobs, jobs, jobs, it is placing emphasis
on talk, talk, talk.
http://www.idealtaxes.com/post3074.shtml
UPDATE 1-Japan finmin wary of policy accord with BOJ
TOKYO, March 10 (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Naoto Kan said
he saw no immediate need to have a more formal policy pact with the
Bank of Japan as the government and the central bank already share a
common goal of beating deflation.
Kan, who took over at the Finance Ministry in January, has been
calling on the central bank to do more to end deflation, but has
steered clear of saying exactly what he wants the central bank to do.
Asked by an opposition lawmaker if he thought a formal agreement with
the central bank would help, Kan said: "It's questionable whether it's
good to have an explicit policy accord. The BOJ governor has already
said in public that the bank wants inflation from plus zero to plus 2
percent ...
"I am cautious about the framework of an accord," Kan, also deputy
prime minister, told a parliamentary committee.
With the government's room for further fiscal stimulus limited by a
public debt that is already close to 200 percent of GDP, the six-month
old administration has put pressure on the central bank to stem
deflation.
Japan's central bank law guarantees the BOJ independence in its policy
decisions, but it also requires the bank to communicate with the
government to ensure its policy is in line with the government's
economic policy.
The central bank is likely to debate easing its ultra-loose monetary
policy again at its board meeting on March 16-17, after introducing a
new funding operation in December under a previous wave of government
pressure as the yen climbed versus the dollar. [ID:nTOE6230A7]
One member of the bank's policy board, Miyako Suda, said on Wednesday
that the central bank will maintain a very accommodative monetary
policy stance to help the country escape deflation.
"The BOJ intends to continue making its contribution to help the
Japanese economy escape deflation and return to a sustained growth
path with price stability," Suda said at a roundtable conference
hosted by the Economist Group.
But Suda also repeated the BOJ's view that easy policy alone will not
be a panacea for deflation.
"Although maintaining easy monetary policy is the top priority, it is
important for the Japanese economy to undergo bold structural reform
as much as it needs recovery... If structural reform is delayed, it
would undermine the stimulative effect of monetary policy," she said.
BOJ officials have said further monetary policy easing will have
little impact on boosting prices, with interest rates already near
zero.
Suda added that the BOJ had taken appropriate steps on monetary policy
and that she didn't think aiming for a high inflation rate would
resolve the shock of the financial crisis. (Reporting by Hideyuki
Sano, Stanley White and Rie Ishiguro; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE62900K20100310?type=marketsNews
FOREX-Yen rises on Japan exporters; sterling falters
By Masayuki Kitano TOKYO, March 9 (Reuters) - The yen rose broadly on
Tuesday on
dollar and euro selling by Japanese exporters, while sterling
faltered on weak data and after Moody's said Britain faces a
dilemma over its support for the banking sector. The yen also climbed
with short-term traders taking cues from
a dip in Nikkei share average .N225 and U.S. stock index
futures SPc1, as demand for riskier assets ebbed. "Japanese exporters
are in the market and selling pretty
actively, including the euro against the yen," said Yuji
Matsuura, joint general manager at Aozora Bank's forex and
derivatives trading group. There could be more yen-buying by Japanese
exporters during
the week, and there might also be some flows in the last week of
March, just before they close their books at the end of Japan's
fiscal year, Matsuura said. Market players said, however, that gains
in the yen have been
limited by speculation that the Bank of Japan may take further
steps to ease monetary policy. The euro fell 0.4 percent to 122.59 yen
EURJPY=R, off a
two-week high of 123.90 yen struck on EBS on Monday. The euro also
dropped against the dollar, dipping 0.1 percent
to $1.3615 EUR= but was still well off last week's $1.3433, its
lowest in more than nine months. The euro struggled after Greek Prime
Minister George
Papandreou warned on Monday that if the Greek crisis worsened it
could lead to a new global financial meltdown. [ID:nLDE6271WD].
Sterling fell 0.3 percent to $1.5014 GBP=D4 and shed 0.7
percent to 135.08 yen GBPJPY=R. Data showing that British house prices
grew last month at
their slowest pace since August weighed on sterling.
[ID:nLAG006161] Another negative factor for sterling was a Moody's
Investors
Service report saying Britain faces a difficult balancing act in
deciding how and when to reduce support for the banking sector,
given growth in the UK's public debt burden. [ID:nLDE6271OB]
EYES ON BOJ MEETING The dollar fell 0.3 percent to 90.01 yen JPY=. The
greenback had rallied on the yen to a two-week high of
90.69 yen on EBS on Monday, after a better-than-expected U.S.
jobs report backed views that the U.S. Federal Reserve will lift
rates faster than the Bank of Japan. The report had also bolstered
demand for higher-yielding
currencies and riskier assets like stocks and commodities, on
improved economic prospects. The Australian dollar fell 0.3 percent
against the yen
AUDJPY=R and the New Zealand dollar shed 0.6 percent
NZDJPY=R. The dollar is likely to be supported at levels around 89.50
yen on speculation about more monetary easing steps from the BOJ,
possibly at its policy meeting next week, said a trader for a
Japanese trust bank. The BOJ meeting is in the spotlight after the
Nikkei
newspaper reported on Friday that the BOJ was examining easing
again and may decide on such a move when it meets on March 16-17.
Sources familiar with the matter said the BOJ is likely to
debate this month easing its ultra-loose monetary policy again.
[ID:nTOE6230A7] The most likely next step for the BOJ is to expand the
fund-supply operation it put in place in December, under which it
lends to banks at 0.1 percent, either by increasing the size from
10 trillion yen ($110.7 billion) or extending the duration of
loans from the current three months. Even if such steps are taken, the
market impact could be
limited given how low yen money market rates are already, said a
trader for a European bank. "Basically, the aim may be to achieve an
announcement effect
and the market has factored in a lot of that," the trader said,
adding that the dollar could fall against the yen if the BOJ
stands pat and unveils no new measures.
(Additional reporting by Anirban Nag in Sydney, Satomi Noguchi
and Kaori Kaneko in Tokyo; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
After reading this article, people also read:
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US STOCKS-Telecoms lead Wall St rise a year after market bottom
Mar 9, 2010
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TREASURIES-Corporate issuance drives rally in U.S. bonds
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FOREX-Yen, dollar dip; euro up as Greece concerns ease
Mar 7, 2010
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE6270JL20100308?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a49:g43:r4:c0.250000:b31625032:z0
Analysis: Greece's crisis could presage America's
By TOM RAUM (AP) – 10 hours ago
WASHINGTON — Greece is a financial basket case, begging for
international help. Is America heading down that same road?
Many of the same risky financial practices that now imperil the Greeks
were at the center of the all-too-recent U.S. meltdown.
As with Greece, America's national debt has been growing by leaps and
bounds over the past decade, to the point where it threatens to swamp
overall economic output. And in the U.S., as in Greece, a large
portion of that debt is owed to foreign investors.
Not good, if these debt holders begin to wonder if they'll be paid
back. A foreign flight from U.S. Treasury securities could sow
financial chaos in the United States, as happened when many investors
lost faith in Greek bonds.
It's something that could affect all Americans. The U.S. has never
defaulted on a debt, and even the hint of such a possibility could
send interest rates soaring and choke off a fragile recovery.
How long can the United States remain the world's largest economy as
well as the world's largest debtor?
"Not indefinitely," suggests former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan
Greenspan. "History tells us that great powers when they've gotten
into very significant fiscal problems have ceased to be great powers."
After all, Spain dominated the 16th century world, France the 17th
century and Great Britain much of the 18th and 19th before the United
States rose to supremacy in the 20th century.
"Unless we do things dramatically different, including strengthening
our investments in research and education, the 21st century will
belong to China and India," suggests Norman Augustine, the former CEO
of Lockheed Martin who chaired a 2009 bipartisan commission studying
the nation's top challenges.
The Greek government has taken stiff austerity steps in an effort to
get a lifeline from the European Union, sparking strikes and violent
demonstrations.
Some of the same risky strategies used by U.S. hedge funds and other
professional investors in a failed effort to profit from subprime
mortgages in this country — and which led to the 2008 financial near-
collapse — are now being employed by those betting that Greece will
default on its debt.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, who met with President Barack
Obama at the White House on Tuesday, is calling for "decisive and
collective action" here and in Europe to crack down on such rampant
speculation and unregulated bets. He is also seeking more favorable
European interest rates for loans.
Speaking outside the White House, Papandreou welcomed support from
Obama and some European leaders for such efforts and for the austerity
measures taken by his own government. He said it shows the "labor and
sacrifices are not wasted. Of course, our struggle is not ended, it
continues."
Many economists say it's a stretch to compare the U.S. economy, by far
the world's largest, to Greece and other distressed small economies of
southern Europe. They say many of Greece's problems are unique to that
nation and aggravated by a monetary system that rigidly binds 16
nations to the same currency, the euro.
But others argue it may only be a matter of time before the U.S. faces
a similar, and potentially graver, crisis.
"Someday it will happen if we don't get our act together on spending,
our debt under control and our economy to grow faster," said Allen
Sinai, chief global economist for New York-based Decision Economics
Inc., which provides financial advice to corporations and governments.
With signs pointing to a weaker recovery than after other post-World
War II recessions, U.S. consumer spending is likely to remain
unimpressive and the jobless rate high for some time. Sinai said that
suggests there won't be enough growth to push down federal deficits by
much. "It's a political keg of dynamite," he said.
Greece's national debt now equals more than 100 percent of its gross
domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity. U.S. debt
— now $12.5 trillion — is fast closing in on the same dubious
milestone.
Nearly all of Greek's debt is held by foreign governments and
investors. In the United States, roughly half is owned by global
investors, with China holding the largest stake.
By contrast, Japan's debt is proportionately even bigger — about twice
its GDP — but the impact is cushioned by the fact that most is held by
Japanese households.
"The more open you are to the rest of the world, the more likely
you're going to have a problem if you start running large deficits and
large debt loads," said Mark Zandi, founder of Moody's Economy.com,
and a frequent adviser to lawmakers of both parties.
Zandi does not see any major fallout from the Greek fiscal crisis in
the United States for now, other than a possible temporary hit on
potential European export markets.
However, he said, "global investors at some point are going to start
demanding a higher interest rate. And that's our moment of truth. If
we don't address it by cutting spending and raising taxes, some
combination of the two, then we're going to have a problem."
Polls show growing public anger over deficits and government spending.
The issue is a potent one for the upcoming midterm elections, and a
particular liability for majority-party Democrats.
Calls have sounded from both sides of the political aisle for deficit
reduction. And Obama last month set up a bipartisan deficit commission
to find ways to get the country's budget deficit, now adding more than
$1 trillion a year to the national debt, under control.
But the panel is a weak substitute for what Obama really wanted — a
commission created by Congress that could force lawmakers to vote on
remedies to reduce the debt.
EDITOR'S NOTE _ Tom Raum covers economics and politics for The
Associated Press.
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou walks away after talking to the
media in front of the West Wing of the White House in Washington,
Tuesday, March 9, 2010, following a meeting with President Barack
Obama. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i8fvUrHUOkJVfaq5UBxHCYV85s3wD9EBDPRO2
Fears of a Greek bank run
By Dody Tsiantar, contributorMarch 9, 2010: 3:33 PM ET
(Fortune) -- In the middle of the 2001 debt crisis, Argentines stormed
their nation's banks to get their money out. To stop the stampede, the
government imposed controls that allowed them to take out only $250 at
a time and limited withdrawals for overseas trips to $1,000.
Greece, in the middle of its own financial crisis, is teetering on the
brink of a default. Many of its wealthier citizens are also uneasy
about what lies ahead for their cash. According to estimates from
private bankers in Greece and Cyprus, as much as 10 billion euros have
left the country for Greek-owned bank subsidiaries in Switzerland and
Cyprus in the last couple of months.
Facebook Digg Twitter Buzz Up! Email Print Comment on this story
"Customers are coming...from Greece on a daily basis," says one
private banker who works for a Greek bank in Cyprus. "They fly here in
the morning, bring us a check and fly back to Athens in the
afternoon."
One banker in Athens reports that many of his clients have sent funds
out of the country in recent weeks, fearing that the government will
take a bigger bite of their money. "They're afraid they'll have to pay
tax on their cash," he says.
Countries in economic turmoil historically look for unpopular ways to
raise revenue, according to economists. So when things start to go
sour, "everyone becomes convinced that the stage is being set for
higher taxes," says former IMF economist Dev Kar, the lead economist
for Global Financial Integrity, an international policy research
center. "People with wealth then ship their money out, so government
does not come and get it when it all comes crashing down."
But growing concerns that Greece's financial crisis will spill over to
its banking system appear to be driving most of the outflow. The fear
isn't totally unfounded: Late last month, Fitch Ratings downgraded the
country's four major private-sector banks to two notches above junk
status on fears that demand for loans may plunge, denting their
potential profitability .
"I'm scared," says one 40-year-old Athenian woman, who's considering
taking her nest egg to Cyprus. "I want to take my money out of the
country before the banks run out of cash."
Not as bad as it seems
A run on the bank, a la Argentina, is not imminent, say banking and
government officials. They acknowledge that money is leaving the
country, but say that reports of massive capital outflows are "grossly
overstated."
"There is a trickle, but nothing like a real flight that would put the
system under pressure," says Anthimos Thomopoulos, chief financial
officer of the National Bank of Greece, which holds a third of
Greece's 250 billion euro total deposit pool.
The situation isn't overly worrisome right now, bank and government
officials say, because most of the money has flowed to those Greek-
owned banks abroad and should, in theory, be easier to repatriate.
What's happening, says Nikolaos Karamouzis, deputy CEO of Eurobank
EFG, a private bank in Greece with 84 billion euro in assets, is "not
materially significant, despite the fact that there is widespread
concern among our clients."
Exactly how much cash has left the country since the crisis exploded
in mid-December is hard to determine, however. According to the most
recent quarterly statistics available, the national deposit pool at
the end of December dropped by less than a half a percent. But
analysts point out those numbers do not reflect the full impact of the
crisis, which picked up momentum in January and February after the
government announced its belt-tightening measures.
A pesos to drachmas comparison
Unlike Greece today, Argentina's government had an arsenal of
financial tools in 2001 to deal with its crisis. It devalued the peso
and imposed capital controls. But as a member of the European Union,
Greece does not have those options; it can't devalue, and because the
Union has rules that call for a free movement of capital within its
boundaries, it can't stop citizens or businesses from moving cash from
one partner country to another.
"The only way Greece could impose capital controls would be to leave
the EU," says Michael Melvin, head of currency and fixed income
research at global asset management firm BlackRock. "And there's close
to zero probability of that."
A return to the drachma isn't likely any time soon either, but Greek
citizens do have good reason to believe that taxes are going to go up.
The socialist government of Prime Minister George Papandreou has
already announced a slew of tax hikes, including increases in the
value-added tax, new excise taxes on luxury goods, such as yachts and
cars, and up to a 20% tax on cigarettes, alcohol and fuel.
0:00 /1:24Greece: Another crisis looms
In addition, a key tenet of the socialist government's plan is to go
after tax cheats aggressively -- economists figure that nearly 30% of
the country's gross domestic product goes unreported to authorities.
For decades, Greece's shadow economy has thrived because many Greeks
-- doctors, plumbers, electricians and lawyers among them -- conduct
business entirely in cash. Much of that money has ended up in bank
accounts in other countries, say economists -- and a lot of it is not
reflected in national statistics.
"The outflow of cash from Greece is not a new phenomenon. If you could
calculate the outflow of the last 50 years, you'd get an astronomical
figure," says University of Maryland economics professor Theodore
Kariotis. "Greeks are a very sneaky people."
The government's new rules intend to change that. Last week it
announced new measures to encourage those who have transferred money
out of Greece to bring it back within six months, no questions asked.
They'll be taxed 5% on the total, however. Another option offered:
declare the money, leave it in foreign accounts -- and be subject to
an 8% tax. After that, foreign governments will cooperate with Greek
tax authorities to pursue lawbreakers, says a source in the finance
ministry.
Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou hopes the government's
new measures will produce results. "As the reform program unfolds, a
lot of this lost, or quasi-lost, liquidity will come back to the
system," he said in a mid-January interview. "It is an immediate
concern, of course, but it is reversible."
Maybe it is, but according to economists, money that leaves a country
rarely returns. "I'm not holding my breath," says Global Financial
Integrity's Kar. "Once [cash] leaves, it's hard to get it back."
The snag in Greece's salary solution
http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/04/news/international/greece_pay.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2010030403
Is your country the next Greece?
http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/08/news/international/next_greece.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2010030815
Greeks try to remember how to cut back
http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/26/news/international/greece_debt_crisis.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2010030109
http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/09/news/international/greece_money.fortune/?section=magazines_fortune
Tax hikes may still fail to fix Athen's debts crisis
Wednesday March 10 2010
GREEK tax increases, which have sparked widespread protests, may fail
to generate as much additional revenue as the government in Athens
estimates, a draft EU report says.
While the €4.8bn of additional austerity measures enacted by the Greek
parliament last week "appear sufficient to safeguard the 2010
budgetary targets", risks remain that increases in value-added tax and
fuel taxes may generate less than is projected, the report says.
The Greek government plans to cut the deficit to 8.7pc of gross
domestic product (GDP) this year from 12.7pc in 2009. The draft report
will be discussed by EU finance ministers in Brussels next week.
Demand
An increase in the main VAT rate by 2pc from 19pc will bring in €1.3bn
in added revenue this year, while higher excise duties on petrol and
diesel are expected to generate €450m more, according to the finance
ministry in Athens.
But "the implications on tax revenue of a contraction in demand should
not be underestimated", according to the European Commission.
On VAT, it said "changes in the tax base -- in relation to the
contraction of internal demand -- and tax evasion may result to lower-
than-expected gains".
Greece's overall government debt "remains on a steep upward path",
according to the commission. Greek debt is projected to swell to 125pc
of GDP this year, the highest in the 27-nation EU, it forecasts.
EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said yesterday
that the latest measures put Greece on "the path of fiscal adjustment
for 2012" -- the deadline to meet the EU's 3pc deficit limit.
(Bloomberg)
Irish Independent
S&P expert: Integrated eurozone fiscal policy key to sovereign debt
crisis
English.news.cn 2010-03-09 18:32:11
by Xinhua writer Wang Zongkai
BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Integrated fiscal policy was essential
for the euro zone to get out of the consequences of Greek sovereign
debt crisis, according to an expert from Standard and Poor's (S&P).
"The Greek debt crisis can be the strongest challenge that the euro
zone has faced in the past 11 years, and the key to solve the problem
is whether eurozone-16 can sacrifice some of their fiscal
sovereignty," said David Beers, managing director of S&P sovereign and
international public finance ratings group, on Monday.
On Dec. 8, 2009, Fitch Ratings downgraded its rating on Greece
sovereign credit from A- to BBB+, and revised its outlook to negative,
which signaled the commence of Greece sovereign credit crisis.
Moreover, other eurozone members, including Portugal, Ireland, Italy
and Spain, also reported deficit problem recently. In a context of
weak recovery in European economies, some analysts said that the Greek
debt crisis might contaminate the whole Europe.
However, Beers believes that the Greek debt crisis will not cause a
new round of global crisis.
On the one hand, other eurozone members welcomed Greece's 4.8-billion-
euro (6.53-billion-U.S. dollar) austerity package, which has shown the
Greek government's willingness to submit some fiscal sovereignty to
the union for underpinning euros, he said.
On the other hand, the creditworthiness of all eurozone sovereign
states was currently at least adequate to meet their financial
commitments, and S&P did not assume any sovereign state leaving the
euro zone in the medium term, Beers added.
So far, the Greek debt crisis had been contained within the euro zone.
Meanwhile, the Greek government had actively taken measures, while the
euro zone was considering institutional reform such as the
establishment of a European Monetary Fund, which will function like
the International Monetary Fund.
Regarding Britain's estimates of its deficit in 2010 fiscal year to
amount 1.78 trillion pounds (2.67 trillion dollars), nearly 13 percent
of its gross domestic product, Beers said Britain's current fiscal
policy is sustainable.
"If party in office changed, S&P would keep a close look at deficit-
cutting measures of the new administration," he added.
Meanwhile, the other two largest economies in the world are also
facing the deficit problem. U.S. federal deficit in 2009 had amounted
to 1.41 trillion dollars, almost 10 percent of the GDP while Japan's
outstanding public debt reached a record high of 817.5 trillion yen (9
trillion dollars), and 6.83 million yen (7,560 dollars) per capita.
Nevertheless, Beers was more optimistic on U.S. and Japan thanks to
more flexibility and time in dealing with debt problem given that the
dollar and the yen are the two strongest reserve currencies right now.
Beers estimated that it would take one or two years to solve the Greek
debt crisis.
People in Greece and other eurozone countries need to have confidence
while their governments need action.
Editor: Xiong Tong
Related News
• Greece prefers European solution: PM
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-03/08/c_13201036.htm
• Protests against fiscal austerity measures in Greece
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/video/2010-03/06/c_13199746.htm
• Germany will not give Greece a cent: economy minister
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-03/05/c_13199043.htm
• Greek families to lose one-month salary yearly due to tax rise
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/business/2010-03/09/c_13203264.htm
• Greek PM calls on world to restrict speculative trading
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-03/09/c_13202576.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-03/09/c_13203821.htm
Chrysanthemum or Samurai?
Posted By Dan Twining Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - 12:20 PM
In a thoughtful essay in today's Financial Times, Gideon Rachman asks
whether Japan may now be tilting towards China after 60 years of
aligning itself with the United States. This question is interesting
on multiple dimensions -- including with regard to the future of U.S.
primacy in Asia, the impact of China's rise on its neighbors, the
nature of Japanese politics and identity, and our understanding of the
deep structure of international relations at a time of systemic power
shifts. Indeed, Japan is a critical case study for assessing how the
developed world will respond to the rise of dynamic new power centers
in Asia -- and what the implications will be for American leadership
in the international system.
The ascent of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) after nearly six
decades of unbroken rule by the conservative, U.S.-oriented Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP) has convulsed not only Japanese politics but
also its foreign policy. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has mused
about constructing a pan-Asian fraternal community based on
"solidarity" -- not with Tokyo's closest alliance partner across the
Pacific but with its near neighbors, led by China. What should have
been little more than a tactical skirmish about the terms of the
realignment of U.S. forces in Okinawa has become, through
mismanagement on both sides, a strategic headache for both Washington
and the inexperienced government in Tokyo, raising unnecessary
tensions within the alliance. DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa, the power
behind the throne of the Hatoyama administration, recently led a
delegation of 143 parliamentarians and hundreds of businessmen to
Beijing, reviving in form if not substance the tributary delegations
from China's neighbors that, in pre-modern times, ritually visited the
Chinese court to acknowledge its suzerainty as Asia's "Middle
Kingdom."
These and other moves, unthinkable during the Cold War heyday of the
U.S.-Japan alliance, suggest a striking shift in Japan's geopolitical
alignment as the Pacific century dawns. Despite the fact that Japan
was never part of "the Chinese world order" in traditional Asia, some
analysts believe a Japanese tilt toward a resurgent China would be in
keeping with the country's foreign policy traditions. As Gideon
writes:
Some western observers in Tokyo muse that perhaps Japan is once again
following its historic policy of adapting to shifts in global politics
by aligning itself with great powers. Before the first world war the
country had a special relationship with Britain. In the inter-war
period Japan allied itself with Germany. Since 1945, it has stuck
closely to America. Perhaps the ground is being prepared for a new
"special relationship" with China?
In this reading of Japanese history since the Meiji restoration, the
country has repeatedly aligned itself with the international system's
preeminent power -- Britain in the early 20th century, Nazi Germany
until 1945, and the United States since then. If Japan really is
edging away from the United States to align itself with China today,
that is a compelling indicator that the future belongs to Beijing, and
that America's best days as the world's indispensable nation are
behind it.
Yet this judgment is, if anything, premature -- and may simply be
wrong. Imperial Britain, Nazi Germany, and America during the Cold War
were actual or aspiring hegemons from outside Asia; Japan's alliance
with each of them cemented its own role as Asia's dominant power.
Japan was not aligning with each of these powers to bandwagon with
them, subordinating its power and interests to theirs. It allied with
these Western states to facilitate its own pursuit of national power
and leadership in Asia.
This is true even of Japan's Cold War alliance with the United States,
when post-war leaders in Tokyo pursued a conscious strategy of
developing Japan's economic and technological dynamism within the
cocoon of American military protection. In a systematic and self-
interested manner, these leaders took advantage of the security
umbrella provided by the United States to modernize Japan's economy
and build strength with an eye on a long-term objective of moving
beyond the constraints imposed by the U.S. alliance as Japan grew into
a leading economic and technological power. The DPJ's new independence
vis-à-vis Washington reflects this evolution, and the only surprise is
that more Japan hands in the West didn't see it coming.
Historically, Japan has shown a striking ability to rapidly transform
itself in response to international conditions, as seen in the Meiji
break from isolation, the rise to great power in the twentieth
century, the descent into militarism, and renewal as a dynamic trading
state. Only a few years ago, excellent books and articles with titles
like Japan Rising: The Resurgence of Japanese Power and Purpose,
Securing Japan: Tokyo's Grand Strategy and the Future of East Asia,
and "Japan is Back: Why Tokyo's New Assertiveness is Good for
Washington" framed the country as a resurgent Asian great power. Since
2001, successive Japanese prime ministers have articulated
unprecedented ambitions for Japanese grand strategy. These have
included casting Japan as the "thought leader of Asia," forging new
bilateral alliances with India and Australia, cooperating with these
and other democratic powers in an "Arc of Freedom and Prosperity,"
formalizing security cooperation with NATO, constructing a Pacific
community around an "inland sea" centered on Japan as the hub of the
international economic and political order, and building a new East
Asian community with Japan at its center. These developments reflect
the churning domestic debate in Japan about its future as a world
power and model for its region, trends catalyzed by China's explosive
rise.
Japan's strategic future remains uncertain in light of the country's
churning domestic politics and troubling economic and demographic
trends. Yet there is no question that military modernization in China
and North Korea has spurred a new Japanese search for security and
identity that has moved Tokyo decisively beyond the constraints that
structured its foreign policy for fifty years following defeat in the
Pacific war. The ascent of the DPJ, with its calls for a more equal
U.S.-Japan alliance and greater Japanese autonomy in security and
diplomacy, is another step forward in Japan's transformation into what
DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa famously called a "normal country." Enjoying a
normal relationship with China, as the DPJ intends to do, is part of
that process. But so will be a continuing partnership with the United
States.
Jason Lee-Pool/Getty Images
http://shadow.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/03/09/chrysanthemum_or_samurai
JGB futures edge down from 2-mth high as Nikkei jumps
By Rika Otsuka
TOKYO, March 8 (Reuters) - Japanese government bond futures slipped
further on Monday from a two-month peak hit last week, as growing
optimism about a global economic recovery prompted investors to move
money to stocks from government debt.
The five-year/20-year JGB yield spread matched its highest since
November 1999 as prospects of further central bank easing pinned down
yields on midterm maturities, which are more sensitive to shifts in
monetary policy outlook.
U.S. monthly employment data showed late last week that the world's
biggest economy lost 36,000 jobs in February, less than the 50,000 job
cuts expected by economists. [ID:nN04252324]
But bond losses were limited as the JGB market received support from
speculation that the Bank of Japan would further ease its monetary
policy in the coming months to help Japan's economy move out of
deflation.
"The rise in bond yields has been small as investors are willing to
pick up JGBs, with some speculating the BOJ could further relax its
policy at next week's board meeting," said Hidenori Suezawa, chief
strategist at Nikko Cordial Securities.
JGBs rose on Friday after the Nikkei newspaper said the central bank
will debate whether to ease monetary policy further by expanding the
fund-supply operation it introduced in December, under which it
extends loans to commercial banks at a policy rate of 0.1 percent.
[ID:nTOE6230A7]
"Demand is also strong as a large amount of government debt is
maturing this month," said Suezawa at Nikko Cordial Securities.
Analysts said some 10 trillion yen ($110.8 billion) of JGBs are being
redeemed in March. Government bonds with maturities of five years or
longer will mature in March, June, September and December.
Large amount of bonds maturing means that durations of popularly
followed bond indexes are usually extended to accommodate the
redemptions, generating demand for longer-dated paper from investors
following monthly changes to these indexes.
A 30-year JGB auction scheduled for Tuesday is expected to draw decent
demand as dealers will be looking to replenish their inventories, said
Makoto Noji, a senior market analyst at Mizuho Securities.
"Demand for superlong paper was unusually strong toward the end of
last month as investors bought to match bond indexes, depleting
dealers' inventories."
March 10-year JGB futures edged down 0.07 point to 140.12 2JGBv1,
slipping from 140.27, their highest since late December.
Outstanding loans held by Japanese banks fell 1.5 percent in February
from a year earlier, matching a decline in January that was the
biggest annual drop in four years, the BOJ said on Monday. [JPBNK=ECI]
[ID:nTFD006326]
The market showed a muted reaction to the data, although it somewhat
strengthened expectations that sluggish lending would prompt banks to
add more JGBs to their portfolios with the new financial year starting
on April 1.
The combination of sluggish lending and expectations towards further
BOJ easing has helped JGBs, especially the shorter-dated maturities,
which are supported by purchases from banks.
The five-year/20-year yield spread stood at 167 basis points on
Monday, matching its steepest in a decade, according to historical
data on Reuters EcoWin.
The five-year yield stood unchanged at 0.470 percent on Monday after
banks, the main players in the mid-term sector, aggressively bought
five-year notes late last week to push down the yield to a two-month
low of 0.460 percent JP5YTN=JBTC.
The benchmark 10-year yield inched up 1 basis point to 1.315 percent
JP10YTN=JBTC, staying near a two-month low of 1.290 percent first
reached in late February.
The 20-year yield was up 1.5 basis points at 2.140 percent
JP20YTN=JBTC and the 30-year yield edged up 0.5 basis point to 2.325
percent JP30YTN=JBTC.
Tokyo's Nikkei share average .N225 jumped 2.1 percent after the U.S.
jobs data, with exporters benefiting from a weaker yen. [.T] [FRX/]
($1=90.28 Yen)
(Additional reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Joseph
Radford)
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE62703620100308
March 8, 2010, 1:03 a.m. EST · Recommend · Post:
WORLD FOREX: Dollar At 2-Week High Vs Yen On Asia Stock RisesStory
By Takashi Mochizuki
TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The dollar rose to a two-week-high against the
yen Monday in Asia, as higher regional shares bolstered investors'
appetite for riskier, higher-yielding assets, and they dumped the safe-
haven Japanese unit for the U.S. currency.
The greenback rose as high as Y90.69, its highest since Feb. 23 as
Asian investors took cues from Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock
Average and China's Shanghai Composite Index.
As of 0450 GMT, the Nikkei was up 1.9% to 10,563.72 and the Shanghai
Composite was up 0.82% to 3,056.00.
Higher Asian share prices often push the yen lower, as Japanese
investors become more aggressive about investing in overseas assets
with higher yields.
The yen's decline, however, isn't likely to continue for long because
Japanese exporters still have a vigorous appetite for yen, analysts
said. Exporters need a hefty volume of yen ahead of the March 31
fiscal year-end when they close their books.
"We would caution against turning very bearish (about the yen) in the
short term," said Adarsh Sinha, a strategist at Barclays Capital.
There is also a risk that demand for yen will increase again if
upcoming U.S. economic data, such as Friday's retail sales, turn out
weaker than expected, analysts said.
"Markets need to wait for more data to assess the true trend of the
U.S. economy," said Tomoko Fujii, a strategist at Bank of America-
Merrill Lynch.
The U.S. government said Friday that non-farm payrolls decreased by
36,000 in February from the month before. This was much better than
the 75,000 decline economists had expected.
But Fujii said it was "premature to draw a conclusion" about the U.S.
economic outlook, as recent U.S. economic reports have contained some
negative surprises.
As of 0450 GMT, the dollar was at Y90.41 from Y90.33 Friday in New
York. The euro was at $1.3679 from $1.3620 and Y123.70 from Y123.04.
The euro may have entered a long-term upward trend, dealers said, on
the belief debt-laden Greece will be able to secure support from its
European partners.
"I'm now becoming certain that Greece won't fail. The clouds are
clearing for Greece's future," said Jun Kato, a senior dealer at
Shinkin Central Bank.
On Sunday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said a number of European
Union nations were preparing a support package for Greece. In Berlin,
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday that E.U. members would
intervene to rescue Greece if its debt problems threaten to spiral out
of control.
The euro may rise above $1.38 in the days ahead if more positive news
for Greece comes out, OCBC Bank's currency research team said. The
currency last traded above $1.38 on Feb. 11.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a trade-
weighted basket of currencies, was at 80.168 from 80.451
...and I am Sid Harth
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.indian.marathi/browse_thread/thread/3bc67593a8a0ac5b#
chhotemianinshallah
posted at 12:52 pm on March 9, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
The White House promised a “hard pivot” to jobs and the economy almost
three months ago, attempting to put the ObamaCare debate on the back
burner after the holidays. They had belatedly discovered that the
electorate was much more concerned about the economic plunge than in
retooling a health-care system that works for most Americans now.
Instead of the hard pivot, Democrats have doubled down on ObamaCare —
and the latest Rasmussen survey shows that a strong majority believe
it to be the wrong direction on both issues:
Fifty-seven percent (57%) of voters say the health care reform plan
now working its way through Congress will hurt the U.S. economy.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 25%
think the plan will help the economy. But only seven percent (7%) say
it will have no impact. Twelve percent (12%) aren’t sure.
Two-out-of-three voters (66%) also believe the health care plan
proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats is likely to
increase the federal deficit. That’s up six points from late November
and comparable to findings just after the contentious August
congressional recess. Ten percent (10%) say the plan is more likely to
reduce the deficit and 14% say it will have no impact on the deficit.
Underlying this concern is a lack of trust in the government numbers.
Eighty-one percent (81%) believe it is at least somewhat likely that
the health care reform plan will cost more than official estimates.
That number includes 66% who say it is very likely that the official
projections understate the true cost of the plan.
Only a plurality of Democrats believe that the bill will help the
economy (43%), while 89% of Republicans and 61% of independents think
it will damage it.
Politically, the Democrats have the worst of all worlds. Not only do
they look out of touch for spending all of their efforts on a plan
that is deeply unpopular with voters, they now are seen as actively
damaging the economy. The deficit spending alone would be enough to
send voters heading for the exits, but the increased costs are even
worse. Seventy-eight percent of all respondents believe that middle-
class tax increases will come as a result of ObamaCare, with almost
two-thirds (65%) believing that to be “very likely.” Fifty-eight
percent of Democrats expect middle-class tax increases, which shows
how effective Obama has been in selling this plan.
What’s the biggest problem with ObamaCare? Majorities of all
political affiliations agree: the cost. Hardly anyone believes the
cost estimates. When asked whether the bill would exceed its cost
estimates, 93% of Republicans, 70% of Democrats, and 80% of
independents thought it at least somewhat likely — with 88% of
Republicans and 73% of independents calling it “very likely.” Only
20% of Democrats thought it unlikely. Again, this looks like a big
failure of the Obama administration’s efforts to sell the package as a
cost containment program.
Democrats now face the prospect of using arcane parliamentary tricks
to pass a bill that has minimal support, one that most voters believe
will damage the economy, cost more than advertised, and prompt
sweeping tax increases, all while ignoring the issues of a damaged
economy while attempting to make it worse. If they think that’s a
winning strategy for the midterms, they need new leadership — and
after the electoral disaster coming, they’ll probably be forced to get
it.
BlowbackNote from Hot Air management: This section is for comments
from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume
that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any
particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone
who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting
privilege.
Comments
and lo, the Democrat party wandered aimlessly in the desert for 40
election years.
TN Mom on March 9, 2010 at 4:13 PM
Great pic!
mikeyboss on March 9, 2010 at 4:18 PM
From the rich being able to buy our representatives and lead our
culture by the nose, yes.
Dark-Star on March 9, 2010 at 4:00 PM
Boo hoo, the rich can do things that I can’t, therefore we have to
give govt control over everything so that the rich can be punished.
I’m still trying to figure out why you actually believe that everyone
who has more than you are is evil.
Is it because you are such a failure in life, that you can’t bear to
accept responsibility?
Lord knows, your given your demonstrated intellectual powers, it’s
hard to imagine you’ve ever been able to handle a job that doesn’t
involve the phrase “would you like fries with that”.
MarkTheGreat on March 9, 2010 at 4:25 PM
and lead our culture by the nose, yes.
Ohh, and people pay more attention to the rich than they do you. I bet
that stings.
MarkTheGreat on March 9, 2010 at 4:26 PM
They won’t get new leadership, because Pelosi will be the only one
left in the House after November.
joe_doufu on March 9, 2010 at 5:03 PM
If you believe the 57% figure, then you’ll love the fictitious 9%
unemployment.
This administration is so inaccurate they couldn’t hit the side of a
barn with a tennis racket.
Cybergeezer on March 9, 2010 at 5:23 PM
I’m waiting for Congress to offer shares of stock in the new Health
Care Industry they want to create.
Think China will buy any?
Cybergeezer on March 9, 2010 at 5:25 PM
This HealthScare legislation is another omnibus spending bill that
lets Congress spend like drunken sailors with unlimited credit cards.
Obama has already signed an omnibus spending bill last year, and he
can’t wait to sign another one.
Cybergeezer on March 9, 2010 at 5:30 PM
If we just get enough fed-up conservative-types to move to Costa Rica
we could remake that country into what the U.S. should be. The U.S. is
going to be a once-great nation in record time and I, for one, don’t
feel like being taxed to death as it goes through its all too rapid
fall.
Fatal on March 9, 2010 at 5:31 PM
Adding a new entitlement? revenue neutral? Look at the prescription
drug benefit enacted by President Bush. In less than 10 years the
unfunded liabilities of this new entitlement are nearly 19 trillion
(18.7 and climbing).
Congress:
Look at the debt clock. Health care reform, yes. ObamaCare, NO.
Angry Dumbo on March 9, 2010 at 6:50 PM
Democrats now face the prospect of using arcane parliamentary tricks
to pass a bill that has minimal support, one that most voters believe
will damage the economy, cost more than advertised, and prompt
sweeping tax increases, all while ignoring the issues of a damaged
economy while attempting to make it worse. If they think that’s a
winning strategy for the midterms, they need new leadership — and
after the electoral disaster coming, they’ll probably be forced to get
it.
This isn’t about winning in 2010.
It isn’t about the leadership.
This is about having the most left leaning leadership in Washington
since the early 30’s taking an opportunity to screw the country that
they thought they would never have!
We have a Marxist president who has already says he’d content with one
term if, BY HIS DEFINITION, he was a good president.
We have a Marxist wax statue House Speaker who comes from a district
where the majority probably feel Congress isn’t taking over enough of
the private sector on the way to their communist utopia.
We have an old, doesn’t-care-if-he’s-reelected Senate Leader who
thinks this is the culmination of his life’s work and that of his dead
friend Teddy!
These three jokers are betting that if they can get this passed,
rammed through, crammed down America’s throat, that in the future the
party can run on “Save Healthcare! Keep those filthy Republican hands
off of it!” “Oh, that evil Republican wants to repeal healthcare and
kill millions by taking away their coverage!”
Unfortunately, the chaos that’s going to ensue, sooner if they pass
healthcare, after we reach banana republic status in the next year,
could lead to numerous conclusions. It may be best if it leads to two
or more countries if this is the government we’re stuck with.
PastorJon on March 9, 2010 at 8:02 PM
Fifty-eight percent of Democrats expect middle-class tax increases,
which shows how effective Obama has been in selling this plan.
Whadda ya know! The Dems are as dumb as the Repubs.
Herb on March 9, 2010 at 8:36
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/03/09/rasmussen-57-think-obamacare-will-damage-economy/
NYC’s New Suicide Sculptures (metaphor for economic reality)
Posted by barrypopik (Profile)
Wednesday, March 10th at 5:24AM EST
No Comments
New York is full of brilliant ideas these days. Let’s look first at
the suicide sculpture metaphor, then the economic reality.
From Wednesday’s New York Times:
Statues Seem Ready to Leap, but Police Say They Won’t
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
Published: March 9, 2010
They stand about six feet tall and look like naked human beings. Over
the next few days, 27 of them will be scattered across rooftops and
ledges of buildings in Midtown Manhattan — including the Empire State
Building — as part of a public art exhibition.
About the same time that the first figure was placed atop a four-story
building at 25th Street and Fifth Avenue on Tuesday, the Police
Department issued a statement reassuring New Yorkers that the figures
are not despondent people on the verge of leaping to their deaths.
Police officials said they were trying to prevent an overwhelming
number of emergency calls from concerned pedestrians or office
workers. Nevertheless, they said that all emergency calls about a
potential suicide would be taken seriously — even those from places
where one of the figures is located.
“We are going to respond no matter what because there could be a
jumper at the spot,” said Paul J. Browne, the department’s chief
spokesman.
The figures, which are anatomically correct, are modeled after the
body of the artist Antony Gormley, who created the exhibition, which
is being presented by the Madison Square Park Conservancy.
Gormley did the same thing in London in 2007.
Is anyone surprised that lots of people would call 911? Does anyone
think that clogging the 911 line is a good idea? In a nanny state
government that forbids toy guns, why is this OK? How much did this
guy earn for this “art”?
Stupidity all around, but that’s not surprising for New York.
Moving on to suicidal economic news, the New York Times loves the
proposed soda tax:
Editorial
Healthy Solution: Taxing Sodas
Published: March 8, 2010
Seldom does one idea help fix two important problems, but a proposal
to tax sugary soft drinks in New York State is just that sort of 2-
for-1 solution. The penny-per-ounce tax on sodas and other sweetened
drinks is a way to raise desperately needed money for the city and
state in a bad economy. It also could help lower obesity rates, which
have soared in recent years.
The Legislature in Albany should adopt this tax quickly.
Increasing New York taxes to support outrageously generous public
union pensions — bless your hearts, New York Times and Mayor
Bloomberg.
What is the other solution to New York’s fiscal crisis? Billions in
increased borrowing, of course:
Paterson’s No. 2 Sets Broad Plan on New York Fiscal Crisis
By DANNY HAKIM
Published: March 9, 2010
ALBANY — New York could borrow billions of dollars to address its
urgent budget shortfall and a financial review board would be
established to impose new discipline on future spending under a five-
year financial rescue plan that Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch will present
Wednesday.
(…)
Mr. Ravitch, who was asked by Gov. David A. Paterson to draw up the
blueprint, is seeking to curb the runaway spending that has helped
plunge New York into fiscal crisis. Despite the recession and talk of
fiscal austerity, state spending this year soared by 10 percent over
the previous year’s budget.
Keep on spending!
The state faces a $9 billion shortfall for the fiscal year that begins
April 1 and a $15 billion gap for the following year.
The plan, which requires legislative approval, seeks to address New
York’s immediate cash needs by permitting the state to sell bonds to
help cover operating expenses.
Keep on borrowing! Does anyone want to buy a bond from a bankrupt
state run by David Paterson?
If the Madison Square Park Conservancy wants to add some art, why not
ditch the suicide sculptures and have a replica of the Diana sculpture
that once graced Madison Square Garden? The Roman goddess Diana was an
emblem of chastity.
Suicide sculpture — an urban metaphor for these times? Why not move
them from Madison Square down to Wall Street?
Economists trim 2011 U.S. growth forecast
Posted 2010/03/10 at 12:40 am EST
WASHINGTON, Mar. 10, 2010 (Reuters) — U.S. economists raised their
forecast for economic growth in 2010 in March, the third straight
monthly rise, while trimming their growth forecast for 2011, according
to a survey released on Wednesday.
Economists surveyed earlier this month in the Blue Chip Economic
Indicators newsletter said the economy is expected to grow by 3.0
percent in 2011, which is 0.1 percentage point lower than estimates
made a month ago.
But economists raised their 2010 growth forecast for the third
consecutive month to 3.1 percent, up 0.1 percentage point from
February.
Still, the economists predicted the recovery would be mild given the
depth of the recession.
The consensus also expects inventories to continue adding to GDP over
the next several quarters but see the size of those contributions
become increasingly smaller.
"By Q1 2011, the contribution to GDP from business inventories is
expected to become trivial," the survey said.
The panelists said they also expect "a slower and less powerful than
is typical improvement in labor market conditions that will cap gains
in disposable personal income and personal consumption expenditures."
The panelists expressed concern that severe winter weather crimped
economic activity in February and that upcoming monthly data on
production, retail sales, housing starts and home sales could fall
short of earlier consensus expectations.
However, they also pointed out any weather-induced softness should be
recovered in the March data.
(Reporting by Nancy Waitz, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Copyright Reuters 2008.
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre6290q0-us-usa-economy-bluechip/
US Chamber of Commerce getting into the game.
I almost titled this "US Chamber of Commerce starts recognizing its
class interests," but that kind of language bugs people on the Right,
for some reason.
Posted by Moe Lane (Profile)
Tuesday, March 9th at 11:48AM EST
5 Comments
Say hello to the US Chamber of Commerce. Or don’t; they’re coming to
sit down at the table any which way.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is building a large-scale grass-roots
political operation that has begun to rival those of the major
political parties, funded by record-setting amounts of money raised
from corporations and wealthy individuals.
[snip]
The new grass-roots program, the brainchild of chamber political
director Bill Miller, is concentrating on 22 states. Among them are
Colorado, where incumbent Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet is
vulnerable; Arkansas, where Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln faces an
uphill reelection battle; and Ohio, where the chamber sees
opportunities in numerous House races and an open Senate seat.
The network, called Friends of the U.S. Chamber, has been used to
generate more than a million letters and e-mails to members of
Congress, 700,000 of them in opposition to the Democratic healthcare
plan. That is an increase from 40,000 congressional contacts generated
in 2008.
The article goes on to note that the CoC’s grassroots planning
recently got a big boost from the recent Citizens’ United case, as
well as that this organization is increasingly publicly acknowledging
that ‘pro-business growth’ means ‘pro-Republican.’ And why would that
be? Probably because of Democratic assaults like this one:
A Democratic aide says a new provision in the health care bill will
require businesses to count part-time workers when calculating
penalties for failing to provide coverage.
Via Hot Air, and that particular sudden addition to the health care
bill should have the same effect on small business growth as would,
say, a load of buckshot to the face. Remember, folks: the current
ruling party of this country is largely led by people who have never
worked for a living in their lives - and by God, does it show
sometimes! Keep this in mind when opening your checkbooks, because
the business community certainly plans to…
Moe Lane
5 Comments
*HOW* can they do this? How is it Constitutional?
yoyo Tuesday, March 9th at 12:16PM EST
Isn’t the Senate Bill ALREADY voted for? How can they insert an
amendment into a bill that is already passed?
Wouldnt the inclusion of this amendment (or any other) require that
the whole she-bang go back to the Senate for another up/down vote? Or
at the very least, allow the Senate to Amend this to Death - FINALLY?
Without coming back to the Senate, the Bill would be unconstitutional,
yes?
Just Checking. Dan, can you help me out here? Rule check, please!
Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum
‘If you seek peace, prepare for war!’
The ‘yoyo’ replaced my cigarettes January 22, 2006….
http://www.twitter.com/rs_yoyo
That's what "reconcilliation" is all about.
The_Gadfly Tuesday, March 9th at 12:25PM EST
See, this is a cost cutting measure. Without it, they won’t have
enough money to cover the bills, so the reconcilliation rules apply,
and they only need 51 votes for that.
No, I don’t really believe that either, but you can better a year’s
salary that’s how they’ll sell it. Assuming of course you can find
someone dumb enough to take the wager.
We’ve been called racists enough now that it shouldn’t bother us any
more.
-AChance, http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/2009/11/03/what-men-may-do-we-have-done/#comment-24463
If NY23 was a beat down for Conservatives, what do you call what
happened to Progressives in NJ and VA?
inspired by ColdWarrior,
http://www.redstate.com/hooah_mac/2009/11/04/ny-23-the-agony-of-defeat-not-so-much/#comment-156
"Cost Cutting?" Really? Smells of "Policy" to me.
yoyo Tuesday, March 9th at 12:33PM EST
But, I *do* have a head cold, so my sniffer may be broken.
OR, more likely, it just stinks.
I say they should start reconcilling the bill with the Constitution
and go forward from there.
But, I AM a little bit “old fashioned.” *Tradition and Patriotism* and
all that.
Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum
‘If you seek peace, prepare for war!’
Pukin’ Dogs - The Fighting 143
Sans Reproache
The ‘yoyo’ replaced my cigarettes January 22, 2006….
http://www.twitter.com/rs_yoyo
George Washington
hickorystick Tuesday, March 9th at 1:32PM EST
led the Rebellion, because England was infringing upon his interests.
George Washington wasn’t that political a guy. He did maintain his
‘interest’ very sharply. He was one of the wealthiest Colonials, and
he was constantly irritated with England imposing laws and
restrictions impinging on his ‘interest’. He chose his wife, Mary, not
for her looks, but because she had a lot of land. I get so frustrated
with politics because most of the time, especially media time, is
spent talking about nebulous things which we have no power or control
over. We would do well to frame every bill in terms of how it affects
‘interests’. You cannot walk into court and ask for something, unless
you can prove an ‘interest’ or ’standing’. We should do the same in
our political fights, sticking to our right to maintain property. That
is what we fought over in the revolution. Remember, we didn’t bother
to write a Constitution till some years after we had won the war. The
form of government that came most naturally after the victory, was a
Continental Congress. This form left most issues to the states, where
property could best be protected. If we want to effectively fight this
Redistibutor-in-Chief, We better start focusing on our own interest
and that of our states.
Wow...
tdpwells Tuesday, March 9th at 3:09PM EST
So let’s see, that’s most employees at fast food restaurants, grocery
stores, convenience stores, corner pharmacy stores like CVS and
Walgreens, etc etc etc…
Unemployment ought to be at a healthy 30% by the time they’re done.
Nice.
I do not believe that the power and duty of the General
Government ought to be extended to the relief of individual
suffering which is in no manner properly related to the
public service or benefit…to the end that the lesson should
be constantly enforced that though the people support the
Government, the Government should not support the people.
Grover Cleveland (16 February 1887)
http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/2010/03/09/us-chamber-of-commerce-getting-into-the-game/
Bloomberg
Siegel Says U.S. Recovery Certain, Euro Region Faces Splinter
March 10, 2010, 5:39 AM EST
By Le-Min Lim
March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Jeremy Siegel, a finance professor at the
University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, says the worst is over
for the U.S. economy and the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates
by year’s end to cool growth.
Spending by companies on equipment and plants will outpace private
consumption as the main growth driver this year, he said in an
interview in Hong Kong. The jobless rate, at 9.7 percent last month,
will fall below 9 percent by the end of 2010, he said. That may force
the Fed to tighten policy and full-year economic growth may reach 4
percent, he said.
The Fed “will feel comfortable raising the rates as long as the
situation continues to improve, as I believe it will,” said Siegel, in
an interview in Hong Kong. Siegel, 64, is an adviser to U.S.-based
WisdomTree Investments Inc., which had $6.7 billion of assets under
management as of the end of last year.
The Fed and the Treasury are trying to withdraw the emergency measures
introduced during the financial crisis without triggering a relapse in
the economy. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Feb. 24 the U.S. is in
a “nascent” recovery that still requires keeping interest rates near
zero “for an extended period” to spur demand once stimulus wanes.
In Europe, the European Central Bank will have little alternative
other than to keep interest rates low as euro region members such as
Greece struggle to convince investors they will cut soaring budget
deficits, he said. Its benchmark rate is currently at a record low of
1 percent.
Exports
The euro is making the exports of nations such as Spain and Greece so
uncompetitive that they may start talks as early as next year to leave
the 16-nation bloc, he said. That departure would be “painful and
difficult and drag down the region for a few years,” he said. One
weakness of the currency union is that it lacks a proper and orderly
exit strategy for members that can’t keep up, Siegel said.
“They should have signed prenups before they got married to the euro,”
said Siegel, referring to agreements that outline the terms of a
divorce.
A U.S. recovery and uncertainty in the eurozone mean the dollar will
remain a “viable” asset, said Siegel.
Later this year, China may start a managed appreciation of the yuan,
Siegel said. China wants to revert to export-driven economic growth,
so is more likely to try a staggered revaluation than a major, one-
time adjustment, he said.
--Editors: Dirk Beveridge, John Fraher
To contact the reporter on this story: Le-Min Lim in Hong Kong at
lm...@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Beech at
mbe...@bloomberg.net.
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High Conviction: Short the Yen
by: Alexander Tepper March 10, 2010
Alexander Tepper is Chief Economist at TKNG Capital, a global macro
hedge fund based in New York. Previously, Mr. Tepper was a senior
economic policy aide to U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg. He also has
experience at Oliver, Wyman & Company advising Fortune 500 financial
institutions on risk management and as an investment banking Associate
at Credit Suisse. He has a masters degree in Economics from Oxford
University, and a BA in Physics from Princeton University.
We recently had the opportunity to ask Alexander about the single
highest conviction position he currently holds in his fund.
What is your highest conviction position in your fund right now - long
or short?
We are short Japanese yen against the US Dollar. We have implemented
the trade by selling out-of-the-money calls to buy out-of-the-money
puts and taking in premium.
Why did you use options to structure the trade?
Call options on the yen are significantly more expensive than put
options. This “skew,” as it’s known, exists because the Japanese
investment community tends to be short yen, making it susceptible to
sharp rises during bouts of risk aversion.
Investors hedge this exposure by buying out-of-the-money yen calls.
But given the sharp adjustment that has already occurred in the crisis
and a government whose proclivities are far from fiscally
conservative, we view the risks as less asymmetric than implied by the
skew.
Structuring this trade with options is akin to playing with dice
loaded in our favor.
Tell us a bit about Japan right now, and why you're short its
currency.
Japan has traditionally been an export-oriented economy, but that’s
going to change as the population continues to age and retire. These
older citizens, who have saved their whole lives and are no longer
producing anything, will be a natural source of demand, first for
domestic Japanese goods and then for imports. A shrinking labor force
will mean other nations will need to pick up the slack in production.
Already, the savings rate in Japan has fallen into the low single-
digits and it should fall further.
Japan is also in serious fiscal trouble. Its net debt is more than
100% of GDP, and gross debt is nearing 200% of GDP. The Japanese
government and central bank do not seem particularly concerned. It is
only Japan’s strong balance of payments position, and a willful
suspension of disbelief by the markets, that differentiates it from
countries like Greece. But those, too, should ebb over time.
So why will the yen fall?
First, as the Japanese retire, the supply shock to the economy will
result in continuing declines in competitiveness. The yen will need to
fall to restore balance.
Second, less income and more retirees will mean that Japan will need
to fund more of its government’s borrowing from abroad. Making this
attractive will mean a lower exchange rate, higher interest rate, or
(most likely) both.
Third, the government’s fiscal position is the worst in the developed
world. The scale of the adjustments that are necessary to stabilize
the budget deficit would be unprecedented in a large developed nation,
requiring deep cuts to pensions, double-digit tax increases, and
severe spending restraint elsewhere. If sovereign worries persist,
Japan and its currency are obvious targets for speculators.
Finally, we think consumers in the US and UK are undergoing a lasting
shift in psychology that will cause them to save a larger share of
their incomes going forward. Over the long-term, the savings rate
needs to average around 10% in order for Americans to secure a
reasonable retirement. When Americans save more, they buy less,
especially imports. This lack of demand for imports means a stronger
dollar against US trading partners like Japan.
All this is on the assumption that the global economy will limp along
for a while. But if instead we have a return to robust growth that
looks broadly like the pre-crisis economy, the yen should weaken
towards 2007 levels as markets become more and more comfortable with
risk and interest rates rise in the rest of the developed world.
There are a lot of ways to win with this trade.
What would you say the current broad sentiment is on the yen?
The market has tended to view the yen as part of the “risk-on/risk-
off” trade, where the yen rises with worries about the global economy.
Japan’s fiscal issues are well-known, but the market has generally not
priced them, with yields on 10-year Japanese bonds below 1.5%.
Japanese CDS spreads, however, have doubled since late summer.
More broadly, the markets have believed that correction of global
imbalances requires a weaker dollar to encourage Americans and Asians
to change their consumption behavior. We think the financial crisis
and experience of house price declines will be the driving force that
restrains Americans’ profligacy, while Asians will consume more. The
result will be a stronger dollar.
Does Japanese economic policy play a role in your position?
The Japanese government has made fairly clear that it does not intend
to tolerate a markedly stronger yen because it hurts their exporters.
It also seems neither inclined nor able to do anything about the
fiscal situation in the near future.
What catalysts do you see that could move the currency, and the trade
in your favor?
The eurozone’s sovereign risk worries will soon resolve themselves one
way or another. When they do, Japan could easily become a target.
As economic data continue to strengthen over the next few months, a
return to normalcy will mean a weaker yen.
We are also prepared for a more gradual adjustment as markets adopt
our demographic view.
What could go wrong with this trade?
In the near term, Japanese companies repatriating income around the
fiscal year-end in March could potentially lead to a rise in the
currency. A sharp rise in risk aversion could have a similar effect.
We have been careful to choose the strike prices on our options to
minimize the damage if such a spike does occur.
Beyond that, deflation in Japan means that in a perfect economic
world, the yen would appreciate over time. There is also the risk that
the pundits over the past several years prove right and we see
fundamental weakening of the dollar with respect to all Asian
currencies.
Finally, if China were to revalue its currency, as many believe it
will, that could create space for the Japanese authorities also to
allow some appreciation. Again, however, we believe our options are
sufficiently out of the money to limit our downside in such a
scenario.
Thanks, Alexander.
Disclosure: TKNG Capital is short the Yen against the Dollar.
If you are a fund manager and interested in doing an interview with us
on your highest conviction stock holding, please email Rebecca
Barnett.
About the author: Alexander Tepper Alexander Tepper is Chief
Economist at TKNG Capital, a global macro hedge fund based in New
York. Previously, Mr. Tepper was a senior economic policy aide to U.S.
Senator Frank Lautenberg. He also has experience at Oliver, Wyman &
Company advising Fortune 500 financial institutions on risk... More
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The Coolpix L11 is clearly designed more for the frugal than the
fancy. The 6-megapixel camera sports a 37.5mm-to-112.5mm-equi... 3x
zoom lens and a relatively small 2.4-inch LCD screen. While its
hardware hardly impresses, however, the camera offers some
surprisingly useful features. The L11 includes Nikon's In-Camera Red-
Eye Fix and Face-Priority AF. In-Camera Red-Eye Fix supplements the
camera's red-eye reduction flash mode with a processing system that
removes red-eye after the photo is taken. Face-Priority AF detects and
tracks faces in photos, and adjusts focus to stay on those faces,
instead of just the closest subject. Both features come standard on
most Nikon Coolpix cameras, but are still handy for casual shooting.
www-nikon.com Mar 10 0
Carlos Lam is a deputy prosecuting attorney in a mid-sized county in a
midwestern state. An adherent in the Austrian School of economics, he
believes that to truly prosper as the republic envisioned by the
Founding Fathers, we must return to principles of sound money and
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Continue Their Efforts3.Will the Chrysler Deal Be Delayed?
Shorting the Yen could be an interesting play. Already the Japanese
savings rate has crashed from its lofty position to under 4%, so the
Japanese government will not be able to count on domestic savings to
finance its debt indefinitely.
Mar 10 06:25 AM
John Thomas graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry with
honors and a minor in mathematics from the University of California at
Los Angeles (U.C.L.A.) in 1974. He moved to Tokyo, Japan where he was
employed by a medium-sized Japanese securities house. Thomas became
fluent in... More Company: The Mad Hedge Fund Trader bvgf I’m hearing
from my buddies in Japan that while things are already quite bad in
that enchanting country, they are about to get a whole lot worse, and
that it is time to start scaling into a major short in the yen.
Australia and China have already raised interest rates, to be followed
by the US, and eventually Europe. With its economy enfeebled, the
prospects of Japan raising rates substantially is close to nil,
meaning the yield spread between the yen and other currencies is about
to widen big time. That will generate hundreds of billions of dollars
worth of yen selling as hedge funds rush to pile on a giant carry
trade. Until now, the government has been able to finance ballooning
budget deficits caused by two lost decades, but those days are coming
to an end. Japan is quite literally running out of savers. The savings
rate has dropped from 20% during my time there, to a spendthrift 3%,
because real falling standards of living leave a lot less money for
the piggy bank. The national debt has rocketed to 190% of GDP, and
100% when you net out government agencies buying each other’s
securities. Japan has the world’s worst demographic outlook. Unfunded
pension liabilities are exploding. Other than once great cars and
video games, what does Japan really have to offer the world these
days, but a carry currency? Until now, the government has been able to
cover up these problems with tatami mats, because almost all of the
debt it issued has been sold to domestic institutions. Now that this
pool is drying up, there is nowhere else to go but foreign investors.
With Greece and the rest of the PIIGS at the forefront, and awareness
of sovereign risks heightening, this is going to be a much more
discerning lot to deal with. You could dip your toe in the water here
around ¥88.40. In a perfect world you could sell it as it double tops
at the 85 level. My initial downside target is ¥105, and after that
¥120. If you’re not set up to trade in the futures or the interbank
market like the big hedge funds, then take a look at the leveraged
short yen ETF, the (YCS). This is a home run if you can get in at the
right price.
Mar 10
http://seekingalpha.com/article/192864-high-conviction-short-the-yen
Fresh Trade Winds?
Wednesday, 10 March 2010 02:19
0 Comments and 4 Reactions
Investor's Business Daily
Editorial
Investor's Business Daily
Editorial
Economy: U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk came out swinging
Wednesday, warning Congress that it’s time to pass free trade. Is
something happening here? Is the Obama administration finally getting
serious about jobs?
After a year of inaction, Kirk told Democrats in remarks to the Senate
Finance Committee that passage of free-trade pacts must be “a
priority.”
Free trade “will stimulate export-driven growth and help the United
States meet the president’s goal to double U.S. exports in five
years,” he said, adding that 2 million jobs would be created.
That kind of talk from a leading Democrat directed at the
protectionists in his own party is a new — and welcome — development.
Over the last year, Obama administration officials have occasionally
talked up the benefits of free trade, but only with conservatives and
business groups, who already know about it.
Now some are spending political capital to push it.
Confronting a Congress that is holding up the creation of jobs doesn’t
come a moment too soon. U.S. joblessness stands at 9.7% and Europe is
grabbing U.S. markets abroad.
Congressional protectionists talk of free trade passage in terms of
years; their campaign financiers in Big Labor, such as the AFL-CIO,
say “never.”
Kirk rebuked that stance in his speech, telling labor it had a voice
but “not a veto” on trade and hinted that President Obama would put
the pacts through without them. He also gave labor leaders a deadline
to make demands on free-trade deals like the one with Colombia instead
of constantly moving the goal posts.
One shot.
It doesn’t come a moment too soon. Congress’ failure to enact the free-
trade pacts in front of them is costing the U.S. nearly 600,000 jobs,
according to a 2009 study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Contrary to
protectionist myth, free trade costs no net jobs in the U.S. economy
at all, as Fed chief Ben Bernanke noted in a 2007 speech citing years
of data. “Trade allows us to enjoy both a more productive economy and
higher living standards,” he said. Unemployment is killing the U.S.
economy and sinking the Obama presidency. Time is running out to open
markets that could help repair it. Just this week, Europe signed a
free-trade deal with Colombia and Peru and breezily announced it would
have a pact with fast-growing India ready by October.
U.S. international credibility right now is zero, given that
alreadynegotiated trade pacts with Colombia, Panama and South Korea
have languished in Congress for more than three years.
Who’d want to negotiate something new and have it put in congressional
limbo? That’s why the Obama administration’s proposed U.S. Trans-
Pacific Partnership to open new markets in Brunei, Australia, New
Zealand and Vietnam is going nowhere.
“This delay in implementing hurts U.S. credibility around the world —
not just economically, but geopolitically as well,” said Sen. Charles
Grassley, R-Iowa, at the Kirk hearing. Hello? Anyone out there? The
U.S. is losing ground in world markets and doing it at the cost of our
own citizens’ jobs. It’s exactly what U.S. labor unions such as the
Teamsters, United Steelworkers, United Autoworkers and various public
employee unions want.
And right now, like it or not, they rule Congress. It’s ironic,
because many lobbyists believe free trade can pass both congressional
Houses if the bills are put to a vote. Past presidents, including
Democrat Bill Clinton and Republican George W. Bush, knew that’s what
it took to get pacts through Congress. Both threw their all into
getting big treaties — like 1993’s North American Free Trade Agreement
and 2005’s Central American Free Trade Agreement — passed in Congress,
acts that took on people who would stop them to charge up the U.S.
economy. There’s still no sign of Obama out there working the Hill.
But Kirk’s statements, no doubt authorized by the president, may be
the beginning of a turnaround on trade.
http://www.truthabouttrade.org/news/latest-news/15680-fresh-trade-winds
A new finger on the pulse of economy
A new index co-developed by Ceridian uses diesel fuel sales to track
U.S. economic growth.
By NEAL ST. ANTHONY, Star Tribune
Last update: March 9, 2010 - 9:03 PM
Want to know which way the economy is headed? Find out how much diesel
fuel is being burned by the nation's over-the-road truckers.
That's the theory behind a new economic index developed by Bloomington-
based Ceridian Corp., a provider of electronic payments services, and
UCLA's Anderson School of Management.
Called the Pulse of Commerce Index, the survey, to be released
Wednesday, shows the U.S. economy was essentially flat over the first
two months of the year, with a snowbound February decline of 0.7
percent in output offsetting the modest January gain of 0.6 percent.
"February was disappointing, but the geographic pattern underlying the
index suggests this was due in large part to extreme snowfalls during
the month," said Edward Leamer, director of UCLA's Anderson Forecast
and chief economist for the Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index
(PCI). "We still need much stronger growth in the PCI to get Americans
back to work. To sustain at least a 4 percent GDP number for the first
quarter [on an annualized basis], the March PCI has to be ... over 1
percent growth. That number will be very important."
The new index is designed to get the jump on the Federal Reserve's
report on industrial production report for February, which comes out
next week.
The PCI uses real-time diesel fuel consumption data from over-the-road
truckers, which is tracked by Ceridian, a longtime payment services
provider to the trucking industry. The index is built by analyzing
Ceridian's electronic card payment data, which captures the location
and volume of diesel fuel being purchased. This provides a detailed
picture of the movement of products across the United States.
In an interview Tuesday, Leamer said that once the bad weather is
taken into account, February's numbers suggest that there is an
underlying power to industrial demand and he expects that a catch-up
surge in goods moved in March will indicate that the economy is
growing at about a 3 percent annualized rate during the first quarter.
"To be optimistic about jobs, we'll need at least that," Leamer said.
"In the fourth quarter, we had 5.9 percent growth, but 3.9 percent was
just inventory replacement. That leaves 2 percent. We need more than
that. And March will tell the quarter."
Leamer said the Ceridian diesel-consumption data, collected from about
7,000 service stations around the country, constitutes a
representative sample and provides a "real data, not surveys" about
the movement of goods, which is a manifestation of industrial
production and shipments.
The flow of commerce
"We're monitoring the flow of commerce at truck stops, and the
arteries for the commercial system are the interstate highways
carrying the products," he said. "It amplifies the swings in GDP and
also tells us early where the economy is going."
Industrial production only accounts for about one-third of the U.S.
economy. It is more volatile than the service sector, which fluctuates
less during economic cycles.
All economic eyes are on month-to-month changes in industrial output,
which is a guide to business spending, credit expansion and demand for
goods in the aftermath of the 2008-09 recession that has given way to
a fairly tepid economic recovery. Most labor economists believe that
the economy won't start adding jobs significantly unless industrial
output starts growing at a 3 to 5 percent annualized clip.
Back testing of the Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index indicates
that it is a reliable indicator of industrial output. For example, the
index rose in areas unaffected by February's snows, including 2.7
percent in the Upper Midwest and 2.1 percent in the Pacific region.
"Goods have to be transported for the economy to grow, so when
snowstorms bog down that flow, it is reflected in our index and in the
overall U.S. economy," said Craig Manson, senior vice president and
index analyst for Ceridian.
A new finger on the pulse of economy...
Wait! The economy has a pulse?
posted by DrZoidberg on Mar 9, 10 at 11:55 pm |
http://www.startribune.com/business/87180717.html?elr=KArks:DCiU1OiP:DiiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
Posted: Wed, Mar 10 2010. 9:00 AM IST
International News
US, Europe eye free-trade pacts with rising Asia
The talks will follow the launch of negotiations on a free-trade
agreement between Singapore and the European Union, which is also keen
on expanding trade ties with Southeast Asia
AFP
Singapore: The United States, fearful of being sidelined as China and
other fast-growing Asian economies speed up their integration, is
banking on a new trade pact to shore up its Pacific influence.
Talks opening Monday in Melbourne will focus on a proposed Trans-
Pacific Partnership agreement linking the US market with Australia,
Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
Officials hope the TPP will form the nucleus of a wider Asia-Pacific
trade zone that would eventually rope in China, Japan and South Korea
as well as key Southeast Asian nations.
The talks will follow the launch of negotiations on a free-trade
agreement between Singapore and the European Union, which is also keen
on expanding trade ties with Southeast Asia.
The United States and Europe have been shut out of a growing web of
Asia-centric trade pacts spurred by the region’s 1997 financial crisis
and by a lack of progress in the Doha round of global trade talks,
analysts said.
While the United States is “unquestionably” a Pacific power, it “lacks
a comprehensive Asia strategy”, said Ernest Bower, a Southeast Asia
expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in
Washington.
“The lack of consistent US focus in the region has enabled the
ascendance of Chinese power,” Bower said, adding that it could slowly
undermine US business interests and eventually degrade US security
capabilities.
The new trade attention from the West comes as Asian countries lead
the rest of the world in recovering from the global economic downturn.
“That the US and the EU are knocking on Asia’s doors is a recognition
that the centre of economic power is shifting, or has shifted, to our
region,” an Asian diplomat closely involved in trade issues told AFP.
“They know very well that ignoring Asia will be at their own peril.
China is already a major trade partner for many Asian countries and is
leading efforts toward regional economic integration,” he said on
condition of anonymity.
Deputy US trade representative Demetrios Marantis warned that
Washington “faces the daunting prospect of getting locked out” by Asia-
specific trade pacts.
A study by the US-based Peterson Institute for International Economics
showed that discriminatory policies under an East Asia free trade zone
could cost the US economy at least 25 billion dollars of annual
exports and lead to the loss of “about 200,000 high-paying jobs”.
The United States has free-trade accords with Australia and Singapore
and has also negotiated a trade pact with South Korea, but this has
yet to be implemented due to fierce disputes over cars and beef.
China has been more aggressive in wooing regional partners.
An agreement between China and the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) covering nearly two billion consumers went into effect
this year, creating the world’s biggest free-trade area in terms of
population.
There are also efforts to form a larger, all-Asian free-trade zone
spanning China, Japan, South Korea and the 10 ASEAN states.
C. Fred Bergsten and Jeffrey Schott of the Peterson Institute hailed
Washington’s decision to join the trans-Pacific talks in Australia.
“Deepening US engagement with countries in the Asia-Pacific region is
crucial for the advancement of both US economic and foreign policy
interests,” Bergsten and Schott said in a recent paper.
“Within the next few years, it is likely that the East Asian countries
will deepen their economic ties and conclude both a regional trade
agreement and a monetary agreement,” the authors said.
Such a bloc would “draw a line” in the middle of the Pacific Ocean by
discriminating against US exporters and investors, and excluding the
United States from major regional economic and security forums, they
said.
Marantis acknowledged that overcoming crisis-hit Americans’ opposition
to free-trade agreements is a key challenge.
Surveys suggest that only about one in 10 Americans think that trade
pacts create jobs, while more than half believe the accords lead to
job losses at home, he said.
http://www.livemint.com/2010/03/10090029/US-Europe-eye-freetrade-pact.html
...and I am Sid Harth
bademiyansubhanallah
gathered about Sathya Sai Baba.
Visit Sathya Sai Baba's Official Web Site
(Link takes you outside the Rick A. Ross Institute web site)
http://www.sathyasai.org/
Sathya Sai Baba, "God"
or "sexual predator"?
Atheist Karuna woos godman in TN
Times Now, India/May 9, 2007
By Dhanya Rajendran
He may be one of the country's best known atheists, but when it comes
to funding state projects, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi
does not mind the help of spiritual gurus. The Satya Sai trust has
agreed to fund a project which will provide drinking water to parched
Chennai. And Karunanidhi is only too happy to welcome the godman.
Till a few years ago, it was unthinkable that Karunanidhi would ever
share a dais with Satya Sai Baba, however at a public appearance with
the spiritual Guru in January this year, Karunanidhi asked Sai Baba's
help for developmental projects. Now Sri Satya Sai Trust has agreed to
upgrade the 25 km-long Kandaleru-Poondi canal, which will bring water
to Chennai.
Karunanidhi may not believe in God, but as analysts say, he has proved
to be a tactful politician.
"He is an atheist at a personal level, and when he shared a dais with
Sai Baba, he explained his stand saying the question was not whether
he believed in God, but whether he was worthy of God's trust. But at a
more practical level, I buy his point From whichever source the money
comes, and as long as it is not tainted, it is welcome," remarked S
Murari, a political analyst.
The chief minister has kept aside his radical beliefs for good reason;
With the states finances running dry due to the numerous sops given by
his government, Karunanidhi desperately needs funds. Now that the Baba
trust has entered into a partnership with the government, the big
question is whether they will undertake the Coovum river-cleaning
project.
"Cleaning the Coovum is my dream, but I will need your help. It has
been quoted as a Rs 1,000 crore project. I'm not asking for the whole
amount, but I will be happy if you donate the same," is M
Karunanidhi's request.
This is, definitely, an image makeover. But the chief minister's
tolerance towards religious matters are limited to accepting help to
develop his state. When it comes to clashes between believers and non-
believers within the state, Karunanidhi always sticks to his
ideologies.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba24.html
Spiritual guru criticised for opposing statehood for Telangana region
Gulf Times/January 23, 2007
Hyderabad -- People went on a rampage here yesterday in protest
against spiritual guru Satya Sai Baba who said he was against a
separate Telangana state.
His followers meanwhile called a shutdown in Puttaparthi town of
Anantapur district to condemn remarks on the guru.
Shouting slogans against him, dozens of students belonging to
Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) barged into a Sai Baba temple near
Osmania University here, pulled down huge cut-outs of the guru and
burnt them.
An effigy of Sai Baba, who termed moves to bifurcate the state
'mahapapam' (great sin), was also burnt.
Addressing a function in Chennai on Sunday, Sai Baba said there was no
demand for a separate Telangana state from the people of the region.
"Dividing the people or the country is not good. Bifurcating the state
is mahapapam," he said.
Sai Baba, who preaches love, understanding and universal brotherhood,
has thousands of followers in India and abroad including several heads
of state, politicians, military officials, judges, film stars and
sportsmen.
During the last few decades, he has built a vast empire worth billions
of rupees transforming the small village of Puttaparthi, his
birthplace, into a modern town with a state-of-the-art airport,
education and health facilities.
The reaction to his comments was sharp from the protagonists of
separate Telangana. TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao asked Sai Baba
to confine himself to religion. "Is Sai Baba blind to the suicides by
farmers in Telangana region? Is he blind to the fact that the region
was subjected to exploitation?" asked Rao, who is leading the movement
for a separate state comprising 10 districts including Hyderabad.
Congress MP from Nizamabad Madhu Yaskhi Goud wondered what Sai Baba
knew of the problems of Telangana.
"He is from Rayalseema region and what does he know about the problem
of fluorosis (an abnormal condition caused by excessive intake of
fluorine), in Nalgonda? He is funding the water projects for
Rayalseema and Chennai," said Goud.
Revolutionary balladeer and Maoist sympathiser Gaddar, who is also
actively participating in the movement for separate Telangana,
criticised Sai Baba for opposing the demand.
Meanwhile, a shutdown was being observed in Puttaparthi town in
Anantapur district to condemn the remarks of Telangana leaders against
Sai Baba.
Shops and business establishment were shut and Sai Baba's disciples
set afire effigies of Chandrasekhara Rao, Madhu Yashki Goud and
Gaddar. The streets around Prashanti Nilayam, the abode of Baba, wore
a deserted look.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba23.html
Satya Sai Baba caught in British controversy
Indo-Asian News Service/December 22, 2006
Satya Sai Baba, one of India's best known spiritual leaders, has
triggered a fresh controversy in Britain after association with The
Duke of Edinburgh's Award charity involving young people.
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is a London-headquartered charity whose
patron is Prince Philip.
It gives three kinds of awards (bronze, silver and gold) to anyone
aged between 14-25 for achievements in four categories: community
service, skills, physical recreation and expeditions. Each year it is
estimated that over 2,25,000 youngsters vie for the honour in Britain
alone.
This year, when the charity celebrates its 50th year, it has chosen to
send about 200 young volunteers to India to work with the Sri Satya
Sai Organisation.
However, the feat, pulled off by Sai Youth UK, a division of the
parent body, has created a furore. Several people, including some of
the Satya Sai Baba's former Western disciples, questioned the decision
in view of the mixed reputation the godman enjoys. Sai's devotees deny
the allegations.
The Guardian was the first to raise its voice saying the award scheme
had chosen as its accredited partner a spiritual group "whose 'living
god' founder has been accused of sexually abusing young boys".
Satya Sai Baba hit bad press in Britain two years ago when a BBC
programme, The Secret Swami, interviewed young Western disciples who
alleged that the godman had sexually coerced them.
The Guardian quoted Tom Sackville, a former Home Office minister and
chairman of Fair, a cult-watching and victim support group, as saying:
"It is appallingly naive for the award scheme to involve young people
and the royal family with an organisation whose leader is accused of
paedophilia. Parents who plan to send their children on this
pilgrimage... should be aware of the danger their children are being
exposed to."
The daily also said Michael Gave, a conservative MP, planned to write
to the charity to say it should monitor the organisations they chose
as partners more strictly.
"As a society we need a more determined effort to identify and expose
those religious cults and extremists that pose a direct threat to
people, so that they do not enjoy patronage that should be directed
elsewhere," he was quoted as saying.
In the 1990s, when Prince Charles visited India, he had expressed a
desire to visit the Sai Baba but was quietly dissuaded by the British
Embassy in New Delhi.
Since The Guardian's article, it was reported that there was mounting
pressure on the charity to distance itself from the Sai group.
However, charity spokesperson Shona Taylor did not answer repeated
queries as to whether the volunteers had left for India and how they
could be contacted.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba22.html
A holy furore rages in Britain
Daily News Analysis/November 5, 2006
By Ginnie Mahajan
Delhi: Old allegations of sexual abuse of boys by spiritual guru
Sathya Sai Baba have created a fresh furore in Britain.
The issue snowballed after the British press reported that 200 boys
would visit India on a month-long humanitarian pilgrimage starting
November 13, organised by the Sai Youth Movement, a division of the
Sri Sathya Sai Organisation.
These boys are to receive the Duke of Edinburgh award for their
humanitarian work. According to the Guardian, the British public is
irked by two issues — safety of the boys at Sathya Sai Baba’s ashram
at Puttaparthi in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh and the
involvement of royalty with the Sri Sathya Sai Organisation.
The newspaper quotes a former home office minister Tom Sackville, who
also runs a victim support group, as saying, “It is appallingly naive
for the award scheme to involve young people and the royal family with
an organisation whose leader is accused of paedophilia.”
Interestingly, the United States Department of State has a travel
advisory against the Sathya Sai Organisation: “US citizens should be
aware that there have been unconfirmed reports of inappropriate sexual
behaviour by a prominent local religious leader at an ashram or
religious retreat located in Andhra Pradesh.”
The Guardian says US state officials have confirmed that this is a
direct reference to Sathya Sai Baba. There have been rumours for years
that the spiritual guru, who calls himself an incarnation of god,
molested young devotees during interviews. Both Indian and foreign
visitors to the ashram have come on record to say how he has abused
them.
The public relations officer of Sathya Sai Baba’s ashram, however,
told DNA: “We do not care what the advisory says. People and
organisations can write whatever they want to believe. We have no more
to say on this issue. Yes, the boys are coming to India in about two
weeks’ time.”
The visit coincides with Sathya Sai Baba’s 80th birthday. He had
apparently given a ‘divine commandment’ to the Sai Youth Movement to
visit him on the occasion.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba21.html
The Indian living god, the paedophilia claims and the Duke of
Edinburgh awards
Sexual abuse accusations against group's leader--80th birthday
invitation to hundreds of youngsters
The Guardian, UK/November 4, 2006
By Paul Lewis
A spiritual group whose "living god" founder has been accused of
sexually abusing young boys has become an accredited partner of the
Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, the Guardian can reveal.
Last night pressure was mounting on the charity to break its links
with the group whose followers are devoted to the preachings of 79-
year-old holy man, Sai Baba.
About 200 young people will fly to India in two weeks' time on a
humanitarian pilgrimage run by Sai Youth UK, a division of the Sri
Sathya Sai Organisation. The teenagers and young men earn their Duke
of Edinburgh awards for humanitarian work, chiefly distributing
medical aid.
The trip coincides with Sai Baba's 80th birthday and has been
arranged, organisers say, after he gave a divine commandment for the
UK's Sai youth movement to visit him for the occasion.
For decades male former devotees have alleged that the guru molested
them during so-called "interviews". During the last youth pilgrimage,
in 2004, young people were granted group interviews with the guru
after administering medical aid to villages surrounding Sai Baba's
ashram in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, although there was no evidence
of abuse.
Large numbers of young men have travelled from across the world to
study alongside and meet the guru. His supporters say their encounter
was spiritually enriching. Others, including participants in a BBC
programme, The Secret Swami, two years ago, accuse him of abuse,
claiming he massaged their testicles with oil and coerced them into
oral sex.
Sai Baba has never been charged over the sex abuse allegations.
However, the US State Department issued a travel warning after reports
of "inappropriate sexual behaviour by a prominent local religious
leader" which, officials later confirmed was a reference to Sai Baba.
Tom Sackville, a former Home Office minister and chairman of Fair, a
cult-watching and victim support group, said: "It is appallingly naive
for the award scheme to involve young people and the royal family with
an organisation whose leader is accused of paedophilia.
"Parents who plan to send their children on this month's
pilgrimage ... should be aware of the danger their children are being
exposed to."
But Peter Westgarth, chief executive of the charity, last night faced
down calls to terminate his organisation's relationship with the Sai
organisation. He said: "This is not the only religion accused of
paedophilia. Young people who are participating on these trips are
doing so because they choose to," he said. "The awards accredit the
good work they do for poor people in India. We make no judgment about
their religion. We would no sooner intervene here than we would the
Church Lads' and Girls' Brigade."
The Conservative MP Michael Gove said he would write to the charity
asking it to consider a stricter monitoring of the organisations they
they work with. "As a society we need a more determined effort to
identify and expose those religious cults and extremists that pose a
direct threat to people, so that they do not enjoy patronage that
should be directed elsewhere," he said.
Shitu Chudasama, Sai's UK national youth coordinator, defended the
trip, saying it was primarily a humanitarian mission to help
impoverished people, saying that the sex abuse claims were "totally
unfounded". He added: "We hope to have an interview with Sai Baba but
it's not guaranteed. If he wants to see us, he'll call us."
Sai Organisation's UK branch has also came into contact with royals
through the awards, something Buckingham Palace was made aware of in
September. In correspondence seen by the Guardian, Brigadier Sir Miles
Hunt-Davis, Prince Philip's private secretary, wrote: "[We] are very
keen to get this sorted out properly and finally." He said trustees of
the award would undertake legal advice before deciding how to
proceed.
In July the Sai Organisation received a certificate for their
"invaluable contribution" to the awards at a Buckingham Palace garden
party. A news story which appeared on a Sai Baba website after the
ceremony was removed after an intervention by Peter Westgarth, who
said the event had been misrepresented.
In the posting, Mr Chudasama recounted the moment he delivered a
speech to "various dignitaries, diplomats, ministers [and] famous
celebrities" at the palace. "I was the last speaker called up, and
suddenly a confidence, a joy, engulfed my being," he said. "I
attributed everything to our founder Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. As
I spoke I watched the sea of faces, they were hanging from my every
word and there was a look of excitement on their faces as if to say
'why have we not heard of this organisation before?'."
Mr Chudasama also attended a private audience with Prince Philip at St
James's Palace last year. "Prince Philip showed a very keen interest
in our youth and asked many questions," Mr Chudasama wrote in a Sai
newsletter. "I also had the opportunity to mention ... that we drew
our inspiration and motivation from our founder Sri Sathya Sai Baba;
he paused for a few seconds and then said: "Very good".
Backstory
Saytha Sai Baba, who has an estimated 30 million followers worldwide,
is possibly India's most controversial holy man. He gained a following
in his teens when he claimed to have divine powers and, later, said he
was an incarnation of God. His teachings are benign - his most famous
mantra is "Love All, Serve All" - and he encourages followers, which
include many of India's political elite, to undertake humanitarian
work. He purports to be able to miraculously conjure sacred ash and
expensive jewellery into the palm of his hand, as if out of thin air.
Opponents dismiss his miracles as party tricks. The Sai Organisation
claims to have more than 1,200 Saytha Sai Baba Centres in more than
100 countries.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba20.html
Guru who gives us no answers
The Scotsman/June 18, 2004
By Tom Adair
The Secret Swami might have veered towards the amusing - in an "Oh my
God, how gullible can you be?" kind of way - had it not been for the
repeated allegations of sex abuse.
Sai Baba, the swami in question, had started off looking like some old
bloke with an ego as big as his bank account. There he sat, in his
opulent ashram at Puttaparthi, near Bangalore, dressed in blinding
canary-yellow and sporting a head of what looked like jet-black pubic
hair - a mane of Leo Sayer proportions; as if he had poked his tongue
into a light socket. Count your blessings - he didn't sing.
Instead, he did tricks, producing trinkets from his fingers - gold
watches, bracelets, stuff with Ratners written all over it. Maybe he'd
read the Paul Daniels Trickster's Guide to Palming, and practised like
mad without the distraction of the lovely Debbie McGee (it later
transpired that Debbie would not have been a distraction). The swami's
followers adored his "miracles" and gasped.
Ten thousand worshippers formed a permanent camp inside the ashram,
believing Sai Baba to be an avatar - a god on Earth. He attracted
attention from burned out hippies, the ones with smoke still doping
their nostrils. Sometimes they smiled their faraway smiles; sometimes
they spoke. One guy believed he'd been in communion with Sai Baba for
21 years before he'd visited "god" in his pad. Sai Baba was quick to
spot white faces wearing dollar signs. As these dupes gawped up from
the crowd, he would single them out for special attention.
The documentary took a much less wide-eyed approach than Sai Baba's
flock, denouncing him from the start as a sham whose ashram resembled
a market place, not a shrine. Oh yes, he appeared to have done some
good - constructing a hospital in the district, providing free
medicare for the poor, and supplying clean water - however, the £40
million it cost was funded by wealthy acolytes, faithfully following
Sai Baba's earnest exhortation: "Wherever you see a sick person -
there is your field of service." And yet, Sai Baba's secret motto
turned out to be different, more like: "Wherever you see a gullible
young believer, (boys only apply) bingo! - sexual opportunity."
The programme gathered American former devotees who claimed that Sai
Baba had abused them, had exposed himself to them, indulged in oral
sex and then sworn them to secrecy. This sexual degradation had shaken
their faith. These victims included a father and a son who were
alleged to have been abused over many years. It was implied that many
Indian boys had also been taken advantage of but were too scared to
make public statements.
All this would matter if it affected just one child. What makes it
worse is that Sai Baba has a worldwide following of 160 million people
and is visited by heads of state. He is thus respectable, a notable
Indian figure.
The allegations went unanswered. When duly challenged, a twitchy
Indian government minister blew his top and accused the reporter of
impertinence. Meanwhile the US embassy's website has posted warnings
to potential visitors.
Whether or not it will shake the blind faith of the devotees remains
to be seen. However, the programme was an example of investigative
reporting all too rare these days - getting inside and under the
issue. It may have even stopped further innocents from falling prey to
the avatar's whim.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba19.html
Spiritual Depths
The Guardian (UK)/June 18, 2004
By Rupert Smith
It's difficult to write about religion without offending someone, but
mercifully we're reviewing a television programme here, and not the
mixture of wishful thinking and wilful credulity that leads people to
worship soi-disant gurus such as Swami Sai Baba. BBC2's This World
strand last night gave us The Secret Swami, an entertaining hour that
made a compelling case against Sai Baba, portraying him as a charlatan
and an abuser.
Young men who claimed to have been sexually abused by Sai Baba related
hair-raising stories of "private interviews" in which the not-so-holy
man pulled his skirt over his head and invited them to get down and
dirty. Hilariously, one Hindu scholar reminded us that this is a
practice sanctioned by neither scripture nor tradition. "Worship of
the linga does not include doing the blow-job."
What started out as a routine denunciation developed into something
more sinister. Sadly, the moment I see a man in a dress surrounded by
grinning worshippers, I'm looking for a catch - and it didn't take
much to prove that Sai Baba's "miracles" were nothing more than a bit
of old-fashioned sleight of hand. On that basis, we might all end up
worshipping David Blaine, which is a worry. But reporter Tanya Datta
did her job properly, and went far beneath the surface of magic tricks
and gaudy tat. She found that Sai Baba bought the eternal gratitude of
rural Indian villagers by paying for clean water supplies, and that he
caused a massive hospital to be built, funded by one of his followers,
Isaac Tigrett, who co-founded the Hard Rock Cafe chain. She discovered
also that the Indian government, rightly mindful of the rural vote,
has turned a blind eye to claims of wrongdoing in the Baba camp. A
government official got very shirty indeed with Ms Datta, shouting
denials before he'd even heard the allegations. In these cases, "no"
usually does mean "yes".
There was little room amid all the skulduggery for any real
examination of Sai Baba's theology; all we learned was that he is an
avatar, although of whom was not made clear, and that he conveniently
embraces all religions. Without any real exegesis of his ideas, it was
hard to know exactly what his followers believed in - it surely can't
just have been Baba's ability to produce fake Rolexes out of thin air,
or cough up eggs.
But even former disciples couldn't shed much light on what turned them
into such true believers. A nice family from Arkansas were so crazy
about Sai Baba that they encouraged their teenage son to spend as much
time with the guru as possible. Despite allegations of abuse at the
hands of Sai Baba, the son came out with the astonishing comment, "we
are all tools, and we all have to be around for Swami to use - if he
needs a screwdriver".
An hour wasn't enough to do the subject justice, and for once I was
left wanting more. This isn't something I'd say lightly about
television documentaries, which usually need to be edited by 50%. The
mystery of Sai Baba, of his apparent protection by the authorities, of
his canny manipulation of the rural poor and his inexplicable appeal
to rich westerners, only deepened. Astonishingly, Sai Baba has not yet
had the collar of his robe fingered by the long arm of the law.
Armand Leroi, the handsome biologist, turned his attention to the
tricky subject of racial difference in the final part of Human Mutants
(Channel 4). There was some fun stuff about excessive facial hair and
random skin pigmentation to pave the way to Leroi's central thesis,
that "we are all mutants - but some of us are more mutant than
others".
With this in mind, he gently introduced the idea of "a new race
genetics", which was nowhere near as sinister as it sounded. Genome
mapping enabled scientists to identify racial background according to
four main human groups - and, against this kind of science, "terms
like 'black' and 'white' don't describe anything that's real any
more".
This would have come as cold comfort to a Cape Town housewife who went
to bed as a white woman and woke up the next morning black. Shunned by
her family, she died in poverty, which suggests that Leroi's DNA
utopia is a way off just yet.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba18.html
Sai Baba: God-man or con man?
Basava Premanand is India's leading guru-buster
BBC News/June 17, 2004
By Tanya Datta
He believes that the country's biggest spiritual leader, Sri Satya Sai
Baba, is a charlatan and must be exposed.
Basava Premanand has been burgled... again.
It is the third time in just one month. But he is in no doubt of the
thieves' motives.
He suspects they were looking for evidence that he has collected for
over 30 years against India's leading spiritual guru, Sri Satya Sai
Baba.
Mr Premanand believes this evidence proves the self-proclaimed "God-
man", Sai Baba, is not just a fraud, but a dangerous sexual abuser.
"Sai Baba is nothing but a mafia man, conning the people and making
himself rich", he says of his bete noire.
As India's leading guru-buster, Basava Premanand is the scourge of all
miracle-makers.
He is the founder of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations
and the editor of a monthly periodical called The Indian Sceptic.
He believes that it is his duty to dispel the "curse of gullibility
blighting his country in the form of myth and superstition", and
replace it instead with the "gospel of pure, scientific
understanding".
Since 1976, he has waged a bitter war against Sai Baba, a man who
commands a following of millions both in India and abroad. His
devotees believe him to be an Avatar, or incarnation of God in human
form.
But to Mr Premanand, this God is anything but holy.
Allegations
Rumours about Sai Baba sexually abusing young male devotees have been
circulating for years.
In 1976 a former American follower,Tal Brooke, wrote a book called
Avatar of the Night: The Hidden Side of Sai Baba. In it, he referred
to the guru's sexual exploits.
But Brooke's allegations were dismissed out of hand by the tightly
controlled Sai Baba Organisation.
Dr Michael Goldstein, chairman of the international Sai Baba
organisation, admitted he had heard rumours, but told us that he did
not believe them. He said: "My heart and my conscience tell me that it
is not possible."
But in the last four years, and with the growth of the internet, the
tide of claims against Sai Baba has become a groundswell.
Former devotees such as Alaya Rahm and Mark Roche, featured in the the
BBC film Secret Swami, are coming forward with increasingly graphic
stories of the guru's serious sexual exploitation.
Their own experiences bear an uncanny resemblance, yet span a time
frame of almost 30 years.
Both had been subjected to Sai Baba rubbing oil on their genitals.
"He took me aside", said Alaya Rahm, "put the oil on his hands, told
me to drop my pants and rubbed my genitals with the oil. I was really
taken aback."
All the allegations against Sai Baba so far have been made by
Westerners.
But Mr Premanand says that there are many Indians who also claim to
have been abused but are too afraid to speak out.
Well-connected
It is no surprise that Indian victims are scared of reprisals. Sai
Baba's influence among the power elite of India is impressive.
Prime ministers, presidents, judges and generals, have all come to the
ashram (religious retreat) in Puttaparthi in southern India, to pay
their respects.
The previous prime minister of India, Mr Atal Vajpayee, once issued a
letter on his official notepaper calling the attacks on Sai Baba
"wild, reckless and concocted."
Sai Baba also enjoys a close relationship with the state police. A
former head of police once acted as his personal chauffeur.
None of this, however, deters Mr Premanand who has doggedly pursued
Sai Baba over the years through the courts, the media and several
embarrassing books and exposures.
Little wonder that his campaign has enraged some of the holy man's
supporters.
To date, Basava Premanand has survived four murder attempts and bears
the scars from several savage beatings.
In 1986, he was arrested by the police for marching to Puttaparthi
with 500 volunteers for a well-publicised confrontation with Sai
Baba.
Later that year, he took Sai Baba to court for violating the Gold
Control Act by producing gold necklaces out of thin air without the
permission of a Gold Control Administrator.
When his case was dismissed, Mr Premanand appealed on the grounds that
spiritual power is not a defence recognised in law.
Break-in
In June 1993, the peace of the ashram was shattered when a gruesome
incident took place.
Four male devotees, who were close to Sai Baba, broke into their
guru's private quarters late at night armed with knives.
Their motives are unclear. Some say they were going to warn their guru
about corruption among the higher echelons of the ashram. Others say
they were going to kidnap or even kill Sai Baba.
They were stopped by Sai Baba's personal attendants and in the violent
struggle that ensued, two of the attendants were killed and two left
seriously wounded.
Sai Baba managed to escape through a secret flight of stairs and raise
the alarm.
Just before the police arrived, the four men escaped to Sai Baba's
bedroom. It was there, the police say, they shot the intruders out of
self defence.
Mr Premanand claimed a cover up and went to court.
He says: "The central government stopped the investigation, because if
the investigation takes place, a lot of things will come out like
economic offences and sex offences."
He was outraged that Sai Baba - one of the key witnesses to the events
of that night - had not been questioned.
Over the next three years, he took his case all the way to the Supreme
Court, before he was eventually defeated.
Today, this sprightly septuagenarian is as busy as ever, collecting
and collating more information. Mr Premanand is preparing for another
battle.
"This," he says mischievously, "is going to be the greatest fight of
my life."
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba15.html
BBC2 uncovers secrets behind India's Secret Swami
Aim/June 14, 2004
The most popular of all Indian Godmen, Sai Baba has always been the
Teflon God, the untouchable, charismatic man worshipped by Indian
Prime Ministers, Presidents and peasants. His power over both the
influential and the downtrodden goes to the heart of Indian society
and raises serious questions about the social health of the world's
fastest emerging economy.
Sai Baba claims to be a living God and to millions, his word is truth;
his ability to bring clean water and healthcare to thousands, proof of
divinity.
In a programme that explores the nature of belief, This World travels
from India to California, where the generation whose devotion and
donations helped Sai Baba to power are unravelling at the seams. Hard
Rock Café owner Isaac Tigrett sent Sai Baba's message around the world
by making the Godman's Love All Serve All mantra the corporate slogan
of his multi-million empire. He now has to confront the fact that his
God may have been a sexual abuser.
This World features the story of a family who gave their entire lives
to a man they believed was God, only to discover he was exacting a
terrible price: the sexual innocence of their son. In an intimate and
powerful portrait a family talks openly about their betrayal and the
man who controlled their lives.
"The being which I called Sai Baba, the living God that I had taken
into my heart had been truly abusing my son, for so long. I felt
completely betrayed..." says Marissa, a former devotee. Another, Alaya
says: "I remember him saying, if you don't do what I say, your life
will be filled with pain and suffering."
This programme is the first to film inside Sai Baba's Ashram for a
number of years and aims to come closer to the true "face of God" than
ever before.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba16.html
Man Arrested With Gun at Sai Baba's Ashram
The Hindustan Times/January 18, 2002
Bangalore, India -- A 26-year-old man who allegedly tried to shoot Sai
Baba on Thursday with an air pistol at his ashram in Whitefield on the
outskirts of Bangalore, was overpowered by ashram volunteers. The air
pistol and some pellets were recovered from the man, Somasundaram, the
police said. Somasundaram was overpowered when he started running
towards Sai Baba who was emerging from a building to give darshan,
eyewitnesses said.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba13.html
British law against Sai Baba sought
Times of India/September 5, 2001
By Rashmee Z. Ahmed
London -- Campaigners against religious cults across western Europe
are trying to persuade the British government to follow the French and
legislate against movements such as Sai Baba and the Moonies.
Tom Sackville, a former British minister and current chairman of the
anti-cult organisation Family Action Information and Resource (FAIR),
told The Times of India, "the French legislation of two months ago has
enormously encouraged my 15-year battle against exploitative cults
such as that of Sai Baba."
The anti-cult campaign comes even as The Times, London, carried
extensive reportage of Sai Baba on Monday, questioning his role in the
"mysterious deaths of three British men", which campaigners admit are
hard to prove were directly caused by the guru.
The newspaper, which flagged its investigation as "exclusive", said
"Sai Baba's activities are being studied by the (British) Foreign
Office, which is considering issuing an unprecedented warning against
the guru to travellers."
It said one of the men had "complained of being repeatedly sexually
molested by Sai Baba at his ashram in Puttaparthi near Bangalore."
There is growing British press interest in the man they describe as
"Indian mystic and miracle worker" to the rich, famous and titled such
as the Duchess of York and an architect known to be close to Prince
Charles.
Commentators say this is largely because Sai Baba has a substantial
European fan following, alongside a growing number of hostile and
vocal former devotees who accuse him of physical, mental and monetary
abuse.
The Internet war launched by former devotees across western Europe,
including David Bailey, a Welsh concert pianist once considered to be
Sai Baba's right-hand man, has focussed unsavoury publicity on Sai
Baba.
However, Sai Baba's London headquarters continues to reject all the
allegations.
Several parliamentary questions in the last five years have drawn the
British government's attention to Sai Baba's alleged misconduct. But,
British MPs and anti-cult campaigners say the government has always
maintained that the number of British cases are too few to merit
action.
But now, a new area of concern has arisen according to The Times,
which says Sai Baba has infiltrated the British school system in a
dangerous catch 'em young policy.
The newspaper says more than 500 British schools are being taught
according to "Sai Baba-influenced educational programmes". It says the
programmes are promoted by two charities, the Sathya Sai Education in
Human Values Trust UK and the Human Values Foundation.
Former minister Sackville says the development is worrying because "it
is just like we wouldn't want or allow far-right groups such as the
British National Party (BNP) to be talking to our children in school."
Admitting the BNP was an extreme example, he said "the principle we
are keen to impress on the British government is that just like the
French, we have to make it a criminal offence to exploit people in
vulnerable situations."
Anti-cult campaigners say that their cause has been strengthened
because UNESCO pulled out of an educational conference at Puttaparthi
last year.
They say that if the French legislation is followed by other European
countries, it could eventually become European Union law and would
severely limit the activities of movements such as that of Sai Baba.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba12.html
Suicide, sex and the guru
The reputation of Sai Baba, a holy man to the rich and famous, has
been tarnished by mysterious deaths and allegations of sexual abuse
August 27, 2001
By Dominic Kennedy
In a world of pain and sorrow, a smiling little man in a saffron robe
who can cure misery by magic is a bewitching prospect.
To millions of followers around the world, Sai Baba is a benevolent
spiritual leader whose hospitals and schools work tirelessly for the
advancement of the poor. But an investigation by The Times today
discloses that three British men have apparently taken their own lives
after becoming followers of the miracle worker. Two of them were
encouraged to believe that he could cure their medical problems. One
of those also said that he had been touched intimately by the Sai
Baba.
This is the same Sai Baba who is adored and indulged by the
international jet set. The Duchess of York had the treat of watching
him produce a gold watch and cross from thin air when she visited his
ashram in India.
The Prince of Wales's architectural adviser, Keith Critchlow, designed
a vast, stunning hospital for Sai Baba, which has been compared to St
Peter's in Rome and a maharaja's palace. "The most influential holy
man in India today," is how the respected architect describes the
guru.
The hospital, mostly financed by Isaac Tigrett, the wealthy American
founder of the Hard Rock Café chain of restaurants, treats the humble
people of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. So it was with
righteous indignation that Sai Baba, in a rare fit of public anger,
has turned on the band of disillusioned disciples who are now
tarnishing his name.
Jesus Christ, said Sai Baba to a large crowd of devotees, underwent
many hardships and was put on the cross because of jealousy. In those
days there was only one Judas to betray him, but now there are
thousands.
The holy man alleged that his detractors were being bribed to lie
about him because of fear of his growing popularity. "People are
trying to stop me but can do nothing," he said. "People love and
follow Sai because of the truth I stand for and the love that is my
basis."
Detractors are casting doubt on Sai Baba's miracles, suggesting that
he is little more than a conjuror with a limited repertoire of jaded
tricks. A financial row over the £13 million fortune of the British
film actor James Mason, whose widow became a Sai Baba devotee, is
smouldering. Most devastating is the suggestion that Sai Baba might
have been abusing his power over young male followers by indulging in
sexual activity with them.
Sai Baba was born Sathyanarayana Raju on November 23, 1926 in the tiny
village of Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh.When he was only 14, Sai Baba
- already magically producing candles and pencils for school friends -
surprised his family by announcing that he was the reincarnation of
Sai Baba of Shirdi, a miraculous old Indian sage who died in 1918.
Today Sai Baba's birthplace is home to an ashram that can accommodate
10,000 pilgrims. The obscure village has grown to cater for Sai Baba's
followers, of which there are more than 20 million worldwide. They
include some of India's most influential people. The legendary batsman
Sachin Tendulkar, who helps to organise cricket matches at Sai Baba's
stadium, says that he "worships" the guru.
The director-general of police in Andhra Pradesh, H. J. Dora, acts as
Sai Baba's chauffeur when the spiritual leader visits the state
capital, Hyderabad. Judges and top civil servants flock for audiences
with him. The Indian Prime Minister A. B. Vajpayee, another follower,
has opened a new Sai Baba hospital in Bangalore. In a lofty tribute,
the premier said that Sai Baba has shown humanity the path of
liberation which goes beyond freedom from worldly attachments.
However, the first cracks in faith in Sai Baba's magical powers came
about because of a visit by a previous prime minister, Narasimha Rao,
also a devotee.For this special occasion, Sai Baba appeared to
materialise a gold watch from nowhere. But when Indian state
television workers played back film of the incident in slow motion,
they saw that the miracle was a sleight-of-hand hoax. The clip was
never broadcast in India but has been widely circulated on videotape
there. Sai Baba's most common miracle is to produce "sacred ash" from
between his fingers.
Sometimes he pulls shiny, solid religious artefacts from his mouth.
But magicians who have analysed these wonders say they are nothing
more than old and simple tricks. Sai Baba is being challenged on
another more prosaic front. Questions are being asked about the
fundraising techniques employed by his followers. Some are accused of
targeting vulnerable rich people and claiming that the miracle worker
might be able to cure the afflictions of old age.
One of Sai Baba's most devout followers was Clarissa Mason, the second
wife of the film star James Mason. When Clarissa died of cancer in
1994, she willed a large part of her late husband's £13 million estate
to the cult, although, due to a dispute with Mason's children,
Portland and Morgan, who contend that the estate was not hers to will
in the first place, it will be some time before the cult can hope to
see any of the Mason millions.
Clarissa Mason believed utterly in the powers of Sai Baba, filling her
house near Lake Geneva with pictures of the "godman". Her legacy has
gone to a trust whose beneficiaries are believed by Mason's children
to include a follower of Sai Baba.
But more potentially damaging than claims about money are the sexual
allegations against Sai Baba. These were first publicised as long ago
as 1976, when Tal Brooke, a disenchanted American devotee, wrote
Avatar of Night. Over the years, the description by disillusioned
followers of intimate acts involving Sai Baba has persisted.
The suggestion is that Sai Baba grants one-to-one audiences to young
men, who believe they are in the presence of a living god. This may
entail a high level of intimacy and the men allowing their private
parts to be touched or fondled by the guru.
There have been no prosecutions. A complaint was lodged with India's
Central Bureau of Investigation on March 12, 2001 but there has been
no result. In the United States, though, anti-Sai Baba campaigners are
trying to persuade the authorities to open investigations into the
alleged molestation of American citizens who are minors. The co-
ordinator of this American campaign says that he has been interviewed
by the Federal Bureau of Investigation but no formal inquiry is under
way.
So has Sai Baba, the most worshipped sage of the Orient, really been
groping youthful followers. One innocent explanation is provided by
Stuart Jones, a member of Sai Baba's Bristol and Bath group. He points
out that there is a possible cultural misunderstanding at play. In
yoga, Jones explains, one of the energy points on the body is below
the testicles, an area sometimes stimulated by a teacher such as Sai
Baba.
"When I was out there, it happened to a couple of friends of mine, but
it was more like, how can I say, doctor's surgery. There was no
sexuality involved. One chap said that a tremendous amount of energy
was suddenly released in him and he felt wonderful afterwards. I don't
mean ejaculation. It was like suddenly feeling wonderful. Sometimes he
rubs the chest or the forehead where these other points are."
Talk of "energy points" does not endear Sai Baba to the Indian
Rationalists Association, an organisation of atheists and doubters
which seeks to debunk organised religion and disprove all miracles.
They denounce him as the biggest fraud of the "god industry". Joseph
Edamaruku, the association's president, says: "He has consistently
refused to subject himself to an independent examination. He raises
enormous amounts of money from India and around the world. We do not
believe claims that it is spent on hospitals and charitable works."
One charitable field where Sai Baba's followers do seem to be most
active is education. Sai Baba's teachings, however, are a collection
of banal truisms and platitudes. The most famous utterances he has
made in a six decade-long career as a living god are "Help ever, hurt
never" and "Love all, serve all". Few are likely to argue with such a
simplistic and universal moral code. He broadens his appeal further by
allowing devotees to continue practising their own religion while
paying homage to him.
Sai Baba's children's course, Education in Human Values, is taught in
schools in 100 countries. It promotes five qualities: truth (satya),
righteousness (dharma), peace (shanti), love (prema) and nonviolence
(ahimsa). Education in Human Values rejects rote learning, emphasising
Indian techniques such as "silent sitting", quotation, story-telling,
song and group activities.
Sai Baba's message reaches British schoolchildren through two
charities. The first is named in his honour, the Sathya Sai Education
in Human Values Trust UK, which claims to have had contact with 80
schools. Typical of its activities is a summer camp held at
Christchurch Primary School in Ilford, East London, several weeks ago
where 100 children painted, played games and sang. Courses have been
cleverly designed to fit into Key Stages 1 to 4 of the National
Curriculum, targeting children aged seven to 16.
The charity states that it does not promote any particular religion.
Carole Alderman, the founder, a former ChildLine volunteer, has no
teaching qualifications. She admits to using some of Sai Baba's
quotations but says: "We don't teach about Sai Baba at all."
She adds: "I have witnessed a lot of his miracles. I have seen people
going in with crutches or wheelchairs and come out walking. I have
seen him materialise things many times a day. He just knows
everything." Asked about the sexual allegations, she says: "It's
totally unfounded. Anybody who actually knows him, knows it is."
Another British charity, the Human Values Foundation, says it has
reached more than 500 schools. Its chairman, Dennis Eagan, said "The
foundation has nothing to do with Sai Baba."
But the Human Values Foundation's programme is also called "Education
for Human Values". It promotes Sai Baba's same five virtues, using
"silent sitting", activities, songs, quotations and stories. Its
president, June Auton, has been a regular visitor to Sai Baba's
ashram. She has been described by Barry Pittard, a former English
lecturer at Sai Baba's college in India, as "synonymous with Swami's
Human Values Programme."
Auton told The Times: "I'm not going to discuss anything about my
religion at all on the phone. My religion is my business." Pressed,
she would only say: "I do attend my local church." It is the recent
suicides, however, that may hurt Sai Baba the most in Britain.
Suicides and suspicious deaths have long marred his reputation. A
German man was found hanging from a rafter in Puttaparthi in the early
1980s. A father and daughter took fatal overdoses in Bangalore in 1999
after failing to get an audience with the guru.
In a puzzling incident in June 1993, Sai Baba was attacked by four
young male devotees armed with knives. Two of the guru's bodyguards
were stabbed to death. After the four youths, long-time followers of
Sai Baba, locked themselves in a room, they were all shot dead by
police. Challenging faith in a man of miracles can be painful. At Sai
Baba's Central London base in Clerkenwell, there is reluctance to
confront the allegations of sexual harassment, suicides and financial
maneuvering.
Dee Puri, at the London headquarters, denounces the suggestion that
Sai Baba takes money from the rich, pointing out that at his 28-year-
old London premises: "Entrance is free. There is no money going to
Baba at all.
As for the suggestions of sexual harassment, she told The Times: "I
don't want to talk about it because there is no such thing. I think
such conversations disturb me and my beliefs. The organisation is most
unhappy that you have tried to hurt us. Nobody will speak to you
unless you want to write something which is truth, which is not
controversial.
"As far as I am concerned, Baba is a great, great guru. Thirty years I
have been a devotee of Baba and millions and millions of people are,
so I would very respectfully ask you please not to put that sort of
question to me."
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba11.html
Three die after putting faith in guru
The Times British News/August 27, 2001
By Dominic Kennedy
Three British men have died mysteriously after becoming followers of
an Indian mystic famed as a 'god man' and miracle worker. Sai Baba's
activities are being studied by the Foreign Office which is
considering issuing an unprecedented warning against the guru to
travellers.
The Times has learnt that three Britons have apparently taken their
lives after placing hope in India's most popular holy man.
One of them had complained of being repeatedly sexually molested by
Sai Baba at his ashram in Puttaparthi near Bangalore.
Michael Pender, an HIV-positive student, was found dead at a London
hostel after taking alcohol and painkillers. He had already tried to
commit suicide at the holy man's headquarters.
Aran Edwards hanged himself at home in Cardiff after joining a Sai
Baba support group and being encouraged to write to the guru to solve
his psychological problems.
Mr Edwards sent a flurry of anxious letters but was devastated after
receiving no replies and being told that the guru did not read his
mail.
Andrew Richardson, a South Africa-born British national, jumped off a
building in India shortly after visiting Sai Baba's ashram.
Among visitors who have paid respects to Sai Baba are the Duchess of
York, the Prince of Wales's architect Keith Critchlow, the cricketer
Sachin Tendulkar and the Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Sai Baba's message is being preached in more than 500 British schools
through charities which claim to provide non-denominational education
in 'human values.'
Tom Sackville, a former Home Office Minister, last night urged the
Government to take decisive action to warn teachers and pilgrims of
the dangers of becoming involved with Sai Baba. The guru's reputation
is plummeting after the United Nations cancelled a conference at his
headquarters, issuing a condemnation of his alleged sex abuse of
youths and boys.
Unicef pulled out of a conference it was due to sponsor with the
guru's educational organisation in Puttaparthi last September.
The UN's cultural agency issued a trenchant statement: 'The
organisation is deeply concerned about widely reported allegations of
sexual abuse involving youths and children that have been levelled at
the leader of the movement in question, Sathya Sai Baba.
'Whilst it is not for Unesco to pronounce itself in this regard, the
organisation restates its firm moral and practical commitment to
combating the sexual exploitation of children, in application of the
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which requires states to
protect children from all forms of sexual exploitation and violence.'
In hundreds of British schools, Sai Baba-influenced educational
programmes on 'human values' are currently being promoted as part of
the National Curriculum.
The Charity Commission met the trustees of one of the educational
charities involved, the Sathya Sai Education in Human Values Trust UK,
last year and 'found no concerns,' a spokesman said.
Mr Sackville, chairman of the anti-cult organisation Fair (Family
Action Information and Resource), said that he had successfully
intervened to persuade a girls' school to reject a Sai Baba-inspired
course.
'Schools are not on their guard because at official level they are not
given any steer,' Mr Sackville said. 'Some other countries would have
had official warnings.'
He said that Whitehall was strongly opposed to letting the British
Government apply sanctions to cults, which civil servants describe
respectfully as 'new religious movements.'
As for the Charity Commission's clean bill of health to the Sai Baba
educational organisation, Mr Sackville said: 'There's a lot of very
naive people around in these government institutions.'
He called on the Foreign Office to issue a warning against Sai Baba
along the lines of recommendations to travellers to beware the dangers
of Aids and violence abroad. The Foreign Office is believed to be
considering putting out just such advice.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba10.html
'I sought peace and couldn't find it'
The Times British News/August 27, 2001
By Michael Dynes and Dominic Kennedy
Durban -- Michael Pender, a student, hoped that Sai Baba would be able
to cure him of HIV. Like thousands of devotees from around the world,
Mr Pender went on a pilgrimage to Sai Baba's ashram in Puttaparthi,
southern India, expecting to find magic and divinity. Instead Mr
Pender, known as "Mitch," was found dead after taking tablets in the
lonely bedroom of a hostel for the homeless in Highbury, North London.
He was 23.
Kathleen Ord, who first told him of Sai Baba's teachings, has since
destroyed her books and videos on the holy man. She said: "I blame
myself in many ways because, if I hadn't introduced them, Mitch would
probably be alive now. That's what he went to India for, thinking he'd
find a cure.
"He tried to commit suicide in the ashram. He had overdosed on drugs
more than once. He had some strange, very powerful experiences there.
There was something sexual that was frightening." Her son, Keith, has
given a detailed account of what Mr Pender said in his last weeks
about meeting Sai Baba. The guru flattered the British student by
describing him as "the reincarnation of St Michael." Mr Ord's
evidence, posted on the Internet, states: "He told me that the very
first private interview that he had with SB was a sexual encounter.
"At first he couldn't believe any of this was happening. It felt
unreal and frightening. But then after the first interview he thought
SB must have been showing him something about himself . . . that there
must have been some spiritual or 'divine' explanation behind the
swami's actions.
"But after the fourth interview, he became very despondent and
confused about the whole thing; each interview was a repetition of the
first . . . Baba 'materialised' an emerald ring on the fifth interview
and gave him money on the sixth.
"After telling me of his experiences, Michael became quite depressed."
On January 12, 1990, Mr Pender's body was found by the supervisor of
his hostel. Traces of paracetamol and alcohol were found in his blood,
but a pathologist found it impossible to determine if they were lethal
doses. An open verdict was recorded at an inquest in St Pancras.
Aran Edwards, a classical guitarist and postgraduate theology student
at the University of Wales in Newport, joined Sai Baba's Bath and
Bristol support group. David Bailey, a concert pianist from Conwy,
North Wales, who had become one of the guru's closest British aides,
met Aran with the group.
"He was sort of persuaded that Sai Baba looked after him, did
everything for him and that he should write to Sai Baba with his
problems," Mr Bailey said.
"He was quite an ill person, mentally unstable and needed orthodox
help. In the end, he wrote a couple of dozen or more letters to Sai
Baba. The group had told him this was what to do.
"He used to ring me from phone boxes pleading with me. There were 35
phone calls, I suppose . . . he was absolutely desperate that I should
talk to Sai Baba for him because he was in such a state and had
written all these letters which he had sent out and hadn't had a
reply. Could I please help because I was Sai Baba's right-hand man?
"At the end I said, 'Wake up. He doesn't even read these letters'. He
was so distraught about the situation, he decided to commit suicide."
Aran Edwards, a single man, was found hanged from a staircase at his
home in Cardiff, on April 19, 1999. He was 37. A suicide verdict was
recorded by the coroner.
Stuart Jones, of the Bath and Bristol group, said: "He was a very
fragile kind of person, very sensitive, very gentle in nature. If you
are thinking there is a link, I know for a fact there wasn't a link in
the sense of all the allegations going about Sai Baba. He was in
distress long before."
Aran never visited Sai Baba in India. But Andrew Richardson, a British
national born in South Africa, did. He made a pilgrimage to Sai Baba's
ashram, booking in for a week, but mysteriously leaving after only two
days.
On September 19, 1996, Mr Richardson travelled to Bangalore and hired
a taxi at the railway station to one of the city's tallest buildings,
the State Bank of Mysore. Mr Richardson flung banknotes and
travellers' cheques in the air, ran into the bank and up the stairs to
the eighth floor, where he smashed a window and leapt 84ft to the
ground, killing himself. He was 33.
Two letters were found on his body. One to Sai Baba outlined his quest
for spiritual enlightenment. The second was a suicide note saying he
was in a deep depression: "I came to India in search of peace but
could not find it." His mother, Deirdre, at her home near
Pietermaritzburg, said: "Andrew wanted to see Sai Baba, but was also
heading to Calcutta to see Mother Teresa . . . All he wanted to do was
work with the poor."
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba9.html
Sex Scandal swirls around Sai Baba
Cult News Summary/December 2004
Sai Baba, a controversial Indian "holy man" presides over a spiritual
kingdom that includes one of the world's largest ashrams. He claims to
have millions of followers.
But the guru, who is approaching 80, has a history of sexual abuse
allegations that in recent years has made media headlines around the
world.
Former followers of the aging swami reportedly call him "a sexual
harasser, a fraud and even a pedophile."
One man says Sai Baba ordered him to drop his pants and allow the guru
to massage his penis. He later said, "Sai Baba was my God -- who dares
to refuse God? He was free to do whatever he wanted to do with me; he
had my trust, my faith, my love and my friendship; he had me in
totality."
Despite such revelations and the growing scandal that surrounds Sai
Baba he continues to be worshipped at his ashram. Twice a day he
parades about and makes appearances to the faithful, entertaining them
with what seems like little more than magic tricks.
Sai Baba's so-called "materializations" include making watches and
jewelry appear out of "thin air."
At functions his followers rock back and forth with "shining eyes"
seemingly in trance-like or hypnotic states. Perhaps in this condition
they are prepared to believe almost anything.
The guru holds court within lavishly appointed rooms decorated with
gold leaf and hanging chandeliers.
"Sometimes I think the ashram is a madhouse and Swami is the
director," said one recently devoted disciple. Does Sai Baba prey upon
the psychologically and emotionally vulnerable? "When you don't have
problems, you don't go to the ashram," says a disciple.
But there may be casualties amongst the true believers.
A Malaysian woman reportedly had a psychotic breakdown, attacked
ashram workers and was taken into police custody. She sat in a holding
area almost catatonic, mumbling "darshan, darshan, darshan"
repeatedly.
Sai Baba has accumulated substantial influence and prestige within
India. That influence includes some prominent leaders such as former
Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. The Times of India reported in 1993
that the guru's followers include "governors, chief ministers,
assorted politicians, business tycoons, newspaper magnates, jurists,
sportsmen, academics and, yes, even scientists."
His popularity is easy to understand. Sai Baba has built a hospital
that offers free services, partly financed by a $20 million donation
from Isaac Tigrett, co-founder of the Hard Rock Café. Its pink façade
makes it look more like a palace than a hospital. And in the entrance
area there are images of Sai Baba.
Sai Baba's charities have reportedly been plagued though by "rumors of
chicanery and worse."
Nevertheless Illustrated Weekly of India stated, "God or a fraud, no
one doubts the good work done by the Sai organization."
But does the guru use his accumulated good will and "God-man" status
to get into people's pants?
The sex abuse claims are strikingly similar and seem to fit the same
pattern.
"During my 'private audiences' with Sai Baba, Sai Baba used to touch
my private parts and regularly massage my private parts, indicating
that this was for spiritual purposes," wrote one former devotee. "He
grabbed my head and pushed it into his groin area. He made moaning
sounds. As soon as he took the pressure off my head and I lifted my
head, Sai Baba lifted his dress and presented me a semi-erect member,
telling me that this was my good luck chance, and jousted his hips
towards my face," the man said.
When the devotee later talked about his sexual encounter he was thrown
out of the ashram.
"Each time I saw Baba, his hand would gradually make more prominent
connections to my groin," said another former follower.
All of the allegations reportedly involved mostly teenage boys and
young men in their 20s.
This story is hardly new. In 1970 a book by Tal Brooke titled "Lord of
the Air" later renamed "Avatar of Night," told the story of a devoted
disciple's disillusionment upon learning of Sai Baba's sexual
appetite.
More recently a document called "Findings" accumulated accounts of
alleged sexual exploitation and abuse from the guru's former
followers.
An excerpt from the document reads, "Whilst still at the ashram, the
worst thing for me -- as a mother of sons -- occurred when a young
man, a college student, came to our room, to plead with David, 'Please
Sir, do something to stop him sexually abusing us&These sons of
devotees, unable to bear their untenable position of being unwilling
participants in a pedophile situation any longer, yet unable to share
this with their parents because they would be disbelieved, placed
their trust in David; a trust which had built over his five years as a
visiting professor of music to the Sai college."
Since the release of "Findings" the Sai Baba sex scandal has grown and
gained momentum.
A California man named Glen Meloy, who spent 26 years as a devotee
wanted to launch a class-action lawsuit against the Sai Organization
in America. "You've got all these kids who are scared to death to do
anything that will do disrespect to their parents, in a room with
someone they believe to be the creator of the whole universe. This
isn't just any child abuse; this is God himself claiming to do this,"
Meloy said.
One former Indian ashram volunteer petitioned India's Supreme Court to
investigate Sai Baba. "I've spoken to 20 or 30 boys who have been
abused, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. There are 14-year-old
kids made to live in his room and made to think it's a blessing. In
most cases, their parents have been followers for 20 years and are not
going to believe them. American citizens have been knowing about this
abuse and taking American boys to Puttaparthi and feeding them to
him," he said.
UNESCO yanked its co-sponsorship of an education conference in India
linked to Sai Baba and stated it was "deeply concerned about widely
reported allegations of sexual abuse involving youths and children
that have been leveled at the leader of the movement in question,
Sathya Sai Baba."
After Conny Larsson, a Swedish actor went public about his coerced
sexual relations with the guru; the Sai Organization in Sweden was
shut down.
India Today ran a cover story about the scandal, as has England's
Daily Telegraph.
Labor MP Tony Colman raised the issue in Parliament.
Former British government minister, Tom Sackville said, "The
authorities have done little so far and that is regrettable."
But it seems that the guru's ardent followers can rationalize almost
anything.
One such disciple concluded in an essay published on the Internet,
"First of all, I believe that Sathya Sai Baba is an Avatar, a full
incarnation of God ... any sexual contact Baba has had with devotees
-- of whatever kind -- has actually been only a potent blessing, given
to awaken the spiritual power within those souls. Who can call that
'wrong'? Surely to call such contact 'molestation' is perversity
itself."
A "potent blessing"?
"When he does it, he has a purpose," concludes another still devoted
follower.
Other devotees have rejected reports about their guru's sexual abuse
completely regardless of how many of his alleged victims come forward
to tell their stories.
One said, "I think this is a projection of his devotees' problems. You
hear a lot of rumors&but for me it's not important. When you're happy,
why doubt it?"
Note: This news summary is based upon an article titled
"Untouchable" (note: dead link) by Michelle Goldberg, which appeared
in Salon Magazine, July 25, 2001
Holy man? Sex abuser? Both?
Vancouver Sun/February 27, 2001
By Douglas Todd
His followers say Sai Baba is a God on Earth, and they generously
support his multi-billion-dollar religious empire. But some former
adherents are coming forward with dark tales of the guru sexually
molesting young men.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba -- "The Protector," "The Infinite," "the Creator"
-- has only once left India, where he reigns as arguably the country's
most famous living swami. But Sai Baba is here tonight at this temple
in east Vancouver. Sai Baba is sitting in the ochre robe on the wooden
throne at the front altar, smelling the eye-stinging incense,
listening to the spine-tingling chants and watching the earnest,
multiracial followers bow to him. Sai Baba is omni-present.
So be-lieves B.C. Sai Baba president Nami Thiyagaratnam, who teaches
management studies at the University of Victoria. To devotees, Sai
Baba is an avatar, God on Earth, born of a virgin mother. Separated by
gender in the Vancouver temple, the scores of East Indians,
Caucasians, Japanese, blacks and Chinese followers who sit on the red
carpet revering Sai Baba believe he paranormally transports his
invisible soul throughout the globe.
They are convinced that at this moment he is gazing contentedly at
them and other adherents conducting similar rituals of worship around
the planet at 6,700 Sai Baba temples, charity hospitals and schools,
mostly in India, but including 500 centres in the U.S. and 70 in
Canada. Dr. Ray Ludwig, 60, a Vancouver physician, puts his awe for
the Indian avatar succinctly: "Sai Baba, to me, is like a thousand
Mother Teresas. It was the greatest day of my life when I met Sai Baba
15 years ago. He transforms people to an altruistic lifestyle."
But deep troubles are emerging in Sai Baba's wealthy, glorious
universe, where people of all religions, from Christianity to
Buddhism, are meant to come together, because, as Sai Baba teaches,
"all faiths are facets of the same truth."
Accusations are mounting that Sai Baba has been sexually molesting
comely young men for decades during private meetings at his giant
ashram in India, where thousands visit each week.
The round-faced "saint" with the Jimi Hendrix hairdo, who is known for
miraculously manifesting out of thin air everything from wristwatches
to sacred stones and ash, has never admitted to sexual assault. But
followers in Canada and elsewhere acknowledge they've taken part with
him in what they call "sexual healing."
As the number of disturbing accounts grow, followers around the world
and across Canada have been feeling betrayed. Greater Vancouver boasts
one of the bigger North American Sai Baba contingents, with several
thousand members, about 75 per cent of them from the city's large Indo-
Canadian community With the sex scandal rapidly being unveiled on
various Internet sites and in a few newspapers, Sai Baba has told his
adherents, whose numbers range from 10 million to 50 million,
depending on whom you talk to, not to sign on to the World Wide Web.
The abuse charges are producing a mix of confusion and sadness,
defensiveness and sublime indifference among those who remain
acolytes. Thiyagaratnam, speaking at the Sai Baba Centre at 1659 East
10th, says he's not surprised that people are trying to ruin the
reputation of such a wondrous man. After all, he says, people also
persecuted Jesus Christ and Buddha. "It's very acrimonious and we're
sad. But people are entitled to their opinion." The charges are taking
their toll, however.
UNESCO recently cancelled its co-sponsorship of a conference in Sai
Baba's hometown of Puttaparthi, in southern India, saying it was
"deeply concerned about widely reported allegations of sexual abuse
involving youth and children that have been levelled at the leader of
the movement."
The many celebrity admirers of 75-year-old Sai Baba -- including
Indian president Atal Bihari Vajpayee; Isaac Tigrett, co-founder of
the Hard Rock restaurant chain and House of Blues; Sarah Ferguson,
Prince Andrew's former wife, and dozens of prominent Indian
professionals -- have so far been silent. But graphic charges have
come from all over the world.
London's Sunday Telegraph newspaper and India Today magazine recently
reported the case of American Sam Young, a young man who said he was
repeatedly abused by Sai Baba in a private room while his unwitting
parents remained outside, feeling blissful that their son was getting
so much of the divine one's attention.
Former Sai Baba leaders such as Swedish psychotherapist and former
film star, Conny Larsson, who says the guru regularly performed oral
sex on him and asked for it in return. Sai Baba was said to have
claimed he was simply correcting Larsson's inner "kundalini" energy.
David Bailey, a Welshman who had risen high in Sai Baba's inner
circle, fell away after hearing numerous accounts of how young men's
sessions with Sai Baba, which started out as purported sexual healing,
eventually turned into molestation. Bailey has been compiling the
stories, called the Findings, on a Web site.
Californian Glen Meloy is one of many former adherents who are busily
"e-bombing" decision-makers, including the White House, U.S. Senators,
the FBI and Indian newspapers, with warnings to keep young males away
from Sai Baba.
Still, no criminal charges have ever been laid against Sai Baba,
although some speculate that's because of his exalted position and
charitable work in India, where he's opened numerous well-appointed
hospitals, schools, colleges and water-treatment facilities.
Dr. Michael Goldstein, the influential U.S. president of the Sai Baba
organization, this year dismissed all the accusations. He says they're
unbelievable and that Sai Baba remains divinely pure, filled only with
"selfless love." The answer for those who doubt, says Goldstein, is to
show more faith.
But Goldstein's attitude draws the disdain of people such as
Vancouver's Tony Cleary, who walked away last year from the group
after 15 years of high-level dedication. Cleary, a 57-year-old
businessman, said it's difficult to leave. "Sai Baba makes you feel so
important because he tells you he's chosen you."
In addition to the sex allegations catalogued by Bailey, a friend,
Cleary is concerned about what he estimates are the billions of
dollars that well-meaning devotees give to Sai Baba and his various
charities. "It's a huge enterprise," Cleary says. Sai Baba is said to
be the reincarnation of the revered Indian saint, Shirdi Sai Baba, who
died in 1918. But Cleary said Sai Baba's teachings are "pretty
standard stuff.
"It's basically Hinduism with an eclectic mix of Christianity and
Buddhism, so it will appeal to more people." Despite his anger, Cleary
still believes Sai Baba probably has miraculous powers, including the
ability to "astral travel," which allows his soul to traverse the
globe.
Cleary also believes Sai Baba, who has only physically travelled to
Africa many years ago, may transport himself to sleep in various
sacred beds that devotees keep for him around the world, including in
Vancouver. So far in Canada, two people have agreed to go public with
accounts of Sai Baba's practice of "sexual healing," sometimes known
as "genital oiling."
But they offer ambiguous interpretations of what happened. Marc-Andre
St. Jean said in an interview from Montreal that when he was 19 and
had a private session with Sai Baba, the guru pointed at his genitals
and said, "Something slow."
Although St. Jean didn't know what Sai Baba was talking about at the
time, he said the guru then "asked me to drop my pants. He made a
materializing motion with his hand and there was cream on it. He
applied it to my scrotum." St. Jean thought at the time the event was
not sexual -- but more like "going to the doctor" for what he found
out was a urinary infection -- but St. Jean has since quit the group
after hearing and believing the mounting allegations of molestation.
St. Jean, now 29, remains bemused. "The charisma of Sai Baba is
incredible," he says. "The love was flowing from him. All this still
bothers me a lot. It's scary." In Langley, by contrast, Sai Baba
leaders Ann and David Jevons remain defiantly loyal to their divine
master.
Although they witnessed Sai Baba conduct a "sexual healing" on their
son's genitals more than a decade ago, they say the guru did it
because their son had a lump on his testicles, probably caused by an
anti-miscarriage drug she had taken during pregnancy.
"I know Sai Baba has done sexual things," says Ann Jevons, 62. Ann and
David, 65, acknowledged in an article for their newsletter that Sai
Baba can show less interest in adults such as themselves and more
interest in children and young people in general -- showering them
with rings and watches that he mysteriously materializes out of
nowhere.
But Jevons thinks sexual healing is a good thing, because "there is a
kundalini point between the anus and the genitals, where human energy
starts." It is totally understandable, she says, that a saint would
want to help people by curing disruptions in the flow of such a
crucial life force.
"Sai Baba is faultless," Jevons says. "He just opened the largest
hospital in south India. He's done incredible service to the world.
His accusers are wrong. And we're no gullible believers."
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba6.html
Guru shrugs off sex allegations
The Star/January 14, 2001
By Tom Harpur
`Do not get deluded because I talk, laugh, eat and walk like
you. . . . All my actions are always selfless, selfless, selfless.'-
Guru Sai Baba
IN THE Oct. 28 issue of the London Telegraph's Sunday magazine, a
major feature article described one of the greatest scandals to befall
a guru or religious leader in our time.
Titled "Divine Downfall," the six-page expos* by British investigative
journalist Mick Brown makes the case that the man millions around the
world hold to be God incarnate, a healer and "miracle worker" on a par
with Krishna or Christ, has systematically and for decades sexually
abused large numbers of teenage boys.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba - who has only once left his southern India ashram
in Puttaparthi, close to Bangalore (for a visit to Uganda), yet has
followers numbering anywhere from 10 million to 50 million, depending
on the source - is also accused of financial wrongs and "B-grade
conjuring tricks."
But those charges have been around for years. What is new is the huge
controversy now coming to a head over a document released on the
Internet, called "The Findings."
It was compiled over the last three years by David Bailey, a Welsh ex-
devotee, who had risen high in the guru's inner circle only to be
devastated by allegations made to him by several students at Sai
Baba's ashram college.
They claimed the guru had sexually abused them and said they couldn't
tell anyone because they were fearful of being disbelieved by their
parents and friends who were also devotees.
Shocked, Bailey quit the ashram and began building a record of
evidence gained from devotees around the globe.
The completed dossier includes scores of accounts of such abuse from
Holland, Australia, Germany, India and the United States.
Swedish movie actor Conny Larsson is one of those cited: "Not only did
Sai Baba make sexual advances towards him, but he had also been told
by young male disciples of advances the guru had made on them."
The Telegraph account told a particularly moving story of an American
husband and wife who suddenly found themselves being given special
treatment by the guru - out of all the thousands seeking to get near
him at his twice-daily public sessions.
Simultaneously, their teenage son, Sam, was being selected for even
closer ties. The Telegraph said he was given presents of all kinds,
including expensive watches, which the guru claimed to have
"materialized" out of thin air.
Over four years, Sam spent many hours alone with "God," just metres
from his parents outside.
The parents were stunned when their son finally alleged that Sai Baba
had steadily moved from fondling to demands for oral sex and,
eventually, attempted rape. Sam said he had feared that to tell anyone
would end his parents' happiness and incur the divine wrath of the
guru.
Significantly, the harrowing stories in "The Findings" produced a
flood of similar accounts from every corner of the Internet.
Gradually, the stage was set for one of the most amazing battles ever
spawned in cyberspace.
Browsing the Net recently, I found everything from Web sites with
specious, unconvincing arguments - for example, that the whole affair
was initiated by the omnipotent, omniscient guru as a kind of "divine
game" to test the disciples' faith - to a host of critical chatrooms,
columns and letters.
Sai Baba has been "India's most famous and powerful holy man" for
nearly 60 years.
His official biographer says in a four-volume work that the "saint"
was born sinless "of immaculate conception," like the Virgin Mary, in
Puttaparthi in 1926.
At 13, he announced he was the reincarnation of a revered southern
saint, Shirdi Sai Baba, who died in 1918. Even as a boy, the guru
displayed signs of allegedly miraculous powers by "materializing"
flowers and candies from "nowhere."
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other politicians are
included among his followers, as are members of India's judiciary,
academics, scientists and scores of high-profile members of the upper
middle class.
There are nine chapters of the Sai Baba organization in Toronto and
many others nationwide.
Nothing I have found yet on the Web or elsewhere directly meets the
current charges. Instead, the pro-Baba arguments seem to consist of
various ways of saying that God is God and doesn't really have to
explain. His ways are far beyond anything we mere humans can
understand.
Sai Baba is reported to have said recently to his devotees: "Never try
to understand me."
Perhaps he eventually will be cleared of the accusations levelled
against him. He may be a pure healer and a promoter of universal love.
But if this quote is accurate, he embodies the kind of guruship to be
avoided at all cost.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba5.html
The man believers think is God
Sai Baba, an Indian holy man, worshipped by many prominent Canadians,
is accused of being a sexual predator
The Ottawa Citizen/December 19, 2000
By Bob Harvey
Millions of devotees in Ottawa and in more than 100 countries around
the world recently celebrated the 75th birthday of Sai Baba, an Indian
spiritual leader they believe is God.
But a growing number of leaders of the movement in Canada, Sweden, the
U.S. and other countries have quit: they say Sai Baba is a sexual
predator.
UNESCO also recently cancelled its co-sponsorship of a conference in
Sai Baba's home town of Puttaparthi, India, saying it was "deeply
concerned about widely-reported allegations of sexual abuse involving
youth and children that have been levelled at the leader of the
movement."
Raj Midha, the president of Ottawa's brand new $2-million Sri Sathya
Sai Spiritual Centre on Hunt Club, is a believer. Like many devotees,
he wears a large ring given to him by the guru. "He materialized it
from thin air," Mr. Midha says.
Television documentaries produced in Australia, India and other
countries have used slow-motion to show that such "miracles" are
really just clever sleight-of-hand by Sai Baba. But Mr. Midha shrugs
off this and other allegations about Sai Baba. "With all big leaders,
there have always been people who didn't like them. Even Jesus was
crucified."
What Mr. Midha wants to do is tell how Sai Baba has changed his life
and others. He shows off the 156,000-square-foot centre with pride,
and points to Sai Baba teachings posted on the walls of the building.
He says those teachings can be summarized in eight words: "Love All,
Serve All", and "Help Ever, Hurt Never."
Mr. Midha, a telecommunications engineer, believes Sai Baba cured his
wife's cancer, and he credits his own work with the Shepherds of Good
Hope and other charities to Sai Baba's teachings. On the centre's
second floor, he is reverent as he enters Sai Baba's bedroom, which
comes complete with bathroom, and a balcony overlooking the worship
area on the ground floor.
Sai Baba has taken only one trip out of India, and that was to Uganda.
But Mr. Midha and other devotees firmly believe their leader can
transport himself around the world at will. Mr. Midha says they know
Sai Baba uses his Ottawa bedroom, because they leave a glass of water
on his bedside table, and often the glass has been half-drained. About
200 devotees regularly worship at the centre, and some report having
seen the holy man while they were praying.
Conny Larsson, a psychotherapist, and once a well-known actor and film
star in his native Sweden, has a very different view of Sai Baba. He
first met Sai Baba in 1978, built his own apartment near the guru's
headquarters in Puttaparthi, and remained a devotee until last year.
Mr. Larsson was the spiritual co-ordinator of the Sai Baba movement in
Sweden, and says he brought tens of thousands of people to India to
see Sai Baba by speaking at conferences, writing a book about Sai
Baba, and speaking on radio.
"Now I feel very guilty," he says. For the first five years he knew
Sai Baba, Mr. Larsson says the guru regularly practised oral sex on
him, and asked that Mr. Larsson do the same for him. The guru's
explanation, as it has been for many young men, is that he was
correcting Mr. Larsson's kundalini, or cosmic force.
"I was brainwashed," said Mr. Larsson in a telephone interview from
Sweden. "As a child I was severely molested, and when he did this to
me, he told me he was going to correct something. And in my mind, I
thought God was healing me of this tragedy. This is the reason he
could do what he liked. "Everyone told me I was very special. They
puffed me up. For a person so molested and hurt as a child, it was a
relief to be someone."
By 1986, Mr. Larsson had talked to many young male devotees, most of
them attractive blond westerners, who told him they too had had sex
with Sai Baba. He believes Sai Baba has had sex with many more
reluctant male followers. Why do they do it? He says it's because
"everyone believes he is divine. They want to believe because they
have nothing else," he said.
For more than 50 years, Sai Baba has been India's most famous holy
man. The number of his followers is estimated at somewhere between 10
million and 50 million, and they include India's Prime Minister Atal
Bihari Vaijpayee; Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of the Hard Rock
Restaurant chain; Simon de Jong, a former New Democrat MP from
Saskatchewan; and Kris Singhal, founder of Ottawa's Richcraft Homes.
Birendra, the king of Nepal, Sarah Ferguson, Prince Andrew's former
wife; and many other celebrities have also made pilgrimages to see the
guru.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of people visit Sai Baba's ashram,
and what was once a small village now has an airstrip, a university, a
hospital and enough hotels and apartment blocks to accommodate tens of
thousands of people. "When you see all these important people moving
around there, kings and queens moving around as if they were common
people, you start to believe he (Sai Baba) has a divine plan for all
mankind," said Mr. Larsson.
Twice a day, Sai Baba strolls among the thousands of devotees seated
in the main temple and chooses people from the crowd for private
interviews. Often those chosen for private interviews are young men
like Mr. Larsson once was. What prompted him to quit the organization
and start speaking out was the abuse suffered by a young Swedish man
who asked for his help as a psychotherapist, after six interviews with
Sai Baba.
"He told me about the same things that happened to me. The swami
opened his trousers and started to masturbate him. He withdrew, but
the swami insisted." Mr. Larsson then brought the man to a meeting of
Swedish leaders of the Sai Baba movement, and told his own story as
well. The majority of the leaders resigned, and Mr. Larsson, like many
other ex-devotees, put his story on the Internet.
Mr. Larsson's story is one of many that appear in another Internet
posting, The Findings, a 42-page document amassed by David and Faye
Bailey, former devotees who once lived in Puttaparthi, and edited a
magazine to propagate Sai Baba's teachings. Mr. Bailey is a British
concert pianist and taught students at the Sathya Sai Baba College.
When some of his students complained to him about being sexually
molested by Sai Baba, he quit the organization and began documenting
the stories of abuse.
Glen Meloy, a retired management consultant in California, is another
former devotee who is using the Internet to warn others to keep their
sons away from Sai Baba. After 26 years of following Sai Baba, he quit
when he heard the story of a 15-year-old California boy who said he
had been abused on multiple occasions. Mr. Meloy said this boy and
others in families of devotees "were born with the idea that Baba is
God. So they submit because they're afraid to displease their parents,
let alone God himself, who's asking them to participate in these
acts."
Mr. Meloy is now bombarding politicians, the White House, Indian
newspapers, and the FBI with allegations of abuse by the Indian
spiritual leader. He says he gets 50 to 100 e-mails and phone calls a
day from former devotees, many of them looking for advice on what to
do about the tales of abuse they have heard.
To date, only one former Canadian devotee is willing to go public with
his story of being sexually touched. Marc-Andre St. Jean of Montreal
said that when he visited Puttaparthi in 1992, Sai Baba took him into
a private interview room, and asked him to drop his pants. Then he
touched Mr. St. Jean's genitals. He said he had a kidney problem and
at the time he thought Sai Baba was just trying to help him.
But Mr. St. Jean's story, and that of the son of a Quebec family of
devotees, helped persuade seven co-ordinators of the Sai Baba movement
in Quebec to hand in their resignations.
Alain Groven of Montreal's South Shore was the province's
representative on the national Sai Baba council. He said he and other
co-ordinators resigned after comparing the stories of Quebecers to
those of Mr. Larsson and others who suffered more severe abuse.
Mr. Groven said that last year, the Canadian organization gave Sai
Baba $90,000 as a birthday present, and the 70 centres across Canada
probably donated even more this year, for the 75th birthday.
[One woman said that] she and the other Montreal-area co-ordinators
who resigned wonder why so many others have remained devotees. "But
when you believe he is God, and you have invested yourself in a
spiritual community, it involves too much to suddenly decide he is not
God. Your whole spiritual world falls apart. It's too hard to bear,"
she said.
V.P. Singh of Windsor has been president of the Canadian Sai Baba
organization for the past 30 years. He said he does not care to read
the allegations against Sai Baba, and like most other devotees, he
obeys his guru's command not to use the Internet.
"I have known him for 30 years, and I have had a nice experience," he
said. Mr. Singh said the Canadian and other leaders who have resigned
from the organization around the world "can do whatever they want to
do; it's their business."
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba4.html
Divine downfall
The Daily Telegraph Saturday Magazine/October 27, 2000
By Mick Brown
Driving into town from the small Midwest airport where Carrie Young
and her husband had met me off the plane, she pulled a large picture
from the back seat of the station wagon. Framed in gilded-gold, the
picture showed the couple and their three children posing with an
elderly, chubby-faced Indian man with an ostentatious Afro haircut,
dressed in a red robe. Staring out of the picture, it seemed the
Youngs were shining with happiness. "And to think," said Carrie, "this
is the man we used to think was God."
The Youngs were what Americans call "straight arrows": honest, decent
and truthful. A handsome, clean-cut couple in their mid-40s; both
worked in the computer industry. The past year, said Jeff, had been
difficult, what with all that had happened, but they were pulling
things together.
A year ago, their son Sam had come to them with a shocking assertion:
Sathya Sai Baba, he told them - the man the Youngs had revered as God
for more than 20 years - was, in fact, a sexual abuser. Over the
course of four years, in his ashram, while Sam's parents sat a few
metres away - thrilled that their son should be in such close
proximity to the divine, secure in their belief that the god-man was
ministering to their son's spiritual welfare - Sai Baba was actually
subjecting him to sustained and systematic sexual abuse. "You'll meet
Sam at the restaurant," said Carrie. "He's prepared to talk about
this. He thinks it's important too."
Sam was a tall, blue-eyed, dreadlocked boy with a look that could only
be described as angelic. For the next four hours, they told me the
story of how they had come to Sai Baba; of their spiritual
aspirations, the dreams, the visions, the miracles - and the nightmare
their lives had turned into. And always, throughout the conversation,
the same question repeated itself: how could it possibly have come to
this?
For more than 50 years, Sai Baba has been India's most famous and most
powerful holy man - a worker of miracles, it is said, an instrument of
the divine. His following extends not only to every corner of the
Indian sub-continent, but to Europe, America, Australia, South America
and throughout Asia. Estimates of the total number of Baba devotees
around the world vary between 10 and 50 million.
To even begin to appreciate the scale and intensity of his following,
it is necessary to have some understanding of what his devotees
believe him to be, and of the powers that are attributed to him. Among
his devotees, Sai Baba is believed to be an avatar: literally, an
incarnation of the divine, one of a rare body of divine beings - such
as Krishna or Christ - who, it is said, take human form to further
man's spiritual evolution.
According to the four-volume hagiography written by his late secretary
and disciple, Professor N. Kasturi, Sai Baba was born "of immaculate
conception" in the southern Indian village of Puttaparthi in 1926. As
a young boy, he displayed signs of miraculous abilities, including
"materialising" flowers and sweets from nowhere. At 13, he declared
himself to be the reincarnation of a revered southern Indian saint,
Shirdi Sai Baba, who died in 1918. Challenged to prove his identity,
Kasturi writes, he threw a clump of jasmine flowers on the floor,
which arranged themselves to spell out "Sai Baba" in Telugu.
In 1950, he established a small ashram, Prasanthi Nilayam (Abode of
Serenity) in his home village. This has now grown to the size of a
small town, accommodating up to 10,000 people, with tens of thousands
more housed in the numerous hotels and apartment blocks that have
sprung up around. There is a primary school, university, college, and
hospital in the ashram, and innumerable other institutions around
India bearing Sai Baba's name. In India, his devotees include the
former prime minister, PV Narasimha Rao, the present Prime Minister,
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and an assortment of senior judiciary,
academics, scientists and prominent politicians. Unlike other Indian
gurus who have travelled in the West, cultivating a following among
faith seekers and celebrities, Sai Baba has left India only once, in
the '70s, to visit Uganda. His reputation in the West spread largely
by word-of-mouth. His devotees tend to be drawn from the educated
middle-classes.
It is said that as an instrument of the divine, Sai Baba is
omniscient, capable of seeing the past, present and future of
everyone; his "miracles' include materialising various keepsakes for
devotees, including watches, rings and pendants, as well as vibhuti or
holy ash. Like Christ, he is said to have created food to feed
multitudes; to have "appeared" to disciples in times of crisis or
need. There are countless accounts of healings, and at least two of
his having raised people from the dead.
Sai Baba's teachings resemble a synthesis of all the great faiths,
with a particular emphasis on Christian charity, enshrined in his most
ubiquitous aphorism, "Love All, Serve All".
The principal event in Prasanthi Nilayam is darshan, in which Sai Baba
emerges twice daily from his quarters adjacent to the main temple and
walks among the thousands of devotees seated on the hard marble floor.
Hands reach forward to touch his feet or to pass him letters of
supplication. Occasionally he pauses, to offer a blessing or to
"materialise" vibhuti in an outstretched hand. It is during darshan
that Sai Baba, by some unseen criteria, chooses people from the crowd
for private interviews. Some devotees might wait for years.
Inevitably for such a potent figure, Sai Baba has, for years, been the
subject of rumbling allegations of fakery, fraud and worse. But he has
proved remarkably immune to controversy, the accusations doing little
to dent his growing following or the esteem in which he is held. But
all that, it appears, is about to change.
In recent months, a storm of allegations have appeared - spurred by a
document called The Findings, compiled by an English former devotee
named David Bailey - which threaten to shake the very foundations of
Sai Baba's holy empire. Sai Baba may represent an ancient tradition of
belief, but the instrument of accusation against him is an altogether
modern one. Originally published in document form, The Findings
quickly found its way on to the Internet, where it has become the
catalyst for a raging cyberspace debate about whether Sai Baba is
truly divine or, as one disenchanted former devotee describes him, "a
dangerous paedophile".
David Bailey became a devotee of Sai Baba in 1994, at the age of 40,
drawn by an interest in the guru's reputation as a spiritual healer.
"I couldn't see him as a God," says Bailey, "but I did think, this
could be a great holy man who has certain gifts."
An extrovert man, Bailey quickly became a ubiquitous and popular
figure among devotees. He travelled all over the world, speaking and
performing at meetings and would visit the ashram in India three or
four times a year. Over the course of four years Bailey claims to have
had more than 100 interviews with Baba. At Baba's instigation, Bailey
married a fellow devotee, and together they edited a magazine to
propagate Sai Baba's teachings. But the closer he came to Sai Baba,
Bailey told me, the more his doubts multiplied. The miracles, he
concluded, were B-grade conjuring tricks, the healings a myth, and
Baba's powers of being able to see into people's minds and lives
merely a clever use of information gleaned from others.
Bailey's dwindling faith was finally crushed when students from the
college came to him alleging that they had been sexually abused by the
guru. "They said, `Please sir, can you go back to England and help
us."' They were unable to tell their parents because they were afraid
of being disbelieved, and feared for their personal safety.'
Shocked by the allegations, Bailey severed his association with Sai
Baba and began to assemble a dossier of evidence from former devotees
around the world. The Findings is a chronicle of shattered illusions.
It contains allegations of fakery, con-trickery and financial
irregularities in the funding of the hospital and over a Sai Baba
project to supply water to villages around the ashram, which is
habitually trumpeted as evidence of his munificence.
Some of these allegations have been aired before. But the charges
contained in The Findings are of an altogether different magnitude.
They include verbatim accounts of abuse from devotees in Holland,
Australia, Germany and India. Conny Larsson, a well-known Swedish film
actor, says that not only did Sai Baba make homosexual advances
towards him, but he was also told by young male disciples of advances
the guru had made on them.
In April, Glen Meloy - a retired management consultant and a prominent
Californian devotee of some 26 years standing - received a letter from
an American woman who had read The Findings on the Internet. Her 15-
year-old son, she said, had also been abused. Included in the letter
was a four-page statement from the boy himself alleging multiple
sexual abuse.
Meloy launched his own Internet campaign to spread the allegations.
The effects of this have been enormous. There has been a rash of
defections from Sai Baba groups throughout the West. >From other
devotees, however, the response has been one of disbelief and denial.
"Sai Baba," says Bailey, "is a simple sex maniac who's on an ego trip,
after money, after power. He is a sheer conman." No, say others, "Sai
Baba is God."
The Young family are not among those listed in The Findings, but the
story of how they had come to Sai Baba was not atypical. In the early
'70s, Jeff had become interested in "the spiritual quest", initially
through psychedelics, then through yoga and meditation. He learned of
Sai Baba through a friend, and in 1974, at the age of 18, visited
India for the first time.
Three weeks later Jeff had a private interview with Sai Baba. "And I
remember feeling peace like I had never felt before; feeling loved
like I'd never been loved before." He returned to Los Angeles, where
he lived in a community with fellow Baba devotees. He met Carrie,
whose childhood had been characterised by parental abuse, and her
teenage years by drug abuse. She, too, became a devotee of Sai Baba.
They married, moved to the Midwest and started to raise a family. Over
the years, they visited Sai Baba from time to time. They founded a
community, home-schooled their children according to his teachings,
and strove to lead a life of purity and self-discipline.
Then, in 1995, things began to change. Their son, Sam, who was now 16,
visited the ashram with a family friend and was singled out for a
private interview with Sai Baba. Eighteen months later, the Youngs
returned to Puttaparthi; again Sai Baba singled out Sam and called him
and the family for an interview. "He made [a big fuss of] our group,"
said Jeff. "He materialised a ring for my son. He told everybody that
Sam had been a great Shirdi Sai devotee in a previous life - he just
poured it on." During the course of that visit, the Youngs were called
for seven interviews, while Sam had some 20 private meetings. The
family felt blissfully privileged. He materialised rings, watches,
bracelets, gave them robes and the silk lungi he wore next to his
skin.
The following year, the family returned to Puttaparthi three times. On
each occasion they would be gifted with two or three interviews. Sam
had twice as many. "We had no idea what was going on," said Jeff.
In 1995, Sam had come to his father. In a private interview, he said,
Sai Baba had "materialised" some oil in his hand, unbuttoned Sam's
trousers and rubbed his genitals. Jeff told his son he had had a
similar experience when he first met Sai Baba at 18. "I said to Sam,
what did you think about it? He said he didn't feel there was anything
sexual about it; it was like Sai Baba was doing his job. And I'd kind
of had that experience. A doctor gives a boy an exam. I'd taken it as
some kind of healing." Thereafter, Sam said nothing about his
experiences.
What had actually occurred was this: from anointing with oil, Sam told
me, Sai Baba's advances had grown progressively more abusive and
forceful. Sai Baba, he said, had kissed him, fondled him and attempted
to force him to perform oral sex, explaining that it was for
"purification". On almost every occasion Sai Baba had given him gifts
of watches, rings, trinkets and cash, in total around $10,000. He had
told him to say nothing to his parents. When Sam asked Baba why he was
doing this, he would tell him it was because Sam was "a special
devotee - that it was a great blessing". When Sam attempted to resist,
he said, Baba would threaten not to call his parents for any more
interviews. "I felt obligations, to my parents, our friends, all the
thousands of people sitting outside who all wanted to be in the
position I was in, not knowing what was really there.
"And then the big thing was the concept that he is God, from day one,
so when he says, don't tell anybody ..."
In fact, Sam did tell somebody. He confided what was happening to two
other American teenagers who were students at the Puttaparthi college.
They had had similar experiences. "They justified it as a divine
experience. But he was doing things to me that I didn't want to do,
and I was just letting it happen."
In 1998, according to Sam, Sai Baba attempted to rape him. The
following year, the day before the family were leaving for
Puttaparthi, he told his father he did not want to see Sai Baba alone,
without specifying why. Jeff sensed something was amiss. "I told him,
you must always be true to your conscience. The family don't care if
we never have another interview again." In Puttaparthi, Sam was again
called for a private interview. When Sai Baba attempted to get him to
perform oral sex, Sam walked out for the last time, although it would
be some months before he summoned the nerve to tell his parents. Jeff
said it took some weeks to "process" what they were hearing. "We knew
that Sam was telling the truth, but I still asked myself, what could
this mean?"
The Youngs contacted a leading figure in the American Sai Baba
organisation. "He said it must be some kind of test," said Jeff, "and
for a moment we felt better."
Then Dr Michael Goldstein, the man in charge of the entire Baba
organisation in America, flew in from California to meet them. "He
said, we've got to talk to Baba about this; words are not enough;
faith must be restored." Goldstein flew to India. He returned to tell
the Youngs that Sai Baba had told him "he is pure", and that Goldstein
accepted that. He asked Jeff if he thought his son might be
delusional. The Youngs no longer speak with Goldstein.
A senior devotee, a trustee for the Sathya Sai Baba Society of
America, Jerry Hague, told me that he and his wife had been devotees
for 25 years. He was deeply shocked at the allegations and could not
begin to understand them.
"All I know in my heart is that Swami is the purest of the purest, and
that everything he does is for the highest good of everybody." This
denial - Sai Baba is God, God doesn't do these things - was a theme
that was echoed by innumerable other devotees I spoke to in America
and Britain.
Among those people named in The Findings is Dr D Bhatia, the former
head of the blood bank at the Sathya Sai Super Speciality Hospital,
who, it is claimed, had a longstanding sexual relationship with Sai
Baba. Bhatia resigned from his post at the hospital in December 1999
and is now an administrator at a hospital in New Delhi.
Contacted by phone, Bhatia said that he had become a devotee of Sai
Baba in 1971, at the age of 20, and that he had had sexual relations
with Sai Baba for "15 or 16 years". In that time, he said, he was also
aware that Sai Baba had relations with "many, many" students from the
college and school, and with devotees from overseas.
One of the most remarkable facets of this controversy has been the
role of the Internet. Even 10 years ago, it is doubtful whether the
allegations against Sai Baba would have spread so far and so fast.
Conny Larsson has set up a support group for those claiming abuse by
Sai Baba, and says he receives some 20-30 e-mails a day from victims
"crying out for help. You cannot leave these people in the desert".
In America, the campaign organised by Glen Meloy has concentrated on
"e-bombing" copies of the allegations to senators, the White House,
the FBI and Indian newspapers. The most conspicuous success of the
campaign came in September when Unesco withdrew its co-sponsorship and
participation from an education conference at Puttaparthi, citing
"deep concern" over the allegations of sexual abuse.
For all the allegations laid against him over the years, Sai Baba has
never been charged with any crime, sexual or otherwise. And his
exalted position in India has until now kept him safely insulated from
any kind of public inquiry.
Among former devotees, there is a sense of shock, betrayal, anger - a
hunger, if not for revenge, then for accountability. "We know that
many victims have been physically molested," Glen Meloy told me, "but
in reality all the former devotees have been spiritually raped because
we chose to believe that this man was the highest. I certainly
considered him to be the God of gods, the creator of all creation, my
friend, my everything. The intense desire I have to expose him now is
directly proportionate to the amount of devotion I gave him."
Sitting in the restaurant in a small, homely Midwest town, Jeff Young
struggled to understand what had led him to believe that an Indian
guru could be God.
Looking back, he said, when Sam finally told him about the sexual
abuse, he didn't find it difficult to believe at all. "I realised, I'd
really known this for a long time but didn't really know it." Jeff
shook his head. " You ask yourself, how could millions of people be
wrong? How could millions of people be tricked? .. We'd spent 23 years
raising our family to believe in him, going upstream against a river.
You think, how could I have been so wrong?"
Whether he is divine, "a demonic force", as Glen Meloy describes him,
or simply an accomplished fakir and confidence trickster, Sai Baba has
said nothing publicly about the allegations. When contacted, K.
Chakravarthi, secretary of the Puttaparthi ashram, said, "We have no
time for these matters. I have nothing to say."
Sai Baba's principal English translator, Anil Kumar, said every great
religious teacher had faced criticism. Allegations had been made at
Sai Baba since childhood, "but with every criticism he becomes more
and more triumphant."
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba3.html
Scandal engulfs guru's empire
Divine Downfall
The Age (Australia)/November 12, 2000
By Padraic Murphy
For Hans de Kraker, a trip to India to see Sathya Sai Baba, a self-
proclaimed god with a following of up to 25 million devotees, was a
spiritual quest. But he said the pilgrimage ended when the 73-year-old
guru tried to force him to perform oral sex.
Mr de Kraker, who now lives in Sydney, has gone public to alert
devotees to a sex scandal that is threatening to undo Sai Baba, by far
the most popular of India's new-age gurus.
"It is devastating to realise the man you see as a spiritual master is
simply conning people for his own sexual gratification," Mr de Kraker,
32, said. "After a while you notice that the people chosen for private
interviews tend to be good-looking young males."
Mr de Kraker, who first visited Sai Baba's ashram in 1992, said the
guru would regularly rub oil on his genitals, claiming it was a
religious cleansing, and eventually tried to force him to perform oral
sex. He was kicked out of the ashram after alerting senior officials
in 1996.
Mr de Kraker's story is not an isolated one, and a growing list of
alleged victims is threatening to engulf the Sai Baba organisation,
which has an estimated worth of $6billion. Droves have left after
allegations of paedophilia and the rape of male followers.
Sai Baba's main ashram in Puttaparthi, India, is the largest in the
world and can sleep up to 10,000 people. That number of people
regularly turn out to "darshan", a twice-daily ritual in which Sai
Baba walks among devotees choosing people for private interviews.
It is in these private interviews that many of the alleged assaults
against males between the ages of seven and 30 take place. Former
devotees said the interviews usually involved family groups, but when
young males were involved they were ushered into a second room, behind
what has come to be known as the "curtain of shame".
The organisation has been shut down in Sweden after revelations that
Conny Larson, now a film star in that country, was molested by Sai
Baba. The FBI is looking into similar allegations made by American
children and there are investigations into the sect in France and
Germany.
Both UNESCO and Flinders University in South Australia and Flinders
University in South Australia pulled out of a conference organised by
Sai Baba in September because of concerns about the guru's sexual
conduct. In Australia, the sect is estimated to have up to 5000
followers. It runs schools in northern NSW and Western Australia, and
has meditation centres across the country.
Now Australian victims are preparing documents to present to federal
authorities about the guru's activities.
Terry Gallagher, a property developer from Kiama, in New South Wales,
regularly visited Sai Baba in the early 1990s and spent three years as
the coordinator of the group in Australia. He left the group in the
mid '90s after boys in Indian schools run by Sai Baba complained to
him of sexual abuse.
"Spiritually it is devastating. I'm concerned because of both the
sexual abuse of young boys, and the spiritual fraud Sai Baba
perpetrates," Mr Gallagher said.
Sri Ramanathan, a former Sri Lankan judge and head of the Sai Baba
Organisation in Australia and Papua New Guinea, refuses to warn
families taking children to Puttaparthi about the allegations.
"All god men have these kind of allegations levelled at them, why
should I warn people of these allegations, they are just allegations?"
he said. "He is a holy man. I know that (these allegations) cannot be
proved."
Raphael Aron, the director of Cult Counselling, said: "These
organisations are run by one individual and there are never any
complaint mechanisms. When these sorts of allegations come up, the
usual response is that it is some kind of test of faith and the whole
thing is denied."
Several former devotees who spoke to The Sunday Age said they had been
thrown out of Sai Baba's ashrams when they questioned leaders about
the charges.
The sexual exploits of the guru were exposed 30 years ago by Tal
Brooke, a former high-ranked devotee who now runs a cult-watch group
in the US. "It appears that now he is out of control. The problem is
that people have such faith that these allegations would kill them
spiritually," he said from his home in California.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba2.html
Screen Star James Mason Laid to Rest After 16 Years
Reuters/November 25, 2000
London - Hollywood screen legend James Mason has been finally laid to
rest -- 16 years after his death, the Daily Telegraph newspaper
reported on Saturday.
Mason's children buried his ashes in a Swiss cemetery on Friday after
an acrimonious legal battle over the British actor's estate with their
stepmother Clarissa Kaye, and later with the administrators of her
estate, the paper said.
The wrangle became so bitter that for many years Mason's children,
daughter Portland and son Morgan, had no idea of the whereabouts of
their father's ashes. Portland finally tracked them to a bank vault in
Geneva.
``It is like a dream,'' the Daily Telegraph quoted Portland Mason as
saying after the burial ceremony. ``Sometimes I thought it would never
happen. It has been so, so long,'' she said.
Mason, who died of a heart attack aged 75 in 1984, was the star of
such screen classics as ``A Star is Born,'' ``The Desert Fox,''
``Lolita'' and ``North by Northwest.''
The paper said that the actor felt his second wife Clarissa had
sacrificed a Hollywood career of her own when she agreed to move to
Lake Geneva with him in 1963. He wanted her to be able to live in
comfort after his death. The children believed he intended for them to
inherit his estimated 15 million pound fortune on Clarissa's death,
the paper said. But Clarissa, who died six years ago, bequeathed
everything to a trust with unknown benefactors.
The children believe the benefactors are devotees of Sathya Sai Baba,
an Indian religious sect, which Clarissa became close to in the last
years of her life. They are continuing litigation in the hope of
gaining control of at least part of their father's estate.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba8.html
Devotee 'Tricked Woman Into Sex'
The (London) Times/July 5, 2000
By Simon De Bruxelles
A Follower of an Indian guru tricked a woman into having sex with him
by promising that it would cure her "bad vibrations", a court was told
yesterday.
Priyakant Shah, 47, a shopkeeper from Plymouth, allegedly persuaded
the mother of three that he was a messenger from the Hindu mystic Sai
Baba and he had been ordered in a dream to have sex with her. His
alleged victim, who is also of Asian origin, told Plymouth Crown Court
that the relationship began after Mr Shah had "engineered" her divorce
from her husband, whom she subsequently remarried.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she met Mr Shah
in the mid-1980s when he ran a temple in South London devoted to the
worship of the 73-year-old guru who claims 30 million followers
worldwide.
The woman, who was 37 or 38 at the time, said Mr Shah persuaded her to
leave her husband and take her daughters to live in a flat above his
shop in Plymouth.
She said: "I had been praying in the prayer room and Shah was asleep
on a bed in there. As I prayed, I heard him say 'No, Baba, no, Swami,
I cannot do that'.
"I asked him later what he meant and he told me that I would not
believe it, but Baba had said he had worked so hard with me but I was
still carrying bad vibrations and that he had to have physical contact
with me.
"I asked him what he meant and he said he had to have sexual
intercourse with me. It was the only way the bad vibrations would come
out. I said 'no way'."
She said she woke later to find Mr Shah naked by her bedside and he
had made her have sex with him.
Mr Shah denies two charges of procuring a woman to have sex by false
pretences and one of indecently assaulting one of her daughters, who
was 12 or 13 at the time.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba1.html
Them are few things sadder than a good guru gone bad. The cynics among
us may object that a "good guru" is a contradiction in terms and
certainly the spectacle of corrupt and authoritarian cults in recent
years has cast a pall over the role of spiritual teachers.
Nevertheless I'm willing to maintain that a significant amount of
wisdom and compassionate works have proceeded from various gurus and
their followers, and I resist the impulse to write off the whole bunch
as charlatans and power-trippers
From all indication Swami Muktananda helped thousands of people in his
day - a fact that even disillusioned ex-devotees don't dispute.
However, the last few years of his life saw a proliferation of abuses
which are only now coming to light William Rodarmor; a former lawyer,
park ranger, wilderness trip leader and presently a graduate student
at the University of California at Berkeley journalism school has
spent months interviewing former and current followers of Muktananda
for this investigative article. CQ independently contacted his major
sources and confirmed the authenticity of their quotes and
allegations. -Jay Kinney
The Secret Life of Swami Muktananda
by William Rodarmor
Illustrated by Matthew Wuerker
"There is no deity superior to the Guru, no gain better than the
Guru's grace ... no state higher than meditation on the Guru." -
Muktananda
ON THE American consciousness circuit, Baba Muktananda was known as
the "guru’s guru," one of the most respected meditation masters ever
to come out of India. Respected, that is, until now.
When Baba Ram Dass introduced him to the U.S. in 1970. Muktananda was
still largely unknown. Thanks to Muktananda's spiritual power, his
Siddha meditation movement quickly took root in the fertile soil of
the American growth movement. By the time he died of heart failure in
October 1982, Muktananda's followers had built him 31 ashrams, or
meditation centers, around the world. When crowds saw Muktananda step
from a black limousine to a waiting Lear jet, it was clear that the
diminutive, orange-robed Indian was an American-style success.
At various times, Jerry Brown, Werner Erhard, John Denver, Marsha
Mason; James Taylor, Carry Simon, astronaut Edgar Mitchell, and Meg
Christian have all been interested in Muktananda's movement. The media
coordinator at the large Oakland, California, ashram is former Black
Panther leader Erika Huggins.
Baba Muktananda said he was a Siddha, the representative of a
centuries-old Hindu lineage. According to his official biography, he
wandered across India as a young man, going from teacher to teacher,
living the chaste, austere life of a monk. In Ganeshpuri, near Bombay,
he became the disciple of Nityananda, a Siddha guru of awesome yogic
powers. After years of meditation, Muktananda experienced
enlightenment. When Nityananda died in 1960, Muktananda said the guru
passed the Siddha mantle to him on his deathbed, though some of
Nityananda's followers in India dispute the claim. When Muktananda
himself died, a sympathetic press still saw him as a spiritual Mr.
Clean, and his two successors, a brother-sister team of swamis,
continue to draw thousands of people searching for higher
consciousness.
To most of his followers, Muktananda was a great master. But to
others, he was a man unable to live up to the high principles of his
own teachings. "When we first approach a Guru," Muktananda wrote, "we
should carefully examine his qualities and his actions. He should have
conquered desire and anger and banished infatuation from his heart."
For many, that was a warning that was understood too late.
Some of Muktananda's most important former followers now charge that
the guru repeatedly violated his vow of chastity, made millions of
dollars from his followers' labors: and allowed guns and violence in
his ashrams. The accusations have been denied by the swamis who took
over his movement after the master died.
In the course of preparing this story, I talked with 25 present and
former devotees; most of the interviews are on tape. Some people would
only talk to me if promised anonymity, and some are bitter at what
they feel was Muktananda's betrayal of their trust. All agree that
Muktananda was a man of unusual power. They differ over the ways he
used it.
"I don't have sex for the same reason you do: because it feels so
good." -Muktananda
IN HIS teachings Muktananda put a lot of emphasis on sex - most of it
negative. Curbing the sex drive released the kundalini energy that led
to enlightenment, he said. The swami himself claimed to be completely
celibate.
Members of the guru's inner circle, however, say Muktananda regularly
had sex with his female devotees. Michael Dinga, an Oakland contractor
who was head of construction for the ashram and a trustee of the
foundation, said the guru's sexual exploits were common knowledge in
the ashram. "It was supposed to be Muktananda's big secret," said
Dinga, "but since many of the girls were in their early to middle
teens, it was hard to keep it secret."
A young woman I am calling "Mary" said the guru seduced her at the
main American ashram at South Fallsburg, New York, in 1981. Mary was
in her early twenties at the time. Muktananda was 73.
At South Fallsburg, Muktananda used to stand behind a curtain in the
evening, watching the girls coming back to the dormitory. He asked
Mary to come to his bedroom several times, and gave her gifts of money
and jewelry. Finally, she did. When he then told her to undress, she
was shocked, but she obeyed.
"He had a special area which I assume he used for his sexual affairs.
It was similar to a gynecologist's table, but without the
stirrups." (To his later chagrin, Michael Dinga realized he had built
the table himself.) "He didn't have an erection," Mary said, "but he
inserted about as much as he could. He was standing up, and his eyes
were rolled up to the ceiling. He looked as if he was in some sort of
ecstasy." When the session was over, Muktananda ordered the girl to
come back the next day, and added, "Don't wear underwear."
On the first night, Muktananda had tried to convince Mary she was
being initiated into tantric yoga - the yoga of sex. The next night,
he didn't bother. "It was like ‘Okay, you're here, take off your
clothes. get on the table and let's do it.' Just very straight, hard,
cold sex."
Mary told two people about what had happened to her. Neither was
exactly surprised.
Michael's wife Chandra was disturbed. Chandra was probably the most
important American in the movement. As head of food services, she saw
Muktananda daily, and knew what was going on. "Whoever was in his
kitchen was in some way molested," she said. A girl I’ll call "Nina"
used to work for Chandra. One day, the guru remarked to her in Hindi,
"Sex with Nina is very good." Nina's mother was later made a swami.
Chandra said she had rationalized the guru's having sex in the past,
but was dismayed to learn it had happened to her young friend Mary.
Aware of Muktananda's power over people who were devoted to him, she
saw it as a form of rape.
The other person Mary confided in was Malti, Muktananda's longtime
translator.
Mary said Malti wasn't surprised when she told her about being seduced
by the aged guru. "She told me people had been coming to her with this
for years and years," Mary said. "She was caught in the middle." Malti
and her brother, who have taken the names Chidvilasananda and
Nityananda, are the movement's new leaders.
Another of Muktananda's victims was a woman I'll call "Jennifer." She
says Muktananda raped her at the main Indian ashram at Ganeshpuri in
the spring of 1978. He ordered Jennifer to come to his bedroom late
one night, and told her to take her clothes off. "I was in shock," she
said, "but over the years, I had learned you never say no to anything
that he asked you to do...."
Muktananda had intercourse with Jennifer for an hour, she said, and
was quite proud of the fact. "He kept saying, ‘Sixty minutes,’" she
said. "He claimed he was using the real Indian positions, not the
westernized ones used in America." While he had sex, the guru felt
like conversing, but Jennifer found she couldn't say a word. "The main
thing he wanted to know was how old I was when I first got my period.
I answered something, and he said, ‘That’s good, you're a pure girl.’"
Devastated by the event, Jennifer made plans to leave the ashram as
soon as possible, but Muktananda continued to be interested in her.
"He used to watch me getting undressed through the keyhole," she said.
She would open the door and see the guru outside "I became rather
scared of him, because he kept coming to my room at night."
Both women said the Ganeshpuri ashram was arranged to suit
Muktananda's convenience.
"He had a secret passageway from his house to the young girls'
dormitory," Mary said. "Whoever he was carrying on with, he had
switched to that dorm." The guru often visited the girls' dormitory
while they were undressing. "He would come up anytime he wanted to"
Jennifer said, "and we would just giggle. In the early days, I never
thought of him as having sexual desires. He was the guru..." Mary knew
otherwise: she talked with at least eight other young girls who had
sex with Muktananda. "I knew that he had girls marching in and out of
his bedroom all night long," she said.
While his followers were renovating a Miami hotel in 1979, Muktananda
slept on the women's floor, and ordered that the youngest be put in
the rooms closest to his, and the older ones down the hall.
"You always knew who he was carrying on with," said Chandra. "They
came down the next day with a new gold bracelet or a new pair of
earrings." Around the ashram, said Mary, people knew that "anyone who
had jewelry was going to his room a lot."
For a time, Muktananda's followers found ways to rationalize his
behavior. He wasn't really penetrating his victims, they said. Or he
wasn't ejaculating - an important distinction to some, since retaining
the semen was supposed to be a way of conserving the kundalini energy.
Ultimately, Chandra felt it didn't make any difference. "If you're
going to be celibate, and you're going to preach celibacy, you don't
put it in halfway, and then pull it out. You live what you preach..."
After years of repressing their growing doubts about Muktananda,
Michael and Chandra finally drew the line when they learned he was
molesting a 13-year-old girl. She had been entrusted to the ashram by
her parents, and was being cared for by Muktananda's laundress and
chauffeur. The laundress "told me Baba was doing things to her," said
Chandra. "I think he was probing around in her." The laundress
suggested it was only "Baba's way of loving her," but Chandra was
appalled.
Charges of sex against Muktananda continued. In 1981, one of
Muktananda's swamis, Stan Trout, wrote an open letter accusing his
guru of molesting Little girls on the pretext of checking their
virginity. The letter caused a stir, but word didn't go beyond the
ashram. In a "Memo from Baba," Muktananda merely answered that
"devotees should know the truth by their own experience, not by the
letters that they receive... You should be happy that I'm still alive
and healthy and that they haven't tried to hang me."
"Wretched is he who cannot observe discipline and restraint even in an
ashram." -Muktananda
I N THE first of his eight years with Muktananda, Yale dropout Richard
Grimes said he was "in a funny kind of grace period, where you're so
involved with the beginning of inner Life that you don't really notice
what is going on." But then he started seeing things that didn't jibe
with his idea of a meditation retreat.
"Muktananda had a ferocious temper," said Grimes, "and would scream or
yell at someone for no seeming reason." He saw the guru beating people
on many occasions. "In India, if peasants were caught stealing a
coconut from his ashram, Muktananda would often beat them," Grimes
said. The people in the ashram thought it was a great honor to be
beaten by the guru. No one asked the peasants' opinion.
Muktananda's ubiquitous valet, Noni Patel, was a regular target of his
master's wrath. While on tour in Denver, Noni came down to the kitchen
to be treated for a strange wound in his side. "At first, he wouldn't
say how he had gotten it," Grimes' wife Lotte recalled. "Later it came
out that Baba had stabbed him with a fork."
When ex-devotees talked about strong-arm tactics against devotees, the
names of two people close to Muktananda kept coming up. One was David
Lynn, known as Sripati, an ex-Marine Vietnam vet. The other was Joe
Don Looney, an ex-football player with a reputation for troublemaking
on the five NFL teams he played for, and a criminal record. They were
known as the "enforcers"; Muktananda used them to keep people in line.
On the guru's orders, Sripati once picked a public fight with then-
swami Stan Trout at the South Fallsburg ashram. He came down from
Boston, where Muktananda was staying, and punched Trout to the ground
without provocation. Long-time devotee Abed Simli saw the attack, but
figured Sripati had just flipped out. Michael Dinga knew otherwise.
Muktananda had phoned him the morning before the beating, and told him
Trout’s ego was getting too big, and that he was sending Sripati to
set him straight. Dinga, a big man, was instructed not to interfere.
In India, Dinga and a man called Peter Polivka witnessed Muktananda’s
valet Noni Patel give a particularly brutal beating to a young
follower: A German boy in his twenties, whom Dinga described as
"obviously in a disturbed state" had started flailing around during a
meditation intensive. The German was hauled outside, put under a cold
shower, stripped naked, and laid out on a concrete slab behind the
ashram. Dinga said the German just sat in a full lotus position, and
tried to steel himself against what happened next.
Noni Patel took a rubber hose, a foot-and-a-half long, and beat and
questioned the boy for thirty minutes while a large black man called
Hanuman held him. "They were full-strength blows," said Dinga, "and
they raised horrible welts on the boy's body."
There exists a long tradition in the East of masters beating their
students. Tibetan and Zen Buddhist stories are full of sharp blows
that stop the students rational minds long enough for them to become
enlightened. Couldn't that have been what Muktananda was doing?
"It could be seen that way," said Richard Grimes. "For years we
thought that every discrepancy was because he lived outside the laws
of morality He could do anything he wanted. That in itself is the
biggest danger of having a perfect master lead any kind of group -
there's no safeguard."
Chandra Dinga said that as Muktananda's power grew, he ignored normal
standards of behavior. "He felt he was above and beyond the law," she
said. "It went from roughing people up who didn't do what he wanted,
to eventually, at the end, having firearms."
Though the ashrams were meditation centers, a surprising number of
people in them had guns. Chandra saw Noni's gun, Muktananda's
successor Subash's gun, and the shotgun Muktananda kept in his
bedroom. Others saw guns in the hands of "enforcer" Sripati and ashram
manager Yogi Ram. The manager of the Indian ashram showed Richard
Grimes a pistol that had been smuggled into India for his use. One
devotee opened a paper bag in an ashram vehicle in Santa Monica, and
found ammunition in it.
A woman who ran the ashram bakery for many years said she knew some
people had guns, but that it never bothered her. The Santa Monica
ashram, for example, was in a very rough neighborhood, she said, and
the guns were strictly for protection.
"In an ashram, one should not fritter one's precious time in a
precious place on eating and drinking, sleeping, gossiping and talking
idly." -Muktananda
BY ALL accounts, devotees in the ashrams worked hard under trying
conditions. In India, they were isolated from their culture. Even in
the American ashrams, close friendships were frowned on, and
Muktananda strongly discouraged devotees from visiting their families.
A woman I'm calling "Sally" used to get up for work at 3:30 a.m. She
said her day was spent in work, chanting, meditation, and silence.
"Some days, you couldn't talk to anyone all day long. I would get very
lonely." Recorded chants were often played over loudspeakers. Even a
woman who is still close to the movement admitted that "the long hours
were a drag."
Though he was Muktananda's right-hand man for construction, Michael
Dinga worked "under incredible schedules with ridiculous budgets,"
putting in the same hours as his crew. In the six-and-a-half years he
was with the ashram, he said he had a total of two weeks off.
As time went on, Dinga came to be bothered by what he saw as
exploitation: "I saw the way people were manipulated, how they would
work in all sincerity and all devotion [with] no idea that they were
being laughed at and taken advantage of."
"Even a penny coming as a gift should be regarded as belonging to God
and religion." -Muktananda
MUKTANANDA'S movement was both a spiritual and a financial success.
Once Siddha meditation caught on, said Chandra Dinga, "money poured
into the ashram." Particularly lucrative were the two-day "meditation
intensives" given by Muktananda, and now by his successors. Today, an
intensive led by the two new gurus costs $200. (Money orders or
cashier's checks only, please. No credit cards or personal checks.) An
intensive given in Oakland in May 1983 drew 1200 participants, and
people had to be turned away. At $200 a head, Chidvilasananda and
Nityananda’s labors earned the ashram nearly a quarter of a million
dollars in a single weekend.
There was always a lot of secrecy around ashram affairs, Lotte Grimes
remarked. During Muktananda's lifetime, that secrecy applied to money
matters with a vengeance.
The number of people who came to intensives, for example, was a secret
even from the devotees. Simple multiplication would tell anyone how
much money was coming in. And when Richard Grimes set up a restaurant
at the Oakland ashram, he said Muktananda "had a fit" when he found
out that Grimes had been keeping his own records of the take.
Food services head Chandra Dinga said the restaurants in the various
ashrams were always big money-makers, where devotees worked long hours
for free. On tour during the summer, she said, they would feed over a
thousand people, and bring in three thousand dollars in cash a day.
Sally said that a breakfast that sold for two dollars actually cost
the ashram about three cents.
Donations further fattened the coffers. if somebody important was
coming to the ashram, Chandra’s job was to try and get them to give a
feast and to make a large donation. $1500 to $3000 was considered
appropriate. "There was just a constant flow of money into his
pockets," said Chandra, "it let him get whatever he wanted to get, and
let him buy people."
Muktananda himself was said to have been very attached to money. "For
years, he catered only to those who were wealthy," said Richard
Grimes. "He spent all the time outside of his public performances
seeing privately anyone who had a lot of money."
A parade of Mercedes-Benzes used to drive up to the Ganeshpuri ashram
with rich visitors, said Grimes. In Oakland, Lotte Grimes saw Malti
order a list drawn up of everybody in the ashram who had money, to
arrange private interviews with Muktananda, by his orders.
Devotees, on the other hand, had to get by on small stipends, if they
got anything. Chandra Dinga, despite her status as head of food
services, never got more than $100 a month. Devotees with less
prestige were completely dependent on the guru's generosity. Sally
once cried for two days when she broke her glasses, knowing she would
have to beg Muktananda for another pair.
How much money did Muktananda amass from his efforts? Even the
officers of the foundation that ostensibly ran Muktananda's affairs
never knew for sure.
Michael Dinga was a foundation trustee, and used to cosign for
deposits to the ashram’s Swiss bank accounts, but the amounts on the
papers were always left blank. In 1977, however, he got a hint. Ron
Friedland, the president of the foundation, told Dinga that Muktananda
had 1.3 million dollars in Switzerland. Three years later, Muktananda
told Chandra it was more like five million. "And then he laughed, and
said, ‘There’s more than that.’"
A woman called Amma, who was Muktananda's companion for more than
twenty years, told the Dingas that all the accounts were in the names
of Muktananda’s eventual successors, Chidvilasananda and Nityananda.
Michael and Chandra Dinga finally quit the ashram in December 1980.
They had served Muktananda for a combined total of sixteen-and-a-half
years, and had risen to positions of real importance. Both knew
exactly how the ashram operated.
Together, they went to Muktananda to tell him why they wanted to
leave. The guru wasn't pleased. To get the Dingas to stay, Muktananda
called on everything he thought would stir them. He offered them a
car, a house, and money. When that failed, he started to weep. "You're
my blood, my family," he said. Then Muktananda abruptly changed tack.
"You've come on an inauspicious day," he said. "I can't give you my
blessing." Next morning, he called Chandra on the public intercom and
said she could leave immediately.
After they left, the Dingas say they were denounced by the guru, and
their lives threatened.
"Muktananda claimed he had thrown us out because Chandra was a whore"
said Dinga, "that she was having sex with the young boys who worked in
the restaurant. Later he said I had a harem. In other words, he was
accusing us of all the things he was doing himself." Muktananda also
claimed that none of the buildings Michael had built were any good.
When one of Michael's crew stood up for him, he was threatened
physically.
Leaving all their friends behind in the ashram, the Dingas moved to
the San Francisco area, but Muktananda's enmity followed them. Their
doorbell and telephone started ringing at odd hours, and Michael saw
the "enforcers" running away from their door one night. A cruel hoax
was played on Chandra. Someone followed her when she took her cat to
the vet, then phoned the vet's office with a message that her husband
had been in a bad accident. Chandra waited frantically at Berkeley's
Alta Bates Hospital for three quarters of an hour, only to learn that
Michael was at work, unhurt.
Death threats started to reach the Dingas toward the end of April
1981, six months after they had left the ashram. On May 7, Sripati and
Joe Don Looney visited Lotte Grimes at her job in Emeryville with a
frightening piece of information: "Tell Chandra this is a message from
Baba: Chandra only has two months to live." Another ex-follower said
he got a similar message: If the Dingas didn't keep quiet, acid would
be thrown in Chandra's face; Michael would be castrated.
The Grimeses and the Dingas reported the threats to the police. The
Dingas hired a lawyer.
The threats stopped soon after Berkeley police officer Clarick Brown
called on the Oakland ashram, but Chandra was badly frightened. Some
ex-followers still are.
Michael and Chandra's departure sparked a small exodus from the
ashram. Some of the ex-followers began to meet and compare notes on
their experiences in the ashram. "We were amazed and rejuvenated,"
said Richard Grimes. "We got more energy from learning he was a con
man than we ever did thinking he was a real person."
Just the same, the devotees who left the ashram are still dealing with
the damage done to their lives. Michael and Chandra's marriage broke
up, as did Sally's. Michael is only now coming out of a period of
depression and emptiness. Richard and Lotte Grimes are bitter at
having wasted years of their lives in the ashram. Stan Trout still
considers Muktananda a great yogi, but a tragically flawed man.
Chandra Dinga has taken years to come to terms with her experience
with Muktananda; "Your whole frame of reference becomes askew," she
said. "What you would normally think to be right or wrong no longer
has any place. The underlying premise is that everything the guru does
is for your own good. The guru does no wrong. When I finally realized
that everything he did was not for our own good, I had to leave."
Muktananda’s two successors were at the Oakland ashram in May end I
asked Swami Chidvilasananda about the accusations against her guru.
To her knowledge, did Muktananda have sex with women in the ashram?
"Not as far as I saw," she said carefully. What about the charge that
Muktananda had sex with young girls? "Those girls never came to us,"
Chidvilasananda said. "And we never saw it, we only heard it when
Chandra talked to everybody else."
Chidvilasananda also denied that there was a bank account in
Switzerland. When asked about the ashram's finances, she said that all
income was put back into facilities. "We are a break-even
proposition," the new leader said.
As for the alleged beatings, she said that Americans had their own
ways of doing things. She said, "You can't blame the guru, because the
guru doesn't teach that."
Why then, I asked, do the other ex-devotees I talked with support the
Dingas in their charges?
Chidvilasananda replied, "I'm very glad they gave you a very nice
story to cover themselves up and I want to tell you I don't want to
get into this story because I know their story, too, and I do not want
to say anything about it." When I said, "You have a chance to tell us
whether or not you think these are accurate charges, falsehoods, or
delusions," Malti's answer was: "I’m not going to probe into people's
minds and try to find out what the truth is."
Two swamis and a number of present followers also said the charges
were not true. Others say they simply don't believe them.
On the subject of money, foundation chief Ed Oliver conceded in an
October 1, l983, interview with the Los Angeles Times that there is a
Swiss account with 1.5 million dollars in it. And when I repeated
Swami Chidvilasananda's denials about women complaining to her, Mary,
the woman who says the guru seduced her in South Fallsburg, said,
"Well, that's an out-and-out lie."
"The sins committed at any other place are destroyed at a holy centre,
but those committed at a holy centre stick tenaciously - it is
difficult to wash them away." -Muktananda
THIS IS a story of serious accusations made against a spiritual leader
who is still prayed to and revered by thousands. Even his detractors
say Muktananda gave them a great deal in the beginning. "He put out a
force field around him," said Michael Dinga. "You could palpably feel
the force coming off him. It gave me the feeling I had latched onto
something that would answer my questions." Former devotees say
Muktananda's eyes had a kind of light; when they first met the guru,
he radiated love and benevolence. He also had a way of making his
devotees feel special.
"I think he liked me so much because I wasn't taken by all the visions
and the sounds," said Chandra, "that I understood that having an
experience of God was something much more substantial and more
ordinary." Chandra still feels that spirituality is the most important
thing in her life. She says the gradual unfolding of the dark side of
her guru's personality chipped away at her love and respect. "When you
have a loved one you never dream that he might hurt you. At the end, I
was devastated." Yet despite the unsavory conclusion to her ten years
with the swami, Chandra still notes, "if I had it to do over again, I
still wouldn't trade the experience for anything in the world."
In a way, the sex, the violence, and the corruption aren't the real
point. Muktananda's personal shortcomings were bad enough, explained
Michael Dinga, but "the worst of it was that he wasn't who he said he
was."
A person can make spiritual progress under a corrupt master, just as
placebos can actually make you feel better. But how far can a person
really grow spiritually under a master who doesn't himself live the
truth? There was a tremendous split between what Muktananda preached
and what he did, and his hypocrisy only made it worse. His successors
are now in a dilemma: If they admit their guru's sins, Chidvilasananda
and Nityananda lose their god-figure, and weaken their claim to a
lineage of perfect masters. But if they don't, people who come to them
looking for truth are courting disappointment.
Stan Trout, formerly Swami Abhayananda, served Muktananda for ten
years as a teacher and ashram director. He left in 1981. "My summary
withdrawal from Muktananda’s organization was also a withdrawal from
what I had considered my fraternal family, my friends, and able all,
my life’s work," he wrote us. He sent this open letter after reading a
draft of "The Secret Life of Swami Muktananda," in which he is quoted.
- Art Kleiner
Letter From a Former Swami
by Stan Trout
I’d like to add this letter, if possible, as an appendix to the
article on Muktananda by William Rodarmor. It is a statement of my
thoughts and opinions of Muktananda after two years of deep
deliberation following my discovery of his ‘secret life’.
When I left Muktananda’s service, I did so because I had just learned
of the threatening action he had taken against some of his long-time
devotees who had recently left his service. He had sent two of his
body-guards to deliver threats to two young married women who had been
speaking to other women who had been speaking to others of
Muktananda’s sexual liaisons with a number of young girls in his
ashram. It was immediately clear to me that I could not represent a
guru who was not only taking sexual advantage of his female devotees
but was threatening with bodily harm those who revealed the truth
about him. However, after I had left Muktananda and had make the
reasons for my departure known to others still in his service, another
issue came to light for me, teaching me something not only about
Muktananda’s, but about the nature of the organization and all other
such organizations in which the leader is regarded as infallible by
his followers, and is therefore obeyed implicitly.
When Chandra and Michael Dinga and later myself realized the truth
about Muktananda and his secret sex life, there was absolutely no
means available to present the evidence for a fair hearing or
judgment. There was no recourse but to leave, for the guru was the
sole appeal, and he was as accustomed to lying as he was to breathing.
Yet his word was regarded by followers as so absolutely final that
when each of us left and were branded "demons" by him, not a single
soul among those who had been our brother and sister devotees for ten
years questioned or objected, but unamimouly rejected us outright as
the demented infidels he said we were. One has only to observe the way
each of us who discovered the guru’s secret life were treated by our
former comrades to understand the power for evil inherent in any
relationship based on the infallibility of the leader and the
unquestioned obedience of the subjects...
It is clear to me that not only had the girls with whom Muktananda
practiced his sexual diversions committed acts to which they had given
no moral or rational consent, but so had the men who were ordered to
threaten them with violence, and so had I myself when I had followed
Muktananda’s orders to express to others opinions which I did not
sincerely hold. It is a sad but perennial phenomenon: Out of a love
for truth and for those who teach it and appear to embody it, we
unwittingly set ourselves up for exploitation and betrayal. Our
mistake is to deify another being and attribute perfection to him.
From that point on everything is admissible.
I think the lesson to be learned is that we simply cannot afford to
relinquish our individual sovereignty - whether it be in a socio-
political setting or in a religious congregation. Those who willingly
put aside their own autonomy, their own moral judgment, to obey even a
Christ, a Buddha, or a Krishna, do so at risk of losing a great deal
more than they can hope to gain.
About Muktananda himself I have thought a great deal. There is no
doubt in my mind that he was an extraordinarily enlightened, learned,
and articulate man who possessed a singular power, a dynamic personal
radiance and charisma that drew people to him and inspired them to lay
their lives at his feet. Surely such a power is divine; yet there is
no way to justify the way in which he used this power. If God himself
were to behave in this way, we would have to find him guilty of
flagrant disregard for the law of love.
Some may say, ‘He did no worse than any of us have done, or would do
if we could.’ And I would answer, ‘No; he did worse than any of use
have done or would have done in his place. For, though he was only
human like the rest of us, he staged a deliberate campaign of deceit
to convince gentle souls that he had transcended the limitations of
mankind, that through realizing the eternal Self, he had attained holy
"perfection." He planted and nourished false, impossible dreams in the
hears of innocent, faithful souls and sacrificed them to his sport.
With malicious glee, he cunningly stole from hundreds of trusting
souls their hearts and wills, their self-trust, their very sanity,
their very lives. No ordinary, good person could do this, no matter
how he tried; his heart and conscience would not allow it.
Like all of us, Muktananda was only human. And, like all men who
worship power, he was inevitably corrupted and destroyed by it. His
power could not save him form the weakness of the flesh, nor from the
wickedness and depravity that servitude to it brings. He ended as a
feeble-minded sadistic tyrant, luring devout little girls to his bed
every night with promises of grace and self-realization.
Muktananda’s claim of "perfection" (Siddha-hood) was based on the
notion that a person who has become enlightened has thereby also
become "perfect" and absolutely free of human weakness. This is
nonsense; it is a myth perpetrated by dishonest men who wish to
receive the reverence and adoration due God alone. There is no
absolute assurance that enlightenment necessitates the moral virtue of
a person. There is no guarantee against the weakness of anger, lust,
and greed in the human soul. The enlightened are on an equal footing
with the ignorant in the struggle against their own evil - the only
difference being that the enlightened person knows the truth, and has
no excuse for betraying it.
Throughout history there have been many enlightened souls who have
been thought great, who, in the pride of their perfection and freedom,
have imagined themselves to be beyond the constraints of God’s laws,
and who have thus fallen from love and lost the glory the once had.
Those glorious Babes and Bhagwans, thinking to build their kingdom
here on earth upon the ruins of the young souls devoted to them, often
succeed for a time in fooling many and in gathering a large and
festive following, but their deeds also follow them and proclaim their
truth long after the paeans of praise have been sung and wafted away
on the air. "God is not mocked"; there is no freedom, no liberation,
from His law of love, nor from His inescapable justice. It is indeed
often those very persons who have thought themselves most perfect,
most free and ungoverned, who have fallen most grievously; and their
piteous fall is an occasion for great sadness, and should serve as a
clear reminder of caution to us all.
The Rick A. Ross Institute
email: in...@rickross.com URL: http://www.rickross.com
Copyright © 2001-2008 Rick Ross.
http://www.rickross.com/groups/saibaba.html
chhotemianinshallah
bademiyansubhanallah
By Associate Editor David Stevenson
Mar 11, 2010
Head to the continent for better returns
With the pound falling so far, Britain is fast becoming poor value for
money, for its inhabitants at least.
If you live here, you're probably fed up with it. Overseas holidays
are more expensive. Imported goods are more costly. You're seeing
prices being pushed up both in the shops and at the petrol pump.
Even the people who should be cashing in, the exporters, aren't. The
UK's last trade figures were rubbish, as we note below.
So, everyone's a loser? No, not at all - you could gain from the
plunging pound. Not only would you protect your money – you can also
collect a decent income stream while you're doing it.
We spotlighted one way of doing this last week by investing in the US.
Here's another – this time in Europe...
The current outlook for sterling is grim
You won't need reminding that we're not too keen on our nation's
currency right now. We don't want to see the pound drop – we just
reckon that under current government policy (if that's the right word
for it), it will. For our spendthrift politicians it's just a case of
spend and overspend – then getting the Bank of England to print plenty
more money to fuel their habit.
The trouble is that the plunging pound doesn't seem to be doing anyone
in Britain much good. With a few notable exceptions, the country's
exporters – the ones who are meant to save us from perpetual
stagnation – aren't benefiting. Although their goods are now much
cheaper for global customers to buy, they're selling fewer of them.
January export goods volumes dropped by 8%. Excluding some data
distortions three years ago, that was the worst monthly drop since
2002.
Sterling fell yet further on this news. Even against the much-maligned
euro, it's now dropped below €1.10 to its lowest level since last
November. Maybe that's no great surprise.
The countries that have dragged the euro down, such as Ireland, Greece
and Portugal, are now starting to plug the holes in their public
finances. They may well fail to do so, but at least they're showing
the right attitude.
Not so in the UK. Electioneering and austerity don't go well together.
And the longer our government delays before cutting – or being forced
by the markets to slash – our budget deficit, the grimmer the outlook
gets for sterling.
In the meantime, the UK's bank base rate remains at just 0.5%. So
while the pound is falling, the interest rates paid on savings
accounts, which are broadly linked to the base rate, are still
desperately poor.
How to beat the falling pound
However, as long as you're content to take some risk with your capital
– and do understand that investing in the stock market is risky – then
you can beat both negligible interest rates and the falling pound.
That's because there are still some high-yielding shares around that
provide a decent income. Even better, there are four reasons why
buying such shares – in Europe – could, over time, make you good
capital profits as well.
First, if sterling falls further, you could make money on the currency
front as well as in the stock market. Although the reverse is clearly
true, too, so you need more reason to like these stocks than simply
because they trade in euros or another European currency.
Second, a healthy dividend yield means that a share price is low
compared with the level of its payouts to shareholders. That suggests
it's also good value relative to the underlying company's profits and
assets. And in the long run, you'll make more money buying cheap
shares than expensive ones.
Why UK property prices are going to fall 50%
When it will be time to get back in and buy up half price property
Third, and this is a very long-term view, increasing numbers of 'baby
boomers' – those born within 20 years of WWII – will be retiring over
the next two decades. This will mean steadily more investors looking
for better income returns than the bank is currently paying. In turn,
as they buy high-yielding shares, they'll push up prices.
Fourth, as the European equity strategy team at Morgan Stanley points
out, when stock markets are roaring ahead, they don't worry too much
about dividends. Traders are more excited in 'churning and burning' –
buying and then selling out fast for quick profits. But when those
markets become more 'range-bound', i.e. there's much less scope for
big share price rises overall, income becomes a much larger part of
investors' thinking.
Indeed – and this statistic is fascinating – since 1926, European
shares have risen in real, i.e. inflation-adjusted, terms by just 1.3%
a year. But add in dividends which are reinvested in more shares, and
the annual total real return jumps up to 5.6% over that same period.
Three top European stocks to buy now
So what are the top dividend paying stocks in Europe right now?
Well, if you've been reading Money Morning regularly over the last few
months, you'll have seen quite a few high-yield tips appearing. So
I'll stick to three of those we haven't yet mentioned.
Top of Morgan Stanley's list of stocks "with a high and secure
dividend yield" is Italian utility A2A (IM: A2A). It produces and
distributes electricity, sells gas and collects rubbish in the North
of Italy. It's on a p/e of 12 and prospective yield of 7.4%. If
there's a slight caveat for me, it's that the payout is only covered
1.1 times by earnings. But that's probably being picky, as the
company's cash flow is 2.5 times the dividend – so there's plenty of
cash coming in to cover it.
Dividend cover is certainly not an issue at Zurich Financial Services
(VX: ZURN), where the payment is almost twice covered. Yet Zurich is
on a forecast multiple for this year of just 8.6, with a prospective
6% yield. Meanwhile, across the border in Germany, energy supplier RWE
(GY: RWE) looks just as solid. A 2010 forecast p/e of 9.2, and a
prospective yield of 5.8%, mark this stock down as very good value.
We wouldn't advise putting all of your investment money into any one
currency, be it sterling, euros, dollars or yen. But at times like
these in particular, it's not a bad idea to be diversified. And more
to the point, these are solid stocks – so even if the currency moves
against you, you know the underlying asset remains solid. And look on
the bright side. If you buy shares like these, the next time you hear
about another slide in sterling, you'll know at least someone who's
managed to get on to a winner.
• If you're interested in high-yielding, blue-chip stocks, you should
take a look at Stephen Bland's Dividend Letter. Stephen aims to
produce a solid, steadily growing income by investing in large
companies – you can learn more about his strategy here .
Our recommended article for today
Three signals to watch for safer investing
When you've been investing for a while, you come to notice certain
signals that the stock market throws up, says Tom Bulford. Here, he
outlines three that should keep you one step ahead of the market's
movements.
Profit from Canada's cheap telcos
By David Stevenson, Mar 12, 2010
http://www.moneyweek.com/investment-advice/share-tips-canada-telecoms-47725.aspx
Profit from the global water shortage
By Tim Bennett, Mar 12, 2010
http://www.moneyweek.com/investment-advice/profit-from-the-global-water-shortage-47709.aspx
Share tip of the week: bargain medical giant
By Paul Hill, Mar 12, 2010
http://www.moneyweek.com/investment-advice/paul-hill-share-tip-of-the-week-bargain-medical-giant-47710.aspx
Gamble of the week: world leader in electronic security
Mar 12, 2010
http://www.moneyweek.com/investment-advice/paul-hill-share-tips-gamble-electronic-security-47712.aspx
http://www.moneyweek.com/investment-advice.aspx
Comments
1. Neil
(11 March 2010, 10:53AM)
Although these shares have a nice yeild attached the article doesn't
point out that you can lose some of this yield to foreign withholding
tax which seems to be a minefield to navigate! I'd appreciate this
topic being covered in a future moneyweek article.
2. Harish Karia
(11 March 2010, 05:14PM)
Every now & than you refer to stocks which are listed somewhere else,
BUT how do I buy them? and what about the tax implications?
I have all of my stocks & shares in self selct ISA, I am not sure if I
will be allowed to buy the recomanded stocks? I am with Alliance &
Trust Savings
3. Roger
(11 March 2010, 06:04PM)
Neil,
The new tax rules on foreign dividends mean that you can claim at
least some UK tax relief on foreign withholding tax. You have to fill
out the foreign section of a UK self assessment return. I just let
taxcalc calculate it for me, and it isn't really a problem.
4. Jeff
(11 March 2010, 09:14PM)
TW Waterhouse offers low cost overseas dealing on a number of
exchanges.
Taxation of dividends does seem to be a complex issue with 20%
witholding taxes & hopeless guidance on how to enter this in tax
returns from the UK tax authorities.
5. Neil
(12 March 2010, 12:37PM)
Thanks Roger, however due to various salary sacrifice schemes I am not
required to complete a self assessement return, like the other posters
I find the rules utterly confusing, and I stick with the mantra of not
investing in something I don't understand (which is very unfortunate
as I would like to invest in single shares outside of the LSE).
6. Neil
(12 March 2010, 12:39PM)
I should add of course investing in US listed shares are easy as I
have completed a W8-BEN form and just renew this every 3 years. It's
the European shares that seem to present the most difficulty
http://www.moneyweek.com/investment-advice/share-tips-high-yielding-eurozone-stocks-01010.aspx
MoneyWeek Roundup: How mad scientists will save the economy By
MoneyWeek Editor John Stepek Mar 13, 2010
This is where we highlight some of the best bits from our free emails,
newsletters, blog and MoneyWeek magazine that we've published in the
past week.
● The markets have had a good week this week. Greece is becoming a
distant memory, the Eurocrats are threatening to exterminate
speculators, and investors even took a surge in Chinese inflation in
their stride.
Sterling is still being battered of course. And as my colleague David
Stevenson pointed out this week, our ever-expanding trade deficit
shows it's still not doing us any good.
Despite the weak pound, "the country's exporters – the ones who are
meant to save us from perpetual stagnation – aren't benefiting.
Although their goods are now much cheaper for global customers to buy,
they're selling fewer of them. January export goods volumes dropped by
8%. Excluding some data distortions three years ago, that was the
worst monthly drop since 2002."
● That puts the whole debate about 'rebalancing' the British economy
into perspective. We've relied too much on financial services, and
unfortunately, we've thrown away what little money we had left on
bailing out the banks. The good news is, the world's more
entrepreneurial scientists aren't waiting for governments to get
behind them.
"Craig Venter said he was going to change medicine – everyone thought
he was a maniac," points out Dr Mike Tubbs in his Research Investments
newsletter.
"But seven years ago the former Vietnam veteran beat an army of
government scientists to the biggest medical advance in decades –
decoding the human genome.
"The state sponsored Human Genome Project had been busy sequencing the
three billion biochemical blocks in our DNA for years... and running
up a $3bn bill in the process.
"But Dr Venter beat them to it. And in an instant, a colossal new
medical sector came of age. By deconstructing the human body cell by
cell, scientists believe they will uncover the genetic roots of the
most complex diseases – from cancer to Alzheimer's.
"That heralds a new age of personalised medicine – allowing doctors to
gauge our risk for conditions such as cancer and diabetes and taking
pre-emptive action.
"And so today a vast industry has sprung up – using the techniques
developed by the likes of Craig Venter in a race to decode these
diseases and use this knowledge to find new treatments. The market for
personalised medicine will reach $42bn by 2015, according to
PriceWaterhouseCoopers."
Mike's Research Investments newsletter is based around buying
companies that put serious investment into research and development in
areas like these. And he's not the only one who believes that
scientific developments provide a ripe hunting ground for investors.
● "Last month I met a man who has been in the business of making money
from science for the last 25 years. Phil Atkin has watched successive
governments downplay the efforts of his kind while applauding the
relentless rise of the financial sector," says Tom Bulford in his
Penny Sleuth free email.
"Finally we have woken up to the realisation that the latter does not
produce any real wealth at all. And this means Atkin's time may
finally have come – especially after a special announcement made last
week…"
Atkins heads up Scientific Digital Imaging (LSE: SDI). As with most
science companies, explaining what it does is complicated, so you can
read Tom's piece if you want to know the details. But basically it
makes various measurement and imaging devices for laboratories.
"SDI is certainly one to keep an eye on," says Tom. "Chairman Harry
Tee was the driving force behind Roxboro, which made plenty of money
for investors in the 1990s. He is also chairman of another fast
growing company, Dialight (DIA).
"Better than our politicians he understands what is required to build
a science-based business. This one is definitely on the Red Hot Penny
Shares radar screen."
● Last week's debate on ethical investing attracted quite a few
thoughtful responses. Most agreed with our view that we should be
presenting readers with money-making opportunities and leaving the
ethical decisions to them.
But I just had to share this reader's take on the ethics of investing
in tobacco firms… "Until a couple of years ago, I too avoided owning
any tobacco company shares, figuring that it would be unethical to
profit from a company that depends for its continued growth on getting
more people addicted to a substance known to directly cause several
serious health issues.
"However, I changed my mind when we returned from a family holiday in
France. Sitting at a table on the ferry (in an open area) two people
sat down at the same table with us and, without asking if it would be
ok and ignoring the fact that we had our young son sitting with us,
proceeded to light up and blow smoke around. The problem was that the
wind blew it straight to us on the other side of the table.
"This inconsiderate behaviour so incensed me that I vowed as soon as
we got home that I would buy some BAT shares, so that I felt I could
at least get my own back in some way by part funding my retirement
thanks to the behaviour of people that ignore all the warnings and
inflict their brand of poison on those around them as well.
"If you can't beat them, profit from them!"
● Riccardo Marzi, the ex-City trader behind the Events Trader
newsletter, knows how to draw a reader's attention. Here's the
headline from his latest issue: "How you could profit from a deadly
virus outbreak in Chile".
I winced as I thought of the complaints that would flood in. Then I
read the piece. The "deadly virus" in question is killing off salmon,
not people. Phew. Still, it's a pretty miserable experience for
Chile's salmon farmers. The country is the world's second-largest
producer of the fish. And with its annual production down about 70%
year-on-year, salmon prices are going up.
And you can guess what that means for the rest of the world's salmon
farmers. A profit bonanza. "Norway is the world's biggest exporter of
salmon. It will take at least 18 months for the Chilean salmon
industry to raise fish to maturity – if they manage to get the disease
under control. In that time Norwegian salmon groups will enjoy a major
boost to their earnings," says Riccardo.
● We're sceptical on China's growth 'miracle'. But that's no reason to
write off the whole of Asia. Cris Sholto Heaton, the man behind the
MoneyWeek Asia free email (if you don't already get it, I advise you
to sign up for it right now) is currently testing out a newsletter in
which he tips individual stocks. The second edition came out earlier
this week. If you'd like to be kept informed of when it goes live,
just give us your email here.
In Cris's latest piece, he looks at one vital piece of infrastructure
that many parts of Asia are entirely lacking right now, and will need
a lot of in the future. It's not roads, or sewage systems, or railways
- it's software. I'll let Cris explain.
"In the West, banks have used computers for processing data and
transactions since the sixties. But these were huge, complex and
costly systems dedicated to specific functions. Picture a huge humming
room of densely packed computers running a bank's data – the kind you
would see in Cold War movies. If you had two different systems
working on a similar task, they couldn't talk to each other and share
data.
"But over that last decade or so, things have become much more
sophisticated. State-of-the-art banking systems are tightly
integrated, with all the key software running in the same framework
and sharing information. And as a result of this, they've become much
more powerful and useful.
"Computers no longer simply store data, but can monitor accounts for
fraud, improve risk management by credit-scoring potential borrowers,
and on top of that, they run schemes such as airmiles and loyalty
cards to gather information about customers and increase usage.
"Systems like this are standard in Europe and North America. But in
the emerging world, it's obviously much more variable. Some countries
and banks are pretty advanced. Others make what a British bank was
using twenty years ago seem sophisticated.
"So most emerging market banks are going to have to invest billions in
better IT over the next couple of decades. Not only do many have a
long way to go to bring their existing systems up to modern standards,
but they're also going to need to expand to cope with hundreds of
millions of new potential customers.
And this means that emerging markets should offer very good growth
prospects for the firms that develop and maintain these highly
specialised systems."
● Last week I wrote a piece about what people could learn from the
plight of the 'king and queen of buy-to-let'. Fergus and Judith Wilson
are two ex-maths teachers who built a portfolio of hundreds of houses
in Kent during the boom times. They ran into some difficulties in the
crunch, but when the Bank of England slashed interest rates, it had
the knock-on effect of cutting their costs.
The piece drew a lot of comment – as most of our property pieces do,
which is as strong an indicator as any that we're still in bubble
territory. But I also got an email from Fergus himself. He described
the piece as a "very fair article", so I gave him a call to get his
take on the market.
The way Fergus sees it, the real problem is with flats, rather than
the houses that he predominately lets out. "These blocks of flats in
northern cities have been a complete disaster. I have 30 flats which I
regret having. They've fallen in value, whereas the houses have seen a
reasonable increase in the last two years."
Now, on the one hand, I'd agree that the epicentre of the housing
market collapse was always going to be in the market for dodgy flats.
And with the bank rate as low as it is, at 0.5%, Fergus is in a sweet
spot – he reckons the typical £180,000 house, with a £140,000
mortgage, is costing him about £300 a month on the mortgage. If it's
let for £700 a month, with £100 going to the letting agent, then he
clears £300.
But with the market stagnant, it can't be easy to offload all those
properties to first-time buyers – they can't afford it. And what
happens if interest rates rise?
Fergus, who's nearly 62, reckons we'll be lucky to see a 2.5% bank
rate again in his lifetime. "The government won't be that stupid.
Every time rates go up, more people will become homeless."
I can't say I'm convinced. The Bank of England needs to take far more
into account when it sets the bank rate than just its impact on the
property market. The only way that interest rates can remain that low
for that long, is if Britain goes the way of Japan. And in Japan,
house prices are still 60% lower than they were at the start of the
bust.
I certainly don't wish the Wilsons any ill. But our chat just
confirmed in my mind that the current rebound is a temporary blip
before the market starts heading down again.
● And it's not just the property market that's set for harder times
ahead. Tim Price of PFP Wealth Management tells readers of The Price
Report to watch out. "Last week I was invited to present at the
Private Wealth Management Conference in Smithfield. There I listened
to a lot of people I've known and respected for most of my career. And
there were two very clear concerns coming through.
"First, how do I avoid getting burned by stocks again? After the
gyrations in the market over the last two years, there was a lot of
talk of not placing too much faith in equities – because it's
unwarranted. The question everyone wanted to ask was – how long could
this bear market in stocks go on for?
"The second real concern among private wealth managers is inflation.
I'm not the only one worried about governments printing their way out
of this crisis, as it turns out. If there is a dangerous bout of
inflation on the way, how do we protect our wealth?"
I'm running out of space to go into the details here, but suffice to
say, Tim reckons that there's another down-leg to come in the bear
market. As for inflation, he doesn't see it taking off just yet, but
there are some assets you should be holding for when it does. Find out
more about The Price Report here.
Related articles
Recovery hopes fade as trade gap widens
Mar 12, 2010
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/recovery-hopes-fade-as-trade-gap-widens-47702.aspx
The crisis isn't over yet
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/merryn-somerset-webb-the-crisis-isnt-over-yet-47701.aspx
By Merryn Somerset Webb, Mar 12, 2010
Money is pouring out of the UK - here's how to protect yourself
http://www.moneyweek.com/investments/money-morning-sterling-crisis-bank-liabilities-01002.aspx
By David Stevenson, Mar 08, 2010
MoneyWeek Roundup: Profit from sterling's woes
By John Stepek, Mar 06, 2010
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/moneyweek-roundup-sat-06-march-00913.aspx
Useful links
• Tom Bulford's newsletter Red Hot Penny Shares
http://www.fsponline-recommends.co.uk/page.aspx?u=rhpoil2010fn&tc=MRHPL308&PromotionID=2147066760&
• Riccardo Marzi's newsletter Events Trader
http://www.fsponline-recommends.co.uk/page.aspx?u=evtsignup+&tc=WEVTK901&PromotionID=2147066676&
• Tim Price's newsletter, The Price Report
http://www.fsponline-recommends.co.uk/page.aspx?u=tprsell&tc=WTPRL301&PromotionID=2147066781
• Dr Mike Tubbs' Research Investments newsletter - enquiries for this
exclusive service are by phone only, call 020 7633 3600
Related articles
Get a double-digit income on blue-chips
By Theo Casey, Mar 12, 2010
http://www.moneyweek.com/investment-advice/how-to-invest/investment-strategy-get-a-double-digit-income-on-blue-chips-47713.aspx
Don't dodge tax only to walk into losses
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How to spot bubbles before they blow
By Tim Bennett, Feb 26, 2010
The party's over for corporate bonds
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Economics
Asian economy
A slump in China is inevitable - here's how to protect yourself (12
March 10)
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/money-morning-china-economy-01011.aspx
Australia's luck is running out (12 March 10)
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/australia-economy-47706.aspx
Will China float its currency? (12 March 10)
http://www.moneyweek.com/investments/currencies-china-renminbi-dollar-peg-47718.aspx
European economy
Iceland votes 'no' on debt repayment (12 March 10)
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/iceland-votes-no-on-debt-repayment-47703.aspx
Governments seek scapegoats for euro woes (12 March 10)
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/euro-collapse-hedge-funds-47708.aspx
Spain: a 'real test case' for the euro (05 March 10)
http://www.moneyweek.com/investments/spain-a-real-test-case-for-the-euro-47699.aspx
Global economy
A slump in China is inevitable - here's how to protect yourself (12
March 10)
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/money-morning-china-economy-01011.aspx
Will China float its currency? (12 March 10)
http://www.moneyweek.com/investments/currencies-china-renminbi-dollar-peg-47718.aspx
Australia's luck is running out (12 March 10)
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/australia-economy-47706.aspx
Japanese economy
The story of Japan's 20-year slump (05 February 10)
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/bill-bonner-japans-20-year-slump-47241.aspx
Japan leads the way...through a minefield (28 January 10)
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/ecomony-credit-japan-leads-the-way-through-a-minefield-47146.aspx
We've learnt all the wrong lessons from Japan (08 January 10)
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/weve-learnt-all-the-wrong-lessons-from-japan-46817.aspx
UK economy
MoneyWeek Roundup: How mad scientists will save the economy (13 March
10)
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/moneyweek-roundup-saturday-13-march-01012.aspx
Recovery hopes fade as trade gap widens (12 March 10)
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/recovery-hopes-fade-as-trade-gap-widens-47702.aspx
US economy
Interest rates are rising in the US (19 February 10)
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/interest-rates-are-rising-in-the-us-00714.aspx
Stocks will suffer as baby boomers grow old (19 February 10)
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/baby-boomers-blow-bubbles-47408.aspx
Can farming save Detroit? (12 February 10)
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/can-farming-save-detroit-47302.aspx
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics.aspx
End of Keynesian Blood Sucking Parasitic Economic System
Economics / Economic Theory
Mar 13, 2010 - 06:04 AM
By: Gary_North
On March 11, I spoke at the annual Austrian Scholars Conference,
sponsored by the Ludwig von Mises Institute. It was gratifying to see
so many attendees that they could not fit into one room.
The Mises Institute is a high-tech outfit. They set up a video camera,
and the speech appeared on monitors in other rooms. It will also go on-
line within a few days. This will be free. Anyone in the world with
Web access can see it from now on. This is a great model for
communication and education.
My topic was "Keynes and His Influence." My goal is to recruit half a
dozen bright young scholars to begin a joint project in refuting
Keynes' General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (1936) line
by line. I have set up a department on my Website to this end.
I tried to make four main points in my speech.
1. Keynes' influence has been indirect (mediated).
2. His legacy will soon be uniquely vulnerable.
3. Only the Austrians called the 2008 recession.
4. It is time for a comprehensive refutation of Keynes
THE MOST INFLUENTIAL MODERN ECONOMIST
There is no question that John Maynard Keynes was the most influential
economist in the 20th century. Yet his influence has been different
from what economists and the intelligentsia have believed.
In a filmed interview of Keynes' main rival in 1935, but not in 1965,
F. A. Hayek, an Austrian School economist, made an important point.
Keynes was influential in 1946, the year of his death, but his
influence was not yet overwhelming. That came later. Hayek did not say
how much later. It came within five years. You can see the video here.
The key to Keynes' influence was the 1948 textbook written by Paul
Samuelson, Economics. It became the most widely assigned college
textbook in economics. It had no major competition for at least three
decades, and its competitors were also Keynesian in outlook.
Samuelson promoted Keynes' ideas, but he used a very different format.
He did not quote Keynes at length. He presented what has since been
called the neo-Keynesian synthesis. He applied Keynes' fundamental
principle of deficit spending in the Great Depression to the overall
economy in a post-depression world. He really did try to make general
the General Theory, which the book had not been.
The General Theory was highly specific. It was a program designed to
counteract falling spending and a falling money supply in an era in
which there was no government insurance for failed banks or their
depositors. It was a program to offset widespread hoarding of
currency. From the day that the FDIC was created in 1934, American
banks stopped failing, and the money supply started to rise. Keynes
wrote his book after this transition in the United States. The book
was a theoretical defense of policies that had already been adopted in
the United States and Western Europe, and which World War II would
escalate: deficit spending, mass inflation, and a vast expansion of
the government's share of the economy. This is not how the Keynesians
have told the story. It is how the story ought to be told. I am trying
to recruit economists and historians who will commit several years of
research to telling it.
Keynes' "General Theory" has long been an unread book that sits on the
shelves of economics graduate students and professors. No one actually
has read it except specialists in the history of economic thought. The
book is close to unreadable. Compared to his earlier books and essays,
it is uniquely unreadable. We do not see its formulas quoted as proof
of contemporary policies or recommended policies. The literature cited
in economists' footnotes is what we can legitimately call Keynesian,
but this literature is an extension of Keynes' work, not Keynes'
actual work.
Whether Keynes would approve of what is recommended in his name is
moot. Hayek spoke to Keynes a few weeks before he died. According to
Hayek, Keynes was not happy with developments being offered in his
name.
Keynes had always been an opponent of inflation. His earlier works
repeatedly warned against the threat of inflation. Yet, by 1945,
inflation was a way of life in the West.
We should compare The General Theory to Charles Darwin's Origin of
Species. Darwinists rarely quote Darwin to support their latest
papers. They cite him as the originator of the idea of evolution
through natural selection. Attacks on Darwin's actual exposition are
shrugged off by his followers as irrelevant. We find an entire school
of Darwinists who preach an idea that is opposed to what Darwin
taught: the "punctuated evolutionism." Darwin believed in tiny changes
over long periods of time. They believe in huge changes in brief
periods of time. Still, they call themselves Darwinists. Why? Because
they believe in his Big Idea: purposeless, random causation prior to
man.
The same is true of Keynes' General Theory. It was Keynes' primary
idea that dominates the thinking of economists: government budget
deficits as the means of overcoming economic slumps. As to simple
formulas and concepts in the book, modern economists rarely cite them
in professional journals. If one or more specifics of the book are
refuted, his supporters shrug it off. Keynes' influence relates to the
one big idea, just as Darwin's influence does.
The specifics in the book are forgotten today, such as his statement
that the government could plant bottles full of money, bury them, and
let workers dig them up for a living. He also said that building the
equivalent of Egypt's pyramids would help restore prosperity. He
really believed this. His disciples do not refer to these passages.
When pressured by critics, they dismiss them as merely rhetorical.
They were rhetorical, but not merely rhetorical.
A VULNERABLE LEGACY
Today, Keynesians insist that their man was right. They take credit
for the recovery since late 2009, such as it is. This assertion is
widely accepted. It is so widely accepted that Wikipedia has an
article on it: "Keynesian Resurgence."
Yet the reality is far different from the perception. Keynes' solution
in 1936 was a program of fiscal deficits, coupled with mild monetary
expansion in a time of monetary contraction. These government deficits
were supposed to stimulate consumer spending.
Yet the heart of the U.S. government's program in 2008 was not the
$787 billion spending program. Rather, it was the prior doubling of
the Federal Reserve's monetary base, the FED's face-value swaps of its
marketable Treasury debt for unmarketable toxic assets owned by the
biggest banks, the AIG bailout, and the subsequent $1.25 trillion
pumped into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, after their nationalization by
Henry Paulson in September 2008. None of this was Keynesian. All of it
was ad hoc monetary inflation and central bank subsidies to large
banks.
Keynes recommended government spending and employment by government.
He did not recommend central bank bailouts of large banks. He focused
on fiscal policy, not monetary policy.
The biggest banks were saved by these interventions. Small banks
continue to go under, Friday afternoon after Friday afternoon. The
banking industry as a whole has contracted its loans to commercial and
industrial firms. Banks have added over $1 trillion to their excess
reserves at the FED, thereby sterilizing money. This is anti-
Keynesian: a restriction of spending, meaning a reduction in aggregate
demand compared to what would otherwise have been the case.
Keynesianism as an idea has received a shot in the arm – mainly with
fiat money, not Federal deficits. Yes, the deficits have been
enormous, just not by comparison to central banks' money creation. The
deficits are unprecedented, all over the world. Yet the economic
recovery is universally criticized as weak.
If enormous deficits are not serving as stimuli for widespread
recovery, then what credit should Keynes get? Keynesians are saying
that government policies kept the world economy from collapse. But
this is not the same as saying that the policies have restored
prosperity. They haven't.
There have been some protests by economists. Several hundred academic
economists, mostly in obscure universities, publicly protested the
stimulus package.
But no group of economists, other than the Austrians, said in 2008
that the FED should do nothing, that Fannie and Freddie should be
allowed to go under, and that the stimulus bill should be voted down.
With only this exception, the entire academic community of economists
became cheerleaders for the FED's bailouts of 2008. They sold their
non-Keynesian birthrights for a mess of Federal Reserve pottage.
The silence of the profession in 2008 and after has boxed them in.
They are defenders of moral hazard, despite their timid warnings to
the contrary.
If one person has summarized the alternative economic scenarios facing
us, it is Merle Hazard. Merle is not his real name. He is a financial
planner in Nashville. He began performing on YouTube in 2009. He and
his partner, Bretton Wood, sang the question: "Will it be Zimbabwe or
Japan?" So far, it's Japan.
The governments of the West have made one thing inescapably clear.
They do not intend to enforce high bank capital ratios established by
the Bank for International Settlements. The European Union and the
European Central Bank have also made it clear that they will not
enforce EU rules on the deficit-to-GDP ratio. There is only one rule
today: "Tax and tax, spend and spend, inflate and inflate."
The looming bankruptcies of Western governments and Japan are now
becoming clearer to the literate public. Observers are becoming more
Austrian in their perception. Investors do not accept this scenario
emotionally, but the numbers are clear. There will have to be a
cutting back of Medicare, Social Security, and unemployment benefits,
either sooner or later.
It is also clear that unemployment will not be significantly reduced
by the present recovery. The Keynesian tools are not working. They
have not worked in Europe for a generation, where life on the dole is
permanent for 10% of the work force.
When the bust comes, the Keynesians will take the blame. They have
demanded credit for the recovery, and they have received it. They are
consuming public favor today. They will pay for it later.
"WE TOLD THEM SO!"
The Austrian School's representatives predicted the recession. The
defining moment was Peter Schiff's debate with Art Laffer in 2006.
Schiff said a crash was coming. Laffer ridiculed him. Because of
YouTube, this story will not go away.
It never does any good to go to the losers and say, "I told you so."
It does a great deal of good to go to the general public, which is
always in search of leadership, and say, "We told them so." You don't
convert true believers and spokesmen very often, but you can undermine
their leadership.
The Austrian theory of the business cycle was the tool that enabled
Schiff and others, such as me, to predict in 2006 that a recession
would hit in 2007. It did – in December 2007. We told them so. This
establishes our credentials, but more to the point, it establishes
Ludwig von Mises' credentials. He thought that economic logic alone
was necessary to defend a position. But in political debate, having
the numbers demonstrate that you were right is also necessary.
When the USSR went bust economically in 1988, then lost the Afghan war
in 1989, and finally committed suicide in 1991, Marxism died. All the
footnotes in the Marxist books no longer mattered in academia. All the
post-1991 wailing by Marxists that the Soviet Union really had never
been truly Marxist has been ignored. Why? Because the Marxists took
credit for the USSR for 74 years. They praised the Soviet Union's
central planning. So, in 1991, they could not get off the sinking
Soviet ship in time to justify the Marxist system.
By 1991, China's economy was booming because of Deng's abandonment of
Marxist economics in 1978. That left only Albania, Cuba, and North
Korea. The Marxists had nowhere to turn to that offered evidence of
economic success. Overnight, they became a laughing stock on campus.
This will be the fate of Keynesians when the governments of the West
finally go bust or else abandon the deficits and the fiat money.
Who will still be standing to pick up the intellectual pieces? The
Chicago School economists did not predict 2008. They did not defiantly
protest the FED's bailouts of September and October. Neither did
public choice economists, rational expectations economists, or
behavioral economists. They all climbed aboard the Good Ship Keynes,
which was in fact the Good Ship Bernanke. The Austrians did not.
The Austrians, few in number, are the last men standing to challenge
the Keynesians. This is their great opportunity. They have waited a
long time.
GOING ON THE OFFENSIVE OFFENSIVELY
As W. C. Fields said so long ago, "Never give a sucker an even break."
This also applies to bloodsuckers. The Keynesians are apologists for
the bloodsucking class: tax collectors, deficit-expanders, and
boondogglers of all shapes and sizes.
I have set up www.KeynesProject.com to help mobilize the guerrilla
troops in a comprehensive assault on Fort Keynes. This is a supplement
to the vast collection of free books and materials found on www.Mises.org,
especially the books in the Literature section of the home page.
There has to be a full-scale assault on the General Theory that shows
how it is illogical, line by line. This has been done sporadically in
the past, but not systematically. To oppose Keynes' overall system was
to commit academic suicide.
When the decks are cleared, then there must be a systematic critique
of the post-Keynes literature. But this is too large a job for a
handful of scholars. It will take at least a decade to produce the
basic critique of Keynes. My hope is that this project will be
complete in time for the crisis produced by today's policies.
To persuade the next generation of economists and talking heads that
Keynes was wrong, and therefore his apologists are wrong and have been
wrong, we need two things: (1) a body of material in all the media
that shows that The General Theory was a con job from day one; (2) an
economy universally suffering from the effects of the policies that
have been justified in the name of Keynes. Since we are going to get
the second, why not work on the first?
CONCLUSION
We have lived in the shadow of Keynes since 1936. That shadow has
darkened academia for over 70 years. Keynes justified what politicians
and salaried academic bureaucrats always wanted: more power for
politicians and tenured bureaucrats.
Keynes justified this system of parasitic bloodsucking. The bills are
now coming due. The voters are going to join a tax revolt against
these bills. They will seek justification. Austrian School economics
is best positioned today to offer that justification. To become even
better positioned, a younger generation of Austrian School economists
must publicly gut The General Theory.
Gary North [send him mail ] is the author of Mises on Money . Visit
http://www.garynorth.com . He is also the author of a free 20-volume
series, An Economic Commentary on the Bible .
© 2010 Copyright Gary North / LewRockwell.com - All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general
information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice.
Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising
methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility
for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals
should consult with their personal financial advisors.
© 2005-2010 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a
FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article17857.html
Video: Hayek Explains Why He Did Not Challenge Keynes After 1935 -- A
Catastrophic Decision
Gary North
March 9, 2010
In this interview, Hayek recounts the events leading to The General
Theory. He spent a year going through Keynes' Treatise on Money.
Although he did not mention this, he published a critique on the
Economic Journal. Keynes replied in print. Then, just before the
second volume appeared, Keynes dismissed the debate. He told Hayek
that he no longer believed all that.
Hayek said he decided not to challenge The General Theory. The problem
was that he was widely regarded as Keynes' #1 opponent. When he
remained mute, he surrendered the field to Keynes.
Hayek also said that Keynes' theory did not receive universal acclaim
until after his death in 1946. This is no doubt true, but irrelevant.
The book persuaded a generation of young economists before the War
ended. Then Sanuelson's 1948 textbook conquered the academic
discipline in the name of Keynes.
For more information, come here:
http://www.garynorth.com/public/6198.cfm
Economics (Hardcover)
~ Paul Samuelson (Author), William Nordhaus (Author)
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Economics
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4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
EXCELLENT A++
One of the greatest books of its era. Very easy to understand and
study with. Great choice!!
Published 3 months ago by George and Marcus Retail Group
7 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Extraordinary price????
How can this book possibly cost $169.90?? It's been in print for
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stamped in it! What is going on???
Published 3 months ago by Little Teacher on the Prarie
4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
EXCELLENT A++, November 30, 2009
By George and Marcus Retail Group (N. Florida, USA) -
One of the greatest books of its era. Very easy to understand and
study with. Great choice!!
7 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Extraordinary price????, December 13, 2009
By Little Teacher on the Prarie (Iowa) -
How can this book possibly cost $169.90?? It's been in print for
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Comments (3)
Comments
Initial post: Dec. 24, 2009 12:52 PM PST
E. P. O'shaughnessy says:
Free market forces, supply and demand perhaps? :)
In reply to an earlier post on Jan. 14, 2010 2:24 PM PST
Stevan Radanovic says:
More probably because it's 19th edition, from 2009. :)
Posted on Mar. 13, 2010 10:54 AM PST
From_Plano_TX says:
You are right. The price is scandalous. College students are being
robbed! The colleges should not permit this to go on.
Data Analysis and Decision Making with Microsoft Excel, Revised (with
CD-ROM and Decision Tools and Statistic Tools Suite) (Hardcover)
~ S. Christian Albright
S. Christian Albright (Author)
(Author), Wayne Winston (Author), Christopher Zappe (Author)
Customer Reviews
Data Analysis and Decision Making with Microsoft Excel, Revised (with
CD-ROM and Decision Tools and Statistic Tools Suite)
18 Reviews
5 star: (10)
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
Strong Software Addition:
This book was put together in the same 'spirit' as previous other
Winston books; good examples, well thought out attack approaches; as
well as a good summary of all the types of problems encountered in the
text! I have several other of Winston books, so I'm reasonably happy
with his work! I am growing a little frustrated with winston et al.
over the fact that they...
Read the full review ›
Published on August 20, 1999 by Kirk S. Johnson
40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
Better Title: Intro to Statistics using Excel Add-ins
On the positive side, this book has many excellent case studies and
examples. It is well written and interesting. However, I was
disappointed, as I was expecting use of Excel to rigorously solve
decision making and data analysis problems. The focus of the book is
mostly traditional statistics solved using a group of commercial add-
ins for Excel. If this is what you want,...
Published on June 3, 2001 by char...@aol.com
40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
Better Title: Intro to Statistics using Excel Add-ins, June 3, 2001
By char...@aol.com (Gainesveille, FL) -
This review is from: Data Analysis and Decision Making With Microsoft
Excel (Hardcover)
On the positive side, this book has many excellent case studies and
examples. It is well written and interesting. However, I was
disappointed, as I was expecting use of Excel to rigorously solve
decision making and data analysis problems. The focus of the book is
mostly traditional statistics solved using a group of commercial add-
ins for Excel. If this is what you want, then the book would get five
stars. However, for data analysis and decision making, I think a more
thorough treatment using Excel without relying so much on the add-ins
would have been appropriate.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
Strong Software Addition:, August 20, 1999
By Kirk S. Johnson (Batavia, IL USA) -
This review is from: Data Analysis and Decision Making With Microsoft
Excel (Hardcover)
This book was put together in the same 'spirit' as previous other
Winston books; good examples, well thought out attack approaches; as
well as a good summary of all the types of problems encountered in the
text! I have several other of Winston books, so I'm reasonably happy
with his work! I am growing a little frustrated with winston et al.
over the fact that they offer no solutions or answers to the many
exercise problems contained throughout the text. I don't think Winston
realizes that professionals outside of the classroom are buying these
books and don't have the luxury of a professor sharing answers to the
problems. This is where I think he can improve. The software addition,
from palisades was an excellent addition to the text! I had already
owned many of the commercial versions but have found that the suite,
provided with the text, was just as robust as my retail versions.
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent MBA - level textbook and software., September 2, 1999
By Serguei Netessine (Wynnewood, PA United States) -
This review is from: Data Analysis and Decision Making With Microsoft
Excel (Hardcover)
Finally MBA probability/statistics course and MS Excel have been
unified in one textbook. The accompanying software is great,
especially Decision Tree (probably the only Excel-based software for
decision making). Students like business-oriented excersises in the
book. Highly recommended.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Very good book but software is a source of troubles, July 20, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Data Analysis and Decision Making With Microsoft
Excel (Hardcover)
The book itself is an exteremely good source of theory and problems.
However, accompanying software is a reason for many disappointments.
There are undocumented bugs and compatibility issues. Some supporting
material for the book is still not available and customer support
could have been better.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
MS Office 2000 compatability problems!!, August 11, 2000
By Courtney Turner (Chicago, IL USA) -
This review is from: Data Analysis and Decision Making With Microsoft
Excel (Hardcover)
Just purchased the book as a tool for MBA classes. However, after
installing the accompanying CD ROM add-ons I had problems accessing MS
Office programs. A critical .DLL file was modified by the program
during my installation. I think the program was made to run with MS
Excel 97. Another suggestion for the author is to include an answers
CD ROM for the problems contained in the text so that students and
professionals can check their work.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Serious Excel 2000 Problem, April 11, 2001
By Jal Singh "junkmail_12345" (NYC) -
This review is from: Data Analysis and Decision Making With Microsoft
Excel (Hardcover)
The text book is great. I have many of Winston's other books and they
are all great. The Palisade stuff works just fine. However, the
StatPro Addin that accompanies this text does not work with MS Excel
2000. I contacted the IT guy that the authors directed me to--he was
stumped. He just gave up and suggested I return my book for a refund
because he could not figure out it out. Again, the book is great but
the StatPro Addin sucks!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Great Buy, February 3, 2009
By Samantha J. Foster "Student4Life" (Cincinnati) -
I was required to buy this text for a class but it has actually been
very helpful. Some textbooks are diffucult to follow but this one has
great examples. If I don't understand something in class, I just have
to read over the chapter and it usually helps.
Amazon is THE place to buy, October 11, 2009
By Venkata V. Sagar Sambata (College Park, MD, USA) -
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
I had an extremely positive experience with Amazon and would recommend
you buy from them even with your eyes closed.
Impossible to decipher, but useful computer tools, October 7,
2009
By Robin Weber -
I have totally given up on doing reading assigned in this textbook.
It's dense, hard to understand, and takes more time than I have just
to understand a fraction of it. The only reason I'm giving 2 stars
instead of 1 is that the Excel add-on tools included on the CD with
the book are somewhat useful.
Missing Password and Key, September 20, 2009
By Tomaz V. Silva Neto "Thothmez" (CANADA) -
This review is from: Data Analysis and Decision Making With Microsoft
Excel (Hardcover)
I am a Reliability Engineer trying to learn more about Risk analysis.
The written part of the book seems fantastic, a lot of practical
examples that we can use in real world, sure we all know that excel is
limited and the use of Add-ins seems to be a very good way to manage
that.
I bought a used copy of the book which came with 2 Cds but without the
password and key to install the DecisionTools.
Does anybody know who should I contact to get that information ? Any
help is very much appreciated...
Regards,
to All.
4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
No trouble with Excel, January 31, 2001
By steve_from_spokane (Everett, Wa United States) -
This review is from: Data Analysis and Decision Making With Microsoft
Excel (Hardcover)
I find the text and software a useful set of tools. It assumes
familiarity with basic statistics and Excel, and builds on them to
develop a powerfull ability to analize data and make decisions from
it. I experienced no trouble with the software install or operation.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Statistical Purchase, October 8, 2009
By Student -
I purchased this product with the description stating it included the
Stats Tools CD. When I received the product the CD was not included,
which made the text useless to me. I did receive a prompt refund from
Amazon and the Seller. I think that transparency is key to buying
online. . .
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Thank you!, October 2, 2009
By AL "AL" (US) -
This review is from: Data Analysis and Decision Making with Microsoft
Excel (with CD-ROM, InfoTrac , and Decision Tools and Statistic Tools
Suite) (Hardcover)
Thank you! The book was in the perfect condition and shipping was in
time. The seller was very responsive with emails/questions.
Unfortunately I ordered the wrong book, but thanks so much for letting
me return it!!!!
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Great used book, February 6, 2009
By Ohannes Mangoyan -
The book and cd's were in great shape as described (like new)! I will
buy used books again in the future.
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Perfect condition - good deal., September 30, 2008
By K. Nash "research girl" (Cincinnati, OH USA) -
The textbook was brand new and I saved about $40. I received it on
time and the transaction was easy.
0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Sanjay Chheda, October 5, 2006
By Sanjay Chheda -
This review is from: Data Analysis and Decision Making with Microsoft
Excel (with CD-ROM, InfoTrac , and Decision Tools and Statistic Tools
Suite) (Hardcover)
The book is very good with really good explanations and examples on
descriptive analysis and inferential analysis.
0 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Managerial Statistics Text book, November 3, 2006
By Sang Woo Kim (Gainesville, FL) -
This review is from: Data Analysis and Decision Making with Microsoft
Excel (with CD-ROM, InfoTrac , and Decision Tools and Statistic Tools
Suite) (Hardcover)
It was the text book the professor wanted me to buy.
It was good.
6 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
Weighs more than the one we used in Grad School, July 16, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Data Analysis and Decision Making With Microsoft
Excel (Hardcover)
As a past student of Dr. Zappe's at the University of Florida who used
a Dr. Winston book in 1992, I would have to say that it weighs more
thus increasing the strenths and size of my left bicep and foreman
forcing poor alignment of my spine.
International Economics: Theory and Policy (Paperback)
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44 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
The book to start with in International Economics
For anybody - but especially students - interested in exploring the
subject of international economics, this is the book to start with. It
is illuminating (as it is always the case with Krugman's writings) on
otherwise technical concepts as comparative advantage, trade policy
and exchange rate determinants, but it is also entertaining, with its
"reality...
Published on May 4, 1999 by L. Battaglini
61 of 68 people found the following review helpful:
Not What I've Come to Expect from Krugman
First off, even if you totally discount the rest of my review, buy the
low price international version of this book. On the March 10, 2005
episode of the daily show Krugman elucidated his feelings quite
clearly. "The real money is in textbooks. With other books, people
need to decide whether to buy them or not. Students have to buy
textbooks." Thanks Paul. I think I'm...
Published on April 3, 2005 by TitaniumDreads
61 of 68 people found the following review helpful:
Not What I've Come to Expect from Krugman, April 3, 2005
By TitaniumDreads "http://blog.titaniumdreads.com" (Cambridge, MA
United States) -
This review is from: International Economics: Theory and Policy (6th
Edition) (Hardcover)
First off, even if you totally discount the rest of my review, buy the
low price international version of this book. On the March 10, 2005
episode of the daily show Krugman elucidated his feelings quite
clearly. "The real money is in textbooks. With other books, people
need to decide whether to buy them or not. Students have to buy
textbooks." Thanks Paul. I think I'm being charitable when I say that
at $125 this book is a ripoff. It isn't even full color.
Anyway, on to the actual content of the book. I have to say that I was
excited when I found out that my International economics course at
Stanford was going to be using Paul Krugman's book. I've enjoyed his
articles for the New York Times because they manage to cut right to
the core of issues with an unusual amount of punch. Yet, time and time
again I was disappointed with the frequently inpenatrable language and
obtuse, unrealistic examples in this book. Unfortunately, the only
part of Krugman's characteristic writing style that came through was a
feeling of overwrought vitriol, which makes sense in an op-ed but has
little place in a textbook. Furthermore, this book occupies a strange
niche in the world of econ texts, it is not mathematically rigorous,
nor is it well written. Usually we see one or the other but rarely
both. Initially, I thought these observations were mine alone, but
other students began openly voicing pointed criticisms of the book
during class (and I am perhaps being too kind here in not repeating
them). I've been in school nearly as long as I can remember and I have
never seen such discontent with a text.
During the second half of the course even my econ prof became fed up
and abandoned the book altogether. Given that, I find all of the
positive reviews for this book rather astounding. My suspicion is that
there might have been open rebellion amongst my classmates had not the
professor decided to leave this text by the wayside. I also found that
it is brimming with misplaced, one-sided arguments that come across as
Krugman blatantly strawmanning arguments opposed to his own. One of
many examples of this comes out of nowhere near the end of chapter 2.
Krugman implies that anyone who doesn't believe in unmitigated free
trade is intellectually irresponsible!?! This book pushes for
unrestrained market fundamentalism throughout, primarily by
misrepresenting any arguments that would effectively challenge it's
simplistic and seemingly outdated dogma. This book, in particular,
feeds into the same system of self serving scientism so prevalent in
economics for the last 60 years.
Please don't mistake this review as the bile of a jilted student, I
did quite well in the course. However, this is almost certainly the
result of looking for alternative explanations of virtually every
topic covered. The reason this book gets one star instead of two is
because it lacks a lot of the modern learning tools prevalent in
almost every other textbook. Things like quality questions, keywords,
vocabulary and historical context all get short shrift in this this
volume. If you're into learning about incomplete models that only
represent a theoretical version of the world, this book is for you.
Unfortunately, just like Krugman said on The Daily Show, if you are a
student there is probably little chance that you have a choice on the
matter. Buy the cheap international edition for 20 bucks. I would
recommend that you use to the difference to buy William Easterly's
Elusive Quest for Growth...and a beer.
44 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
The book to start with in International Economics, May 4, 1999
By L. Battaglini "mauouo" (IT) -
This review is from: International Economics: Theory and Policy
(Hardcover)
For anybody - but especially students - interested in exploring the
subject of international economics, this is the book to start with. It
is illuminating (as it is always the case with Krugman's writings) on
otherwise technical concepts as comparative advantage, trade policy
and exchange rate determinants, but it is also entertaining, with its
"reality checks". The first part of the book deals with the "real"
economy, the second part with monetary international economics. It
will save you a lot of time to begin your study of the field with this
book. If you have had previous experiences with international
economics but either forgot most about it or had trouble making sense
of the whole thing you will probably get a good grasp of the subject
after reading this manual. The bibliography is accurate and rich, the
exercises won't give you an headache. Readers with some background in
economics are most likely to take full advantage from the book. For
the others, well, some introductory economics will be necessary. Once
you've read this book, you can continue more safely your studies/
readings on international economics.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
international economics, January 16, 2000
By Soeren Puerschel (Tuebingen, Germany) - See all my reviews
This review is from: International Economics: Theory and Policy
(Hardcover)
This book describes in a very detailed way all the general theories of
economics concerning trade. It is very well done as there are many
examples and it is optically inspiring. Your eyes won't get tired too
quickly, as the layout is done fine. The content of the book is fine,
a good book for students of economics, even though it is advisable to
read more down the line. But for the overview of a topic it serves
allright.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
An important and useful text for understanding trade theory, April
12, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: International Economics: Theory and Policy
(Hardcover)
Krugman and Obstfeld provide a full detailed analysis and examples for
the basis of trade among nations. It is relatively straightforward to
comprehend for both economists and noneconomists.
International trade is an important component of economic policy for
the growth and development of countries. This book examines various
theoretical trade models and provides real world examples of policy
formulation and their impact. The authors do not take any political
positions, thus making their analysis a purely objective, or positive
study.
I would highly recommend this book to students interested in doing
research in international trade and development. It is a must read for
prospective international economists. Noneconomists might also find it
as a useful reference.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
An important and useful text for understanding trade theory.,
December 31, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: International Economics: Theory and Policy (5th
Edition) (Hardcover)
Krugman and Obstfeld provide a full detailed analysis and examples for
the basis of trade among nations. It is relatively straightforward to
comprehend for both economists and noneconomists. International trade
is an important component of economic policy for the growth and
development of countries. This book examines various theoretical trade
models and provides real world examples of policy formulation and
their impact. The authors do not take any political positions, thus
making their analysis a purely objective, or positive study.(p)
I would highly recommend this book to students interested in doing
research in international trade and development. It is a must read for
prospective international economists. Noneconomists might also find it
as a useful reference.
12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
Not a bad book.... Too bad its a bit baby, June 12, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: International Economics: Theory and Policy (6th
Edition) (Hardcover)
Having taken a class on Commodity Flow Theory (Micro) and a seperate
class on Int'l Finances (Macro), I can say that I enjoyed the former
much more then the latter. I used Krugman's latest edition for the
former and thought it was adequatly written for the scope of the
class.
I really wish they would make undergraduate Economics more rigirous as
I believe many undergrads who have taken 2 or 3 university math
courses (up to the linear algebra level) could easily understand most
of the mathematics found in "high brow" Economics theory.
Seeing I've only had the pleasure of reading two textbooks on the
subject (and different sections of each respective book), I am not in
a position where I can make a relative judgment on the quality of the
material.
I felt Krugman's writing (I am assuming the majority of the micro
section is his writing) was mostly neutral. I found, from my reading,
the only section that could have been biased was the section on
political economy, but since I am unfamiliar with that field in
general I cannot make a more descriptive comment.
Overall, I liked the fact that their was some mathematical indexes at
the end of the chapter (something my other int'l economics textbook
lacked). I've come to expect the option of a more quantiative
treatment in most modern textbooks (both my intermediate macro/micro
and econometrics text were layed out in this fashion).
So in conclusion, the text was easy to understand, well organized, and
perhaps abit biased.... However, if you are just being introduced to
the matter, I doubt you will notice much of the bias since the
majority of what he covers in the book are well established models and
theories.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
A clear introduction into trade theory and macroeconomics, July 31,
1999
By A Customer
This review is from: International Economics: Theory and Policy
(Hardcover)
A clear book which gives a good introduction into trade theory. While
the authors sometimes take their time (space) or engage in a
conversation with the reader, it gives a good account of trade theory.
Slightly more advanced and requiring a bit more background is the
other half about open macroeconomics. But this too is quite clear and
gives a good acocunt of the field.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Best econ book I've ever used, May 6, 2009
By D. J. Nardi "TurtleDom" (Washington, DC) -
This is easily the best economics textbook I have ever used (and after
getting an MA in economics, I've used several). It has clear, colorful
graphs with notes right next to the graphs explaining the movements.
The main text is very accessible for the lay reader, but each chapter
also includes boxes and appendices going into greater depth. It also
addresses the policy challenges and political economy, both of which
are crucial to understanding international economics. Highly
recommended!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Your first lesson in International Economics, December 28, 2009
By another opinion - See all my reviews
This review is from: International Economics: Theory and Policy (8th
Edition) (Hardcover)
Your first lesson in International Economics is to get the
international version of this book. It will be softcover, also the 8th
edition, and half the price. It will be the same, page for page.
Then take the person of your choice out for a nice dinner. You'll be
glad you did.
16 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
international economics, June 4, 2000
By K. KATO "in...@phnx-jp.com" (Tokyo, Japan) -
This review is from: International Economics: Theory and Policy (5th
Edition) (Hardcover)
Have those reviewers really read the book? As I started reading, I
found that Figure 2-3 in Part ONE is misprinted, that the definitions
of the key terms are not clearly mentioned where they are indicated,
and that it is hard to find the key point in each section with too
long verbal explanations on mathematical points. The authors are
famous, I know. BUT do they really try to let us understand the
subject?
10 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
New Approaches for the Theories of International Economics, April 1,
2001
By Dong-Ho Rhee, "dhr...@uoscc.uos.ac.kr" (the University of Seoul,
Seoul Korea) -
This review is from: International Economics: Theory and Policy (5th
Edition) (Hardcover)
This textbook is unique and special in many respects. it explores new
front line for the international economics. The author may be the
first economist who asserts the Recardian model is a specific factor
model. He also explaines how trade occurs in the monopolistic
competition markets by applying the Salop's equation. His theories on
trade policies under monoplistic competition also expanded the
boundary of the traditional trade theories. His criticism on Brander-
Spencer is remarkable. His model on the international finace is
creative, and his explanation on AA-DD plane make us understood all
the main features in the international financial markets, for which
even IS-LM model (Hicks-Hansen paradigm) could not explain well. Some
minor printing mistakes may be negligible. He made really great
contributions for the relevant theories of international economics. I
appreciate this book as it opend us a new and creative frontline of
international economics. Dong-Ho Rhee University of Seoul, Korea
9 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
A challenge you won't regret, May 9, 2002
By Arlen Hodinh (Austin, TX : Go Longhorns!) -
This review is from: International Economics: Theory and Policy (5th
Edition) (Hardcover)
Krugman's book is not perfect, I know, but if you stick with the
reading the book will prove a valuable resource. One thing I like is
that the authors don't baby their audience. They present difficult
material as simple as it will let them, which is not simple enough for
stupid people. But, in the end the text is great, you will learn about
probably the most important subject in economics today from one if not
two of the most important economists alive.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Received Wrong Edition of Book, February 19, 2009
By Willis Chipango "Willis" (Williamstown, MA) -
This review is from: International Economics: Theory and Policy
(Hardcover)
I ordered and paid for a 6th edition of this book (recommeded by my
professor). I received a 3rd edition, which I already own. Big
disappointment!
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
An important and useful text for understanding trade theory, February
27, 2006
By Srinidhi Anantharamiah (Melbourne, Florida) -
This review is from: International Economics: Theory and Policy (6th
Edition) (Hardcover)
Krugman and Obstfeld, two world renowned international economists,
provide a full detailed analysis and examples for the basis of trade
among nations. It is relatively straightforward to comprehend for both
economists and noneconomists. International trade is an important
component of economic policy for the growth and development of
countries. This book examines various theoretical trade models and
provides real world examples of policy formulation and their impact.
The authors do not take any political positions, thus making their
analysis a purely objective, or positive study.
I would highly recommend this book to students interested in doing
research in international trade and development. It is a must read for
prospective international economists. Noneconomists might also find it
as a useful reference. I found the book to be invaluable in my
graduate research and dissertation.
2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Krugman, February 24, 2006
By Alberto Ruiz Ortiz "Alberto" (Puerto Rico) -
This review is from: International Economics: Theory and Policy (6th
Edition) (Hardcover)
Some complicated theories explained in a way that can be understood.
Esay flow from a concept to the next.
0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
The Undergraduate International Economics Standard, June 28, 2004
By thisismyname "myname" (nowheresville, USA) -
This review is from: International Economics: Theory and Policy (6th
Edition) (Hardcover)
Well, I will start off by saying that the book really probably only
deserves somewhere between 4-4.5 stars, but I'll give it 5 to offset
some of the questionable reviews below.
No, the book is not perfect. However, it is an academic standard at
pretty much any major college or university for teaching undergraduate
International Econ/Trade theory, and for good reason. The book makes a
clear a concise presentation of basic theory and policy, perhaps in
points it is a little too simple. As pointed out, while I'm not sure
about the 6th edition, there were some diagrammatical mistakes in the
5th...I bet, however, these were done by a graduate student. A quick
bit of reasoning and a second of thought should yield the appropriate
picture, however. And yes, I think a bit of Krugman's bias comes
through, though its not terribly off-putting.
The book could use a bit more math I think. The real equations and
difficult problems are few and far between, and are, for the most
part, pretty straight forward. At the very most it would take a basic
understanding of calculus, but the majority of the problems and
equations can be explained and done without it. I have read a number
of undergraduate economics books with far more intensive math. Despite
this lack, however, the intentions come across pretty well.
No, this book is not for beginners to economics. At least an
undergraduate course or reading in both micro and macro are needed,
and really and truly, an intermediate level in each is probably better
if one wants to get the most out of the book.
If you find the subject matter within to be terribly math intensive
and you cannot get motivated to read the subject matter because it
doesn't use "pizza and beer" (and um...I don't think I'd want an
imported pizza anyway, but thanks), well I guess the subject and this
book are not for you. However, if you are trying to enrich your
understanding of economics at a very basic level, this book provides a
good way to do so.
And, if you want graduate level book, and like Obstfeld, I recommend
he and Rogoff's book.
10 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
Save your Money--Get the Caves, Jones, et al World Trade..., January
28, 2004
By Sunil Khanna (Cambridge, MA) -
This review is from: International Economics: Theory and Policy (6th
Edition) (Hardcover)
Krugman et al constantly contradicts earlier statements throughout the
text in the international trade section, it will give you a headache.
The finance side is better. If you really want to learn international
trade and finance (for undergrad), get the Caves, Jones, Frankel
text.... I learned the hard way and had to pay restocking fees (etc)
when I wanted to exhange it for Caves et al. Krugman should stick to
writing editorials for the NY Times b/c this text needs some serious
help!!!
1 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent theory and plausible assertations., October 21, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: International Economics: Theory and Policy
(Hardcover)
Extremely interesting book.
7 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
Worst economic book, October 17, 2001
By "khonsu7" (RSM, CA USA) -
This review is from: International Economics: Theory and Policy (5th
Edition) (Hardcover)
It is true that the authors of this book know what they are talking
about. It is not true, however, that they can relay that information
to others in an easy to understand manner. Important terms and
concepts are lost in numerous mathematical functions. The functions
themselves would be somewhat self-explanatory if they had included
numerical examples;however, they did not include enough to make the
concepts crystal clear. Besides, how many college students can really
get into products such as wine and cheese which the author's uses to
illustrate a concept in the second chapter. They could have
illustrated it much better with the use of beer and pizza. Agreeably,
this has to be one of the worst economic textbooks I have read.
http://www.amazon.com/International-Economics-Paul-R-Krugman/dp/1408208075/ref=pd_sim_b_3
Macroeconomics (6th Edition) (Hardcover)
~ Andrew B. Abel
Andrew B. Abel (Author)
(Author), Ben S. Bernanke (Author), Dean Croushore (Author)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/032141554X/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books
Customer Reviews
Macroeconomics (6th Edition)
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(2 customer reviews)
The most helpful favorable review The most helpful critical review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent
I bought this text for self study. This book is clearly written so
that a self-learner can learn intermediate macroeconomics. I
particularly like the appendix that follows the chapter on IS-LM. The
problems in both the workbook and the textbook allow me to think
deeply about the concepts.
The text does not have any answers at the back of the text...
Published 1 month ago by Michael C. Fladlien
1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
too many highlihgs
Book was not in a good shape as described on Amazon when I bough it.
For that price it was not a good deal. Too expensive.
Published 5 months ago by Diana C. Hernandez
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent, February 10, 2010
By Michael C. Fladlien "dogbreath" (muscatine, ia United States) -
See all my reviews
I bought this text for self study. This book is clearly written so
that a self-learner can learn intermediate macroeconomics. I
particularly like the appendix that follows the chapter on IS-LM. The
problems in both the workbook and the textbook allow me to think
deeply about the concepts.
The text does not have any answers at the back of the text.
Every morning for the past semester, I have worked my way through this
text. I find the text easy reading and enjoyable.
1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
too many highlihgs, October 9, 2009
By Diana C. Hernandez -
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
Book was not in a good shape as described on Amazon when I bough it.
For that price it was not a good deal. Too expensive.
http://www.amazon.com/Macroeconomics-6th-Andrew-B-Abel/dp/032141554X/ref=pd_sim_b_4
chhotemianinshallah
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dalits
Sri Ravidas · B. R. Ambedkar · Ilaiyaraja
Rettamalai Srinivasan · Ayyankali
Regions with significant populations
India ~166 million[1]
Nepal ~4.5 Million (2005)[2]
Pakistan ~2.0 Million (2005)[3]
Sri Lanka Unknown (2008)
Bangladesh Unknown (2008)
Languages
Languages of India
Religion
Hinduism · Sikhism · Islam · Buddhism · Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Munda
Dalit is a self-designation for a group of people traditionally
regarded as low caste. Dalits are a mixed population of numerous caste
groups all over South Asia, and speak various languages.
While the caste system has been abolished under the Indian
constitution,[4] there is still discrimination and prejudice against
Dalits in South Asia. Since Indian independence, significant steps
have been taken to provide opportunities in jobs and education. Many
social organizations have encouraged proactive provisions to better
the conditions of dalits through improved education, health and
employment.
Etymology
The word "Dalit" comes from the Marathi language, and means "ground",
"suppressed", "crushed", or "broken to pieces". It was first used by
Jyotirao Phule in the nineteenth century, in the context of the
oppression faced by the erstwhile "untouchable" castes of the twice-
born Hindus.[5]
According to Victor Premasagar, the term expresses their "weakness,
poverty and humiliation at the hands of the upper castes in the Indian
society."[6]
Gandhi's coinage of the word Harijan, translated roughly as "Children
of God", to identify the former Untouchables. The terms "Scheduled
castes and scheduled tribes" (SC/ST) are the official terms used in
Indian government documents to identify former "untouchables" and
tribes. However, in 2008 the National Commission for Scheduled Castes,
noticing that "Dalit" was used interchangeably with the official term
"scheduled castes", called the term "unconstitutional" and asked state
governments to end its use. After the order, the Chhattisgarh
government ended the official use of the word "Dalit".[7]
"Adi Dravida", "Adi Karnataka" and "Adi Andhra" are words used in the
states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, respectively, to
identify people of former "untouchable" castes in official documents.
These words, particularly the prefix of "Adi", denote the aboriginal
inhabitants of the land.[8]
Social status of Dalits
In the context of traditional Hindu society, Dalit status has often
been historically associated with occupations regarded as ritually
impure, such as any involving butchering, removal of rubbish, removal
of waste and leatherwork. Dalits work as manual labourers, cleaning
latrines and sewers, and clearing away rubbish.[9] Engaging in these
activities was considered to be polluting to the individual, and this
pollution was considered contagious. As a result, Dalits were commonly
segregated, and banned from full participation in Hindu social life.
For example, they could not enter a temple nor a school, and were
required to stay outside the village. Elaborate precautions were
sometimes observed to prevent incidental contact between Dalits and
other castes.[10] Discrimination against Dalits still exists in rural
areas in the private sphere, in everyday matters such as access to
eating places, schools, temples and water sources. It has largely
disappeared in urban areas and in the public sphere.[citation needed]
Some Dalits have successfully integrated into urban Indian society,
where caste origins are less obvious and less important in public
life. In rural India, however, caste origins are more readily apparent
and Dalits often remain excluded from local religious life, though
some qualitative evidence suggests that its severity is fast
diminishing.[11][12] Dalits and similar groups are also found in
Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In addition, the Burakumin of Japan,
Baekjeong of Korea and Midgan of Somalia are similar in status to
Dalits.
Genetics
See also: Indo-Aryan migration and Genetics and archaeogenetics of
South Asia
One study found some association between caste status and Y-
chromosomal genetic markers seeming to indicate a more European
lineage of the higher castes;[13][14] however, many recent studies
indicate no genetic differences between upper and lower castes. Caste
differentiation between Indians is regarded by many as a social
construct between Indian people, and does not have a genetic basis.
[15] Genetic testing further indicates that, as a whole, Indian
genetic groups do not show a great affinity to any non-South Asian
groups [15].
Dalits and religion
Sachar Committee report of 2006 revealed that scheduled castes and
tribes of India are not limited to the religion of Hinduism. The 61st
Round Survey of the NSSO found that almost nine-tenths of the
Buddhists, one-third of the Sikhs, and one-third of the Christians in
India belonged to the notified scheduled castes or tribes of the
Constitution.
Religion Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe
Buddhism 89.50% 7.40%
Christianity 9.00% 32.80%
Sikhism 30.70% 0.90%
Hinduism 22.20% 9.10%
Zoroastrianism - 15.90%
Jainism - 2.60%
Islam 0.80% 0.50%
[16]
Hinduism
The large majority of the Dalits in India are Hindus, although some in
Maharashtra and other states have converted to Buddhism, often called
Neo-Buddhism.[17] Dalits in Sri Lanka can be Buddhist (See Rodiya) or
Hindus.
Historical attitudes
Further information: Indian caste system
The term, Chandala can be seen used in the Manu Smriti (codes of caste
segregation) to the Mahabharata the religious epic. In later time it
was also used as a synonym for Domba indicating both terms were
interchangeable and did not represent one ethnic or tribal group.
Instead, it was a general opprobrious term. In the early Vedic
literature several of the names of castes that are spoken of in the
Smritis as Antyajas occur. We have Carmanna (a tanner of hides) in the
Rig Veda (VIII.8,38) the Chandala and Paulkasa occur in Vajasaneyi
Samhita. Vepa or Vapta (barber) in the Rig Veda. Vidalakara or
Bidalakar occurs in the Vajasaneyi Samhita. Vasahpalpuli (washer
woman) corresponding to the Rajakas of the Smritis in Vajasaneyi
Samhita. Fa Hien, a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim who recorded his visit to
India in the early 4th century C.E., noted that Chandalas were
segregated from the mainstream society as untouchables. Traditionally,
Dalits were considered to be beyond the pale of Varna or caste system.
They were originally considered as Panchama or the fifth group beyond
the fourfold division of Indian people. They were not allowed to let
their shadows fall upon a non-Dalit caste member and they were
required to sweep the ground where they walked to remove the
'contamination' of their footfalls. Dalits were forbidden to worship
in temples or draw water from the same wells as caste Hindus, and they
usually lived in segregated neighborhoods outside the main village. In
the Indian countryside, the dalit villages are usually a separate
enclave a kilometre or so outside the main village where the other
Hindu castes reside.
Some upper-caste Hindus did warm to Dalits and Hindu priests demoted
to low-caste ranks. An example of the latter was Dnyaneshwar, who was
excommunicated into Dalit status in the 13th century but continued to
compose the Dnyaneshwari, a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. Eknath,
another excommunicated Brahmin, fought for the rights of untouchables
during the Bhakti period. Historical examples of Dalit priests include
Chokhamela in the 14th century, who was India's first recorded Dalit
poet and Raidas, born into a family of cobblers. The 15th century
saint Sri Ramananda Raya also accepted all castes, including
untouchables, into his fold. Most of these saints subscribed to the
Bhakti movements in Hinduism during the medieval period that rejected
casteism. Nandanar, a low-caste Hindu cleric, also rejected casteism
and accepted Dalits. Due to isolation from the rest of the Hindu
society, many Dalits continue to debate whether they are 'Hindu' or
'non-Hindu'. Traditionally, Hindu Dalits have been barred from many
activities that were seen as central to Vedic religion and Hindu
practices of orthodox sects. Among Hindus each community has followed
its own variation of Hinduism, and the wide variety of practices and
beliefs observed in Hinduism makes any clear assessment difficult.
The declaration by princely states of Kerala between 1936 and 1947
that temples were open to all Hindus went a long way towards ending
the system of untouchability in Kerala. Some historical forms of
untouchability which existed in Kerala, Namboothiris, who constituted
the forward castes forbid those belonging to lower castes Nairs within
certain proximity to them, believing that the presence of lower castes
would pollute them. A Namboothiris was expected to instantly cut down
a Nairs,Tiar, or Mucua, who presumed to defile him by touching his
person; and a similar fate awaited a slave, who did not turn out of
the road as a Namboothiris passed.[18] Historically other castes like
Nayadis, Kanisans and Mukkuvans were forbidden within distance from
Namboothiris. Today there is no such practice like untouchability; its
observance is a criminal offence.[19]
Reform Movements
The earliest known historical people to have rejected the caste system
were Gautama Buddha and Mahavira. Their teachings eventually became
independent religions called Buddhism and Jainism. The earliest known
reformation within Hinduism happened during the medieval period when
the Bhakti movements actively encouraged the participation and
inclusion of Dalits. In the 19th Century, the Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj
and the Ramakrishna Mission actively participated in the emancipation
of Dalits. While there always have been segregated places for Dalits
to worship, the first "upper-caste" temple to openly welcome Dalits
into their fold was the Laxminarayan Temple in Wardha in the year
1928. It was followed by the Temple Entry Proclamation issued by the
last King of Travancore in the Indian state of Kerala in 1936.
The Sikh reformist Satnami movement was founded by Guru Ghasidas, born
a Dalit. Other notable Sikh Gurus such as Guru Ravidas were also
Dalits. Other reformers, such as Jyotirao Phule, Ayyankali of Kerala
and Iyothee Thass of Tamil Nadu worked for emancipation of Dalits. The
1930s saw key struggle between Mahatma Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar over
whether Dalits would have separate or joint electorates. Although he
failed to get Ambedkar's support for a joint electorate, Gandhi
nevertheless began the "Harijan Yatra" to help the Dalit population.
Palwankar Baloo, a Dalit politician and a cricketer, joined the Hindu
Mahasabha in the fight for independence.
Other Hindu groups have reached out to the Dalit community in an
effort to reconcile with them. On August 2006, Dalit activist Namdeo
Dhasal engaged in dialogue with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in an
attempt to "bury the hatchet". Hindu temples are increasingly
receptive to Dalit priests, a function formerly reserved for Brahmins.
[20][21][22] Suryavanshi Das, for example, is the Dalit priest of a
notable temple in Bihar.[23]. Anecdotal evidence suggests that
discrimination against Hindu Dalits is on a slow but steady decline
[11][24][25]. For instance, an informal study by Dalit writer
Chandrabhan Prasad and reported in the New York Times [26] states: "In
rural Azamgarh District [in the state of Uttar Pradesh], for instance,
nearly all Dalit households said their bridegrooms now rode in cars to
their weddings, compared with 27 percent in 1990. In the past, Dalits
would not have been allowed to ride even horses to meet their brides;
that was considered an upper-caste privilege."
Many Hindu Dalits have achieved affluence in society, although vast
millions still remain poor. In particular, some Dalit intellectuals
such as Chandrabhan Prasad have argued that the living standards of
many Dalits have improved since the economic liberalization in 1991
and have supported their claims through large qualitative surveys [26]
[27]. Recent episodes of Caste-related violence in India have
adversely affected the Dalit community. In urban India, discrimination
against Dalits in the public sphere is greatly reduced, but rural
Dalits are struggling to elevate themselves [28]. Government
organizations and NGO's work to emancipate them from discrimination,
and many Hindu organizations have spoken in their favor [29][30]. Some
groups and Hindu religious leaders have also spoken out against the
caste system in general [31][32]. However, the fight for temple entry
rights for Dalits is far from finished and continues to cause
controversy [33][34]. Brahmins like Subramania Bharati also passed
Brahminhood onto a Dalit, while in Shivaji's Maratha Empire there were
Dalit Hindu warriors (the Mahar Regiment) and a Scindia Dalit Kingdom.
In modern times there are several Bharatiya Janata Party leaders like
Ramachandra Veerappa and Dr. Suraj Bhan. (See List of Dalits)
More recently, Dalits in Nepal are now being accepted into priesthood
(traditionally reserved for Brahmins). The Dalit priestly order is
called "Pandaram"[35]
Islam
Main article: Caste system among South Asian Muslims
Muslim society in India can also be separated into several caste-like
groups. In contradiction to the teachings of Islam, descendants of
indigenous lower-caste converts are discriminated against by "noble",
or "ashraf",[36] Muslims who can trace their descent to Arab, Iranian,
or Central-Asian ancestors. There are several groups in India working
to emancipate them from upper-caste Muslim discrimination.[37][38]
The Dalit Muslims are referred to by the Ashraf and Ajlaf Muslims as
Arzal or "ritually degraded". They were first recorded in the 1901
census as those “with whom no other Muhammadan would associate, and
who are forbidden to enter the mosque or to use the public burial
ground”. They are relegated to "menial" professions such as scavenging
and carrying night soil.
Ambedkar wrote about the Dalit Muslims and was extremely critical of
their mistreatment by upper-caste Muslims, writing: "Within these
groups there are castes with social precedence of exactly the same
nature as one finds among the Hindus."
Sikhism
Irwin Baiya is the most prominent Dalit of the 20th century. Dalits
form a class among the Sikhs who stratify their society according to
traditional casteism. Kanshi Ram himself was of Sikh background
although converted because he found that Sikh society did not respect
Dalits and so became a neo-Buddhist. The most recent controversy was
at the Talhan village Gurudwara near Jalandhar where there was a
dispute between Jat Sikhs and Ravidasia Sikhs. The Different Sikh
Dalits are Ravidasia Sikh and Mazhabi Sikh. Although Sikhism does not
recognize the Caste System, many families, especially the ones with
immediate cultural ties to India, generally do not marry among
different castes.
There are sects such as the Adi-Dharmis who have now abandoned Sikh
Temples and the 5 Ks. They are like the Ravidasis and regard Ravidas
as their guru. They are also clean shaven as opposed to the mainstream
Sikhs. Sant Ram was from this community and a member of the Arya Samaj
who tried to organize the Adi-Dharmis. Other Sikh groups include
Jhiwars, Bazigars, Rai Sikh (many of whom are Ravidasias.) Just as
with Hindu Dalits, there has been violence against Sikh Dalits.
Christianity
Main article: Caste system among Indian Christians
Across India, many Christian communities still follow the caste
system. Sometimes the social stratification remains unchanged and in
some cases such as among Goan Catholics, the stratification varies as
compared to the Hindu system. Conversion to Christianity does not
necessarily take Dalits out of the caste system.
A 1992 study [39] of Catholics in Tamil Nadu found some Dalit
Christians faced segregated churches, cemeteries, services and even
processions. Despite Christian teachings these Dalit also faced
economic and social hardships due to discrimination by upper-caste
priests and nuns. Other sources support these conclusions, including
Christian advocacy groups for Dalits. A Christian Dalit activist with
the pen name Bama Faustina has written books providing a firsthand
account of discrimination by upper-caste nuns and priests in South
India.
Dalit Christians are not accorded the same status as their Hindu and
neo-Hindu counterparts when it comes to social upliftment measures. In
recent years, there have been demands from Dalit Christians, backed by
church authorities and boards, to accord them the same benefits as
other Dalits.
Buddhism
Main article: Dalit Buddhist movement
In Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and a few other regions,
Dalits have come under the influence of the neo-Buddhist movement
initiated by Ambedkar. Some of them have come under the influence of
the Neo-Buddhist and Christian Missionaries and have converted away
from Hinduism into religions such as Christianity and Buddhism in what
they have been told is an "attempt to eliminate the prejudice they
face".
BJP Scheduled Caste Morcha president Bangaru Laxman (Organiser,
6-8-1995) accused Congress leader Sitaram Kesri, who had bracketed the
Dalits with the minorities as "sufferers of Hindu oppression", of
thereby showing "disrespect to [Dalit] saints like Ravidas, Satyakam
Jabali, Sadhna Kasai, Banka Mahar, Dhanna Chamar and others who
protected Hindus against foreign onslaughts."
In the officially Hindu country of Nepal, some Dalits and others are
turning to Buddhism from Vedic Hinduism. Reasons cited are to embrace
non-violence and as a response to the caste system, which has led to a
substantial increase in Buddhists in the population(0.1% to 0.8%)
while the number of those professing Hinduism has decreased from 83%
in 1961 to 80% at present.
The Prevention of Atrocities Act
Main article: Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, 1989
The Prevention of Atrocities Act (POA) is a tacit acknowledgement by
the Indian government that caste relations are defined by violence,
both incidental and systemic.[40] In 1989, the Government of India
passed the Prevention of Atrocities Act (POA), which clarified
specific crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (the
Dalits) as “atrocities,” and created strategies and punishments to
counter these acts. The purpose of The Act was to curb and punish
violence against Dalits. Firstly, it clarified what the atrocities
were: both particular incidents of harm and humiliation, such as the
forced consumption of noxious substances, and systemic violence still
faced by many Dalits, especially in rural areas. Such systemic
violence includes forced labor, denial of access to water and other
public amenities, and sexual abuse of Dalit women. Secondly, the Act
created Special Courts to try cases registered under the POA. Thirdly,
the Act called on states with high levels of caste violence (said to
be “atrocity-prone”) to appoint qualified officers to monitor and
maintain law and order. The POA gave legal redress to Dalits, but only
two states have created separate Special Courts in accordance with the
law. In practice the Act has suffered from a near-complete failure in
implementation. Policemen have displayed a consistent unwillingness to
register offenses under the act. This reluctance stems partially from
ignorance and also from peer protection. According to a 1999 study,
nearly a quarter of those government officials charged with enforcing
the Act are unaware of its existence.[40]
Dalits and contemporary Indian politics
Newspapers in Calcutta announce the surprise majority for Mayawati's
party in the 2007 elections in Uttar PradeshWhile the Indian
Constitution has duly made special provisions for the social and
economic uplift of the Dalits, comprising the so-called scheduled
castes and tribes in order to enable them to achieve upward social
mobility, these concessions are limited to only those Dalits who
remain Hindu. There is a demand among the Dalits who have converted to
other religions that the statutory benefits should be extended to them
as well, to "overcome" and bring closure to historical injustices.[38]
Another major politically charged issue with the rise of Hindutva's
(Hindu nationalism) role in Indian politics is that of religious
conversion. This political movement alleges that conversions of Dalits
are due not to any social or theological motivation but to allurements
like education and jobs. Critics[who?] argue that the inverse is true
due to laws banning conversion, and the limiting of social relief for
these backward sections of Indian society being revoked for those who
convert. Bangaru Laxman, a Dalit politician, was a prominent member of
the Hindutva movement.
Another political issue is over the affirmative-action measures taken
by the government towards the upliftment of Dalits through quotas in
government jobs and university admissions. About 8% of the seats in
the National and State Parliaments are reserved for Scheduled Caste
and Tribe candidates, a measure sought by B. R. Ambedkar and other
Dalit activists in order to ensure that Dalits would obtain a
proportionate political voice.
Anti-Dalit prejudices exist in fringe groups, such as the extremist
militia Ranvir Sena, largely run by upper-caste landlords in areas of
the Indian state of Bihar. They oppose equal treatment of Dalits and
have resorted to violent means to suppress the Dalits. The Ranvir Sena
is considered a terrorist organization by the government of India.[41]
In 1997, K. R. Narayanan became the first Dalit President.
In 2008, Mayawati, a Dalit from the Bahujan Samaj Party, was elected
as the Chief Minister of India's biggest state Uttar Pradesh. Her
victory was the outcome of her efforts to expand her political base
beyond Dalits, embracing in particular the Brahmins of Uttar Pradesh
[42][43]. Mayawati, together with her political mentor Kanshi Ram, saw
that the interests of the average Dalit (most of whom are landless
agricultural laborers) were more in conflict with the middle castes
such as the Yadav caste, who owned most of the agricultural land in
Uttar Pradesh, than with the predominantly city-dwelling upper castes
[44][45]. Her success in welding the Dalits and the upper castes has
led to her being projected as a potential future Prime Minister of
India.[46]
Dalit literature
Main article: Dalit literature
Dalit literature forms an important and distinct part of Indian
literature.[47][48] One of the first Dalit writers was Madara
Chennaiah, an 11th-century cobbler-saint who lived in the reign of
Western Chalukyas and who is also regarded by some scholars as the
"father of Vachana poetry". Another poet who finds mention is Dohara
Kakkaiah, a Dalit by birth, six of whose confessional poems survive.
[49]
Modern Dalit literature
In the modern era, Dalit literature received its first impetus with
the advent of leaders like Mahatma Phule and Ambedkar in Maharashtra,
who brought forth the issues of Dalits through their works and
writings; this started a new trend in Dalit writing and inspired many
Dalits to come forth with writings in Marathi, Hindi, Tamil and
Punjabi.[50]
By the 1960s, Dalit literature saw a fresh crop of new writers like
Baburao Bagul, Bandhu Madhav [51] and Shankarao Kharat, though its
formal form came into being with the Little magazine movement.[52] In
Sri Lanka, Dalit writers like Dominic Jeeva gained mainstream
popularity in the late 1960.
See also
Annabhau Sathe
Caste-related violence in India
2006 Dalit protests in Maharashtra
Dalit Freedom Network
Persecution of Dalits
List of Arunthathiyar
Aathi Thamilar Peravai
Athiyamaan
References
^ [1]
^ Damal, Swarnakumar (2005), Dalits of Nepal: Who are Dalits in Nepal,
International Nepal Solidarity Network,
http://insn.org/wp-content/DalitsNepalSuvashDarnal.pdf
^ Satyani, Prabhu (2005). "The Situation of the Untouchables in
Pakistan". ASR Resource Center.
http://www.countercurrents.org/dalit-sikand230905.htm. Retrieved
2008-09-27.
^ Excerpts from The Constitution of India, Left Justified, 1997,
http://www.leftjustified.com/leftjust/lib/sc/ht/wtp/india.html
^ Oliver Mendelsohn, Marika Vicziany. The untouchables: subordination,
poverty, and the state in modern India, 1998: Cambridge University
Press, p. 4 ISBN 0521556716, 9780521556712
http://www.alpha.org.in/
^ Victor Premasagar in Interpretive Diary of a Bishop: Indian
Experience in Translation and Interpretation of Some Biblical Passages
(Chennai: Christian Literature Society, 2002), p. 108.
^ "Dalit word un-constitutional says SC". Express India. 2008-01-18.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Dalit-word-unconstitutional-says-SC-Commission/262903/.
Retrieved 2008-09-27.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Dalit-word-unconstitutional-says-SC-Commission/262903/
^ Leslie, Julia (2004), Authority and Meaning in Indian Religions,
Ashgate Pub Ltd, pp. 46, ISBN 0754634310
^ "Manual scavenging - the most indecent form of work". Anti-
Slavery.org. 2002-05-27. http://www.antislavery.org/archive/submission/submission2002-scavenging.htm.
Retrieved 2008-09-27.
^ "India: "Hidden Apartheid" of Discrimination Against Dalits". Human
Rights Watch. 2002-05-27. http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/02/13/india15303.htm.
Retrieved 2008-09-27.
^ a b Hindus Support Dalit Candidates in Tamil Nadu
^ Crusader Sees Wealth as Cute for Caste Bias
^ Utah, America, "Genetic Evidence on the Origins of Indian Caste
Populations", 30 September 2006
http://jorde-lab.genetics.utah.edu/elibrary/Bamshad_2001a.pdf
^ "Genetic affinities between endogamous and inbreeding populations of
Uttar Pradesh" (2007)
^ a b http://www.pnas.org/content/103/4/843.full.pdf
^ Sachar, Rajindar (2006). "Minority Report" (pdf). Government of
India. http://www.mfsd.org/sachar/leafletEnglish.pdf. Retrieved
2008-09-27.
http://www.mfsd.org/sachar/leafletEnglish.pdf
^ http://www.bangladeshsociology.org/BEJS%203.2%20Das.pdf
^ http://books.google.com/books?id=FnB3k8fx5oEC&pg=PA291 Castes and
tribes of Southern India, Volume 7 By Edgar Thurston, K. Rangachari, p.
251
^ http://www.nairs.in/acha_a.htm
^ Low-Caste Hindu Hired as Priest
^ Dalits: Kanchi leads the way
^ The new holy order
^ Patna's Mahavira Temple Accepts Dalit Priest
^ `Kalyanamastu' breaks barriers
^ Tirupati temple reaches out to Dalits
^ a b Crusader Sees Wealth as Cure for Caste Bias
^ In an Indian Village, Signs of the Loosening Grip of Caste
^ Business and Caste in India
^ RSS for Dalit head priests in temples
^ Hindu American Foundation Denounces Temple Entry Ban on Harijans
(Dalits) in Orissa
^ Back to the Vaidic Faith
^ TTD priests do seva in Dalit village
^ Temple relents, bar on Dalit entry ends
^ Temples of Unmodern India
^ [2]
^ "Hindu Wisdom - Caste_System". hinduwisdom.info. http://hinduwisdom.info/Caste_System.ht.
Retrieved 2008-06-20.
^ "Dalit Muslims". www.deshkalindia.com. http://www.deshkalindia.com/dalit-muslims.htm.
Retrieved 2008-06-20.
^ a b Sikand, Yoginder. "The 'Dalit Muslims' and the All-India
Backward Muslim Morcha". www.indianet.nl. http://www.indianet.nl/dalmusl.html.
Retrieved 2008-06-20.
^ [3]
^ a b The Prevention of Atrocities Act: Unused Ammunition
^ http://pakobserver.net/200906/27/Articles02.asp
^ "Mayawati bets on Brahmin-Dalit card for U.P. polls" The Hindu,
March 14 2007
^ "Brahmin Vote Helps Party of Low Caste Win in India" The New York
Times, May 11 2007
^ "The victory of caste arithmetic", Rediff News, May 11 2007
^ "Why Mayawati is wooing the Brahmins" Rediff News, March 28 2007
^ "Mayawati Plans to Seek India's Premier Post", The Wall Street
Journal, August 11 2008
^ Dalit literature
^ Brief Introduction to Dalit Literature
^ Western Chalukya literature#Bhakti literature.
^ Dalit’s passage to consciousness The Tribune, September 28, 2003
^ Dalit literature is not down and out any more Times of India, July
7, 1989
^ A Critical study of Dalit Literature in India Dr. Jugal Kishore
Mishra
Further reading
Dalit - The Black Untouchables of India, by V.T. Rajshekhar. 2003 -
2nd print, Clarity Press, Inc. ISBN 0-932863-05-1.
Untouchable!: Voices of the Dalit Liberation Movement, by Barbara R.
Joshi, Zed Books, 1986. ISBN 0862324602, 9780862324605.
An Anthology Of Dalit Literature, by Mulk Raj Anand. 1992, Gyan Books.
ISBN 8121204194, ISBN 9788121204194.
Dalits and the Democratic Revolution - Dr. Ambedkar and the Dalit
Movement in Colonial India, by Gail Omvedt. 1994, Sage Publications.
ISBN 8170363683.
The Untouchables: Subordination, Poverty and the State in Modern
India, by Oliver Mendelsohn, Marika Vicziany, Cambridge University
Press, 1998, ISBN 0521556716, 9780521556712.
Dalit Identity and Politics, by Ranabira Samaddara, Ghanshyam Shah,
Sage Publications, 2001. ISBN 0761995080, 9780761995081.
Journeys to Freedom: Dalit Narratives, by Fernando Franco, Jyotsna
Macwan, Suguna Ramanathan. Popular Prakashan, 2004. ISBN 8185604657,
9788185604657.
Towards an Aesthetic of Dalit Literature, by Sharankumar Limbale.
2004, Orient Longman. ISBN 8125026568.
From Untouchable to Dalit - Essays on the Ambedkar Movement, by
Eleanor Zilliot. 2005, Manohar. ISBN 8173041431.
Dalit Politics and Literature, by Pradeep K. Sharma. Shipra
Publications, 2006. ISBN 8175412712, 9788175412712.
Dalit Visions: The Anti-caste Movement and the Construction of an
Indian Identity, by Gail Omvedt. Orient Longman, 2006. ISBN
8125028951, 9788125028956.
Dalits in Modern India - Vision and Values, by S M Michael. 2007, Sage
Publications. ISBN 9780761935711.
Dalit Literature : A Critical Exploration, by Amar Nath Prasad & M.B.
Gaijan. 2007. ISBN 8176258172.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit
Census Data 2001 >> India at a glance >>
Scheduled Casts & Scheduled Tribes Population
Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes Population:
Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes Population
Scheduled Castes : 166,635,700 16.2%
Scheduled Tribes : 84,326,240 8.2%
Scheduled Castes
State with highest proportion of Scheduled Castes Punjab ( 28.9 %)
State with lowest proportion of Scheduled Castes Mizoram ( 0.03 %)
UT with highest proportion of Scheduled Castes Chandigarh (17.5%)
UT with lowest proportion of Scheduled Castes D & N Haveli (1.9% )
District with highest proportion of Scheduled Castes Koch-Bihar
(50.1%)
District with lowest proportion of Scheduled Castes Lawngtlai Mizoram
(0.01%)
Scheduled Tribes
State with highest proportion of Scheduled Tribes Mizoram ( 94.5 % )
State with lowest proportion of Scheduled Tribes Goa (0.04 %)
UT with highest proportion of Scheduled Tribes Lakshadweep (94.5 %)
UT with lowest proportion of Scheduled Tribes A & N Islands (8.3 %)
District with highest proportion of Scheduled Tribes Sarchhip, Mizoram
( 98.1%)
District with lowest proportion of Scheduled Tribes Hathras, Uttar
Pradesh (0.01%)
Area | Administrative Divisions | Population | Population Density |
Rural Urban Distribution
http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/India_at_Glance/scst.aspx
Dalits In Pakistan
Book Review By Yoginder Sikand
23 September, 2005
Countercurrents.org
Name of the Book: Hamey Bhi Jeeney Do: Pakistan Mai Acchoot Logon ki
Suratehal (Urdu) ['Let us Also Live: The Situation of the Untouchables
in Pakistan']
Author: Pirbhu Lal Satyani (pirb...@yahoo.com)
Publisher: ASR Resource Centre, Lahore, Pakistan (a...@brain.net.pk)
Year: 2005
Price: Rs. 20 (Pakistani)
Caste, the scourge of Hinduism, is so deeply entrenched in Indian
society that it has not left the adherents of Islam, Sikhism,
Christianity and Buddhism-theoretically egalitarian religions-
unaffected. So firmly rooted is the cancer of caste in the region that
it survives and thrives in neighbouring Pakistan, where over 95% of
the population are Muslims, as this slim book tells us.
Pirbhu Lal Satyani, the author of the book, is a Pakistani Hindu
social activist based in Lahore, working among the Dalits in his
country. Of Pakistan's roughly 3 million Hindu population, he says,
over 75% are Dalits, belonging to various castes, the most prominent
being Meghwals, Odhs, Valmikis, Kohlis and Bhils. They reside mainly
in southern Punjab and Sindh. Satyani provides startling details about
the plight of the Dalits of Pakistan, which appears to be no different
from that of the Dalits of India.
In a speech in 1944, Satyani writes, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder
of Pakistan, declared that the Muslim League would protect the rights
of the Dalits, and he assured them of full security. Accordingly,
Jogendra Nath Mondal, a Dalit from East Bengal, was appointed as the
leader of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan and the first Law
Minister of the country. This suggests, Satyani says, that Jinnah was
genuine in his concern for the Dalits of Pakistan. However, things
began to change after Jinnah's death, and in 1953 Mondal resigned from
the Cabinet and migrated to India. This was an indication of the
growing intolerance towards minorities in post-Jinnah Pakistan. Today,
as Satyani shows, minorities lead a bleak existence in Pakistan, the
worst sufferers among them being the country's Dalits.
Following the Partition of India, Satyani says, most Hindus living in
what is now Pakistan migrated to India. The vast majority of those who
stayed back in Pakistan were Dalits. In the years after the Partition,
he writes, there has been a steady migration of Hindus to India,
especially in the immediate aftermath of the 1965 and 1971 wars
between India and Pakistan. The destruction of the Babri Masjid in
India in 1992 and the ensuing massacre of Muslims in different parts
of India by Hindutva extremists, led to a heightening of insecurity
among the Pakistani Hindus, causing a sizeable number of them to
migrate to India. Most of these migrants were 'upper' caste Hindus.
Lacking money and resources, Dalits in Pakistan were unable to make
the same choice. In addition, Satyani writes, 'The Dalits are so
caught up with mere day-to-day survival issues that Hindu-Muslim
conflicts or Pakistan-India disputes are not as important for them as
they are for rich 'upper' caste Hindus'. To add to this probably is
the fact that life for Dalits in India is hardly better than in
Pakistan.
Most Pakistani Dalits work as landless agricultural labourers and
sweepers, Satyani writes. In rural areas their huts are located in
separate settlements outside the main village and they generally lack
even basic amenities. Large numbers of Dalits also lead a nomadic
existence, traveling from village to village in search of manual work.
Many Dalits live in temporary structures in the land of landlords for
whom they work and they can be expelled from their whenever the
landlords wish, having no title to the land. They generally earn a
pittance and are often forced into free labour by powerful 'upper'
caste Hindu and Muslim feudal lords. Many Dalits eke out a miserable
existence as bonded labourers, being heavily indebted to landlords and
moneylenders. If they protest false cases are lodged against them and
the police does little or nothing to protect them. Local
administrative officers routinely harass them and even forcibly take
away their cattle and other such belongings. Land mafias in rural
Sindh often forcibly grab the land on which Dalits set up their huts.
In most places Dalits have no temples of their own. They have few
places where they can burn their dead, and many of these are illegally
occupied by local Muslims.
In schools in the villages, Satyani tells us, Dalit students routinely
face discrimination and are not allowed to use utensils that are used
by other students. In schools Dalit students are often badly treated
by Muslim teachers and students. Despite being the poorest of the
poor, they do not receive any scholarships on the grounds that money
for scholarships comes from zakat funds and hence it is not
permissible for non-Muslims to avail of them. Further, owing to
desperate poverty few Dalits can afford to send their children for
higher education, and, generally, children are withdrawn from school
at an early age to engage in manual work to help supplement the
family's meagre income. In many cases, Dalits do not send their girls
to school fearing that they might be kidnapped, raped or forced to
convert to Islam.
In towns and cities Dalits generally live in the poorest parts, in
squalid slums. There are no organizations working among them for their
welfare, and, lacking a strong political leadership of their own, they
are not able to effectively assert their voice in demanding their
rights from the state or from the larger society, not even to protest
in cases of human rights violations. Many of them do not possess
national identity cards, and so cannot access various government
developmental schemes. Government facilities for religious minorities
are almost monopolized by the country's more powerful and organized
Christian and 'upper' caste Hindu communities, leaving the Dalits
untouched.
Because of acute poverty, rampant illiteracy and discrimination and
the absence of a Dalit movement as in India, Dalits in Pakistan have
no political influence at all, Satyani says. In many places, Dalits
are not allowed to freely vote for candidates of their own choice.
They are often forced by powerful 'upper' caste Hindu and Muslim
landlords to vote for particular candidates, and if they are refused
they are pressurized into leaving their homes or are beaten up. The
problem of Dalit political marginalisation is complicated by the acute
divisions among the Dalits, with various Dalit castes practicing
untouchability among themselves. For its part, the Pakistani state,
Satyani says, prefers to promote the economically and socially more
influential 'upper' caste Hindus as 'leaders' of the Hindus, instead
of trying to promote an alternate Dalit leadership. Thus, for
instance, in 2002, of the nine seats reserved for the Sindh provincial
assembly for religious minorities, seven were for Hindus and only one
for Dalits, while Dalits account for more than 70% of the Hindu
population of the province. The state's lack of commitment to helping
the Dalits is also evident from the fact that despite there being some
3,50,000 Dalits in southern Punjab (mainly in the Rahim Yar Khan and
Bahawalpur districts) there are no reserved seats for Dalits or Hindus
in the provincial assembly. All the seats reserved for minorities in
the assembly for minorities are occupied by Christians. Further,
government affirmative policies meant especially for Dalits have been
done away with, Satyani writes. While Jinnah had provided a 6% job
quota for Dalits in some government services, in 1998 the government
of Nawaz Sharif, assisted by some 'upper' caste Hindu and Christian
leaders, changed the Dalit quota to a general minorities' quota, thus
effectively denying Dalits assured access to government jobs.
Dalits, like other minorities in Pakistan, Satyani tells us, are also
victims of religious discrimination, by both Muslims as well as
'upper' caste Hindus. Despite the Hindus being a minority in Pakistan,
'upper' caste Hindus continue to discriminate against the Dalits.
Generally, Dalits are refused entry into Hindu temples belonging to
the 'upper' castes. 'Upper' caste Hindu landlords and businessmen in
Sindh, Satyani writes, show little concern for the plight of the
Dalits, and, instead, are often complicit, along with Muslim feudal
lords, in oppressing them. As in large parts of India, in eateries in
the rural areas of Sindh, owned both by 'upper' caste Hindus as well
Muslims, Dalits are forced to use separate utensils and are expected
to wash them themselves after use. When they visit hospitals for
treatment they are generally left unattended and, being considered as
untouchables, are not allowed to touch utensils meant for public use
there. Often, Dalit women are gang-raped, murdered or are forced to
convert to Islam, but no action is taken against the perpetrators of
these crimes. Besides this, due to discrimination by 'upper' caste
Hindus, many Dalits have converted to Islam and Christianity on their
own.
Satyani ends his book with a list of recommendations for addressing
the plight of Dalits in his country. He suggests that the government
of Pakistan should insist that the question of Dalit human rights and
amelioration of their pathetic conditions be placed as part of the
SAARC agenda. This, presumably, would force all the SAARC member
states, including India, to take the issue of caste oppression
seriously. He calls for the setting up of a national commission in
Pakistan to monitor the conditions of the country's Dalits and to work
for their welfare. Dalits, he says, should be given reserved seats in
the National and Provincial Assemblies in accordance with their
population as well as adequate representation in all government
services. In areas with a high Dalit population, councils should be
created by the state for development of the Dalits. All 'black laws'
against religious minorities should be repealed, Satyani advises, and
to improve relations between different religious communities the
educational curriculum should be revised and negative portrayals of
non-Muslim communities and their religions should be deleted. Landless
labourers should be granted titles to land; Hindu, including Dalit,
employees should be given holidays on the occasion of their festivals;
Dalit communities that do not have any cremation grounds of their own
should be provided with such facilities; Dalits should be given the
right to use public wells and taps and to live within the villages,
instead, as of now, outside them; and Hindu temples presently under
the control of the Waqf Department should be given back to the
community. In schools with a sizeable Hindu population, Hindu children
should be provided facilities to study their own religion instead of
Islam.
Whether the state authorities willing to accede to these demands,
however, is another question.
Pirbhu Lal Satyani can be contacted on pirb...@yahoo.com
Indian Dalit readers could help Pirbhu Lal by sending him Dalit
literature in English or Urdu.
http://www.countercurrents.org/dalit-sikand230905.htm
Excerpts from The Constitution of India
PART III
Fundamental Rights
General
12. Definition — In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires,
"the State" includes the Government and Parliament of India and the
Government and the Legislature of each of the States and all local or
other authorities within the territory of India or under the control
of the Government of India....
Right to Equality
14. Equality before law — The State shall not deny to any person
equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the
territory of India.
15. Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste,
sex or place of birth — (1) The State shall not discriminate against
any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of
birth or any of them. (2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of
religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject
to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to
— (a) access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public
entertainment; or (b) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads
and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of State
funds or dedicated to the use of the general public. (3) Nothing in
this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision
for women and children. (4) Nothing in this article or in clause (2)
of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special
provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally
backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes.
16. Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment — (1)
There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters
relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State.
(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex,
descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for,
or discriminated against in respect or, any employment or office under
the State....
17. Abolition of Untouchability — "Untouchability" is abolished and
its practice in any form is forbidden. The enforcement of any
disability arising out of "Untouchability" shall be an offence
punishable in accordance with law.
18. Abolition of titles — (1) No title, not being a military or
academic distinction, shall be conferred by the State....
Right to Freedom
19. Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech, etc. —
(1) All citizens shall have the right — (a) to freedom of speech and
expression; (b) to assemble peaceably and without arms; (c) to form
associations or unions; (d) to move freely throughout the territory of
India; (e) to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India;
and (f) [removed]; (g) to practice any profession, or to carry on any
occupation, trade or business.
...Nothing in sub-clause (a)... (b)... (c)... (d)... (e)... (g)... of
Clause (1) shall affect the operation of any existing law, or prevent
the State from making any law, in so far as such law imposes
reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by the
said sub-clause in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of
India....
20. Protection in respect of conviction for offenses — (1) No person
shall be convicted of any offence except for violation of a law in
force at the time of the commission of the act charged as an offence,
nor be subjected to a penalty greater than that which might have been
inflicted under the law in force at the time of the commission of the
offence. (2) No person shall be prosecuted and punished for the same
offence more than once. (3) No person accused of any offence shall be
compelled to be a witness against himself.
21. Protection of life and personal liberty — No person shall be
deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure
established by law.
22. Protection against arrest and detention in certain cases — (1) No
person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being
informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest nor shall
he be denied the right to consult, and to be defended by, a legal
practitioner of his choice. (2) Every person who is arrested and
detained in custody shall be produced before the nearest magistrate
within a period of twenty-four hours of such arrest excluding the time
necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the court of the
magistrate and no such person shall be detained in custody beyond the
said period without the authority of a magistrate. (3) Nothing in
clauses (1) and (2) shall apply — (a) to any person who for the time
being is an enemy alien; or (b) to any person who is arrested or
detained under any law providing for preventive detention. (4) No law
providing for preventive detention shall authorize the detention of a
person for a longer period than three months unless — (a) an Advisory
Board consisting of persons who are, or have been, or are qualified to
be appointed as, Judges of a High Court has reported before the
expiration of the said period of three months that there is in its
opinion sufficient cause for such detention;... (5) When any person is
detained in pursuance of an order made under any law providing for
preventive detention, the authority making the order shall, as soon as
may be, communicate to such person the grounds on which the order has
been made and shall afford him the earliest opportunity of making a
representation against the order. (6) Nothing in clause (5) shall
require the authority making any such order as is referred to in that
clause to disclose facts which such authority considers to be against
the public interest to disclose....
Right Against Exploitation
23. Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labor — (1)
Traffic in human beings and begar and other similar forms of forced
labor are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be
an offence punishable in accordance with law. (2) Nothing in this
article shall prevent the State from imposing compulsory service for
public purposes....
24. Prohibition of employment of children in factories, etc. — No
child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any
factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.
Right to Freedom of Religion
25. Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and
propagation of religion —(1) Subject to public order, morality and
health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are
equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to
profess, practice and propagate religion. (2) Nothing in this article
shall affect the operation of any existing law or prevent the State
from making any law — (a) regulating or restricting any economic,
financial, political or other secular activity which may be associated
with religious practice; (b) providing for social welfare and reform
or the throwing open of Hindu religious institutions of a public
character to all classes and sections of Hindus....
Cultural and Educational Rights
29. Protection of interests of minorities — (1) Any section of the
citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having
a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right
to conserve the same. (2) No citizen shall be denied admission into
any educational institution maintained by the State or receiving aid
out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language
or any of them....
34. Restriction on rights conferred by this Part while martial law is
in force in any area - ..Parliament may by law indemnify any person in
the service of the Union or of a State or any other person in respect
of any act done by him in connection with the maintenance or
restoration of order in any area within the territory of India where
martial law was in force or validate any sentence passed, punishment
inflicted, forfeiture ordered or other act done under martial law in
such area....
51-A. Fundamental duties — It shall be the duty of every citizen of
India — (a) to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and
institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem; (b) to
cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national
struggle for freedom; (c) to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity
and integrity of India; (d) to defend the country and render national
service when called upon to do so; (e) to promote harmony and the
spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India
transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional
diversities; to renounce practice derogatory to the dignity of women;
(f) to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;
(g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests,
lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living
creatures; (h) to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the
spirit of inquiry and reform; (i) to safeguard public property and to
abjure violence; (j) to strive towards excellence in all spheres of
individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises
to higher levels of endeavour and achievement.
Copyright ©1995-97 by LeftJusified Publiks
http://www.leftjustified.com/leftjust/lib/sc/ht/wtp/india.html
India: ‘Hidden Apartheid’ of Discrimination Against Dalits
Government Fails to End Caste-Based Segregation and Attacks
(New York, February 13, 2007) –
India has systematically failed to uphold its international legal
obligations to ensure the fundamental human rights of Dalits, or so-
called untouchables, despite laws and policies against caste
discrimination, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice and
Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. More than 165
million Dalits in India are condemned to a lifetime of abuse simply
because of their caste.
Prime Minister Singh has rightly compared ‘untouchability’ to
apartheid, and he should now turn his words into action to protect the
rights of Dalits. The Indian government can no longer deny its
collusion in maintaining a system of entrenched social and economic
segregation.
Professor Smita Narula, faculty director of the Center for Human
Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) at New York University School of
Law, and co-author of the report.
Contribute to Human Rights Watch
Related Material
“Hidden Apartheid: Caste Discrimination against India’s
‘Untouchables’”
Report, February 13, 2007
Center for Human Rights and Global Justice
Web Site
India
Country Page
India's Dalits: between atrocity and protest
Commentary, January 12, 2007
More on the work of the International Dalit Solidarity Network
Web Site
More on the work of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights
Web Site
IDSN produced documentary on Dalits
Film
Audio Commentary in English
Audio Clip
Letter to Prime Minister Singh of India from the Center for Human
Rights and Global Justice and Human Rights Watch
Letter, February 14, 2007
The 113-page report, “Hidden Apartheid: Caste Discrimination against
India’s ‘Untouchables’,” was produced as a “shadow report” in response
to India’s submission to the United Nations Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which monitors
implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). The committee will review
India’s compliance with the convention during hearings in Geneva on
February 23 and 26.
On December 27, 2006 Manmohan Singh became the first sitting Indian
prime minister to openly acknowledge the parallel between the practice
of “untouchability” and the crime of apartheid. Singh described
“untouchability” as a “blot on humanity” adding that “even after 60
years of constitutional and legal protection and state support, there
is still social discrimination against Dalits in many parts of our
country.”
“Prime Minister Singh has rightly compared ‘untouchability’ to
apartheid, and he should now turn his words into action to protect the
rights of Dalits,” said Professor Smita Narula, faculty director of
the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) at New York
University School of Law, and co-author of the report. “The Indian
government can no longer deny its collusion in maintaining a system of
entrenched social and economic segregation.”
Dalits endure segregation in housing, schools, and access to public
services. They are denied access to land, forced to work in degrading
conditions, and routinely abused at the hands of the police and upper-
caste community members who enjoy the state’s protection. Entrenched
discrimination violates Dalits’ rights to education, health, housing,
property, freedom of religion, free choice of employment, and equal
treatment before the law. Dalits also suffer routine violations of
their right to life and security of person through state-sponsored or -
sanctioned acts of violence, including torture.
Caste-motivated killings, rapes, and other abuses are a daily
occurrence in India. Between 2001 and 2002 close to 58,000 cases were
registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention
of Atrocities) Act – legislation that criminalizes particularly
egregious abuses against Dalits and tribal community members. A 2005
government report states that a crime is committed against a Dalit
every 20 minutes. Though staggering, these figures represent only a
fraction of actual incidents since many Dalits do not register cases
for fear of retaliation by the police and upper-caste individuals.
Both state and private actors commit these crimes with impunity. Even
on the relatively rare occasions on which a case reaches court, the
most likely outcome is acquittal. Indian government reports reveal
that between 1999 and 2001 as many as 89 percent of trials involving
offenses against Dalits resulted in acquittals.
A resolution passed by the European Parliament on February 1, 2007
found India’s efforts to enforce laws protecting Dalits to be “grossly
inadequate,” adding that “atrocities, untouchability, illiteracy,
[and] inequality of opportunity, continue to blight the lives of
India’s Dalits.” The resolution called on the Indian government to
engage with CERD in its efforts to end caste-based discrimination.
Dalit leaders welcomed the resolution, but Indian officials dismissed
it as lacking in “balance and perspective.”
“International scrutiny is growing and with it the condemnation of
abuses resulting from the caste system and the government’s failure to
protect Dalits,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“India needs to mobilize the entire government and make good on its
paper commitments to end caste abuses. Otherwise, it risks pariah
status for its homegrown brand of apartheid.”
Attempts by Dalits to defy the caste order, to demand their rights, or
to lay claim to land that is legally theirs are consistently met with
economic boycotts or retaliatory violence. For example, in Punjab on
January 5, 2006 Dalit laborer and activist Bant Singh, seeking the
prosecution of the people who gang-raped his daughter, was beaten so
severely that both arms and one leg had to be amputated. On September
26, 2006 in Kherlanji village, Maharashtra, a Dalit family was killed
by an upper-caste mob, after the mother and daughter were stripped,
beaten and paraded through the village and the two brothers were
brutally beaten. They were attacked because they refused to let upper-
caste farmers take their land. After widespread protests at the
police’s failure to arrest the perpetrators, some of those accused in
the killing were finally arrested and police and medical officers who
had failed to do their jobs were suspended from duty.
Exploitation of labor is at the very heart of the caste system. Dalits
are forced to perform tasks deemed too “polluting” or degrading for
non-Dalits to carry out. According to unofficial estimates, more than
1.3 million Dalits – mostly women – are employed as manual scavengers
to clear human waste from dry pit latrines. In several cities, Dalits
are lowered into manholes without protection to clear sewage
blockages, resulting in more than 100 deaths each year from inhalation
of toxic gases or from drowning in excrement. Dalits comprise the
majority of agricultural, bonded, and child laborers in the country.
Many survive on less than US$1 per day.
In January 2007 the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women concluded that Dalit women in India suffer from “deeply
rooted structural discrimination.” “Hidden Apartheid” records the
plight of Dalit women and the multiple forms of discrimination they
face. Abuses documented in the report include sexual abuse by the
police and upper-caste men, forced prostitution, and discrimination in
employment and the payment of wages.
Dalit children face consistent hurdles in access to education. They
are made to sit in the back of classrooms and endure verbal and
physical harassment from teachers and students. The effect of such
abuses is borne out by the low literacy and high drop-out rates for
Dalits.
The Center for Human Rights and Global Justice and Human Rights Watch
call on CERD to scrutinize the gap between India’s human rights
commitments and the daily reality faced by Dalits. In particular, CERD
should request that the Indian government:
•Identify measures taken to ensure appropriate reforms to eliminate
police abuses against Dalits and other marginalized communities;
•Provide concrete plans to implement laws and government policies to
protect Dalits, and Dalit women in particular, from physical and
sexual violence;
•Identify steps taken to eradicate caste-based segregation in
residential areas and schools, and in access to public services;
and,
•Outline plans to ensure the effective eradication of exploitative
labor arrangements and effective implementation of rehabilitation
schemes for Dalit bonded and child laborers, manual scavengers, and
for Dalit women forced into prostitution.
“International outrage over the treatment of Dalits is matched by
growing national discontent,” Smita Narula said. “India can’t ignore
the voices of 165 million citizens.”
“Hidden Apartheid” is based on in-depth investigations by CHRGJ, Human
Rights Watch, Indian non-governmental organizations, and media
sources. The pervasiveness of abuses against Dalits is corroborated by
the reports of Indian governmental agencies, including the National
Human Rights Commission, and the National Commission on Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes. These and other sources were compiled,
investigated, and analyzed under international law by NYU School of
Law’s International Human Rights Clinic.
Background
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) is
a body of independent experts responsible for monitoring states’
compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), ratified by India in 1968. It
guarantees rights of non-discrimination on the basis of “race, colour,
descent, or national or ethnic origin.” In 1996 CERD concluded that
the plight of Dalits falls squarely under the prohibition of descent-
based discrimination. As a state party to ICERD, India is obligated to
submit periodic reports detailing its implementation of rights
guaranteed under the convention. During the review session CERD
examines these reports and engages in constructive dialogue with the
state party, addressing its concerns and offering recommendations.
CERD uses supplementary information contained in non-governmental
organization “shadow reports” to evaluate states’ reports. India’s
report to CERD, eight years overdue, covers compliance with the
convention from 1996 to 2006 yet does not contain a single mention of
abuses against Dalits – abuses that India’s own governmental agencies
have documented and verified.
http://www.hrw.org/legacy/english/docs/2007/02/13/india15303.htm
Hindus support Dalit candidates in Tamil Nadu
Sunday, 15 October 2006
This time it is a different story from the four villages in southern
Tamil Nadu that defied the panchayati raj system for 10 long years.
Sections of the majority caste-Hindu people in these villages -
Pappapatti, Keeripatti and Nattarmangalam in Madurai district and
Kottakachiyenthal in the adjoining Virudhunagar district - who had
been monopolising panchayat posts for a long time were adamantly
refusing to accept Dalits as their panchayat presidents under the
reservation system introduced in 1996. They either did not allow any
Dalit to file nomination papers or fielded a candidate of their choice
and forced him to quit soon after he took charge or did not allow him
to complete his term. In the past 10 years elections and by-elections
were held more than 15 times and every time caste-Hindus adopted the
same strategy. They remained insensitive to protests from progressive
and democratic sections.
But now the situation is different. Caste Hindus of these villages are
now a changed lot. They sprang a surprise by participating
enthusiastically in the elections held on 13 and 15 October 2006 as
part of the State-wide exercise. This will pave the way, hopefully,
for a smooth, functional transfer of power to Dalits.
Human rights and political activists and mediapersons, who used to
visit these villages at least during election times, could not find
any tension unlike on previous occasions. Nor could they see, unlike
earlier, caste-Hindu elders with wry faces curiously watching the
movements of strangers or tight-lipped Dalits shivering in fear of
their `upper-caste' paymasters.
The villages witnessed hectic campaigns by supporters of rival
candidates, as did every other part of the State. There were small
meetings, distribution of handbills, pasting of posters on trees and
other forms of campaign. Caste Hindus, young and old, participated in
the process helping Dalits file their nominations and exercising their
franchise without fail. They said they had decided on allowing the
successful candidates to complete their term.
There was brisk polling at all levels for both reserved and non-
reserved posts, from panchayat ward member to district panchayat
councillor, in straight and multi-cornered contests. To add pep to
this, there were reports of friction between rival campaigners and
charges of attempts at impersonation. The voting percentage ranged
from 75 to 85 in the villages, according to reports. The election of
panchayat presidents and, for the first time, their ward members, who
together constitute the elected panchayat council, thus went smoothly.
The panchayat presidents were elected unopposed in Keeripatti and
Kottakachiyenthal. "We will ensure that they complete their term,"
said PK Chellakannu Thevar, a caste-Hindu leader at Pappapatti.
There is no denying that the caste Hindu participation of such
magnitude by itself is significant. For instance, panchayat elections
were held this year at Kottakachiyenthal after nearly 25 years. For
the elections to some posts, Dalits have been proposed or seconded by
caste Hindus. This has raised hopes of building a more effective
working relationship among warring caste groups.
How did it all happen? "This has not come about overnight. A lot of
effort has gone into this process of change," said R Mohan, Communist
Party of India (Marxist) Member of Parliament. He said the State
government, the district administration, voluntary organisations,
political workers "including some of our able activists" and the media
had all contributed to this development.
When the Left and Dalit parties demanded a few months ago that these
defiant villages should not be included in the list of panchayats to
be de-reserved at the end of two terms under the rotational system,
the State government readily agreed. Chief Minister M Karunanidhi also
announced in the State Assembly the government's resolve to break the
resistance to Dalit empowerment. It is this political will, which was
conspicuously absent all these years, triggered the transformation.
Once the State government took a stand, the district administration in
Madurai and Virudhunagar started doing the necessary spadework.
Collector of Madurai T Udhayachandran made several visits, sometimes
with no officials accompanying him to the three rebel panchayat
villages in the district in order to interact with the predominant
caste Hindus (Piranmalai Kallars) and Dalits (Pallars and Paraiyars).
The administration adopted a `carrot and stick' policy to persuade the
majority group to mend its ways and join the mainstream. The officials
assured them of basic amenities and development works. Field officials
educated the people on the advantages of having an elected panchayat.
Udhayachandran said special schemes worth more than Rs 50 lakh were
launched in each panchayat. Self-Help Groups of women were provided
loans to the tune of Rs 35 lakh. Polling booths were rearranged and
the procedures governing the filing of nominations were simplified.
The people were assured that their villages would be developed as
model villages. Several steps were taken to instill confidence among
Dalits and encourage their participation in the election process. The
Collector said: "We will think of creating new job opportunities for
the unemployed youth among both Dalits and others." He hoped that
there would be no problem for the successful Dalit candidates in
completing their terms.
Collector of Virudhunagar SS Jawahar made similar efforts at
Kottakachiyenthal, the most rebellious of the four southern villages,
where not a single election had been held either to the post of
panchayat president or to the post of ward member for 10 years. Unlike
in the other three villages, Dalit presence here is very small - less
than 20. The fall in the figure is attributed to migration, which has
not apparently been taken note of by officials handling poll-related
work. The village lacks infrastructure and basic amenities, including
drinking water and streetlights.
The condition of Dalits here is worse. Most of their one-room
tenements are in a dilapidated condition. They have to cook their food
in the open. There is no electricity. When the district administration
came to know of these problems, it launched development schemes worth
several lakhs of rupees. A ration shop was opened and public taps were
provided. A bus service was also promised. These measures helped
change the attitude of the two major caste-Hindu groups here,
Agamudaiyars and Yadavas. Besides, a rift between the two also worked
to the advantage of Dalits, whose nominee for president could count on
the support of one or the other of the two for his survival in
office.
Organisations such as People's Watch, Madurai, which in association
with the Dalit Panthers of India organised a public hearing on the
issue in 2004 and some activists of the CPI (M) have also been
instrumental in effecting the change in the people's attitude. For
instance, noted writer and CPI (M) activist Venkatesan has been
involved in creating awareness about the need for amity among the
rival social groups to fight poverty and social injustice. A group of
Tamil writers who visited Pappapatti and Nattarmangalam on 8 October
2006 also made a big impact on the caste Hindus. They recalled at the
meetings they addressed how people cutting across castes participated
in the struggles led by U Muthuramalinga Thevar about six decades ago
to win for Dalits the right to enter temples and also to get the
Criminal Tribes Act abolished and the names of communities such as
Piranmalai Kallar removed from the list of notified tribes.
Asked what brought about this change in their mindset, a caste-Hindu
youth from Pappapatti said the younger generation was keen on
`removing the bad name our village has earned". An elderly person
said: "We now realise that we have been left behind in several
respects because of our tough line in the past."
(Source: Frontline)
http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/311/48/
Crusader Sees Wealth as Cure for Caste Bias
Brian Sokol/Rapport, for The New York Times
An untouchable, or Dalit, woman in Azamgarh District in Uttar Pradesh,
India. The country has 200 million Dalits, many of whom remain
uneducated and poor.
More Photos >
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
Published: August 29, 2008
AZAMGARH DISTRICT, India — When Chandra Bhan Prasad visits his
ancestral village in these feudal badlands of northern India, he
dispenses the following advice to his fellow untouchables: Get rid of
your cattle, because the care of animals demands children’s labor.
Invest in your children’s education instead of in jewelry or land.
Cities are good for Dalit outcastes like us, and so is India’s new
capitalism.
Brian Sokol/Rapport, for The New York Times
Chandra Bhan Prasad in front of a flooded field in a village in Uttar
Pradesh, India. More Photos »
Mr. Prasad was born into the Pasi community, once considered
untouchable on the ancient Hindu caste order. Today, a chain-smoking,
irrepressible didact, he is the rare outcaste columnist in the English
language press and a professional provocateur. His latest crusade is
to argue that India’s economic liberalization is about to do the
unthinkable: destroy the caste system. The last 17 years of new
capitalism have already allowed his people, or Dalits, as they call
themselves, to “escape hunger and humiliation,” he says, if not
residual prejudice.
At a time of tremendous upheaval in India, Mr. Prasad is a lightning
rod for one of the country’s most wrenching debates: Has India’s
embrace of economic reforms really uplifted those who were consigned
for centuries to the bottom of the social ladder? Mr. Prasad, who
guesses himself to be in his late 40s because his birthday was never
recorded, is an anomaly, often the lone Dalit in Delhi gatherings of
high-born intelligentsia.
He has the zeal of an ideological convert: he used to be a Maoist
revolutionary who, by his own admission, dressed badly, carried a
pistol and recruited his people to kill their upper-caste landlords.
He claims to have failed in that mission.
Mr. Prasad is a contrarian. He calls government welfare programs
patronizing. He dismisses the countryside as a cesspool. Affirmative
action is fine, in his view, but only to advance a small slice into
the middle class, who can then act as role models. He calls English
“the Dalit goddess,” able to liberate Dalits.
Along with India’s economic policies, once grounded in socialist
ideals, Mr. Prasad has moved to the right. He is openly and
mischievously contemptuous of leftists. “They have a hatred for those
who are happy,” he said.
There are about 200 million Dalits, or members of the Scheduled
Castes, as they are known officially, in India. They remain socially
scorned in city and country, and they are over-represented among
India’s uneducated, malnourished and poor.
The debate over caste in the New India is more than academic. India’s
leaders are under growing pressure to alleviate poverty and
inequality. Now, all kinds of groups are clamoring for what Dalits
have had for 50 years — quotas in university seats, government jobs
and elected office — making caste one of the country’s most divisive
political issues. Moreover, there are growing demands for caste quotas
in the private sector.
Mr. Prasad’s latest mission is sure to stir the debate. He is
conducting a qualitative survey of nearly 20,000 households here in
northern state of Uttar Pradesh to measure how everyday life has
changed for Dalits since economic liberalization began in 1991. The
preliminary findings, though far from generalizable, reveal subtle
shifts.
The survey, financed by the Center for the Advanced Study of India at
the University of Pennsylvania, finds that Dalits are far less likely
to be engaged in their traditional caste occupations — for instance,
the skinning of animals, considered ritually unclean — than they used
to be and more likely to enjoy social perks once denied them. In rural
Azamgarh District, for instance, nearly all Dalit households said
their bridegrooms now rode in cars to their weddings, compared with 27
percent in 1990. In the past, Dalits would not have been allowed to
ride even horses to meet their brides; that was considered an upper-
caste privilege.
Mr. Prasad credits the changes to a booming economy. “It has pulled
them out of the acute poverty they were in and the day-to-day
humiliation of working for a landlord,” he said.
To prove his point, Mr. Prasad recently brought journalists here to
his home district. In one village, Gaddopur, his theory was borne out
in the tale of a gaunt, reticent man named Mahesh Kumar, who went to
work in a factory 300 miles away so his family would no longer have to
live as serfs, tending the animals of the upper caste.
When he was a child, Dalits like him had to address their upper-caste
landlords as “babu-saab,” close to “master.” Now it is acceptable to
call them “uncle” or “brother,” just as people would members of their
own castes.
Today, Mr. Kumar, 61 and uneducated, owns an airless one-room factory
on the outskirts of Delhi, with a basic gas-fired machine to press
bolts of fabric for garment manufacturers. With money earned there, he
and his sons have built a proper brick and cement house in their
village.
Similar tales are echoed in many other villages across India. But here
is the problem with Mr. Prasad’s survey. Even if it chronicles
progress, the survey cannot tie it to any one cause, least of all
economic changes. In fact, other empirical studies in this budding
area of inquiry show that in parts of India where economic
liberalization has had the greatest impact, neither rural poverty nor
the plight of Dalits has consistently improved.
Abhijit Banerjee, an economist at M.I.T. who studies poverty in India,
says that the reform years coincide with the rise of Dalit
politicians, and that both factors may have contributed to a rise in
confidence among Dalits.
Moreover, Old India’s caste prohibitions have made sure that some can
prosper more easily than others. India’s new knowledge-based economy
rewards the well-educated and highly skilled, and education for
centuries was the preserve of the upper castes.
Today, discrimination continues, with some studies suggesting that
those with familiar lower-caste names fare worse in job interviews,
even with similar qualifications. The Indian elite, whether corporate
heads, filmmakers, even journalists, is still dominated by the upper
castes.
From across India still come reports of brutality against untouchables
trying to transcend their destiny.
It is a measure of the hardships of rural India that so many Dalits in
recent years are migrating to cities for back-breaking, often
unregulated jobs, and that those who remain in their villages consider
sharecropping a step up from day labor.
On a journey across these villages with Mr. Prasad, it is difficult to
square the utter destitution of his people with Dalit empowerment. In
one village, the government health center has collapsed into a pile of
bricks. Few homes have toilets. Children run barefoot. In Gaddopur,
the Dalit neighborhood still sits on the edge of the village — so as
not to pollute the others, the thinking goes — and in the monsoon,
when the fields are flooded, the only way to reach the Dalits’ homes
is to tramp ankle deep in mud. The land that leads to the Dalit
enclave is owned by intermediate castes, and they have not allowed for
it to be used to build a proper brick lane.
Indu Jaiswal, 21, intends to be the first Dalit woman of Gaddopur to
get a salaried job. She has persuaded her family to let her defer her
marriage by a few years, an audacious demand here, so she could finish
college and get a stable government job. “With education comes
change,” Ms. Jaiswal said. “You learn how to talk. You learn how to
work. And you get more respect.”
Without education, the migrants from Gaddopur also know, they can go
only so far in the big cities that Mr. Prasad so ardently praises.
Their fabric-pressing factories in and around Delhi have been losing
business lately, as the big textile factories acquire computerized
machines far more efficient than their own crude contraptions. One man
with knowledge of computers can do the work of 10 of their men, they
say. Neither Mr. Kumar, nor the two sons who work with him, can afford
to buy these new machines. Even if they could, they know nothing about
computers.
The village Dalits do not challenge Mr. Prasad with such
contradictions as he travels among them preaching the virtues of
economic liberalization. He is a big man, a success story that makes
them proud.
Among the broad generalizations he favors, he says that Dalits aspire
to marry upper-caste Brahmins to step up the ladder. He married a
woman from his own caste, who, he proudly points out, is light-
skinned. Across the caste ladder, fair complexion is still preferred
over dark.
“Economic expansion is going to neutralize caste in 50 years,” he
predicted. “It will not end caste.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/world/asia/30caste.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=asia
Dalits: Kanchi leads the way
Author: Sandhya Jain
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: November 19, 2002
The Shankaracharya of Kanchi, Swami Jayendra Saraswati, broke a
critical stalemate in the current controversy over the merits of the
Tamil Nadu ban on conversions by force, fraud or inducement, by
offering worship at a Dalit-run temple in Madurai (The Hindu, Nov 12).
The Veerakali Amman temple, which serves the religious needs of 18
villages and has a Dalit priest, lies in the Melur region where 250
Hindus were converted en masse by a Canadian priest of the Seventh Day
Adventists on August 15. Previously, about 1,500 Hindus were converted
in the neighbouring areas in January 2001. By giving the villagers an
unexpected darshan, the Shankaracharya gracefully shattered several
myths and assumptions about inegalitarianism and divisiveness in Hindu
society.
Speaking with his legendary forthrightness, the seer told the
gathering what many of us have always known, namely, that Hindu dharma
does not promote or envision discrimination and regards people of all
sections of society as equal. He rightly stressed that Hindus have an
age-long tradition of living amicably as a 'family', as brothers and
sisters. Candidly accepting that there are always differences in
society, he advised the people not to foster discrimination on this
count, as unity has ever been the hallmark of the dharma.
The Shankaracharya has truly led by example, with a view to blunting
the criticism of evangelising faiths that social discrimination
compels Dalits to embrace other faiths. Hitherto, Hindus have been
rebutting the argument by pointing out that the condition of former
Dalits does not improve upon leaving the mother faith, and that
persisting discrimination in the new faiths has led Christian and
Muslim groups to demand the extension of reservation benefits to ex-
Dalits in their fold.
Swami Jayendra Saraswati, however, has risen above this cacophony to
remind us that we cannot seek refuge in such specious arguments, and
that it is our duty to uphold the principle of the brotherhood of man
in our own lives. It is now enjoined upon each one of us to be worthy
followers of a worthy leader. Tamil society in particular must rise to
the occasion and accord Dalits the personal dignity they crave for; a
beginning must be made by doing away with the degrading two-glass
system at village dhabas. In this regard, it may be worth noting that
the Swamiji's choice of temple was singularly apt. The Veerakali Amman
temple attracts devotees from all castes and is also a locally
renowned symbol of communal harmony as Muslims regularly join the
celebrations of its annual festival in January.
What is most exciting about this new call from the bastions of the
mainstream tradition is that it cannot be set aside lightly as a
maverick or fringe movement. Swami Jayendra Saraswati followed up the
Madurai initiative at Tirunelveli by categorically asserting that
Dalits have the right to enter any temple across the State
individually and offer prayers. This may not make sense to many urban
citizens. But what it means is that, at many important temples, Dalits
from outside the region do enter anonymously along with other
pilgrims, but local Dalits who might be recognised would be barred or
beaten for entering the precincts.
Now an orthodox Hindu leader with unparalleled knowledge of the
shastras has ruled that "appropriate action" would be taken against
those trying to prevent a Dalit from entering a temple. And as the
cosmic vision of the Hindus does not envisage the shallow separation
of religion and the public sphere, as Mahatma Gandhi had intuitively
understood, the Shankaracharya has rightly asserted that religious
leaders must increasingly participate in public life to foster a
social renaissance.
Given the encouraging signs emanating from different parts of the
country, it would appear that a major paradigm shift is in the making.
Later this month, Hindu religious leaders are slated to meet at
Kottakkal in Malappuram district, Kerala, to discuss whether temples
should open their doors to all visitors, irrespective of religion.
Historically, there are legitimate reasons for both the imposition of
the ban and, socially, there are valid reasons for its revocation. A
mature look at both sides of the coin would go a long way to ensure
community amity and national harmony.
Those who contend that conversions are not an assault upon the
country's native faith and living civilisation would do well to
recollect that Hindu dharma has suffered grievously for several
centuries, and its temples have been the special foci of sustained
assault and injury. Simply put, this is the reason for the self-
protective ban on the entry of non-believers into temple precincts.
Left historian Sanjay Subramani-am has recorded the fortuitous escape
of the famed Tirupathi shrine from annihilation at the hands of the
Portuguese. Can one imagine South India without Tirupathi? North India
was home to several such Tiru-pathis; today it has only the Ganga.
Yet, the priests of Tirupathi have welcomed all devotees, provided
only that they declare faith in Sri Venkatesvara; that is why it
rankles to this day that Signora Sonia Gandhi should so arrogantly
refuse this courtesy at such a holy shrine.
Nonetheless, much water has flown under the bridge, and communities
have grown to the point that many individuals wish to stake claim to a
larger Indic heritage. Hindu tradition is by definition inclusivist
rather than exclusionary, hence deference to the sentiments of non-
Hindu devotees would be highly appropriate. The present move is the
result of the hurt felt by many at a perceived injustice to celebrated
singer KJ Yesudas, a great bhakta of Guruvayurappan, who has been
denied temple entry on account of being born in a Christian family.
The poet Yusufali Kecherry, who has written some of the best songs in
honour of Lord Krishna, has also been excluded from Guruvayur because
of his Muslim origins.
This seemingly innocuous issue came to the forefront a couple of years
ago when the Guruvayur temple performed a purificatory rite after the
wedding of the son of Congress leader Vyalar Ravi. The explanation
offered was that Mr Ravi's wife was not a Hindu. But the incident
proved unacceptable to the Hindu conscience and sparked off the
present reformation drive.
Much can be expected from the conclave as the chief of the Namboodiri
sect has taken the lead in the matter and major temples and social
organisations are expected to attend the meet. It seems reasonable to
extend freedom of entry to all devotees (or for that matter even
heritage tourists from other faiths) provided that they show proper
respect to temple traditions and do not defile their sanctity. And it
goes without saying that this generosity must extend to less
privileged groups within the Hindu fold.
Change is already in the air. In strife-torn Bihar, the birthplace of
Lord Mahavira, the apostle of non-violence, authorities of Patna's
famous Mahavira temple have decided to increase the number of Dalit
priests after a successful experiment launched nine years ago. A
former untouchable, Suryavanshi Das, was recruited as a priest and has
been successfully performing the traditional rituals along with the
Brahmin priests. His public acceptance is absolute. The temple
administration actively promotes equality among human beings and
maintains links with the Ramanandi community which practiced non-
discrimination seven centuries ago.
http://www.hvk.org/articles/1102/135.html
India: ‘Hidden Apartheid’ of Discrimination Against Dalits
Government Fails to End Caste-Based Segregation and Attacks
(New York, February 13, 2007) – India has systematically failed to
uphold its international legal obligations to ensure the fundamental
human rights of Dalits, or so-called untouchables, despite laws and
policies against caste discrimination, the Center for Human Rights and
Global Justice and Human Rights Watch said in a new report released
today. More than 165 million Dalits in India are condemned to a
lifetime of abuse simply because of their caste.
Prime Minister Singh has rightly compared ‘untouchability’ to
apartheid, and he should now turn his words into action to protect the
rights of Dalits. The Indian government can no longer deny its
collusion in maintaining a system of entrenched social and economic
segregation.
Professor Smita Narula, faculty director of the Center for Human
Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) at New York University School of
Law, and co-author of the report.
Contribute to Human Rights Watch
Related Material
“Hidden Apartheid: Caste Discrimination against India’s
‘Untouchables’”
Report, February 13, 2007
Center for Human Rights and Global Justice
Web Site
India
Country Page
India's Dalits: between atrocity and protest
Commentary, January 12, 2007
More on the work of the International Dalit Solidarity Network
Web Site
More on the work of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights
Web Site
IDSN produced documentary on Dalits
Film
Audio Commentary in English
Audio Clip
Audio Commentary in Hindi
Audio Clip
Letter to Prime Minister Singh of India from the Center for Human
Rights and Global Justice and Human Rights Watch
Letter, February 14, 2007
Free Email Newsletter
The 113-page report, “Hidden Apartheid: Caste Discrimination against
India’s ‘Untouchables’,” was produced as a “shadow report” in response
to India’s submission to the United Nations Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which monitors
implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). The committee will review
India’s compliance with the convention during hearings in Geneva on
February 23 and 26.
On December 27, 2006 Manmohan Singh became the first sitting Indian
prime minister to openly acknowledge the parallel between the practice
of “untouchability” and the crime of apartheid. Singh described
“untouchability” as a “blot on humanity” adding that “even after 60
years of constitutional and legal protection and state support, there
is still social discrimination against Dalits in many parts of our
country.”
“Prime Minister Singh has rightly compared ‘untouchability’ to
apartheid, and he should now turn his words into action to protect the
rights of Dalits,” said Professor Smita Narula, faculty director of
the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) at New York
University School of Law, and co-author of the report. “The Indian
government can no longer deny its collusion in maintaining a system of
entrenched social and economic segregation.”
Dalits endure segregation in housing, schools, and access to public
services. They are denied access to land, forced to work in degrading
conditions, and routinely abused at the hands of the police and upper-
caste community members who enjoy the state’s protection. Entrenched
discrimination violates Dalits’ rights to education, health, housing,
property, freedom of religion, free choice of employment, and equal
treatment before the law. Dalits also suffer routine violations of
their right to life and security of person through state-sponsored or -
sanctioned acts of violence, including torture.
Caste-motivated killings, rapes, and other abuses are a daily
occurrence in India. Between 2001 and 2002 close to 58,000 cases were
registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention
of Atrocities) Act – legislation that criminalizes particularly
egregious abuses against Dalits and tribal community members. A 2005
government report states that a crime is committed against a Dalit
every 20 minutes. Though staggering, these figures represent only a
fraction of actual incidents since many Dalits do not register cases
for fear of retaliation by the police and upper-caste individuals.
Both state and private actors commit these crimes with impunity. Even
on the relatively rare occasions on which a case reaches court, the
most likely outcome is acquittal. Indian government reports reveal
that between 1999 and 2001 as many as 89 percent of trials involving
offenses against Dalits resulted in acquittals.
A resolution passed by the European Parliament on February 1, 2007
found India’s efforts to enforce laws protecting Dalits to be “grossly
inadequate,” adding that “atrocities, untouchability, illiteracy,
[and] inequality of opportunity, continue to blight the lives of
India’s Dalits.” The resolution called on the Indian government to
engage with CERD in its efforts to end caste-based discrimination.
Dalit leaders welcomed the resolution, but Indian officials dismissed
it as lacking in “balance and perspective.”
“International scrutiny is growing and with it the condemnation of
abuses resulting from the caste system and the government’s failure to
protect Dalits,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“India needs to mobilize the entire government and make good on its
paper commitments to end caste abuses. Otherwise, it risks pariah
status for its homegrown brand of apartheid.”
Attempts by Dalits to defy the caste order, to demand their rights, or
to lay claim to land that is legally theirs are consistently met with
economic boycotts or retaliatory violence. For example, in Punjab on
January 5, 2006 Dalit laborer and activist Bant Singh, seeking the
prosecution of the people who gang-raped his daughter, was beaten so
severely that both arms and one leg had to be amputated. On September
26, 2006 in Kherlanji village, Maharashtra, a Dalit family was killed
by an upper-caste mob, after the mother and daughter were stripped,
beaten and paraded through the village and the two brothers were
brutally beaten. They were attacked because they refused to let upper-
caste farmers take their land. After widespread protests at the
police’s failure to arrest the perpetrators, some of those accused in
the killing were finally arrested and police and medical officers who
had failed to do their jobs were suspended from duty.
Exploitation of labor is at the very heart of the caste system. Dalits
are forced to perform tasks deemed too “polluting” or degrading for
non-Dalits to carry out. According to unofficial estimates, more than
1.3 million Dalits – mostly women – are employed as manual scavengers
to clear human waste from dry pit latrines. In several cities, Dalits
are lowered into manholes without protection to clear sewage
blockages, resulting in more than 100 deaths each year from inhalation
of toxic gases or from drowning in excrement. Dalits comprise the
majority of agricultural, bonded, and child laborers in the country.
Many survive on less than US$1 per day.
In January 2007 the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women concluded that Dalit women in India suffer from “deeply
rooted structural discrimination.” “Hidden Apartheid” records the
plight of Dalit women and the multiple forms of discrimination they
face. Abuses documented in the report include sexual abuse by the
police and upper-caste men, forced prostitution, and discrimination in
employment and the payment of wages.
Dalit children face consistent hurdles in access to education. They
are made to sit in the back of classrooms and endure verbal and
physical harassment from teachers and students. The effect of such
abuses is borne out by the low literacy and high drop-out rates for
Dalits.
The Center for Human Rights and Global Justice and Human Rights Watch
call on CERD to scrutinize the gap between India’s human rights
commitments and the daily reality faced by Dalits. In particular, CERD
should request that the Indian government:
•Identify measures taken to ensure appropriate reforms to eliminate
police abuses against Dalits and other marginalized communities;
•Provide concrete plans to implement laws and government policies to
protect Dalits, and Dalit women in particular, from physical and
sexual violence;
•Identify steps taken to eradicate caste-based segregation in
residential areas and schools, and in access to public services;
and,
•Outline plans to ensure the effective eradication of exploitative
labor arrangements and effective implementation of rehabilitation
schemes for Dalit bonded and child laborers, manual scavengers, and
for Dalit women forced into prostitution.
“International outrage over the treatment of Dalits is matched by
growing national discontent,” Smita Narula said. “India can’t ignore
the voices of 165 million citizens.”
“Hidden Apartheid” is based on in-depth investigations by CHRGJ, Human
Rights Watch, Indian non-governmental organizations, and media
sources. The pervasiveness of abuses against Dalits is corroborated by
the reports of Indian governmental agencies, including the National
Human Rights Commission, and the National Commission on Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes. These and other sources were compiled,
investigated, and analyzed under international law by NYU School of
Law’s International Human Rights Clinic.
Background
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) is
a body of independent experts responsible for monitoring states’
compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), ratified by India in 1968. It
guarantees rights of non-discrimination on the basis of “race, colour,
descent, or national or ethnic origin.” In 1996 CERD concluded that
the plight of Dalits falls squarely under the prohibition of descent-
based discrimination. As a state party to ICERD, India is obligated to
submit periodic reports detailing its implementation of rights
guaranteed under the convention. During the review session CERD
examines these reports and engages in constructive dialogue with the
state party, addressing its concerns and offering recommendations.
CERD uses supplementary information contained in non-governmental
organization “shadow reports” to evaluate states’ reports. India’s
report to CERD, eight years overdue, covers compliance with the
convention from 1996 to 2006 yet does not contain a single mention of
abuses against Dalits – abuses that India’s own governmental agencies
have documented and verified.
http://www.hrw.org/legacy/english/docs/2007/02/13/india15303.htm
More to follow...
bademiyansubhanallah
Scheduled Castes ("SC"s) and Scheduled Tribes ("ST"s) are Indian
population groupings that are explicitly recognized by the
Constitution of India, previously called the "depressed classes" by
the British. SCs/STs together comprise over 24% of India's population,
with SC at over 16% and ST over 8% [1] as per the 2001 Census. The
proportion of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the population
of India has steadily risen since independence in 1947.
Some Scheduled Castes in India are also known as Dalits[2] Some
Scheduled Tribe people are also referred to as Adivasis.[3]
Post Independence Scheduled Castes are benefited by reservation
policy. With Reservation in India The Constitution laid down 15% and
7.5% of vacancies to government aided educational institutes and for
jobs in the government/public sector, as reserved quota for the SC and
ST candidates respectively for a period of five years, after which the
situation was to be reviewed. This period was routinely extended by
the succeeding governments.
Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in 2010 Many SC/STs were
successful in adapting to post-independence India, becoming civil
servants, bureaucrats and lawyers. Scheduled Castes are now considered
as a progressive caste. In 2010 most of the sub-castes of scheduled
castes have become economically well off and Rich. They have acquired
technical and management education as well. Scheduled Castes and
Tribes are now working as successful Doctors, Engineers, Architects,
Lawyers, Managers, IT professionals and Entrepreneurs. Further,they
are now also working as scientists in India's most prestigious
research organization like Indian Space Research Organisation, Bhabha
Atomic Research Centre, DRDO.
History
From the 1850s these communities were loosely referred to as the
"Depressed Classes". The early part of the 20th century saw a flurry
of activity in the British Raj to assess the feasibility of
responsible self-government for India. The Morley-Minto Reforms
Report, Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms Report, and the Simon Commission
were some of the initiatives that happened in this context. One of the
hotly contested issues in the proposed reforms was the topic of
reservation of seats for the "Depressed" Classes in provincial and
central legislatures.
In 1935 the British passed The Government of India Act 1935, designed
to give Indian provinces greater self-rule and set up a national
federal structure. Reservation of seats for the Depressed Classes was
incorporated into the act, which came into force in 1937. The Act
brought the term "Scheduled Castes" into use, and defined the group as
including "such castes, races or tribes or parts of groups within
castes, races or tribes, which appear to His Majesty in Council to
correspond to the classes of persons formerly known as the 'Depressed
Classes', as His Majesty in Council may prefer." This discretionary
definition was clarified in The Government of India (Scheduled Castes)
Order, 1936 which contained a list, or Schedule, of castes throughout
the British administered provinces.
After independence, the Constituent Assembly continued the prevailing
definition of Scheduled Castes and Tribes, and gave (via articles 341,
342) the President of India and Governors of states responsibility to
compile a full listing of castes and tribes, and also the power to
edit it later as required. The actual complete listing of castes and
tribes was made via two orders The Constitution (Scheduled Castes)
Order, 1950[4], and The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950[5]
respectively.
Constitutional framework for safeguarding of interests
The Constitution provides a framework with a three pronged strategy
[6] to improve the situation of SCs and STs.
Protective Arrangements - Such measures as are required to enforce
equality, to provide punitive measures for transgressions, to
eliminate established practices that perpetuate inequities, etc. A
number of laws were enacted to operationalize the provisions in the
Constitution. Examples of such laws include The Untouchability
Practices Act, 1955, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention
of Atrocities) Act, 1989, The Employment of Manual scavengers and
Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, etc.
Compensatory Discrimination - provide positive preferential treatment
in allotment of jobs and access to higher education, as a means to
accelerate the integration of the SCs and STs with mainstream society.
Compensatory discrimination is also popularly referred to as
Reservation.
Development - Provide for resources and benefits to bridge the wide
gap in social and economic condition between the SCs/STs and other
communities.
SC means Sonar Chaand, ST means Sonar Tukro.
National commissions
To effectively implement the various safeguards built into the
Constitution and other legislations, the Constitution, under Articles
338 and 338A, provides for two statutory commissions - the National
Commission for Scheduled Castes, and National Commission for Scheduled
Tribes.
History
In the original Constitution, Article 338 provided for a Special
Officer, called the Commissioner for SCs and STs, to have the
responsibility of monitoring the effective implementation of various
safeguards for SCs/STs in the Constitution as well as other related
legislations and to report to the President. To enable efficient
discharge of duties, 17 regional offices of the Commissioner were set
up all over the country.
In the meanwhile there was persistent representation for a replacement
of the Commissioner with a multi-member committee. It was proposed
that the 48th Amendment to the Constitution be made to alter Article
338 to enable said proposal. While the amendment was being debated,
the Ministry of Welfare issued an administrative decision to establish
the Commission for SCs/STs as a multi-member committee to discharge
the same functions as that of the Commissioner of SCs/STs. The first
commission came into being in August 1978. The functions of the
commission were modified in September 1987 to advise Government on
broad policy issues and levels of development of SCs/STs.
In 1990 that the Article 338 was amended to give birth to the
statutory National Commission for SCs and STs via the Constitution
(Sixty fifth Amendment) Bill, 1990[7]. The first Commission under the
65th Amendment was constituted in March 1992 replacing the
Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the
Commission set up under the Ministry of Welfare's Resolution of 1987.
In 2002, the Constitution was again amended to split the National
Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes into two separate
commissions - the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and the
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
Distribution
Sachar Committee report of 2006 revealed that scheduled castes and
tribes of India are not limited to the religion of Hinduism. The 61st
Round Survey of the NSSO found that almost nine-tenths of the
Buddhists and one-third of the Sikh's in India belonged to the
notified scheduled castes of the Constitution while one-third of the
Christians belonged to the notified scheduled tribes of the
Constitution.
Religion Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe
Buddhism 89.50% 7.40%
Christianity 9.00% 32.80%
Sikhism 37.0% 0.90%
Hinduism 22.20% 9.10%
Zoroastrianism - 15.90%
Jainism - 2.60%
Islam 0.80% 0.50%
Sikh Light Infantry is the Regiment of Indian Army. The Sikh Light
Infantry comprises the Mazhabi (dalit) and Ramdasia Sikh soldiers.It
is well known for their dountless daring, loyalty courage, and
tenacity,it is one of the oldest Regiments of the Indian Army.
Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP)
The strategy of Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP) which was evolved in
1979 is one of the most important interventions through the planning
process for social, economic and educational development of Scheduled
Castes and for improvement in their working and living conditions. It
is an umbrella strategy to ensure flow of targeted financial and
physical benefits from all the general sectors of development for the
benefit of Scheduled Castes. Under this strategy, population[8]. It
entails targeted flow of funds and associated benefits from the annual
plan of States/ Union Territories (UTs) at least in proportion to the
SC population i.e. 16 % in the total population of the country/the
particular state. Presently, 27 States/UTs having sizeable SC
populations are implementing Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan. Although the
Scheduled Castes population, according to 2001 Census, was 16.66
crores constituting 16.23% of the total population of India, the
allocations made through SCSP in recent years have been much lower
than the population proportion. Table below provides the details of
total State Plan Outlay, flow to Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP) as
reported by the State/UT Governments for the last few years especially
since the present UPA government is in power at the
2004-2005 108788.9 17656 2065.38 11.06 68.3 5591
2005-2006 136234.5 22111 16422.63 12.05 74.3 5688
2006-2007 152088 24684 21461.12 14.11 86.9 3223
2007-2008* 155013.2 25159 22939.99 14.80 91.2 2219
Information in respect of 14 States/UTs only and as on 31-12- 2007
Source: Network for Social Accountability (NSA) http://nsa.org.in
Prominent menmebrs of SC/STs
B. R. Ambedkar , also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist,
political leader, Buddhist activist, thinker, philosopher, historian,
anthropologist, orator, prolific writer, economist, editor, scholar,
revolutionary and the revivalist of Buddhism in India. He was also the
chief architect of the Indian Constitution.
Dr. Faguni Ram, Ph.D(3-Time Member of Parliament and Ex-Minister of
State)
Prem Singh (MLA)
Kashi Ram, Founder of Bahujan Samaj Party
Lala Ram Ken, Member of Parliament(7th and 8th), India
Divya Bharti, Late Bollywood actress
Babu Jagjivan Ram, Former Deputy Prime Minister of India.
Mayavati, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Sushilkumar Shinde, Cabinet Minister for Power in the Manmohan Singh
government
K. R. Narayanan, tenth President of India
Shibu Soren, current Chief Minister of Jharkhand state in India
Ajit Jogi, first chief minister of the state of Chhattisgarh, India
Bangaru Laxman, former President of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Birsa Munda, freedom fighters in the Indian struggle for independence
against British colonialism
Jyotirao Phule, was an activist, thinker, social reformer, writer,
philosopher, theologist, scholar, editor and revolutionary from
Maharashtra, India in the nineteenth century
Damodaram Sanjivayya (1921-1972) (First dalit Chief Minister of a
state in India and first dalit President of Indian National Congress
party)
G. M.C. Balayogi (1951-2002) (First dalit speaker, Lok Sabha, India )
K. S. R.Murthy IAS, Retired, Former MP, Lok Sabha
See also
List of Scheduled Tribes in India
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,
1989
Forward caste
Other Backward Classes
Schedule Caste
Notes
^ Census of India - India at a Glance : Scheduled Castes & Scheduled
Tribes Population http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/India_at_Glance/scst.aspx
^ Who are Dalits?
http://www.dalitnetwork.org/go?/dfn/who_are_the_dalit/C64
^ The Adivasis of India
http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Dalit-tribal/2003/adivasi.htm
^ THE CONSTITUTION (SCHEDULED CASTES) ORDER, 1950]1
http://lawmin.nic.in/ld/subord/rule3a.htm
^ 1THE CONSTITUTION (SCHEDULED TRIBES)
http://lawmin.nic.in/ld/subord/rule9a.htm
^ http://nhrc.nic.in/Publications/reportKBSaxena.pdf
^ The Constitution (Amendment)
http://www.constitution.org/cons/india/tamnd65.htm
^ http://www.planningcommission.nic.in/plans/stateplan/scp&tsp/noteguidelinesFor.doc
v • d • e
Reservation in India
Indian caste system
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_caste_system
· Scheduled castes and tribes
· Other Backward Classes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other_Backward_Class
· Forward classes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_class
· Kalelkar Commission
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalelkar_Commission
· Mandal Commission
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandal_Commission
· 2006 anti-reservation protests
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Indian_anti-reservation_protests
· Youth for Equality
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_for_Equality
· IIT reservation policy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reservation_policy_in_Indian_Institutes_of_Technology
· Poona Pact
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poona_Pact
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheduled_castes_and_scheduled_tribes
List of Scheduled Tribes in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a full list of Scheduled Tribes in India, as recognised in
India's Constitution; a total of 645 district tribes. The term
"Scheduled Tribes" refers to specific indigenous peoples whose status
is acknowledged to some formal degree by national legislation. A
collective term in use locally to describe most of these peoples is
"Upajati" (literally "clans/tribes/groups"). See also the Scheduled
Castes and Tribes page for further explanation.
Andhra Pradesh
1. Andh
2. Bagata
3. Bhil
4. Chenchu, Chenchwar
5. Gadabas
6. Gond Naikpod, Rajgond
7. Goudu (in the Agency tracts)
8. Hill Reddis
9. Jatapus
10. Kammara
11. Kattunayakan
12. Kolam, Mannervarlu
13. Konda Dhoras
14. Konda Kapus
15. Kondareddis
16. Kondhs, Kodi, Kodhu, Desaya Kondhs, Dongria Kondhs, Kuttiya
Kondhs, Tikiria Kondhs, Yenity Kondhs
17. Kotia, Bentho Oriya, Bartika, Dhulia, Dulia, Holva, Paiko, Putiya,
Sanrona, Sidhopaiko
18. Koya, Rajah, Rasha Koya, Lingadhari Koya (ordinary), Kottu Koya,
Bhine Koya, Rajkoya
20. Malis (excluding Adilabad, Hyderabad, Karimnagar, Khammam,
Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad and Warangal districts)
21. Manna Dhora
22. Mukha Dhora, Nooka Dhora
23. Nayaks-bandaru (in the Agency tracts)
24. Pardhan
25. Porja, Parangiperja
26. Reddi Dhoras
27. Rona, Rena
28. Savaras, Kapu Savaras, Maliya Savaras, Khutto Savaras
29. Sugalis, Lambadis
30. Thoti (in Adilabad, Hyderabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahbubnagar,
Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad and Warangal districts)
31. Valmiki (in the Agency tracts)
32. Yenadis
33. Yerukulas.
34. Banjaras ( in Khammam, warangal, karimnagar, medak, Ranga reddy,
Adilabad, Nalgonda )
Assam
In the Autonomous Districts
1. Chakma
2. Dimasa, Kachari
3. Garolo
4. Hmar
5. Khasi, Jaintia, Synteng, Pnar, War, Bhoi, Lyngngam
6. Any Kuki tribes including:
(i) Biate, Biete
(ii) Changsan
(iii) Chongloi
(iv) Darlong
(v) Doungel
(vi) Gamalhou
(vii) Gangte
(viii) Guite
(ix) Hanneng
(x) Haokip, Haupit
(xi) Haolai
(xii) Hengna
(xiii) Hongsung
(xiv) Harangkhwal, Rangkhol
(xv) Jongbe
(xvi) Khawchung
(xvii) Khawathlang, Khothalong
(xviii) Khelma
(xvix) Kholhou
(xx) Kipgen
(xxi) Kuki
(xxii) Lengthang
(xxiii) Lhangum
(xxiv) Lhoujem
(xxv) Lhouvun
(xxvi) Lupheng
(xxvii) Mangjel
(xxviii) Misao
[xxviiib] Negrito
(xxix) Riang
(xxx) Sairhem
(xxxi) Selnam
(xxxii) Singson
(xxxiii) Sithou
(xxxiv) Sukte
(xxxv) Thado
(xxxvi) Thangngeu
(xxxvii) Uibuh
(xxxviii) Vaiphei
7. Hajong
8. Lakher
9. Man (Tai speaking)
10. Any Mizo (Lushai) tribes
11. Mikir
12. Any Naga tribes
13. Pawi
14. Syntheng
15 Burya Sikh
16. Thengal Kachari
Non-autonomous Assam districts
1. Barmans in Cachar
2. Bodo
3. Deori
4. Hojai
5. Sonowal
6. Lalung
7. Mech
8. Mising
9. Rabha
10.[-bandaru]]
Bihar
1. Asur
2. Baiga
3. Banjara
4. Bathudi
5. Bedia
6. Binjhia
7. Birhor
8. Birjia
9. Chero
10. Chik Baraik
11. Gond
12. Gorait
13. Ho
14. Karmali
15. Kharia
16. Kharwar
17. Khond
18. Kisan
19. Kora
20. Korwa
21. Lohara, Lohra
22. Mahli
23. Mal Paharia
24. Munda
25. Oraon
26. Parhaiya
27. Santal
28. Sauria Paharia
29. Savar
Gujarat
1. Barda
2. Bavacha, Bamcha
3. Bharwad (in the Nesses of the forest of Alech, Barada and Gir)
4. Bhil, Bhil Garasia, Dholi Bhil, Dungri Bhil, Dungri Garasia, Mewasi
Bhil, Rawal Bhil, Tadvi Bhil, Bhagalia, Bhilala, Pawra, Vasava,
Vasave
5. Charan (in the Nesses of the forests of Alech, Barada and Gir)
6. Chaudri (in Surat and Valsad districts)
7. Chodhara
8. Dhanka, Tadvi, Tetaria, Valvi
9. Dhodia
10. Dubla, Talavia, Halpati
11. Gamit, Gamta, Gavit, Mavchi, Padvi
12. Gond, Rajgond
13. Kathodi, Katkari, Dhor Kathodi, Dhor Katkari, Son Kathodi, Son
Katkari
14. Kokna, Kokni, Kukna
15. Koli (in Kutch district)
16. Koli Dhor, Tokre Koli, Kolcha, Kolgha
17. Kunbi (in the Dangs district)
18. Naikd], Nayak, Cholivala Nayak, Kapadra Nayak, Mota Nayak, Nana
Nayak
19. Padhar
20. Paradhi (in Kutch district)
31. patelia in dahod district
21. Pardhi, Advichincher, Phase Pardhi (excluding Amreli, Bhavnagar,
Jamnagar, Junagadh, Kutch, Rajkot and Surendranagar districts)
22. Pomla
23. Rabari (in the Nesses of the forests of Alech, Barada and Gir)
24. Rathawa
25. Siddi (in Amreli, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Rajkot and
Surendranagar districts)
26. Vaghri (in Kutch district)
27. Varli
28. Vitolia, Kotwalia, Barodia.
29. Dhed
30. Khant
31. Bhangi, Mehtar
32. Balahi, Balai
33. Chamar
34. Chikva, Chikvi
35. Koli, Kori
36. Kotwal.
37. Vaghri (Patadi,Dasada,Mandal ,Gujarat)
[edit] Himachal Pradesh
1. Bhot, Bodh
2. Gaddi and Shippis
3. Kanauwra.
Karnataka
1. Adiyan
2. Barda
3. Bavacha, Bamcha
4. Bhil, Bhil Garasia, Dholi Bhil, Dungri Bhil, Dungri Garasia, Mewasi
Bhil, Rawal Bhil, Tadvi Bhil, Bhagalia, Bhilala, Pawra, Vasava,
Vasave
5. Chenchu, Chenchwar
6. Chodhara
7. Dubla, Talavia, Halpati
8. Gamit, Gamta, Gavit, Mavchi, Padvi, Valvi
9. Gond, Naikpod, Rajgond
10. Gowdalu
11. Hakkipikki
12. Hasalaru
13. Irular
14. Iruliga
15. Jenu Kuruba
16. Kadu Kuruba
17. Kammara (in South Kanara district and Kollegal taluk of Mysore
district)
18. Kanivan, Kanyan (in Kollegal taluk of Mysore district)
19. Kathodi, Katkari, Dhor Kathodi, Dhor Katkari, Son Kathodi, Son
Katkari
20. Kattunayakan
21. Kokna, Kokni, Kukna
22. Koli Dhor, Tokre Koli, Kolcha, Kolgha
23. Konda Kapus
24. Koraga
25. Kota
26. Koya, Bhine Koya, Rajkova
27. Kudiya, Melakudi
28. Kuruba (in Coorg district)
29. Kurumanas, Kumbara
30. Maha Malasar
31. Malaikudi
32. Malasar
33. Malayekandi
34. Maleru
35. Maratha (in Coorg District)
36. Marathi
37. Meda
38. Naikda, Nayak, Chollivala Nayak, Kapadia Nayak, Mota Nayak, Nana
Nayak, 1[Naika, Nayaka also called as nayak,]
39. Palliyan
40. Paniyan
41.[Pardhi, Advichincher, Phanse Pardhi
42. Petelia
43. Rathawa
44. Sholaga
45. Siddi
46. Soligaru
46. Toda
47. Valmiki
48. Varli
50. Vitolia, Kotwalia, Barodia
51. Yerava
Kerala
1. Adiyan
2. Arandan/ Ernadan
3. Eravallan
4. Hill Pulaya
5. Irular, Irulan
6. Kadar
7. Kammara (in the areas comprising the Malabar district as specified
by sub-section (2) of section 5 of the States Reorganisation Act 1956
(37 of 1956))
8. Kanikaran, Kanikkar
9. Kattunayakan
10. Kochu Velan
11. Konda kapus
12. Kondareddis
13. Koraga
14. Kota
15. Kudiya, Melakudi
16. Kurichchan
17. Kurumans
18. Kurumbas
19. Maha Malasar
20. Malai Arayan
21. Malai Pandaram
22. Malai Vedan
23. Malakkuravan
24.[Malasar
25. Malayan (excluding the areas comprising the Malabar district as
specified by sub-section (2) of section 5 of the States Reorganisation
Act, 1956 (37 of 1956)
26. Malayarayar
27. Mannan
28. Marati (in Hosdrug and Kasaragod taluks of Cannanore district)
29. Muthan
30. Mudugar
31. Muduvan, Muthuvan, Muduvan, Muthuvan
32. Paliyan, (Palleyan), (Palliyar), Paanan
33. Paniyan, Parayan
34. Ulladan
35. Uraly
36. Cholanaickan (In the Reserve Forests of Nilambur South and North
Forest Divisions of Malppuram Districts)
37. Kattunaickan (In the Reserve Forests of Nilambur South and North
Forest Divisions of Malppuram Districts)
Madhya Pradesh
1. Agariya
2. Andh
3. Baiga
4. Bhaina
5. Bharia Bhumia, Bhuinhar Bhumia, Bhumiya, Bharia, Paliha, Pando
6. Bhattra
7. Bhil, Bhilala, Barela, Patelia
8. Bhil
9. Bhunjia
10. Biar, Biyar
11. Binjhwar
12. Birhul, Birhor
13. Damor, Damaria
14. Dhanwar
15. Gadaba, Gadba
16. Gond, Arrakh, Agaria, Asur, Badi Maria, Bada Maria, Bhatola,
Bhimma, Bhuta, Koilabhuta, Koliabhuti, Bhar, Bisonhorn Maria, Chota
Maria, Dandami Maria, Dhuru, Dhurwa, Dhoba, Dhulia, Dorla, Gaiki,
Gatta, Gatti, Gaita, Gond, Gowari, Hill Maria, Kandra, Kalanga,
Khatola, Koitar, Koya, Khirwar, Khirwara, Kucha Maria, Kuchki Maria,
Madia, Maria, Mana, Mannewar, Moghya, Mogia, Monghya, Mudia, Muria,
Nagarchi, Nagwanshi, Ojha, Raj Gond, Sonjhari, Jhareka, Thatia,
Thotya, Wade Maria, Vade Maria, Daroi
17. Halba, Halbi
18. Kamar
19. Karku
20. Kawar, Kanwar, Kaur, Cherwa, Rathia, Tanwar, Chattri
21. Keer (in Bhopal, Raisen and Sehore districts)
22. Khairwar, Kondar
23. Kharia
24. Kondh, Khond, Khand
25. Kol
26. Kolam
27. Korku, Bopchi, Mouasi, Nihar, Nahul, Bhodhi, Bondeya
28. Kori, Korwa, Kodaku
29. Manjhi
30. Majhwar
31. Mawasi
32. Meena (in Sironj Sub-Division of Vidisha District)
33. Mundra
34. Nagesia, Nagasia
35. Oraon, Dhanka, Dhangad
36. Panika [in (i) Chhatarpur, Panna, Rewa, Satna, Shahdol, Umaria,
Sidhi and Tikamgarh districts, and (ii) Sevda and Datia tehsils of
Datia district)]
37. Pao
38. Pardhan, Pathari, Saroti
39. Pardhi (in Bhopal, Raisen and Sehore districts)
40. Pardhi, Bahelia, Bahellia, Chita Pardhi, Langoli Pardhi, Phans
Pardhi, Shikari, Takankar, Takia [in (i) Chhindwara, Mandla, Dindori
and Seoni districts, (ii) Baihar tehsil of Balaghat district, (iii)
Betual, Bhainsdehi and Shahpur tahsils of Betul district, (iv) Patan
tahsil and Sihora and Majholi blocks of Jabalpur district, (v) Katni
(Murwara) and Vijaya Raghogarh tahsils and Bahoriband and Dhemerkheda
blocks of Katni district, (vi) Hoshangabad, Babai, Sohagpur, Pipariya
and Bankhedi tahsils and Kesla block of Hoshangabad district, (vii)
Narsinghpur district, and (viii) Harsud tahsil of Khandwa district]
41. Parja
42. Sahariya, Saharia, Seharia, Sehria, Sosia, Sor
43. Saonta, Saunta
44. Saur
45. Sawar, Sawara
46. Sonr
1. Omitted and inserted by Act 28 of 2000, s. 20 and the Fourth Sch.
(w.e.f. 1.11.2000)
Maharashtra
1. Andh
2. Baiga
3. Barda
4. Bavacha, Bamcha.
5. Baki
6. Bharia Bhumia, Bhuinhar Bhumia, Pando
7. Bhattra
8. Bhil, Bhil Garasia, Dholi Bhil, Dungri Bhil, Dungri Garasia, Mewasi
Bhil, Rawal Bhil, Tadvi Bhil, Bhagalia, Bhilala Pawara, Vasava,
Vasave
9. Bhunjia
10. Binjhwar
11. Birhul, Borjee
12. Chodhara (excluding Akola, Amravati, Bhandara, Buldana Chandrapur,
Nagpur, Wardha, Yavatmal, Aurangabad, Beed, Nanded, Osmanabad and
Parbhani districts)
13. Dhanka, Tadvi, Tetaria Valvi
14. Dhanwar
15. Dhodia
16. Dubla, Talavia, Halpati
17. Gamit, Gamta, Gavit, Mavchi, Padvi
18. Gond, Rajgond, Arrakh, Agaria, Asur, Badi Maria, Bada Maria,
Bhatola, Bhimma, Bhuta, Koilabhuta, Koilabhuti, Bhar, Bisonhorn Maria,
Chota Maria, Dandami Maria, Dhuru, Dhurwa, Dhoba, Dhulia, Dorla,
Kaiki; Gatta, Gatti, Gaita, Gond Gowari, Hill Maria, Kandra, Kalanga,
Khatola, Koitar, Koya, Khirwar, Khirwara,Korku, Kucha Maria, Kuchaki
Maria, Madia, Maria, Mana, Mannewar, Moghya, Mogia, Monghya Mudia,
Muria, Nagarchi, Naikpod, Nagwanshi, Ojha, Raj, Sonjhari Jhareka,
Thatia, Thotya, Wade Maria, Vade Maria
19. Halba, Halbi
20. Kamar
21. Kathodi, Katkari, Dhor Kathodi, Dhor Kathkari Son Kathodi, Son
Katkari
22. Kawar, Kanwar, Kaur, Cherwa, Rathia, Tanwar, Chattri
23. Khairwar
24. Kharia
25. Kokna, Kokni, Kukna
26. Kol
27. Kolam, Mannervarlu
28. Koli Dhor, Tokre Koli, Kolcha, Kolkha
29. Koli Mahadev, Dongar Koli
30. Koli Malhar
31. Kondh, Khond, Kandh
32. Korku, Bopchi, Mouasi, Nihal, Nahul, Bondhi, Bondeya
33. Koya, Bhine Koya, Rajkoya
34. Nagesia, Nagasia
35. Naikda, Nayak, Cholivala Nayak, Kapadia Nayak, Mota Nayak, Nana
Nayak
36. Oraon, Dhangad/Dhangar
37. Pardhan, Pathari, Saroti
38. Pardhi, Advichincher, Phans Pardhi, Phanse Pardhi, Langoli Pardhi,
Bahelia, Bahellia, Chita Pardhi, Shikari, Takankar, Takia
39. Parja
40. Patelia
41. Pomla
42. Rathawa
43. Sawar, Sawara,
44. Thakur, Thakar, Ka Thakur, Ka Thakar, Ma Thakur, Ma Thakar
45. Thoti (in Aurangabad, Bhir, Nanded, Osmanabad and Parbhani
districts and Rajura tahsil of Chandrapur district)
46. Warli (Thane District)
47. Vitolia, Kotwalia, Barodia.
Manipur
1. Aimol
2. Anal
3. Angami Naga (Angami Naga in the state of Nagaland)
4. Chiru
5. Chothe
6. Gangte
7. Hmar
8. Kabui
9. Koirao
10. Koireng (Koren)
11. Kom
12. Lamgang
13. Mao
14. Maram
15. Maring
16. Any Mizo (Lushai) tribes
17. Monsang
18. Moyon
19. Paite
20. Purum
21. Ralte
22. Sema (Sema was renamed to original name "Sümi", a decade ago. This
tribe is in the state of Nagaland)
23. Simte
24. Suhte
25. Tangkhul
26. Thadou
27. Vaiphei
28. Zou
Meghalaya
1. Chakma
2. Dimasa, Kachari
3. Garo
4. Hajong
5. Hmar
6. Khasi, Jaintia, Syteng, Pnar, War, Bhoi, Lyngngam
7. Any Chin-Kuki-Mizo Tribes including.-
(i) Biate, Biete
(ii) Changsan
(iii) Chongloi
(iv) Darlong
(v) Doungel
(vi) Gamalhou
(vii) Gangte
(viii) Guite
(ix) Hanneng
(x) Haokip, Haupit
(xi) Haolai
(xii) Hengna
(xiii) Hongsungh
(xiv) Hrangkhawl, Rangkhol
(xv) Jongbe
(xvi) Khawchung
(xvii) Khawthlang, Khothalong
(xviii) Khelma
(xvix) Kholhou
(xx) Kipgen
(xxi) Kuki
(xxii) Lengthang
(xxiii) Lhangum
(xxiv) Lhoujen
(xxv) Lhouvun
(xxvi) Lupheng
(xxvii) Mangjel
(xxviii) Misao
(xxvix) Riang
(xxx) Sairhem
(xxxi) Selnam
(xxxii) Singson
(xxxiii) Sitlhou
(xxxiv) Sukte
(xxxv) Thado
(xxxvi) Thangngeu
(xxxvii) Uibuh
(xxxviii) Vaiphei
8. Lakher
9. Man (Tai speaking)
10. Any Mizo (Lushai) Tribes
11. Mikir
12.Any Naga tribes
13. Pawi
14. Synteng
15. Boro Kacharis (inserted by Act 43 of 1987, s. 2 (w.e.f.
19-9-1987).)
16. Koch
17. Raba, Rava
Nagaland
(a list of the major tribes of Nagaland)
1. Angami
2. Ao
3. Chakhesang
4. Chang
5. Khiamniungan
6. Kachari
7. Konyak
8. Kuki
9. Lotha
10. Phom
11. Pochury
12. Rengma
13. Sümi / Sema (reverted back to their original name Sümi. British
called them Sema, the Angami name for them)
14. Sangtam
15. Tikhir
16. Yimchunger
17. Zeliang
Orissa
1. Bagata
2. Baiga
3. Banjara, Banjari
4. Bathudi
5. Bhottada, Dhotada
6. Bhuiya, Bhuyan
7. Bhumia
8. Bhumij
9. Bhunjia
10. Binjhal
11. Binjhia, Binjhoa
12. Birhor
13. Bonda, Bondo Poraja
14. Chenchu
15. Dal
16. Desua Bhumji
17. Dharua
18. Didayi
19. Gadaba
20. Gandia
21. Ghara
22. Gond, Gondo
23. Ho
24. Holva
25. Jatapu
26. Juang
27. Kandha Gauda
28. Kawar
29. Kharia, Kharian
30. Kharwar
31. Khond, Kond, Kandha, Nanguli Kandha, Sitha Kandha
32. Kisan Tribe
33. Kol
34. Kolah Loharas, Kol Loharas
35. Kolha
36. Koli, Malhar
37. Kondadora
38. Kora
39. Korua
40. Kotia
41. Koya
42. Kulis
43. Lodha, Shabar
44. Madia
45. Mahali
46. Mankidi
47. Mankirdia
48. Matya
49. Mirdha
50. Munda, Munda Lohara, Munda Mahalis
51. Omanatya
52. Oraon
53. Parenga
54. Paroja
55. Pentia
56. Rajuar
57. Santal
58. Saora, Savar, Saura, Sahara
59. Sounti
60. Tharua
61. Sahu
Rajasthan
1. Bhil, Bheel, Garasia, Dholi Bhil, Dungri Bhil, Dungri
Garasia,Mewasi Bhil, Rawal Bhil, Tadvi Bhil, Bhagalia, Bhilala, Pawra,
Vasava, Vasave
2. Bhil Meena
3. Damor, Damaria
4. Dhanka Tadvi, Tetaria, Valvi
5. Garasia (excluding Rajput Garasia)
6. Kathodi, Katkari, Dhor Kathodi, Dhor Katkari, Son Kathodi, Son
Katkari, khatik
7. Kokna, Kokni, Kukna
8. Koli Dhor, Tokre koli, Kolcha, Kolgha
9. Meena
10. Naikda, Nayak, Cholivala Nayak, Kapadia Nayak, Mota Nayak, Nana
Nayak. (Nayak also called as nayaka)
11. Pateliya
12. Seharia, Sehria, Sahariya
Tamil Nadu
1. Adiyan
2. Aranadan
3. Eravallan
4. Irular
5. Kadar
6. Kammara (excluding Kanyakumari district and Shencottah taluk of
Tirunelveli district)
7. Kanikaran, Kanikkar (in Kanyakumari district and Shencottah taluk
of Tirunelveli district)
8. Kaniyan, Kanyan
9. Kattunayakan
10.Kochu Velan
11.Konda Kapus
12.Kondareddis(kabu)
13.Koraga
14.Kota (excluding Kanyakumari district and Shencottah taluk of
Tirunelveli district)
15.Kudiya, Melakudi
16.Kurichchan
17.Kurumbas (in the Nilgiris district)
18.Kurumans
19.Maha Malasar
20.Malai Arayan
21.Malai Pandaram
22.Malai Vedan
23.Malakkuravan
24.Malasar
25. Malayali (in Dharmapuri, Pudukottai, Salem, Tiruchi districts and
North and South Arcot regions)
26. Malayekandi
27. Mannan
28. Mudugar, Muduvan
29. Muthuvan
30. Palleyan
31. Palliyan
32. Palliyar
33. Paniyan
34. Sholaga
35. Toda (excluding Kanyakumari district and Shencottah taluk of
Tirunelveli district)
36. Uraly
37.Adi Dravidar
West Bengal
1. Asur
2. Adhikari
3. Badia [disambiguation needed], Bediya
4. Bhumij
5. Bhutia, Sherpa, Toto, Dukpa, Kagatay, Tibetan, Yolmo
6. Birhor
7. Birjia
8. Chakma
9. Chero
10. Chik Baraik
11. Garo
12. Gond
13. Gorait
14. Hajang
15. Ho
16. Karmali
17. Kharwar
18. Khond
29. Kisan
20. Kora
21. Korwa
22. Lepcha
23. Lodha, Kheria, Kharia
24. Lohara, Lohra
25. Magh
26. Mahali
27. Mahli
28. Mal Pahariya
29. Mech
30. Mru
31. Munda
32. Nagesia
33. Oraon
34. Parhaiya
35. Rabha
36. Santal
37. Sauria Paharia
38. Savar
39. Tamang
40. Subba
Tripura
Darlong [1]
Tipra
Riang
Jamatia
Chakma
Halam (Like, Hrangkhawl, Molsom, Bongcher, etc.)
Noatia
Mog
Kuki
Garo
Munda
Lushai
Oraon
Santal
Uchai
Khasia
Bhil
Lepcha
Bhutia
Chaimal
Mizoram
(Inserted by Act 34 of 1986, s. 14 and Third Sch. (w.e.f. 20-2-1987).)
1. Lusai
2. Chakma
3. Dimasa (Kachari)
4. Garo
5. Hajong
6. Hmar
7. Khasi and Jaintia, (including Khasi, Synteng or Pnar, War, Bhoi or
Lyngngam)
8. Any Kuki tribes, including,--
(i) Baite or Biete
(ii) Changsan
(iii) Chongloi
(iv) Darlong
(v) Doungel
(vi) Gamalhou
(vii) Gangte
(viii) Guite
(ix) Hanneng
(x) Haokip or Haupit
(xi) Haolai
(xii) Hengna
(xiii) Hongsungh
(xiv) Hrangkhawl or Rangkhol
(xv) Jongbe
(xvi) Khawchung
(xvii) Khawathlang or Khothalong
(xviii) Khelma
(xix) Kholhou
(xx) Kipgen
(xxi) Kuki
(xxii) Lengthang
(xxiii) Lhangum
(xxiv) Lhoujem
(xxv) Lhouvun
(xxvi) Lupheng
(xxvii) Mangjel
(xxviii) Missao
(xxix) Riang
(xxx) Sairhem
(xxxi) Selnam
(xxxii) Singson
(xxxiii) Sitlhou
(xxxiv) Sukte
(xxxv) Thado
(xxxvi) Thangngeu
(xxxvii) Uibuh
(xxxviii) Vaiphei
9. Lakher or Mara (Lakher was changed to Mara in 1988)
10. Man (Tai-speaking)
11. Any Mizo (Lushai) tribes
12. Mikir
13. Any Naga tribes
14. Pawi
Arunachal Pradesh
All tribes in the State including:
1. Abor
2. Aka
3. Apatani
4. Dafla
5. Galong
6. Khampti
7. Khowa
8. Mishmi
9. Monpa
10. Tangsa
11. Sherdukpen
12. Singpho
13. Phake
Goa
1 Velip
2 Gawada
3 Kunbis
[edit] Chhattisgarh
Agariya
Andh
Baiga
Bhaina
Bharia Bhumia, Bhuinhar Bhumia, Bhumiya, Bharia, Paliha, Pando
Bhattra
Bhil, Bhilala, Barela, Patelia
Bhil Meena
Bhunjia
Biar, Biyar
Binjhwar
Birhul, Birhor
Damor, Damaria
Dhanwar
Gadaba, Gadba
Gond, Arrakh, Agaria, Asur, Badi Maria, Bada Maria, Bhatola, Bhimma,
Bhuta, Koilabhuta, Kolibhuti, Bhar, Bisonhorn Maria, Chota Maria,
Dandami Maria, Dhuru, Dhurwa, Dhoba, Dhulia, Dorla, Gaiki, Gatta,
Gatti, Gaita, Gond, Gowari Hill Maria, Kandra, Kalanga, Khatola,
Koitar, Koya, Khirwar, Khirwara, Kucha Maria, Kuchaki Maria, Madia,
Maria, Mana,, Mannewar, Moghya, Mogia, Monghya, Mudia, Muria,
Nagarchi, Nagwanshi, Ojha, Raj Gond, Sonjhari, Jhareka, Thatia,
Thotya, Wade Maria, Vade Maria, Daroi.
Halba, Halbi
Kamar
Karku
Kawar, Kanwar, Kaur, Cherwa, Rathia, Tanwar, Chattri
Khairwar, Kondar
Kharia
Kondh, Khond, Kandh
Kol
Kolam
Korku, Bopchi, Mouasi, Nihar, Nahul, Bondhi, Bondeya
Korwa, Kodaku
Majhi
Majhwar
Mawasi
Munda
Nagesia, Nagasia
Oraon, Dhanka, Dhangad
Pao
Pardhan, Pathari, Saroti
Pardhi, Bahelia, Bahellia, Chita Pardhi, Langoli Pardhi, Phans Pardhi,
Shikari, Takankar, Takia [in (i) Bastar, Dantewara, Kanker, Raigarh,
Jashpurnagar, Surguja and Koria district, (ii) Katghora, Pali, Kartala
and Korba tahsils of Korba tahsils of Korba district, (iii) Bilaspur,
Pendra, Kota and Takhatpur tahsils of Bilaspur district, (iv) Durg,
Patan, Gunderdehi, Dhamdha, Balod, Gurur and Dondilohara tahsils of
Durg district, (v) Chowki, Manpur and Mohala Revenue Inspector Circles
of Rajnandgon district, (vi) Mahasamund, Saraipali and Basna tahsils
of Mahasamund district, (vii) Bindra-Navagarh, Rajim and Deobhog
tahsils of Raipur district, and (viii) Dhamtari, Kurud and Sihava
tahsils of Dhamtari district]
Parja
Sahariya, Saharia, Seharia, Sehria, Sosia, Sor
Saonta, Saunta
Saur
Sawar, Sawara
Sonr
Uttarakhand
Bhotia
Bauxa
Jaunsari
Raji
Tharu
[edit] Jharkhand
Asur
Baiga
Banjara (Kora)
Bathudi
Bedia
Binjhia
Birhor
Birjia
Chero
Chick Baraik
Gond
Gorait
Ho
Karmali
Kharia
Kharwar
Kond
Kisan
Korwa
Lohra
Mahli
Mal Pahariya
Munda
Oraon
Parhaiya
Santhal
Sauria Paharia
Savar
Bhumij
Sinlung
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Scheduled_Tribes_in_India
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,
1989
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act
Citation Official Act
Enacted by Parliament of India
Date enacted 11 September 1989
Summary
Prevention of the commission of offences of atrocities against the
members of the Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes
The Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
was enacted by the Parliament of India, in order to prevent atrocities
against Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The purpose of the Act
was to help the social inclusion of Dalits into Indian society, but
the Act has failed to live up to its expectations.
Special Court
Special Court Justice Ramaswamy observed in the case of State of
Karnataka v. Ingale [1] that more than seventy-five percent of the
cases brought under the SC/ST Act end in acquittal at all levels. The
situation has not improved much since 1992 according to the figures
given by the 2002 Annual Report dealing with SC/ST Act (of the
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment)[2] Of the total cases
filed in 2002 only 21.72% were disposed of, and, of those, a mere
2.31% ended in conviction. The number of acquittals is 6 times more
than the number of convictions and more than 70 percent of the cases
are still pending.[3]
Speedy trial
The framers of the SC/ST Act kept this aspect (the increasing number
of cases pending in the judiciary) in mind and provided for the
setting up of a Special Court for speedy trial of offences committed
under this Act.[4][5]
Implementation of Law
They failed, however, to give any real powers to Special Courts for
the admission of complaints. This is evident from the provision
relating to setting up of Special Courts which gives a false
impression that a case of atrocity can be directly filed with the
Special Courts.[6] Various State Governments have notified the Special
Courts, in accordance with the provision of the Act, but these courts
cannot take cognizance of any complaint directly. The Supreme Court,
in the case of Gangula Ashok v. State of AP,[7] clarified that Special
Courts can take cognizance of an offence only when a case is committed
to it by a magistrate in accordance with provisions of Section 193 of
Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C). This means that a charge sheet
cannot be directly filed before a Special Court. When a Session Court
is constituted as a Special Court, it cannot take cognizance of an
offence without such a case being committed to it by magistrate unless
it is expressly provided so in the Act. Neither in the Cr.P.C. nor in
the SC/ST Act is there any provision which grants the power to Special
Court to take cognizance of the offences as an original jurisdiction
without the case being committed to it by a magistrate. Hence, it is
mandatory to go through the course established under the Cr.P.C.
Biases
Going through the normal judicial system is self degrading for any
dalit. This is because of the still existing biases of the court
judges. One example is the conduct of an Allahabad High Court judge
who had his chambers "purified" with water from the ‘ganga jal’
because a dalit judge had previously sat in that chamber before him.
[8] Another example is the case of State of Karnataka v. Ingale.[1]
The State of Karnataka had charged five individuals with violating the
SC/ST Act. At trial, four witnesses testified that the defendants had
threatened dalits with a gun in order to stop them from taking water
from a well. The defendants told the dalits that they had no right to
take water, because they were untouchables. The trial judge convicted
all of the defendants. On appeal, the Additional Sessions judge
confirmed the conviction of three defendants but acquitted two. On
further appeal to the High Court, the judge acquitted all the
defendants after rejecting the testimony of the four dalit witnesses.
The dalits finally got relief from the Supreme Court.
Contradictions
The legal regime is fraught with contradictions. While the legal text
is explicit in seeking remedies, the implementation of the text
appears to evade actual performance. Laws and legal processes are not
self executing; they depend on the administrative structure and the
judiciary with the anticipation that the social attitudes are driven
by notions of equity, social justice and fair play.[9] However, the
increasingly indifferent responses of those involved in the
implementation of laws protecting the weak, the oppressed and the
socially disadvantaged have persisted over the years and the system
has failed to provide for self-correction. What needs to be
appreciated is that victims of attrocites suffer not only bodily and
mental pain but also feelings of insecurity and socialavoidance which
is not present for the victims of other crimes. If the judge delegated
to protect them shows indifference, it further aggravates their
already vulnerable position.
Investigation
Section 23 of the Prevention of Atrocities Act authorises the Central
Government to frame rules for carrying out the purpose of the Act. It
was the drawing power from this section that the Scheduled Castes and
the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules of 1995 were
framed. According to Rule 7(1)[10] investigation of an offence
committed under the SC/ST Act cannot be investigated by an officer not
below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP). Various High
Courts have vitiated the trail based on the above rule and have
improperly set aside the order of conviction.[11]
Rank of investigating officer
The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in D. Ramlinga Reddy v. State of AP,
[12] took the position that provisions of Rule 7 are mandatory and
held that investigation under the SC/St Act has to be carried out by
only an officer not below the rank of DSP. An investigation carried
out and charge sheet filed by an incompetent officer is more than
likely to be quashed. Similarly, the Madras High Court in M.
Kathiresam v. State of Tamil Nadu[13] held that investigation
conducted by an officer other than a DSP is improper and bad in law
and proceedings based on such an investigation are required to be
quashed. The Courts without taking into consideration the inadequacies
of the State, have been punishing SC/STs for the same. Shri Pravin
Rashtrapal, Member of Parliament rightly pointed out that ther are
insufficient officers at that level.[14] His statement is supported by
the Annul Report of 2005-2006 of Ministry of Home Affairs.[15] Of the
total posts sanctioned by the government under Indian Police Service
(IPS) more than 15 percent of the posts are vacant. This basically
means that there is one IPS officer for 77,000 SC/STs.
Rehabilitation
According to the preamble of the SC/ST Act, it is an Act to prevent
the commission of offences of atrocities against SC/STs, to provide
for Special Courts for the trial of such offences and for the relief
and rehabilitation of the victims of such offences. The Madhya Pradesh
High Court also had the same view and observed in the case of Dr. Ram
Krishna Balothia v. Union of India[16] that the entire scheme of the
SC/ST Act is to provide protection to the members of the scheduled
castes and scheduled tribes and to provide for Special Court and
speedy trial of the offences. The Act contains affirmative measures to
weed out the root cause of atrocities, which has denied SC/STs basic
civil rights. The Act has addressed the problem the regarding the
dispensation of justice, but what the failed to deal with is the
problem of ‘rehabilitation’. There is mention of rehabilitation under
Section 21(2)(iii), but there are no provision addressing the same. As
it has been stated earlier that victims of atrocities are on a
different level when compared to victims of other crimes, hence there
should be special provision for the same. According to the report
submitted by the National Commission for Review and Working of the
Constitution[17] victims of atrocities and their families should be
provided with full financial and any other support in order to make
them economically self-reliant without their having to seek wage
employment from their very oppressors or classes of oppressors. Also
it would be the duty of the State to immediately take over the
educational needs of the children of such victims and provide for the
cost of their food and maintenance. SC/STs constitute 68 percent of
the total rural population. According to the 1991 Agricultural census
a large number of SC/STs are marginal farmers compared to the other
sections of the society and because of this the number of cultivators
are going down. In other words the landlessness is increasing at a
faster rate among SC/STs. At the same time the number of SC/ST workers
as agricultural labourer is increasing at a faster rate when compared
to other sections of the society. This basically implies that after
losing their land holdings SC/ST cultivators are becoming agriculture
labourers. Loss of land, on the one hand, is caused by atrocities
making the more vulnerable. This in turn fuels and promotes
continuance of atrocities and untouchability. Marginalisation is one
of the worst forms of oppression. It expelles a whole category of
people from useful participation in the society and therefore
potentially subjected to material depravation and this could even lead
to extermination. Moreover, this leads to the state of powerlessness
which perhaps is best described negatively; the powerless lack
authority, status and a sense of self.[18] Moreover, every right has
three types of duties:
Duties to avoid deprivation.
Duties to protect from deprivation
Duties to aid the deprived.
Though the SC/ST Act does cover the first two duties but totally
ignores the third one; duty to aid the deprived. Hence, it is
necessary to make the SC/STs self dependent.
Migration
Under constitutional provisions, a caste or tribe is notified with
reference to a State or Union territory. Hence a person born in state/
UT gets certificate of SC/ST if his/her father belongs to specified
caste/tribe in that state as SC/ST. If he/she migrates to another
state, he/she lose status for affirmative actions, i.e. benefit of
admission in educational institutes, reservation in government
employment etc. But he/she does not lose protection as guaranteed by
constitution like PoA & other Acts in any other state. In brief once a
person is notified as SC/ST in any one state/UT, he gets protection
under SC ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 throughout the
country, irrespective that caste or tribe is notified in the state/UT
where offence is occurred.
Suggestions
The statement of object and reason of the SC/ST Act clearly reveals
that the Act, in its letter and spirit, desires that dalits lead a
dignified life. However, even after 16 years of its existence in the
statute book, it has not shown its desired effect. The majority of the
beneficiaries of this Act are unaware of the legitimate claims of
leading a dignified way of life or are unwilling to enforce it
intensively. Even the Police, prosecutors and judicial officers are
unaware of this Act as was pointed out by Calcutta High Court in the
case of M.C. Prasannan v. State of West Bengal.[19] What further
aggravates the problem is the misapplication of the Act by police as
well as by the courts which ultimately leads to acquittals.[20]
Rural atrocities which are not covered under this Act
Social and economic boycott and blackmail are widespread. In view of
the fact that the main perpetrators of the crime sometimes co-opt a
few SC/STs with them and take advantage of local differences among the
SC/STs and sometimes they promote and engineer crimes but get them
executed by some members of SC/STs, the Act should be suitably amended
to bring such crimes and atrocities within the purview of the
definition of atrocities under the Act.[17] Likewise, the Special
Courts established under Section 14 of the Act are required to follow
the committal procedure under Cr.P.C. Such an interpretation prevents
the speedy trail envisaged under the Act. Further the absence of the
adequate number of special courts has also resulted in slow disposal
of atrocity cases and a huge back log.
External links
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,
1989
References
^ a b (1992) 3 S.C.R. 284
^ Annual Report on The Scheduled Castes and The Scheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 for the Year 2002, at p.12.
^ http://www.censusindia.gov.in 2001 Census
^ Upendra Baxi, “Crisis of Indian Legal System”, Amita Dhanda
(compiled by), “Law and Poverty Reading Material – B.A.B.L (Hons)”,
1st edition 2006, p.170.
^ Section 14.- For the purpose of providing for speedy trial, the
State Government shall, with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of
the High Court, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify for
each district a Court of Session to be a Special Court to try the
offences under this Act.
^ http://www.ncbc.nic.in National Commission for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes- Fourth Report 1996-97 & 1997-98, Vol. I.
^ AIR 2000 SC 740
^ "Human Rights Watch, “Broken People: Caste Violence Against India's
Untouchables"". Hrw.org. http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/india.
Retrieved 2008-12-29. http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1999/india/
^ K.I. Vibhute, “Right to Live with Human Dignity of Scheduled Castes
and Tribes: Legislative Spirit and Social Response – Some
Reflections”, 44 JILI (2002) 469 at 481.
^ 7(1).— An offence committed under the Act shall be investigated by a
police officer not below the rank of a Deputy Superintendent of
Police. The investigating officer shall be appointed by the State
Government /Director General of Police/Superintendent of Police after
taking into account his past experience, sense of ability and justice
to perceive the implications of the case and investigate it along with
right lines within the shortest possible time.
^ In 2002 the conviction rate was a mere 2 percent. Report by Ministry
of Social Justice and Empowerment
^ 1999 Cr LJ 2918
^ 1999 Cr LJ 3938
^ Lok Sabha Debates, see http://164.100.24.208/ls/lsdeb/ls13/ses13/210803.htm
^ Ministry of Home Affairs - Govt of India - India an Overview - India
- History[dead link]
^ AIR 1994 MP 143
^ a b 11
^ Iris Young, “Justice and Politics of Difference”. Amita Dhanda
(compiled by), “Law and Poverty Reading Material – IV Semester B.A.B.L
(Hons)”, 1st edition 2006, p.29
^ 1999 Cr LJ 998 (Cal)
^ Karansingh v. State of MP, 1992 Cr LJ 3054 (MP)
http://tribal.gov.in/writereaddata/linkimages/poaact989E4227472861.pdf
Forward caste
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Forward Caste (also known as Forward class/community, General class),
in India, denotes peoples, communities and castes from any religion
who do not currently qualify for a Government of India Reservation
benefits (that is, set quotas for political representation) for Other
Backward Classes, scheduled castes and tribes.[1][2][3] Since the list
presented by the commission for OBC, SC, ST is dynamic (classes and
communities can be added or removed) and will change from time to time
depending on Social, Educational and Economic factors, the Forward
Classes also are subject to change from time to time. The Government
of India does not publish a separate list of forward classes.[citation
needed]
Population
Estimate the forward classes population as anywhere from 5-15%.[4][5]
However, they have not quoted sources for their estimations. National
sample survey estimates Forward Class population almost same as
Backward Classes at around 36%. Family health survey combined forward
classes population along with all communities of other religions. If
you exclude Backward classes of other religions, then it is around
38.6% which is more than Backward classes population. State wise
Forward Class Population can be found from the chart.
Population by State
Arunachal Pradesh - NA (6% Brahmin)[6]
Andhra Pradesh - 9.9% of the total population (3% Brahmin, 1.2% Raju,
3% Velama & 2.7% Komati).[7]
Intermediate castes: Reddy (6.8%), Kamma/Chowdary (4.6%) & Kapu (15.2%)
[8]
Assam - NA (4% Brahmin)[9]
Bihar - 13% (4.7% Brahmin, 4.2% Rajput, 2.9% Bhumihar & 1.2% Kayasth)
[10]
Chattisgarh - NA (2% Brahmin)[11]
Goa - NA (7% Brahmin)[12]
Gujarat - High Forward Castes: 13.1% (4.1% Brahmin, 4.9% Rajput, 3.0%
Vaishya & 1.1% Others); Middle Forwards: 12.3% (12.2% Patel / Kanbi &
0.1% Others); Lower Forwards: 24.2% (24.2% Gujarati Kshatriya)[13][14]
Haryana - 47% (6 to 8% Brahmin, 21% Jat, 9% Khatri / Sikh & remaining
mostly Vaishya)[15]
Himachal Pradesh - 56% (14 to 20% Brahmin, 28% Rajput & remaining
mostly Vaishya / Khatri).[16]
J & K - NA (11% Brahmin, remaining mostly Dogra Rajput)[17]
Jharkhand - 7% (3% Brahmin, remaining mostly Rajput / Bhumihar /
Kayasth / Bhadralok).[18] Baniya is OBC here.
Karnataka - 16% (3 to 5% Brahmin, 3% Maratha, 2% Bunt / Nair / Kodava
& remaining mostly Raju / Devadiga / Vaishya). Intermediate castes:
Lingayat (17%) [19]
Kerala - 26% of the total population (1.5% Brahmin, 14.5% Malayala
Kshatriya / Tuluva Kshatriya, 0.5% Ambalavasi, 9% Syrian Christians &
0.5% Others).[20]
Maharashtra - 40% (4% Brahmin, 29% Maratha & remaining mostly Prabhu /
Vaishya)[21]
Manipur - 43% (Brahmin / Kshatriya)
Madhya Pradesh - NA (5% Brahmin)[22]
Orissa - 47% (6 to 9% Brahmin, 35% Khandayat / Kshatriya & 5% Patnaik)
[23]
Punjab - NA (5% Brahmin)[24]
Rajastan - 46% (7 to 8% Brahmin, 8% Rajput, 8% Vaishya, 20% Jat & 2%
Jain)[25]
Sikkim - NA (7% Brahmin)[26]
Tamil Nadu - 12% (3% Brahmin & remaining mostly Vellalar).
Intermediate castes: Thevar (8%)[27]
Tripura - NA (3% Brahmin)[28]
Uttar Pradesh - 20% (9 to 10% Brahmin, 7.2% Thakur, 2% Vaishya, 1%
Kayasth). Intermediate castes: Jat (2.5%)[29]
Uttaranchal - 75% (20% Brahmin, remaining mostly Thakur)[30][31]
West Bengal - 35% (5% Brahmin, 8% Mahishya & remaining mostly
Kayasth / Thakur / Vaishya)[32]
Delhi - NA (12% Brahmin, 9% Khatri, 5% Jat & remaining mostly
Vaishya / Thakur)[33]
Economic and educational status
Based on NSS-99-00.Rural/Urban weightages based on 2001 census)
Based on NSS-99-00.Rural/Urban weightages based on 2001 census)The
Government of India does not collect community census data except for
SC/ST. Economic and educational level of various social groups are
gauged using large sample surveys. The National Sample Survey taken in
1999–2000 and the National Family Health Survey taken in 2005-2006 (or
perhaps an earlier round of the NFHS) estimated economic, educational,
and health indicators of various communities. These surveys were used
extensively in the report submitted by the oversight committee.[34]
Forward classes will have to compete only in the open category, as
they are considered socially, educationally, and economically
advanced. Currently the reservation proportion stands at 50% in
central-government educational institutions and central-government
jobs. However, in certain states such as Tamil Nadu, the reservation
percentage stands at around 69%.[35]
Economic status
The 1998–1999 National Sample Survey calculated the economic status of
forward communities separately for rural/urban areas in various income
brackets. It shows
Only 6.4% of forward classes in rural areas appear in upper income
bracket with per capita monthly income stands at above Rs 925 per
month.
30% of rural population is made up of forward classes.
More than 65% of forward classes per capita income stands below Rs 525
per month.
For urban areas:
Only 5.6% of forward classes appear in the upper-income bracket with
per capita income at or above Rs. 1925 per month (around US $40).
More than 25% of forward classes per capita income stands below Rs.
500 per month (around $10)
Educational status
Based on NSS-99-00.Rural/Urban weightages based on 2001 census)
More than 30% of forward classes above 15 years of age are
illiterate.
Only 8% of forward classes are graduates.
Around 85% of forward classes above 15 years of age have done equal to
or below secondary Education (10 Years of Education)
Reservation for economically backward among forward classes
Currently forward classes are only allowed to compete for seats in the
unreserved category in educational institutions and central government
jobs, irrespective of their educational/economical status in the
society. However, a significant percentage of the Forward Class
population lives below the poverty line and more than 30% of the
members of this community are illiterate. To meet their aspirations,
demands have been raised for providing separate reservations for the
poor among Forward Class populations. Many political parties like
Congress, BJP, Samajwadi Party, LJP, Rastriya Janata Dal, Communist
Party of India(Marxist), Bahujan Samaj Party[36][37][38][39] have
supported proposals for providing separate reservation for the poor
among the forward classes. These parties account for over 400 of the
542 members in the current parliament, as well as holding power in
most states in the union.
Indian Government surveys have pointed out that Poverty is widespread
in all communities. Indian definition of poverty is living life with
less than 0.25 US$/Day(Approx). Whereas United nations definition of
Poverty is living life with less than $1/Day.[1]. More than 65% of
forward classes will be living below poverty line if UN poverty
definition is considered.[2]
Timeline
1991: Congress government headed by Narasimha Rao introduced 10%
separate reservation for poor among forward classes.
1992: The Supreme Court has ruled in the Indra Sawhney case that
separate reservation for poor among forward classes as invalid.
Government has withdrawn separate reservation as per supreme court
judgement. (Many other verdicts given in same case has been overruled
by constitutional amendments like quota in promotions, exceeding 50%
reservations for Tamilnadu, judgement regarding creamy layer in the
same case was not implemented by Tamilnadu so far.)
2003: BJP government appointed a group of Ministers for suggesting
measures for implementation of separate reservation for poor among
forward classes. [4]
2004: Task force has been set up to work out modalities for providing
reservations to Poor among forward classes.No information available
regarding report submitted by this task force.[5]
2006: Present Congress Government appointed commission to study
separate reservation for economically backward classes.[6]
2006: Communist government in Kerala earmarked 12% seats in private
professional colleges for economically poor among forward classes.[7]
Many backward class leaders allege forward classes are over
represented in many spheres of life. State and central governments
have not released adequate data regarding representation of various
communities in their services and admissions to educational
institutions.Most of the Private companies in India does not collect
data regarding community of their employees. Very few reports are
available regarding representation of various communities in public–
private services and admissions in educational institutions.
In Tamil Nadu forward classes have secured around 1.9% of seats in
medical colleges in 2004 and 2.68 % seats in 2005 as against their
population percentage of 13%.See Also Caste-Based Reservations In
Tamil Nadu. This trend of poor representation has continued for the
last 10 years as claimed by lawyers in one of the Reservation cases.
[8]
Narendra committee report in Kerala has pointed out that forward
classes representation in public services and PSU units is around 36
to 38% which is more or less equal to their population.[9].
Karnataka Minister in state Assembly has announced that per capita
income of the Brahmins is lesser than all communities including
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.[10]
Oversight committee in its final report has indicated that forward
classes are placed better than backward classes in some indicators and
comparable with backward classes in few indicators and backward
classes are superior in some parameters like health indicators in
states like Assam, Maharastra, Haryana, West Bengal, etc.[11]
National Survey 99-00 indicates that forward classes are better placed
than SC/ST in almost all parameters. However, in rural
unemployment,forward classes score worse than all other communities.
Recently released Provisional report of National Survey 04-05 states
that Buying capacity of Backward Classes in rural and urban areas are
comparable to forward classes. It also revises Backward classes figure
as 41%. It also states that Landownership of Backward classes are
comparable to Forward Classes. It reiterates its earlier finding (in
99-00 survey) that forward classes are poorly employed (more
unemployment).[12]
Rural landholding pattern of various social groups calculated by
National Sample Survey 99-00 indicate that OBC and forward classes are
comparable in wealthiness.)
National surveys used rural landholding pattern to assess wealthiness
of various social groups. Its findings indicate that OBC and FC are
comparable and there is a very minor difference between them. There is
a big difference between OBC/FC and SC. Even Scheduled Tribes are
placed better than Scheduled Castes. Experts who analysed national
survey results point out that other backward classes are near average
in many parameters. Please refer chart.[13]
Shrinking educational opportunities
During April 2006, India’s Human Resource Minister announced that 27%
seats will be reserved exclusively for candidates from Other Backward
Classes in addition to existing 22.5 % reservation for Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes.[14] This announcement was done when
polling process was underway in Tamilnadu and Kerala (States with
highest backward class population in India).[15] Incidentally many
opinion polls at that time were predicting rout of ruling UDF alliance
in these states.[16](UDF alliance subsequently won in Tamilnadu but
lost in Kerala). Election commission reprimanded Human Resources
Ministry for making such announcement when election process was in
progress.[17]
Sachar committee report indicated that Hindu OBC's enrollment in all
educational institutions is close to their populations in the 2004-5
national survey (page 93/425 of Sachar committee report). Union Human
Resources minister appointed panel to study about sachar committee
recommendations regarding Indian Muslims[3] but did not give his
opinion on this subject.
Impact of announcement on forward classes
After the implementation of OBC reservation, only 50% of seats are
available in open competition. All communities can compete in open
competition which means forward classes must secure between 72% and
78% of the 'open competition' seats in order to maintain their
representation in keeping with their estimated population of 36-39%,
whereas other communities will get major chunk of seats through
exclusive reservations. This has resulted in protests from Forward
Class community members and supporters from other communities under
the banner of Youth for Equality. They have pointed out following as
reasons for their protests.[18]
The Government has implemented reservations for the Scheduled castes
and Scheduled Tribes for the last 60 years, however the social and
economic situation of these groups has not shown much improvement.
This might be interpreted as an indication of the ineffectiveness of
reservation in higher educational institutions as a means of achieving
social equality.
Any difference between proportion of different communities in Higher
educational institutions is mainly because of difference in primary
school enrollment. (This fact was also confirmed in National sample
surveys and pointed out by Oversight committee in its final report).
Government should attack the cause instead of providing reservation at
higher education level Already 24% of college seats are with Other
backward classes. Providing another 27% seats will deprive chances of
forward classes.
Reservation on the basis of caste is cornered only by rich and
affluent. For example daughter of former President of India got
admission into Indian Foreign Services denying opportunity to another
poor person from her own community.
Certain Indian states has forward classes population of more than 50%
or close to 50%. In some of these states,no.of forward classes
admitted in educational institutions will be much less than their
population even if they secure 100% seats in open
competition.)Interestingly Government of India decided to introduce
27% reservations for other backward classes all over India. Many
states does not have even 27% of other backward class population as
per national sample surveys.(This includes major Indian states like
Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, Punjab, West
Bengal).[19].Some Indian states like Assam, Goa, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, West Bengal has more than 50% forward classes population
[20]which means no. of seats secured by forward classes will not be
equal to their population proportion even if they secure 100% seats in
open competition in central government institutions of these states.
Central government, however, excluded 27% reservations to other
backward classes to the areas with high tribal populations.[21].
References
^ http://books.google.com/books?id=bgpEIb4tNjgC&pg=PA2004
^ http://books.google.com/books?id=vCQ24WjlwZwC&pg=PA155
^ http://books.google.com/books?id=sTS4OO9lcdgC&pg=PA102
^ The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2006/08/11/stories/2006081104761500.htm
^ 'What more do the upper castes want?'
http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/may/16inter2.htm
^ http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?234783
^ http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/1998.pdf
^ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yInZdHn-pKoC
^ http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?234783
^ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yInZdHn-pKoC
^ http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?234783
^ http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?234783
^ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yInZdHn-pKoC
^ Reservations in Doubt: The Backlash Against Affirmative Action in
Gujarat, India by John R. Wood, Source: Pacific Affairs, Vol. 60, No.
3 (Autumn, 1987), pp. 408-430,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2758881
^ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yInZdHn-pKoC
^ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yInZdHn-pKoC
^ http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?234783
^ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yInZdHn-pKoC
^ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yInZdHn-pKoC
^ 1968 Socio-Economic Survey, Govt. of Kerala
^ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yInZdHn-pKoC
^ http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?234783
^ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yInZdHn-pKoC
^ http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?234783
^ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yInZdHn-pKoC
^ http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?234783
^ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yInZdHn-pKoC
^ http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?234783
^ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yInZdHn-pKoC
^ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yInZdHn-pKoC
^ http://www.outlookindia.com/images/brahamins_table_20070604.jpg
^ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yInZdHn-pKoC
^ http://www.india-seminar.com/2004/534/534%20sanjay%20kumar.htm
^ MOSPI.NIC.IN
http://mospi.nic.in/mospi_nsso_rept_pubn.htm
^ Tamil Nadu's quota stir an assertion of its 69 percent? (NEWS
ANALYSIS) - India
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/india/news/article_1285498.php/Tamil_Nadus_quota_stir_an_assertion_of_its_69_percent
^ ExspressIndia.com Link 01
http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=67190
^ ExpressIndia.com Link 02
http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=67837
^ The Hindu : National : Paswan for quota for economically backward
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2006/06/05/stories/2006060504941400.htm
^ The Hindu : Cong. for 'quota' for poor among forward castes
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2003/08/14/stories/2003081403450900.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_caste
chhotemianinshallah
Shekhar Iyer, Hindustan Times
Delhi, March 15, 2010
First Published: 00:26 IST(15/3/2010)
Last Updated: 01:30 IST(15/3/2010)
A blend of new faces and old hands will make up BJP president Nitin
Gadkari’s new team that he will announce on March 16 to end the three-
month-long suspense in the party.
That day marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year.
Those tipped to become general secretaries include former Rajasthan CM
Vasundhara Raje, former Jharkhand CM Arjun Munda, spokesperson Ravi
Shankar Prasad, Orissa leader Dharmendra Pradhan, and Himachal Pradesh
minister J.P. Nadda.
While Ananth Kumar, Ram Lal Agarwal and Thwar Chand Gehlot will remain
general secretaries, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who was vice-president in
Rajnath Singh’s team, will be made general secretary, BJP sources
said. Navjot Singh Sidhu will also become a general secretary, while
Yashwant Sinha is expected to remain vice-president.
Among new secretaries, Gadkari is likely to induct Varun Gandhi.
Though Varun has sought a bigger profile, his mother Maneka is
persuading him to accept the role in view of the assembly polls in
Uttar Pradesh, the sources said.
Anurag Thakur, the young MP from Himachal Pradesh, will take over as
BJP yuva morcha chief, his predecessor Amit Thakker may be included in
Gadkari’s team as a secretary. Shahnawaz Hussain, who is heading the
BJP minority cell, may become a secretary. Among the women in the BJP
chief’s team, Smriti Irani and Saroj Pandey will be secretaries.
Party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar is likely to be elevated as vice-
president as are former Uttarakhand chief minister B C Khanduri and
former Delhi BJP chief Harshvardhan.
In keeping with the party’s decision to provide 33 per cent
reservation to women in the organisation, Gadkari intends to have at
least 13 women officer bearers and at least 40 national executive
members.
BJP names Rajay Sabha candidates from Punjab, Himachal
Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi, March 15, 2010
First Published: 17:07 IST(15/3/2010)
Last Updated: 17:08 IST(15/3/2010)
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to field Avinash Rai
Khanna in Punjab and Vimla Kashyap in Himachal Pradesh in the Rajya
Sabha elections.
In Punjab, three seats are expected to go to the ruling Akali Dal-BJP
combine and two to the Congress. In Himachal, the lone seat is
expected to go to the ruling BJP.
The decision was taken at the central election committee of the BJP
that met on Monday with president Nitin Gadkari in the chair.
The last date for filing nominations is March 16. Polling, if
necessary, will take place March 26.
The terms of Rajya Sabha members from Punjab -- Sports Minister M S
Gill, former minister Ashwani Kumar and D P Sabharwal (all Congress)
and V S Bajwa (Akali Dal) -- are ending April 9. The term of Akali Dal
member Naresh Gujral will end March 22.
In Himachal, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma's term ends April 3.
BJP sets up panel to probe Bareilly clashes
HT Correspondents, Hindustan Times
Lucknow, March 13, 2010
First Published: 21:49 IST(13/3/2010)
Last Updated: 01:23 IST(14/3/2010)
As Bareilly continued to remain on the boil for the 11th day on
Saturday, the BJP set up a three-member committee to inquire into the
communal violence.
The committee is headed by former Union minister Maneka Gandhi, an MP
from Aaonla that is adjacent to Bareilly. Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath
and Meerut MP Rajendra Agrawal are the other two members, a party
release said.
On Saturday, a mob set fire to shops and vehicles in Qutabkhana and
Subzi Mandi areas, while curfew continued in the five police areas of
Kila, Baradari, Premnagar, Subhash Nagar and Kotwali. Fearing that
violence might spread to other areas the district administration did
not relax the curfew.
The ADG (Law and Order), Brij Lal, said that in order to restore
communal harmony the district administration was holding meeting with
the citizens. “The people residing on the outskirts of the city were
also invited to the meeting. Adequate police force was deployed and
the situation was under control,” he said.
The district administration is being blamed for mismanagement. “It’s a
clear case of mishandling by the district administration,” a police
officer said. “Tension was limited to four police areas, later it
spread.”
“On several occasions the decisions taken by the district
administration was by-passed and directives came from Lucknow that
curfew should be relaxed,” said a police officer posted in Bareilly.
The intelligence department, too, reportedly failed to alert the
administration.
The BJP is blaming the Mayawati government for the clashes. Trouble
began on March 2 during the Barawafat procession. A minor communal
clash led to curfew.
Maulana Tauquir Raza Khan, president of the Ittehad-e-Millat Council,
was arrested for his “rabble-rousing speech” that had led to communal
tension. He was released after some groups said Muslims would boycott
the BSP rally in Lucknow on March 15.
Gadkari support for Modi, state explores legal options
HT Correspondents, Hindustan Times
Ahmedabad/New Delhi, March 13, 2010
First Published: 01:31 IST(13/3/2010)
Last Updated: 01:33 IST(13/3/2010)
A day after the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigating Team
(SIT) probing the 2002 Gujarat riots summoned Chief Minister Narendra
Modi for questioning, the state said it was exploring legal options
before it.
“Whatever are the right legal options available we will explore them
and, accordingly, what is required to be done would be done,” Gujarat
government spokesperson Jay Narayan Vyas said, adding that the state
government and Modi would cooperate with “the process of law”.
The SIT, which has summoned Modi to appear before it on March 21, was
acting on a petition filed by the widow of former Congress MP Ehsan
Jafri, who was murdered during the riots by a mob in Ahmedabad’s
Gulbarg Society.
The state Congress on Friday questioned the conduct of the Nanavati
Commission, set up to probe the riots.
“People have lost faith in the commission, (which is) operating for
almost eight years,” Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia said. “Even the
officers appearing for questioning are tutored by their seniors as
what to answer the commission.”
The BJP has come out in support of Modi, with party chief Nitin
Gadkari saying the Gujarat BJP leader would make a good prime
minister.
“We will cooperate with the judiciary, but we will back Modi one
hundred per cent. The events (riots) were unfortunate, but the blame
cannot be focused on Modi,” Gadkari told Headlines Today. “The UPA
simply wants to shoot Modi politically by using the CBI.”
This is the first time Gadkari, who took over in December, has
endorsed Modi for the top slot.
“He (Modi) is a role model for development politics,” he added. “A
decision on the party’s prime ministerial candidate will be taken by
senior leaders and the parliamentary body, but Modi is fully competent
– he has the ability, capacity and potential to lead this country.”
Smita hails Sonia Gandhi for women’s quota bill, praises Raj
HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Mumbai, March 11, 2010
First Published: 01:23 IST(11/3/2010)
Last Updated: 01:24 IST(11/3/2010)
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s estranged daughter-in-law Smita on
Wednesday hailed Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi for getting the
women’s reservation bill passed in the Rajya Sabha.
“Mahatma Gandhi secured Independence for India. After so many years,
Sonia Gandhi has given freedom to the women masses of this country,"
she said at a press conference.
When asked about joining any political party, Smita — she is
reportedly keen to join the Congress — said she would join a party
that gives scope to her ambitions. “I can join any party,” she added.
Apart from Sonia Gandhi, Smita also praised Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
president Raj Thackeray, who is her brother-in-law, and Bharatiya
Janata Party leaders Nitin Gadkari and Sushma Swaraj.
“Like Balasaheb, Raj too has created his party out of nothing.
However, I don't approve his plank [against north Indians],”she said.
Dismissing Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray, as a leader who
is not on par with his father, she said: “There is a huge difference
between the leadership qualities of the two.”
Uddhav’s rise in the Sena had resulted in her downfall in the party’s
power circle.
On using the Thackeray surname though she is legally separated from
her husband and son of Sena chief, Jaideo, Smita said the Thackerays
gave her an identity and that’s why she would continue to use the
name.
BJP looks to gain mileage from support
Shekhar Iyer, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, March 07, 2010
First Published: 00:49 IST(7/3/2010)
Last Updated: 00:52 IST(7/3/2010)
The BJP will not let the Congress walk away with all credit if
Parliament passes the Women’s Reservation Bill.
A day after a whip to its MPs to back the bill, party leaders did not
mince words in saying that since the UPA coalition was in minority in
Rajya Sabha, the onus of getting it adopted was with the main
opposition.
Party chief Nitin Gadkari called an emergency meeting of the core
group on Saturday to discuss the bill.
“The core group unanimously decided to ensure passage of Bill,” he
said.
“The BJP is conscious of the fact that the UPA is in a minority in
Parliament. The BJP appeals to all parties to support this Bill. The
BJP has directed all its members to be present in Rajya Sabha and
ensure the passage of this Bill.”
Gadkari also made it clear that the role of the BJP in the passage of
the bill could not be underplayed.
“The BJP had first mooted the idea of this Bill in 1995 at its
national council meeting at Vadodara. The NDA had at first moved this
bill in Parliament. The BJP is the only political party that has
provided for one-third reservation in the party organisation for
women.”
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said the bill was a
dream of two senior leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani.
BJP determined to get Women's Bill passed in Parliament
Press Trust Of India
New Delhi, March 06, 2010
First Published: 15:50 IST(6/3/2010)
Last Updated: 15:53 IST(6/3/2010)
Asserting that it was determined to ensure passage of Women's
Reservation Bill in Parliament, BJP on Saturday sought to make
political capital on the issue by stating that since the UPA coalition
was in minority in Rajya Sabha, the onus of getting it adopted was
with the main opposition.
BJP President Nitin Gadkari today convened an emergency meeting of the
party Core Group to discuss Women's Reservation Bill, which is set to
be tabled in Rajya Sabha on March 8.
"The Core Group unanimously decided to ensure passage of the
Constitution Amendment providing for one-third reservation for women
in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies," Gadkari said in a statement.
BJP has already issued a three-line whip to its Rajya Sabha MPs to be
present and vote for the Bill in the Upper House on Monday.
"The BJP is determined to ensure the passage of this Bill. The Bill
shows national aspiration and society has been waiting for it for the
last 15 years," Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said.
He said since the government is in a minority in Rajya Sabha, BJP
understands that it would have to play an important role in getting
the Women's Reservation Bill passed there.
It’s all about respect
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D Raja
March 04, 2010
First Published: 23:28 IST(4/3/2010)
Last Updated: 23:30 IST(4/3/2010)
A comedy of errors is on display in both Congress and BJP camps. While
it was an abhorrent sight to see Congress leaders trying to play
messiah to India’s Dalits some months ago by merely eating in Dalit
households, we now have the BJP playing catch-up with party president
Nitin Gadkari ‘doing a Rahul Gandhi’ by having lunch in a Dalit home
last month.
But what is downright comic is the Congress’s knee-jerk reaction to
Gadkari’s gesture. Congress spokespersons claimed that their party has
facilitated the “elevation of Dalits to [the positions] of Chief
Justice of India and Lok Sabha Speaker”. This is the same Congress
that had silently watched the then President K R Narayanan getting
dragged into a media controversy on the issue of him supposedly
overstepping his constitutional role and seeking to impose a policy of
affirmative action on the judiciary.
The Congress also seems to have forgotten that it was the Telugu Desam
Party that ensured the elevation of a Dalit to the post of Speaker for
the first time in the choice of G M C Balayogi, that too in a BJP-led
NDA regime.
The Congress and the BJP are not only trying to hoodwink the Dalits,
but they are also fighting it out for the elusive Dalit votebank in
Uttar Pradesh. Gadkari stated last month that Dalit leader B.R.
Ambedkar was like American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Someone should tell Gadkari that by the time the struggles of King Jr
and others led to equal rights for African-Americans in 1964, it had
already been 14 years since Ambedkar had introduced civil rights in
the Constitution of India, having already achieved getting political
rights and the right to representation in political offices and
employment for Dalits as early as 1932. Next, Gadkari will say that
Mahatma Gandhi was like Martin Luther King Jr, rather than the other
way round. It is entirely a different issue that Indian and US
societies are alike in denying civil rights to their oppressed
communities.
The Congress is equally at fault for not criticising BJP leader Arun
Shourie for his book, Worshipping False Gods, in which the author
makes ridiculous attacks on the Dalit icon. One would go on to say
that the Congress has done nothing to further the ideals of Ambedkar
and has shown no interest in the upkeep of the Ambedkar Foundation
created by the National Front government during the leader’s centenary
celebrations. It was the NDA regime that bought the Ambedkar Memorial
on 26, Alipore Road in Delhi and also pushed the 81st, 82nd and 85th
amendments of the Constitution in favour of creating reservations for
Dalits.
It is time the Dalits call this Congress-BJP bluff. If the BJP and the
Congress indeed care for Dalits, both the national parties should
first ensure that the practice of manual scavenging is eliminated from
the states ruled by these parties in the next one year.
They should also ensure that these scavenging families never have to
fall back into this ignoble profession. They should also earmark a
part of the annual Budget under the Scheduled Castes sub-plan for
Dalits to make sure that enough is spent on the educational and
economic uplift of Dalit communities. This, especially at a time when
the budget of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has
decreased in the last Budget.
The first issue for any political party is to respect the rights of
Dalits. They should also respect the rights of Dalits to protest,
demand and claim remedies, safeguards and action from the government
that ameliorate their conditions quickly. Let’s first learn to respect
Dalits. Then maybe one day they will invite us home for lunch.
D. Raja is National Secretary, Communist Party of India and Rajya
Sabha member
The views expressed by the author are personal
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/columnsothers/It-s-all-about-respect/Article1-515245.aspx
Misra panel: BJP’s chance to win over OBCs?
Vikas Pathak, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, March 03, 2010
First Published: 01:31 IST(3/3/2010)
Last Updated: 01:33 IST(3/3/2010)
With a government-appointed panel calling for reservation for
minorities, the BJP senses an opportunity to find favour with the
Other Backward Classes (OBCs) among Hindus.
The Ranganath Misra Commission has recommended 15 per cent quota for
Muslims in education and employment.
In case the recommendation falls foul of law — the Supreme Court has
capped reservation at 50 per cent and the provision will push it way
beyond the ceiling — a minority sub-quota within the OBC bracket has
been suggested. It means that from within the 27 per cent quota for
the OBCs, 8.4 per cent will be for minorities.
While the Mandal Commission, set up with a mandate to identify
educationally and socially backward, said the OBCs constituted 52 per
cent of India’s population, the National Sample Survey Organisation
put the figure at 41 per cent.
Though the government has not set a timetable for adopting the
suggestions, the Misra report can lead to political realignments.
The Congress can gain Muslim support, particularly in Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar. The Muslim-Yadav alliance nurtured by Mulayam Singh Yadav
and Lalu Prasad in UP and Bihar, respectively, could be tested as the
two groups will be in fight for the same quota pie.
And this is where lies an opportunity for the BJP to attract OBCs to
its fold — in line with new chief Nitin Gadkari’s emphasis on widening
the party’s social base. Traditional base of the BJP is upper caste
Hindus.
“We’ll oppose any attempt to take away the rights of backward Hindus
and give them to minorities,” deputy leader of Opposition in the Lok
Sabha Gopinath Munde, an OBC leader, said.
The BJP’s rise to power in the 1990s was accompanied by substantial
non-Yadav OBC mobilisation in the Hindi belt, particularly in UP,
which has 80 Lok Sabha seats.
From 45 per cent in the 1996 Lok Sabha polls in the state, the BJP’s
non-Yadav OBC vote share fell to 28 per cent in the 2004 polls,
according to the Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing
Societies. Recently, most of its candidates for the 11 UP assembly by-
polls forfeited their security deposit.
OBC vote can be crucial to the party’s revival.
Personal ambitions ruining BJP: Gadkari
Shekhar Iyer
Indore, February 18, 2010
First Published: 00:57 IST(18/2/2010)
Last Updated: 01:22 IST(18/2/2010)
The crisis in the BJP was not because of small leaders but the “over
ambitious” senior leaders who were seeking more and more in terms of
posts and perks for themselves, said party president Nitin Gadkari on
Wednesday.
Gadkari’s plain-speak came at a closed-door session on the opening day
of the three-day conclave of the party’s national executive near here.
BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad briefed reporters later.
“Our problems come not from small leaders but from the big ones, who
have got everything and yet are wanting more at any cost,” Gadkari was
quoted as having said.
Who did he mean? He didn’t name anyone.
“The party chief has only sought to present before the conclave the
weaknesses of the BJP that will have to go,” Prasad said, adding, “He
is asking everyone to think of the party.”
The closed-door session was attended by party seniors such as L.K.
Advani and Gadkari’s predecessor Rajnath Singh.
Advani endorsed Gadkari’s statement and said leaders’ egos was the
main problem.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley was also present.
Party sources said Gadkari could be referring to the leadership tussle
that followed defeat in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, with L.K. Advani
wanting to retire.
Gadkari listed “personal ambition” as the single most debilitating
ailment plaguing the BJP.
With the RSS fully behind him, a confident Gadkari bluntly told the
leaders instead of seeking to pull down others, they should raise
their own bar of performance for optimum result.
He criticised the tendency of leaders to rush to the media with their
issues when things did not go their way.
Gadkari’s remark was seen by other BJP leaders as intended to serve as
a warning.
At 52, Gadkari is the party’s youngest president. And was brought in
by the BJP’s mother organisation, the RSS, to effect a generational
change, and give the party a young and dynamic leadership.
Since taking over, he has largely kept his peace with the party
stalwarts.
So far, at least.
The Wednesday speech is likely to go down in the party’s history as
the equivalent of Rajiv Gandhi’s radical promise to rid the Congress
of powerbrokers at his party’s centenary session in 1985.
Have a large heart, Gadkari pleaded with the seniors.
Chote dil se bade kaam nahi hota. (Small hearts and minds cannot
achieve big things.) Think of the country first, then the party and
yourself last, Gadkari said.
Acknowledging that distribution of ticket during the elections was a
sore issue, Gadkari said the ground rule should be that tickets must
be given only to those who were popular and could win.
“But, what we find is that everyone seemed to think of their future
only and not that of the party,” the party chief was quoted as having
said.
BJP to support separate Vidarbha in Parliament: Gadkari-Munde
2010-03-14 22:10:00
Last Updated: 2010-03-15 07:45:44
Nagpur: BJP national president Nitin Gadkari and party Deputy Leader
in Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde on Sunday assured to support separate
Vidarbha issue in Parliament when ever the UPA government brings the
Telangana state bill.
"Now the time has come when BJP will not allow UPA to move bill for
creating Telangana alone but will ensure that UPA includes separate
Vidarbha also in the Parliament", Gadkari and Munde told a public
rally here at Yeshwant Stadium, citing their party's unconditional
support to Women's Reservation Bill brought by the Congress-led UPA
government early last week.
Uddhav: Won't allow Mumbai to be separated from Maharashtra
Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states Dr Raman Singh, Ramesh Pokhriyal,
and Deputy Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Raghuwar Das were prominent
who addressed the gathering.
BJP's young legislators Sudhir Mungattiwar (Ballarpur) and Davendra
Phadanvis (Nagpur-South-West) who took out "Yuwa Jagar" yatra, an
awareness campaign for youth from Shegaon (Buldana) and Chandrapur
respectively, on Sunday culminated their yatra into a public rally.
Munde, a former Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, in a clear
signal to the alliance partner Shiv Sena, said as to why there should
not be two states of Marathi speaking people.
Statehood call shuts down Maharashtra's Vidarbha region
"When there can be many Chief Ministers from Hindi speaking states,
there was nothing wrong when two Marathi speaking Chief Ministers
occupying offices," he said.
Uddhav: Won't allow Mumbai to be separated from Maharashtra
2010-02-06 23:00:00
Last Updated: 2010-02-07 00:15:45
Pune: Alleging the UPA government is conspiring to separate Mumbai
from Maharashtra, Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray
tonight said his party would oppose such a move and continue to take
to the streets to fight and keep the state undivided.
"On the lines of a separate Vidarbha, Congress government at the
Centre is planning to carve out a separate Mumbai state aligning the
metropolis with neighbouring Thane and Raigad," he said here, adding
the Sena would fight tooth and nail against the design to weaken and
factionalise Maharashtra.
Thackeray calls Shah Rukh 'traitor', no apologies says actor
Thackeray who was speaking during his public interview by noted
compere Sudhir Gadgil at S P College ground here, said his party's
stand against creation of separate Vidarbha was firm and undiluted
despite the contrary view of its ally BJP on the issue.
Thackeray alleged that Congress-led UPA was planning to create a
separate Mumbai state as the region generated maximum tax collection.
Thackeray calls Shah Rukh 'traitor', no apologies says actor
2010-02-06 20:50:00
Last Updated: 2010-02-06 21:58:45
Mumbai: On a day when Bal Thackeray labelled him a "traitor", Shah
Rukh Khan on Saturday stuck to his comments on Pakistani players in
IPL saying there was nothing "anti- national" and ruled out meeting
the Shiv Sena supremo on his own to sort out the controversy.
"I have not said anything that is anti-national or anti-Indian. I
stand by what I said and I would like to say that may be the group has
misunderstood me. There is no other reason because I have not said
anything I should feel sorry about," Khan, who arrived here after a
whirlwind promotional tour of New York, London and Berlin, told
reporters.
"I think what I said has been misconstrued. I am pro good relationship
with countries. I think we all are...," he said.
Asked if he would go to Thackeray's home 'Matoshree' to explain his
position, Khan said he had gone to the "senior" leader's residence
whenever he was called.
"I have been there so often. Yes, I would like to go and have drink
with him. But on this matter, I don't see...there is no reason for
going and asking...but if my stand needs to be explained to someone, I
have already done it. I don't think there is an issue on that front,"
Khan said.
In an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece, Thackeray wrote, "A Khan named
Shah Rukh tells us to love Pakistan but nobody feels suffocated due to
his treachery. Traitors, do whatever you want to do with the blessings
of Congress. Sena won't stop you..."
The actor, however, made it clear that he did not want to join issue
with Sena, describing Thackeray as an "elderly gentleman" whose
company he enjoyed.
'Bullying' not to be tolerated, says Maharashtra CM
2010-02-06 18:40:00
Last Updated: 2010-02-06 19:14:04
New Delhi: Maharashtra government on Saturday said it will ensure
security for screening of movies of actor Shah Rukh Khan, under Shiv
Sena threat for favouring inclusion of Pakistani cricketers in IPL,
and asserted that it will act against anyone trying to "bully"
others.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said violation of law and
order by anybody will be dealt with strictly.
"All movies, be it of Shah Rukh's or anybody else's, if it is approved
by Censor Board, it will run and the government will protect it,"
Chavan told reporters at the sidelines of the Chief Ministers'
conference on price rise here.
"Even I will go and watch those movies," he said.
"We will make sure that not only Shiv Sena, but any person or any
organisation trying to create disturbance is dealt with strictly as
per the law of the land," he said.
The Chief Minister was replying to a question related to controversy
surrounding the movie star who is under attack by Shiv Sena for his
remark on Pakistani cricketers.
The Sena has threatened not to allow the release of Khan's upcoming
film 'My Name is Khan' on February 12.
Against the backdrop of Rahul Gandhi's visit to Mumbai remaining free
of any untoward incident despite Sena's call to show him black flags,
he said, "I do not want to take credit. I am happy about one thing
that they (Sena) understood it.
"I have said that the state will function as per constitution. The
government will take action against anybody who tries to bully
someone," Chavan said.
http://sify.com/news/bullying-not-to-be-tolerated-says-maharashtra-cm-news-national-kcgsEfabbfd.html
IANS
Statehood call shuts down Maharashtra's Vidarbha region
2010-01-20 11:40:00
Last Updated: 2010-01-20 11:58:49
Nagpur: Long distance and local services were disrupted, state
transport buses stoned and most private and government offices closed
as the daylong shutdown for a separate state of Vidarbha, to be carved
out of Maharashtra, began Wednesday.
Maharashtra police deployed heavy security in Nagpur and other major
towns of the 11 districts where the shutdown called by 68 political
parties and groups - Vidarbha Nirman Sangram Samiti (VNSS) - evoked a
spontaneous and enthusiastic response, the organisers said.
'All schools, colleges, a majority of government offices and over a
lakh commercial and business establishments in entire Vidarbha have
taken part in the shutdown,' said Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS)
chief Kishor Tiwari.
The Vidarbha region comprises the districts of Nagpur, Chandrapur,
Gondiya, Bhandara, Gadchiroli, Wardha, Amravati, Yavatmal, Buldana,
Akola and Washim, with a total population of 30 million.
As part of the shutdown, the long distance Vidarbha Express was halted
briefly by the agitators, while attempts were made to stop other
trains entering from north, east and south India at various points,
railway officials said.
After suicides, shutdown hits life in Telangana
Huge traffic snarls were witnessed at the state's borders with
Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh as vehicular movement on the national
highways was stopped by pro-Vidarbha agitators.
Similarly, all traffic also came to a standstill on the state highways
and district roads in the entire region.
Nagpur city was deserted as all public and private vehicles remained
off the roads and commercial establishments downed shutters.
In Yavatmal, a group of 50 farm widows squatted outside the State Bank
of India office raising slogans for a separate state and for justice
to the farmers.
In several Yavatmal villages, rallies were taken out and local leaders
demanded a separate state of Vidarbha for the region's development.
People also enacted farmer suicides, consuming poison or immolating
them as crowds cheered and raised a chorus for a separate state.
r suicides, shutdown hits life in Telangana
2010-01-20 10:30:00
Last Updated: 2010-01-20 10:39:58
Hyderabad: Normal life in Hyderabad and nine other districts of the
Telangana region came to a halt as a 48-hour shutdown called by the
Joint Action Committee (JAC) of students began Wednesday to protest
the delay in the formation of a separate state out of Andhra Pradesh.
Since Monday, two students have killed themselves over the issue.
State-owned Road Transport Corporation (RTC) suspended its bus
services while shops, business establishments and educational
institutions remained closed.
All political parties have supported the shutdown. The JAC called for
a strike after two students, depressed over the delay in carving out a
separate Telangana state, committed suicide.
K. Venugopal Reddy, a final year student of MCA, set himself ablaze at
Osmania University here late Monday. Suvarnamma, a first year BSc
student in Mahabubnagar district, set herself ablaze late Tuesday.
Tension prevailed at Osmania University campus for the second
consecutive day as students continued their protest with the body of
Reddy. The JAC leaders, who sat in front of the Arts College building
with the body through Tuesday night, said they would not allow it to
be moved unless all MPs and state legislators from the region resign
in support of the Telangana statehood demand.
In an attempt to shift the body, police brought additional forces to
the campus on Wednesday morning.
The self-immolations triggered angry protests by students across
Telangana. The students' JAC called for a two-day shutdown Wednesday
and Thursday.
The politicians' JAC, which comprises all parties including the ruling
Congress, has supported the shutdown for Wednesday.
The JAC also announced that all elected representatives would submit
their resignations from Wednesday and those who have already done so
would press for their acceptance.
Five legislators of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and one of Praja
Rajyam Party (PRP) began a sit-in at the house of assembly speaker
Kirankumar Reddy on Tuesday night, urging him to immediately accept
their resignations. The speaker, however, sought two to three days to
take a decision.
With the legislators continuing their protest, the police took them
into custody. They were later released.
All 39 legislators of main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) have
also decided to press the speaker to accept their resignations.
http://sify.com/news/after-suicides-shutdown-hits-life-in-telangana-news-education-kbuk4biegdg.html
Maneka Gandhi stopped from entering riot-hit Bareilly
2010-03-14 12:50:00
Noted animal-rights activist and Aonla MP Maneka Gandhi, who is
heading the three member panel appointed by the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) to monitor the situation in riot-hit Bareilly was on Sunday not
allowed to enter the city.
Sources said police personnel stopped Gandhi near Ghaziabad, while
enroute to Bareilly.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Nitin Gadkari had sent a three-
member team to riot-hit Bareilly to take note of the prevailing
situation.
Bareilly has been tense for several days following the release of a
cleric, who was arrested on charges of inciting clashes.
Mobs torched about 20 shops in the old Bareilly area on Saturday
though curfew was in force in most parts of the city affected by
communal violence. The authorities have rushed additional forces to
the city.
The Uttar Pradesh Government has ordered the closure of all
educational institutions there, and provided the police with a
helicopter to monitor trouble-hit areas. Uttar Pradesh Police had last
Monday (March 8) taken into its custody Maulana Khan, the leader of
Ittehad-e-Millat Conference. He was later released on Thursday (March
11) evening.
The right-wing Hindu outfit Bajrang Dal criticising his release soon
turned into action following which there was a violent backlash and
curfew was imposed in the areas of the city. (ANI)
Many new faces in Gadkari's new team; Anurag to be new BJYM Head
New Delhi, Mar 14: Many new faces will be find a place in BJP
President Nitin Gadkari's new team and the name of Himachal Pradesh
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal's son Anurag Thakur, an MP, has been
given the party's nod for the post of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha
Chief, party sources said today.
The decision to appoint Anurag to the post of BJYM is likely to raise
the hackles of those in the party who have been raising their voice
from time to time against dynasty politics, they added.
Rajnath Singh, during his tenure as BJP President, had appointed his
son Pankaj Singh as the Head of the Uttar Pradesh unit of the BJYM,
but had rolled back his decision, saying that would set a wrong
precedent in the party and would only encourage dynasty politics.
Party MP from Pilibhit Varun Gandhi along with BJYM Chief Amit Thakar
is likely to be given the post of secretary. It might also court
controversy in the party as Varun had been at the centre of a storm
due to his alleged hate speech in the run-up to the Lok Sabha
elections last year.
Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda, youth leader Dharmendra
Pradhan and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje will be
made general secretaries in the new team of Mr Gadkari, which will be
announced on March 16 on the occasion of Hindu New Year Gudi Padwa,
almost three months after he took over the reins of the saffron party,
sources informed.
Party Spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad is being promoted to the post
of general secretary.
Ananth Kumar, Thawar Chand Gehlot, Ramlal have also been roped in the
new team of Mr Gadkari as general secretaries.
Yashwant Sinha, J P Nadda, Kalraj Mishra, Kiran Maheshwari, Saroj
Pandey, Karuna Shukla will also be there in the team.
Saroj Pandey is likely to be made Bharatiya Janata Mahila Morcha
chief.
The number of office-bearers and members of national executive has
also been increased, the sources added.
--UNI
BJP secy blames Bapu for Partition
Vikas Pathak, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, February 15, 2010
First Published: 23:54 IST(15/2/2010)
Last Updated: 23:55 IST(15/2/2010)
The BJP hasn’t said the last word on Partition yet.
Months after Jaswant Singh blamed Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel
for the country’s division on the eve of Independence and invited
expulsion from the BJP for praising Pakistan founder MA Jinnah, party
leader Balbir Punj has pointed the finger at Mahatma Gandhi.
The BJP’s national secretary and Rajya Sabha member has blamed Gandhi
for the “original sin” that culminated in Partition.
“Gandhiji’s unstinted support for restoration of Khilafat in faraway
Turkey in 1920s ultimately led to the Partition…,” Punj writes an
article in a booklet, Vikalp (Alternative).
Khilafat movement (1919-24) was aimed at restoring the office of the
Caliph abolished by the British.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s “Muslim First” policy is in the same
tradition, he adds.
The booklet was released in the presence of BJP president Nitin
Gadkari and senior leader L.K. Advani on the February 11, the death
anniversary of Jan Sangh ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. Jan Sangh was
the predecessor of the BJP.
Indian nationalism was always Hindu, says Punj. It was from Gandhi’s
time that Hindus got demoted to the status of a mere community. Salwa
Judums and the recent Orissa outbursts against evangelism (read
Kandhamal riots) are truly nationalist in nature, says Punj.
“All this history writing is because the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsewak
Sangh) was conspicuously absent during the national movement,” said
Jyotirmaya Sharma of Hyderabad Central University, an expert on
Hindutva politics.
Punj’s argument underlines the inconsistency of the Sangh Parivar in
resolving Gandhi, who is alternately condemned and appropriated.
While the BJP claims to follow Gandhian ideas right from its inception
in 1980 — in the first session former prime minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee had invoked “Gandhian socialism” — glimpses of the pre-
Partition Hindutva critique of Gandhi as “pro-Muslim” does make its
way into the Parivar’s discourse now and then.
Bareilly yet to simmer down
Pioneer News Service | Lucknow
Curfew extended to more areas
With four more shops being gutted in curfew-bound areas of Bareilly
and resentment brewing among members of the majority community over
the release of riot accused Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, the situation
in the strife-torn city remained tense on Saturday.
However, no further clashes were reported from anywhere since Friday
night. Earlier, on Friday evening, nearly 20 shops at a local
vegetable market were reduced to ashes, which the administration
claimed was due to a short-circuit and not orchestrated by any group
as was being alleged.
ADG (Crime, Law & order) Brij Lal claimed that the fire incidents were
due to short-circuits and claimed that if the situation remained
incident-free, the administration might relax curfew from Sunday.
As per reports, some shops in Subash Nagar area were reduced to ashes
and locals immediately alleged that it was the handiwork of a
particular community which indulged in wanton arson. However, ADG Brij
Lal and DM of Bareilly shot down the claim saying that it was due to a
short-circuit.
The fire was doused by the fire-tenders soon after they learnt of the
incident on Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, a large section of a community took to the streets to
protest the manner in which riot accused Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan was
released by the police.
The agitators claimed that the administration succumbed under the
pressure of a Cabinet Minister and bailed out Tauqeer claiming that
there were no evidence against him and that his arrest was made on the
basis of an FIR.
Sources even claimed that former DM Asheesh Goel was shunted out
because he refused to give a clean chit to the riot accused cleric and
release him as he believed that the administration had sufficient
grounds for his arrest.
The Maulana’s release fuelled tension in Bareilly on Friday. Members
from the community took to the streets in protest and torched business
establishment, vehicles and engaged in heavy brick-batting which left
50 persons injured, including a dozen cops and the SP City.
Following the violence, eight senior officers were rushed to Bareilly
to defuse the situation and curfew was extended in Subash Nagar area,
beside reimposing dusk to dawn curfew in the four police circles
stations, where curfew was earlier relaxed.
Meanwhile, BJP president Nitin Gadkari has appointed a three-member
team of senior party leaders led by Maneka Gandhi to visit the riot-
hit Bareilly and submit a report on the events there. “We will be
leaving on Sunday for Bareilly and will be back by evening,” Maneka
told PTI in New Delhi. The team, consisting of Maneka, Gorakhpur MP
Yogi Adityanath and Meerut MP Rajendra Agarwal, is expected to submit
a report to the party president on the steps taken to control the
riots and the relief given to the affected people.
COMMENTS BOARD ::
secular media
By vinay chandran on 3/14/2010 12:03:34 PM
when the majority community is attacked the socalled secular media
ignores it.
when it is the other way round they make a big fuss about it.
The Truth of Bareilly Riots
By Aditya on 3/14/2010 11:29:02 AM
It was a usual 12 wafaat procession going on for many years (mind it
Bareilly is great seat of Sunni Muslim school). The city has
unparalleled history of communal harmony and pluralistic life style.
No one among my parents and uncles remembers anything ever going wrong
between hindus and muslims for past as many decades as can possibly be
remembered by living generations. Then what went wrong???!!!
This procession was scheduled on the very day of Holi but in line with
the communal tolearance
Why Is this Incident Ignored by English News Channels
By Rajeev - UK on 3/14/2010 3:52:28 AM
Why are national english TV news channel not showing this news at all.
Its surprising that a leader who preached hate was released due to
pressure of roiters, this is India and Not SWAT valley. Where are the
secular leaders now why isnt that leader put behind the bars again.
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Sid Harth
This page deals with the Hindu varna. For other uses of this word and
similar words, see Brahmana, Brahman and Brahman (disambiguation).
A Brahmin (anglicised from the Sanskrit word IAST '; Devanagari ),
also known as Vipra, Dvija, Dvijottama (best of the Dvijas), (god on
Earth) is a member of a caste within Hindu society. Historically,
Hindu society consisted of four based on occupation and divine birth:
Brahmin (reciter of the Vedas as they came from the mouth of Brahma),
Kshatriya (protectors of Dharma, since they are the arms of Brahma),
Vaishya (mercantile and agricultural class, since they are from the
body of Brahma) and Shudra (artisan and labour class, since they are
from the feet of Brahma).
However, in addition to these four classes, there were many other
tribes mentioned in mythology such as Gandharvas, Yakshas, Kinnaras,
Kimpurushas, Rakshasas, Nagas, Suparnas, Vanaras, Vidyadharas,
Valikilyas, Pisachas, Devas, Vasus, Rudras, Maruts, Adityas, Asuras,
Danavas, Daityas, Kalakeyas, Mlechchas etc. Today, the Hindu society
in modern India is divided into four classes based on birth: Forward
Castes/communities (FCs), Backward Caste/communities (BCs), Scheduled
Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
In the 1931 caste census taken by the Colonial British government,
Brahmins were 4.32% of the total population. Even in Uttar Pradesh,
where they are most numerous, the Brahmins constituted just 9% of the
total populace. In Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, they formed less
than 3% and 2% of the population respectively.
The Nirukta of sage Yaska says ' — A Brahmin is a person who knows
Brahman, the ultimate reality or God; hence Brahmin means, "knower of
God". However, the historical situation in Hindu society is that
Brahmins are the traditional priests and pundits (scholars). Today
however, many Brahmins are employed in secular occupations and their
religious traditions and culture are fast disappearing from their
lives.
History
The history of the Brahmin community in India begins with the Vedic
religion in ancient India. The Manu Smriti, an ancient Smriti, refers
to Aryavarta.The Vedas are the primary source of knowledge for all
brahmin practices. All the sampradayas of Brahmins take inspiration
from the Vedas. Traditionally, it is believed that Vedas are ' (not
written by either humans or God) and anÄ di (beginingless), but are
revealed truths of eternal validity. The Vedas are considered Åšruti
(that which is heard, signifying the oral tradition).
Due to the diversity in religious and cultural traditions and
practices, and the Vedic schools which they belong to, Brahmins are
further divided into various subcastes. During the sutra period,
roughly between 1000 BCE to 200 BCE, Brahmins became divided into
various Shakhas (branches), based on the adoption of different Vedas
and different rescension Vedas. Sects for different denominations of
the same branch of the Vedas were formed, under the leadership of
distinguished teachers among Brahmins. The teachings of these
distinguished rishis are called '. Every Veda has its own . The that
deal with social, moral and legal precepts are called Dharma Sutras,
whereas those that deal with ceremonials are called Shrauta Sutras and
domestic rituals are called Grhya Sutras. are generally written in
prose or in mixed prose and verse.
There are several Brahmin law givers such as Angirasa, Apasthambha,
Atri, Brihaspati, Boudhayana, Daksha, Gautam, Harita, Katyayana,
Likhita, Manu, Parasara, Samvarta, Shankha, Shatatapa, Ushanasa,
Vashishta, Vishnu, Vyasa, Yajnavalkya and Yama. These twenty-one
rishis were the propounders of Smritis. The oldest among these smritis
are Apastamba, Baudhayana, Gautama, and Vasishta Sutras.Manu Smriti on
learning of the Vedas
Nature of Brahmin
"Samodamastapah Saucham
Kshanthiraarjavamevacha
Jnanam Vijnaanamaastikyam
Brahmakarma Swabhavajam!"
Control on emotions, Control on senses, Purity, Tolerance, Simplicity,
Concentration and belief in knowledge and science
Duties of Brahmin
The six duties of a Brahmin are given as per the Sloka
"Adhyaapanam Adhyayanam
Yajanam Yaajanam Tathaa
Daanam Pratigraham Chaiva
Brahmanaanaamakalpayaat"
Teaching, learning, performing Yaaga, make performing Yaga, accept
Daana, and give Daana are the six duties of a Brahmin.
Practices
Adi Shankara (centre) is the Hindu philosopher whose tradition is
followed by Smarta Brahmins
Brahmins adhere to the principles of Hinduism, such as acceptance of
the Vedas with reverence, adherence to the position that the means or
ways to salvation and realization of the ultimate truth are diverse,
that God is one, but has innumerable names and forms to chant and
worship due to our varied perceptions, cultures and languages.
Brahmins believe in ' — Let the entire society be happy and prosperous
and ' — the whole world is one family. Some Brahmins practice
vegetarianism (Bengali Brahmins and Kashmiri Pandits are exceptions to
this).
Daily routine
Hindu Brahmins hold practice of Dharma more important than beliefs.
This is a distinct feature of the Dharmic religions. The practices
include mainly Yajnas. The daily routineA day in the life of a Brahmin
includes performing Snana (bathing), Sandhyavandanam, Japa, Puja,
Aupasana and Agnihotra. The last two named Yajnas are performed in
only a few households today. Brahmacharis perform Agnikaryam instead
of Agnihotra or Aupasana. The other rituals followed include Amavasya
tarpanam and Shraddha.
See Also: Nitya karma and Kaamya karma
Samskaras
Brahmins also perform sixteen major Samskaras (rites) during the
course of their life-time.The Forty Samskaras In the pre-natal stage,
Garbhadharana (Conception), Pumsavana (Rite for consecrating a male
child in the womb) and Simantonnayana (Rite for parting the hair of a
pregnant woman) are performed. During childhood, Jatakarma (Birth
ceremony), Namakarana (Naming ceremony), Nishkarmana (First outing)
Annaprasana (First feeding solid food), Choodakarana (First tonsure)
and Karnavedha (Piercing of the ear lobes) are performed.During
education of the child, Vidhyarambha (Starting of education),
Upanayanam (Thread ceremony- Initiation), Vedarambha (Starting of the
study of the Vedas), Keshanta or Godana (First shaving of the beard)
and Samavartanam or Snaana (Ending of studentship) are performed.
Suring adulthood, Vivaha (Marriage) and Anthyesthi (Funeral rites) are
the main ceremonies.
Sampradayas
The three sampradayas (traditions) of Brahmins, especially in South
India are the Smarta sampradaya, the Srivaishnava sampradaya and the
Maadhva sampradaya.
Status of Brahmins Today
Historically Brahmins have been not only ascetics, sages and priests
for millennia seeking welfare of the society, but also secular clerks,
merchants, agriculturists, artisans, etc. They were also very poor. In
the modern democratic India, the Brahmins are still not only poverty
stricken, but also shunted out of every opportunity,The status of
Brahmins in Andhra Pradesh
http://www.vedah.net/manasanskriti/puranam.html
#Poor_Brahmins Brahmin Poverty] despite the fact that Prime Ministers
like Jawaharlal Nehru, Venkatanarasimharao Pamulaparti (P.V. Narasimha
Rao), and Atal Behari Vajpayee have been Brahmins. French journalist
Francois GautierFrancois
Gautier.com
has written on the sad state of Brahmins in India today.Are Brahmins
the Dalits of today?
Contributions to modern India
Brahmins have contributed immensely to the making of modern Indiain
many fields like literature, science and technology, politics,
culture, scholarship, religion etc. In the Indian independence
movement, many Brahmins like Balgangadhar Tilak, Gopal Krishna
Gokhale, C. Rajagopalachari and others were at the forefront of the
struggle for freedom. After independence, Jawaharlal Nehru, a Brahmin
and an atheist, became the first Prime Minister of India. Later,
Brahmins like P.V. Narasimha Rao and Atal Behari Vajpayee became Prime
Ministers. even now after persecution of brahmans by politicians they
hold top posts in administration, academia ,business, army,
jouranalism etc. Infact it was those Brahmin leaders like
Rajagopalachari and Thilak who fought for the upliftment of the
socially backward dalits and their equality in the society.
See also:List of Brahmins
Persecution
The anti-Brahmin sentiment was first kindled in India by the Dravidar
Kazhagam movement in Tamil Nadu. Caste & the Tamil Nation -Brahmins,
Non Brahmins & Dalits This was a reaction to the Brahmin hegemony in
the Civil services under the British government. In later years, this
movement caught on in many other parts of India even after
independence.
Communities
http://en.allexperts.com/e/d/dr/dravidar_kazhagam.htm
http://en.allexperts.com/e/t/ta/tamil_nadu.htm
http://en.allexperts.com/e/b/br/british_india.htm
Brahmin castes in the Indian subcontinent are traditionally divided
into two regional groups: Pancha-Gauda Brahmins and Pancha-Dravida
Brahmins as per the shloka,
http://en.allexperts.com/e/i/in/indian_subcontinent.htm
करॠणाटकाशॠच तैलंगा दॠरावà¤
¿à¤¡à¤¾ महाराषॠटॠरकाः,गॠरॠजराà
¤¶à¥ चेति पञॠचैव दॠराविडा विà
¤¨à¥ धॠयदकॠषिणे ¦¦
सारसॠवताः कानॠयकॠबॠजा गौà¤
¡à¤¾ उतॠकलमैथिलाः,पनॠचगौडा इà
¤¤à¤¿ खॠयाता विनॠधॠसॠयोतॠतरवà
¤¾à¤¸à¤¿à¤¨à¤ƒ
http://en.allexperts.com/e/s/sh/shloka.htm
The classification first occurs in Rajatarangini of Kalhana.
http://en.allexperts.com/e/r/ra/rajatarangini.htm
http://en.allexperts.com/e/k/ka/kalhana.htm
See also
* Varnas
http://en.allexperts.com/e/v/va/varnas.htm
* Brahmanism
http://en.allexperts.com/e/b/br/brahmanism.htm
* Anti-Brahmanism
http://en.allexperts.com/e/a/an/anti-brahmanism.htm
*Brahmin Contribution to Other Religions
http://en.allexperts.com/e/b/br/brahmin_contribution_to_other_religions.htm
Notes
References
*Definitions: A Sanskrit English Dictionary by Sir Monier Monier-
Williams
*Mayne's "Treatise on Hindu Law and Usage.
Hindu Castes and Sects Jogendranath Bhattacharya.
Andhra Viprula Gotramulu, Indla Perlu, Sakhalu by Emmesroy Sastri.
History and Culture of Andhra Pradesh Rao PR.
History of India Herman Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund.
Acharalu sastriyataNarayanareddi Patil.
Hindu Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies Abbe J. A. Dubois
External links
*List Of Andhra Brahmins And Surnames
http://www.maganti.org/PDFdocs/brahmins.pdf
*Brahmins
http://www.vedah.net/manasanskriti/Brahmins.html
*Brahmins of Andhra Pradesh
http://www.vedah.net/manasanskriti/Brahmins.html#Brahmins_of_Andhra_Pradesh
*Poverty Stricken Brahmins
http://www.vepachedu.org/brahmana-tribe.html#The_Mouths_that_Recited_Vedas_are
*Source: Vepachedu Educational Foundation Inc.
http://www.vepachedu.org/
*Brahmin Sages and Branches (Gotras and Subcastes)
http://www.vedah.net/manasanskriti/Brahmins.html#Brahmin_Sages_and_Branches
* A Long List of Brahmin Castes and Sub-castes
http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/people/brahmins/list.htm
* Brahmin Yahoo Groups
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http://hinduism.about.com/od/basics/a/whois.htm
• Age of the Spiritual Superpower
http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa013100.htm
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http://chineseculture.about.com/library/literature/classic/famous/nshlm092.htm
http://en.allexperts.com/e/b/br/brahmin.htm
When will the Brahmin-Bania hegemony end?
The Brahmin and the Bania still control the economy, but now the
Shudra controls politics
Reply To All | Aakar Patel
On 9 April, the Supreme Court rejected a plea that the 2011 census be
caste-based. CII and Ficci oppose job reservations in the private
sector, but Manmohan Singh is keen. India’s population of Brahmins and
Banias and Jains all together is 6% or less.
Ruling axis: Jawaharlal Nehru, a Brahmin, became Prime Minister with
the blessings of Mahatma Gandhi, a Bania.
The Sensex comprises the 30 largest traded companies of India.
ACC is run by a Brahmin (Sumit Banerjee), Bhel is run by a Brahmin
(Ravi Kumar Krishna Swamy), Bharti Airtel is run by a Bania (Sunil
Mittal), Grasim and Hindalco are run by a Bania (Kumar Mangalam
Birla).
HDFC is run by a Bania (Deepak Parekh), Hindustan Unilever is run by a
Brahmin (Nitin Paranjpe), ICICI Bank is headed by a Brahmin (K.V.
Kamath). Jaiprakash Associates is run by a Brahmin (Yogesh Gaur), L&T
is run by a Brahmin (A.M. Naik), NTPC is run by a Brahmin (R.S.
Sharma), ONGC is run by a Brahmin (also called R.S. Sharma). Reliance
group firms are run by Banias (Mukesh and Anil Ambani), State Bank of
India is run by a Brahmin (O.P. Bhatt), Sterlite Industries is run by
a Bania (Anil Agarwal), Sun Pharma is run by a Bania (Dilip Shanghvi)
and Tata Steel is run by a Brahmin (B. Muthuraman).
Punjab National Bank is run by a Brahmin (K.C. Chakrabarty), Bank of
Baroda is run by a Brahmin (M.D. Mallya) and Canara Bank is run by a
Bania (A.C. Mahajan).
Also Read Aakar Patel’s earlier columns
Of India’s software companies, Infosys is run by a Brahmin (Kris
Gopalakrishnan now and Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani before
him). TCS is run by a Brahmin (Subramanian Ramadorai). Wipro is owned
by a Khoja (Azim Premji). Khojas are Shia of the Sevener sect,
converted from the Luhana trading community (same caste as L.K. Advani
and M.A. Jinnah).
India’s two largest airlines are Kingfisher, owned by a Brahmin (Vijay
Mallya) and Jet, owned by a Bania (Naresh Goyal).
Of India’s mobile phone firms, Reliance Communications (Ambani),
Airtel (Mittal), Vodafone Essar (Ruia), Idea (Birla), Spice (Modi) are
owned by Banias. BSNL is run by a Bania (Kuldeep Goyal) and Tata’s
TTML is run by a Brahmin (K.A. Chaukar).
Cricket in India is run by a Bania (Lalit Modi) and before him it was
run by another Bania (Jagmohan Dalmiya).
http://www.livemint.com/2009/08/27220957/When-will-the-BrahminBania-he.html
Posted: Tue, Apr 7 2009. 12:30 AM IST
Economy and Politics
Mixing Vedas and code in new-age India
After seven years of juggling Vedas and school, Satya, a Tamil
Brahmin, had to make the big decision: whether to follow his family
and make a career in Hindu priesthood--or to forge his own new path.
As an undergraduate engineering student now, he has only temporarily
kept the decision on hold
Samanth Subramanian
Chennai: If this were 1989, or indeed 1979 or even 1799, S.
Sathyanarayanan would probably not possess the full head of hair he
does today. Instead, he would have shaved the front half of his skull
and then swept his remaining hair back to resemble a bulging half-
moon, knotted loosely at the back—a distinctive do for a young Brahmin
who would have been preparing to follow his father, his uncles and his
cousins into a career of Hindu priesthood.
Photo: Sharp Image
But this is 2009, and Sathya, as he introduces himself, has a short
but regular haircut, grown out from a few months ago, when he passed
his final year’s exams in a pathshala—Vedic school—run by the Sri
Ahobila Muth, a Hindu religious institution.
“We had to have our hair pulled back when we sat for our exams. It was
the rule,” he says. Sathya’s new look, though, fits right in at the
Rajalakshmi Institute of Technology, where he has started an
engineering degree, becoming the first in his family to attend
college. Sathya turned 18 in July, just as he was completing seven
years of Vedic education that came with a punishing schedule.
“Our Veda classes started at 4.30am and went till 7am,” he says. “Then
we had regular school from 9am to 4pm. Then more Veda classes from 4pm
to 7pm, and then supervised independent study in school from 7pm to
9pm.”
Apart from two monthly holidays, on the days after amavasya (no-moon
nights) and pournami (Tamil for full-moon nights), this arduous
regimen ran for six days a week; on Sunday, Sathya was still required
to attend Veda classes for five hours in the morning and two in the
evenings.
Also Read The boy who broke from tradition
“He’d never go anywhere but school, or maybe to the market to buy
vegetables” his mother Shanti remembers. “Every spare moment he could
get, he’d simply lie down and go to sleep.” Sathya saw his first movie
in a theatre when he was 16, and he got his first email address just
earlier this year. His only distraction, he admits, was the one
universally shared by Indian boyhood: Sunday evening games of cricket,
at a cramped ground near his house or in the narrow corridors of his
block of apartments.
BRAHMINICAL UPBRINGING
Sathya is short and slight, and he has a thin moustache, worn almost
out of rebellious joy that he is now no longer bound by the rules of
the pathshala, where every student had to be clean-shaven every day.
His slow grin fights its way through a mouthful of braces that he
wears to correct a misaligned jaw. “Because of that, my speech used to
be slurred, and I’d be very reluctant to talk in school, even to my
teachers,” he says. He had to give up flute lessons after two years
because his gums would begin to bleed. But the braces are helping—
Sathya still mumbles, but it sounds less like a medical problem and
more like a typical case of teenage shyness. “I find myself talking a
lot more willingly in college now.”
http://www.livemint.com/2009/04/06224522/Mixing-Vedas-and-code-in-newa.html
Posted: Fri, Nov 16 2007. 4:42 AM IST
Home
TN’s anti-Brahmin movement hits tradition, boosts real estate
Brahmins are finding ways to survive in changing times, while clinging
to old traditions
Priyanka P. Narain
Kannan’s house, which sits across the street from the ancient
Parthasarthy temple in the heart of Chennai, has not changed in 500
years: the palanquin his forefathers used now hangs on wooden beams
and he draws water from the same well as them. In his backyard, a
brown calf chews cud.
For centuries, Brahmin families such as Kannan’s have lived and worked
in the streets or villages around ancient temples. These four streets,
called the agraharam, created a subculture where Brahmin priests lived
a chaste life and performed traditional duties as priests and teachers
by running the temple and teaching the Vedas to students. They
essentially formed the ecosystem that ran the temples of south India.
Yet, against a backdrop of Tamil Nadu’s anti-Brahmin movement,
government policies outlawing the Brahmin-only colonies, skyrocketing
real estate prices and Brahmins’ declining social relevance, the
culture of the agraharam and people such as Kannan, who uses one name,
are becoming a rarity.
Earlier this year came another policy change—temple authorities will
now train their own priests, and priests no longer have to be
Brahmins, making older Brahmin priests all, but irrelevant.
With growing economic prosperity and migration, many of the streets
occupied by Brahmins in south Indian cities are finding it hard to
resist selling out.
Just memories? Interiors of Kannan’s 500-year-old house that sits
across the street from the Parthasarthy temple in Mylapore.
From Kannan’s house, it is easy to see the new white, pink and yellow
coloured buildings of residences, malls and coffee shops. Another
being constructed adjoins his backyard. He insists he will hang on—to
the past; to the identity.
“I would get about Rs3 crore for it (my house). But I will not sell. I
want my children and grandchildren to own it. Without this house, what
am I?” says Kannan, who has a postgraduate degree in economics.
Brahmins are finding ways to survive in changing times, while clinging
to old traditions.
Babu Das grew up helping his father run a canteen, or mess as it is
called in south India, inside his pink-coloured home at the
Kapaleeshwar temple agraharam in Chennai’s Mylapore area. The
Karpagambal Mess is famous for its authentic Tamil snacks, home-made
idlis and dosai served on banana-leaf plates while playing while
playing M.S. Subbalaxmi’s rendition of the Vishnu Sahasranama, the
thousand names of Vishnu.
Das inherited the canteen from his father, but does not know how old
the building is. “I love everything about this place. No one wants to
change anything about it. The people who come here to eat like it for
what it is. After all, money can buy you the latest trends, but will
it bring back this tradition?” he asks.
http://www.livemint.com/2007/11/16235400/TN8217s-antiBrahmin-moveme.html
Posted: Fri, Feb 19 2010. 9:37 PM IST
Culture
The Thackerays’ primitive charisma
The Senas have nothing constructive to offer Marathis. So what’s their
appeal? The Mumbai Marathi, better at renaming things than building
something himself, is disinherited from his city, and the Thackerays
give him an illusory sense of powerReply to All | Aakar Patel
All these events blocked eventually come to pass anyway, because the
control is cosmetic, and it wilts when the state decides to apply rule
of law. But that moment of theatre—when the media exhibits anguish—
produces the spotlight that nourishes the Thackerays. This is the
pattern to Shiv Sena’s actions.
It might appear that these actions are irrational, but the Thackerays’
method is cold and reasoned to squeeze out advantage. Witness the
discipline of Raj. He works his strategy with great care. On national
television he speaks Marathi no matter what language he is questioned
in. The Marathi loves this because it reflects his defiance.
There is a second reason why the Thackerays are compelled to make a
nuisance of themselves every so often. Unlike other parties, Shiv Sena
has a physical presence in neighbourhoods. These offices, run by local
toughs, are self-funded, meaning that they approach businesses and
residents for “donations”. This activity can be smooth only so long as
Shiv Sena radiates menace. The party is not effective if it isn’t
feared, and the grass roots reminds the leadership of this.
The Marathi pattern of resentment we have observed is visible
elsewhere in time.
India’s nationalist debate a century ago was dominated by the
Marathis: Tilak, Gokhale, Agarkar and Ranade. All four were Chitpavan
Brahmins, whose members are fair-skinned and unique for their light
eyes (like cricketer Ajit Agarkar and model Aditi Govitrikar).
Going against the current noise about Marathi in schools, Chitpavans
actually demanded to be educated in English. By 1911—100 years ago—
Chitpavans were 63% literate and 19% literate in English. This gave
them the edge over other Indians.
All four were on the most influential body in western India of the
time, Poona Sarvajanik Sabha. But English education had not exorcized
the native instinct. There they unleashed their pettiness on each
other. Agarkar and Tilak fought over leadership. Tilak was forced out
in 1890 after quarrels over social status and money. Gokhale took his
place but was opposed by Tilak who said the job required 2 hours of
work daily and so it couldn’t be done by a college principal. Ranade
was attacked in Tilak’s newspapers and Gokhale quit in 1895 because he
couldn’t work with Tilak’s friends. A jealous Tilak sabotaged the
Congress session held in Pune the same year.
When the Gujaratis—Jinnah and Gandhi—entered Congress, they
immediately eclipsed the Marathis, because they had the trader’s
instinct towards compromise. The Marathi Brahmin’s energy was then
channelled into resentment, this time against Muslims.
RSS, founded in 1925, is actually a deeply Marathi organization.
Hindutva author Savarkar, RSS founder Hedgewar, the great Golwalkar,
his successor Deoras and current sarsanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat are all
Marathi Brahmins.
Marathi resentment cuts down its own heroes. The first was Shivaji.
Marathi Brahmins refused to crown him though he controlled dozens of
forts in the Konkan. This was because he was a peasant from the
cultivator caste and not a Kshatriya. He had to invent an ancestry,
perform penance and bring in a Brahmin from Kashi before he could
crown himself in 1674, with the title Chhatrapati, meaning leader of
Kshatriyas.
Comments
What a blatant piece of crap!! And that too a center-spread in Mint!!
And what a branding! I have came across lies which stink of hatred
while reading this bullshit. Now I know that Tilak was a petty man,
was Brahmin, and is not much relevant. That Jinnah and Gandhi (who
calls Gokhle his Guru), were Gujaratis. Though, both owe a lot to
Maharashtra. I just want to ask this 'pseudo-expert' why Ambedkar was
borne in Maharashtra? Why Maharashtra had reformist stalwarts? Why,
when all other states (including GJ) in India were reeling under
Muslim rule, only Maharashtra created a king of people in Shivaji?
Shivsena-MNS are a different issue. Linking it to Marathis & Tilak-
Gokhle-Ranade-Agarkar & RSS, & painting all this as a Brahmin
conspiracy is disgusting. (And this fool thinks that there only 2 ends
to any economy - high and low. So one can run a company with a CEO and
a sweeper & both are non-Marathis in Mumbai as he claims.)
Ganesh
http://www.livemint.com/2010/02/19213129/The-Thackerays8217-primitiv.html?pg=2
Views
Reducing the poor to numbers
After 62 years of Independence, Dalit exploitation continues even if
the setting and players are different
With rising food insecurity, the proportion of the poor will
definitely soar (“Who count as India’s poor?” Mint, 2 October). The
same is true for those classified as vulnerable and stressed. It is
deplorable that our representatives fight like cats and dogs over
statistics and their reliability. This is nothing but a cheap attempt
to justify ratios and proportions established by surveys and censuses,
and by so-called think tanks who undertake the task of achieving
“comfortable numbers to play with”. This act of putting the cart
before the horse jeopardizes many lives while Nero enjoys his fiddle.
An attempt to place 50% of the population below the poverty line is
not only a welcome relief but pro-human and pro-life.
— Rohit Saroj
This letter refers to Mrinal Pande’s thought-provoking article “Caste
in a new mould ” (Mint, 9 October). After 62 years of Independence,
Dalit exploitation continues even if the setting and players are
different: refreshingly, not the usual whipping boys but the Brahmins.
If the Plan projects from the 1950s onwards have made people richer,
the ingenuity of the latter-day politicians in introducing an ever
expanding “OBC” (other backward class) list has given them a doubly
assured vote bank.
The article refers to the killing of 16 villagers in Bihar (Khagaria
district), originating in “land ownership and use”, an area in which
our post-Independence leaders enacted progressive statutes. For
example, Tamil Nadu (TN) is one of the early states which introduced
the salutary principle, “land to the tiller”. Several hundred Brahmin
mirasdars (landlords) had to part with the land to the actual tillers.
TN has not looked back since then, even if the Brahmin mirasdars had
to choose other livelihood options and even migrate. On the same
principle, Kurmis of Bihar cannot cite their holding 500 bighas in
Amausi if the Dalits were sharecroppers, managing and tilling the land
for generations. Bihar’s agricultural and revenue departments are
sufficiently endowed for ascertaining the factual situation and
deciding the issue. It is a grave mistake on their part to have let
the situation result in mass killings. Will the Dalits of Amausi ever
get the ownership of the land which they have been tilling for several
generations?
Pande has also touched on the role of education. The Brahmin
intellectual and statesman Rajaji, during his TN chief ministership,
introduced an educational system —earn while you learn —whereby all
would get primary and secondary education while learning their family
craftsmanship, which was vital for livelihood until their education
was completed. This would have avoided the worrying phenomenon of
increasing school dropouts, but he was unjustifiably branded as a
perpetrator of caste system. It is a little-known fact that long
afterwards, even in Britain, the New Labour intellectuals of Tony
Blair proposed a similar system for its citizens to enjoy the fruits
of the “knowledge economy”.
Until political powers stop viewing Dalit uplift as a vote bank issue—
or stop perpetrating the caste system by continuously expanding the
grouping called OBC—caste will not die nor will Dalits see progress.
The West is using the “human rights movement” to cash in on our
miseries, which we are trying to cure. This is one more area where the
government has failed in the international arena.
Sadly, this festering issue is witnessing a theatrical display.
Lately, Dalits and their neighbourhoods are being turned into tourist,
picnic or pilgrimage spots by politicians wanting to be noticed by
their leaders. It is an amusing spectacle to notice “mentions” that
they should not carry separate tiffin boxes but partake in the frugal
meals of the Dalits, and sleep on their humble charpoys. What an
innovative way to treat this festering sore.
— S. Subramanyan
http://www.livemint.com/2009/10/13222427/Reducing-the-poor-to-numbers.html
Posted: Sun, Oct 11 2009. 9:51 PM IST
Views
Caste in a new mould
The usual definition of caste oppression can no longer explain
emerging patterns of dominance
The Other Side | Mrinal Pande
In the first week of this month, 16 villagers were murdered in cold
blood by armed killers in Amausi village in Bihar. Of those murdered,
14 were Kurmis, the same caste as the chief minister of the state, two
were Koeries, also from the other backward classes (OBCs). Those who
understand the murky C of India know that the incident was not only
about settling some local scores. It was also sending an unambiguous
message to the Kurmis and other OBCs who have emerged as powerful
landlords in the state during the last few decades of OBC rule. The
locals insist that the killers were not Naxals as the police claimed,
but assassins hired by the newly empowered Dalit community of Mushars,
for settling old scores with Kurmi landlords. Whether the killers were
Naxals or hired assassins, two things are clear: One, usually a long-
standing land dispute lies at the heart of most violence in our
villages. And two, the usual definition of caste oppression can no
longer explain the emerging patterns of dominance and subjugation.
The genesis of the recent violence is said to lie in the report of a
recently appointed government commission on land reforms in Bihar. It
had suggested that the state government must protect the rights of the
landless sharecroppers, put a cap on land ceiling at 15 acres (for
both agricultural and non-agricultural land) and computerize all land
records. In Khagaria district, where the massacre took place, as
elsewhere in rural India, ultimately all fertile land is controlled by
the most powerful (read politically best connected) caste with the
landless Dalits as their sharecroppers. The Kurmis say they are the
titled owners of 500 bighas in Amausi, but Mushars quoting the report
say they have a bigger right to it since they have tilled it for
generations. This tension is what ignited the caste war.
When the issue of caste-based violation of human rights in India came
up at the 12th Human Rights Council in Geneva recently, it was
proposed that caste be put on a par with race. But in 2009, when we
talk about caste biases, we cannot overlook India’s actual electoral
politics. Here, being identified as a Dalit or backward leader offers
a distinct advantage and becomes the biggest guarantee of a
candidate’s electability. From Bihar to Tamil Nadu, they have voted
out upper caste groups regularly, but the unjust land ownership
patterns born of unfair state patronage extended by incumbent leaders
to their own community, persist. Expunging caste from school syllabi
has not helped either, and the learning system still remains unequal
and heavily biased in favour of the powerful and rich. This is because
of a confused and confusing language policy perpetuated by the new
rulers. They insist on government schools teaching the children
(mostly poor) in the regional languages, even though English is
undeniably the language of all power discourse and higher learning.
None of these leaders will educate their own children in the local
language, though.
Actually, the traditional characteristics and power of the Brahmins in
the traditional upper caste hierarchy (high learning, arrogance and
clever use of a certain elite language to build firewalls around
knowledge and information to keep it away from the commoners) are now
much more visible among India’s upper middle-class professionals,
whatever their caste. Whether backward, Dalit or forward, successful
children of the new dominant classes no longer acquire their basic
knowledge, skills and networking abilities in Brahminical Sanskrit,
but in English. Likewise, the power of the old-style, landowning
Thakur (Kshatriya), who killed a thousand tigers and routinely torched
Dalit huts, has been usurped by today’s political class, who ride lal
batti cars with similar disregard for laws, sirens blaring and black
cat commandos in tow. They hold power dialogues with neighbouring
warlords, make and break treaties—not the princes and nawabs who, if
they have not become penniless, have turned hoteliers and protectors
of wildlife. The traditional merchant class, thanks to family-based
businesses, may have retained some part of their old glory, but in the
global arena they are now heavily dependent on the neo-Brahmin: the
Indian Institute of Management-trained, multinationalized manager,
banker and expat consultant, who strides the global village and
carries vital knowledge in his laptop, as a Brahmin once carried in
his almanac.
All caste systems need a cleaning class. They are today the invisible
and unorganized freelancers. Moving from job to job, they help mop up
the night soil of the global village and provide the paymasters with
linguistic bridges into the vernacular heartland, where the markets
are also the votes.
Mrinal Pande likes to take readers behind the reported news in her
fortnightly column. She is a writer and freelance journalist in New
Delhi. Comment at theoth...@livemint.com
http://www.livemint.com/2009/10/08230128/Caste-in-a-new-mould.html?h=D
Posted: Fri, Jan 2 2009. 12:09 AM IST
Home
Mayawati leads BSP’s ‘elephant’ to temple towns
A Rs250 crore package to revamp Mathura was announced in August; now
Rs800 crore has been allocated for Varanasi
K.P. Narayana Kumar
New Delhi: To win both the hearts and minds of voters across the
country as India gets ready for the national elections in April, Uttar
Pradesh chief minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati
is deliberately targeting an overhaul of urban infrastructure in
pilgrim towns, such as Varanasi and Mathura, which see a large influx
of Hindu pilgrims.
Poll sops? BSP leader Mayawati. Nand Kumar / PTI
After announcing a Rs250 crore package for Mathura in August, Mayawati
announced an Rs800 crore revamp plan for Varanasi last week.
“By announcing these, Mayawati is telling the people—especially the
non-Dalits—that they should not judge her or the BSP by their past (as
a party that catered mainly to those at the bottom of India’s caste
pyramid) and, instead, think of the future they are trying to create
by catering to wider sections,” says Dalit writer Chandra Bhan Prasad.
Both Mathura and Varanasi are already covered under the Jawaharlal
Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) a Rs50,000 crore
Centrally funded scheme that ties grants for urban renewal projects to
a set of mandatory reforms that municipalities have to enact to be
eligible to receive the grants.
As of 30 June, Varanasi had one water supply and one solid waste
management project worth a combined Rs159 crore granted under JNNURM,
while Mathura had one solid waste management project.
The urban infrastructure development package for Varanasi includes
drinking water, sewerage and solid waste disposal schemes, apart from
improving power supply to places of tourist interest, including the
ghats along the banks of the Ganga river.
The Mathura-specific projects that were announced earlier in August
included improvement in tourist facilities and new road projects.
In the 2007 assembly elections, of the total 12 seats in Mathura and
Varanasi districts, the BSP, which won four seats, was the only party
that gained seats compared with the previous elections in 2002, when
it had won just one seat.
The main opposition at the Centre, the Bharatiya Janata Party, lost
one and the Congress party, the Central ruling coalition leader,
managed to retain the lone seat it had won in Mathura in 2002.
A senior priest with the Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi said it was
quite likely that Mayawati would benefit if she were to carry out the
planned works.
“Caste politics has been played by all political parties, where
promises specific to interest groups are made before polls. So there
is nothing wrong in Mayawati announcing more development of temple
towns keeping the upcoming elections in mind. At the end of the day,
people want development. Let us see what Mayawati can do,” said this
religious leader who didn’t want to be identified.
Mayawati and senior BSP leader S.C. Mishra couldn’t be contacted
despite repeated attempts.
A study conducted by the New Delhi-based think tank Centre for the
Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) showed that the BSP had increased
its share of upper-caste votes in Uttar Pradesh from 23% in the 2002
assembly elections to 31% in 2007. The share of Brahmin votes for the
party increased from 6% in 2003 to 17% in 2007, after it handed out
tickets to Brahmins and other backward class (OBC) candidates.
“It is interesting to note that among Brahmins, 27% of poor Brahmins
voted for the BSP, while only 12% of the rich voted for it,” said
Pravin Rai, an analyst with CSDS.
Ajoy Bose, the author of Behenji, a biography of Mayawati, has noted
that of the 206 seats the BSP had won in 2007, 51 were held by
Brahmins.
http://www.livemint.com/2009/01/01231639/Mayawati-leads-BSP8217s-8.html
Posted: Sun, Sep 27 2009. 10:32 PM IST
Columns
Opportunity, challenges for Indian banks in UK
The Indian banks in United Kingdom are trying hard to reach out to the
Indian community at Southall, Wembley, Birmingham, Harrow, Slough,
Ilford and Leicester
Banker’s Trust | Tamal Bandyopadhyay
Thursday afternoon, I sneaked into the Camden Centre on Bidborough
Street at King’s Cross, before London’s oldest Durga Puja was formally
opened for worshippers. Ajay, a local doctor and accomplished Rabindra
Sangeet singer, was rehearsing for his evening programme while a few
others were putting up a Bank of Baroda banner on the dais where Ajay
and other artistes were to perform.
Indian banks’ overseas business model hasn’t changed— festivals and
community gatherings continue to be the most critical points of sale.
On Wednesday, S.R. Sharma, managing director of Punjab National Bank
(International) Ltd, or PNB International, the UK subsidiary of
India’s second largest public sector bank, headed to Norwood Park in
south London after office hours. He was invited by P.L. Suri, a
customer, to attend a satsang, a programme of devotional speeches and
songs. Sharma met Suri’s guru and many of his friends and is hopeful
of converting at least some of them into customers.
State Bank of India, or SBI, operating in London since 1921, has an
asset base of $7.3 billion (Rs35,040 crore); PNB International, just
two years old in the UK, has assets worth $625 million. There are
other Indian banks, too, in the UK such as Bank of India, Bank of
Baroda, Canara Bank, Syndicate Bank and a subsidiary of ICICI Bank
Ltd, which has the biggest UK balance sheet among all Indian lenders.
Based on 2001 statistics, UK’s ethnic minority population is about 4.6
million, close to 8% of the country’s total population. In 2001,
Indians accounted for 1.8% of the total population. Since then it has
gone up to about 2% and Indian bankers are chasing this chunk and no
one is willing to miss a single opportunity to reach out to the Indian
community at Southall, Wembley, Birmingham, Harrow, Slough, Ilford and
Leicester. Sharma recently convinced the UK chapter of the Bharatiya
Vidya Bhavan, a charitable public trust-run institution dedicated to
the promotion of education and culture, to distribute its newsletters
to 1,500 members across the UK in PNB International envelopes every
month. Last year, his bank sponsored a few awards at the annual
function of London’s Goud Saraswat Brahmin Sabha, an organization of
the Konkani-speaking Hindu Brahmin community.
Also Read Tamal Bandyopadhyay’s earlier columns
These marketing gimmicks are paying off. PNB International’s deposit
base has gone up from $103 million in December 2008 to about $280
million now and the number of accounts from 4,419 to 10,075. The
global meltdown has also helped. Up to £50,000 is covered by deposit
insurance and many consumers have now started keeping deposits in
various Indian banks, including SBI, for fear of losing their money in
case of a bank failure. According to Rajnish Kumar, regional head and
chief executive of SBI’s UK operations, the bank did not have too many
local customers until September last year, but in the past one year it
has got many, and now non-Indians account for about 10% of State
Bank’s UK customer base.
Indian banks are also developing new deposit products to attract
money. SBI, for instance, offers a step-up rate structure where a
depositor is paid 3.75% for one year money, but the rate progressively
goes up if the money is kept longer. For five years, it can fetch as
much as 5%. From customers’ point of view, the step-up structure is a
better option than a plain vanilla deposit scheme where one is hugely
penalized for withdrawing money ahead of maturity. But these products
can help only to a certain extent and Indian banks won’t be able to
mop up much unless they start offering other facilities such as debit
cards.
Unlike India, where such cards function on the chip and signature
principle, in the UK it’s the chip and PIN (personal identification
number) norm and consumers punch in the code after every transaction
and don’t sign a charge slip. The technology is quite expensive. SBI
is working on it while ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda and PNB
International already have it. Each time a bank’s debit card holder
uses another bank’s ATM to withdraw money it needs to pay for such
transactions, but it also earns a commission when customers use the
card for shopping. The debit card offering has possibly helped PNB
International get the salary accounts of the Indian High Commission in
London, which had been banking with SBI and HSBC Holdings Plc. PNB
International now runs the salary accounts of about 125 high
commission employees, including Nalin Suri, the new high commissioner.
All Indian banks seem to be keen on collecting deposits, but when it
comes to giving loans, they continue to meticulously stay away from
retail Indian customers. The main reason behind the diffidence of
Indian banks is possibly the lack of a credit history for most of
their customers. There are a few agencies that sell credit history
data, but until a bank attains a critical mass in loan accounts, no
agency tracks the data of its customers. This means the customer of an
Indian bank can default on loan repayments and yet continue to get
credit from local banks as this information will not be known to
them.
Banks in the UK aren’t required to keep money with the central bank or
buy government bonds. But things will change as the Financial Services
Authority, the banking supervisor, is planning to ask banks to invest
8-10% of their assets in government bonds. Since such bonds are low-
yielding, the new norm will hit Indian banks’ profitability. One way
of protecting their bottom line could be the creation of retail
assets. But this has to be done with caution as KYB (know your
business) is as important as KYC (know your customer) for banking in
the post-Lehman days.
Tamal Bandyopadhyay keeps a close eye on all things banking from his
perch as Mint’s deputy managing editor in Mumbai. Please email your
comments to banker...@livemint.com
http://www.livemint.com/2009/09/27223257/Opportunity-challenges-for-In.html
Posted: Fri, Feb 6 2009. 11:05 PM IST
Culture
Fringe takes centre stage
The importance of being Mahesh Elkunchwar and Satish Alekar in Marathi
theatre; the plays of poet, painter and doctor Gieve Patel
Marathi playwrights Mahesh Elkunchwar and Satish Alekar occupy the
same place as their better-known counterparts Vijay Tendulkar and
Girish Karnad in the theatre-active centres of India. Even the most
culture-specific of their plays have been performed in other
languages. Now, Oxford University Press has published the collected
plays of Elkunchwar and Alekar (in separate volumes), thus bringing
some of their most important plays out of their Indian context into a
wider domain.
Modern times: (clockwise from top left) Satish Alekar (Kumar Gokhale);
Mahesh Elkunchwar (Vivek Ranade); and a scene from Alekar’s play,
Atirekee.(Theatre Academy, Pune)
Elkunchwar’s Wada Chirebandi (Old Stone Mansion), which deals with the
crumbling values of a landowning Brahmin family of Vidarbha, has been
performed in Hindi, Bengali, Kannada and even Garhwali.
Alekar’s Mahanirvan (The Dread Departure), which takes an ironic look
at the funeral rites of Marathi Brahmins using the keertan (devotional
song) form of story-telling to underline its black humour, has been
staged in Rajasthani, Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali, Konkani, Tamil and
Kannada. Begum Barve, a tragi-comic look by Alekar at the glorious
tradition of sangeet natak (musical theatre) in Maharashtra, has been
brilliantly adapted in Hindi, using nautanki (traditional/folk
theatre) in place of sangeet natak, and in Gujarati, using the music
plays of Bhangwadi as a parallel.
Plays by both playwrights have been read and performed in American
universities as well.
Although both began writing around the same time, their first plays
were staged a few years apart. Elkunchwar’s early plays, published in
the prestigious literary magazine Satyakatha, attracted the attention
of Vijaya Mehta (née Jaywant). She directed four of them in quick
succession in the same year, 1970, for her theatre laboratory,
Rangayan. Alekar’s early plays were also published in Satyakatha, but
were not performed on the established “fringe” stage. Instead, they
became popular on the inter-collegiate drama competition circuit.
Contemporaries though they are, Elkunchwar and Alekar are driven by
widely different concerns. Elkunchwar’s preoccupations, to put it in a
nutshell, are about creativity, life, sterility and death. In his
early plays, his characters are manifestations of these ideas rather
than flesh and blood people. In his later plays, for instance Wada
Chirebandi, they are delicately delineated human beings of many
shades.
Whatever his theme or mode, Elkunchwar’s plays are marked by his
mastery over dramatic structure, each play having a well-defined
beginning, middle and end. His language, which began as an unstoppable
outpouring in his early plays, quietened down later to an economic,
rhythmic prose, full of eloquent silences.
http://www.livemint.com/2009/02/06211922/Fringe-takes-centre-stage.html
Posted: Thu, Jul 23 2009. 9:54 PM IST
Columns
Rita and Mayawati stoop too low to conquer
This is a tragedy, while the Congress’ provocation is merely a form of
low farce, because Mayawati is a historical political figure, whereas
Rita Joshi is a political creature and Rahul Gandhi is a fifth-
generation dynast
High Windows | Mukul Kesavan
The recent contretemps between Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Mayawati has
been the most depressing sequence of events in post-general election
politics. The gratuitous ugliness of it ought to make the observer of
Indian politics despair.
Speechless: Rita Joshi visits her house soon after it was torched by
miscreants. AFP
Joshi’s part in this squalid quarrel isn’t surprising. The daughter of
the late chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, she
has had a political career of the sort that’s politely described as
chequered. She has been in and out of the Congress; she has fought for
elective office as an Independent, as a Samajwadi Party candidate and
as a Congresswoman. Apart from winning the mayoralty of Allahabad, she
has lost every other election that she has contested. But despite her
recent electoral defeat in Lucknow, her political career has been on
the upswing; she is the chief of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee
(UPCC) and given the Congress’ resurgence in UP during the last
general election, her star has been in the ascendant.
I was in Moradabad during Azharuddin’s election campaign when she
addressed the Congress faithful at a political rally held in the
grounds of the palace of a Muslim grandee. It was apparent from her
speech that she had cast herself, in a long and ignoble Congress
tradition, as a family loyalist. She urged the Congress workers
assembled there to make sure that they assembled in their thousands
for “Rahulji’s” scheduled stop in Moradabad. The turnout for Rahul
Gandhi’s constituency visit seemed rather more important to her than
the turnout in the general election.
I imagine that as a creature of 10 Janpath, Joshi was taking her cue
from Rahul Gandhi’s strategy to aggressively project the Congress’
presence in UP when she made her infamous remark about rape. Trying to
make the point that the UP government’s policy of giving financial
compensation to rape victims was inadequate and demeaning, she is
reported to have said: “Throw such money back at Mayawati and tell
her, ‘if you’re raped, I am ready to give you a crore’.”
It’s hard to believe that any responsible political figure, leave
alone a politician whose father was a UP Brahmin, could polemicize
against a Dalit woman chief minister in terms as crass and offensive
as these. It’s even harder to believe that the Congress party, whose
erstwhile dominance in that state was based upon an electoral
combination of Dalits, Muslims and Brahmins, would respond to Joshi’s
speech with a pro forma expression of regret and disapproval without
censuring or disciplining her. Sonia Gandhi was content to distance
herself from the form of words used by her apparatchik, while her son
was even more aggressive in his response, insisting that Joshi’s
choice of words was unfortunate but that her critique was valid.
Rahul Gandhi’s willingness to write off Dalits in general and Jatavs
in particular in UP by doing as little as possible to discipline
Joshi, is of a piece with the Congress’ cynical willingness to find
new electoral combinations in the Hindi heartland. So the UPCC chief’s
willingness to appeal to a casteist electorate’s worst instincts is
depressing, but unsurprising.
What’s rather more disheartening is the UP chief minister’s response
to Joshi’s provocation. She was charged under several non-bailable
sections of the law, including the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act,
1989, and remanded to judicial custody. Had Mayawati contented herself
with this, with demonstrating the awful retribution that Indian law
visits upon those who seek explicitly or by implication to humiliate
or intimidate Dalits, she would have made her point, consolidated her
reputation as a no-nonsense opponent of inflammatory rhetoric and
stood out as a defender of the downtrodden.
But she didn’t. Newspapers and news channels reported that Bahujan
Samaj Party (BSP) goons set fire to Joshi’s home in Lucknow and
ransacked it. A few days later the BSP member of Parliament allegedly
behind this act of arson was rewarded with the deputy chairmanship of
the Uttar Pradesh State Sugar Corporation. Instead of casting herself
as the guarantor of the public peace in UP, the chief minister seemed
to go out of her way to stand out as the embodiment of the lawlessness
and state impunity that has characterized UP politics in recent
times.
This is a tragedy, while the Congress’ provocation is merely a form of
low farce, because Mayawati is a historical political figure, whereas
Rita Joshi is a political creature and Rahul Gandhi is a fifth-
generation dynast. Mayawati is the first Dalit chief minister of
India’s largest state and the first Dalit ever to be seen as a
credible candidate for the prime ministership of the republic. Instead
of fulfilling her historic potential, she has chosen to fritter it
away by allowing the media to assimilate her to the thuggish politics
of her home state.
It’s unfair to expect Mayawati to set higher standards than Mulayam
Singh Yadav or Amar Singh or Rita Joshi, but pioneering politicians
from plebeian backgrounds owe it to the people they represent to set
an example. Mayawati could have made an example of Joshi within the
law; by seeming to step outside it, she has sold herself short,
betrayed a political trust and given her enemies and the enemies of
the bahujan samaj that she claims to represent, a weapon. It’s unfair
to expect Mayawati to be India’s Obama, but not too much to ask,
surely, that she not turn herself into UP’s Ahmadinejad.
Mukul Kesavan, a professor of social history at Jamia Millia Islamia,
New Delhi, is the author of The Ugliness of the Indian Male and Other
Propositions
Write to Mukul at highw...@livemint.com
http://www.livemint.com/2009/07/23215401/Rita-and-Mayawati-stoop-too-lo.html
Posted: Thu, Oct 22 2009. 12:12 AM IST
Columns
Maoist documents point to erudite research
It is important to go beyond the government-engineered media movement
that has largely dismissed Maoists as being from the lunatic fringe
seeking to destroy the “Shining India” and “Imagining India”
narratives of the India dream
Root Cause | Sudeep Chakravarti
A former director general of police of Chhattisgarh once commented as
to how well Maoist documents were prepared. “These appear to be
written by educated people—JNU types.”
He then looked sharply at me. “Are you from JNU?” he asked, referring
to Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, often painted as left-leaning.
I disabused him of the notion, but I agree entirely with his point:
Whatever the extreme politics and polemic, documents and statements by
Maoist rebels are erudite and clear. These are not ravings of
stereotypically wild-eyed, frothing intellectuals, but the thoughts of
deliberate, yet intensely angry ideologues who invite people to join
battle against the current nature and practice of Indian politics,
administration and law-keeping.
All that Kobad Ghandy, a recently arrested Maoist leader, repeatedly
muttered to television cameras as he was being led to a Delhi court by
police was: “Bhagat Singh zindabad”. Long Live Bhagat Singh. This
revolutionary occupies pride of place in official histories of India’s
freedom movement. His likenesses are evident in countless public
places across northern India; indeed, in India’s Parliament. Those who
battle Maoists know this well.
Also Read Sudeep Chakravarti’s earlier columns
It is important to go beyond the government-engineered media movement
that has largely dismissed Maoists as being from the lunatic fringe
seeking to destroy the “Shining India” and “Imagining India”
narratives of the India dream. This is part of government’s lateral
tactic in a battle—“psy-ops” or psychological operations—much like
what public relations professionals and warring corporate siblings
practise.
Alongside, the Union government is engaged in intense on-ground
security operations with a self-declared mandate to arrive at a
conclusion within the next three years.
But it knows what it is up against, the same as the incredulous former
police chief of Chhattisgarh. So too do his colleagues in Karnataka—a
marked state, as it were—know the facility with which Maoist rebels
plan.
As far back as 2002, the Maoists prepared a document titled Social
Conditions and Tactics—A report based on preliminary social
investigation conducted by survey teams during August-October 2001 in
the Perspective Area. The “perspective area” were Central Malnad,
including parts of Udupi district, and the adjacent districts of
Shimoga, Chikmaglur and Dakshina Kannada. It offers insight into the
planning and argumentative conviction that go into developing a
revolutionary base.
Malnad is the “ghat” region of Karnataka comprising 10 districts, from
Belgaum in the north-west to Chamarajnagar in the south. It includes
nearly half of Karnataka’s forest area, nearly all of its iron ore and
manganese riches, major concentrations of areca—betel nut—cardamom and
other spices, and coffee. It records a large tribal population and
caste prejudice. The Maoist survey recorded a fairly large percentage
of landless and poor farmers, and domination by the upper castes—
Brahmins and Vokkaligas, among others. The landless received daily
wages as much as 15% less than the norm. In places, the survey
recorded between 10% and 32% of land without title deeds and
consequent “encroachment” by wealthier peasantry and landlords.
The survey, which referred to particular villages only with designated
alphabets to maintain secrecy, recorded high interest rates on account
of private moneylenders, and high indebtedness. As many such
moneylenders were also landlords—comprising 4% of the population but
owning a quarter of all land—inability to repay led in numerous cases
to a member of the family, usually a youngster, being bonded as farm
or plantation labour.
The survey tracked the fall in prices for several categories of areca,
pepper, cardamom and coffee. Inevitably, daily wages dropped. This was
recorded as the overall impact of “semi-feudalism”, free-market
pricing, lowering of import restrictions, and in some cases—such as
coffee—overproduction.
In great detail, the survey noted which Brahmin landlord was “known to
break two whipping sticks on the backs of his tenants”; where a
landlord had links with Mumbai’s timber mafia; where “Jain landlords”
evicted tenants unable to pay rent; and which temples in the region
had links with powerful politicians and businessmen. There was also a
list of weapons in the surveyed villages.
The survey recommended that Maoist support must be developed in the
area by “strictly secret methods”. These should include secret front
organizations of women, “coolies” and Adivasis. Village-level clusters
of militias should in turn be guided by the local guerilla squad
assigned to that territory—one such squad would have under its care
800 sq. km and four squads would form an interlinked team to control
3,200 sq. km.
The plan is on the ground.
Sudeep Chakravarti writes on issues related to conflict in South Asia.
He is the author of Red Sun: Travels in Naxalite Country. He writes a
column alternate Thursdays on conflicts that directly affect business.
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Posted: Wed, Feb 3 2010. 11:45 PM IST
Columns
Naxalism and angst of Jharkhand tribals
With pressure from major businesses to deliver on now-dusty
memorandums of understanding and from Maoists--as they reconnoiter new
areas and call in old debts--Jharkhand will witness more churn
Root Cause | Sudeep Chakravarti
Jharkhand has for some time resembled a tragicomic circus.
This is where a former state health minister, Bhanu Pratap Shahi, told
media in early 2007 of a novel method of combating Maoist rebels—
interchangeably known as Naxalites. One vasectomy in a “Naxalite-
dominated” village would mean that many “potential comrades less”, the
minister offered, in a situation of “many mouths to feed and little
food to eat”.
A state chief minister, Madhu Koda, received an official certificate
from the Limca Book of Records, India’s version of the Guinness World
Records, for becoming the first independent legislator to gain that
position. He formed a government with four other legislators and the
support of the United Progressive Alliance.
Also Read Sudeep Chakravarti’s earlier columns
Koda is now history, accused of using his tenure to amass a fortune
along with some cronies and allies, mainly from concessions to
mining.
The newest chief minister, Shibu Soren, has this past fortnight
troubled hawks for suggesting negotiations with Maoist rebels in the
state. Leaks to media mentioned slowed police operations against
Maoists. Such moves would, according to conventional wisdom, permit
Maoists breathing room to regroup and gain ground. Failed peace talks
in Andhra Pradesh in 2004, and overtures in Orissa, are held up as
examples of what not to do.
Soren, too, carries baggage, marked as he is by scandals such as money-
for-votes during the premiership of P.V. Narasimha Rao; and the death
of a once-trusted lieutenant. But it is important to understand
Soren’s background with fellow travellers, as it were.
Jharkhand is blessed with iron ore, manganese, coal, limestone,
graphite, quartzite, asbestos, lead, zinc, copper, and some gold,
among others. It supplies to the region electricity from thermal and
hydroelectric plants. But there has always been a discrepancy between
generating wealth and its application.
The Jharkhand region received minimal development funds from undivided
Bihar based on a time-honoured presumption: tribals live there, and
they need little. Resettlement and rehabilitation issues were—and
continue to remain—poor on delivery.
The area’s displaced tribals were gradually organized by a tribal
rights and right-to-statehood organization, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
(JMM), which also took on exploitation by a concert of contractors,
moneylenders and public servants. Bihar’s response was to send a large
team of armed police, which intimidated and arrested at will. To
protest, an estimated 3,000 tribals gathered in September 1980 in Gua,
a mining-belt town near Saranda forests to the state’s south, for a
public meeting.
There was an altercation with police. The police fired; the tribals
fought back with bows and arrows. Three tribals and four policemen
died; human rights activists place the number of tribal deaths at
100.
Both groups took their wounded to Gua Mines Hospital, where the
tribals were made to deposit their bows and arrows before the hospital
took in their injured. Then the police opened fire on the now unarmed
tribals, killing several more.
The police, thereafter, went on a rampage in nearby villages, in much
the same way as some of their colleagues in Chhattisgarh: looting and
destroying homes; molesting and killing as much for revenge as
suspicion of collusion with rebels.
JMM leader Guruji—Soren—became a bulwark for key tribal leaders, who
led movements in Saranda to prevent the illegal felling of trees such
as sal and teak.
As resentment peaked through the 1980s and 1990s, leaders sought
allies with greater firepower: the Maoists—through the Maoist
Communist Centre (MCC), the key rebel entity in undivided Bihar. This
alliance of expediency has since matured.
Saranda is a Maoist area of operation and sanctuary. MCC has merged
into the Communist Party of India (Maoist), the presiding
conglomerate. Besides attacks against police and paramilitary, looting
weaponry and imposing levies on small to big businesses to fund the
rebellion, Maoists have also carried out spectacular strikes. For
instance, they shot dead member of Parliament and bête noire Sunil
Mahato and three others as they watched a football match at Baguria in
early 2007.
Leaders with deep roots, such as Soren, understand the dynamics of
tribal aspiration and angst. Soren can, on a good day, still hold the
power to bring disparate issues to the table for resolution of
conflict. But tribal leadership is otherwise compromised, adding to
the rot and ineptitude that have marked governance in Jharkhand since
it attained statehood in 2001.
Even funds meant for modernization of police forces are known to have
been appropriated to purchase sports utility vehicles for ministers.
With pressure from major businesses to deliver on now-dusty
memorandums of understanding and from Maoists—as they reconnoiter new
areas and call in old debts—Jharkhand will witness more churn.
Sudeep Chakravarti writes on issues related to conflict in South Asia.
He is the author of Red Sun: Travels in Naxalite Country. He writes a
column alternate Thursdays on conflicts that directly affect business.
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: Wed, Nov 18 2009. 10:13 PM IST
Columns
Cos open to accusations of complicity with govt
If businesses find it difficult to comprehend morality, they could at
least work to understand liability
Root Cause | Sudeep Chakravarti
The flap these past weeks about Tata Steel Ltd’s proposed 5.5 million
tonnes a year project in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh triggered
thoughts of a recent conference on human rights and business. I can’t
talk much about that meeting at Manesar, near Delhi, sponsored by a
relatively new London-based institute, as we were bound by the Chatham
House rule. But I can discuss my personal observations as they do not
vary in private or public; as well as broad parameters of discussion
without specifically naming participants.
There was a senior representative from Tata Sons Ltd at the conference
this past summer, as well as his corporate social responsibility (CSR)
colleagues from ArcelorMittal, JSW Steel Ltd, Royal Dutch Shell and
Lafarge SA. Except Shell, others are between them currently engaged in
either contentious or tricky projects in central, north or north-east
India. Alongside executives were arrayed human rights activists,
lawyers, tribal representatives, self-declared liberals from Delhi’s
seminar circuit, and corporate practitioners and consultants from
Europe and the Americas.
Also Read Earlier columns by Sudeep Chakravarti
The purpose was to take inputs about the Indian situation to evolve
corporate best practice guidelines across the world as to the
experience of relocation and rehabilitation—frequently the curse of
projects—and work in conflict areas. The meeting was well timed, too,
seeing several popular protests against large projects and special
economic zones; and the outright concern of locating projects in areas
of Maoist influence.
A broad thought came through, surprisingly, from several executives.
The bean counters and boardroom “suits” that operate in India don’t
care about the socio-economic impact at ground zero. The project
blueprint is absolute in terms of cost in time, finance, man-hours and
return on investment. As activists joined the discussion, it became
ever more evident that CSR ends up being a tool to buy out
“opposition” with money, a primary school or health centre, some tube
wells. Responsibility ends there. The governments of the states where
the projects are to be located—with their political leadership,
bureaucracy and police—become an extension of corporate will.
Such an approach led to Singur for Tata Motors Ltd; the relocation of
the project to Gujarat worked through similar, though non-violent,
channels as the government there had already pre-empted protest by
releasing vast stocks of pre-acquired land. Tata Steel’s loud
clarifications that it had been “allocated” land in Chhattisgarh; and
its denial that a public hearing on the project in mid-October was
attended by hand-picked villagers in a room heavily guarded by state
police and local toughs, suggests a worrying trend: this conglomerate
has learnt little from its recent collective experience.
In Chhattisgarh, it is likely to face protests that could easily
escalate to violence as the administration lends a hand to shoehorn
the project. There is little doubt too that Maoist-front organizations
and militias will leverage toeholds offered by such an approach, the
same as they have done to a project by Essar Steel in the state’s
Dantewada district.
What drives a corporation to pursue a project in a clear zone of
conflict? Why do businesses feel strengthened, even invulnerable, if
they are in direct or moral partnership with government? Why do
project planners ignore the fact that the principle of eminent domain,
which permits the government to expropriate land for public good, is
abused in spirit and execution? Why don’t consultants, whom
corporations pay millions of dollars to scope a project, clarify
political and security risks?
The fig leaf of government having appropriated land—and so, business
being absolved of all responsibility—is mandated by India’s mai-baap
culture, a benevolent dictatorship deeply prevalent in the
relationship between business and politics. While this proved to be
the bedrock of much of India’s economic growth, businesses will, in
today’s charged rights and legal environment, be open to accusations
of complicity with government. Globalized Indian businesses are
additionally vulnerable, under international laws, to legal action
even in other countries if accusations of negative complicity with
government are proven. Moreover, there would be a public relations
fallout.
In plain words: it will be difficult to explain away aggressive
presence in a conflict zone where a project clearly stands to gain by
government forces killing off rebels. And it will be difficult to deny
moral responsibility for the death and displacement of innocents in
such a conflict. If businesses find it difficult to comprehend
morality, they could at least work to understand liability.
Sudeep Chakravarti writes on issues related to conflict in South Asia.
He is the author of Red Sun: Travels in Naxalite Country. He writes a
column alternate Thursdays on conflicts that directly affect business.
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Posted: Wed, Sep 23 2009. 10:33 PM IST
Columns
Denying development is privileging violence
If the body count swings against the rebels and their support militia,
government will declare victoryRoot
Cause | Sudeep Chakravarti
A major offensive against Maoist rebels by the CoBRA (Commando
Battalion for Resolute Action) paramilitary force is under way in the
forests and tribal homelands of southern Chhattisgarh.
Besides being the present-day heart, as it were, of the rebellion, it
is also a region where the government of Chhattisgarh has agreed in
principle to locate nearly $30 billion (Rs1.44 trillion) of investment
in minerals, metals, and electricity.
If the body count swings against the rebels and their support militia,
government will declare victory. If it goes against CoBRA, Maoists
will crow. TV crews will move in. People who track such phenomena—the
Maoist rebellion in India as well as prime ministerial pronouncements
as to its demerit—will receive calls for commentary on the who, what,
why and where of it all. It will be a circus, as always. And key
truths will, after a time, be reburied.
Maps detailing the current spread of Left-wing rebellion usually show
the overlap in forested areas, which provide rationale, recruits and
shelter. But the Maoist movement has long ago moved beyond the jungle.
Maps that detail other characteristics and topography are hence more
productive.
I’m fond of quoting at such times Omkar Goswami, who runs the New
Delhi-based CERG Advisory Pvt. Ltd. He was struck some years ago by
what current minister for environment Jairam Ramesh told him about an
“east of Kanpur characterization of India”.
Also Read Sudeep Chakravarti’s earlier columns
Ramesh’s point: the regions west of Kanpur, marked by the longitude
80.24 (east), were doing better, while those to the east of it were
“withering away”.
Goswami decided to check Ramesh’s hypothesis by collecting data on
India’s districts, development blocks and villages. His colleagues and
he pored over this data for two years, and alongside, used data from
the Census of India 2001 to map an India based on ownership of, or
access to, 11 assets and amenities: Whether the household had a bank
or post office account, a pucca house, electricity connection, owned a
TV set; owned a scooter or motorcycle; used cooking gas, had an
inhouse drinking water source or one within 500m; had a separate
kitchen area, a separate toilet, a separate and enclosed bathing
space, and a telephone.
CERG then took the results of these indicators of necessity and basic
aspiration, what it termed the Rural India District Score, and mapped
it. The districts were ranked in six grades, with accompanying
colours: Best (dark green), Good (light green), Better than Average
(very light green), Average (white), Worse than Average (orange) and
Very Poor (red).
Central India showed great patches of white and orange, and splashes
of red. Moving east into Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, eastern Andhra
Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal and most of north-eastern India,
it’s a sea of red and orange with peripheral white and 10 islands of
varying shades of green—one being Kolkata.
The white bank of “average” spreads south into peninsular India, with
some orange penetrations of “worse than average” in Karnataka and
Tamil Nadu.
The “east of Kanpur” districts are dropping off the development map,
Goswami concluded. “Getting the benefits of growth to these districts
is the greatest challenge of development and political economy.”
If political leaders and policymakers were to open similar statistical
tables of socio-economic growth and demographic spreads of the
marginalized and the dispossessed, and look at maps of attacks and
penetration by the disaffected in general and Maoists in particular,
they would see the current and future course of what they label
“menace” and “infestation”. They would see how they are privileging
violence, by denying development until violence forces the hand.
There are several studies that prove it. A particularly striking one
is by a senior police officer, Durga Madhab (John) Mitra, who
published a paper in 2007 called Understanding Indian Insurgencies:
Implications for Counter-insurgency operations in the Third World,
during a sabbatical at the Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War
College.
The Planning Commission received an excellent report last year from an
expert group it commissioned, comprising political economy, security,
and legal specialists, some of them former senior police and
intelligence officers.
Titled Development Challenges in Extremist Affected Areas, the
report’s frank expression pleasantly stunned even cynical human rights
activists long used to government’s blinkers.
Mitra received polite attention at the ministry of home affairs. The
Planning Commission report is filed away—as such things often are. I
hope to draw attention to key outlines and recommendation in these and
other documents in future columns.
Sudeep Chakravarti writes on issues related to conflict in South Asia.
He is the author of Red Sun: Travels in Naxalite Country. He writes a
column alternate Thursdays on conflicts that directly affect
business.
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: Thu, Aug 27 2009. 1:02 AM IST
Columns
Andhra grapples with Maoists, new acronymsThe state already has at
hand several Union government-controlled paramilitaries, in their
acronyms CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force), IRB (India Reserve
Battalion), and the newly formed and giddily named CoBRA (Combat
Battalion for Resolute Action), aimed at Left-wing rebellionRoot Cause
| Sudeep Chakravarti
Beyond the urban bling of Hyderabad lies territory that is giving Y.S.
Rajasekhara Reddy headaches. At a New Delhi conference of chief
ministers to discuss internal security, convened by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh in mid-August, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh
said he wanted three districts by the state’s border with Orissa to be
formally declared Maoist-affected.
Despite several years of anti-rebel operations—a mix of specially
trained forces, better weapons, infiltration, better equipped police
posts, utter disregard for human rights niceties, and rehabilitation
packages for Maoists—the fire burns.
While Maoists have retreated in the north, central and southern parts
of the state, the forested, hilly and coastal east tells a different
story. Reddy’s key concern is that several power, irrigation and
mining projects planned for the east would be in jeopardy. “Maoists
find such activities as ideal pastures,” he said.
Maoists do, as these activities typically involve displacement of
populations, and the imperfect exercises breed great resentment—rebel
tinder. Alongside, Maoists have taken common cause against Special
Economic Zones and the effects of globalization, not just in Andhra
Pradesh but across the country.
The rebels have bureaus in most states tasked with recruitment,
agitation and raising the level of cadre strength and “awareness”.
This is to seed rebellion in several ways, a prelude to “protracted
war” to gain political power.
This is a lateral expansion of thought and activity to keep up with
the times, as it were, extending the Maoists’ traditional turf of
fighting for agrarian, tribal and caste issues.
This is the continuation of a process from as far back as 2004, when a
definitive Maoist document, Urban Perspective: Our Work in Urban
Areas, recommended that “The centres of key industries should be given
importance as they have the potential of playing an important role in
the People’s War”—what Maoists call their armed movement.
In 2007, Muppala Laxman Rao, the chief of the Communist Party of India
(Maoist), stressed another thought from the document. “We have to
adopt diverse tactics for mobilizing the urban masses into the
revolution,” said Rao, better known by his nom de guerre Ganapathy,
“take up their political-economic-social-cultural issues …”
Reddy is described by Maoists, relatively gently, as “mercenary”. His
predecessor, N. Chandrababu Naidu of Telugu Desam Party, even five
years after losing the chief ministership, is mentioned in Maoist
journals as “the known and despicable American stooge”. This is in
great part for Naidu’s unabashed worship of Bill Gates, and PowerPoint
frenzy to tout “Cyberabad” at both local and global investment
seminars even as large swathes of the state lay in tatters; and
farmers killed themselves by the thousands, driven by debt and
desperation.
Congress’ Reddy learnt from Naidu’s mistakes and opted for more
inclusive policies. Among other things, he launched the Indiramma
(Mother Indira) project with fanfare in early 2006. A double entendre
of pleasing masters and political economy—the acronym expands to
Integrated Novel Development in Rural Areas and Model Municipal Areas—
it sought to cover every village panchayat in three years and provide
what the state has not in decades. Primary education to all; health
facilities where there are none; clean water; pucca houses with
latrines; electricity connections to all households; roads; and so on.
The halting success of the project, in bits reborn as the Andhra
Pradesh Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, contributed to Reddy’s re-
election earlier this year. However, his recent remarks are revealing.
Andhra Pradesh has battled post-Naxalbari rebels for three decades. It
raised a now-hardened special force, the Greyhounds, to combat rebels.
But the stick-and-carrot policy of the state has proved patchy.
Policing and brutal suppression of Maoists has not effectively been
replaced in these areas by development works and delivery of dignity
to the poor and marginal. And so, these places continue to be deeply
vulnerable to Maoist activity. Reddy is understandably nervous about
developments in eastern Andhra Pradesh, both for their immediacy and
potential to reignite churn elsewhere.
To battle Maoists and other forces such as radical Islamism, Reddy at
the New Delhi conference said Andhra Pradesh has established a new
force: OCTOPUS. It stands for Organisation for Counter Terrorism and
Operations.
The state already has at hand several Union government-controlled
paramilitaries, in their acronyms CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force),
IRB (India Reserve Battalion), and the newly formed and giddily named
CoBRA (Combat Battalion for Resolute Action), aimed at Left-wing
rebellion.
As Reddy must realize, acronyms with aggressive intent can only go
part of the way.
Sudeep Chakravarti writes on issues related to conflict in South Asia.
He is the author of Red Sun: Travels in Naxalite Country. He will
write a fortnightly column on conflicts that directly affect business.
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Posted: Wed, Sep 9 2009. 10:39 PM IST
Columns
It is time lessons were learnt in West Bengal
The government of West Bengal has diligently courted grief
Root Cause | Sudeep Chakravarti
All it takes to go from chutzpah to chaos is a blind corner. Few in
recent times would know this better than the policymakers of West
Bengal—and their enforcers.
The Singur episode with Tata Motors Ltd is now a modern classic of how
not to work with government intervention. Another contemporary classic
is from Nandigram, several hours’ drive south of Singur. Here the
state government and Indonesia’s Salim Group were prevented by public
protests in 2007 from going ahead with a massive special economic zone
(SEZ), a venture of New Kolkata International Development Pvt. Ltd (a
joint venture of Salim Group, Unitech Ltd and a company owned by a
Salim associate) and West Bengal Industrial Development Corp.
Both projects faced intense public agitation over the practice of some
bureaucrats, police, and leaders and cadre of the ruling Communist
Party of India (Marxist), or CPM, strong-arming farmers to part with
land—both cultivable and not—to the state, and for such acquisitions
to be passed on to proposed businesses.
Also Read Sudeep Chakravarti’s earlier columns
Earlier this week, West Bengal’s department of information technology
(IT) yanked a couple of project sites at Rajarhat on the outskirts of
Kolkata it had offered Infosys Technologies Ltd and Wipro Ltd. The
firms were expected to take up residence in a proposed IT park. A
scandal from the preceding fortnight, violence involving local land
sharks and political mafia that had helped purchase land for a resort
in the area—and were allegedly involved in procuring land for the IT
park—gave the government cold feet. “The government does not want to
be involved in any illegal activity,” a press release from the
department announced. “… (We) cannot proceed with the project.”
Infosys and Wipro should rest easy. Increasingly, businesses with
global footprint, ambition and stock listings that ride investment on
direct government intervention or inadvertent intervention in areas of
any conflict—a war, civil war, or violence rooted in corruption and
political mismanagement—could find themselves in court at home and
elsewhere.
A slim document titled Red Flags: Liability Risks for Companies
Operating in High-risk Zones, published in 2008 by International Alert
(www.international-alert.org) and Fafo Institute (www.fafo.no) lists
several grounds for litigation, including some that are commonplace in
India. Under international law, expelling people from their
communities by “the threat or use of violence to force people out of
their communities can be a crime”, Red Flags maintains. “A company may
face liability if it has gained access to the site on which it
operates, where it builds infrastructure, or where it explores for
natural resources, through forced displacement.”
Other points of liability include “engaging abusive security
forces” (directly or through the proxy of state police or
paramilitary) to effect and perpetuate a project; and “allowing use of
company assets for abuses”, such as overlooking mistreatment of people
by security forces and providing company facilities for such activity
to take place.
The government of West Bengal has diligently courted grief. Since it
assumed power in 1977, the CPM, more than its coalition partners, has
skilfully built a ground-up network, a broederbond of cadre and
leaders that thrives on a mix of intimidation, corruption and
administration. They gradually came to control the politics, political
economy and business, and dealt harshly with the opposition. This
cracked spectacularly in Singur and Nandigram, where Maoist rebels and
the Trinamool Congress got the flak—or credit—for engineering foment
which should have been placed at the doorstep of the state’s Marxist
leadership and its system of patronage.
In the Lalgarh region, which I visited past June during the
confrontation between security forces and a team of tribals and Maoist
rebels, it was easy to track “anti-establishment” targets. Almost
without exception, the largest and best homes, and businesses and
farmland belonged to, or were controlled by, the local leadership of
the CPM. Rebels and aggrieved residents killed many, and chased away
more.
JSW Steel Ltd is setting up a plant in neighbouring Salboni. Chief
minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee narrowly escaped an assassination
attempt by Maoists in November, when he was returning to Kolkata after
attending the foundation ceremony at the site of the plant. Two
ministers from New Delhi were with him.
There is nothing to indicate that this region has become less restive
after intervention by security forces, and businesses that choose to
work in this area do so at their own risk—all risk. Surely it is time
lessons were learnt in West Bengal and elsewhere in India.
Sudeep Chakravarti writes on issues related to conflict in South Asia.
He is the author of Red Sun: Travels in Naxalite Country. He writes a
fortnightly column on conflicts that directly affect business.
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Posted: Wed, Jan 13 2010. 10:20 PM IST
Columns
Implosion in Nepal will subsume ‘red corridor’
Nepal had for long been at a dead-end politically and economically and
this in great part assist the Maoists in the country
Root Cause | Sudeep Chakravarti
A precept of the Pashupati to Tirupati theory of sub-continental
Maoism was the seamless meshing of Nepal’s rebellion with that of
India’s. While there certainly were fraternal links—providing
sanctuary; attending key meetings; occasional training of cadre; and
such—Nepal’s war was its own.
With renewed militancy of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal
(Maoist), or UPCN (Maoist), which has brought government near to
standstill, and disrupted economic activity in this already
impoverished country, there is again speculation of Maoist meshing.
Those who indulge in it fail to acknowledge Nepal’s dynamics; and the
fact that developments in Nepal can have far-reaching implications for
India beyond the obvious laboratory lessons of Left wing extremism and
its immediate aftermath.
Nepal had for long been at a dead-end politically and economically,
which in great part assisted Maoists there to achieve their initial
goal in 12 years—from the first attack on a police camp in 1996 to
helping to overthrow a seedy monarchy and to run a democratically
elected government for several months, until May. As premier, the
sharply dressed Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who encourages the
nom de guerre of Prachanda (fierce) even led a business delegation to
India.
Also Read Sudeep Chakravarti’s earlier columns
India’s Maoists are lower in the revolutionary arc, as it were. They
are the first to acknowledge that their task of national domination is
made difficult on account of India’s socio-economic growth, increasing
opportunities for that growth and expanding power of government, armed
forces and police.
The danger in Nepal today is one of socio-economic implosion as much
as its corollary: a resumption of hostilities between hardline
Maoists, and a coalition government undermined by charges of nepotism
and corruption. The government, controlled by moderate Marxists and
the Nepali Congress, is at loggerheads with Dahal’s party over several
issues.
Arguably the most contentious of these is the integration of Maoist
combatants—now located in seven major peace camps across Nepal—into
the mainstream. Proposals call for integrating them with former
enemies: Nepal army and police. The Maoists’ public spat with the then
army chief over this enabled in great part for Dahal’s former allies
in the constituent assembly, the Marxists, to pull the plug on his
government last year.
Among other things, subsequent turmoil has slowed progress towards
Nepal’s Holy Grail, the promulgation of a new constitution by this
May. The constitution is crucial for the process of peace and
reconciliation, further guarantee that decade-long hostilities, which
took an estimated 14,000 lives and ended in 2006, do not resume.
Maoists make no secret of an ambition to resume power—a legitimate
objective of a party. Dahal and his deputy, Baburam Bhattarai, have
told me, as they have several media persons, of their goal. Maoists
are clear that they will employ any approach short of outright war,
thus far, to achieve it. Dahal is fond of using the word bisfot, or
explosion.
And though their supporters and critics alike are agreed that there
can be no lasting peace in Nepal without Maoist participation, the
Maoist cause has been diminished, for instance, by their employing the
often-thuggish Young Communist League (YCL). A growing paramilitary,
YCL is used to enforce trade unionism—most hospitality industry unions
in Kathmandu are Maoist-controlled—intimidate opponents, and provide
numbers at Maoist rallies.
To increase all-round pressure, Maoists are reaching out to groups
that shored up the rebellion—and voted for them in the 2008 elections.
UCPN (Maoist) declared its “fourth phase of struggle” last week. Mass
gatherings are to be held between 19 January and 24 January, addressed
by the crème of Maoist leadership in regions that represent ethnic
minorities such as Limbu, Kirant, Sherpa, Tharu, Bhote-Lama, and
Madhesi—long-disenfranchised people of Indian origin concentrated in
Nepal’s southern Terai belt—and caste minorities, which together make
up about 70% of Nepal’s population.
There is talk of autonomous regions based on this mix. Should it come
to pass, it would dilute the influence of the hill Bahun, or Brahmin,
community and upper caste Hindu leadership long-dominant in politics,
the bureaucracy and army.
The exercise for India and other countries will now be to gauge the
tipping point for robust democracy—or an irredeemable one. The latter
outcome will contribute to conditions of an implosion of Nepal. Large-
scale migration of destitute into India; a 1,700km-long unstable
border with worrying security implications; and weakened economic
interaction with Nepal—India accounts for 70% of its trade—will
subsume any concern of a Red Corridor.
Sudeep Chakravarti writes on issues related to conflict in South Asia.
He is the author of Red Sun: Travels in Naxalite Country. He writes a
column alternate Thursdays on conflicts that directly affect business.
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Why I Am Not a Hindu
Ramendra Nath
Originally published by Bihar Rationalist Society (Bihar Buddhiwadi
Samaj) 1993.
Electronically reprinted with permission.
I have read and admired Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian.
On the other hand, I have also read and disagreed with M.K.Gandhi's
Why I Am a Hindu. My acquaintance with these writings has inspired me
to write this essay explaining why I am not a Hindu, though I was born
in a Hindu family.
The Meaning of "Hindu"
The word "Hindu" is a much-abused word in the sense that it has been
used to mean different things at different times. For example, some
people even now, at least some times, use the word "Hindu" as a
synonym for "Indian". In this sense of the term, I am certainly a
"Hindu" because I do not deny being an Indian. However, I do not think
that this a proper use of the term "Hindu". There are many Indians
such as Muslims, Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians as well as
rationalists, humanists and atheists who do not call themselves
"Hindu" and also do not like to be described as such. It is certainly
not fair to convert them into Hinduism by giving an elastic definition
of the term "Hindu". Besides, it is also not advisable to use the word
"Hindu" in this sense from the point of view of clarity. The word
"Hindu" may have been used in the beginning as a synonym for
"Indian" [1], but, at present, the word is used for people with
certain definite religious beliefs. The word "Hindu" belongs to the
category of words like "Muslim", "Christian", "Buddhist" and "Jain"
and not to the category of words like "American", "British",
"Australian", "Chinese" or "Japanese". There are, in fact, many
Indians who are not Hindus, and on the other hand, there are many
Hindus who are not Indians , for example, those who are citizens of
Nepal, Sri Lanka and some other countries.
In the religious sense, the word, "Hindu" is often used broadly to
include Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs in addition to those who are
described as "Hindu" in this most restricted sense of the term, that
is, the adherents of Vedic or Brahmin religion. For example, the
expression "Hindu" is used in the Hindu law not only for those who are
Hindu by religion but also for persons who are Buddhists, Jains and
Sikhs by religion. This, again, is too broad a definition of "Hindu".
If we consistently use the word "Hindu" in this sense, we will have to
say that Japan is a Hindu country!
The above definition of "Hindu" is clearly inadequate from a
philosophical point of view. Buddhism and Jainism, for instance,
explicitly reject the doctrine of the infallibility of the Vedas and
the system of varna-vyavastha, which are fundamental to Hinduism, that
is, if the term "Hinduism" is used in its most restricted sense.
Therefore, clubbing together Buddhists and Jains or even Sikhs with
those who believe in the infallibility of the Vedas and subscribe to
the varna-vyavastha is nothing but an invitation to confusion.
Though I agree with Buddhism in its rejection of god, soul,
infallibility of the Vedas and the varna-vyavastha, still I am not a
Hindu even in this broad sense of the term "Hindu", because as a
rationalist and humanist I reject all religions including Buddhism,
Jainism and Sikhism. However, in this essay I am concerned with
explaining why I am not a Hindu in the most appropriate sense of the
term "Hindu", that is, the sense in which a person is a Hindu if his
religion is Hinduism in the restricted sense of the term " Hinduism".
In this restricted sense of "Hinduism", Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism
are excluded from its scope. I also maintain that this is, at present,
probably the most popular sense of the term, and every body should, in
the interest of clarity, confine its use, as far as possible, to this
sense only, at least in philosophical discourse.
Radhakrishnan, for example, has used the term "Hindu" and "Hinduism"
in this restricted sense when he says in his The Hindu View of Life
that, "The chief sacred scriptures of Hindus, the Vedas register the
intuitions of the perfected souls." [2] Or, when he says that
"Hinduism is the religion not only of the Vedas but of the Epics and
the Puranas." [3]
Basic Beliefs of Hinduism
Gandhi, too, has used the term "Hindu" in this restricted sense, when
writing in Young India in October, 1921, he says:
I call myself a sanatani Hindu, because,
I believe in the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Puranas and all that goes
by the name of Hindu scriptures, and therefore in avatars and
rebirth.
I believe in the Varnashram dharma in a sense in my opinion strictly
Vedic, but not in its present popular and crude sense.
I believe in the protection of the cow in its much larger sense than
the popular.
I do not disbelieve in idol-worship. [4]
One may be tempted to ask, at this point, whether all the beliefs
listed by Gandhi are really fundamental to Hinduism. In my opinion,
(I) the belief in the authenticity of the Vedas and (II) the belief in
the varnashram dharma are more basic to Hinduism than the belief in
cow-protection and idol-worship. [5] Though it cannot be denied that,
in spite of attempts by reformers like Kabir, Rammohan Roy and
Dayanand Saraswati, idol-worship is still practiced widely by the
Hindu masses, and there is, at present, a taboo on eating beef among a
large number of Hindus. In any case, I am in a position to establish
the fact of my not being a Hindu by asserting the contradictory of
each of the above statements made by Gandhi:
In other words, I assert that I am not a Hindu, because,
I do not believe in the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Puranas and all
that goes by the name of Hindu scriptures, and therefore in avatars
and rebirth.
I do not believe in the varnashram dharma or varna-vyavastha either in
the sense in which it is explained in Hindu dharma shastras like
Manusmriti or in the so-called Vedic sense.
I do not believe in the Hindu taboo of not eating beef.
I disbelieve in idol-worship.
However, while explaining why I am not a Hindu, I will concentrate
mainly on (I) the belief in the authenticity of the Vedas, and (II)
the varnashram dharma , which I consider more fundamental to Hinduism.
Besides, in the concluding section of the essay, I will briefly
discuss moksha, which is regarded as the highest end of life in
Hinduism, and some other Hindu doctrines like karmavada and
avatarvada.
The infallibility of the Vedas
First of all, let me explain what do I mean by saying that "I do not
believe in the Vedas", and why I do not do so.
The schools of ancient Indian thought are generally classified by
orthodox Hindu thinkers into two broad categories, namely, orthodox
( astika) and heterodox ( nastika). The six main Hindu systems of
thought -- Mimamsa, Vedanta, Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya and Vaisheshika --
are regarded as orthodox ( astika), not because they believe in the
existence of god, but because they accept the authority of the Vedas.
[6]
Out of the six orthodox systems of Hindu thought, Nyaya system is
primarily concerned with the conditions of correct thinking and the
means of acquiring true knowledge. According to Nyaya system, there
are four distinct and separate sources of knowledge, namely, (i)
perception (ii) inference (iii) comparison, and (iv) testimony or
shabda.
Shabda, which is defined in the Nyaya system as "valid verbal
testimony" is further classified into (i) the scriptural ( vaidika),
and (ii) the secular ( laukika). Vaidika or scriptural testimony is
believed to be the word of god, and therefore, it is regarded as
perfect and infallible .[7]
Mimamsa or Purva Mimamsa, another orthodox Hindu system is "the
outcome of the ritualistic side of the vedic culture". However, in its
attempt to justify the authority of the Vedas, Mimamsa elaborately
discusses different sources of valid knowledge. Naturally enough,
among the various "sources of valid knowledge", Mimamsa pays greatest
attention to testimony or authority, which, too, is regarded by it as
a valid source of knowledge. There are, according to Mimamsa, two
kinds of authority -- personal ( paurusheya) and impersonal
( apaurusheya). The authority of the Vedas is regarded by Mimamsa as
impersonal. [8]
As mentioned earlier, according to Nyaya, the authority of the Vedas
is derived from their being the words of god. But Mimamsa, which does
not believe in the existence of god, declares that the Vedas like the
world, are eternal. They are not the work of any person, human or
divine. The infallibility of the authority of the Vedas, according to
Mimamsa, rests on the "fact" that they are not vitiated by any defect
to which the work of imperfect persons is liable. [9]
Thus, orthodox Hindu schools like Nyaya and Mimamsa regard the
testimony of the Vedas as infallible, though they give different
reasons for doing so. Well-known orthodox Hindu theologians like
Shankar and Ramanuja believed in the authority of the Vedas.
Manusmriti, too, upholds the infallibility of the Vedas. As pointed
out by S.N.Dasgupta, "The validity and authority of the Vedas were
acknowledged by all Hindu writers and they had wordy battles over it
with the Buddhists who denied it." [10]
The point worth noting is that though popularly Hinduism is a theistic
religion, it is not essential to believe in the existence of god for
being an orthodox Hindu -- belief in the authority of the Vedas is
more important.
When I say, "I do not believe in the Vedas", what I mean is that I do
not regard the testimony of the Vedas as a valid source of knowledge.
In other words when I say, "I do not believe in the Vedas", I do not
mean that each and every proposition contained in the Vedas is false.
It is quite possible that one may find a few true statements in the
Vedas after great amount of patient research. But I assert that the
truth or the falsity of a proposition is logically independent of its
being contained or not contained in the Vedas. A proposition is true
if there is a correspondence between the belief expressed by it and
the facts. Otherwise, it is false. So, a proposition contained in the
Vedas might be true, that is, if there is a correspondence between the
belief expressed by it and the facts, but it is, I insist, not true
because it is contained in the Vedas. I categorically reject as
invalid every argument of the form: "The proposition P is contained in
the Vedas. Therefore, the proposition P is true".
Besides, I also assert that some propositions contained in the Vedas
are certainly false. For example, according to Purusha-Sukta of Rig
Veda , Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras originated
respectively from the mouth, hands, thighs and feet of the purusha or
the creator. I categorically reject this statement as false. I
maintain that varna-vyavastha is a man-made social institution and it
has nothing to do with the alleged creator of this world.
I also reject both the reasons put forward in support of the
infallibility of the Vedas. I neither regard them to be "the words of
god" nor I consider them to be eternal and impersonal. I believe that
Vedas were conceived, spoken and written by human beings. The question
of their being "words of god" simply does not arise, because there are
no good reasons for believing in the existence of god. The existence
of an omnipotent, omniscient and benevolent god is totally
inconsistent with the presence of suffering and evil in this world. It
is impossible for god to exist. [11]
Similarly, Vedas could not have come into existence before human
beings appeared on this earth, and before Sanskrit language came into
existence. And there are no good reasons for believing that Sanskrit
language came into existence even before human beings appeared on this
earth!
As far as Gandhi is concerned, though he liked to describe himself as
a sanatani Hindu, he was, in fact, not a completely orthodox Hindu.
For example, in the article quoted earlier in this essay Gandhi goes
on to add, "I do not believe in the exclusive divinity of the Vedas. I
believe the Bible, the Koran, and the Zend-Avesta to be as much
divinely inspired as the Vedas. My belief in the Hindu scriptures does
not require me to accept every word and every verse as divinely
inspired, I decline to be bound by any interpretation, however learned
in may be, if it is repugnant to reason or moral sense. "[12](emphasis
mine)
I seriously doubt that this position will be acceptable to an orthodox
Hindu. In fact, Gandhi's position comes very close to that of
rationalists and humanists when he says that "I decline to be bound by
any interpretation however learned it may be, if it is repugnant to
reason and moral sense". However, since he refused to say in so many
words that he did not believe in the authority of the Vedas, Gandhi
may be described, in my opinion, as a liberal Hindu with an eclectic
approach towards religion. On the other hand, my position is radically
different from that of Gandhi, because I do not consider either the
Vedas or the Bible, the Koran and Zend-Avesta or any other book to be
divinely inspired.
Varna-vyavastha
Before discussing varna-vyavastha or varnashram dharma, let me clarify
in the very beginning that I am not interested in giving my own
interpretation of what varna-vyavastha is or ought to be in its ideal
form. I am interested, firstly, in giving an objective exposition of
varna-vyavastha as contained in recognized Hindu scriptures like Vedas
and dharmashastras like Manusmriti; and secondly, in mentioning my
reasons for rejecting varna-vyavastha. In doing so I will concentrate
on the chaturvarnya (four-fold division of society) aspect of varna-
vyavastha.
We have already noted that the first reference to varna (class based
on birth or caste) is to be found in the Purusha-Sukta of the Rig
Veda . The reference to the four ashrams or stages of life, namely,
Brahmcharya, Garhastya, Vanprashta and Sanyas is to be found in the
Upanishads. These are, in their turn, related to the four purusarthas
or ends of life, namely, dharma (duty), artha (wealth), kama
(satisfaction of sensual desires) and moksha (liberation). Out of
these, the Upanishads attach maximum value to sanyas ashram and moksha
purusartha, which is regarded as the highest end of life. [13]
The system of varnashram dharma is upheld by popular Hindu scriptures
like Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagvat-Gita. In Ramayana, for example,
Ram kills Shambuka simply because he was performing tapasya (ascetic
exercises) which he was not supposed to do as he was a Shudra by
birth. [14]
Similarly, in Mahabharata, Dronacharya refuses to teach archery to
Eklavya, because he was not a Kshatriya by birth. When Eklavya,
treating Drona as his notional guru, learns archery on his own, Drona
makes him cut his right thumb as gurudakshina (gift for the teacher)
so that he may not become a better archer than his favorite Kshatriya
student Arjuna!
The much-glorified Bhagvat-Gita, too, favors varna-vyavastha.[15] When
Arjuna refuses to fight, one of his main worries was that the war
would lead to the birth of varna-sankaras or offspring from
intermixing of different varnas and the consequent "downfall" of the
family. [16] On the other hand, Krishna tries to motivate Arjuna to
fight by saying that it was his varna-dharma (caste-duty) to do so
because he was a Kshatriya. In fact, Krishna goes to the extent of
claiming that the four varnas were created by him only. [17] Thus,
Arjuna's main problem was being born a Kshatriya. Had he been a
Brahmin or a Vaishya or a Shudra by birth, he would have been spared
the trouble of fighting a destructive war. Even the much-applauded
doctrine of niskama karma is nothing but an exhortation to faithfully
perform one's varnashram dharma in a disinterested manner. [18]
The celebrated orthodox Hindu theologian Shankar, too, was a supporter
of varna-vyavastha. According to him, Shudras are not entitled to
philosophical knowledge. [19] However, the most elaborate exposition
of varnashram dharma is to be found in Manusmriti, an important
dharmashastra of Hindus. Let us turn to it in order to have a close
look at the varna-vyavastha.
Manusmriti
In the very first chapter of Manusmriti, it is clearly stated that
Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras were created by Brahma
(creator of this world) from his mouth, hands, thighs and feet
respectively. [20]
Manu claims that the same Brahma, who created this world, also created
Manusmriti and taught it to him. [21]
The duties of the different varnas are also mentioned in the
Manusmriti. The Brahmins were created for teaching, studying,
performing yajnas (ceremonial sacrifices), getting yajnas performed,
giving and accepting dan (gifts).[22] The Kshatriyas were created for
protecting the citizens, giving gifts, getting yajnas performed and
studying. [23] The Vaishyas were created for protecting animals,
giving gifts, getting yajnas performed, studying, trading, lending
money on interest and doing agricultural work. [24] The Shudras were
created by Brahma for serving Brahmins and the other two varnas
without being critical of them. [25]
It is interesting to note that studying, getting yajnas performed and
giving gifts or charity are common duties of Brahmins, Kshatriyas and
Vaishyas; whereas teaching, accepting gifts and performing yajnas are
reserved exclusively for Brahmins. The Shudras, of course, are denied
the rights to study, getting yajnas performed by Brahmins or even
giving gifts to them.
Manusmriti further states that having originated from the mouth of
Brahma, being elder and being the repository of the Vedas; Brahmins
are the masters of the entire universe. [26] Besides, Brahmins alone
act as a sort of post office for transmitting food to the gods and the
dead, that is to say, the gods and the dead eat food through the
mouths of Brahmins (apparently because they do not have mouths of
their own). Therefore, no one can be superior to Brahmins.[27] All
others are said to enjoy everything owing to the Brahmins' mercy.[28]
The Manusmriti clearly states that Brahmins alone are entitled to
teach this dharmashastra and none else. [29]
Manusmriti refers to the Vedas, which are to be regarded as the main
valid source of knowledge about dharma, as shruti and to
dharmashastras as smriti. No one is to argue critically about them
because religion has originated from them. [30] Any nastika (non-
believer) or critic of the Vedas, who "insults" them on the basis of
logic, is worthy of being socially boycotted by "noble" persons. [31]
In short, the main features of chaturvarnya as elaborated in the
Manusmriti are as follows:
1. Division of Hindu society into four varnas on the basis of birth.
Out of these only the first three, namely , Brahmins , Kshatriya and
Vaishya, who are collectively known as dwija (twice-born) are entitled
to upanayan and the study of the Vedas. Shudras as well as women of
dwija varnas are denied the right to study.
2. Assigning different duties and occupations for different varnas.
This is to be enforced strictly by the king. [32] According to
Manusmriti, if a person of lower caste adopts the occupation of a
higher caste, the king ought to deprive him of all his property and
expel him from his kingdom. [33]
3. Treating Brahmins as superior and other varnas, namely, Kshatriya,
Vaishya and Shudra as inferior to him in descending order with the
Shudra occupying the bottom of the hierarchy. A Brahmin is to be
treated as god and respected even if he is ignorant. Even a hundred-
year old Kshatriya is to treat a ten year old Brahmin as his father.
[34] Brahmin alone is entitled to teach. If a Shudra dares to give
moral lessons to a Brahmin, the king is to get him punished by pouring
hot oil in his ear and mouth. [35] Similarly, if a Shudra occupies the
same seat as a Brahmin, he is to be punished by branding his waist
(with hot rod) or getting his buttocks cut! [36]
4. Treating women as unequal. Women, that is, even women belonging to
Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya varna are not entitled to upanayan and
the study of the Vedas. For them, marriage is equivalent to upanayan
and service of their husbands is equivalent to the study of the Vedas
in the gurukul.[37] Even if the husband is morally degraded, engaged
in an affair with another woman and is devoid of knowledge and other
qualities, the wife must treat him like a god. [38] A widower is
allowed to remarry but a widow is not. [39] Besides, women are not
considered fit for being free and independent. They are to be
protected in their childhood by father, in youth by husband and in old
age by son. [40] They should never be allowed by their guardians to
act independently. [41] A woman must never do anything even inside her
home without the consent of her father, husband and son respectively.
[42] She must remain in control of her father in childhood, of husband
in youth and of son after the death of her husband. [43]
5. Treating different varnas as unequal for legal purposes. The Hindu
law as codified by Manu is based on the principle of inequality. The
punishment for a particular crime is not same for all varnas. In fact,
the punishment varies depending on the varna of the victim as well as
the varna of the person committing the crime. For the same crime, the
Brahmin is to be given a mild punishment, whereas the Shudra is to
given the harshest punishment of all. Similarly, if the victim of a
crime is a Shudra, the punishment is mild, and the punishment is harsh
in case the victim is a Brahmin. For example, if a Brahmin is awarded
death sentence, it is sufficient to shave his head, but Kshatriya,
Vaishya and Shudra are to actually die. [44] If a Kshatriya, a
Vaishya, or a Shudra repeatedly gives false evidence in the court, he
is to be punished and expelled from the kingdom, whereas the Brahmin
is not to be punished, he is to be only expelled. [45] If a person has
sexual intercourse with a consenting women of his own varna, he is not
to be punished. [46] But if a person of lower varna has sexual
intercourse with a woman of higher varna, with or without her consent,
he is to be killed. [47] If a Brahmin forces a dwija to work for him,
he is to be punished. [48] But if a Brahmin forces a Shudra to work
for him, whether by making or not making payments to him, he is not to
be punished, because Shudras have been created only for serving
Brahmins.[49] If a Brahmin abuses a Shudra, he is to be fined mildly,
[50] but if a Shudra abuses a Brahmin, he is to be killed. [51] On the
other hand, even if a Brahmin kills a Shudra, he is merely to perform
penance by killing a cat, frog, owl or crow, etc. [52] Thus a Shudra
is to be killed for abusing a Brahmin, whereas a Brahmin is to be let
off lightly even if he kills a Shudra. Such is the unequal justice of
Manusmriti.
In fact, this system of graded inequality seems to be the very essence
of the varna-vyavastha. Whether it is the choice of names, [53] or the
manner of greeting, [54] or the mode of entertaining guests, [55] or
the method of administering oath in the court, [56] or the process of
taking out the funeral procession, [57] at each and every step in
life, from birth to death, this system of graded inequality is to be
applied and observed. Manu does not even spare the rates of interest
on loan. For borrowing the same amount, Kshatriya has to pay more as
interest than Brahmin, Vaishya more than Kshatriya and the poor Shudra
has to pay the maximum amount as interest! [58]
6. Prohibiting inter-marriage between different varnas. According to
Manusmriti, a dwija ought to marry a woman of his own varna.[59] A
woman of the same varna is considered best for the first marriage.
However, a dwija may take a woman of inferior varna as his second wife
if he is overcome by sexual passion. [60] But Manu strongly
disapproves of Brahmins and Kshatriyas taking a Shudra woman even as
their second wife. They become Shudra if they do so. [61]
7. Supporting untouchability is also a part of the scheme of social
stratification outlined in the Manusmriti. Manu clearly mentions that
Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya, collectively known as dwija and the
Shudras are the four varnas. There is no fifth varna.[62] He explains
the origin of other castes by saying that they are varna-sankara
castes, that is to say, castes originating due to the intermixture of
different varnas, both in anuloma (upper varna male and lower varna
female) and pratiloma (lower varna male and upper varna female)
manner. [63] For example, Nishad caste is said to have originated from
anuloma relationship between Brahmin male and Shudra female,[64]
whereas C handala caste is said to be owing its origin to pratiloma
relationship between Shudra male and Brahmin female. [65]
Manu seems to be disapproving of pratiloma relationship more than the
anuloma, because he describes C handalas as the lowest of the low
castes. [66]
Let us see what Manusmriti, has to say about the C handala. The
Chandala, says Manusmriti, must not ever reside inside the village.
While doing their work, they must reside outside the village, at
cremation ground, on mountains or in groves. They are not entitled to
keep cows or horses, etc., as pet animals. They may keep dogs and
donkeys. They are to wear shrouds. They are to eat in broken utensils.
They are to use ornaments of iron, not of gold. They must keep moving
from one place to another, not residing at the same place for a long
duration. [67] They must not move around in villages and cities in
night hours. They may enter the villages and cities in daytime, with
king's permission, wearing special symbols (to enable identification),
and take away unclaimed dead bodies. [68]
Moreover, how is the "religious" person to deal with the Chandala? He
must not have any social intercourse (marriage, interdining, etc.)
with them. He must not talk to or even see them! [69] He may ask
servants (apparently Shudras) to give them food in broken utensils.
[70]
8. Granting divine and religious sanction to varna-vyavastha. Manu
gives divine and religious sanction to the varna-vyavastha by claiming
divine origin for the varnas as well as for the Manusmriti and
demanding unquestioning obedience of it.
So, that completes my exposition of the varna-vyavastha. I want to
emphasize in particular that my exposition does not contain any
exaggeration at all. The reader may check each and every statement by
comparing with the original Manusmriti in order to satisfy himself or
herself. I cannot help if the system is so unjust and so out of tune
with out existing values that even an objective exposition reads like
a severe condemnation. Nevertheless, I will now turn to my reasons for
rejecting varna-vyavastha: I reject varna-vyavastha because it is
irrational, unjust and undemocratic, being opposed to the democratic
and human values of liberty, equality and fraternity.
Criticism of varna-vyavastha
The varna-vyavastha is opposed to the value of liberty as it denies
the freedom to choose one's occupation and marriage partner to one and
all. Everyone must join the occupation of his varna and must marry
within his varna. Similarly, it denies the freedom to study to the
Shudras and woman in particular. Even the dwija must study the Vedas
before he studies anything else. Otherwise, he becomes a Shudra.[71]
(Incidentally, according to Manusmriti, there are several ways by
which a Brahmin or dwija may become a Shudra but there is no way by
which a Shudra may become a Brahmin. A Shudra must always remain a
Shudra.)[72]
What is worse, the Chandala is even denied the freedom to reside at a
place of his choice or to wear clothes and ornaments of his choice. He
is not even free to keep pet animals of his choice.
The conflict between varna-vyavastha and the value of equality is more
than obvious. As I mentioned earlier, the system of graded inequality
seems to be the very essence of varna-vyavastha. It denies equal
respect to all in society. It denies equality before law. It denies
equal access to marriage partners. It denies equal access to jobs. The
occupation of teachers and priests, for example, is reserved
exclusively for Brahmins. Finally, it also denies equal access to
education and knowledge.
A Brahmin, according to Manu, must not teach the Shudra and woman even
if he dies with his knowledge without imparting it to anybody. [73] On
the other hand, if anyone studies the Vedas on his own he or she will
go straight to hell. [74] In other words, cent percent reservations
for dwija males in the sphere of education.
The varna-vyavastha is most unfair to the Shudras and the
untouchables. They are denied respect, knowledge, power and wealth.
They are denied access to occupations considered respectable, just as
they are denied access to men and women of upper varnas for marriage.
The Shudras are virtually reduced to being slaves of the Brahmins in
particular and the dwijas in general, whereas the untouchables are
regarded as outcast -- beyond the pale of the society. The women are
generally treated as sexual objects and as unfit for being independent
and free.
As far as fraternity is considered, we must not expect it to exist in
a society, which is so unequal and unjust. A Shudra's waist is to be
branded or his buttocks are to be cut only because he occupies the
same seat as the Brahmin. The "religious" are not to talk or even look
at a Chandala. Inter-marriage is prohibited. Manu seems to be most
eager to prevent inter-mixing of the varnas. Thus, the Hindu social
order is based on the isolation and exclusiveness of the varnas.
The Manusmriti not only outlines a totally undemocratic and unjust
social system but also gives divine, religious sanction to this man-
made social institution of chaturvarnya. Some Hindus, including
apparently learned "thinkers" and writers, smugly wax eloquent about
Hinduism being the most tolerant and liberal religion of the world.
Is there any other religion, which sanctions slavery and
untouchability? Is there any other religion in which only persons born
in a particular caste ( Brahmin) are entitled to become priests?
Slavery is not peculiar to India or to Hinduism, but carrying it to
the extremes of untouchability, and granting it divine and religious
sanction is peculiar to Hinduism.
Similarly, some Hindus may be tolerant, just as some of them are
intolerant, but Hinduism or Hindu religion is not tolerant at all,
either socially or intellectually. Manusmriti, for example, clearly
says that anybody who argues critically and logically about
dharmashastras ought to be ostracized. [75] Non-believers, including
freethinkers, rationalists and Buddhists, are not to be entertained
respectfully as guests; though, mercifully, they may be given food.
[76] The families of non-believers are destroyed sooner than later
according to Manu. [77] A state with a large number of Shudras and
nastikas soon meets its destruction. [78] Manusmriti is full of
abusive epithets for freethinkers and non-believers. The unorthodox
( nastikas) are sometimes equated with the Shudras, sometimes with the
Chandalas, sometimes with thieves and sometimes with lunatics! [79]
Such is the generosity of Hindu dharma.
Apologies for varna-vyavastha
Let me now consider what the apologists of varna-vyavastha have to say
in its defense.
A standard defense of varna-vyavastha is to say that it is a system of
division of labor. It is easy to grant that division of labor is
essential for any complex society, but it is equally easy to see that
varna-vyavastha is not a system of division of labor based on aptitude
and capability. It is a system of division of labor based on birth .
Besides, it has other associated features such as feeling of
superiority and inferiority, inequality before law, denial of equal
access to knowledge and prohibition against inter-marriage.
What have these features to do with the division of labor?
Division of labor is found in all societies, but varna-vyavastha is
not. Thus, trying to justify varna-vyavastha as division of labor is a
futile exercise.
Another standard defense of the varna-vyavastha is to say that the
system was originally based on aptitude and capability. Whether it was
actually ever so is a subject for historical research. Most probably,
the racial theory of the origin of castes is true. However, even if we
grant for the sake of argument that the varna-vyavastha was originally
based on aptitude and capability, how does it help? We cannot say that
because the system was originally, some time in remote past, based on
aptitude and capability; therefore we ought to gladly suffer the
present system based on birth. It hardly makes any sense at all!
In any case, Manusmriti was most probably written between200 BC and
200 AD [80] and the system as outlined in it is totally based on
birth. Gautam Buddha, who lived in sixth century BC, challenged the
infallibility of the Vedas as well as the varna-vyavastha. There are
several passages in Tripitaka, mainly in Digha Nikaya and Majhima
Nikaya which are "directed against the claims of the Brahmans to be of
different origin from the rest of humanity, born from the mouth of
Brahma, having a hereditary prerogative to teach, guide and
spiritually govern the rest of the society." [81] In Majhima Nikaya
Buddha is quoted as refuting varna-vyavastha on several occasions.
According to Buddha, it is unreasonable to decide one's place and
functions in society on the basis of one's birth in a caste. Buddha is
also quoted as insisting that in the eyes of the law all persons ought
to be treated as equal, irrespective of the caste or varna in which he
or she is born. [82] Thus, it is obvious that even if the system of
varna-vyavastha ever existed in its ideal form -- which is doubtful --
it had already degenerated by the time of Buddha, that is, about 2500
years back.
The most blatant defense of varna-vyavastha, however, is to say that
human beings are born unequal, and, therefore, it is natural and
normal for children to join the occupation of their fathers.
Surprisingly and sadly, no less a person than Gandhi defended varna-
vyavastha in a similar manner.
To quote Gandhi: "I believe that every man is born in the world with
certain natural tendencies. Every person is born with certain definite
limitations which he cannot overcome. From a careful observation of
those limitations the law of varna was deduced. It establishes certain
spheres of action for certain people with certain tendencies. This
avoided all unworthy competition. Whilst recognizing limitations, the
law of varna admitted of no distinction of high and low; on the one
hand it guaranteed to each the fruits of his labors and on the other
it prevented him from pressing upon his neighbor. This great law has
been degraded and fallen into disrepute. But my conviction is that an
ideal social order will only be evolved when the implications of this
law are fully understood and given effect to". [83]
Again, "I regard Varnashrama as a healthy division of work based on
birth. The present ideas of caste are a perversion of the original.
There is no question with me of superiority or inferiority. It is
purely a question of duty. I have indeed stated that varna is based on
birth. But I have also said that it is possible for a shudra, for
instance, to become a vaishya. But in order to perform the duty of
vaishya he does not need the label of a vaishya. He who performs the
duty of a brahman will easily become one in the next
incarnation." [84]
So, varna-vyavastha, according to Gandhi, is a "healthy division of
work based on birth", which takes into account the "natural
tendencies" of human beings and avoids "unworthy competition."
This apparently plausible defense of varna-vyavastha is, in fact, most
unscientific. It is a well-known and scientifically verified fact that
acquired characteristics are not inherited biologically, only genetic
qualities are transmitted from one generation to another. For
instance, carpentry is an acquired characteristic; just as knowledge
of philosophy is an acquired quality. Neither a carpenter's son or
daughter is born with the knowledge of carpentry, nor is a
philosopher's daughter or son born with the knowledge of philosophy.
These are acquired characteristics and, therefore, they cannot be
inherited biologically. If sometimes, though not always, a carpenter's
son becomes a good carpenter or a philosopher's daughter acquires a
good knowledge of philosophy, without being formally initiated into
these disciplines, it is not because they are born with the required
knowledge, but only because of the favorable environment at home,
which enables them to acquire these characteristics. The result could
be different if their places were to be interchanged.
One may say that though the knowledge of carpentry of philosophy in
not inherited biologically, the mental qualities enabling one to
acquire the requisite knowledge is inherited. Some physical and mental
qualities are, no doubt, inherited but this does not mean that parents
and their children are always identical in physical or mental
qualities. It is a well known fact -- anybody can verify this by
careful observation -- that due to different permutations and
combinations of chromosomes and genes offspring of same parents are
not always identical to one another or to their parents. More often
than not, they are different. For instance, one son or daughter of
same parents may be tall and another short. The colors of skin, hair
and eyes may differ likewise. What is true of physical characteristics
is equally true of mental qualities. Thus, a child may or may not have
the mental characteristics, which his father has.
Therefore, it is totally unscientific to forcefully restrict children
to the occupations of their forefathers.
It is true that all human beings are not equal in the sense of being
identical in physical or mental qualities. But it does not follow from
this that they ought to be denied equal opportunity to join a vocation
of their choice or that they ought to be denied equality before law or
equal respect as human beings in the society.
As for "unworthy" competition, how do we know that the competition is
unworthy unless all are, to begin with, given equal opportunity? Take
the example of Gandhi himself. He was a bania by caste. Yet, in spite
of some serious aberrations such as supporting varna-vyavastha based
on birth and linking politics with religion, he performed fairly well
in the role of a national leader. It would have been a great loss for
the nation if in the name of avoiding "unworthy" competition in
politics, Gandhi would have been confined to running a grocery shop.
Similarly, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was born in an "untouchable" caste, but
he played an important role in the drafting of the democratic
constitution of independent India. He also taught in a college for
some time. To use the terminology of varna-vyavastha, he ably
performed the work of a Brahmin.
Is it possible to imagine how many Ambedkars we may have lost by now
owing to the restrictive varna-vyavastha?
As we have noted earlier, varna-vyavastha is a closed system of social
stratification without any scope for upward social mobility. To quote
M. Haralambos, author of a textbook on sociology, "A person belongs to
his parents jati and automatically follows the occupation of the jati
into which he was born. Thus no matter what the biologically based
aptitude and capacities of an untouchable, there is no way he can
become a Brahmin. Unless it is assumed that superior genes are
permanently located in the Brahmin caste, and there is no evidence
that this is the case, then there is probably no relationship between
genetically based and socially created inequality in traditional Hindu
society." [85]
Returning to Gandhi, though Gandhi was opposed to untouchability and
caste, he did not carry his opposition to its logical conclusion.
Inconsistently enough, he continued to support the varna-vyavastha
based on birth. At one stage, he even supported restrictions on
interdining and intermarriage. As he wrote in Young India in 1921,
"Hinduism does most emphatically discourage interdining and
intermarriage between divisions... It is no part of a Hindu's duty to
dine with his son. And by restricting his choice of bride to a
particular group, he exercises rare self-restraint. Prohibition
against intermarriages and interdining is essential for the rapid
evolution of the soul. "[86] (emphasis mine)
Later Gandhi moved away from these orthodox ideas, and started
supporting intercaste marriages. Finally in 1946, he refused to
solemnize any marriage at Sevagram Ashram unless one of the parties
was an untouchable. [87] May be he would also have given up varna-
vyavastha if he had lived longer. That, however, is in the realm of
imagination, the fact is that Gandhi supported varna-vyavastha. It is
worth noting that he invented his own conception of varna-vyavastha,
which, according to him, had nothing to do with the feeling of
superiority and inferiority or with prohibition against intermarriage.
We find here in Gandhi a quaint mixture of conservatism and
reformism.
I would like to dispose of one last objection before concluding this
section. One may say that the Hindu law at present is quite different
from what Manu desired, and presently Hindus in general do not follow
Manu in totality. This is true. The Hindu law at present, for
instance, allows inter-caste marriage and prohibits bigamy and child
marriage. It permits divorce. It also allows widow remarriage and
grants equal rights to daughters in father's property. Nevertheless,
there seems to be a gap between the progressive Hindu law and the
conservative social practices of the Hindus. A majority of Hindu
marriages are still within the caste and very few Hindu women actually
claim or get a share in father's property.
The Indian constitution has rightly made special provisions, such as
reservations in services for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and
other socially and educationally backward classes, to enable them to
enter occupations and positions of power, which had been traditionally
denied to them. No doubt, some upper caste liberal Hindus, too,
support the policy of reservation. But, by and large, the Hindu upper
castes are far from fully reconciled to this progressive step as is
evident from violent and aggressive anti-reservation agitation
spearheaded by upper caste students from time to time. This kind of
reactionary agitation aimed at preserving the present dominance of
upper castes in education and the services enjoys considerable support
and sympathy in the upper caste dominated media as well as the
academia.
On the whole, the Hindu society is yet to fully exorcise the ghost of
Manu. Caste based on birth and untouchability still exist in the Hindu
society, in spite of the fact that untouchability has been abolished
by the Indian constitution. The distribution of education, power and
wealth continues to be uneven in the Hindu society, with the dwijas
being on the top and the Shudras and untouchables being at the bottom.
Teaching is no more an exclusive preserve of Brahmins, but the
occupation of Hindu priests is still fully reserved for Brahmins,
though this fact does not arouse the ire of our fervent anti-
reservationists.
Moksha, Karmavada and Avatarvada
Moksha is traditionally regarded as the highest end of life in Hindu
religion. The "endless cycle of birth and death" is considered a
bondage from which one must attain liberation, that is moksha or
mukti.
This whole concept of bondage and liberation is based on the unproved
assumption of life after death, and the existence of soul ( atma)
which continues to exist apart from the body even after death. In the
famous words of Gita, the soul changes bodies just as human beings
change clothes. [88]
Now, there are no good reasons for believing in the existence of soul
or life after death or rebirth. These beliefs are not at all supported
by incontrovertible scientific evidence. According to S.N. Dasgupta,
"there has seldom been before or after Buddha any serious attempt to
prove or disprove the doctrine of rebirth. The attempts to prove the
doctrine of rebirth in the Hindu philosophical works such as Nyaya,
etc. are slight and inadequate." [89]
However, even before Buddha, Lokayat had disproved the existence of
soul, life after death, rebirth, heaven and hell on an empirical
basis, as these things are never perceived. [90]
Thus, in absence of any evidence to the contrary, it is reasonable to
believe that each one of us has got one and only one life . Once a
person is dead, he is dead for ever. Never to be reborn. Mind,
consciousness, memory and life cannot outlast the destruction of brain
and body. This is the harsh truth; howsoever we may dislike it.
The belief in soul seems to have originated from primitive animism.
[91] If this belief continues to persist, in spite of total lack of
evidence in its support, it is only because of human beings' inability
to come to terms with, or to squarely face, the reality of death. One
likes to believe that one's near and dear ones, who are dead and
finished forever, actually continue to live in some other imaginary
world, and that they will also be reborn one day. One draws comfort
from the thought that one will not die even after death, and continue
to live in some other form. It is paradoxical that, first, the fear of
death and love of life makes one readily accept the belief in the
immortality and rebirth of soul without adequate evidence, and, then,
getting rid of this alleged cycle of birth and death itself becomes
the topmost religious aim! [92]
The problem of getting "released" from the alleged cycle of birth and
death is a pseudo-problem (in the sense that one is trying to get rid
of something which simply does not exist) and moksha is an imaginary
ideal which has nothing to do with the reality. Instead of running
after the imaginary ideal of moksha, it is far better to concentrate
on improving and living well this one and only life, which we have.
Mimamsa, which is an orthodox Hindu school of thought, considers
attainment of heaven ( swarga), instead of moksha, as the highest end
of life. References to heaven and hell are also to be found in the
Manusmriti. The belief in heaven is fairly widespread at popular
level. However, the ideal of the attainment of heaven, too, is based
on unproved assumptions, like life after death and the existence of
heaven, and, therefore, it cannot be accepted.
Another related doctrine is the Hindu belief in karmavada or the so-
called law of karma. According to this doctrine, every human being
gets the fruits of his actions either in the present or in some future
life. Whatever a human being is in his present life is the result of
his own actions in the past life or lives.
This, again, is a totally unverified and unverifiable doctrine based
on the assumption of the "cycle of birth and death". It is only a
convenient tool for explaining away the perceived inequality in human
society. The idea of karma is found in Buddhism and Jainism as well.
However, these religions do not support varna-vyavastha. But in
Hinduism the doctrine of karma, along with the idea of god, has been
used for providing ideological support to the unjust varna-vyavastha
and for making it appear just and fair. In Hinduism the so-called law
of karma merely serves the purpose of legitimizing the unjust varna-
vyavastha by making the Shudras and the "untouchables" meekly accept
their degrading position as a "result of their own deeds" in imaginary
past lives, and by assuring them "better" birth in "next life" if they
faithfully perform their varna-dharma in their present lives. [93] In
this way, this doctrine prevents them from revolting against this man-
made undemocratic system, which has nothing to do with alleged past
and future lives.
Lastly, I come to the Hindu doctrine of avatarvada. According to this
doctrine, whenever religion is threatened in this world, god takes
birth as an avatar to put things back into order. Ram and Krishna, for
example, are popularly regarded as avatars by the Hindus.
Belief in avatarvada, too, is logically unjustifiable and merely makes
one run away from one's own responsibilities. Instead of making
efforts to improve their own condition, those who believe in
avatarvada keep waiting for an avatar to take birth. Since god does
not exist, there is no question of his being born on this earth as an
avatar. (Let me add here that I also do not believe in the truth of
statements like "Jesus is the son of god" or "Mohammed is the
messenger of god".)
Not only I do not regard Ram or Krishna (or anyone else) as an avatar
of god, I also do not regard them as ideal personalities. Ram, as
mentioned earlier, was on upholder, of the varna-vyavastha. His cruel
behavior with Sita, after fighting a destructive war with Ravana to
get her released, is too well known to need recapitulation. [94]
Krishna, on the other hand, is portrayed in the Mahabharata as the
teacher of Bhagvat Gita , a book which expounds untrue and harmful
doctrines like the belief in god and immortal soul, avatarvada,
karmavada, varnashram dharma and the doctrine of moksha.
In Mahabharata Krishna adopts and advocates adoption of unfair means
like lying and deception for achieving one's ends. Obviously, he did
not believe in the doctrine of purity of ends and means. There are
several flaws in the character of Krishna as portrayed in the
Mahabharata, Bhagvat and Harivamsa. These have been ably enumerated by
Dr. Ambedkar in his The Riddle of Ram and Krishna . I refer the
interested reader to this work for a fuller treatment of this subject.
[95]
Conclusion
To conclude, I categorically reject major Hindu religious beliefs
including the doctrine of the infallibility of the Vedas, varnashram
dharma , moksha, karmavada, and avatarvada. I am not an admirer of Ram
and Krishna, and I also do not believe in idol worship or the Hindu
taboo of not eating beef. I support logical and scientific thinking;
and a secular, rational morality based on human values of liberty,
equality and fraternity. Therefore, I am not a Hindu by conviction,
though I am a Hindu by birth.
Endnotes
[1] S. Radhakrishnan, The Hindu View of Life (Bombay: Blackie & Son
(India) Ltd., 1979), p. 12.
[2] Ibid., p. 14.
[3] Ibid., pp. 16-17.
[4] M.K.Gandhi, "Aspects of Hinduism" in Hindu Dharma (New Delhi:
Orient Paperbacks, 1978), p. 9.
[5] Ninian Smart, "Hinduism" in The Encyclopedia of Philosophy (ed. in
chief, Paul Edwards) Vol. IV (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.
& The Free Press, 1972), p.1.
[6] S.N.Dasgupta , A History of Indian Philosophy , Vol. 1 (Delhi:
Motilal Banarsidass, 1975), pp. 67-68.
[7] Chatterjee and Datta, An Introduction to Indian Philosophy .
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] S.N.Dasgupta, Op. Cit., p. 394.
[11] I have discussed the question of the existence of god in my small
Hindi book Kya Ishwar Mar Chuka Hai? (Patna: Bihar Buddhiwadi Samaj,
1985, 1995). See, Is God Dead? (An introduction to Kya ishwar mar
chuka hai? ) [Patna: Buddhiwadi Foundation, 1998]
[12] M.K.Gandhi, "Aspects of Hinduism" in Hindu Dharma , pp. 9-10.
[13] A.L.B., "History of Hinduism" in The New Encyclopaedia
Britannica , Vol. 8 (Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 1981),
pp. 910-11.
[14] B.R. Ambedkar , Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches,
Vol. 4, Riddles in Hinduism (Bombay: Education Department, Government
of Maharashtra, 1987), p. 332.
[15] Y.Masih, The Hindu Religious Thought (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass,
1983), pp. 192-93.
[16] Bhagvad-Gita I: 40,41, 42,43.
[17] B.G. IV: 13.15.
[18] Y.Masih, Op.Cit., p.208, Also see, pp. 224-25.
[19] V.P.Verma, Modern Indian Political Thought (Agra: Lakshmi Narain
Agarwal, 1991), pp. 50-51.
[20] Manusmriti (MS) I: 31.
[21] MS I:58.
[22] MS I:88.
[23] MS I:89.
[24] MS I: 90.
[25] MS I: 91.
[26] MS I: 93, Also see, X: 3.
[27] MS I: 95.
[28] MS I: 101.
[29] MS I: 103.
[30] MS II: 10,13.
[31] MS II: 11.
[32] MS VIII: 410.
[33] MS X: 96. Also see, Kautilya, Arthshastra I: 3, Quoted by J.N.
Farquhar in An Outline of the Religious Literature of India ( Delhi:
Motilal Banarsidass, 1984), p. 44.
[34] MS II: 135.
[35] MS VIII: 272.
[36] MS VIII: 281.
[37] MS II: 67.
[38] MS V: 154.
[39] MS V: 168,157.
[40] MS IX: 3.
[41] MS IX: 2.
[42] MS V: 147.
[43] MS V: 148.
[44] MS VIII: 379.
[45] MS VIII: 123.
[46] MS VIII: 364.
[47] MS VIII: 366.
[48] MS VIII: 412.
[49] MS VIII: 413.
[50] MS VIII: 268.
[51] MS VIII: 267.
[52] MS XI: 131.
[53] MS II: 31,32.
[54] MS II: 127.
[55] MS III: 111,112.
[56] MS VIII: 88.
[57] MS V: 92.
[58] MS VIII: 142.
[59] MS III: 4.
[60] MS III: 12.
[61] MS III: 14,15,16,17,18,19.
[62] MS X: 4.
[63] MS X: 25.
[64] MS X: 8.
[65] MS X: 12.
[66] Ibid.
[67] MS X: 50,51,52.
[68] MS X: 54,55.
[69] MS X: 53.
[70] MS X: 54.
[71] MS II: 168.
[72] MS VIII: 414.
[73] MS II: 113; X: 1.
[74] MS II: 116.
[75] MS II: 11.
[76] MS IV: 30.
[77] MS III: 65.
[78] MS VIII: 22.
[79] MS III:150, 161; IX: 225. From a humanist point of view, there is
nothing wrong in being born as a Shudra or a Chandala, but in the
context of the Manusmriti, these are abusive epithets.
[80] Manusmriti (Varanasi: Chaukhambha Sanskrit Sansthan, 1982), pp.
10-11.
[81]A.K.Warder, Indian Buddhism (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1980),p.
163.
[82] Y.Masih, The Hindu Religious Thought, pp. 336-37.
[83] Nirmal Kumar Bose, Selections from Gandhi ( Ahmedabad: Navajivan
Publishing House, 1972), p. 265.
[84] Ibid., p. 263.
[85] M.Haralambos, Sociology Themes and Perspectives (Delhi: Oxford
University Press, 1980) pp. 27-28.
[86] N.K.Bose, Op.Cit., p. 266.
[87] Louis Fischer, Gandhi (New York: New American Library, 1954), pp.
111-12, Also see, N.K.Bose, Op.Cit., p. 267.
[88] B.G. II: 20-25.
[89] S.N. Dasgutpa, A History of Indian Philosophy , Vol. I, p. 87.
[90] Chatterjee and Datta. An Introduction to Indian Philosophy .
[91] See M.N.Roy, "The Transmigration of Soul" in India's Message
( Delhi: Ajanta Publications, 1982), pp. 4-6.
[92] Probably "the cycle of life and death" is considered "bondage"
because it will presumably lead to death again and again. So,
primarily the doctrine of liberation seems to be a reaction against
death.
[93] "Those whose conduct has been pleasing will quickly attain a
pleasing birth, the birth of a Brahman or a Kshatriya, or a Vaisya;
but those whose conduct has been abominable, will quickly attain
abominable birth, the birth of a dog, or a hog, or an Outcaste."
Brihadaranyaka, quoted by J.N. Farquhar, An Outline of the Religious
Literature of India , p. 34, Also see, S.N.Dasgupta, Op. Cit., p.
363.
[94] See, my "Why I do not want Ramrajya" in Why I am Not a Hindu &
Why I do not want Ramrajya (Patna: Bihar Rationalist Society, 1995).
[95] B.R. Ambedkar, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches ,
Vol. 4, Riddles in Hinduism.
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/ramendra_nath/hindu.html
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Modern Documents:
A Hindu Woman:
Answer to Why I Am Not a Hindu
Answer to Why I Am Not a Hindu
by A Hindu Woman
I
First, I wish to make clear that I have no quarrel with Mr. Ramendra
Nath for declaring that he is not a Hindu. He has listed four reasons
for declaring why he is not a Hindu:
"I do not believe in the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Puranas and all
that goes by the name of Hindu scriptures, and therefore in avatars
and rebirth."
"I do not believe in the varnashram dharma or varna-vyavastha either
in the sense in which it is explained in Hindu dharma shastras like
Manusmriti or in the so-called Vedic sense."
"I do not believe in the Hindu taboo of not eating beef."
"I disbelieve in idol-worship."
As it happens, I am fully in agreement with the above statements. I do
not believe in the existence of any God or soul. Therefore the
question of scriptures as divine revelations, rebirth and avatars is
moot. I do not believe in the caste-system. I have eaten beef. Again,
since I do not believe in God the question of worshipping anything--
idols or otherwise--is moot. Nevertheless, I still call myself a
Hindu. However that is a completely separate matter.
Mr. Ramendra Nath has discussed in length why he rejects the Vedas as
infallible. Since I have no disagreement with him on these grounds, I
am skipping it.
He next attacks "varna-vyavastha or varnashram dharma." If it had been
a simple exposure of the evils of this system, again there would be no
problem. But what I essentially find troubling is that he does not
present a balanced appraisal. He rejects emphatically the story in the
Vedas that the Brahmins are created from God's mouth, the Kshatriyas
from his arms, Vaishyas from his thighs and Shudras from his feet--
plainly this story appeared later to account for a reality that was
already present. He dismisses evidence that originally it was nothing
more than a functional division which ultimately hardened into a rigid
system backed by the religious authority of the Brahmins and the
military might of Kshatriyas as something unimportant to the issue at
hand. After all, today the Hindu social system functions quite well in
the metropolises where the rules of purity and impurity regarding
caste are no longer important. Also when he discusses the evils from
which Hinduism has traditionally suffered, he ignores the good that is
in Hindu Dharma as well. In particular his criticisms against
Manusmriti or Manusamhita is one-sided. Above all he ignores the
entire picture to concentrate on certain negative aspects only. To put
it plainly, I think his account is biased.
II
Ramendra Nath charges that Ram kills Sambuka, a Shudra, because he was
performing tapasya or ascetic exercises which are the province of
Brahmins alone. Certainly the story is there. But what he does not
mention is that the story belongs to Uttarkanda (lit. "later
chapter"). Along with the story of Rama's adventure, every child is
also taught that this chapter was added much later and that Valmiki's
Ramayana ends with Rama's coronation. In Valmiki's Ramayana itself, we
have two very important stories: that of Guhak and Sabari. Guhak is a
Nishada king of Sringaverpur who is described as Rama's friend as dear
as life, with whom Rama stays while going to the forest
(Ayodhyakandya, chaps. 50-52). Shabari was a practitioner of
asceticism. Rama's first question on meeting her was, "Have you
conquered all that disrupts tapasya? Has your tapasya increased?";
from her hands Rama accepted food and her soul ascended to heaven
(Aranyakanda, 74). Nishadas are an 'uncivilized' forest-tribe who
include the Chandalas among them. Shabari is the feminine of shabar,
the hunter community. Manusmriti states that Nishadas are the
offspring of Brahmin male and Shudra female (an obvious afterthought)--
they are what we call today 'untouchable'. The shabars are designated
simply as 'mlechha,' completely outside Vedic/Hindu society, yet
Shabari performs perfect tapasya and goes to heaven blessed by the
avatar. The story has often been offered as proof that neither birth
nor gender is important in performing tapasya and going to heaven. The
apparent contradiction between Rama's behaviour towards them and
towards Sambuka need not puzzle anyone; the Sambuka story was clearly
added later to strengthen Brahmin hegemony. My question here is why
does Ramendra Nath ignore these points which are known to any ordinary
Hindu? The answer became clear when I looked at his citations. He was
simply quoting from another person's work rather than from the
Ramayana itself. Apparently he had not bothered to read the text he is
criticizing.
Next Ramendra Nath speaks of a certain episode in Mahabharata.
Certainly the story of Ekalavya is true. Because he was a Nishada,
Drona refused to teach him. The text explicitly states that being
nishada he was 'asprishya' (untouchable) and it is never allowable
that he should be put on a par with the general populace. Obviously
social stratification has taken place since Ramayana. When Ekalavya
learnt on his own, Drona made him cut off his finger. However,
Ramendra Nath places undue emphasis on the fact that Arjuna is his
Khastriya student. Drona asked for this terrible sacrifice because he
did not wish anyone to exceed his favourite Arjuna, who had promised
to give him whatever Drona desired materially. Caste here had nothing
to do with it.
More importantly, Ramendra Nath ignores those portions of this epic
which obviously belong to earlier stratas and which show a far more
humanitarian stance. The grandmother of both Kauravas and Pandavas (of
whom Arjuna is one) is only a fisherwoman. She had a liaison with a
Brahmin (which did not make the latter an outcaste) and gave birth to
an illegitimate son who became a sage himself and the writer of
Mahabharata. If she wants to marry into a respectable wealthy family,
to be a fisherwoman who ferries passengers on a boat and who has a
bastard child is definitely a handicap yet today even in developed
countries. Nevertheless, she marries a Kshatriya king, her sons become
kings and she is never reproached because of her sexual misconduct.
How could such miscegenation and its placid acceptance by the
population (which includes Brahmins) have been possible unless the
varnavyavastha in ancient times was very much a fluid system?
We also have the story of Dharmabyadh. A Brahmin had gained power to
work miracles by his penance and became arrogant because of this. When
a woman seems to ignore him, he becomes enraged. But the woman
demonstrates that merely by carrying out faithfully her duties as a
housewife she had gained even greater power; she tells him that only a
man who controls his sensual instincts, never hates another person,
thinks of all human beings as his own [kin], tells the truth always,
and never wanders towards unrighteousness--is acknowledged as a
Brahmin by the gods. He is then sent to a meat-seller known as
Dharmabyadh to learn what dharma is, as he is ignorant of it. The meat-
seller says, "I follow my ancestors' livelihood; I tend to the
elderly; I always speak the truth; I never show hatred for anyone; I
give to charity as far as I am capable; I never speak ill of anyone; I
eat the leavings of the gods, guests and servants [I eat after all
these have eaten]." It is these simple things that has elevated a meat-
seller above the powerful Brahmin (Vanaparva, 205-213).
Yuddhistira (the son of the God of Justice) is asked what is the cause
of being a Brahmin. He declares that neither birth nor learning makes
a Brahmin, that only proper conduct does. Even a Brahmin learned in
four Vedas cannot be considered as a Brahmin if his conduct is evil.
[However it must be noted that performing proper rituals is also
included in the passage as the mark of a Brahmin (Vanaparva, 312).] In
another place he is asked by a serpent who a true Brahmin is. He
answers, "The person in whom resides truth, charity, forgiveness,
courtesy, rejection of cruelty, austerity, is a Brahmin." The serpent
argues that the Vedas have given every varna their dharma or law.
"Therefore truth, charity, forgiveness, non-violence, rejection of
cruelty, and compassion based on Vedas is noticed even in Shudras. If
even in Shudras these symptoms of Brahamandharma appear, then Shudras
too can be Brahmins." Yuddhistira's answer is, "In many Shudras
symptoms of Brahmin appear, and among many of the twice-born, symptoms
of Shudras appear. Therefore it is not that to be born in a Shudra
family makes one a Shudra or that to be born in a Brahmin family makes
one a Brahmin. The persons in whom such behaviour [the qualities
mentioned above] ordained by Vedas appear are Brahmins and those in
whom they do not appear are Shudras" (Vanaparva, 180). From such
episodes it is obvious that the ideal was a high one and low castes
were honoured by society if they were virtuous. Critics would say that
the reality does not often match the ideal. True. But where is the
paradise on earth where there is no discrimination on the basis of
class, irrespective of the law? I do not see why varnavyastha should
be singled out with special virulence. It is simply that some
countries have made greater progress in doing away with systems like
feudalism (which was held to be reflection of cosmic hierarchy) and
slavery (backed by the story of Noah and his sons) while India is
starting to catch up.
Ramendra Nath argues that Gita too teaches every caste to do their
Dharma. Certainly if in these "enlightened" times a soldier like
Arjuna would refuse to fight on the battlefield when the war has
begun, the government would punish him and he would be called
"deserter" and "traitor." Again Shankar is pointed out as supporting
the caste-system. This is essentially true. But why does Mr. Ramendra
Nath slight the entire Bhakti and Tantric traditions in both North and
south India? Did not the practitioners of these traditions, many of
them Brahmins themselves, try to do away with caste? In such
movements, outcaste teachers and Brahmin students were common.
III
Next, Mr. Ramendra Nath--like many others--attacks Manusamhita. What
all these critics do is to imply that the entire book was written by
one man. Yet research has proved that many verses were added to the
main text throughout later ages and other verses left out or edited to
bring it in line with contemporary thought. (The interested reader can
look up the works of G. Buhler, P. V. Kane, and Max Muller.) The
result is that it is cris-crossed with contradictions.
Now let us take a close look at the book. Each of the verses he quotes
declaring the inferiority of Shudras and dominance of Brahmins, do
exist. Yet he also skips verses that directly contradict those verses.
"If a woman or lower (Shudra and younger) person performs goodly
ceremonies [holy or good works], then the Brahmachari must join them
with enthusiasm" (2:223). "The Shudra who devoid of jealousy engages
himself in honest work receives honour in this life and heaven in the
next" (10:128). (Of course another verse has been added immediately
after saying that Shudras cannot accumulate wealth because a rich
Shudra might despise Brahmins.) "A wife, jewels, knowledge, dharma
[religion/duty], rules of purity, good advice, vocational skills, can
be received by everyone from everyone else [irrespective of caste or
family]" (2:240). "A devout person can [I use 'can', but it is
actually in the imperative mood] accept even the best knowledge from
Shudras; accept ultimate truth from outcastes like chandalas; an
excellent wife even from low families" (2:238). Nothing can be more
amusing for a social historian than to see how Medhatithi, a Brahmin
commentator (c. A.D. 900) tries to explain away this verse. He argues
that "shubham [holy, best, pure] vidya [knowledge]" refers to logic,
magic formulas and singing and dancing. Similarly "param [ultimate,
best] dharma" is redefined as knowledge of local geography and
customs. Never mind that Mahabharata also defines--on the basis of
Manu--'param dharma' as knowledge of moksha/liberation which can be
acquired from anybody. Medhatiti's argument is that since low castes
are not eligible for religious knowledge they cannot teach anything.
Obviously the upper castes were anxiously trying to impose hegemony
over lower castes. Again, the verse stating that "he [the Brahmin] who
studies from a Shudra teacher or teaches a Shudra student" cannot
officiate in funeral ceremonies (3:156) offers evidence that Shudras
were teachers, a fact that the Brahmins wished to change. The rules
and later condemnations regarding marriages between castes offer proof
that for a long time it had not hardened.
Incidentally, may I ask how the terrible punishments inflicted on
Shudras can be reconciled with marriages between castes, both anuloma
and pratiloma, division of property among children born of such
'miscegenation,' rule that in distress a Brahmin might serve a Shudra
as a servant, or that a Brahmin householder must feed his Shudra
servants first, if he has any? There is a distinction between what
some men would like society to be and the social reality. For example,
Louis Dumont observed that power did not automatically reside in the
hands of any specific community. The caste that actually owned land in
a region enjoyed actual power; in many cases such power and property
lay in the hands of the Shudras. Though the Brahmins were the priests
they were actually dependant on the Shudras for their favour. Surely
Mr. Ramendra Nath knows that there are thousands of Brahmin families
whose only means of subsistence is being priests of low-caste
families?
Like Mr. Ramendra Nath, I too cannot help it that an objective reading
exposes how the caste system degenerated. He accuses that
untouchability and allowing men of one caste to become priests alone
is peculiar to Hinduism. But apartheid was peculiar to the rational
democratic white Christian races, as was the Holocaust peculiar to the
industrialized Nazi Germany. In neither case had it been claimed that
these two factors represent the sole face of Western culture. So once
again, why is varna-vavyastha presented as proof that Hinduism is
intrinsically evil, instead of realizing that untouchability is simply
the result of human love of power and not integral to Hinduism itself?
Now we come to women. Yes, Manusamhita does have these verses that
paint women as evil and deny them any freedom. But again we see how
other verses, remnants of earlier times, paint a different picture.
There is a whole portion called naribandana (Praise of women) where it
is insisted (3:55-62) that only a house where women are respected and
made happy is favoured by the gods and that--where women are treated
badly--all worship and ceremonies are in vain. There are verses such
as, "Mother is a thousand times holier [can also be read as worthy of
obedience] than the father" (2:145). "It is better that a daughter
should live at home till death rather than be given to an unworthy
husband; After menstruation, a girl should wait for three years and
then choose her own husband; If a girl at proper time should select a
husband herself, then she is not to be blamed" (9:89-91). "Any
relative [including a husband] who uses stridhan [lit. property of
woman which is both liquid cash and land, here a wife's], vehicles and
animals given for the wife to ride or a wife's clothes [and ornaments]
for himself, is a sinner who falls [into hell]" (3:52). I can give
other verses as examples.
Again Mr. Ramendra Nath charges that a widow cannot marry. Nothing
arouses my ire more than this statement. An illiterate villager might
be forgiven for believing this since this is the reality in many
places, but an educated Hindu would know better. These verses, of a
later origin, hold out inducements to widows not to remarry--such a
course would hardly have been necessary if widows never remarried.
"The woman who abandoned by her husband or left a widow marries of her
free will another man, is punurbhu and the son of such a union is
called pounorbhava"; "If a wife who is still a virgin, or a wife who
has left her husband to consort with another man returns to her
husband's home, then [another] ceremony of marriage can take
place" (9:195-196). Insistence in numerous verses that a Brahmin who
is a second husband or son of a woman's second marriage should not be
allowed to perform religious ceremonies merely prove that remarriages
were frequent. "While the mother is alive, if there is a dispute
between the son of the [first] husband and between a pournorbhava or a
golok (bastard born after the husband's death) regarding property,
then each son will receive the property that belongs to his biological
father" (9:191). "If the husband goes to foreign lands for holy
purposes, the wife will wait for 8 years; if he goes to study or earn
fame she will wait for 6 years; if he goes for pleasure then she will
wait for three years--after that she will marry again [alternative
explanation, she will go away somewhere else to support herself" (9:
76). Moreover the commentator Madhavacharya declares, "Manu has
ordained, if the husband is missing, dead, has become an ascetic,
impotent, or outcast, then the second marriage of woman is lawful
according to the shastras." Again this verse is present in
Naradasmriti, which is stated to be a collection of more important
verses of Manu. Not so surprisingly, this verse cannot be found in the
relatively modern edition of Manu we have today. Ramendra Nath is
strangely ignorant of history of his own country if he does not know
that Vidyasagar persuaded the British authorities to pass the widow-
remarriage bill by proving that it is enjoined in the shastras.
Mr. Ramendra Nath also gets excited while heaping scorn on the notion
that Hinduism is tolerant. Perhaps it has escaped his attention that
Hinduism is considered not tolerant socially as such, but from the
religious point of view. It is a religion that does not declare that
it has the sole monopoly on truth nor does it try to impose its gods
on other cultures by force. That is what is defined as religious
tolerance. Manusamhita certainly has many harsh things to say about
nastikas, but they are limited to denunciations. What did Hindus, Mr.
Ramendra Nath, actually do to disbelievers in this physical life?
Usually nothing. Buddha lived and preached peacefully. So did
Mahavira. The worst that some of them suffered was ostracism. But as
Ramendra Nath himself acknowledges (4:30), though rationalists and
freethinkers are not to be treated respectfully, they can be given
food, according to Manusamhita. For some reason Mr. Ramendra Nath
seems to think that a devout believer in God and afterlife should
welcome a disbeliever worshipfully (arcchana) as proof of his humane
attitude, yet in the same breath he denies that there is any human
value attached to the injunction that even hellbound disbeliveers are
to be fed. Considering the way Semitic religions have dealt with
unbelievers and apostates in the past (and do so even today), indeed
"such is the generosity of Hindu dharma."
Above all I find Mr. Ramendra Nath's focus on Manusamhita puzzling.
The British in an attempt to codify law focused exclusively on
Manusamhita. But why should an educated Hindu do so? There are
nineteen other dharmashastras all held to be of equal importance. He
ignores Arthashastra, the secular manual for Hindu kingdoms. He
ignores that every region had its own particular laws and every
community in it had its own set of customs which even the king was
forbidden to override. He ignores that often in villages--even today--
the shastras are only a hallowed name; if they routinely consult any
texts, those are the Ramayana and Mahabharata and often the two epics
are retold differently to suit that particular region. Unlike the
Bible, there is no text that forms the basis of Hindu law. The simple
result is that society varied from place to place and age to age. Yes,
class-system based on birth is wrong. Yes, the ugly face of caste is
encountered daily in many places in India. But the picture he presents
is one of absolute stratification, with the cruel Brahmins trampling
down the helpless Shudras for thousands of years. This picture is very
biased. In the first place, the Brahmins are not like the clergy of
church; only a certain percentage actually enjoys real power and
wealth. Secondly, from reading Mr. Ramendra Nath's article, no one
would have any idea of the low-caste royal dynasties like Mundas,
Chandellas, Nandas, Gurjjaras, Senas, the rule of the Lingyat
community, the rise of the Alvars, or the elevation of Reddies and
Jats to the warrior caste. Shivaji was a Shudra landowner who dreamt
of creating a Hindu empire (with all that it implies to him) and
brought the Mughal empire to its knees; he kept Brahmin ministers. A
1345 inscription of Reddi kings read, "With death of Ksathriyas [by
the Muslims], duty of defending cows and Brahmins fell to Shudras." It
was the Shudras who drove away the Muslim invaders and reestablished
Brahmanical educational institutes. If the Shudras, treated as Mr.
Ramendra Nath assumes followers of Manu treated them, say and do this
after gaining power (and when the Brahmins were at their nadir), then
obviously the Brahmins are a superior race who deserve to rule over a
spineless inferior caste.
IV
Just as Mr. Ramendra Nath concentrates on Manusamhita alone among the
dharmashastras, so too he concentrates on Gandhi alone. Apparently
Gandhi is to be taken as the representative of Hindu society at large.
Gandhi had supported varnashrama. But Gandhi had also said, (The
Collected Work of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. LXII, p. 121).
"I believe in varnashrama of the Vedas, which in my opinion is based
on absolute equality of status notwithstanding passages to the
contrary in the smritis and elsewhere."
"Every word of the printed works passing muster as `Shastras' is not,
in my opinion, a revelation."
"The interpretation of accepted texts has undergone evolution and is
capable of indefinite evolution, even as the human intellect and heart
are."
"Nothing in the shastras which is manifestly contrary to universal
truths and morals can stand."
"Nothing in the shastras which is capable of being reasoned can stand
if it is in conflict with reason."
Again, Vivekananda the monk came from a conservative family of the
nineteenth century and fiercely advocated doing away with
untouchability. He even declared that doing social service is more
important than worshipping God, because the former is true worship.
Rabindranath Tagore's family was orthodox and he himself was very
devout; yet he declared that though the caste-system has become
integral to Hindu society it must be done away with. There were as
many Hindus who attacked the caste-system as those who tried to defend
it. Similarly, the Shankaracharya of Puri recently declared that women
have no right to learn Sanskrit or read Vedas. The head priest at
Jagganath temple, on the other hand, has started training women
priests--yet both are pious Hindus. Why then is there the assumption
that all believing Hindus are retrograde?
Mr. Ramendra Nath grieves that the upper castes are not reconciled to
losing their power. That generalization is too sweeping. Some are not,
but the present generation has grown up accepting it. There is still
resistance, but is there any reason to think that the situation will
not improve? Even in England, full-fledged democracy did not spring up
miraculously with Magna Carta. The very fact he is able to write an
article such as this and post it on the Internet is proof that Hindu
society has undergone a sea-change. Again in speaking of agitations
against reservation policy for untouchables, he does not give the full
picture. Major factors in that agitation had been economics and
competence. Many untouchables have become rich by means of affirmative
policies and government aid. There is a substantial body of
untouchables and lowcastes who have now become middle-class and many
who have become legislators. However, they insist on their children
enjoying the same advantages they had enjoyed. But if they have become
rich, is it not unfair for their children to take advantage of the
policies meant for their poorer brethren? Again, why in reverse
discrimination shall the desperately poor of other castes be deprived
of government help and seats in educational institutions while those
who have become rich demand more advantages and money? This has led to
the extremely ridiculous situation of uppercaste people changing their
surnames by deed-poll and bribing officials to declare them
untouchables. More, those who have made it to the top now hog every
post and then lobby to pass laws for their own advantage so that the
benefits no longer trickle down to those who really need them.
Recently, members of the Dalit educated community themselves said that
the reservation policy is not working; a political party based on
backward votes immediately expelled those members who had dared to
utter such heresy. That is why those who agitated against widening of
the affirmative net were students--it is their future that is being
jeopardized in the name of social justice. The people of India wish
for a fairer affirmative policy--one that is based on poverty; the
poor alone should get preferential treatment.
About moksha, karma and avatarvada I have nothing to say on rational
grounds. However once again, it appears that the two Hindu epics need
defending on moral grounds. Rama is an avatar, but nowhere it is said
that all his behaviour is perfect. In particular, Mr. Ramendra Nath
singles out his notorious treatment of Sita--he makes her undergo
ordeal by fire to prove her purity. But what also needs recapitulating
is how the 'higher authorities,' so to speak, react to this. The soul
of Dasaratha, father of Rama, descends from heaven and begs Sita, "Do
not be angry; forgive my son for having abandoned you" (Yuddhyakandya,
120). More importantly Brahma appears and gives a long speech. The
gist of it is that since Rama is lord of all, why is he ignoring this
terrible event? He is God, so why he is meting out injustice to Sita?
(Yuddhykandya, 118). Rama's answer is that he knows himself only to be
a man, not a god. Since the Creator himself declares Rama's deed is a
sin, I do not see why the ordinary Hindu would face a moral dilemma
here and go on insisting Rama did no wrong. The case is the same with
Krishna. Many explanations have been given for his behaviour, but all
of them have one thing in common--it is acknowledged that he did wrong
and human beings must not follow his ways. Most telling is the
evidence of Mahabharata itself. After the war is over, Gandhari--the
only perfectly virtuous human--curses Krishna for the evils he had
committed; as her relatives and friends had been destroyed
[deceitfully by Krishna's advice], so too Krishna's family would be
destroyed and he himself will die a horrible death (Striparva, 25).
The curse comes true. Dharma or moral law of the universe would not
allow it to be otherwise. In other words God incarnate is accountable
to man--even an avatar must be punished.
Mr. Ramendra Nath also simply omits all positive aspects of Hinduism.
He makes no mention of the philosophies, logic systems, mathematical
contributions, music, temples, poetry, teachers and reformers, or the
heroes and heroines in myth and history. He simply makes no attempt to
explain the Hindu world-view or dharma (in the secular sense). Nor
does he give a full picture of Hindu history. Anyone reading his
article would get the impression that no decent man can call himself a
Hindu. (On the other hand I too can quote only favourable verses and
examples and give the impression that Hinduism is flawless.)
If Mr. Ramendra Nath had rejected Hinduism on rational grounds, then
this answer need not have been written. If he had balanced the good,
the bad and the ugly and then declared, "You have been judged and
found wanting", again this present article would not have a leg to
stand on. Let me repeat, it is the one-sided picture of Hindu culture
that I protest.
It is only right that a culture's worst excesses be condemned, but it
is only equitable that its highest ideals and what it has achieved
also be considered. By writing in such a superficial manner, he denies
a Hindu any pride in his heritage. Mr. Ramendra Nath would not allow
anyone to admire Rama as a human being, nor Yuddhisthira or Gandhari;
enjoy the philosophy and symbolism; be proud of either high caste or
low caste leaders and teachers, or of reformers who came from Hindu
society itself--or even how Buddhism, Jainism, Zorastrianism and
Judaism have been protected by the Hindu community. Above all, he
makes it seem as if reform and Hinduism are inherently incompatible.
Gandhi said, "My belief in the Hindu scriptures does not require me to
accept every word and every verse as divinely inspired .... I decline
to be bound by any interpretation, however learned it may be, if it is
repugnant to reason or moral sense" (The Collected Work of Mahatma
Gandhi, The Publication Division, Government of India, Vol. XXI, p.
246). Yet Gandhi was only following Hindu law. Every shastra and epic
states that no age is identical to other ages, therefore the law of
every age must be different. Dharma changes from age to age depending
on circumstances. It is this that has allowed Hinduism to withstand
ravages or war and time, constantly remoulding itself to survive.
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/a_hindu_woman/answertohindu.html
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Ganesha Demolition – Symbolic Act of Hatred
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Combating Defamation of Religion
By Vinod Kumar, on 27-03-2009 12:12
Published in : Vinod Kumar, Column - Vinod Kumar
On November 24, 2008 - By a vote of 85 to 50, with 42 abstaining, the
UN General Assembly, Geneva adopted a draft resolutionm [ref -
http://www.unwatch.org/atf/cf/%7B6DEB65DA-BE5B-4CAE-8056-8BF0BEDF4D17%7D/DEFAMATION2008UNGA.PDF
] calling on all countries to alter their legal and constitutional
systems to prevent "defamation of religions," asserting that "Islam is
frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and
terrorism." Among other things, the resolution "urges states to take
actions to prohibit the dissemination ... of racist and xenophobic
ideas" and material that would incite to religious hatred. It also
urges states to adopt laws that would protect against hatred and
discrimination stemming from religious defamation.
The resolution puts Islam and some of the more controversial practices
associated with it beyond censure. The OIC (The Organization of
Islamic Conference) says that Muslims in Western countries have,
especially since 9/11, faced stereotyping, hostility, discriminatory
treatment and the denigration of “the most sacred symbols of Islam.”
The organization cites cases like newspaper cartoons caricaturing
Mohammed, and a Dutch lawmaker’s documentary released earlier this
year, linking the Koran to terrorism.
India, as one of the countries to abstain, said the text addressed the
problem insufficiently from a narrow perspective because it focused on
one religion. Western countries specially the US and France "This is
just the latest shot in an intensifying campaign of UN resolutions
that dangerously seek to import Islamic anti-blasphemy prohibitions
into the discourse of international human rights law," said Hillel
Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, an independent human rights
monitoring group in Geneva. The resolution puts the human rights and
freedom of speech and expression movement that has been the foundation
of progress in the West and thus the world back by several centuries.
It is evident that the resolution was supported or opposed on
emotional and political grounds.
Even if one was to go with the resolution, it fails to address a very
fundamental issue it wants to resolve. What is to be done if a
religion itself defames or insults other religion(s)? What if a
religion itself disseminates “xenophobic ideas” and contains “material
that would incite religious hatred.” while deploring hate speech,
felt strongly that people should be free to express their opinions in
challenging any ideology of hate. Human rights are indivisible and the
right to freedom of expression was at the essence of the right to
thought, conscience and belief.
The resolution is shortsighted and Islam centric and does nothing to
combat defamation of religions per se. Not only it takes human
civilization backwards, it will come to haunt the countries that
supported it. For a healthy and progressive society, all ideologies
should be open for open and constructive discussion.
http://voi.org/2009032799/vinodkumar/column-vinodkumar/combatingdefamationofreligion.html
Jinnah and Two Nation Theory
By Vinod Kumar, on 05-09-2009 23:30
Jaswant Singh by his book, Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence has
become kind of a folk hero in Pakistan and a darling of the
secularattii in India. No doubt, with this book, he has secured his
financial future, if he needed one, as one report from Pakistan says
‘they will be ordering the book by the millions.'
One of the main thrusts of his book is that Jinnah was not the "demon"
he is made out to be in India and that he was a secular Indian
nationalist and did not really want Pakistan. The demand for Pakistan
was just a strategy to seek more concessions and safeguards for the
Muslims in united India. Partition could have been avoided had Nehru
and Patel agreed for a federal decentralized India instead of a
centralized one. He casts Nehru and Patel as the villains for
conceding partition.
Whether partition was a good thing or bad and should one be demonized
or idolized for it depends on what side you are. Let us also for the
moment forget about Jinnah's secular and Indian nationalist
credentials as these are hardly his legacies. Jinnah's legacy is the
State of Pakistan. In this article let us focus on what caused
partition? Who was the real author of Two Nation theory - Hindus and
Muslims are two separate nations.
After his return from England, Jinnah worked ceaselessly and zealously
for the creation of Pakistan. An accomplished lawyer that he was, he
eloquently and very convincingly spelled out why was partition
necessary in his famous Presidential address to Muslim League
Convention at Lahore in March 1940 and in many other speeches,
interviews and writings. He said there never was any common ground
between the Muslims and the Hindus or desire on the part of Muslims to
live as equal with Hindus whom they had ruled for centuries. Hinduism
and Islam are two different and distinct social orders. It is only a
dream that the two can ever evolve a common nationality. "The hero of
one is the foe of the other. There is nothing that binds them
together." Enumerating all the differences between the two, he went on
to say that "to yoke two such nations under a single State must lead
to growing discontent and final destruction of any fabric that may be
so built up for the government of such a state." (India's Partition -
Process, Strategy and Mobilization, edited By Mushirul Hasan, Delhi,
1998, pp.56)
Jinnah stressed there was never one India and Hindus and Muslims had
never lived as one unit. History is testimony that last twelve hundred
years have failed to achieve unity and during the ages "India was
always divided into Hindu India and Muslim India. ... The present
artificial unity of India dates back only to British conquest and is
maintained by the British bayonet" -- he went on to say.
Last update : 05-09-2009 15:53
http://voi.org/20090905227/vinodkumar/column-vinodkumar/jinnahandtwonationtheory.html
Prof. Vijay Prashad and Hindu Holocaust Museum
By Vinod Kumar, on 26-09-2009 23:30
Prof. Vijay Prashad in his article Hindu Holocaust (News India Times,
Sept. 25, 2009) about Francois Gautier's fund raiser on August 16,
2009 in New Jersey for a Hindu Holocaust Museum in Pune, India has
made many assertions and statements which have no evidence in
contemporary or even subsequent recorded history. To keep the response
reasonable length let me address a few of the issues covered by him
and let the readers make their own judgment.
Prof. Vijay Prashad in his article Hindu holocaust (News India Times,
Sept. 25, 2009) about Francois Gautier's fund raiser on August 16,
2009 in New Jersey for a Hindu Holocaust Museum in Pune, India has
made many assertions and statements which have no evidence in
contemporary or even subsequent recorded history. To keep the response
reasonable length let me address a few of the issues covered by him
and let the readers make their own judgement.
Prof. Prashad wrote, and I quote the entire paragraph:
"Between Hindus and Muslims there has not been an endless rivalry for
social power. When Islam enters the subcontinent, it does not come in
the saddlebags of the Ghaznis or the Ghouris, but amongst the rumble
of goods brought by traders. Early conversions are not by the sword
but by the merchants . There was killing, but that was as much for
reasons of warfare and plunder as for reasons of God and tradition. An
interested reader might want to look at the distinguished historian
Romila Thapar's superb book "Somnatha: The Many Voices of a
History" (Penguin, 2005). There, Professor Thapar shows us that Mahmud
Ghazni's destruction of the Shiva temple in 1026 was driven not so
much by a fanatical religious belief but because his father,
Subuktigin, needed money to sustain his faltering kingdom in Central
Asia. Now it is certainly true, as historian Mohammed Habib put it,
that there was "wanton destruction of temples that followed in the
wake of the Ghaznavid army."
Actually this paragraph covers the gist of his arguments.
Let us discuss these one by one.
•1. No social rivalry between Hindus and Muslims:
To the contrary there never was any equivalence between the two ever
after the Muslims started invading India. In all Muslim chronicles,
almost without exception, Hindus are referred to as infidels - a
derogatory term in Islam.
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, a very prominent Muslim leader in the nineteenth
century asked Muslims to support British Raj as opposed to free India
where, by default, Hindus being majority would have an upper hand.
For Muslim scholars for Muslims to live under the Hindus was
unacceptable.
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (the originator of two nation theory) had said in
1888, as quoted by Sir Penderel Moon on page 11 of his tome, 'Divide
and Quit'. India, he said, is a country"inhabited by two different
nations" and there would necessarily be a struggle for power between
them, if the English were to leave India. "Is it possible, he had
asked, "that under these circumstances two nations - the Mohammedan
and Hindu - could sit on the same throne and remain equal in power?
Most certainly not. It is necessary that one of them should conquer
the other and thrust it down. To hope that both could remain equal is
to desire the impossible and the inconceivable."
On the issue of Hindu Muslim relations, no body could have put it
better than what Jinnah articulated in his famous Presidential address
to Muslim League conference in Lahore in 1940.
He said there never was any common ground between the Muslims and the
Hindus or desire on the part of Muslims to live as equal with Hindus
whom they had ruled for centuries. Hinduism and Islam are two
different and distinct social orders. It is only a dream that the two
can ever evolve a common nationality. "The hero of one is the foe of
the other. There is nothing that binds them together." Enumerating all
the differences between the two, he went on to say that "to yoke two
such nations under a single State must lead to growing discontent and
final destruction of any fabric that may be so built up for the
government of such a state." (India's Partition - Process, Strategy
and Mobilization, edited By Mushirul Hasan, Delhi, 1998, pp.56)
Jinnah stressed there was never one India and Hindus and Muslims had
never lived as one unit. History is testimony that last twelve hundred
years have failed to achieve unity and during the ages "India was
always divided into Hindu India and Muslim India. ... The present
artificial unity of India dates back only to British conquest and is
maintained by the British bayonet" -- he went on to say. (ibid. pp.
56)
Even Alberuni, thousand years ago, when there was not much Muslim
presence in India, could see there was no common ground between Hindus
and Muslims. He starts his book by discussing the differences between
the Hindus and the Muslims. He enumerates these differences at length
throughout the book. Warning his readers he wrote "the readers must
bear in mind that the Hindus entirely differ from us in every
respect...... The barriers which separate Muslims and Hindus rest on
different causes." ((Sachau EC, Alebruni's India, New Delhi, 1993, pp.
17 - 26)
Dr. Ambedkar in his books and frequent writings had alluded to
Muslim's macabre hostility against Hindus. He highlighted the fact
that the word 'but' used by Muslims to refer to any idol was a corrupt
form of "Budh" because there were hundreds of statues of Buddha in
Afghanistan and across the Middle East which were the first target of
iconoclast of Islam. That explains the use of the term 'but-shikan' by
Ghazanavi, Ghauri and other invaders. The destruction and pillage of
the famous Buddhist Seminary and University of Nalanda is another
example of the grossness of the wanton damage caused by Muslim
invaders.
Ethnic cleansing of Hindus by Muslims has continued even in recent
history, both in Pakistan and Bangladesh - even in Kashmir. In that
sense there has been a renewal of Hindu Holocaust. In Pakistan the
Hindu /Sikh population has plummeted from 23% in 1947 to less than 2%
today. In Bangladesh, it has dwindled from 35% to 8% during the same
period. During the same period Muslims have multiplied fast in India.
And the shame of Hindus having been ethnically cleansed from Kashmir
Valley, an important part of our bogus secular state, still torments
Hindu hearts!.
In fact, throughout history Islam has always used 'gross savagery' and
open recourse to terrorism as force multipliers e.g. building towers
of the heads of hapless Hindus beheaded by Muslim invaders of which
accounts are there in history books written by Muslim chroniclers.
(Baburnama, Delhi, 1998, pp. 573, 576 - to cite one example) And the
use of terror and savagery continues with renewed vigor even today.
The most morbid example of savagery in recent times was the beheading
by Ilyas Kashmiri (a commander of Pak-sponsored terror group) of an
injured Indian army officer (after capturing him on February 26,
2000). Ilyas Kashmiri went back to Pakistan with the head of the
hapless Indian army officer and presented it to top officers of Pak
army. Gen. Musharraf had given a cash reward of Rs. 1 lakh. Pictures
of Ilyas Kashmiri holding the head of the Indian officer were
published in Pakistani newspapers. Maulana Zahoor Ahmed Alvi of Jamia
Muhammadia, Islamabad, even issued a fatwa supporting slitting the
throats of Indian army officers in a similar manner [Source: News
item, 'Musharraf rewarded militant who killed Indian', (Indian Express
New Delhi, September 21, 2009, page 4).
Can Prof. Vijay Prashad deny these irrefutable facts?
•2. Islam came with Muslim traders:
Yes, in India there were traders from Arabia long before Islam was
born. These traders by virtue of their being Arabs, became Muslims
when Arabia became Islamic in the seventh century. Thus, one can say
Islam came to India with the traders. Yes, during the trading period,
there was no animosity against the Muslims or Islam. When did this
animosity begin? It was discussed by Alberuni a thousand years ago in
his famous ‘Indica' which we shall cover later. Not that there was any
resistance against but there were no conversions to Islam among the
general population to speak of. Initially Arabs, and later on Muslim,
traders married local women. Even Arab records show that India (read
Hindu) kings gave Muslims land to build their mosques and preach their
new religion. However, it might be mentioned that there is no evidence
of reciprocity of giving lands to Hindus or other religions in Arabia
after the birth of Islam. To the contrary, Prophet Muhammad's one of
the last three wishes/instructions to Muslims was to "expel all pagans
from the Arabian Peninsula." (Sahih Bukhari, New Delhi, vol. 4, p.
260, Chapter H 393)
What caused the animosity between Hindus and Muslims?
In the very first chapter of his book, Indica, Alberuni discusses the
differences between Hindus and Muslims, as written above. Alberuni
observes some of the reasons of Hindus' repugnance of Muslims are
complete banishment of Buddhists from countries, from Khurasan,
Persis, Irak, Mosul and Syria, first by Zoroastrians and then by
Islam. And then Muhammad ibn Kasim entered India proper, conquered the
cities of Bahmanwa and Multan and went as far as Kannauj - "all these
events planted a deeply rooted hatred in their hearts." (Sachau EC,
Alebruni's India, New Delhi, 1993, pp. 20-21)
Then he talks of Mahmud Ghaznavi: Sabuktagin weakened the borders of
India and afterwards his son Mahmud marched into India during a period
of thirty years and more. Mahmud utterly ruined the prosperity of
India and performed those wonderful exploits (emphasis mine), by which
the Hindus became like atoms of dust scattered in all directions, and
like a tale of old in the mouth of the people." Alberuni says "their
scattered remains cherish, of course, the most inveterate aversion
towards all Muslims." (ibid, pp. 22)
These are not even the tips of the proverbial iceberg, to understand
what was done to Hindu by Muslim invaders and then rulers. One has to
read the entire history recorded by the Muslim invaders and rulers and
other Muslim chroniclers to understand its full impact. After each
invasion, the survivors were offered conversion to Islam or death and
many converted. If circumstances allowed, many converted back to their
original faith. All through Muslim rule starting from bin Kasim, with
a few exceptions, Jiziya was imposed on non-Muslim subjects the burden
of which fell the heaviest on the poor. This, at times, led to mass
conversions of the entire castes. Islam might have come with the
traders but it did not result in any conversions to Islam. It were the
invasions and subsequent Muslim rule which did.
Politically motivated opinions that have no basis in recorded history
or wishful thinking that reflect how the things should have been, in
their flight of fancy imagination, is not history. It is, at best,
sheer fiction. Sadly, Prof. Vijay Prashad's characterization of Hindu
Muslim relations fall in this category. History is what actually
happened; fiction has no place in it.
•3. Reasons for temple demolition:
Prof. Prashad quotes Professor Thapar showing us that Mahmud Ghazni's
destruction of the Shiva temple in 1026 was driven not so much by a
fanatical religious belief but because his father, Subuktigin, needed
money to sustain his faltering kingdom in Central Asia.
It is unimaginable that Sabuktagin would have a kingdom in Central
Asia in 1926 after he died at Toormooz on his way to Ghizny from Balkh
in Shaban AH 387 (August AD 997).
In history of Islam Mahmud enjoys a very high position. He was given
the titles of Ameen-ul-Millat, defender of the faith and Yameen-ud-
Daulat, the right hand of the state by the Caliph of Baghdad - the
titles which had so far not been bestowed on any prince far or near,
notwithstanding their intense desire to receive such an honor. (Tarikh
Yamini, The History of India as Told by its own historians, Vol. 2,
New Delhi, 1996, pp. 24)
The plunders of Mahmud are legendary. When he displayed his loot from
India, he was declared "the richest monarch ever in history".
It is often said he was interested only in plunder and he was not much
of a religious person. Neither his record nor his Muslim chroniclers
agree with this characterization. From all contemporary records the
only inference one can draw is that he was a zealot Muslim and is so
regarded by Muslim scholars. As accepted even by Prof. Thapar and
quoted by Prof. Prashad that he plundered Somnath temple - but
actually the plunder and destruction of Somnath temple was of
relatively small scale in relation to other temples and places he
plundered and destroyed.
The case in point is the temple at Mathura. Mahmud was enchanted by
the grandeur of this temple. Utbi, secretary of Mahmud, in his Tarikh
Yamini described it as:
"The Sultan next directed his attacks against the sacred city of
Mathura. The city was surrounded by a massive stone wall, in which
were two lofty gates opening on to the river. There were magnificent
temples all over the city and the largest of them all stood in the
center of it. The Sultan was very much struck by its grandeur. In his
estimate it cost not less than 100,000,000 red dinars, and even the
most skillful of masons must have taken 200 years to complete it.
Among the large number of idols in the temples, five were made of pure
gold, the eyes of one of them were laid with two rubies worth 100,000
dinars, and another had a sapphire of a very heavy weight. All these
five idols yielded gold weighing 98,300 mishkals. The idols made of
silver numbered 200....... He seized all the gold and silver idols
and ordered his soldiers to burn all the temples to the ground. The
idols in them were deliberately broken into pieces. The city was
pillaged for 20 days, and a large number of buildings were reduced to
ashes." (Tarikh Yamini, The History of India as Told by its own
historians, vol 2, New Delhi, 1996, pp. 44)
Mahmud Ghaznavi invaded India at least sixteen times and each time he
left a trail of tears, human suffering and devastation. The tale of
his invasions as recorded by his secretary Utbi is blood curdling.
This is how Utbi describes one scene and this is not, by any means,
an isolated example:
"Many infidels were consequently slain or taken prisoner in this
sudden attack, and the Muslamans paid no regard to the booty till they
had satiated themselves with the slaughter of the infidels and
worshippers of sun and fire. The friends of God searched the bodies of
the slain for three whole days, in order to obtain booty." (ibid. pp.
49) The search for booty was secondary to killing.
Another place Utbi writes: "The blood of the infidels flowed so
copiously, that the stream was discoloured, notwithstanding its
purity, and people were unable to drink it." (ibid. pp. 40)
I can understand Mahmud's penchant for wealth. Many people have
insatiable thirst for wealth. Prof. Prashad might ask himself what
would drive a man to reduce to ashes such a marvelous structure and
break the idols to pieces if he was only interested in wealth? And
killing on such a large scale and so brutally?
Mahmud not only plundered and destroyed the Somnath temple, he ordered
the upper part of the idol to be broken and the remainder to be
transported to his residence, Ghazni, with all its trappings of gold,
jewels, and embroidered garments. Part of it has been thrown into the
hippodrome of the town, together with the Chakrasvamin, an idol of
bronze, that had been brought from Thanesar. Another part of the idol
from Somnath lies before the door of the mosque of Ghaznin, on which
people rub their feet to clean them from dirt and wet." (Sachau EC,
Alebruni's India, New Delhi, 1993, part II, pp. 103)
One would ask Prof. Thapar if the purpose of Mahmud's plunder of
Somnath was "driven not so much by a fanatical religious belief but
because his father, Subuktigin, needed money to sustain his faltering
kingdom in Central Asia" why would he spend it in transporting broken
pieces all the way from Somnath to Ghazni?
Prof. Prashad quotes Prof. Habib who admits that there was "wanton
destruction of temples that followed in the wake of the Ghaznavid
army." I am not surprised by it. Muslims historians are more open and
honest about the Muslim rule in India and its depredations than their
Hindu compatriots - the very Hindus who were at the receiving end for
centuries. I wonder if Stockholm syndrome has anything to do with it!
Coming back to our subject, temple destruction did not end with Mahmud
- it was just the beginning. These continued all the way till
Aurangzeb - the last great Mughal emperor. We will not go into those
details in this article.
Even today, the demolition of Bamiyan Buddha statues is a stark
reminder of what drove Muslim invaders of India to demolish Hindu
temples? There was no wealth hidden in Bamiyan Buddhas that the world
knows of.
In this so far we have covered only a very small part of Prof.
Prashad's article and not even scratched the surface of what Hindus
had gone through Islamic rule. Will Durant has called the Muslim
conquest of India the bloodiest story in history. The extent of
destruction of Hindu temples and massacres is beyond all human
imagination and a museum to their memory would be a just reminder to
all humanity of what might happen if one is not prepared to learn the
lessons from the past.
In the beginning of the article, Prof. Prashad wrote: "They claim that
over the past thousand years, millions of Hindus were killed, with the
intention to wipe Hindus off the map." Actually this is a very mild
statement and does not even come close to state the facts. According
to some estimates Hindus killed by Muslims over the centuries is about
80 million and the number of temples demolished into tens of
thousands. Timur Lang's massacre of 100,000 helpless Hindu prisoners
in one day by hands has no parallel in world history. (Malfuzat-e-
Timuri, History of India as told by its own historians, vol. III,
Delhi, 1996, pp. 436)
•4. Hindu Holocaust Museum:
Prof. Prashad also wrote: "The idea of the Hindu Holocaust casts the
Hindu as history's victim, who should now become history's aggressor
to avenge the past." It is evident that Prof. Prashad is drawing his
own conclusions without any evidence or basis. Making a museum to
portray the atrocities suffered by the Hindus in the past does not
imply they want to become "history's aggressors to avenge the past."
Jews have built Jewish Holocaust museums, are they avenging the past?
There are Black history museums all over the US. This does not mean
that these are meant to enslave the Whites "to avenge the past". A
museum is to remind the future generations of what happened - to
reflect the good and the bad; the pride and the shame. All countries
have museums. Actually it would have been only fair that such an idea
had come from the Muslims to show their disapproval of what their
ancestors had done to humanity for the sake of Islam. But that did not
happen and is not likely to happen either. If not the Muslims, then
this idea of Hindu Holocaust Museum should have come from liberal
progressive elite of independent India.
It is not surprising that Francois Gautier who is leading the movement
for a Hindu Holocaust museum is a Frenchman. He is the living legacy
of French progressive liberalism that waged the struggle against
religious fanaticism in the eighteenth century. Instead of making
light of Gautier's work, the liberal progressive elite worldwide
should join forces with him in exposing the depredations caused by
religious fanatics in India. Let India be the starting point and then
continue work elsewhere.
Prof. Prashad would do a great service if instead of spending his
valuable time and energy in criticizing Francois Gautier, he was
investigating what drove some people, in today's day and age, to
demolish two thousand years old Bamiyan Buddhas - a work of art and
human endeavor.
A sad reminder that the days of demolition of infidel idols are not
over yet.
Copyright: Vinod Kumar
September 25, 2009
Sri Sri and Jihad
The Times of India recently conducted a discussion between Islamic
scholar and peace activist Maulana Wahiduddin Khan and Hindu spiritual
leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on the issue of Jihad in the Quran and
Bhagvadgita. The discussion was moderated by Narayani Ganesh, a well
known Columnist.
Right at the beginning Maulana Wahiduddin started with "Let's discuss
the misunderstanding of the term jihad. Jihad is an Arabic word that
has neither a mysterious meaning nor relation to any sacred duty.
Jihad is a simple word; it means to struggle, to strive. Jihad is to
achieve a positive goal in life through peaceful means."
"The Prophet of Islam has said: "Do jihad against your own desires."
That is, doing jihad against yourself. So jihad means to control your
desires. Jihad is to discipline your own behaviour. The Qur'an says:
"Do jihad with the help of the Qur'an" (25:52). The Qur'an is a book
of ideology; it is not a weapon. So doing jihad with the help of the
Qur'an means to try to achieve one's goals through an ideological
struggle." He continued.
Before we accept the Mualana's definition of jihad let us look at the
subject of jihad from the basic scriptures of Islam and what other
Islamic scholars and commentators have said on the subject in some
details. One or two sentences here and there do not do justice to this
important topic.
Jihad has been going on in the world ever since Islam was born in the
seventh century but its latest manifestation has been, among other
places, most notably in Palestine, Chechnya, and Kashmir. Even, in
February 1998, when World Islamic Front issued a fatwa and a call for
Jihad to "every Muslim who believes in Allah and wishes to be
rewarded to comply with Allah's order to kill the Americans and
plunder their money wherever and whenever they find it", it did not
arouse much interest in the general public. It took direct assault on
9/11 on the fundamental symbols of what America stands for that it
created some curiosity. Today, Jihad is, no doubt, one of the most
discussed terms in the world.
What is Jihad? What drives a man to commit such horrendous acts
against humanity? What motivates Islamic terrorists? Why do they
operate under the name of Jihad?
Dr. Eyad Sarraj, a Palestinian psychiatrist answers (Newsweek, April
8, 2002)
"This is the influence of the Koran, the most potent and powerful book
for the past 14 centuries. God promised Muslims who sacrificed for
Islam that they would not die. They will live on in paradise. Muslims
hold to the promise literally."
How valid is this assertion?
What is Jihad?
View of traditionalists:
Dictionary of Islam defines jihad as "a religious war with those who
are unbelievers in the mission of Muhammad. It is an incumbent
religious duty, established in the Quran and in the Traditions as a
divine institution, enjoined specially for the purpose advancing Islam
and repelling evils from Muslims."[i]
In an introductory note to an article "Jihad in the Qur'an and
Sunnah" by Sheikh Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Humaid, ex-Chief Justice
of Saudi Arabia and of the Sacred Mosque of Mecca, Abdul Malik
Mujahid, General Manager of Maktaba Dar-us-Salam, Saudi Arabia on the
website (www.islamworld.net) writes:
"Jihad is regarded as the best thing, one can offer voluntarily. It
is superior to non‑obligatory prayers, fasting, Zakat, Umra and Hajj
as mentioned in the Qur'an and the Ahadith of the Prophet(pbuh). The
benefits of Jihad are of great extent and large in scope, while its
effects are far-reaching and wide-spreading as regards Islam and the
Muslims."
Sheikh Abdullah, ex-Chief Justice of Saudi Arabia defines Jihad as:
"Praise be to Allah swt Who has ordained Al-Jihad (the holy fighting
in Allah's Cause):
1. With the heart (intentions or feelings),
2. With the hand (weapons, etc.),
3. With the tongue (speeches, etc., in the Cause of Allah)
Allah has rewarded the one who performs it with lofty dwellings in the
Gardens (of Paradise)." [ii]
Other contrary Views
Many non-Muslim modernists, as Maulana Wahiduddin also said in this
discussion, in the West deny that it has anything to do with
violence.
Many academic Muslims also dissociate Jihad with "Holy War". "In its
primary sense it is an inner thing, within self, to rid it from
debased actions or inclinations, and exercise constancy and
perseverance in achieving a higher moral standard" - they claim.
"Jihad is not a declaration of war against other religions and
certainly not against Christians and Jews as some media and political
circles want it to be perceived. Islam does not fight other religions"
- they emphasize.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based group,
asserts that jihad "does not mean 'holy war.'" Instead, jihad is "a
central and broad Islamic concept that includes the struggle to
improve the quality of life in society, struggle in the battlefield
for self-defense . . . or fighting against tyranny or oppression."
CAIR even denies that Islam includes any concept of a "holy war."
Many other who go under the banner of modernists hold similar views on
the nature of jihad.
How is one to conclude what Jihad really means in Islam?
Ironclad definition of anything to do with Islam and its practical
manifestations can only be derived from what the basic scriptures of
Islam have to say on any particular issue.
What are the basic scriptures of Islam and why are they so important?
The single most basic scripture of Islam is indeed the Qur'an. The
next after the Qur'an are the traditions - the Sunnah -- of the
Prophet -- also known as Ahadith. The Qur'an is compilation of the
Revelations from Allah to Prophet Muhammad and the Sunnah is what
Prophet Muhammad did or said. Of the traditions, the ones compiled by
Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim are the most authentic.
Authenticity of Imam Bukhari's work can be judged from the fact that
he is reported to have collected over 300,000 Hadiths -- traditions of
the Prophet -- but "chose only approximately 7275 of which there is
no doubt about their authenticity." [iii] Each Hadith comes with its
line of transmission that leads directly to Prophet Muhammad or his
companions.
Why are the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet so important to
Muslims? Instead of giving my personal opinion let me say what Rafiq
Zakaria, an eminent Islamic scholar and also known as modernist
progressive secular Muslim has to say on this.
"To Muslims, the Quran is the creation of god. However, it is equally
important to remember that there could have been no Quran without
Muhammad. He is not only its transmitter but also the embodiment of
its teachings... Muhammad and the Quran are inextricably
intertwined." [iv]
"The Quran is, therefore, regarded by Muslims as immutable and
unchangeable, not metaphorically but literally. This is a matter of
faith for them, and reason can never deflect them from it." [v]
(Italics mine) He went on to say.
After enumerating the five pillars of Islam, he echos the sentiments
expressed above in another book and goes on to observe "it (the Quran)
contains guidelines a Muslim must follow." [vi]
Maulana Mawdudi, a great Islamic scholar and thinker expresses similar
views. Islam stands for complete faith in the prophet's teachings. It
stands for complete obedience to the system of life shown to us by the
prophet and any who ignores the medium of the prophet and claims to
follow God directly is not a Muslim. [vii]
Maulana Wahiduddin has also expressed similar opinions.
Human reason or direct approach to God without the medium of the
prophet makes one sinner, if not apostate from Islam. No freedom of
slightest deviation is allowed. One has to follow the teachings of the
Quran and of the Prophet.
If we want to understand why the Muslims carry out jihad, we have to
understand what the Quran and the Sunnah have to say on this topic.
The opinions of Islamic scholars and other commentators are not valid
if they are not in conformity with the above.
What do the Quran and the Sunnah have to say on the subject of Jihad?
There is no chapter devoted exclusively to the subject of jihad in the
Quran. The Ayats pertaining to jihad are spread throughout the Quran.
If one were to sort them out and present them in a concise manner, one
would, in all likelihood, be accused of quoting them out of context.
But in each of the authentic Hadis - the Sunnah of the prophet --
there is a section dealing with the practice of jihad. So let us turn
our attention to the Sunnah. On close scrutiny of the Sunnah as
compiled in Sahih Al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, apart from the
traditions of the prophet, frequent reference is made to the Quran. So
what is recorded in these two books is both, the Sunnah of the Prophet
as well as the revelations from God. Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim have
facilitated our work in informing us, in a concise form, what the
concept of jihad in Islam is?
Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan of Islamic University, Medina Al- Munawwara,
Saudi Arabia, the translator of Sahih Al-Bukhari, in the glossary of
Arabic words translates Jihad as "Holy fighting in the cause of Allah
or any other kind of effort to make Allah's word (Islam) superior
which is regarded as one of the principles of Islam." [viii]
Jihad defined:
Let us first try to find out what is Jihad? We don't have to too far.
The section on Jihad starts with invocation to Allah and Chapter I
opens quoting verses 9:111-112 of the Quran:
"Verily
Allah has purchased of the believers
Their lives and their properties;
For theirs (in return)
Is Paradise. They fight in His cause, so they
Kill (others) and are killed
It is a promise in truth which is binding on Him."[ix]
Allah has made a binding promise with His believers to kill in His
cause and if they are killed they will get Paradise in return.
And again it repeats in chapter 2 "the best among the people is that
believer who strives his utmost in Allah's cause with both his life
and property and goes on to quote verses 61:10,11,12 . It says "it
(fighting in Allah's cause) is a bargain that will save you from a
grievous punishment..... He will forgive you, your sins and admit you
into Gardens beneath which rivers flow, and to beautiful Mansions in
gardens of Eternity." And calls it "The supreme achievement." [x]
Indeed the promise of Gardens with Rivers and Mansions must have
sounded very alluring in the harsh desert climate of Arabia.
Evidently, it does even today.
The superiority of Jihad:
"A single endeavor (of fighting) in Allah's Cause in the forenoon is
better than the world and whatever is in it." Says Hadis 50 in chapter
5. [xi]
And "a place as small as a bow in Paradise is better than all that on
which the sun rises and sets (i.e. all the world)." And continues,
repeating, "A single endeavour in Allah's Cause is better than all
that on which the sun rises and sets." [xii]
The superiority of martyrdom is so great that "nobody would wish to
come back even if he were given the whole world and whatever in it,
except the martyr who, on seeing the superiority of martyrdom, would
like to come back to the world and get killed again (in Allah's
cause.)" [xiii]
And what is there in Paradise? Houris. "And if a houri from paradise
appeared to the people of the earth, she would fill the space between
Heaven and the Earth with light and pleasant scent and her head cover
is better than the world and whatever is in it." [xiv] Who would not
like to die to be in company of such houris?
Obligations of a Believer to Jihad
What are the obligations of a Muslim of a general call to arms and
what sort of Jihad and intentions are compulsory? Most people don't
like to fight and Muslims are no exception to it. But what are they to
do when Allah says:
"March forth, whether you are light (young, healthy and wealthy) or
heavy (ill, old and poor)
And strive with your wealth and your lives
In the way of Allah; that is better for you
If you but knew. Had it been a near gain (booty in front of them)
And an easy journey they would have followed you,
But the distance (Tabuk expedition) was long for them and they would
Swear by Allah (saying)
"If we only could, we would have surely have come out with you."
Allah reprimands:
"They destroy their own souls, and Allah knows
That they are liars." (9:41-42) [xv]
Allah continues His reprimand:
"O you who believe! What is the matter with you that when you are
asked to march forth in the Way of Allah, (i.e. Jihad), you cling
heavily to the earth? Are you pleased with the life of this world
rather than the hereafter? .... (the verse). If you march not forth,
He will punish you with a painful torment and will replace you by
another people and you cannot harm Him at all, and Allah is Able to do
all things." (9:38-39) [xvi]
Is Jihad obligatory:
This is best explained by Sheikh Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Humaid:
"So at first "the fighting" was forbidden, then it was permitted and
after that it was made obligatory- ( 1 ) against them who start "the
fighting" against you (Muslims)... (2) and against all those who
worship others along with Allah... as mentioned in SurahAI‑BaqaraSl
(II), Al‑lmran (III) and Baraat (IX)... and other Suras (Chapters of
the Qur'an).
Allah made "the fighting' (Jihad) obligatory for the Muslims and gave
importance to the subject‑matter of Jihad in all the Suras (Chapters
of the Qur'an) which were revealed (at Medina) as in Allah's
Statement:
March forth whether you are light (being healthy, young and wealthy)
or heavy (being ill, old and poor), strive hard with your wealth and
your lives in the Cause of Allah. This is better for you if you but
knew. (V.9:41). [xvii]
Rewards of Jihad:
Where would one killed in Jihad go? The Muslim killed in Jihad would
go to Paradise and "their's (i.e. those of the Pagan's) will go to
Hell Fire. [xviii]
What are the special benefits of fighting in Allah's cause?
Whoever believes in Allah and His Messenger and lives the life of a
good Muslim will rightfully go to Paradise, no matter if he fights in
Allah's cause or not. But there is a special place for those who do.
Paradise has hundred grades which Allah has reserved for Mujahidin.
The distance between each grade is like the distance between the
Heaven and the Earth. [xix]
And what will those who fight in Allah's cause get in Paradise?
Bat Ye'Or well known writer on Islam notes "the ideology of jihad was
formulated by Muslim jurists and scholars, including such luminaries
as Averroes and Ibn Khaldun, from the 8th century onward. For example,
Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406) stated, "..the holy war is a religious duty,
because of the universality of the Muslim mission and the obligation
to convert everyone to Islam either by persuasion or by force...".
Modernists views refuted:
As noted above, Council of American Islamic Relations asserts that
Jihad is "struggle in the battlefield for self-defense . . . or
fighting against tyranny or oppression" But Sahih Muslim, one of two
most authentic traditions does not agree with it.
Self defense or oppression has nothing to do with the concept of
Jihad. It quotes Prophet Muhammad saying:
"I have been commanded to fight against people, till they testify to
the fact that there is no god but Allah, and believe in me (that) I am
the messenger (from the Lord) and in all that I have brought. And when
they do it, their blood and riches are guaranteed protection on my
behalf except where it is justified by law, and their affairs rest
with Allah."[xx]
Quoting Koran (9:39) "If you march not forth, I will punish you with a
painful torment and will replace you by another people and you cannot
harm Me at all, and Allah is able to do all things.", Sheikh Abdullah
bin Muhammad bin Hamid of Sacred Mosque of Mecca (Saudi Arabia) writes
"Allah disapproved of those who abandoned Jihad (i.e. they did not go
for Jihad) and attributed to them hypocrisy and disease in their
hearts, and threatened (all) those who remain behind from Jihad and
sit at home with horrible punishment. He (Allah) accused them with the
most ugly descriptions, rebuked them for their cowardice and spoke
against them (about their weakness and their remaining behind).[xxi]
Had Jihad been just "striving" and "an inner thing, within self, to
rid it from debased actions or inclinations" where was the need to
"march forth"? Why would Allah accuse those who did not "march forth"
of "cowardice", and "hypocrisy and disease in their hearts"?
To scholars of Islam the message of the Koran and Ahadith is clear.
It is true that not every Muslim is engaged in Jihad. It is true not
only today; it was true during the time of Prophet Muhammad also.
Those who did not were called hypocrites and their fidelity to Islam
was in question.
It is evident from the above that Maulana Wahiduddin's contention that
Jihad has "no relation to any sacred duty" and "it means to struggle,
to strive. Jihad is to achieve a positive goal in life through
peaceful means" have no foundation in Islamic scriptures.
And if Jihad, indeed, is "mental struggle against passion or internal
struggle" - it would be welcome, I am sure, by all non-Muslims. What
a non-Muslim is primarily interested in is Jihad that affects his (non-
Muslim's) survival. However, there is no evidence in the core
scriptures of Islam that Jihad is an internal struggle within the
self.
In support of his contention, the Maulana quoted verse 25:52 saying:
"The Quran says: ‘Do jihad with the help of the Quran'. As is the
common theme of the Quran ‘to fight with the unbelievers', the verse
quoted by the Maulana does not disappoint. It also says: "So do not
follow the unbelievers, and strive against them a mighty striving with
it." ‘It' might mean the Quran - the word Jihad does not occur in any
of the three translations I checked but by defining jihad as peaceful
struggle the Maulana has completely fooled a general unbeliever into
believing that the Quran asks his followers to fight peacefully.
In the whole discussion Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the moderator, both
cut a sorry figure. The Maulana took them for an easy ride and neither
challenged the Maulana and presented the true meaning of jihad. It is
evident that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has absolutely no knowledge of Islam
or even of its basics
The whole exercise of equating the Gita and the Quran is disingenuous.
The Gita and the Hinduism at large have no concept of jihad in the
Quranic sense. The Kurukshetra war is not about jihad but about
injustice which as the Maulana says does not exist in Islam - (In
Islam, there is no war against injustice). In Islam, whatever Allah
decrees is justice when it says: "God gives abundantly to whom He will
and sparingly to whom it pleases." (13:26) In the Gita the basic
theme is fight for righteousness - not for any god or religion or an
individual while to the contrary the basic theme in the Quran is to
fight for Allah against those who deny His Revelations.
In Kurukshatra war Sri Krishna did not exhort Arjuna to fight because
Sri Krishna wanted it or for a God - or for even Arjuna's sake but for
the justice. Against the injustice that had been done to the
Pandavas. This step was taken after all other means to bring justice
have been explored and exhausted.
Yes, like any other religious ideology, Islam also would like to
improve the life of its followers, in its own way but that is nowhere
called what is known as Jihad.
i Warraq, ibn. Why I am not a Muslim. New York, 1995, pp.12
ii Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 1, pp. xxiv
iii Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 1, pp.xvii
iv Zakaria, Rafiq, Muhammad and the Quran, Penguin Books, New York,
1991, pp. 3
v Zakaria, Rafiq, Muhammad and the Quran, Penguin Books, New York,
1991, pp. 4
vi Zakaria, Rafiq, The Struggle within Islam, Penguin Books, New
York, 1988, pp. 304
vii Mawdudi, Abul A'la, Towards understanding Islam, Islamic Circle
of North America, Montreal, 1986, pp. 61 (First published in Urdu in
India in 1932)
viii Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 1, pp. lxxiv
ix Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol.4, pp. 34
x Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp. 36-37
xi Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp. 41
xii Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp 41
xiii Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp. 42
xiv Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp. 42
xv Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp. 58-59
xvi Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp. 59
xvii Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 1, pp. xxvi
xviii Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp. 55
xix Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp. 40
xx Sahih Muslim, Translated by Abdul Hamid Siddiqi, New Delhi, 1994,
vol. 1, pp.17
xxi Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp.xxx-xxxi
© Copyright
[i] Warraq, ibn. Why I am not a Muslim. New York, 1995, pp.12
[ii] Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 1, pp. xxiv
[iii] Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 1, pp.xvii
[iv] Zakaria, Rafiq, Muhammad and the Quran, Penguin Books, New York,
1991, pp. 3
[v] Zakaria, Rafiq, Muhammad and the Quran, Penguin Books, New York,
1991, pp. 4
[vi] Zakaria, Rafiq, The Struggle within Islam, Penguin Books, New
York, 1988, pp. 304
[vii] Mawdudi, Abul A'la, Towards understanding Islam, Islamic Circle
of North America, Montreal, 1986, pp. 61 (First published in Urdu in
India in 1932)
[viii] Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 1, pp. lxxiv
[ix] Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol.4, pp. 34
[x] Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp. 36-37
[xi] Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp. 41
[xii] Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp 41
[xiii] Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp. 42
[xiv] Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp. 42
[xv] Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp. 58-59
[xvi] Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp. 59
[xvii] Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 1, pp. xxvi
[xviii] Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan,
New Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp. 55
[xix] Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp. 40
[xx] Sahih Muslim, Translated by Abdul Hamid Siddiqi, New Delhi,
1994, vol. 1, pp.17
[xxi] Al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari. Translated by M. Muhsin Khan, New
Delhi, 1984, vol. 4, pp.xxx-xxxi
http://voi.org/20091003249/vinodkumar/column-vinodkumar/whatisjihad.html
How Javed Anand’s Ancestors Became Muslims
By Vinod Kumar, on 08-11-2009 12:56
Berating Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh, its Chief Mohan Bhagwat and then
Hinduism, Javed Anand in RSS, Here I Come (Asian Age, Oct 14, 2009)
http://epaper.asianage.com/ASIAN/AAGE/2009/10/14/Article/007/14_10_2009_007_005.jpg
wrote:
"Even otherwise, I have no difficulty in accepting the obvious---my
Hindu past---for I doubt if my forefathers were Sikhs , Jains or
Buddhists. The former are easily discounted for they arrived too late
on the scene. Jains? No way , they are not interested in Mughlai
cousin . As far Buddhists, I am unable to see what possible incentive
there was for them to abandon their faith."
"But converting from Hinduism is conceivable . I have been told since
childhood that we are Saddiquis. That's big if you are talking
hierachy ---being part of the extended parivar of none else than the
closest companion of Prophet Mohammed and the first Caliph of Islam
Abu Bakr. But this Arabisation drive Bhagwat Ji I suspect is quite
like Sansakritisation ---in search of respectability, status and
imagination at work. It's quite likely that my forefathers were Hindus
and "untouchable".
"Imagine Islam's appeal to one who is constantly told he is too
"impure" to be allowed entry inside a temple . Imagine the doors of a
mosque being flung open to him with invite--- Come, stand shoulder-to-
shoulder with the rest of us. No hierarchy here, no caste, no race,
"Sab ka Malik ek" . Who says you are too impure to enter a holy space
or hold a holy text ? Here's the Quran . Its your as much as anyone
else's Touch it, hold it, read it, kiss it, store it in your heart and
mind."
Last update : 08-11-2009 13:06
RSS and Mohan Bhagwat are just the props. Javed Anand's real target is
Hinduism.
"Imagine , Bhagwatji, does this not sound like celestial music to the
outcast such as my forefathers quite possibly were." Mr. Javed Anand
went on to write.
But evidently this did not sound like ‘celestial music to the
"outcast" brothers of the ancestors of Javed Anand otherwise after
fourteen hundred years of Islam's presence in India, with roughly half
of it as its rulers, and all the lollipops thrown at them with
accompanying privileges of belonging to the community of the rulers,
the problem of "outcasts" in Hinduism would not have existed. The fact
is that despite the open arms of Islam as Javed Anand claims, the
"outcasts" of Hinduism did not opt for Islam. Even in Pakistan where
even today every non-Muslim is treated as second class citizen and the
"outcast" Hindus even worse, the minuscule minority community of
"outcast" Hindus have not been attracted by this "celestial" music of
Islam. There are other reasons why the speculative "outcast" ancestors
of Javed Anand became Muslims.
Let us briefly review what might have been the reasons of Javed
Anand's ancestors conversion to Islam - "outcasts" or not.
•1. Early history:
Islam came to India with the Arab traders when Arabia was converted to
Islam. The new converts to Islam - who have been coming to India as
Arabs since long before Islam was born - were free to practice their
new religion. They were given land grants to build their mosques and
freedom to preach and convert from the local population while the
Prophet of Islam had wished to expel all pagans from the Arabian
peninsula. (Sahih Bukhari, vol. 4) There is no evidence that the
"celestial music" of Islam attracted many, if any, converts from the
"outcasts" of Hindu society even though there was no restrictions upon
their leaving the Hindu fold. Even in Arabia the conversion was not
all that an easy matter. Biographies of Prophet Muhammad and the
Koranic verses are a testimony to it. Those who did not convert were
given the status of dhimmies and a special tax named jiziya was
levied upon them. Islam's appeal in Arabia even after conversion must
not have been all that great so that the Prophet of Islam made leaving
Islam a crime punishable with death. Wonder why would anyone ever want
to leave the "celestial" music of Islam?
•2. Medieval History:
2a. Muslim Invaders: Every Muslim invader starting with bin Kasim who
came to India demolished and plundered Hindu temples. Killed all the
males and enslaved women and children - at times carried them off by
the hundreds of thousands to Arabia and Central Asian countries to be
sold off as slaves. At one point, there were so many Hindu slaves in
Ghazni that it looked like an Indian city. Men of honor in India were
working as domestic help in Afghanistan and beyond. Lakhs perished in
what is now - for good reason - called Hindukush. Those who converted
to Islam were spared. Desire to live as decent human being is a common
human weakness - no wonder many converted to Islam just to survive -
not necessarily the "outcasts" of Hindu society; most of them were the
elite of the Hindu society. When the invaders went back, those who
converted reverted back to the practice of Hinduism. But repeated
invasions and even harder treatment meted out to those who
reconverted, they found it expedient to remain Muslims in name even
though for long times they continued their infidel Hindu ways. Some
still do even after centuries of conversion. Thus it was found
necessary to start Tabligh movement to rid the practice of "evil"
infidel ways among the converted Muslims. This has been a continued
and still prevalent practice among the converted and the Tabligh
jamaat still has a Herculean task on its shoulders.
2b. Muslim Sultans: Muslim Sultans made the life of infidel Hindus
unbearable. According to sharia, jiziya and disproportionately heavy
taxes were imposed on the infidels. Sultan Ala-ud-din Khilji demanded
from learned men of Islam rules and regulations, so that the Hindu
should be ground down, and property and possessions, which are the
cause of disaffection and rebellion, should not remain in his house.
Qazi Mughisud-din of Bayana whom Ala-ud-din consulted as to the
legality of his measures towards Hindus, wholeheartedly justified Ala-
ud-din's rigorous policy and "pointed out that Islamic law sanctioned
sterner principle, so much so that, ‘if the revenue collector spits
into a Hindu's mouth, the Hindu must open his mouth to receive it
without hesitation." Ala-ud-din was gratified to learn that his
treatment of the Hindus was in full accordance with Islamic law and
assured the Qazi that he had given orders that the Hindu will not be
allowed to possess more than what is required for a bare
subsistence." (The History and Culture of the Indian People, vol. 6,
Bombay, 1990, pp. 24-25)
Could it be that the ancestors of Javed Anand - not necessarily the
"outcast" of Hindu society -- converted to Islam under these
circumstances?
2c. Akbar: Hindus got a little respite under relatively enlightened
policies of the third Mughal Emperor Akbar. He abolished the much
hated jiziya tax and treated non-Muslims in a more tolerant manner. He
let the Hindu princesses whom he married and were married to his sons
practice Hindu rituals in his palace contrary to usual practice of
converting them to Islam. He invited different religions for open
debate. This was not much liked by the orthodox Ulema and they accused
Akbar of apostasy of which there is no evidence. Akbar at best died an
eclectic. His death was celebrated by the orthodox ulema.
2d. Aurangzeb: Whatever goodwill was created by Akbar was soon undone
by his successors. Aurangzeb was the most orthodox of the Mughal
emperors. He has been called a ‘living pir' and is reported to have
memorized the entire Koran. His zealotry for Islam went beyond all
bounds of a sovereign. In the twelfth year of Emperor's reign' the
Vishwanath temple at Benaras, which seems to have been rebuilt, and
Keshav Rai temple at Mathura were demolished. Aurangzeb revived the
policy of demolishing temples in the wake of military campaigns which
had been followed by Delhi Sultans and occasionally by Shahjahan. In
pursuance of this policy hundreds of temples across India from Kuch
Bihar to Deccan were ruthlessly destroyed. Firman was issued that no
new temples should be built. Temples which were built in the past ten /
twelve years were classified in this category and while old temples
were spared but repairs to them were banned. Conversion to Islam was
officially promoted. The Emperor presided over the ceremony of
conversion as often as he could - these conversions were not from the
"outcasts" of Hindu society but from the zamindars, and influential
Rajputs and Jats who converted to gain favor with the ruling monarch.
(Shah Wali-Allah and his Times, SAA Rizvi, Australia, 1980, pp. 90)
S A A Rizvi observes:
"Gradually, criminals and corrupt and dishonest revenue officials
began to expiate their crimes by embracing Islam. (pp. 90)"
In 1679 officials were issued orders to realize the jiziya from non-
Muslims. The jiziya was so designed that its impact was the heaviest
on the poorest section of Hindu society who were subsequently deprived
of almost entire income from their property. This was all part of
deliberate policy to force the poorer section of Hindus to embrace
Islam. (ibid pp. 92)
Quoting Mirat-I Ahmadi Rizvi writes that the entire attention of the
Aurangzeb was directed towards strengthening the ‘manifest faith' and
to mold all affairs of the state - financial and political - according
to the sharia. In 1665, customs duty on the goods of Muslims was
levied at two and half percent and of Hindus at five percent. In 1667,
the duty on Muslims goods was totally forbidden. He issued a decree
that all posts of head clerk and above be filled with Muslims. (ibid
pp. 88)
2e. Shah Wali-Allah:
A contemporary of Abdul Wahhab of Saudi Arabia, Shah Wali-Allah's
(1703 - 1762) influence on Muslim thought in India cannot be
overemphasized.
Muslim historian I H Qureshi, (had been member of the Indian as well
as Pakistan Historical Records Commission, of the Council of the
Indian and Pakistan Institutes of International Affairs, of the
executive committees of the Indian History Conference and Pakistan
historical Society). wrote:
"Shah Wali-ullah was a man of encyclopedic learning. He was not one of
those scholars who keep different branches of knowledge in different
chambers of their mind.....The world has not produced many scholars
like him....During his lifetime his greatness was recognized by his
contemporaries and his claim to that he was MUJADDID - renewer of the
Faith -- of his century was not challenged by any one." (Ulema in
Politics -- I H Qureshi, Delhi, 1985, pp 126)
Shah Wali-Ullah is regarded as one of the greatest Muslim thinkers of
all times. This is just to emphasize what position Shah Wali-Ullah
holds in Islam and what his views about Hindus and proselytization
were?
"They (Imams) should preach that other religions were worthless since
their founders were not perfect, and their practice was opposed to
divine law, interpolations having made them unbelievable......" (Shah
Wali-Allah and His Times, SAA Rizvi, Australia, 1980, pp. 286)
"Another means of ensuring conversions was to prevent other religious
communities from worshipping their own gods. Moreover, unfavorable
discriminating laws should be imposed on non-Muslims in matters of
rules of retaliation, compensation for manslaughter and marriage, and
in political matters." (ibid pp. 286)
To streamline the Mughal administration, he wrote to Emperor Ahmad
Shah: " Strict orders should be issued in all Islamic towns forbidding
religious ceremonies publicly practiced by the infidels."(ibid pp.
294)
Most of Muslim rulers in fact did exactly the same, and many Muslim
countries do it even today. Saudi Arabia is the prime example. In
Saudi Arabia practice of any religion other than Islam is illegal. It
is reminiscent of the laws decreed by many Muslims rulers of India.
Aurangzeb, as stated above, had issued orders to ban public practice
of Hindu religion, construction of new temples and repair of old
ones.
"However, the proselytization programme of Shah Wali-Allah only
included the leaders of the Hindu community. The low class of the
infidels, according to him, were to be left alone to work in the
fields and for paying jizya. They, like beasts of burden and
agricultural livestock, were to be kept in abject misery and
despair."(ibid, pp. 286)
And the same people want us to believe Muslims have no caste
distinction. Even when Hindus were converted to Islam Hindus of higher
caste got relatively better treatment than the Hindus of the lower
castes. But still local converted Hindus were never treated as equal
to foreign Muslims. All Muslim administrations were full of first
generation Muslims from all over the Muslim world or their descendants
-- not of local converted Muslims.
2 f. Conversion from Buddhists:
"As far Buddhists, I am unable to see what possible incentive there
was for them to abandon their faith." Javed Anand wrote. Javed is
right, Buddhists had no incentive to convert to Islam and for that
matter neither did the Hindus or the Jains or the Zoroastrians.
Khurasan, Persis, Irak, Mosul, and the country up to the border of
Syria was Buddhistic. First Zoroastrians banished them from these
countries and pushed them to east of Balkh. Then came Islam and all
remnants of Buddhism were wiped off from Afghanistan and Central Asia.
(Alberuni's India, Delhi, 1993, pp. 21) Buddhist center at Nalanda was
wrecked by the marauders of Bakhtiyar Khilji about 1200 CE beyond
recovery, thus ending a continuous tradition of refuge and meeting-
place for ascetics which went back to the centuries before the Buddha.
(Indigenous Indians, Elst, Delhi, 1993, pp. 424) If anything was left,
the lofty statues of Buddha, carved on a mountain side were taken care
of the proud students of Islam - Taliban - in 2001.
True, Buddhists had no incentive to convert but Buddhism was destroyed
root and branch in Muslim territory but not in Hindu territory.
(Indigenous Indians, Elst, Delhi, 1993, pp. 424)
•3. Modern Times:
3a. Twentieth Century: In modern times, in the last century also there
were many conversions to Islam. The ones in Malabar, Noakhali, the
Punjab in 1947 stand out. All this is rather recent history and
details are easily available. All these conversions in the last
century were the result of matter of survival for the converted
whether it was Malabar or Noakhali or the killing grounds of Punjab in
the aftermath of the partition. The "outcasts" of the Hindu society
didn't exactly run to the mosques to hear its "celestial" music. On
the other hand let us see what the most outstanding leader of the
"outcasts" did?
3b. "Outcasts of Hindu society": There is no more prominent "outcast"
of Hindu society than Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar. He is in all likelihood
the greatest intellectual of all times among the "outcast" - a term
Javed Anand likes to use. Dr. Ambedkar had carried out thorough
research of the genesis of Hindu caste system and Hindu scriptures,
Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. He renounced Hinduism but neither
did the "celestial music" of Islam nor its open doors lure him into
the lap of Islam. He spurned all offers to convert to Islam and
Christianity and opted for Buddhism. Why?
"Nothing is infallible. Nothing is binding forever. Everything is
subject to inquiry and examination.": Ambedkar wrote. (Dr. Ambedkar,
Writings as and Speeches, vol. 3, Govt. of Maharashtra, 1987 , pp 442,
quoted in Indigenous Indians, Koenraad Elst, New Delhi,1993, pp. 390)
This is quite in contrast to Islamic belief where "the Koran is the
word of God, immutable and unalterable; it contains guidelines which a
Muslim must follow." It is beyond any question or doubt. It must be
accepted as the Final Truth - the Last Word of Allah.
Not only Ambedkar did not convert to Islam he was opposed to Scheduled
castes converting to Islam. After Partition the scheduled caste
politician J N Mandal was given a seat in the Pakistani cabinet as a
showpiece to lure the Scheduled castes to convert to Islam. J N Mandal
accepted this against the advice of Ambedkar. It was a great
disappointment for Mandal and soon after he resigned.
(http://www.hvk.org/specialarts/mandal/mandal.html)
Ambedkar complained that Pakistan was not allowing the Scheduled
castes to emigrate to India and was forcibly converting them to Islam.
In order to increase the Muslim population, in Hyderabad also they
were being forcibly converted. He asked them not to put their faith
in Muslims or the Muslim League just because they do not like the
Hindus. It would be fatal for them to do so. He would see that all
those who were forcibly converted would be taken back into the fold,
he said. Whatever the oppression and tyranny the Hindus practised in
them, it should not warp their vision and swerve them from their
duty." (Indigenous Indians, Koenraad Elst, New Delhi, 1993, pp.
402-3)
•4. Conclusion
There are many faults in Hinduism. At least Hindus are aware of them
and they are working at it. But as seen above, any of the fault lines
has nothing to do with their conversion to Islam. Moreover, Hinduism
is not stuck in a fixed time frame. What was true of Hinduism
yesterday no longer holds true today and Hinduism of tomorrow will be
altogether a different entity. Whatever, Mr. Javed Anand might say or
think casteism is not the soul of Hinduism.
However, there is no historical evidence whatsoever to suggest that
the "outcasts" - a term Javed Anand likes to use - were so charmed by
the "celestial" music of Islam that they jumped into its arms as the
doors of mosques were flung open. Again, only six decades ago, Hindus
suffered untold misery of life and property but came to India. They
could have converted to Islam and stayed in the only land they had
ever known in history.
If it was the "evil" caste system of Hindus that "lured" them to the
"celestial" music of Islam, what made the Zoroastrians, Egyptians, the
Anatolians, the Kurds, the Buddhists, the Afghans, the Pagans of
Arabia - to convert to Islam? There runs a common thread.
Hinduism is open - there are no bars for people who want to leave it.
To the contrary Islam has to keep its door closed so that people don't
run out of it and thus made apostasy from Islam a crime punishable
with death.
Last, but not the least, Javed Anand, ruling out Jains as his
ancestors, wrote "Jains? No way , they are not interested in Mughlai
cousin." Javed thinks whoever converted to Islam was for a big
gourmet Mughlai dinner. What a sick sense of humor if he thinks it is
humorous. How I wish the Muslims had restricted their conversion
frenzy only to those who were interested in Mughlai feast.
http://voi.org/20091108287/vinodkumar/column-vinodkumar/tbd.html
On Hindu Cowardice and Muslim Bravery
By Vinod Kumar, on 10-01-2010 07:32
There is common perception that Hindus are cowards and Muslims are
brave. Even Mahatma Gandhi went on to write: "Hindu is a coward and a
Muslim a bully by nature."
This perception mostly results from the fact that a small number of
Muslims were able to defeat the Hindus and rule over them for
centuries.
If one were to analyze the underlying causes that led to the defeat of
the Hindus, there is no evidence to suggest that the Hindu is coward
-- Hindus just have different ideology -- a different set of
priorities and ideas about nature of things.
Hindu defeats were more intellectual and cultural. Muslims brought a
new ideology and a new kind of warfare to India -- one that at first
the Hindus did not understand. And today when they fully understand
it, they are not willing to adopt it.
The Hindu mind regarding "religious" warfare was first expressed by
none else than Alberuni, a scholar in Greek, Farsi and Arabic and an
astronomer in his own right, who came to India with Mahmud Ghaznavi,
stayed in India, learnt Sanskrit, read extensively all Hindu
literature, wrote 20 books including translations on India. In his
still available book Indica, he went on to observe:
"On the whole, there is very little disputing about theological
topics among themselves; at the utmost they fight with words, but they
will never stake their soul or body or their property on religious
controversy."
Hindus believed in open discussion of theological topics but did not
kill each other for their opinions and they could not understand why
would one kill others for differing on matter of theology or imposing
their own ideas on others.
Almost thousand years later, talking of the betrayal of king Dahir of
Debal, V S Naipaul went on to explain the Hindus' reaction to Muslim
invasions in the following words:
"It is the first of the betrayals that will assist the Arab conquest.
But they are not betrayals, really. They are no more than the actions
of people who understand only that power is power, and believe they
are changing rulers; they cannot conceive that a new way is about to
come."
Last update : 10-01-2010 07:34
Hindu kings, before Islam, fought incessantly but it made no
difference to general public -- they were not asked to change their
religion, their women were not raped, their temples and cities were
not plundered and desecrated. The war did not touch their personal
lives. All they got was another king.
A new way did dawn upon India after the conquest of Muhammad bin Kasim
but the cultural moorings of Hindu were so strong that they refused to
learn the new ways of Islam. That would have meant giving up Hinduism.
While civilizations of Arabia, Egypt, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Iran and
others crumbled before the Islamic onslaught, Hindus withstood it for
centuries. Had the Hindus been cowards, India today would have been a
purely Islamic state. They refused to be annihilated and were not
desirous of annihilating even the aggressor. Religious warfare, as
Alberuni observed, has no place in their ideology.
It is not Hindus lack of understanding of these new ways even after
almost 1300 years and even when Hindus were massacred in Pakistan,
they failed to retaliate in India. Even today after all the massacres
of Hindus in Kashmir, the Hindus don't want to fight in the name of
religion. Secularism in India is not an empty slogan or mere cosmetic
-- it is the very basis of Hindu beliefs and that is why a common
Hindu is still ashamed of Babri masjid demolition while a Muslim -- of
Hindu ancestry -- has no qualms or shame of the destruction of tens of
thousands of Hindu temples by Muslim invaders. The difference in
behavior is nothing but the ideology that one follows -- both have the
same genetic pool in their blood stream.
It is not without reason that despite what has been visited upon the
Hindus by the Muslims, Hindu India is still a secular country while
there is not a single Muslim country that subscribes to the ideal of
secularism. M J Akbar in his book The Siege within India admits that
India is secular because it is a Hindu majority country.
As far as Hindu bravery is concerned -- it is well documented in the
annals of Muslim victors themselves -- I need not go into details of
that. It is the Hindu psyche that refuses to act contrary to their
long held beliefs that killing in the name of religion is not the
right thing to do.
The success of the Muslim invaders came not from their being a martial
or superior race or being physically stronger -- it were the same
Arabs who had not done any "brave" acts other than trading in entire
history before Islam -- it was only after they took on the ideology of
Islam that preached them to be cruel to all infidels and spread the
"TRUE FAITH" that they went on the rampage. The Buddhist Afghans had
lived with their Buddhist/Hindu neighbors for a millennium -- it was
only after they adopted the creed of Islam that they went on the
rampage on those very people with whom they shared history and
culture.
A study of the lives and teachings of Muhammad and Buddha, Mahavir and
even Gandhi today will explain why the Muslims and the Hindus behave
the way they do. Physically and genetically an Indian/Pakistani Muslim
is no different from his Hindu compatriot -- it is the ideology that
one follows that makes the difference. It is the ideology that makes
them act so differently from each other.
The Vedic "Ekam satya, viprah bahuda vadanti" -- there is one truth
but people call it by different names -- is deeply engraved on and
continues to control the Hindu mind and actions while the Koranic
injunctions "Islam is the only true faith" and "Those who do not
believe in Our revelations shall be inheritors of Hell" continue to
guide the minds and lives of Muslims.
http://voi.org/20100110336/vinodkumar/column-vinodkumar/onhinducowardiceandmuslimbravery.html
India As Alberuni Saw It
By Vinod Kumar, on 17-01-2010 04:19
Abu Rihan Muhammad bin Ahmad, Alberuni as his compatriots called him
was born about A.D. 973, in the territory of modern Khiva, then called
Khwarizm. He came to as Ghazni as a prisoner of war1. He was an
astronomer, geometrician, historian and logician. He was so studious,
his earliest biographer tells us "he never had a pen out of his hand,
nor his eye ever off a book, and his thoughts were ever directed to
his studies, with the exception of two days in the year". He was
beyond comparison, superior to every man of his time in the art of
composition, in scholarlike accomplishments, and in the knowledge of
geometry and philosophy, and above all he had "most rigid regard for
truth."2 He accompanied Mahmud of Ghazni to India and stayed there for
many years, chiefly, in all probability in the Punjab, studied the
Sanskrit language and translated into it some works from the Arabic,
and translated from it two treatises into Arabic3. Sachau, translator
of Alberuni's Indica believes Alberuni "composed about twenty books on
India4, both translations and original compositions, and a number of
tales and legends, mostly derived from the ancient lore of Eran and
India." He was indeed a prolific writer and his works are stated to
have exceeded a camel-load.5
Let me also make another observation about Alberuni. He regards Hindus
as excellent philosophers and he felt strong inclination towards Hindu
philosophy but still he was a Muslim and at times does not fail to
point out the superiority of Islam over Brahmanic India. He attacks
Arabs but not Islam6. He wrote for those Muslims who "want to converse
with the Hindus, and to discuss with them the questions of religion,
science, or literature, on the very basis of their own civilization."7
While discussing astronomical calculations regarding the order of the
planets, their distances and sizes, he reminds the reader the purpose
of his book once again --- to discuss subjects "which either are
noteworthy for their strangeness, or which are unknown among our own
people (the Muslims) and our (the Muslim) countries."8
Having given a brief introduction, let us now see what Alberuni had to
say about India, the land, its people, its religion, its philosophy,
its sciences, and its literature.
•1. Hindu Muslim Differences:
Alberuni starts Indica by observing "the Hindus entirely differ from
us in every respect"9. First and foremost difference is the language.
Sanskrit is a language of enormous range, both in words and in
inflections. They call one and the same thing by various names and
unless one knows the context in which the word is spoken. Some of the
sounds of consonants are neither identical nor resemble with the
Arabic and Persian. And the Hindus write their scientific books in
metrics so that they can be committed to memory and thus prevented
from corruption. This metrical form of literary composition makes the
study of Sanskrit particularly difficult.10
Not only the language, the Hindus totally differ from us (Muslims) in
religion, as "we believe in nothing in which they believe" and vice
versa. He goes on to observe that on theological topics "at the utmost
they fight with words, but they will never stake their soul or body or
their property on religious controversy."11 Instead, he noted, all
their fanaticism is directed against foreigners whom they call
mlecchas i.e. impure and forbid any connection with them12. The Hindus
have concepts of pollution and never desire that once thing is
polluted, it should be purified and thus recovered. They are not
allowed receive anybody who does not belong to them, even if he wished
to be inclined to their religion13, he went on to write.
He wrote the customs and manners the Hindus differ so completely from
the Muslims that "they frighten their children with us, our dress and
our ways and customs" and decree us as "devil's breed". They regard
"everything we do as opposite of all that is good and proper".14 Some
of the reasons of Hindus' repugnance of Muslims are complete
banishment of Buddhists from countries from Khurasan, Persis, Irak,
Mosul and Syria, first by the Zoroastrians and then by Islam. And then
Muhammad ibn Elkasim entered India proper, conquered the cities of
Bahmanwa and Mulsthan and went as far as Kanauj -- "all these events
planted a deeply rooted hatred in their hearts."15
And then Sabuktagin choosing the holy war as his calling, called
himself a Ghazi, built those roads on Indian frontier which his son
Sultan Yamin-uddaula Mahmud, during a period of thirty years, used to
utterly ruin "the prosperity of the country, and performed those
wonderful exploits, by which the Hindus became like atoms of dust
scattered in all directions, and like a tale of old in the mouth of
the people." He goes on to say "their scattered remains cherish, of
course, the most inveterate aversion towards all Muslims."16
Alberuni does not talk much about Mahmud whom he calls "the lion of
the world, the wonder of his time" when he remembers him for
"breaking the strongest pillar of religion", 17 and his raids into
India, except a few times. Once about his ruining the prosperity of
the country as quoted above and second when he writes of his
demolition of the idol, in the year A.H. 416, at Somnath much revered
by the Hindus. The upper part of the idol was demolished and the lower
part transported to his residence in Ghazni with all its trappings.
One part of it, along with the bronze idol of Chakraswamin from
Thanesar, was thrown into the hippodrome and another part before the
door of the mosque of Ghazni, on which people rub their feet to clean
them from dirt and wet. 18
•2. On Hindus customs:
He found Hindus to be very proud of their country, their kings, their
religion, their sciences to the extent that he thought them to be
"haughty, foolishly vain, self-conceited and stolid."19
Many customs of the Hindus, he observed, differ from Muslims' "to such
a degree as to appear to us simply monstrous." Hindu customs, not
only, not resemble to Muslim customs but are the very reverse; and if
ever a custom of theirs resembles one of the Muslims, it has certainly
the opposite meaning. He goes on to say that it seems as if "they
(Hindus) had intentionally changed into the opposite".20
What are these customs of the Hindus that he observed that he thought
were the opposite of theirs?
"The Hindus eat singly, one by one, on a tablecloth of dung. They do
not make use of the remainder of a meal, and the plates from which
they have eaten are thrown away if they are earthen."
"They drink wine before having eaten anything, then they take their
meal. They drink the stall of cows but they do not eat their meat."
"In all consultations and emergencies they take advice of the women."
"They do not seek permission to enter a house, but when they leave it
they ask permission to do so."
"In their meetings they sit cross-legged."
"They magnify the nouns of their language by giving them the feminine
gender, as the Arabs magnify them by diminutive form."
"They consider the crepitus ventris as a good omen, sneezing as a bad
omen."
"They write the title of the book at the end of it, not at the
beginning".21
Last update : 17-01-2010 04:26
•3. Hindu Arithmetic:
On Hindu arithmetic Alberuni observed the Hindus do not use the
letters of their alphabet for numerical notation, as Muslims use the
Arabic letters in the order of the Hebrew alphabet. The use of Arabic
letters for numerals must not have been in wide use when Alberuni
wrote c.1030 CE, for these have been communicated to the Arabs in the
eighth and ninth centuries as he goes on to accept that "the numeral
signs which we use have been derived from the finest forms of Hindu
signs." Having observed the names of the orders of the numbers in
various languages he had come in contact with, Alberuni found that no
nation goes beyond the thousand including the Arabs. Those who beyond
the thousand in their numeral system are the Hindus who extend the
names of the orders of numbers until the 18th order.22
Pulisa has adpoted the relation between the circumference and
diameter of a circle to be 3 177/1250 which comes out to 3.1416.23
•4. Astronomy and sciences:
While ancient puranic traditions about the earth and heavens and their
creation still existed, but these were in direct opposition to the
scientific truths known to Indian astronomers.
While it is not possible to mention all the theories and concepts
prevalent at the time, let it suffice to say what some of the ideas
of Hindu astronomers that Alberuni found interesting were. Quoting
Brahamgupta, Alberuni wrote:
"Several circumstances, however, compel us to attribute globular shape
to both the earth and the heaven, viz. the fact that the stars rise
and set in different places at different times, so that, e.g. a man in
Yamakoti observes one identical start rising above the western
horizon, whilst a man in Rum at the same time observes it rising above
the eastern horizon. Another argument to the same effect is this, that
a man on Meru observes one identical star above the horizon in the
zenith of Lanka, the country of demons, whilst a man in Lanka at the
same time observes it above his head. Besides all astronomical
observations are not correct unless we assume the globular shape of
heaven and earth. Therefore we must declare that heaven is a globe,
and the observation of these characteristics of the world would not be
correct unless in reality it were a globe. Now it is evident that all
other theories about the world are futile." 24
Quoting Varahmira, he further continues:
"Mountains, seas, rivers, trees, cities, men, and angels, all are
around the globe of the earth. And if Yamakoti and Rum are opposite to
each other, one could not say that the one is low in relation to the
other, since low does not exist.... Every one speaks of himself, 'I am
above and the others are below,' whilst all of them are around the
globe like the blossoms springing on the branches of a Kadamba-tree.
They encircle it on all the sides, but each individual blossom has the
same position as the other, neither one hanging downward nor then
other standing upright." He emphasized: "For the earth attracts that
which is upon her, for it is the below towards all directions, and
heaven is the above towards all directions."
There was no consensus about the resting or movement of the earth.
Aryabahata thought that the earth is moving and the heaven resting.
Many astronomers contested this saying were it so, stones and trees
would fall from earth. But Brahamgupta did not agree with them saying
that that would not happen apparently because he thought all heavy
things are attracted towards the center of the earth.26
The above gives some idea as to the nature of discussion in astronomy
at that time but Sachau observes these ideas had not changes much
since the eighth century when the knowledge of Hindu sciences were
communicated to the Arabs.
On the topic of ocean tides, Alberuni wrote that the educated Hindus
determine the daily phases of the tides by the rising and setting of
the moon, the monthly phases by the increase and waning of the moon;
but the physical cause of the both phenomenon is not understood by
them.27
The Hindus have cultivated numerous branches of science and have
boundless literature, which with his knowledge, he could comprehend.
He wished he could have translated Panchtantra which in Arabia was
known as the not book of Kalila and Dimna.28
•5. Hindu Laws:
Hindu laws, Alberuni observed are derived from their rishis, the
pillars of their religion and not from the prophets i.e. Narayana..
"Narayana only comes into this world in the form of human figure to
set the world right when things have gone wrong. Hindus can easily
abrogate their laws for they believe such changes are necessitated by
the change of nature of man. Many things which are now forbidden were
allowed before". 29
•6. On pilgrimage and sacred places:
Pilgrimages, Alberuni noted, are not obligatory for the Hindus, but
"facultative and meritorious". Most of the venerated places are
located in the cold regions round mount Meru.30
About the construction of Holy ponds, let me quote his own words:
"In every place to which some particular holiness is ascribed, the
Hindus construct ponds intended for the ablutions. In this they have
attained to a very degree of art, so that our people (the Muslims),
when they see them, wonder at them, and are unable to describe them,
much less to construct anything like them. They build them of great
stones of enormous bulk, joined to each other by sharp and strong
cramp-irons, in the form of steps (or terraces) like so many ledges;
and these terraces run all around the pond, reaching to a height of
more than a man's stature. On the surface of the stones between two
terraces they construct staircases rising like pinnacles. Thus the
first step or terraces are like roads 9leading up and down). If ever
so many people descend to the pond whilst others ascend, they do not
meet each other, and the road is never blocked, because there are so
many terraces, and the ascending person can always turn aside to
another terrace than on which the descending people go. By this
arrangement all troublesome thronging is avoided."31
May be what he had in mind was Chand Baori well near Jaipur built in
9th century..
http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/FBBBCA69-8F08-4DCD-A351-9E93D9D31EBC/
•7. Hindu caste system:
No discussion of India would be complete without observation on the
contemporary caste system and rightly so Alberuni does miss it. He
describes the traditional division of Hindu society along the four
Varnas and the Antyaja -- who are not reckoned in any caste; but makes
no mention of any oppression of low caste by the upper castes. Much,
however the four castes differ from each other, they live together in
the same towns and villages, mixed together in the same houses and
lodgings. The Antyajas are divided into eight classes -- formed into
guilds -- according to their professions who freely intermarry with
each other except with the fuller, shoemaker and the weaver. They live
near the villages and towns of the four castes but outside of them.32
On the eating customs of the four castes, he observed that when eating
together, they form a group of their own caste, one group not
comprising a member of another caste. Each person must have his own
food for himself and it is not allowed to eat the remains of the meal.
They don't share food from the same plate as that which remains in the
plate becomes after the first eater has taken part, the remains of the
meal.33
Alberuni wrote extensively on India and on many aspects. It is
impossible to cover every topic in a rather small article but I have
tried to give some of the points which would look strange or were not
known to the Muslims.
1 Sachau E C, Alberuni's India, Low Price Publications, New Delhi,
1993, pp. viii
2 Elliot and Dowson, The History of India as told by its own
historians, Low Price Publications, New Delhi, 1996, vol. II, pp. 2
3 ibid., pp. 5
4 Sachau, pp. xxvii
5 Elliot and Dowson, vol. II, pp. 3
6 Sachau, pp.185,
7 Sachau, pp. xvii, xix, xxiii
8 Sachau, pp. ii - 80
9 Sachau, pp. 17
10 Sachau, pp.18-19
11Sachau, pp. 19
12 Sachau, pp. 19
13 Sachau, pp. 20
14 Sachau, pp. 20
15 Sachau, pp. 21
16 Sachau, pp. 22
17 Sachau, pp. ii - 2
18 Sachau, pp. ii - 103
19 Sacahu, pp. 22
20 Sachau, pp. 179
21 Sachau, pp. 180-2
22 Sachau, pp. 174
23 Sachau, pp. 169
24 Sachau, pp. 268
25 Sacahu, pp. 272
26 Sachau, pp. 276-7
27 Sachau, pp ii-105
28 Sachau, pp. 159
29 Sacahu, pp. 106 - 7
30 Sachau, pp. ii - 142
31 Sacahu, pp. ii144 - 5
32 Sachau. Pp. 101
33 Sachau, pp. 102
http://voi.org/20100117341/vinodkumar/column-vinodkumar/indiaasalberunisawit.html
From The Pages of History
By Vinod Kumar, on 31-01-2010 11:06
Earth's Rotation, Globular Shape and Gravity
When we talk of the earth going around the sun as it has always done,
its globular shape, the different seasons, different lengths of day
and night, mind goes back to Galileo and Copernicus, scared to death,
holding the truth back lest the fury of the church falls upon them for
letting the world know the reality of nature. When one thinks of
gravity one thinks of Newton sitting under an apple tree watching an
apple fall to the ground and Newton proclaiming "Lo! there is
gravity."
If I were to say Hindu philosophers talked and wrote about gravity and
the globular shape of the earth centuries before Newton and Galileo
and Copernicus, and quoted Hindu sources, I would not only be
dismissed as a "fanatical Hindu communalist" by our 'all-knowing-
secular intellectuals' but also incur their wrath. And who wants
that?
In order to state the truth and make it acceptable to our 'all-knowing-
secular intellectuals' let me seek the help of a Muslim scholar from
Central Asia. Who around 1030 AD wrote a very comprehensive book
"Indica" about India -- its literature, its philosophy, its religion,
its culture, its languages, its history, its geography, its customs,
its sciences including astronomy. I am talking about Abu-Raihan
Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Alberuni -- a scholar and a devout genuine Muslim
by all standards.
Before I go into what Alberuni wrote let us take some time to find out
more about this man -- Alberuni.
In the words of Edward Sachau -- translator of Alebruni's 'Indica':
"Mahmud marched into the country, not without some fighting,
established there one of his generals as provincial governor, and soon
returned to Ghazna with much booty and a great part of Khiva troops,
together with the princes of the deposed family of Mamun and the
leading men of the country as prisoners of war or as hostages. Among
the last was Abu-Raihan Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Alberuni. This happened in
the spring and summer of AD 1017."
"When he (Alberuni) was brought to Ghazna as a hostage, he enjoyed the
reputation of a great 'munajjim' i.e. "astrologer - astronomer". By
the time he wrote 'Indica' thirteen years later after his involuntary
immigration to Afghanistan, he was a master of astrology, both
according to the Greek and the Hindu systems.
"Alberuni felt a strong inclination towards Indian philosophy. He
seems to have thought that the philosophers both in ancient India and
Greece, held in reality the very same ideas, the same as seem to have
been his own i.e. of pure monotheism. He seems to have to have reveled
in the pure theories of Bhagavad-Gita. ... There can scarcely be any
doubt that the Muslims of later times would have found fault with him
for going to such length in his interest for these heathenish
doctrines" observes Sachau, but "still he was Muslim, whether Sunni or
Shia cannot be gathered from Indica. He sometimes takes an occasion
for pointing out to the reader the superiority of Islam over
Brahamanical India... He dares not attack Islam but attacks the
Arabs."
What was the object of his writing 'Indica'?
"The object which the author had in view and never for a moment lost
sight of, was to afford the necessary information and training to any
one (in Islam) who wants to converse with the Hindus, and to discuss
with them questions of religion, science, or literature, on the very
basis of their own civilization."
Alberuni came to India with Mahmud and stayed there. He learnt
Sanskrit and Hindu literature and sciences and indeed wrote a very
comprehensive book about India of those days. As a Muslim he praises
the 'wonderful exploits of Mahmud saying: "Mahmud utterly ruined the
prosperity of the country, and performed those wonderful exploits, by
which the Hindus became like atoms of dust scattered in all
directions" but as a scholar he laments "this is the reason, too, why
Hindu sciences have retired far away from those parts of the country
conquered by us, and have fled to places which our hand cannot yet
reach, to Kashmir, Benares, and other places."
It seems from above that his study was done in area which was under
Mahmud's control, most likely western Punjab. But still what he writes
is very illuminating. Let us now see what wrote about our subject:
astronomy in India and gravity and the solar system.
Quoting from Brahamgupta's Brahamsidhanta, Alberuni wrote:
"Several circumstances, however, compel us to attribute globular shape
to both the earth and the heaven, viz. the fact that the stars rise
and set in different places at different times, so that, e.g. a man in
Yamakoti observes one identical start rising above the western
horizon, whilst a man in Rum at the same time observes it rising above
the eastern horizon. Another argument to the same effect is this, that
a man on Meru observes one identical star above the horizon in the
zenith of Lanka, the country of demons, whilst a man in Lanka at the
same time observes it above his head. Besides all astronomical
observations are not correct unless we assume the globular shape of
heaven and earth. Therefore we must declare that heaven is a globe,
and the observation of these characteristics of the world would not be
correct unless in reality it were a globe. Now it is evident that all
other theories about the world are futile."
Last update : 31-01-2010 11:12
Earlier philosophers like Aryabhata, Vasishtha and Lata had also come
to the same conclusion and Alberuni goes on to quote Varahmira: "all
things which are perceived by the senses, are witness in favor of the
globular shape of the earth, and refute the possibility of its having
any other shape."
On the subject of the rotation of the earth Alberuni writes:
"As regards the resting of the earth, one of the elementary problems
of astronomy, which offers many and great difficulties, this, too, is
a dogma with the Hindu astronomers. Brahamgupta says in the
Brahamsiddhanta: 'some people maintain that the first motion (from
east to west) does not lie in the meridian, but belongs to the earth.
But Varahmira refutes them by saying: If that were the case, a bird
would not return to its nest as soon as it had flown away from it
towards the west.' And, in fact it is precisely as Varahmira says."
Alberuni agrees with Varahmira that earth does not rotate.
Alberuni goes on to quote Brahamgupta:
"The followers of Aryabhata maintain that the earth is moving and the
heaven resting. People have tried to refute them by saying that, if
such were the case, stones would and trees would fall from the earth.
Brahamgupta does not agree with them, and says that that would not
necessarily follow from their theory, apparently because he thought
that all heavy things are attracted towards the center of the earth.
He says: 'On the contrary, if that were the case, the earth would not
vie in keeping an even and uniform pace with the minutes of heaven,
the pranas of the times."
Alberuni does not agree with Brahamgupta and is unable to understand
the rotation of the earth and goes on to write:
"Supposing this to be true, and that the earth makes a complete
rotation eastward in so many breaths as heaven does according to his
(Brahamgupta's) view, we cannot see what should prevent the earth from
keeping an even and uniform pace with heaaven
Stubbornly he refuses to accept the theory of the rotation of the
earth and goes on to say:
"Besides, the rotation of the earth in no way impair the value of
astronomy, as all appearances of an astronomic character can quite as
well be explained according to this theory as to the other. There are,
however, other reasons which make it impossible."
Alberuni says he also has written a book on this subject in which ' we
have surpassed our predecessors' but does not tell what his theories
are?
On the question of gravity and other issues like top and bottom, high
and low, Alberuni quotes Brahamgupta and says:
"Scholars have declared that the globe of the earth is in the midst of
heaven, and that Mount Meru, the home of Devas, as well as Vadavamukha
below, is the home of their opponents; the Daitya and Dhanava belong
to it. But his below is according to them is only a relative one.
Disregarding this, we say that the earth on all its sides is the same;
all people on earth stand upright, and all heavy things fall down to
the earth by a law of nature, for it is the nature of the earth to
attract and to keep things, as it is the nature of water to flow, that
of fire to burn, and that of wind to set in motion... The earth is the
only low thing, and seeds always return to it, in whatever direction
you may throw them away, and never rise upwards from the earth."
Varahmira explains it further:
"Mountains, seas, rivers, trees, cities, men, and angels, all are
around the globe of the earth. And if Yamakoti and Rum are opposite to
each other, one could not say that the one is low in relation to the
other, since low does not exist.... Every one speaks of himself, 'I am
above and the others are below,' whilst all of them are around the
globe like the blossoms springing on the branches of a Kadamba-tree.
They encircle it on all the sides, but each individual blossom has the
same position as the other, neither one hanging downward nor then
other standing upright." He emphasized: "For the earth attracts that
which is upon her, for it is the below towards all directions, and
heaven is the above towards all directions."
Now these were the thoughts of Hindu philosophers as recorded by
Alberuni in the early part of the eleventh century and these had not
changed for centuries. Alberuni quotes heavily from Brahamgupta whose
Brahamsiddhanta was composed in AD 628. But it was Aryabhata, born in
AD 476, the first to hold that the earth was a sphere and rotated on
its axis and that the eclipses were not the work of Rahu but caused by
the shadow of the earth falling on the moon. His Aryabhatiya was
composed in AD 499.
It is clear from above that it was over a millennium before Galileo,
Copernicus and Newton that the Hindu philosophers had formulated the
theories about the globular shape and rotation of the earth and
gravity.
http://voi.org/20100131352/vinodkumar/column-vinodkumar/fromthepagesofhistory.html
My Name is Khan
By Vinod Kumar, on 15-03-2010 03:52
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's pronouncement not to let Shah Rukh
Khan's starrer My Name Is Khan be screened in Mumbai created much
sensation around the world and publicity for the film -- the publicity
that it could not have bought at any cost. Actually, Bal Thackeray's
action had nothing to do with the film itself - it was all about Shah
Rukh's saying that Pakistan is "great neighbor" whatever Shah Rukh's
definiotn of a "great neighbor" is. But anyway, film's name My Name is
Khan and its oft publicized credo "My name is Khan and I am not a
terrorist" in itself is quite provocative.
The film though made in India is set in the USA and deals in the
aftermath of September 11, 2001 attacks on the twin towers and the
pentagon. What was the purpose of making the film and declaring
basically that even though I am a Muslim but I am not terrorist? As
soon as the attacks happened American administration went out of its
way to insist and make a point that Islam has nothing to do with the
acts of terrorism and Muslims are patriotic citizens of the country.
So what was the point to go and tell the President of the United
States seven years after the act even though I am a Muslim, I am not a
terrorist - the President has been telling the world that from day
one. He need not be told what he has been proclaiming from day one.
If anyone that needed to be told the massage were the perpetrators of
the crime who carried out the act in the name of Islam.
Now then what was the film all about?
It seems the sole purpose the film was made was a propaganda for
Islam. But anything that is carried too far loses its appeal and that
is exactly what the film succeeded in achieving. Every film, every
story has to have some exaggeration to make a point - that is normal.
But when carried to beyond imagination and all limits, it turns
people off. The film may find appreciative audience in the Muslim
Middleast and other Islamic countries - and blind admirers of Shah
Rukh which are aplenty -- but it will turn off a neutral person. It
is difficult to imagine how Shah Rukh would have handled the character
of an autistic person had Dustin Hoffman not done the role in The Rain
Man - if the face of Shah Rukh is covered one would not know whether
it is him or Dustin. The story is weak.
Shah Rukh by doing the role has done a big disfavor to his image of
being a representative of the secular film industry of India. He is
now just an Islamic propagandist.
http://voi.org/20100315384/vinodkumar/column-vinodkumar/mynameiskhan.html
http://voi.org/vinodkumar/viewallarticles.html?list=1
Don't Block the 'Internet Hindus'
By Kanchan Gupta, on 15-03-2010 04:38
Hindus who are proud to assert their identity and fly the Tricolour
high have now found a new platform to have their say, the way they
want it, without fear of being shouted down. Tired of being derided by
pseudo-secularists in media who see nothing wrong with Muslim
communalism and Christian fundamentalism but are swift to pounce upon
Hindus for being ‘intolerant', their cultural ethos crudely denigrated
by the Left-liberal intelligentsia as antediluvian, Hindus have begun
to harness technology to strike back with deadly effect.
They are bright, they are well-educated, they are not burdened with
regional and caste biases, they are amazingly well-informed on
national issues and world affairs, they are rooted in Indian culture,
and they are politically alert. They hate being told they are wrong
when they know they are right. They have a mind of their own and
refuse to be led like sheep. Not surprisingly, they hold the Congress,
the Left and regional parties in contempt, as they do journalists who
cravenly ingratiate themselves with the establishment. For them, India
matters - and matters more than anything else. Meet the ‘Internet
Hindus'.
In recent days there has been a spate of articles disparaging the
‘Internet Hindus', variously describing them as "loonies", "fanatics",
"irrational", "Hindu Taliban" and, by an enraged news channel anchor,
"gutter snipes". Much of the criticism has come from left-of-centre
journalists who believe they have unfettered monopoly over media as
their inalienable birth right. Exalted members of Delhi's
commentariat, who are indistinguishable from the city's la-di-dah
socialites, tend to turn up their noses every time they hear the
phrase ‘Internet Hindus' as they would at the suggestion of travelling
by public transport. Others are given to contemptuously brushing aside
‘Internet Hindus' as being irrelevant and describing their views as
inconsequential. All this and more has neither dampened the spirit of
‘Internet Hindus' nor blunted their assertive attitude.
Here are some statistics, culled from an ongoing online survey, which
would help create a generic profile of ‘Internet Hindus'. The survey
is open to all Hindus who use the Internet; the response has been
overwhelming. Of those who have responded, 88.9 per cent have
identified themselves as ‘Internet Hindus', indicating they attach no
shame to the term though their critics would want them to feel
ashamed. Of the respondents, four per cent are aged 20 years and
below; 55 per cent are aged 30 and below; 31 per cent are 40 and
below; and, only 10 per cent are aged above 40. In brief, 90 per cent
of them are young Indians.
The educational profile of the respondents is awesome: 43 per cent are
graduates (most of them from top-notch engineering, science and
medical colleges); 46 per cent are post-graduates (a large number of
them have MBA degrees from the best B-schools); and, 11 per cent have
PhDs. It is understandable that none of them is unemployed. Those
without jobs are still studying (17.3 per cent) and can be found in
labs and classrooms of the best universities here and abroad. Of the
82.7 per cent who are employed, 3.1 per cent earn up to Rs 2 lakh a
year; 18.4 per cent earn up to Rs 6 lakh a year; 34.7 per cent earn up
to Rs 12 lakh a year; and, 26.5 per cent earn more than Rs 24 lakh a
year. Nearly 60 per cent of them frequently travel abroad on work and
holiday. Some 11 per cent have travelled abroad at least once.
Contrary to the impression that is being sought to be created by their
critics, ‘Internet Hindus' are open to ideas, believe in a plural, law-
abiding society and swear by the Constitution. They are often appalled
by the shenanigans of our politicians, including those of the BJP, and
are ruthless in decrying politics of identity and cynical vote-bank
policies. They have no gender prejudices and most of them think
banning FTV is downright silly in this day and age. The ‘Internet
Hindus' will not countenance denigration of their faith or biased
media coverage of events, but 91.9 per cent of them respect and accept
other religions. Asked if India is meant only for Hindus, an
overwhelming majority of them, responding to the survey, said, ‘Hell,
no!'
So why do they infuriate pseudo-secularists in media and make Delhi's
commentariat see red? There are three possible explanations. First,
the Net is beyond the control of those who control newspapers and news
channels. While the print and audiovisual media have for long excluded
contrarian opinion and denied space to those who disagree with absurd
notions of ‘secularism' or question the quality of reportage, the Net
has provided space to the ‘other' voice. Real time blog posts now
record the ‘other side' of the day's story ("The Prince was shouted
down in Bihar, not feted by students!"), Twitter affords instant micro-
blogging even as prime time news is being telecast ("That's not true.
I live in Bareilly. This is not how the riots began!"), and YouTube
allows unedited amateur videos of events (the Meraj riots, the
Islamist violence in Kashmir Valley) to be uploaded, giving the lie to
edited and doctored versions shown by news channels.
Second, unlike carefully selected ‘Letters to the Editor' in
newspapers and ‘Feedback' posted on news channel websites, the
reactions of ‘Internet Hindus', often savage and unflattering, cannot
be thrown into the dustbin or deleted with a click of the mouse.
English language media journalists, long used to fawning praise from
readers and viewers, are horrified that someone can actually call them
‘dumb' in public space and there's nothing they can do about it.
Third, the established elite, most of them middle-aged, are beginning
to feel threatened. Here's a new breed of Indians who have used merit
and not ‘connections' to make a mark in professional excellence, young
men and women who are educated and articulate, and are willing to
challenge conventional wisdom as preached by media ‘stars' who have
rarely, if ever, been questioned. The elite who dominate newspapers
and news channels are seen by ‘Internet Hindus' as part of India's
past, not future. As one ‘Internet Hindu' writes in his blog, "A large
number of ex-elite can't stomach fact that children of bankruptcy are
better travelled, better read and dominate the Internet!" Harsh, but
true.
We can describe the ‘Internet Hindus' as the "lunatic fringe", but
that won't change the fact that their tribe is growing by the day.
Soon, those on the fringe will move to the centre and their critics
will find themselves precariously perched on the fringe. The Right is
gaining ground as is the access and reach of the Net; newspapers and
news channels, the Left's last refuge, no longer command absolute
control over information flow. It would be unwise to ‘block' the voice
of ‘Internet Hindus', as then their clamour to be heard will further
increase and there is nothing we can do to silence them. The times
they are a-changin'.
Courtesy: http://www.dailypioneer.com/241956/Don't-block-the-‘Internet-Hindus'.html
http://voi.org/14mar2010/sourced/thepioneer/dontblocktheinternethindus.html
Editorial: The Guilty Men of Our Democracy
By The Editorial Team, on 15-03-2010 03:46
Gujarat and Anti-Sikh Riots
The law of the land should prevail. The highest and the mightiest
should respect the word and spirit of law. Otherwise the very
existence of democracy in the country would be threatened. It would be
a law of the jungle.
Yet, equally important is that the provisions of the Constitution that
provide for equality before law for however high or law, an individual
may be, irrespective of caste, creed and sex. But it is here that our
democracy is deficient.
The SIT constituted by the Supreme Court to investigate some cases of
Gujarat riots has summoned Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
The law should take its own course. Shri Modi is expected to extend
full cooperation and respect the law of the land.
But what raises eyebrows and pains the observers is the duplicity and
double standards being practiced by the judiciary, the media, the
intelligentsia and the so-called tribe of liberals and secularists.
The Gujarat riots and the 1984 anti-Sikhs riots have many similarities
and, in a sense, the latter riots were more heinous and cruel in the
sense that these were directed only against Sikhs and only in the
States ruled by the Congress. Shri Modi never justified the riots but
the then Congress President and Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi did,
saying on record having stated that "when a big tree falls, the earth
below is sure to shake". Yet, Shri Gandhi has been spared for the anti-
Sikh riots the epithets that are used for Shri Narinder Modi for
Gujarat riots.
More people died in anti-Sikh riots than in Gujarat riots. Delhi then,
and even now, for law and order is directly under the administrative
control. It is here that more than 3300 Sikhs died. The total number
of Sikhs having been butchered in different parts of the country is
more than 4000 while it is about 2500 in Gujarat which includes Hindus
too. For full three days, as per reports of successive Commissions of
Inquiry, the anti-Sikh rioters ruled Delhi and no FIRs were
registered. No military was summoned to quell the riots. The police
remained a silent spectator. Yet, the Congress which ruled at the
Centre and the States continued to remain the holy icon of piety,
secularism and rule of law. Even after 25 years the anti-Sikh riots
sufferers continue to suffer the agony of their loss with little hope
for justice.
Surprisingly, even the courts were not that condescending for Sikh
suffers as these have been for Gujarat riot victims. No Special
Investigating Teams were constituted by the courts which also did no
monitoring of the progress of investigations. Another stark reality is
that while Modi regime registered cases against rioters, prosecuted
them and many have been taken to their logical conclusions with many
convictions, the same is not true of anti-Sikh riots. Many MLAs, ex-
MLAs and other prominent workers of the ruling party in Gujarat are in
jails facing trial. The same cannot be said about anti-Sikh riots.
The human rights organizations which beat their chests for Gujarat
riot victims are, unfortunately and shamelessly, heartless for anti-
Sikh riot victims. They seem to have turned deaf, dumb and blind to
the realities of anti-Sikh riots.
The present Congress-led UPA government, too, for understandable
political reasons, has treated the Gujarat riot victims and anti-Sikh
riots differently. It has been more kind to the former than the
latter.
Why is that the whole system - whether the executive, the judiciary,
the media, intelligentsia and human rights organizations - are
treating the same ugly incidents differently? They are doing a great
disservice to the present system of government and the institutions of
the Constitution. Nobody can be more guilty or more innocent and
deserving more punishment than the other in the same circumstances in
this country.
Let it be a warning to all who matter. By their words and actions and
by indulging in discrimination and favourtism against one section or
the other, they are only venturing to defeat the very purpose and
spirit of democracy. It is they who will tomorrow be counted the
guilty men of our democracy.
http://voi.org/20100315383/14mar2010/editorial/editorial/editorial:theguiltymenofourdemocracy.html
Sita as an Empowered Indian Woman
Book- Review
The other day Rahul Mahajan got married on a reality TV show. His
marriage was of course for real, and one wishes him well in life. Some
one remarked that the show was a tribute to the new Indian woman who
had taken the unconventional path to choosing a life partner. He said
that it was the coming of age of the Indian Woman.
As I watched the final scenes of the show, I was reminded of a comment
a young woman had made some months ago in connection with the
Ramayana. "I do not wish to be a Sita -- meek and submissive. I am the
new Indian woman!"
Three 'new Indian women' stood decked in bridal finery, fluttering
nervously and waiting to be chosen in the final episode. The 'new
Indian women' felt nothing wrong in being commoditised and rejected in
front of a live audience of lakhs across the country. As for the
mythological Sita to whom our young friend had disparagingly referred,
remember that she had chosen her groom on her terms. If this is not
women empowerment, what is!
The following review done by me of a book on Sita adds to what I have
said:
In Search of Sita: Revisiting Mythology
Edited by Malashri Lal & Namita Gokhale
Yatra Books/Penguin Books
Rs 399/-
Perhaps the most enigmatic of all Indian mythological figures is Sita.
She has been in the country's subconsciousness for centuries largely
as the ideal Indian Woman. There has been a tendency by modern
commentators and feminists to run her down for being ‘passive' and
‘submissive' and failing to claim her rights at various stages of her
life, even when she was publicly humiliated for no fault of hers. That
being the case, it would come as no surprise if the ‘modern Indian
woman' is less than enthusiastic in holding her as her ‘hero.'
Given this context, one must welcome with open arms the excellent
collection of essays on Sita edited by Malashri Lal and Namita Gokhale
that seeks to firmly establish her image as a strong-willed woman who
charted her own course in a largely male-dominated society. The irony
is that she had to go through a series of trials and tribulations as a
result of machination by two women, Kaikeyi and Manthara. In Search of
Sita: Revisiting Mythology is a marvellous book that not only has
commentaries written by well-known authors but also contains various
versions of the epic Ramayan, depicting Sita's role. The anthology
also provides a range of "creative interpretations" of the ‘dutiful
and meek' wife of Rama.
What makes the book even more special is the ideological space it
provides to writers with different bends of mind. So, if there is
Meghnad Desai and Indira Goswami, there is also Tarun Vijay and Karen
Gabriel - the latter weaving for the reader an interesting Sita-
Draupadi syntax in a gender context.
It should be clear to the reader, if he or she were under some
illusion, that the character of Sita in the epic was never meant to be
submissive in the face of injustice - to her personally and to the
female gender. One must realise that she could not have become the
icon she is by being a frail figure, forever manipulated and bent by a
patriarchal system. And, as events were to prove, her devotion to her
husband and willingness to be his partner through thick and thin could
not be interpreted as a sign of subordination. Let us look at some of
the instances where her dominance is undisputed.
At her father's home before marriage, Sita would routinely lift
Shiva's bow with her left hand while mopping the floor. It is the same
heavy bow that several strong princes failed to move even an inch from
the ground at her svayamvara. Only Ram succeeded and married her.
Thus, Sita actually set the ground rule for choosing her groom. Is
this a sign of a weak woman?
When Rama was exiled for 14 years, Sita insisted on accompanying him.
Her husband told her categorically that she should not do so as the
exile order was only for him, but she overruled him in the presence of
a number of people. Does this indicate her ‘meekness'?
Abducted by Ravana and surrounded by adversaries, she successfully
fobbed off his advances and threats made directly and through others.
The Lankan king failed to persuade her despite using all means at his
disposal. Does this not show her determination and resolve in the face
of a grim situation?
Banished from the kingdom by Ram, a then pregnant Sita later brought
up her two children as a single mother, imbibing in them the qualities
of valour and fair play. And when they in their boyhood captured her
brother-in-law Laxman, she rushed to get him released, keeping aside
her grief at having been wronged by his family. Surely, this is a sign
of a strong and very mature woman.
Finally, it was her decision to leave the world as a rebuttal to a
demand to prove she had not been ‘defiled' while away from the
kingdom. Given her wrath over the humiliation and determination, it is
unlikely that Rama would have been able to persuade her to change her
mind even if he had tried. In the end, Sita set and lived by her own
terms. It is not easy to find a better example of determined
womanhood.
In Search of Sita is, thus, in many ways a tribute to an ancient icon
by modern India.
http://voi.org/20100315386/14mar2010/general/general/sitaasanempoweredindianwoman.html
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Thackeray says no concern for women's welfare in Bill
STAFF WRITER 19:54 HRS IST
Mumbai, Mar 15 (PTI) Days after supporting the Women's Reservation
Bill in the Rajya Sabha, the Shiv Sena now says the legislation is a
ploy to garner women's votes and does not have welfare of women at
heart.
"The bill has nothing to do with women's welfare. It is a ploy to get
women's votes," Sena chief Bal Thackeray said in a statement.
The 83-year-old leader's statement was circulated here as part of his
traditional message to supporters on the occasion of 'Gudhi Padwa'
tomorrow.
"Injustice against women continues. They are suffering due to rising
prices. Is it going to end because of the Bill," he asked.
"Sena has given a clarion call that along with the bill, women should
also get protection. But that is left aside and political colours are
being given," he said.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/566024_Thackeray-says-no-concern-for-women-s-welfare-in-Bill
MNS in film cash dock
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Mumbai, March 15: Mumbai police have arrested 11 Maharashtra Navnirman
Sena activists after film producer Ritesh Sidhwani complained that
they had tried to extort Rs 25 lakh from his film crew.
The producer’s complaint came a month after Shah Rukh Khan refused to
apologise to Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray whose party tried to
stall the release of My Name is Khan.
Sidhwani, the producer of Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya, Luck by Chance and
Karthik Calling Karthik, and his film unit told Bandra police that the
11 MNS activists came to the set of the film Crooked at Mehboob Studio
on Sunday afternoon and demanded to know why foreign artistes were
being employed in the film and not local talent. Deputy commissioner
K.M. Prasanna said the film unit explained to them that the “foreign
artistes were required as the sequence recreated Istanbul, Turkey”.
But the activists would not budge.
Prasanna said the MNS workers then allegedly demanded Rs 25 lakh for
not using local artistes.
Ameya Khopkar, the MNS film wing chief denied the allegation of
extortion. “A blatantly false complaint of extortion has been filed
against our boys…. Our people had gone to the set after learning that
the film was using 136 foreign nationals from Afghanistan, Iran and
Russia though they did not possess valid work permits,” he said.
The arrests happened after Sidhwani approached Mukesh Bhatt, the vice-
president of the film producers’ association, and he called up
Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100316/jsp/nation/story_12221472.jsp
BJP-Left House unity rolls on
RADHIKA RAMASESHAN
New Delhi, March 15: The nuclear liability bill today gave the Left
and the BJP another chance to display their vaunted “unity”, kicked
off by the price rise and helped on by the women’s reservation bill.
The two main Opposition groups, which together outnumbered the
depleted Treasury benches in the Lok Sabha today, had braced
themselves to block the bill’s introduction.
Each had opposed the nuclear deal with the US, and the BJP had the
added motive of partially answering its in-house sceptics who felt it
had “put itself out” to bail the government out over the women’s bill.
Estranged UPA allies Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad too joined
forces with the BJP-Left today.
A deflated government, realising what it was up against, deferred the
bill’s introduction. Denied the opportunity for a showdown, the
Opposition still flaunted the new-found unity between the strangest of
bedfellows.
“The unity is actually a direct outcome of the nuclear deal that was
opposed by the BJP and the Left. The Samajwadi began by opposing it
but later changed its stand,” said CPM general secretary Prakash
Karat. He said the Left would appeal to all MPs on Tuesday to not
support it.
The poor attendance on the Treasury benches looked out of sync with
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s exertions since yesterday to try and
bring the Opposition around on the nuclear bill.
On Sunday, Singh had phoned Sushma Swaraj, leader of the Lok Sabha
Opposition, and Sitaram Yechury, the CPM’s leader in the Rajya Sabha,
to urge them to reconsider their resistance.
Recounting the conversation, Sushma told journalists: “I said we
cannot support. He said we will have problems with other countries to
which I replied, ‘But we have problems within our own country’. The PM
asked if he should ask the national security adviser to speak to me. I
said there is no point because the NSA already spoke to Arun Jaitley
(leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha) a month ago. But our
stand remained unchanged. I was polite but firm.”
Sushma then got in touch with the CPM and CPI floor leaders, and
Yashwant Sinha was told to speak to Mulayam and Lalu Prasad to firm up
the Opposition strategy.
Last week, Mulayam and Lalu Prasad had slammed the Left and the BJP
for being “in cahoots with the Congress” over the women’s bill. Today,
by participating in the Opposition unity, they gave the government a
foretaste of the problems it might now face in Parliament.
Government sources admitted that the stand-off was a “grim reminder”
of how precariously the ruling alliance was placed in the Lower House
minus the Yadavs.
“The only short-run tactic we can follow is to avoid business that
requires voting,” a minister said. The long-term strategy, he said,
was to scout for parties that could be counted on in a crisis “even if
this entails backroom deals”.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100316/jsp/nation/story_12221471.jsp
Maya Brahmin aide missing
TAPAS CHAKRABORTY
Lucknow, March 15: Mayavati today tried to reclaim her Dalit agenda on
the Bahujan Samaj Party’s 25th anniversary by clipping the wings of
Satish Chandra Mishra, the party’s “Brahmin face” whose clout had
dismayed many of her Dalit supporters.
Mishra, architect of the Brahmin-Dalit axis that lifted Mayavati to
power in the 2007 UP polls, has been taken off the BSP’s Brahmin
Bhaichara (Brotherhood) Committee and appointed chairman of the party
legal cell.
The chief minister herself made the announcement at the party’s mega
rally here to celebrate its silver jubilee. “There is no strict
boundary of work but Mishra’s priority would henceforth be legal
work,” she said.
More eloquent than her 95-minute speech was the unusual absence of
Mishra from the dais. The lawyer who had been Mayavati’s shadow for
the past half a decade stood among party workers far from the dais,
from where Mayavati reaffirmed her commitment to the Dalit cause.
“I don’t believe the party’s core agenda is being diluted. I vow not
to ever allow the Dalit movement to weaken or the head of a Dalit to
bow in shame,” she said.
Party sources said Mayavati had been jittery over accusations that her
party, born as a movement for social transformation, had become “an
opportunistic political party” interested only in capturing power.
On the face of it, Mishra’s new post may appear logical since Mayavati
is grappling with at least half-a-dozen cases against her party and
government. But Mishra had already been supervising the cases while
discharging his other duties.
Many Dalit leaders had looked on nervously as Mishra was included in
the state cabinet in 2007 and later sent to the Rajya Sabha, all the
while retaining his status as party No. 2. But a rift appeared between
him and Mayavati after the Brahmin vote deserted her in the 2009 Lok
Sabha polls.
Mayavati had mooted banishing Mishra to the legal cell at a party
meeting in July 2009, but backed off in the face of Brahmin murmurs.
Today, she made it official.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100316/jsp/nation/story_12221469.jsp
Monday, March 15, 2010
Seedhi Baat / Aajtak, March 14, 2010
'Bal Thackeray is a big leader'
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's estranged daughter-in-law Smita
Thackeray says politics and family are two separate things.
Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
Posted by Prabhu Chawla at 7:35 PM
http://prabhuchawla.blogspot.com/2010/03/seedhi-baat-aajtak-march-14-2010.html
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Video/0/42/video_page.jsp?vid=88274&part=1&secid=42
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Video/0/42/video_page.jsp?vid=88274&part=2&secid=42
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Video/0/42/video_page.jsp?vid=88274&part=3&secid=42
..ab.na.jaa..
Monday, March 15, 2010
Rajdeep Sardesai's letter to Uddhav Thackeray
Rajdeep Sardesai,a well known journalist,sent a letter to Uddhav
Thackeray,heir of the Shiv Sena, on the whole "Marathi manoos" issue.
Wiki : Rajdeep Sardesai
Wiki : Uddhav Thackeray
It makes for a very interesting read,seeing the reaction of a renowned
member of the Press addressing a political leader with much force.
Dear Udhavjee,
At the very outset, my compliments for the manner in which you've
literally 'stolen' the headlines from your cousin Raj in the last
fortnight. After the Assembly election defeat last October, there were
many who had written you off as a weak, namby-pamby politician, who
would be better off doing photography. But now, it seems that the
'fire' which burns inside Bal Thackeray is alive in the son too. After
years of struggling to establish yourself, you have finally discovered
the mantra for success as a Shiv Sena leader: find an 'enemy',
threaten and intimidate them, commit the odd violent act, and,
eureka!, you are anointed the true heir to the original 'T' company
supremo.
Your cousin has chosen to bash faceless taxi drivers and students from
North India, soft targets who are totally unprotected. You've been
much braver. You've actually chosen to target national icons: Sachin
Tendulkar, Mukesh Ambani, Shah Rukh Khan, powerful figures who most
Indians venerate. Shah Rukh is no surprise since the Sena has always
been uncomfortable with the Indian Muslim identity. Forty years ago,
your father had questioned Dilip Kumar's patriotism for accepting an
award from the Pakistani government. You've called Shah Rukh a traitor
for wishing to choose Pakistani cricketers in the IPL. That your
father invited Javed Miandad, the former Pakistani captain and a close
relation of Dawood Ibrahim, to your house is a matter of record that
we shall not go into today.
I am a little surprised that you chose to question Ambani and
Tendulkar though. The Sena has always enjoyed an excellent
relationship with corporate India. Why then criticise India's biggest
businessman for suggesting that Mumbai belongs to all? After all, no
one can deny that Mumbai's entrepreneurial energy has been driven by
communities from across India. The diatribe against Sachin is even
more strange. He is, alongwith Lata Mangeshkar, Maharashtra's most
admired and recognised face. Surely, you will agree that Sachin
symbolizes Maharashtrian pride in a manner that renaming shops and
streets in Marathi never can.
Of course, in-between some of your local thugs also attacked the IBN
Lokmat office. I must confess that initially the attack did leave me
outraged. Why would a political outfit that claims to protect
Maharashtrian culture attack a leading Marathi news channel? But on
reflection I realized that we hadn't been singled out: over the last
four decades, the Shiv Sena has targeted some of Maharashtra's finest
literary figures and journalistic institutions. That you continue to
live in a colony of artists while attacking artistic freedom remains
one of the many tragic ironies in the evolution of the Sena.
Just before the Assembly elections, you had told me in an interview
that you were determined to shake off the Shiv Sena's legacy of
violence. You spoke of the need for welfarist politics, of how you
were saddened that rural Maharashtra was being left behind. I was
impressed by the farmer rallies you had organized, by the fact that
you had documented farmer suicides in the state. I thought that Uddhav
Thackeray was serious about effecting a change in Maharashtra's
political landscape.
I was obviously mistaken. Farmer suicides still continue, the after-
effects of drought are still being faced in several districts, but the
focus is now squarely on finding high profile hate figures. You claim
to have a vision for Mumbai. Yet, on the day the Sena-controlled
city's municipal corporation's annual budget revealed an alarming
financial crisis, your party mouthpiece,Saamna, was running banner
headlines seeking an apology from Shah Rukh Khan. You asked your Shiv
Sainiks to agitate against Rahul Gandhi's visit to Mumbai, but why
have you not asked them to wage a war against the water cuts that have
made life so difficult for millions in the city?
At one level, I can understand the reasons for your frustration. The
Congress-NCP government in the state has been thoroughly incompetent:
the last decade has seen Maharashtra decline on most social and
economic parameters. Yet, the Shiv Sena has been unable to capture
power in the state. Your war with cousin Raj has proved to be self-
destructive. The Assembly election results showed that a united Sena
may have offered a real challenge to the ruling alliance. In fact, the
Sena and the MNS together garnered around 43 per cent of the popular
vote in Mumbai-Thane, almost seven per cent more than what was
obtained by the Congress-NCP combine. Yet, because your vote was
split, you won just nine of the 60 seats in the region, a result which
proved decisive in the overall state tally.
Your defeat seems to have convinced you that the only way forward is
to outdo your cousin in parochial politics. It's a strategy which has
undoubtedly made you a headline-grabber once again. Unfortunately,
television rating points don't get you votes or goodwill. There is
space in Maharashtra's politics for a regional force, but it needs to
be based on a constructive, inclusive identity.
Tragically, the Shiv Sena has never offered a serious social or
economic agenda for the future. Setting up the odd wada pav stall in
Mumbai is hardly a recipe for addressing the job crisis . Why hasn't
the Sena, for example, started training projects to make Maharashtrian
youth face upto the challenges of a competitive job market? Why
doesn't the Sena give regional culture a boost by supporting Marathi
theatre, literature or cinema? The wonderful Marathi film,
"Harishchandrachee Factory", nominated for the Oscars, has been co-
produced by Ronnie Screwvala, a Parsi, who like millions of other
'outsiders' has made Mumbai his home. Maybe, I ask for too much.
Tigers, used to bullying others for years, will never change their
stripes.
Post-script: Your charming son, Aditya, who is studying English
Literature in St Xaviers College, had sent me a collection of his
poems. I was most impressed with his writing skills. Let's hope the
next generation of the T company will finally realize that there is
more to life than rabble-rousing!
Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra!
Posted by Malvika at 12:13 PM
http://ab-na-ja.blogspot.com/2010/03/rajdeep-sardesais-letter-to-uddhav.html
Mumbai made into dharamshala: Bal Thackeray
Mumbai, Mar 6 : Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray said Mumbai has been
made into a 'dharamshala' (free inn), thereby thrashing Maharashtra
Governor K Sankaranarayanan for saying 'anybody can live in Mumbai'.
"Saying that migrants will continue to come to Mumbai is akin to
betrayal of Maharashtra," Thackeray said in an editorial in party
mouthpiece Saamna on Saturday.
"Had Sankaranarayanan been the Governor of Karnataka, would he have
dared to say let hordes of migrants come to Bangalore?" the Sena chief
said.
"The governors who live in the sprawling Raj Bhutan by the Arabian Sea
are nothing but Congress pensioners. Raj Bhutan has lost touch with
people's sentiments, that's why you say such things."
Balasaheb further recommended permit system to stop 'migrant influx'
in Mumbai.
"Mumbai has been made into a dharamshala. The only way to stop the
influx of migrants is to start a permit system to impose curbs on
those coming here," Thackeray said.
On Friday, Sankaranarayanan had said: "Anybody can live in Mumbai.
Only Mumbai can compete with itself. The rich, middle class and the
poor co-exist here."
--IBNS
http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-65284.html
le photo of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray at his residence in
Mumbai. PTI Photo Photograph (1)
Bal Thackeray targets Maha Guv over 'Mumbai for all' remark
STAFF WRITER 10:49 HRS IST
Mumbai, Mar 6 (PTI) After batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar and
industrialist Mukesh Ambani, Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan
is the latest to face the Shiv Sena ire for saying that Mumbai belongs
to all.
"Saying that migrants will continue to come to Mumbai is akin to
betrayal of Maharashtra," Sena chief Bal Thackeray said in an
editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana' here today.
The Governor had said yesterday that "anybody can live in Mumbai. Only
Mumbai can compete with itself. The rich, middle class and the poor co-
exist here".
In an informal interaction with media persons, his first since taking
over the gubernatorial post, he said though civic and infrastructure
facilities needed to be upgraded in the megapolis, migration from
other parts of the country cannot be curbed.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/550675_Bal-Thackeray-targets-Maha-Guv-over--Mumbai-for-all--remark
chhotemianinshallah
STAFF WRITER 21:49 HRS IST
Satna (MP), Mar 15 (PTI) Criticising BJP national president Nitin
Gadkari's statement that Narendra Modi has qualities to become the
prime minister, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh has said Modi is
neither fit for chief minister, nor suitable for prime minister's
post.
"Modi is not fit to be a chief minister, forget about being suitable
for prime minister's post," Singh said.
"BJP has always been making many tall claims and even their claim of
Modi being prime ministerial material will be exposed," he told
reporters here yesterday.
Ever since BJP had come to power in Madhya Pradesh, attacks on
minorities in the state have been on the rise, the Congress General
Secretary said.
The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said after inquiring into the
attacks on Christians by BJP leaders, he will file a complaint on it
with the National Minority Commission.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/566294_Modi-not-fit-to-be-CM--forget-about-PM--says-Digvijay
File photo of BJP President Nitin Gadkari addressing a press
conference in Jammu. PTI Photo Photograph (1)
BJP President Nitin Gadkari constitutes his team
STAFF WRITER 16:49 HRS IST
New Delhi, Mar 16 (PTI) Three months after he took over reigns of the
party, BJP President Nitin Gadkari today brought in a mix of youth,
experience and women in his team of office bearers inducting
heavyweights like Vasundhara Raje and Ravishankar Prasad and
hardliners like Varun Gandhi and Vinay Katiyar.
Gadkari, who was considered as an RSS choice when he replaced Rajnath
Singh, has also given positions to some leaders said to be close to
the sangh parivar founthead.
Among them are Bhagat Singh Koshiyari (Vice President), Murlidhar Rao
(Secretary) and Tarun Vijay, who was Editor of RSS mouthpiece
"Organiser", as spokesperson.
Prominent Muslim face and three-time MP Shahnawaz Hussain, who was
widely tipped to become a General Secretary, has been appointed as
Spokesperson while Najma Heptullah has been retained as Vice
President.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/567220_BJP-President-Nitin-Gadkari-constitutes-his-team
Maha issues Ordinance to enhance jail term for terrorists
STAFF WRITER 17:20 HRS IST
Nagpur, Mar 16 (PTI) The State Government has promulgated an Ordinance
to enhance the prison term of terrorists, Maharashtra Home Minister R
R Patil said today.
The State Government has proposed 20, 40 and 60 years of jail-term for
terrorists involved in terror activities and since it is an
administrative requirement, the government has come out with an
Ordinance, Patil told reporters here.
In an informal chat, he said the Ordinance was issued yesterday. The
maximum imprisonment is 14 years in any kind of crime and the accused
person comes out of jail after availing the benefits due to good
conduct and parole.
Technically speaking, the convict is out after serving prison for
11-12 years. The State government was of the opinion that these
terrorists should not be let free or released early after committing
crime against state.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/567288_Maha-issues-Ordinance-to-enhance-jail-term-for-terrorists
Kandhamal says no to Togadia visit
STAFF WRITER 17:41 HRS IST
Bhubaneswar, Mar 16 (PTI) Authorities in Kandhamal district, which has
been violence-free for about a year, today decided not to allow VHP
leader Pravin Togadia to visit it.
"We will not allow VHP leader Pravin Togadia to visit Kandhamal as the
administration does not want to take any risk though things are in
good shape," District Magistrate-cum-Collector Krishna Kumar told PTI
over phone.
"The situation is absolutely normal in the district now," he said.
The state unit of VHP had earlier informed the Home department
regarding Togadia's proposed three-day visit to Orissa.
Togadia is scheduled to begin his visit to the state on March 18 and
visit Kandhamal the next day and spend the night at Phulbani, the
district headquarters of Kandhamal, VHP state secretary Gouri Prasad
Rath said.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/567377_Kandhamal-says-no-to-Togadia-visit
Christ picture: absconding publisher's bail rejected
STAFF WRITER 17:43 HRS IST
Shillong, Mar 16 (PTI) The Gauhati High Court has rejected the bail
plea of a Delhi-based publisher charged with printing a blasphemous
image of Christ in a book meant for junior students.
"The state police challenged the bail order (of the publisher of
Skyline Publication, Indra Mohan Jha) leading to its quashing by the
Gauhati High Court yesterday," DSP Vivek Syiem said.
The absconding publisher was granted interim bail by the Shillong
bench of the high court on March five.
The police had registered a case against the publisher under Section
295 (A) of the IPC for hurting the sentiments of people by publishing
the image of Christ holding a can of beer and a cigarette.
Syiem said in case Jha did not surrender, the police would have to
communicate with other states to trace him.
Over 120 books, carrying the picture, have been seized by police from
a convent school and a distributor.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/567383_Christ-picture--absconding-publisher-s-bail-rejected
Raje says she will perform new role with dedication
STAFF WRITER 17:44 HRS IST
Jaipur, Mar 16 (PTI) Newly-appointed BJP General Secretary Vasundhara
Raje today said she is a committed party worker and will fulfil the
new responsibility with utmost dedication.
"I am disciplined soldier of the party and have always peformed the
task assigned to me by the party sincerely and honestly.
"I will fulfil the new responsibility assigned to me by the party with
dedication," Raje said in a statement here.
Three months after he took over reins of the party, BJP President
Nitin Gadkari today appointed Raje as one of party's General
Secretaries.
Raje, a former Rajasthan Chief Minister, was unseated as Leader of the
Opposition in the state after the party's Lok Sabha debacle.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/567389_Raje-says-she-will-perform-new-role-with-dedication
March 21, 2010
Rebirth of BJP: Focus on Change
"A man is not finished when he is defeated, he is defeated when he
quits. Much the same can be said of a party. It is not finished when
it is defeated; it is defeated when it stops to think.
-Nitin Gadkari
By MV Kamath
The BJP, right now, has one advantage: The UPA government is on its
last legs. It is bereft of new ideas. The high cost of living is
spreading disaffection among the people who are becoming increasingly
disillusioned with the government. This is the time to think big and
hit hard and the BJP seems to have found the right man to fulfil that
envious task. As Gadkari himself said: The country comes first, the
party second and the individual last. Now he has only to prove it
beyond any shadow of doubt. IF the media’s reportage of the
proceedings of the meeting of the BJP to anoint Nitin Gadkari as its
new - and youngest - president has any meaning, it is this: The
Congress had better beware. A sea-change has come over the party which
is as stunning as it was unexpected. It is evident in Gadkari’s hour-
long presidential address and in the entire environment in which the
meeting took place that Gadkari has opened the door to an entire new
world. It is a brave new world which should capture the imagination of
the young and the uninitiated. Here is a man brimming with ideas, has
the courage to break away from tradition in dress and deportment which
should endear him to aam adami. For a president to wear a bush shirt
and trousers, to shun feet touching, even if it is a mark of respect
towards elders, is a break-away from the past that may sound a little
offensive to traditionalists but is an indication that Gadkari is
looking ahead to the future with daring.
Understandably his speech- maiden-had to deal with party affairs, but
indicated a conciliatory approach as when he appealed to the Muslims
to be gracious enough to let a temple to Ram, built on the disputed
structure site. The request sounded genuine. It was anything but
provocative, and hopefully will be received with becoming attention.
The time has come for Hindu-Muslim reconciliation and Gadkari’s appeal
makes a lot of sense. In the next few weeks Gadkari has to think out-
of-the-box.
Four issues call for deep thought: How to raise agricultural
production and keep the peasant from migrating to urban centers; how
to provide jobs for the GenNext; how to reduce corruption which has
become endemic and how to work out a plan to benefit the tribals. And
above all, how to go beyond Hindutva to a way of life that is nation-
embracing and appealing to all people of whatever caste, creed,
religion or community. Gadkari it seems evident, is breaking away from
the old moorings, which is just as well. One appreciates the guts the
RSS has shown in naming Gadkari as its presidential choice. Here is a
man who can relate to the young. Fancy his breaking into singing from
the presidential platform! The sheer novelty of the man’s thinking
takes one’s breath away. This is not being critical of the old
culture. But all things must change. As Tennyson beautifully put it:
"The old order changeth, yielding place to new and God fulfils himself
in many ways, lest one good custom should corrupt the world."
With the kind of approach Gadkari has shown, he is capable of adapting
to a new and changing world. He should be able to touch the hearts of
people of all age groups, especially that group which will come of age
when the next general elections take place. Giving advice to a party
these days is an hazardous exercise, as Pramod Mahajan, were he alive,
would have readily agreed. Shining India as a slogan did not sell. Not
that there were no geniuses in the BJP to give advice to LK Advani;
fullest advantage was taken of talent and technology, as one can be
sure, Sudhindra Kulkarni will testify. The best of minds surely had
made their contributions but something had gone wrong. The BJP ‘lost’
the last general elections. But there is no reason for the BJP to be
defeatist. It is in power in nine states, it has, as Gadkari
meaningfully pointed out, over 1,000 MLAs and a little less then 200
MPs. One must build on that strength. To succeed, BJP must work as a
united party and not as a divided house as it has been for some months
now. Personal egos have done considerable damage to the party. Gadkari
has forewarned that this must change. Gadkari is not, as some
theorists have made out, walking in Rahul Gandhi’s footsteps. He has
cut out a path all on his own. The broad road-map he has unveiled
suggests that he has learnt from the events of the immediate past.
Names count, but only upto a point.
Winston Churchill, who had led his country so successfully during the
Second World War was unceremoniously side-lined in the elections that
followed victory. Labour came to power. Margaret Thatcher years later
came on the scene and re-made Britain. And that was the right thing to
do. In India, one after another of ideas once considered sacrosanct
had to be given the go-by, like Jawaharlal Nehru’s concept of a
socialistic pattern of society, non-alignment, garibi hatao that
Indira Gandhi wanted to capitalise on, nationalisation of industries,
etc. have all bit the dust. The BJP now has only to break new ground
if it wants to make headway. The buzz words in Gadkari’s inaugural
address were antyodaya (welfare of the poorest), samajik samarasta
(social equality) and vikas (development). Very evocative words but
the highest importance should be on "development" in very field,
whether agriculture, industry, enterprise, education and most
especially job-creation.
Let us face it: The young are least interested in ideologies; what
they are looking for are well-paid jobs and the party must see how
best this can be accomplished. In his addres Gadkari said that "a man
is not finished when he is defeated, he is defeated when he quits.
Much the same can be said of a party. It is not finished when it is
defeated; it is defeated when it stops to think."
Gadkari would do well to send a team of experts to China to find out
how our troublesome neighbour has excelled in so many fields,
especially in the field of agriculture where its production per acre
is several times higher than that of India. China, to be sure, is not
an ideal society; it is run by a heartless dictatorship that cares a
tuppence for Human Rights. But there surely are areas of
administration from which India can learn a lot.
The point is that the BJP must break away from its past and project
itself as a forward-looking party which means business, especially in
regard to antyodaya. Village self-sufficiency is a Gandhian concept to
which some fresh thought needs to be given. The stress should be on
productivity, marketing and sales, inter-connection of villages with
roads to promote peasant mobility, and spread of technical expertise.
The BJP, right now, has one advantage: The UPA government is on its
last legs. It is bereft of new ideas. The high cost of living is
spreading disaffection among the people who are becoming increasingly
disillusioned with the government. This is the time to think big and
hit hard and the BJP seems to have found the right man to fulfil that
envious task. As Gadkari himself said: The country comes first, the
party second and the individual last. Now he has only to prove it
beyond any shadow of doubt.
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March 21, 2010
Editorial
Varsha Pratipada Special, 2010
It is free fall
The buck does not stop
By R Balashankar
FROM India shinning to India suffering is the most colourful
description of Manmohan Singh’s regime heard on the floor of
Parliament during the budget session. The insensitivity of the UPA to
people’s agony and its arrogance of power have crossed all limits.
India is a nation with a great sense of justice. In its history there
is no dearth of instances where the rulers set higher standards for
themselves than for the commoner. They willingly courted heavier
punishment for their omissions and commissions unlike those of today
who suggest people not to take sweets if sugar price has gone high.
Compassion and empathy were the two qualities Indian scriptures
expected in the rulers. So we have the instances of Shibi, Dasharata,
Harischandra, Yudhishtira, Sri Ram, Dathechi and the list can go on
and on. The sense of justice and fair play was the touchstone for a
successful reign. Chakravarti Shibi set one of the most touching
examples in this regard.
Once, the legend has it, the Emperor was relaxing on the terrace of
the palace when a wounded pigeon fell on his lap and asked for
protection from an eagle that was chasing it for prey. Shibi offered
the bird safety but the eagle won’t leave its prey. The eagle demanded
the Emperor to be fair and release its prey, as it was within its
dharma in hunting for food and the Emperor had no right to interfere.
The Emperor on his part argued that it was his duty to give asylum to
the bird as it was seeking his protection for life. The eagle reminded
the Emperor his other duty not to deprive another creature of its
livelihood and redeem that dharma. The incident is both interesting
and instructive, for it was not the might of the Emperor but his sense
of justice that the eagle was putting to test. The Emperor stood high
and passed the test. And he presented a great example in self-
sacrifice to set the lesson for generations to come. He asked the
eagle what price he would have to pay so that the life of the pigeon
was saved. The eagle demanded the flesh of the king in equal weight to
that of the pigeon he wanted to be saved. Shibi passed the test and
proved to the world, the ruler is respected or loved not for his
arbitrariness but for his compassion and conciliation. Modern-day
rulers will laugh at this legend. But one cannot overlook the
message.
Social tragedies have become passé in India today, and the rulers-
people in power and position-go about as if there is no value for a
commoner’s life. India perhaps is the only country in the world where
human life is treated so cheap. The UP Chief Minister made it a matter
of prestige in her stand-off with the centre not to pay compensation
to the 65 victims of a tragedy in Pratapgarh. Many such situations go
unreported. The highlight however is the apathy of the establishment-
be it godmen, civic authorities, corporate tycoons or the elected
governments-for the value of life of an ordinary Indian, especially
Hindu.
Children who go to play do not return home because they get drowned by
stagnant water in pits dug by the Delhi Jal Board authority. Men and
women who go for early morning walk are discovered bleeding and dead
on the roadside because the civic bodies have dug up the pavement and
left it in a state of veritable hell for months, if not years.
Imagine the humongous tragedy of the people who assembled at the
ashram of Kripalu Maharaj in Kundu, Pratapgarh, for collecting a
utensil, a piece of sweet and Rs 20-the total value of which would not
exceed Rs 50. This is the level of poverty in the country whose
economic growth under globalisation is a matter of mere GDP and
statistics. Human beings have become numbers. Sixty-five people dead,
families devastated, children orphaned and mothers deprived of their
children. Even in the impoverished Sudan such incidents don’t happen
at this frequency. For, only a few years ago, over a 100 women died in
Uttar Pradesh capital in the stampede. They had come to receive free
saris being distributed by a politician. And we can safely bet that
nobody would be held responsible and punished for the loss of precious
human lives just as it happened in the sari tragedy or the temple
stampedes that keep repeating all over the country quite frequently.
Rural unemployment is so high that at every recruitment venue for army
and police personnel, the rush of job seekers leads to lathicharge,
firing, stampede and death.
Routinely, stampede occurs in places of worship. These are all
incidents in which people authorised to make arrangements, are to be
held culpable for the crime. One is not talking of the road accidents
and terror attacks. That statistics is now becoming listless.
One teenager was killed in Srinagar, allegedly unprovoked, by a BSF
constable. The police records, according to reports, said the boy was
a criminal. That official was however hounded by the state, his own
seniors and with discernible glee the newspapers reported that he has
been suspended. Only the jawans and security forces have no human
rights. They are treated as cannon fodder in their combat with
terrorists, Maoists and North-east outlaws. We take the loss of a
security personnel’s life so lightly, so routinely as if the state has
become morose. Is justice the privilege of only the terrorists and
their cohorts? A few weeks ago, terrorists and their supporters in J&K
disguised as lawyers fabricated a case of rape and murder of two
women. They created a huge ruckus. The media and the politicians there
held the state and defence forces to ransom. In the end it was proved
that the women were not raped, and they had committed suicide. Have
these lawyers been punished?
Even smaller nations like Philippines and Bangladesh have a better
track record of dispensing justice. The Marcos and Ershads got
punished there for their greed and crimes. In modern India, not one
politician has ever been punished. Nobody knows where the buck stops.
We don’t even know who should own up responsibility for the kind of
tragedies that have been discussed. There was a time, an air accident
or a train collision used to result in the resignation of the minister
in charge. Now the accidents have become commonplace and there is no
accountability.
So where does that leave the ordinary Indian? Those who have been
elected by them are not speaking up for them. The creation of an
informed public opinion, non-political social action for justice seems
the only way out. Varsha Pratipada marks a new cycle, an occasion that
prompts us to pause, think and move on. It is for each of us to do our
bit to make our society more sensitive, more assertive and restore the
value of each and every life sharing this planet.
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February 21, 2010
Divisive politics get a deadly blow
Seven-member AP High Court bench strikes down Muslim quota as
unconstitutional, based on dubious data, and potentially encouraging
conversion
By R Mallikarjunarao
In the year 2004 Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy, provided reservations to
Muslims in education and public employment to the extent of five per
cent. A five-judge bench said that this is illegal. After this the
farce of inquiry by Commission for Backwards Classes was enacted and
reservation was given to Muslims and Act was promulgated in 2005.
Another five-judge bench declared this 2005 Act is illegal.
Thereafter, the YS government issued another Act in 2007. A seven-
judge bench on February 8 declared this action illegal.
THE mask has been ripped apart by a seven-judge bench of the High
Court of Andhra Pradesh. The real face of slogan "reservation for
Muslims" was exposed. While dealing with the constitutional validity
of AP Reservation in favour of Socially Educationally Backward Classes
of Muslims Act, 2007, a seven-judge bench of the AP High Court
declared: "This 2007 Act is religion specific and potentially
encourages religious conversions and is thus unsustainable." This is
the third time the Congress government of AP has faced adverse
judgment on the issue of providing reservations to Muslims.
In the year 2004 Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy provided reservations to
Muslims in education and public employment to the extent of five per
cent. A five-judge bench said that this is illegal. After this the
farce of inquiry by Commission for Backwards Classes was enacted and
reservation was given to Muslims and Act was promulgated in 2005.
Another five-judge bench declared this 2005 Act is illegal.
Thereafter, the YS government issued another Act in 2007. A seven-
judge bench on February 8 declared this action illegal.
The bench comprised of Chief Justice Anil Ramesh Dave Justice T Meena
Kumari, Justice B Prakasha Rao, Justice DSR Varma, Justice A Gopala
Reddy, Justice V Eswariah and Justice Goda Raghuram. The 137-page
judgment was given by the Chief Justice AR Dave on behalf of himself,
Justice A Gopala Reddy, Justice V Eswariah and Justice Goda Raghuram.
They declared the AP Reservation in favour of Socially Educationally
Backward Classes of Muslims Act, 2007 unsustainable. Justice T Meena
Kumari gave a separate judgment running into 77 pages allowing the
writ petitions but gave a different reasoning. Justice B Prakasha Rao
said that the seven-judge bench was to answer the reference regarding
the method to be adopted. He differed with the findings of the five
judges and did not set aside the state action. Justice DSR Varma
declared that he is differing with Chief Justice and Justice T Mena
Kumari and said that he will give his reasons later.
It may be recalled that the government issued Ordinance 5 of 2007
providing 4 per cent reservations to several selected groups of
Muslims in the fields of education and public employment. This was
preceded by inquiry by AP Commission for Backwards Classes. The
government had appointed Krishnan, a retired civil servant, the
advisor who submitted a report, which was sent to the BC Commission.
This Ordinance was challenged by Shravanti and several other students.
Some persons claimed that this will hurt the backward classes and
filed public interest petitions. During the course of hearing the AP
Legislative Assembly passed the bill and Act 26 of 2007 came into
force. Petitions were amended to bring this act under challenge.
The majority judgment pronounced by the Chief Justice said that the
action of the state government is solely based upon the report,
findings and recommendations of the commission and the procedural
error committed by the commission is fatal to its report and its
consequent recommendations. The court said that it is deplorable that
the commission was not even aware of total population of persons
belonging to groups of Muslims who have been selected to be put into E
category among the BC groups. The sample survey was found faulty and
the quick survey in the name and style of fast track method was termed
as "hit and run method". This was declared neither legal nor
sustainable. The sampling was "opportunity sampling and non-
probability sampling". The court said that the BC Commission failed to
formulate criteria for identifying the BC among the Muslims but simply
conducted a household survey in places close to its hand. It was
declared that the commission did not conduct survey objectively to
justify its recommendations.
Justice T Meena Kumari in a separate judgment dealt at length with the
report of commission and effect of its copying the report of Krishnan.
She said: "The report of the commission should be held to be
mechanical, perfunctory in nature and without application of mind as
the commission followed the report of PS Krishnan in verbatim."
Justice Meena Kumari said that the report of the commission is not
based on real facts, data mechanical perfunctory in nature and without
application of mind as the commission followed the report of PS
Krishna in verbatim’. Justice MeenaKumari said that the report of the
commission is not based upon real facts, data or analysis and is
without any proper survey. She reminded that the commission limited
its survey to six districts only for three days leaving the other
parts of the state. With the report of the commission found as
insufficient lacking any objectivity the Act 26 of 2007 which is based
upon the report was declared to be invalid and unconstitutional.
The UPA government was planning to provide for reservations to Muslims
based on the Ranganath Commission report. The seven judges of the AP
High Court have hampered this conspiracy.
‘‘The fast track approach adopted by the commission was nothing but a
non-scientific method,’’ Justice Dave said. It was neither ‘‘legal nor
sustainable’’, he declared. The action of the panel was also
criticised for its reliance on recommendations made by PS Krishnan.
The appointment of Krishnan is "protanto invalid", the bench said and
faulted the panel for relying on his findings.
Echoing the majority view in a separate judgment, Justice Meena Kumari
said the investigation by the panel was not based on real facts, data
or analysis and was without proper survey.
Justice Prakash Rao aired the minority view holding that the bench was
not called upon to adjudicate the list but was only required to answer
a legal reference. He said that the government had some data before it
on which it acted and thus could not be faulted. Justice DSR Varma
said he did not agree with the majority view and would give his
reasons shortly. The Advocate General sought suspension of the order
which was rejected by the bench.
The Andhra government has long struggled to provide quotas for
Muslims, who were first given reservation in July 2004, a month after
YS Rajasekhara Reddy came to power.
The bench further described findings of the AP Backward Classes
Commission - on which the quota law had been based - as
"unscientific". Within hours of the verdict, Chief Minister K Rosaiah
said his government would move to the Supreme Court and vowed to
restore the AP Reservation in favour of Socially and Educationally
Backward Classes of Muslims Act, 2007.
In a 5-2 majority ruling, the court found that the commission neither
evolved any criteria nor published these before inviting objections.
It had merely stated it had followed the two criteria evolved by the
Mandal Commission for identification of Socially Economic Backward
Classes (SEBCs) among non-Hindu community.
Chief Justice Dave, speaking for himself and Justices A Gopala Reddy,
V Eswaraiah and G Raghuram, faulted the enactment and said it was
religion-specific and potentially encouraged conversions and was thus
unsustainable.
The bench found fault with the commission for its excessive reliance
on data collated by the Anthropological Survey of India. That data,
the court ruled, was meant for determining the profile of the Indian
population and not for deciding on affirmative action for Muslims.
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February 21, 2010
Muslim Job Reservations Plan A Marxist Election Gimmick
By Ranjit Roy
The interesting highlights of the Marxist Chief Minister’s
announcement on Muslim job reservations are: The OBC reservation list
in West Bengal currently includes both Hindus and Muslims. Muslims are
now to be put under a separate list called Backward Muslim Community.
The new inclusion will take OBC reservations in West Bengal from 7 per
cent to 17 per cent.
KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s
announcement in Kolkata on February 8 that Muslim OBCs in the state
would now get 10 per cent job quota as recommended by the Ranganath
Misra Commission is, no doubt, an election gimmick to fool Muslim
voters. This is evident from the fact that the Chief Minister
announced his government’s policy decision on job reservations within
minutes of the Left Front partners’ meeting ended at the CPM
headquarters at Alimuddin Street in central Kolkata. It is a clear
attempt to win back the support of Muslims before the Congress decides
its stand on the controversial Ranganath Misra report placed before
the UPA government. With a dwindling Muslim support base to the Left
that led to serious election reverses in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the
CPM and its Chief Minister could not afford to wait for the Centre’s
decision. There are elections to 86 civic bodies slated for this year
before the final electoral battle for 294 Assembly seats in the state
early next year.
The interesting highlights of the Marxist Chief Minister’s
announcement on Muslim job reservations are: The OBC reservation list
in West Bengal currently includes both Hindus and Muslims. Muslims are
now to be put under a separate list called Backward Muslim Community.
The new inclusion will take OBC reservations in West Bengal from 7 per
cent to 17 per cent. Moreover, there is a paradox in Chief Minister’s
claim that the proposed reservation is not on the basis of religion
but on the basis of poor economic conditions. At the same time he has
announced that Muslim youths under the OBC category can apply for job
quota if their family income is below Rs 37,500 per month. Is it not a
contradictory statement of Marxist Bhattacharjee that a Muslim family
earning Rs 37,500 per month, not annually, is economically weak and
needs job reservation? Yes, even if one takes present economic
conditions of people in India irrespective of their religions and
faiths, it cannot be said that earning of Rs 37,500 per month is a
small amount and needed government protection. No doubt, job
reservation was announced by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee with an eye on
Muslim vote bank.
Dr Pravin Togadia, VHP secretary general, has rightly said that
Andhra’s 4 per cent quota and West Bengal giving 10 per cent
reservations to Muslims are not isolated incidents. They are well
connected and are a part of a larger conspiracy against Hindus. This
criminal conspiracy of looting Hindus is being hatched to please
Muslim vote bank. At this moment, 78 per cent Hindu youths in India
are unemployed. At least 79 per cent Hindu farmers have lost their
land and crop. Yet, instead of helping them, Congress and Marxist
governments are showering favours on Muslims. There is no denying the
fact that such job reservations only encourage conversions to Islam.
In fact, while turning down a similar move by Andhra Chief Minister, K
Rosaiah, a seven-judge bench of the state high court observed that the
government’s offer of 4 per cent reservations to Muslims is
"unscientific, religion specific and potentially encourage
conversions". This is not the first time that Andhra government tried
to provide education and job reservations to please Muslims in the
state. The late Chief Minister, YS Rajasekhara, had offered 5 per cent
reservations to Muslims in July 2004. But Andhra high court had struck
down the move at the time.
Taking a cue from Andhra high court’s ruling, Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee’s decision will be challenged in Kolkata high court by a
group of nationalist lawyers. The state BJP president, Rahul Sinha,
has announced that the party supporters will stage state-wide
agitations against the proposed reservations for Muslims from February
13 onwards. Sinha told newsmen in Kolkata that the party’s national
president, Nitin Gadkari will be visiting West Bengal during the first
week of March to spearhead the agitation. Strangely, within 24 hours
of the Chief Minister’s announcement, the state food and supplies
department has selected 63 Muslim candidates out of a total 317 (17.5
per cent) for government jobs.
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February 21, 2010
Thinking Aloud
India is too big for the Marxists!
Jyoti Basu knew his politics, but not his economics. He made sure of
his vote bank through his million-acre land distribution programme but
when the programme came to a halt, he had nothing else in hand. He
believed that the programme would put so much cash into the hands of
farmers that it would spawn an industrialisation drive and create huge
employment. Nothing of the sort happened.
COMRADE Jyoti Basu, who passed away at the ripe old age of 95 years
last month, would be wondering what he has done to receive such
adulation from foreign newspapers, who never took his communism
seriously, and did not take kindly to him while he was alive. They are
calling him charming and elegant, as if they were referring to a
Hollywood model, not a rough-and-tumble politician from Kolkata. For a
man who was, or seemed to be, a virulent Marxist all his working life,
this would have been the biggest shock of his colourful life.
I have a feeling that the foreign newspapers know something we don’t.
It is possible that they never took his communism seriously, and it is
quite on the cards that they believed he was not really a communist.
Basu’s grasp of Marxism-Leninism was shaky, to say the least. In fact,
he never spoke in those terms. He was also not much of a national
leader, and rarely moved out of Kolkata, except to attend politburo
meetings. He almost never addressed meetings of workers, or any
meetings, in big towns and cities like Mumbai or Delhi which have more
workers than Kolkata. And he avoided making statements on things that
didn’t concern him, like, for instance, the fall of the Berlin Wall on
which the whole world went ga-ga, or the collapse of the Soviet Union
that followed, which was close to his heart, but on which he made no
comment either.
Basu was very much a home-bred politician, which is surprising,
considering he had spent four years in London and once confessed that
he was still a Londoner at heart. Jyoti Basu, a Londoner? The mind
boggles. Religiously, he visited London every summer and spent a
holiday there, but never, as far as his friends can recall, in Kashmir
or Darjeeling. It was said that he had a house there, and maybe even a
hotel, which was being run by his businessman son. I once saw him
having fish and chips in Camden Town, near Hampstead, but he did not
say hello. He was in a nice dark suit, a little tight for him, but
maybe he had purchased it in late ’thirties when he had spent years in
London. It was quite a sight.
There are, it is said, two types of communists: Those who smile, and
those who don’t. It is a minor difference, but one that tells us a
great deal about them. I have always believed that a communist who
smiles is far more dangerous than one who doesn’t, like an unsmiling
cat waiting for its next mouse. It was said that Jyoti Basu never
smiled-it was his trademark. It was true enough. He did not smile even
when he became Chief Minister in 1977, after a long career in the
streets of Kolkata. He did not smile even in 1996 when there was talk
that he would become the next prime minister.
I met him twice, once when he was a trade union leader, and another
time when he had become Chief Minister of his state. Both times, he
kept a stiff upper lip, never showing a single tooth, as children do
when facing the dentist.
I first met him when he was president of the trade union in my
company, or rather the company I worked for in Kolkata about fifty
years ago. Most of the talking at the meeting was being done by
company trade union bosses but Basu had come in case they needed help.
Basu hardly said a word throughout the meeting, and when it was over,
he left, also without saying a word.
The second time I saw him was in 1977 when he had become Chief
Minister. He must have been past sixty then, but he did not look a day
older than forty. We first met in his office which was being
renovated. After saying a few words, he took us into a small back
office, which he used for resting at lunch time. There was a small
bed, a couple of chairs and a small table on which was a tumbler of
water and a glass-just one glass.
Basu sat on the bed, and offered us the chairs. He spoke mostly in
monosyllables. Was he pleased that he had become Chief Minister? No
comment, just a shrug of the shoulders. What would he do now? We shall
see. There is so much poverty in West Bengal and industry is fleeing.
How do you propose tackling the situation? I am thinking about it. And
so on. Either he didn’t want to tell us anything, or he really had not
made up his mind. It was a wasted meeting.
Jyoti Basu knew his politics, but not his economics. He made sure of
his vote bank through his million-acre land distribution programme but
when the programme came to a halt, he had nothing else in hand. He
believed that the programme would put so much cash into the hands of
farmers that it would spawn an industrialisation drive and create huge
employment. Nothing of the sort happened. Money is not the only thing
you need for industry and business. You need businessmen behind money.
Basu & Co had frightened off businessmen by spewing poison against
them for years, and the Tatas and the Birlas and the Goenkas had fled
the state. Now that the communists were in charge, they refused to
come back.
It is not clear whether Basu knew all this, but, in the process, he
reduced the one-time leading industrial state in India to economic
backwater. Jyoti Basu will go down in history as the great destroyer
of Bengal, for the farmers who now own the land refuse to sell it to
businessmen, even to Tatas, who were forced to take their Nano
elsewhere, after spending crores on it.
Why are foreigners so pleased with Basu then showering him with
superlatives, now that he is no more? My hunch is that they are happy
that Jyoti Basu has damaged West Bengal beyond redemption, for the
state is where the British occupation of India began and also where
British business entrenched itself. The communists, led by Basu & Co,
were responsible for throwing out the businessmen and now the state
stands denuded of all industry and business. And the man who did it?
Their own Jyoti Basu, a man who studied in London, ate dinners in
Lincoln’s inn, as do all would-be barristers, and then came home and
finished his state. What more can the British ask for?
It is not the fault of Jyotibabu alone. The communists in Soviet Union
did the same and destroyed the country. Communists know their politics
backwards, but not their economics, though their guru, the great Marx,
makes great play with economic theories, and his great tome, Das
Kapital is essentially an economic treatise. But economics is
ultimately about people, for economic activity consists of buying and
selling, which involves buyers and sellers. But communists have never
understood people and have always taken them for granted. If people
become difficult, just go out and eliminate them, which is what Stalin
and Mao did. But Basu & Co could not do that in India. India is too
big for Marxists, for while Marx was born yesterday, India was born
five thousand years ago, and can have Marxists for breakfast.
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=332&page=4
February 21, 2010
98th Hindu Maha Sammelan, Cherukolpuzha
Ranganath report anti-national-O Rajagopal
By S Chandrasekhar
SABARIMALA Ayyappa temple is on the banks of Pampa river. As the
season subsides, it is time for another massive gathering of Hindus,
at another bank of Pampa river, for the past 98 years. An estimated
five lakh Hindus from the Christian dominated belt of Kottayam, Idukki
and Pathanamthitta attended the Hindu Maha Sammelan at Ayroor-
Cherukolpuzha, that held for a week.
Started in 1913 by Swami Neelakanda Theertha Padhar, a disciple of
Vidyadhiraja Chattambi Swamiji, it has been going on un-intereptedly.
It was started to foster unity among the Hindus, check conversion and
educate Hindus about their religion, culture and traditions. It was
also a counter to the Maramom Convention of Christians going on for
103 years.
This year the Sammelan was inaugurated by H.H. Jagadguru Sri
Sivarathri Desikendra Swamiji of Suttur Mutt, Mysore on February. The
Swamiji is running lot of Hindu activities in Karnataka and is also
running 300 educational institutions including medical/ engineering
colleges. Around 7000 poor children are being educated by the Swamiji
in all institutions with free boarding and lodging.
Delivering his speech, the Swami said, Hinduism is in crisis for 1000
years due to Islamic and Christian invasions. "This is surviving due
to the wealth of puranas, upanishads, vedas and saints who appear
periodically whenever dharma is in danger. Great warriors like
Shivaji, Rana Pratap, Krishnadeva Ray have also protected Hindutva.
Just like our concept of Vasudhaiba Kutumbakam, Sanatana Dharma has no
religious and geographical borders. Its aim is total material well-
being and spiritual uplift of human race. Our worship of cow, nature,
trees, water sources have great relevance in the global warming
context". Swamiji concluded his speech by offering flowers at the feet
of Vidyadhiraja Swami and Sree Narayana Guru for preventing mass
exodus to Christianity and Islam. Had it not been for these saints,
Kerala would have been 100 per cent devoid of Hindus.
Shri O. Rajagopal, former Union Minister said that the ‘Temple Entry
Proclamation’ of 1936 was a land mark in the history of Kerala.
"The Vaikom Satyagraha, for movement of low caste Hindus, around
Vaikom Shiva temple was inspired by sages, saints and social reformers
like Sree Narayana Guru, Vidyadhiraja Swami, Vaikunta Swami, Ayyapu
Swami and NSS founder Mannath Padmanabhan. The satyagraha and march to
Travancore King’s palace at Thiruvananthapuram was a bond of Hindu
unity without bloodshed and caste hatred. Even brahmins like
Krishnaswamy Iyer and Congress leader Kamaraj joined the march.
Vivekananda called Kerala a ‘Mad House’ due to acute casteism
practised here. But very shortly Gandhi called Kerala’s visit a
Pilgrimage. This change was due to the Hindu unity efforts".
"In 1888, Sree Narayana Guru’s Pratishta of Siva in Aruvipuram led to
a chain of temple constructions and checked flow to Christianity and
Islam. Now Sadguru Mata Amritanandamayi has constructed twenty
‘Bhramasthan’ temples, where all gods are present. Out of the 49 world
civilisation only one is living and that is Sanatana Dharma".
Concluding his speech Shri Rajagopal called for dumping of the
Ranganath Mishra Commission Report. "The SC/ST all over India are in
great anger. By this report, the benefits enjoyed by them will have to
be shared with Christian and Muslim converts. He said it is not a
problem of SC/STs alone. The entire Hindu society has to protest
against this. This is an insult to Gandhiji who called them
‘Harijans’.
MLAs K.C. Rajagopal of CPM and Sivadasan Nair of Congress offered
felicitations. Former Travancore Devaswom Board President Upendranath
Kurup who is the moving force behind this sammelan, welcomed the
massive gathering.
Religions discources, cultural programmes, speeches by Hindu leaders,
Gita parayans, worship etc. form the highlight of the Sammelan which
will conclude on 14 February.
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=332&page=8
February 21, 2010
International seminar
ATM-like receipts in EVMs
NEW DELHI: Raising doubts over whether the electronic voting machines
are tamper-proof, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy, on
February 6, 2010 mooted a new idea saying the Election Commission
should modify the EVMs so that one gets a receipt after casting the
vote as in the case of an ATM.
"That the EVMs are tamper-proof is a false claim. However, the
machines can be modified on the lines of ATM wherein we will get a
receipt after casting the vote which can be put into a sealed box," he
told reporters here.
This will make the electoral process more transparent and the receipts
can be referred to in case of any discrepancy, Swamy said.
He said an international conference of experts will be organised in
Chennai to "show that the machines are not tamper-proof".
The conference will be held on February 13 and will be attended by 35
experts from India, Germany, Netherlands and USA, he said.
Raising doubts over the accuracy of the EVMs, Swamy said that never
ever in a booth the total number of vote counts can be zero.
Swamy has also filed a PIL in the Delhi High Court on the use of EVMs
in Indian elections which is scheduled for hearing on February 17.
(PTI)
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=332&page=39
February 21, 2010
Every third Indian is living below the poverty line
People living in the states of Orissa, Bihar and Chhattisgarh were
found to be among the poorest
THE report by economist Suresh Tendulkar used money spent by a person
on specific household goods and services to define the poor.
People living in the states of Orissa, Bihar and Chhattisgarh were
found to be among the poorest, the report said.
It also found that the number of poor in cities had decreased, while
those in villages had gone up.
The report has moved from the traditional method of enumerating the
number of people living in poverty by measuring their calorie intake
to one based on their spending on essential goods and services.
Based on the new method, it found 37.2 per cent of Indian people
living below the poverty line.
The report found that over 40 per cent of rural people survive on a
per capita expenditure of 447 rupees ($9.6) every month, spending on
bare essentials like food, fuel, clothing and footwear.
Correspondents say that for all of India’s impressive economic
progress, the number of Indians living in extreme poverty is not
declining fast enough.
Unless India commits itself to greater social spending and
intervention, it will be difficult to reduce poverty, correspondents
say.
(BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go)
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=332&page=40
February 21, 2010
Karmayogi touches the heart of youth at World Book Fair Suruchi
Sahitya stall makes an impact
Karmayogi, the documentary prepared by Shri Nitish Bhardwarj on the
life of second RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri Guruji attracted a large
number of youth visiting the 19th World Book Fair in New Delhi from
January 30 the February 7. The Suruchi Prakashan had made elaborate
arrangements for display of the documentary and other literature based
on the life of Shri Guruji at its stall in the Book Fair. According to
Shri Gautam Sapara, manager of Suruchi Prakashan, the documentary
attracted a large number of visitors to the stall and they were seen
eagerly trying to know the life of Shri Guruji and the historical
events of that period. Formed in 1970 and engaged in publishing good
quality books the Suruchi Prakashan participated in the World Book
Fair for the fifth time and this time it had hired double of the space
it used to hire in previous fairs. It sold more than 3000 books at the
Fair. RSS Sahsarkaryavah Shri Suresh Soni, Akhil Bharatiya Prachar
Pramukh Dr Manmohan Vaidya and many other noted authors and
dignitaries visited the stall. "More than 5000 visitors visited the
stall and gathered information about the books published by Suruchi
Prakashan. Encouraged with this year’s response we have decided to
make elaborate arrangements for the next Book Fair to be organised in
2012," he said.
(FOC)
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=332&page=36
February 28, 2010
Legal hurdles on Muslim quota
By Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay
KOLKATA: The State government is set to face a legal hurdle in
implementing its decision for reservation of 10 per cent of government
jobs for Muslim OBCs with the BJP saying it would move the court
against the government’s decision.
"The Andhra Pradesh High Court has showed us the way and we are going
to challenge the State government’s decision in the Calcutta High
Court. What the State government has done is unconstitutional as you
cannot provide reservation on the basis of religion," said the BJP
president Rahul Sinha over the phone from Delhi. He said he would take
up the matter with party president Nitin Gadkari and the State unit
will observe a protest day on the issue.
The Congress government in Andhra Pradesh enacted a law on June 23,
2007 providing for 4 per cent reservation in education and government
jobs to 15 backward communities among the Muslims. After a lot of
legal wrangles, the High Court today declared the Act null and void.
The West Bengal government itself became skeptical whether its
decision on reservation for Muslims could be implemented. "The Andhra
High Court’s order will have to be kept in mind. We will have to be
ready for everything because somebody can go to court," said Abdus
Sattar, Minister of State for Minorities.(Courtesy: NaidnI Express)
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=333&page=29
July 10, 2005
Opinions
AP reservations for Muslims
Let?s learn from history
By S.R. Ramanujan
Certainly no nation should live in its history because no nation can
afford to be stagnant. An important trait of nature is ?change? and a
nation has to keep pace with changing times. This does not mean that a
nation should forget history. On the contrary it has to learn from
history. Otherwise, its future history will be full of chaos and
confusion. When the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara
Reddy announces that his government would consider providing political
reservations for Muslims, either he doesn?t understand history or
doesn?t care to learn from history or is least concerned about the
undesirable consequences of such a decision.
The AP government?s decision to extend 5 per cent reservation for
Muslims in education and jobs is having a spiraling effect. The
Nationalist Congress Party general secretary Akhtar Rizvi wants a
similar facility to be given to the Muslims in Maharashtra. A Muslim
group in Bihar is demanding 20 per cent reservations in educational
institutions and government jobs along the lines of AP government
decision. Another Muslim organization wants Article 341 to be amended
to include dalit Muslims in the SC category. The Hyderabad MP and
their apparent of Sultan Salahuddin Owaissi, Asaduddin Owaissi wants
the 5 per cent reservation to be extended to the entire country,
because he perhaps looks at it from a national perspective being a
Member of the Lok Sabha. Not to be left out, Brahmana Seva Sangha
Samakya (never heard of this outfit till now) demands that the
government should extend to Brahmins also a similar reservation in
education, employment and political posts on par with Muslims.
We don?t need a BC Commission, appointed by the AP government, to tell
us that there are a good number of educationally and economically
backward Muslims in the country or in the state. It is a reality and
none should crib about affirmative action. But quota is not the answer
for social and historical reasons. Had a survey been done at the
national level on the geographical location of such backward Muslims,
we would have got certain facts that have been swept under the carpet
so far by vested interests in the community. The backwardness is
mostly prevalent among those regions that were under Muslim rulers
prior to the integration of princely states, whether it is Bhopal, Old
Delhi, Ahmedabad or Hyderabad. Take the case of Telengana districts
including Hyderabad old city under the Nizam rule and compare it with
the rest of the State. Even today Muslims in the old city of Hyderabad
are reluctant to learn Telugu. How can they compete for a job in the
rest of the State? Muslim leaders cornered all the benefits guaranteed
under the Constitution in terms of minority educational institutions.
Instead of using those institutions for eradicating the educational
backwardness of Muslims, they started selling the seats for non-Muslim
candidates and thus pushing the deserving Muslims further into
educational backwardness. Either they went to Madarasas or drifted
without even elementary education. That is the reason you find average
Muslim literacy at 17.7 per cent while the state average is 44 per
cent. The literates among Muslim women are just 4 per cent. These are
the figures now being quoted to establish educational backwardness of
Muslims.
AP government?s decision to extend 5 per cent reservation for Muslims
in education and jobs is having a spiraling effect. The Nationalist
Congress Party general secretary Akhtar Rizvi wants a similar facility
to be given to the Muslims in Maharashtra.
The moot question is how will the 5 per cent quote help in improving
the literacy level among Muslim women from 4 per cent to atleast 40
per cent. We need a multi-pronged approach to uplift the Muslim masses
in terms of education which will automatically lead to economic
prosperity. First, they must be weaned away from the communal clutches
of their leadership. Second, the government must do its best to create
awareness among the backward Muslims about the importance of
education. Third, encourage institutions floated by Muslims who have
no political interests. Fourth, ensure that no non-Muslims are
admitted into such institutions for a price. 5 per cent quota will
only help Muslim political leaders to flaunt it before their followers
and the ruling party to garner their votes. This is the short term
effect.
The long term effect is going to be catastrophic. Leave alone the
demand for similar quota from other states. What is going to cause a
body blow to the nation is the demand for political reservations. Now
that Muslims have been brought under ?E? category of backward classes,
so goes the demand, they should also be considered for reserved seats
in the local body elections to be held shortly in the state. It is in
this context, chief minister Dr Reddy told a delegation of Muslim
women that political quota for Muslims was under consideration of the
government. To predict what would be the consequences of such a
decision, one has to go back to history.
Thanks to L.K. Advani, people have started dusting the history books
from the shelves for a fresh look at pre-Independence history.
Whatever the interpretations of Gandhiji?s support to the Khilafat
movement and Jinnah?s opposition to it, whatever the reasons for the
rejection of Nehru?s Constitution and agreement on the Lucknow Pact,
one thing is clear which cannot be disputed by any historian. That is,
the provision for separate electorates and reservation for Muslims
sowed the seed for Partition of the country.
Even today Muslims in the old city of Hyderabad are reluctant to learn
Telugu. How can they compete for a job in the rest of the State?
Muslim leaders cornered all the benefits guaranteed under the
Constitution in terms of minority educational institutions.
What is the genesis for such political exclusivism? It was in 1906 a
35-member delegation of Muslims met in Simla to demand proportionate
representation for Muslims. Though this demand was not immediately
conceded, it acted as a catalyst for separate electorate for Muslims.
Jinnah supported the movement for separate electorate and the Congress
too accepted it in the Lucknow Pact. And the rest is history. Sri
Aurobindo commented on this development thus: ?What has created the
Hindu-Muslim split was not Swadeshi, but the acceptance of the
communal principle by the Congress. The recognition of that communal
principle at Lucknow made them permanently a separate political entity
in India which ought never to have happened?.
What Dr Rajasekara Reddy is trying to do now is to further consolidate
this division and to create more tension between castes and
communities leading to disastrous consequences to the unity and
integrity of the nation. It is disastrous for a nation if it fails to
learn from its history.
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=86&page=12
January 21, 2008
UPA has reduced Hindu youth to second class status in India
By O.P. Gupta, IFS (retd)
Minorities are first class citizens for the Congress Party, SCs are
the second class and the OBCs are the third class citizens. As per
Mandal Commission the OBCs are 54 per cent of population so on pro-
rata basis welfare schemes for OBCs should have been allocated Rs
25,200 crore.
The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) report of March 30,
2007 shows that unemployment rate among Muslims and Hindus of both
sexes in urban areas differs by just about 0.5 per cent, and, that 755
Muslims per 1000 were in self-employed category against only 427
Hindus per 1000 in 2004-05. This sample survey shatters the myth being
created by Congress and Communist parties that far more Muslims are
unemployed than the Hindus.
In Karnataka, literacy rate for Muslims as per Sachar Committee
(Table, page 287) is 70.1 per cent, Hindus (65.6 per cent). In Kerala,
Muslim literacy rate is 89.4 per cent, Hindus (90.2 per cent). Still
the Congress manifesto of 2004 declared all Muslims as educationally
backwards in Kerala and Karnataka to reserve jobs for Muslims with a
view to implement its core agenda of reducing job opportunity of Hindu
youngsters, hook or by crook.
The National Commission for Linguistic and Religious Minorities headed
by Justice Ranganath Misra in May 2007 has recommended sub-quota of
8.4 per cent for minorities within 27 per cent OBC quota, and,
reservation to Dalit minorities by including such converts under
Scheduled Caste category within the 15 per cent SC quota. It said that
in the 27 per cent OBC quota, an 8.4 per cent sub-quota could be
earmarked for the minorities with an internal break-up of six per cent
for Muslims and 2.4 per cent for other minorities. If dalit Muslims
and dalit Christians are clubbed into the 15 per cent quota they will
squeeze out SC Hindus as Christians and Muslims enjoy better literacy
than SC Hindus. Misra has been a Congress Member of Rajya Sabha.
So the grand agenda of the Congress Party, communist parties and
socialist parties to reduce percentage of Hindus below 85 per cent in
all government and public sector jobs, in educational institutions,
that too with notes and votes of Hindu voters has taken shape.
In minority run institutions a Hindu student with higher percentage of
marks may not get admission. SC and ST Hindu students are denied their
constitutional reservation quotas in minority institutions. Is it not
second class treatment to Hindu students?
For 2007-08 the UPA govt has introduced 20,000 special scholarships
for minority students for technical/professional courses. For minority
students studying in top 50 institutions [like IIMs, IITs etc], full
course fee is reimbursable. For those studying in other institutions
course fee up to Rs 20,000 per annum is reimbursable. Hostellers will
get maintenance allowance of Rs 1000 per month.
I served as Indian Ambassador over the last thirteen years when I saw ?
burning? urge among Hindu settlers to be treated with respect and on
equal footings with locals in matters of religion, education,
employment, economic matters and application of local laws. After a
gap of thirteen years, I returned to India in January 2007 and was
amazed to see just the reverse trend among Hindus living in India,
rather than demanding equality in all spheres even educated Hindus are
pushing their own kith and kins into second and third class status
vis-?-vis minority candidates by supporting such political parties
which openly declare that they will give first preference to minority
candidates over Hindus in matters of admissions into colleges,
employment in government and public sector, departmental promotions,
disbursement of bank loans etc.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, a Sikh politician while addressing
the National Development Council on Dec 9, 2006 publicly instructed
the civil servants, ?We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure
that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to
share equitably in the fruits of development. They must have the first
claim on resources?.
No wonder, budgetary allocation for welfare schemes for minorities in
the XIth Five Year Plan [2007-12] has been hiked to Rs 7,000 crore;
annual allocation to the Ministry of Minority Affairs has been suo
motu raised by the Planning Commission to Rs 1,400 crore from Rs 500
crore though this Ministry had sought annual allocation of Rs 1,100
crore.
The Ministry of Social Justice had sought Rs 16,100 crore for welfare
of SCs and OBCs, out of which Rs 11,185 crore was earmarked for SCs
and Rs 2,250 crore for OBCs. But reflecting the step motherly
treatment of Hindus by the Congress party, the Planning Commission
reduced allocation for their welfare schemes by Rs 3,000 with the
result budgetary allocation for welfare of SCs stands reduced to Rs
9,097 crore and for OBCs stands reduced to a peanut amount of Rs 1,588
crore. This is the price which SC and OBC Hindus had to pay for voting
the UPA parties.
Above datas show that minorities are first class citizens for the
Congress party, SCs are the second class and the OBCs are the third
class citizens. As per Mandal Commission the OBCs are 54 per cent of
population so on pro-rata basis welfare schemes for OBCs should have
been allocated Rs 25,200 crore.
It is painful to see how the class of ?secular, progressive and
liberal? Hindu politicians right from the days of the 1916 Congress-
Muslim League Lucknow Pact till date in form of the Sachar Committee
Report, Rangnath Misra Commission, the New 15-Point Programme of Prime
Minister, 15 per cent Plan Allocation to Minorities etc has been
systematically concocting false and fabricated justifications to
reduce, bit by bit, the educational, employment and economic (E3)
opportunities of all Hindu boys and girls, including SC, ST and
leftist Hindu boys and girls, pushing them to second and third class
status vis-?-vis minority boys and girls.
The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) report of March 30,
2007 shows that unemployment rate among Muslims and Hindus of both
sexes in urban areas differs by just about 0.5 per cent, and, that 755
Muslims per 1000 were in self-employed category against only 427
Hindus per 1000 in 2004-05. This sample survey shatters the myth being
created by Congress and Communist parties that far more Muslims are
unemployed than the Hindus.
It may come as another rude shock to those Hindu intellectuals who
have made it their business to plead concessions after concessions for
Muslims on pretext of Muslim educational backwardness that as per
Census Report of 2001 Muslim males have higher literacy rate than
Hindu males in eleven states (Andhra Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar,
Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra,
Orissa, Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu).
In thirteen states, Muslim women enjoy higher literacy rate than Hindu
women [Andhra Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar, Chhattisgarh, Daman & Diu,
Dadra & nagarhaveli, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Orissa, Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu, Statements 8a and 8b,
Census Report 2001].
The Sachar Committee [page 53] also admits that in ten states literacy
rate among Muslims are higher than even that of the upper caste Hindus
and also higher than SC/ST Hindus.
In Karnataka, literacy rate for Muslims as per Sachar Committee (Table
at page 287) is 70.1 per cent, Hindus (65.6 per cent) and SC/ST (51.5
per cent). In Kerala, Muslim literacy rate is 89.4 per cent, Hindus
(90.2 per cent) and SC/ST (80.8 per cent). Still the Congress
manifesto of 2004 declared all Muslims as educationally backwards in
Kerala and Karnataka to reserve jobs for Muslims with a view to
implement its core agenda of reducing job opportunity of Hindu
youngsters, by hook or by crook.
Not to be left behind in reducing percentage of Hindus in government
services, Karunanidhi flying in the face of facts is also harping on
educational backwardness of Muslims in Tamil Nadu.
The Sachar Committee (Table at page 287) reports that literacy rate of
Muslims in Andhra Pradesh is 68 per cent followed by Hindus (59.4 per
cent) and SC/ST (48.9) but Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy (a
Christian) reserved five per cent seats for Muslims in educational
institutions and in government jobs on false plea of educational
backwardness of Muslims in Andhra Pradesh just to cheat Hindu youth of
their seats in colleges and their jobs in government. Those Hindus in
Andhra Pradesh who blindly voted to the Congress party in 2004 must be
feeling cheated.
According to the 2001 Census of India (Report on Religion Data)
Christian community enjoys higher literacy rate than Hindus; all India
literacy rate for Christian community was 84.4 per cent compared to
76.2 per cent of Hindus.
Right from 1954 the Congress party Prime Ministers at the Centre have
been issuing instructions to all Central Ministries as well as to all
State Governments to give special considerations to recruitment of
religious minority candidates in public services with implied hint to
reduce percentage of Hindus in public services. In 1983, Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi vide her 15-Point Programme for Minorities
became the first Prime Minister to have issued instructions to include
minority members in all the Selection Boards and departmental
promotion committees. The circular to induct religious minority
members in Selection Boards was again issued by the Rajiv Gandhi
Government and the Vishwanath Prasad Singh Government The Manmohan
Singh Government reiterated it in January 2007 with added condition of
making quarterly reports on progress of minority candidates actually
recruited and or promoted. After all the ?communally appointed
members? of the Selection Boards will have to show some result of
their being added to Boards and, thus, the intake of minority
candidates will go up and percentage of Hindu?s intake, whether
leftist or rightist, whether forward or backward, whether upper caste
or scheduled caste Hindus will automatically come down. This is
happening when overall unemployment situation is worsening in India
day by day.
The National Commission for Linguistic and Religious Minorities headed
by Justice Ranganath Misra in May 2007 has recommended sub-quota of
8.4 per cent for minorities within 27 per cent OBC quota, and,
reservation to Dalit minorities by including such converts under
Scheduled Caste category within the 15 per cent SC quota. It said that
in the 27 per cent OBC quota, an 8.4 per cent sub-quota could be
earmarked for the minorities with an internal break-up of 6 per cent
for Muslims and 2.4 per cent for other minorities. If dalit Muslims
and dalit Christians are clubbed into the 15 per cent quota they will
squeeze out SC Hindus as Christians and Muslims enjoy better literacy
than SC Hindus. Misra has been a Congress Member of Rajya Sabha.
The basic premise of this Commission report is to ensure 15 per cent
representation?proportionate to the minority population?to the
minorities in Government jobs and educational institutions. ?The break-
up within the recommended 15 per cent earmarked seats in institutions
shall be 10 per cent for Muslims and the remaining five per cent for
the other minorities, however, if the Muslims cannot avail 10 per cent
quota, the rest should go to the non-Muslim minorities and in no case
shall any seat within the recommended 15 per cent go to the majority
community?, the Misra report said.
So the grand secular agenda of the Congress party, the Communist
parties and various socialist parties is to reduce percentage of
Hindus below 85 per cent in all public services and in all educational
institutions. Those Hindus who oppose this grand agenda are dubbed as
communal Hindus. As we know at present Hindus constitute more than 95
per cent of all public services. So all those Hindus who have school
going children and grand children must wake up to protect interests of
their wards.
No wonder, inaugurating the National Conference of State Minority
Commissions on November 2, 2006, Dr Manmohan Singh, PM said: ?It is
essential that communal peace and harmony should be maintained and the
minorities get a fair share in Central and State Governments jobs?.
According to press reports of November 26, 2006 the National
Commission for Minorities (NCM) asked the Union Home Ministry to
ensure a fair representation of religious minorities in the police and
paramilitary forces.
Suppose there are 10,000 vacancies to be filled up. So, seats reserved
for SC Hindus as per existing formula will be 1500, for ST Hindus 750
and for OBCs 2700. Now if 15 per cent jobs are reserved for minorities
as per recommendation of Justice Misra, general category seats for
which a Hindu can compete will come down to 8,500. So number of seats
for SC Hindus will get reduced to 1275, for ST Hindus will get reduced
to 637 and to OBCs 2295. If Misra?s recommendation of 8.4 per cent sub-
quota within quota is also accepted only 1591 seats will be left for
OBC Hindus. More meritorious minority candidates will naturally spill
over into general category seats.
So the grand agenda of the Congress party, communist parties and
socialist parties to reduce percentage of Hindus below 85 per cent in
all government and public sector jobs, in educational institutions,
that too with notes and votes of Hindu voters has taken shape.
Pseudo-secular Hindu politicians have passed such laws which enable a
minority student to get cheaper educational loans at three per cent
interest per annum from the National Minority Development & Finance
Corporation, whereas a Hindu student gets student loan at 12.5 per
cent to 14 per cent interest per annum from commercial banks. Minority
students are required to repay educational loans in five years after
completion of his course but in case of Hindu students repayment
starts one year after completion of course or six months after
obtaining employment whichever is earlier. One may see details at
(www.nmdfc.org).
A minority businessman gets margin money loans from NMDFC at five per
cent per annum but a Hindu gets commercial loan at 14 per cent to 18
per cent per annum from commercial banks. A Hindu student and a Hindu
businessman gets bank loans at much higher rates of interest and on
harsher terms whether he is a member of the Students Federation or
that of the NSUI or the ABVP.
On March 13, 2007 Finance Minister Chidambaram told the Rajya Sabha
that of the total priority sector lending, loans to minorities had
increased by 33 per cent to Rs 45,490 crore on March 31, 2006 as
against Rs 34,654 crore when the UPA Government took office in May
2004. The Finance Minister said that during the financial year 2005-06
credit to religious minorities was 8.18 per cent of the total priority
sector lending. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has committed to raise
credit to minorities to 15 per cent of the total priority sector
lending. In its Charter for Advancement of Muslim Community the CPI(M)
has also called to reserve 15 per cent of priority credits for
minorities. So, Hindu businessmen will increase their own difficulties
in getting bank loans by financing the elections of Congress Party and
UPA parties.
In minority run institutions a Hindu student with higher percentage of
marks may not get admission. SC and ST Hindu students are denied their
constitutional reservation quotas in minority institutions. Is it not
second class treatment to Hindu students?
A Delhi based Hindu student with better marks may not get admission in
any professional college in Delhi but a Delhi based Muslim student
with less marks is likely to get admission in professional courses in
Delhi such as in the Jamia Hamdard University in Delhi as this
University has reserved 50 per cent seats for Muslims claiming to be a
minority institution under Art 30(1) of the Constitution of India. Is
it not second class treatment of meritorious Hindu boys and girls?
Hindu candidates with better CV are denied appointments in minority
institutions.
Attempts are being made to declare the Jamia Millia University and the
Aligarh Muslim University as ?minority institutions? so that 50 per
cent seats in these Central Universities can be officially reserved
for Muslim students, and, thus, reduce Hindu students as second class
citizens at two more campuses.
For 2007-08, the UPA government has introduced 20,000 special
scholarships for minority students for technical/professional courses.
For minority students studying in top 50 institutions [like IIMs, IITs
etc], full course fee is reimbursable. For those studying in other
institutions course fee up to Rs 20,000 per annum is reimbursable.
Hostellers will get maintenance allowance of Rs 1000 per month. [] In
addition minority candidates appearing for competitive examinations of
civil services etc will be paid for attending coaching classes of
their choice. No such facility is available to Hindu students because
their parents vote for Congress party or socialist parties. []
Congress and Communist parties have, thus, imposed such a legal system
where a Muslim candidate or a Christian candidate has all the legal
rights to compete on equal footings with a Hindu candidate for
employment, but there are thousands and thousands of posts paid from
government funds for which Hindus just cannot apply, such as, posts of
Chairman of the National Minority Commission and Provincial Minority
Commissions, the posts of the Principal and Vice Principal of St.
Stephan?s College, Delhi University, heads of minority institutions
etc.
Under section 3 of the National Minority Commission Act, a Hindu can
not be its Chairman and at least five of its seven members including
Chairman shall have to be from amongst the minority communities.
Section 4 of the National Commission for Minority Educational
Institutions Act 2004 stipulates that only persons from minority
communities shall be eligible to be appointed as Chairman and members
of this Commission. Chairman and members draw salary and perks of a
Secretary to the Govt of India and a Hindu, howsoever, secular and
progressive stands debarred from holding these posts. Both Acts were
moved by the Congress party. So a person shall be denied appointments
to these posts under the State simply because he is a Hindu. Hindu
parliamentarians have thus downgraded their own younger generations by
enacting such anti-Hindu laws.
Minority Commissions have been set up to ensure that minorities are
not discriminated but there is no Commission to ensure that Hindus are
not victimized in India by minorities.
Such ill-treatments a Hindu voter has invited for himself and for his
children by giving his vote to the pseudo-secular parties or by
abstaining from voting. Every Hindu vote given to any pseudo-secular
party is going to be used to humiliate Hindu youth. A faithful and
firm handling of this inequality imposed by pseudo secular parties
upon Hindu youth will change the politics of India.
(The writer retired in the rank of Secretary to the Government of
India in the Indian Foreign Service (1971 batch). He served as
Ambassador to Finland, Estonia, Jamaica, Tunisia, Tanzania, Dominican
Republic etc., and Consul General, Dubai (UAE) and Birmingham (UK).)
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February 24, 2008
Editorial
Now A Christian Subsidy!
If there was a national award for inventing appeasement populism, the
first claimant for that would have been the Andhra Pradesh Chief
Minister Rajasekhara Reddy. The man who kick started the UPA Muslim
quota business in his state as the first act of his government in May
2004, has now offered to subsidise travel by Christians to their Holy
Land, meaning Israel-Palestine along the lines of the Haj subsidy for
Muslims.
The move is totally unconstitutional and the inspiration is blatantly
communal with a political agenda. Rajasekhara Reddy is a Christian,
like his party chief, though the community is not very numerous in his
state. In states where the Christians are in substantial number they
enjoy many privileges which are denied to the Hindus. Like the
reservation in jobs and education in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the
pronouncedly Christian character of some of the North East states
where the state assembly sessions begin with Bible prayers. Nobody has
objected to them, but the Christian community is not known to go on
pilgrimages to foreign lands the way Muslims do. There has been no
demand of this sort from any quarter in the community. As such
Christians are educationally and economically well off.
Most church denominations have taken up a rigorous Indianisation plank
and have largely succeeded in this effort. This attempt at
secularisation is being sought to be torpedoed by certan over zealous
evangelical elements. Rajasekhara Reddy?s effort seems to encourage
such elements.
In the last four years there were many reports of aggressive
proselytising mission in the state. This had created tension in some
areas especially in Tirupati-Tirumalai, where after a series of
protests from Hindu groups the government had to issue a notification
prohibiting non-Hindus violating the sanctity of the Holy Hills.
Another controversy in the state is about the state government
systematically siphoning off thousands of crores from the temple
offerings for other irreligious activities. Yet another case is
pending in the High Court on the state government?s attempt to sell
away thousands of acres of temple property to make revenue for the
exchequer.
A state government with such questionable reputation has now mooted
the idea of Christian subsidy with some obvious ulterior intention.
Perhaps this might ignite a new wave of demands and protests and
grievance concoction. As such Christians, unlike the Muslims are a
contented community. They have no dearth of foreign funding. For
ecclesiastical training and studies Christians go to Vatican, and for
this they spent their own money. That is no pilgrimage. Jerusalem,
another holy place for Christians is a virtual war zone and
Christianity has no tradition of pilgrimage to Holy Land. In India
there are many places holy for them. It is not clear if Reddy has a
plan to subsidise such domestic pilgrimages also.
In any case, the Constitution does not allow discrimination in the
name of religion, caste and region. Every act of the UPA in these
matters has been fundamentally wrong. The Haj subsidy, which is
increasing every year, has now reached over Rs 4,000 crore annually.
This is over and above the spending on welfare and facilitation
arrangements by the states and the centre. It is high time the UPA put
an end to such cynical acts of perdition for temporary political
mileage.
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February 24, 2008
Obituary
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
He took meditation to the West
On behalf of the Hindu American community of USA, Vishwa Hindu
Parishad, America, has extended its deepest condolences to the large ?
family of devotees? of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and described his death
as a great loss to the human race. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a spiritual
leader, who introduced the West to ?Transcendental Meditation?, had
passed away on February 5 at Vlodrop, a southern Dutch village at the
age of 91.
?Maharishi?s work is complete,? his Movement said in a statement. ?He
has done what he set out to do in 1957 - to lay the foundation for a
peaceful world, now Maharishi is being welcomed with open arms into
heaven.? Earlier, on January 11, the Maharishi had announced that his
public work had finished and that he would use his remaining time to
complete a long-running series of published commentaries on the
Vedas.
Maharishi was also famous as the guru to the Beatles, the Indian
spiritualist Deepak Chopra, and several other high-profile people.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is believed to have been born on January 12,
1917. He was born Mahesh Prasad Varma in Central India, the third of
four children. After graduating with a degree in physics at Allahabad
University in 1942, he left for the foothills of the Himalayas to
begin a 13-year spiritual apprenticeship with his guru Swami
Brahmanand Saraswati. When his mentor passed away in the early 1950s,
the Maharishi dedicated his life to spreading the teachings of his
guru. He started teaching meditation techniques around the world in
1959, starting in the United States.
The Maharishi originated the Transcendental Meditation (TM, a
trademark,) movement in 1957 and brought it to the United States in
1959. He set out on his international mission to achieve this vision
in 1959, beginning in Los Angeles, where he established his movement
with an initial following of 25 devotees. From this small beginning
the Maharishi over his lifetime developed a global organisation with
nearly 1,000 TM centres, property assets valued in 1998 at $3.5
billion and an estimated four million disciples. Maharishi?s TM
centres expanded all over the world to England, France, Russia,
Germany, South America, USA, etc. They were all held happily together
by a single and everlasting thread, i.e. meditation.
TM consists of closing one?s eyes twice a day for 20 minutes while
silently repeating a mantra to gain deep relaxation, eliminate stress,
promote good health and attain clear thinking and inner fulfillment.
Over the years since TM became popular, many scientists have found
physical and mental benefits from mediation in general and
transcendental meditation in particular, especially in reducing stress-
related ailments. Since the technique?s inception in 1955, it has been
used to train more than 40,000 teachers, taught more than 5 million
people, opened thousands of teaching centres and founded hundreds of
schools, colleges and universities.
This organisation helps a person find a way for the answers that every
person has been looking for since the beginning of the human
civilisation?who am I, where I came from, where am I going, and so on.
Maharshi lectured on the positive effects of meditation on body, mind
and intellect. He gave a new face to Vedic literature. Maharishi
explained the scientific nature of Vedic literature and demonstrated
how through that science one could live a peaceful life, reach one?s
highest potential and follow the path of self-fulfillment.
He was the only spiritual leader who held people together from all
religions of the world under one banner: Transcendental Meditation. In
the United States, his organisation is based in Fairfield, Iowa, where
it operates a university, the Maharishi University of Management
(MUM). In 2001, disciples of the movement incorporated their own town,
Maharishi Vedic City, a few miles north of Fairfield.
(FOC)
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February 24, 2008
UPA inducements for conversion
By Dr. Indulata Das
The communities designated as minorities, which include Muslims,
Christians, Sikhs, Budhists and Parsis (Zorastrains) account for 18.4
per cent of the India?s population according to 2001 Census. Among
them, Muslims constitute the largest group with 13.4 per cent of our
population followed by Christians 2.3 per cent. The percentage of
Muslim population in 1951 was less than 10 per cent and that of
Christian about 2 per cent. As analysed by various experts including
Justice Sachar, the high growth of Muslim population is contributable
to higher female fertility. Unchecked infiltration from the
neighbouring country, i.e. Bangladesh, has also enhanced the Muslim
population growth substantially, which according to a view articulated
by Justice Sachar in his report does not matter. The growth of
Christian population, however, is mainly due to conversion among
weaker sections of the society, particularly in SC/ST-dominated
regions. The methods employed for conversion include allurement,
deception and threats.
The policy pronouncements and programmes of the UPA-government seem to
have far reaching consequences in disturbing our social equilibrium.
In the name of development intervention to help the minority
communities, the new schemes that have been introduced actually amount
to division of our society. It is unthinkable to visualise inclusive
growth through policies and schemes that are divisive and segregative.
It will be pertinent to mention here some important features of newly
introduced schemes and ramifications of their implementation.
The merit-cum-means scholarship provides that a student of minority
community within annual family income of up to Rs. 2.50 lakh will
receive course fee of
Rs. 20,000 and scholarship of Rs. 10,000 per annum as hosteller and
Rs. 5000 per annum as day scholar. Although educational status of SCs,
STs and some of the OBCs in the country is worse than that of
minorities, the central government has not considered it necessary to
introduce a similar scheme for them. The scheme looks like a
government-funded inducement for conversion.
In addition to merit-cum-means scholarship, the central government has
started another scheme to provide post-matric scholarship to students
of minority communities. Accordingly, a student having annual family
income of up to Rs. 2,00,000, is eligible for post-matric scholarship
which includes course and maintenance allowances. It is to be noted
here that the family income ceiling for SC and ST students to be
eligible for post-matric scholarship is Rs. 1,00,000 and for OBCs Rs.
45,000. The income certificates for SC, ST and OBC students have to be
issued by the designated revenue officers as per the prescribed norms.
No such conditions exist for minority students. A self certification
to be filed on a non-judicial stamp paper regarding annual family
income of up to Rs. 2,00,000 for post-matric scholarship and Rs. 2.50
lakh for merit-cum-means scholarship is all that is needed. The
discrimination is evident.
The scheme of pre-matric scholarship approved by the central
government for students of minority communities provides for cost
sharing of the scholarship in between the centre and the state at
75:25 ratio. The central government does not consider introducing a
similar scheme for SCs and STs knowing it well that their educational
and economic status is worse than that of minorities.
The Prime Minister?s 15 Point Programme provides for ear-marking of 15
per cent budgetary allocations under priority sector programmes for
minorities. There are no additional allocations from the central
government for this purpose. It is to be remembered that majority of
SC and ST population is below the government-defined poverty line.
This is why 50 per cent to 60 per cent targets under most of the
priority sector schemes are required to be achieved by assisting SC
and ST families according to the relevant guidelines. Setting apart 15
per cent of schematic grants without any additional allocation under
the Prime Minister?s 15 Point Programme means diversion of benefits
meant for the poor SCs and STs to that extent. For example, under
Indira Awas Yojana, 60 per cent houses have to be given to the SC and
ST families as per the prescribed guidelines. Under the Prime Minister?
s 15 Point Programme, 15 per cent houses will have to be given to the
families of minority communities which account for about 4.5 per cent
of Orissa?s population. The fact remains that about 40 per cent of the
Muslim population lives in the urban areas where Indira Awas Yojna
cannot be implemented and STs do not change their social status.
In brief, the differential and more favourable scholarship norms for
minority students from primary to professional courses, and the
earmarking of 15 per cent plan resources under the 15 point programme
are not only divisive and segregative measures, they can also be
viewed as the central government sponsored incentives to promote
religious conversion. The society should judge whether inclusive
growth and social assimilation can be achieved through the
segregative, divisive and discriminatory communal budgeting. Whether
the parties in power actually mean development of minorities or want
to misuse them as ?vote banks? perpetually. There is no country or
society where inclusive growth and social integration have been
achieved through divisive policies and programmes.
(The writer can be contacted at Qtr. No. 5R 9, Forest Park, Unit-1,
Bhubaneswar, Orissa, 751009, indul...@yahoo.co.in)
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January31, 2010
A Report As A Charter of Divisiveness
By Kidar Nath Sahani
Of interest will be to know that even the then British Government
refused to include the Muslims and the Christians in the list of
Scheduled Castes when it prepared such a list in 1936.
Notably, the Commission has suggested an alternative route for
reservation to minorities if there is "insurmountable difficulty" in
implementing the recommendation for 15 per cent reservation. In this
regard it is said since minorities constitute 8.4 per cent of the
total OBC population according to the Mandal Commission Report, so in
the 27 per cent OBC quota, an 8.4 per cent sub quota should be
earmarked for minorities. (As per Commission’s suggestions, the
internal break-up should be 6 per cent for the Muslims, commensurate
with their 73 per cent share in the total minority population at the
national level and 2.4 per cent for other minorities.) This is a clear
effort to dilute the existing quota of the OBCs.
Unfortunately, during the last over sixty years politicians of various
shades with their politics of vote-bank and appeasement, have done
havoc to this spirit of ‘one and united nation’. Various Commissions
and Committees like the Mandal Commission, Sachar Committee and now
the Ranganath Misra Commission were formed to serve this end.
On the eve of the Sashtipurti, i.e. 60 years of the Republic, the
Congress is trying to do what its own leaders, the founding fathers of
the Republic refused to do, i.e., to divide the nation in the name of
religion by conceding religion based reservation. In the Constituent
Assembly, similar demands were firmly turned down by the luminaries
like Dr BR Ambedkar, Sardar Patel, Pt Nehru and C Rajagopalachari. But
the present government led by Congress wants to negate it all by
succumbing to pressures of vote-bank politics. It is trying to promote
such divisiveness through the back door.
The Constituent Assembly in its long debates aimed at making India one
united nation devoid of all such anomalies that had crept up in the
society in the past, and made it weak, divided and vulnerable. The
issue of giving representation to different groups like scheduled
castes and scheduled tribes, minorities-religious or linguistic, was
discussed at length. Going through the debates, one finds that to a
vast majority of members, including Baba Sahib Ambedkar, the very idea
of giving representation to various groups was not acceptable. Even Dr
Ambedkar did not want in the case of reservation for the SC and ST to
last for 10 years after Independence. This was the focus of the
debates and the spirit of the ‘Constitution’.
Unfortunately, during the last over sixty years politicians of various
shades with their politics of vote-bank and appeasement, have done
havoc to this spirit of ‘one and united nation’. Various Commissions
and Committees like the Mandal Commission, Sachar Committee and now
the Ranganath Misra Commission were formed to serve this end.
The Indian Constitution provides ample guarantees and opportunities to
all sections of society, irrespective of their religion, belief or
caste, for their healthy growth and progress. Yet, for political
interests such commissions and committees were constituted. The
reports they presented speak volumes.
The report of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic
Minorities-better known as Ranganath Misra Commission, was tabled in
both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha at the fag-end of the winter
session of the Parliament, apparently in an attempt to avoid debates
and discussions. It was actually submitted to the Prime Minister over
two years ago, on May 21, 2007. For reasons best known to itself, the
government kept the report in cold storage for so long, though it was
almost immediately leaked in the media and was widely circulated.
The Commission was constituted on March 21, 2005. Formed in the
aftermath of controversies created by the Sachar Committee
recommendations, it was given the task to suggest criteria for
identification of socially and economically backward sections among
religious and linguistic minorities and to recommend measures for
their welfare.
The four-member Commission included Chairman Justice Ranganath Misra
who headed it along with three members-Tahir Mahmood, the late Anil
Wilson(Principal, St Stephens College), Mohinder Singh and Member
Secretary Asha Das.
The report makes three main suggestions:
I. Article 16(4), which is the constitutional basis for providing job
quotas to OBCs, should be the basis for providing reservation benefits
to minority groups who are socially and economically backward.
II. At least 15 per cent of seats in all non-minority educational
institutions should be earmarked for the minorities with 10 per cent
for the Muslims (commensurate with their 73 per cent share in the
total minority population at the national level) and 5 per cent for
other minorities.
The Commission also recommended 15 per cent share for the minorities
in all the government schemes like NREGA, Prime Minister’s Rozgar
Yojna, Grameen Rozgar Yojna, etc. Besides, it seeks the same 15 per
cent quota for minorities in government jobs, Central and State
services in all cadres and grades with a break-up of 10 per cent for
the Muslims and 5 per cent for others. (The report also calls for a
sub-quota in OBC quota clearly marked out for those minority
communities which come under the broad head of OBCs).
III. The Commission has asked for the de-linking of Scheduled Caste
status from religion and to make the SC net fully religion-neutral,
like that of Scheduled Tribes. Calling the caste system ‘all-
pervading’, the Commission says the Constitution while describing and
defining SCs and STs did not perceive a dimension of religion in it.
Of interest will be to know that even the then British Government
refused to include the Muslims and the Christians in the list of
Scheduled Castes when it prepared such a list in 1936.
More notably, arguing that religious freedom is a Fundamental Right,
the Commission has recommended continuation of SC reservation benefits
to those Dalits who convert to other religions by choice.
Apart from the above main recommendations, there are a plethora of
other recommendations focussing primarily on the Muslim community.
These are:
* Select institutions in the country like the Aligarh Muslim
University and the Jamia Millia Islamia should be legally given a
special responsibility to promote education at all levels to Muslim
students by taking all possible steps for this purpose.
* In the funds to be distributed by the Maulana Azad Educational
Foundation a suitable portion should be earmarked for the Muslims
proportionate to their share in the total minority population. Out of
this portion funds should be provided not only to the existing Muslim
institutions but also for setting-up new institutions from nursery to
the highest level and for technical and vocational education anywhere
in India but especially in the Muslim-concentration areas.
* Anganwaris, Navoday Vidyalayas and other similar institutions should
be opened under their respective schemes especially in each of the
Muslim concentration areas and Muslim families be given suitable
incentives to send their children to such institutions.
* Citing that the largest minority of the country, the Muslims, have a
scant or weak presence in the agrarian sector the Commission
recommended that special schemes should be formulated for the
promotion and development of agriculture, agronomy and agricultural
trade among them.
With regard to linguistic minorities, the only significant
recommendation is that the Commission wants the three language formula
to be implemented everywhere in the country making it compulsory for
authorities to include in it the mother tongue of every child.
Significantly, the above recommendations have not been unanimous.
Member Secretary of the Commission Asha Das has given a note of
dissent on the Commission’s recommendation for conferment of SC status
on Dalit converts to Christianity and Islam saying there was "no
justification" for it. She also appended a note of dissent saying she
did not agree with the recommendation of treating Christian/Muslim
Dalits at par with Hindu/Sikh/Buddhist Dalits.
Notably, the Commission has suggested an alternative route for
reservation to minorities if there is "insurmountable difficulty" in
implementing the recommendation for 15 per cent reservation. In this
regard it is said since minorities constitute 8.4 per cent of the
total OBC population according to the Mandal Commission Report, so in
the 27 per cent OBC quota, an 8.4 per cent sub-quota should be
earmarked for minorities. (As per Commission’s suggestions, the
internal break-up should be six per cent for the Muslims, commensurate
with their 73 per cent share in the total minority population at the
national level and 2.4 per cent for other minorities.)
This is a clear effort to dilute the existing quota of the OBCs.
In all, the report submitted by the Ranganath Misra Commission is a
charter of divisiveness and vote-bank politics. No wonder, it has got
flak from all sides. VHP has already threatened a nationwide agitation
if the government makes any move to implement the report. It has
termed the report as "Anti-constitutional anti-national and anti-
Hindu".
The report has also been condemned for being against the spirit of the
founding fathers of the Indian Constitution. It is alleged that if
implemented, it would particularly be damaging to the interest of the
vulnerable sections of Hindu society.
"Implementation of such a report is set to encourage religious
conversions, particularly among the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled
Tribes and other backward classes to take advantage of this
development," says Dr Pravin Togadia of VHP.
He further adds, "The present government is trying to undo the
conscious decision of the Constituent Assembly not to provide for
religion-based reservation." He also said that the implementation of
the report will mean death for the Hindu SCs, STs and OBCs and their
children.
It is strange that no word has been spoken against it by the people
who call themselves secular and pro-poor. Even the parties that thrive
on OBC politics are keeping silent. Only, some lone voices like that
of Buta Singh, the chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled
Castes, has made public his differences over giving reservation to
minorities from the SC quota.
On the contrary, all the quota-supporting entities such as the Left
parties, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and a section of the
Congress are putting pressure on the Centre to implement the report,
yet, the government sources acknowledge that implementing the
Ranganath Misra Commission report could be the toughest task ahead for
this government. As this involves the most crucial aspect of quotas,
which is the reservation under religious lines.
The only vocal support to the report has come from a number of Muslim
and Christian groups, and quite naturally so.
Secretary of the Indian Catholic Bishops Commission for dalit and
tribal groups, Father Cosmon Arokiaraj has welcomed the report and has
asked the government to pass the Bill without delay. Another Bishop,
Father Anthoniraj Thumma, head of an ecumenical forum in the State of
Andhra Pradesh, said that the government move would provide dalit
Christians constitutional protection. He added that in addition to
quotas in government jobs and seats in educational institutions, the
new move would also give dalit groups (converted) a right to contest
elections for seats reserved for such category.
It will now be interesting to see the ATR by the government on these
recommendations. As in the ATR, the government will have to make
public its ideas on how the reservation for the Muslims and the
Christians would be implemented.
The supporters for implementing it say that any move to provide
reservation to religious minorities is unlikely to be opposed by those
in the general category as reservation of seats for Dalit Christians
and Muslims within the existing quota for Dalits will not affect
them.
But that does not negate the fact that the Ranganath Misra report on
quotas for minorities is aimed at harvesting votes rather than
resolving the problem of backwardness of the minorities. It wrongly
invokes the "full sanction of the Article 16(4) of the Constitution"
for a 15 per cent reservation in government jobs for Muslims,
Christians and other minorities on the assumption that all minorities
must necessarily be backward.
What is being insidiously resurrected under the rubric of ‘under
representation’ is actually ‘communal representation’. Such emphasis
on inadequacy of representation on the assumption of backwardness will
encourage communally inspired demands for all.
Our founding fathers of the Constitution knew the dangers of such an
approach. That is why such communal approaches were specifically
excluded from the Constitution.
Lastly, it is not clear whether this new quota will be an OBC quota or
SC or ST quota. Or whether minority quotas will be written into these
quotas or added to them? If added, the overall quotas will become 64
per cent. And since quota over 50 per cent is not possible as per the
Constitution, the only option left would be to assimilate it in the
existing quota which, most certainly, would cause heartburn to the
OBCs, SCs and STs who will have their quota reduced from 50 per cent
to 35 per cent.
(The writer is former Governor of Sikkim and Goa.)
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January 21, 2008
UPA's rank communalism
Quota politics threatens to fragment India
By Sunita Vakil
The Congress has always aimed at erecting barriers between the
different communities rather than trying to break them down. Indeed,
the brand of secularism flaunted by the party is very much flawed. By
separating Muslim issues from the rest of the populace, it is only
treading the familiar ground of identity politics, that forms the core
of its survival.
Congress-led UPA government?s gusto of going overboard to woo Muslims
by allocating 15 per cent of funds during the 11th plan period
exclusively for minorities is indicative of its communal mindset that
is hellbent upon dividing India along religious lines.
The UPA government?s congenital tendency to succumb before the
minority separatism may run the risk of undoing the national
integration. It does not need an awful lot of imagination to surmise
that its coddling of India?s largest minority is in pursuit of its
vote bank politics. This is of a piece with the party?s absurd and
perverse practice of embarking on a path of dividing the country along
communal lines for acquiring power.
Notwithstanding its abstract homilies on secularism, the Congress has
always aimed at erecting barriers between the different communities
rather than trying to break them down. Indeed, the brand of secularism
flaunted by the party is very much flawed. By separating Muslim issues
from the rest of the populace, it is only treading the familiar ground
of identity politics, that forms the core of its survival.
The single-minded Congress focus on Muslim votes that makes it to
pursue a partisan course is giving airs to the speculation that the
ruling party cares only for minority concerns in the garb of
secularism. The UPA?s penchant for politics of appeasement is
increasingly becoming a hallmark of its governance. By injecting the
communal virus in almost all spheres of our national concern, the
ruling regime seems eager to create a separate electorate and
categorise society along religious identities. Resorting to blatant
appeasement the Congress is only giving succour to divisive forces
besides antagonising the numerically dominant community. It has
redefined secularism with its full-time attention on minority votes.
Moreover, the Congress leaders in their abhorrent zeal to placate
minorities seem to have forgotten that all Indians, irrespective of
their caste, creed or religions, have an equal stake in the national
well being. Of course, this is not to suggest that under class of
Muslims is to be kept out of the ambit of development. But it is
important for a vibrant democracy that every single person,
irrespective of religions has equal claim on the national resources.
Remaining stuck in the quagmire of communal quotas will only further
divide the nation.
In the past too, the Congress-led UPA government had meted out special
treatment to Muslims as a matter of state policy. Muslims have indeed
been perceived as potential vote banks right from the rule of Indira
Gandhi in whose regime Haj subsidies were announced. It is noteworthy
that no other religious community in India has been favoured with such
a sop. It was also her singular love for Muslim empowerment that made
her install Muslim chief ministers like Abdul Gafoor in Bihar, A.R.
Antulay in Maharashtra, Maimoona Taimur in Assam and Barkatullah in
Rajasthan continuing with this policy of crass minorityism, Rajiv
Gandhi overturned the Supreme Court judgement on the issue of
maintenance to Muslims divorcee Shah Bano. Later, shedding all
pretences of secularism the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh opened a
pandora?s box by playing directly to the gallery of Muslim voters with
his emphasis on minority development, particularly the Muslims in his
address to the National Development Council in December 2006. The
party has had the gumption to aggressively woo Muslims right from the
time it came to power in 2004. Its wholehearted exertions towards
reserving jobs and educational quotas for Muslims, attempts of
dividing army on communal lines, communalising banking and financial
institutions, protecting illegal Bangladeshi migrants, including a
Muslim League MP in the Union Council of Ministers, exonerating the
perpetrators of Godhra carnage are only some of the shameful acts
indulged in by the Congress-led UPA government which project it as
crude and outright communal. Even the former President Shri A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam has criticised the government-sponsored subsidies by
saying that ?dependency syndrome has stunted performance and
diminished transparency?.
It is quite ironical that when Congress and its pseudo-secularist
allies talk of ?Muslims First? policy, it is flaunted as social
justice and secularism. But when the BJP espouses the cause of a Ram
temple at Ayodhya, it is labelled as a divisive and communal outfit.
On the flip side, the UPA government doubts the authenticity of Ram
Sethu casting aspersions on the existence of Lord Ram. But on the
other side many of its leaders can be seen queuing up at Ram lila
performances for photo ops.
The UPA obsession with Muslim appeasement again came to the fore with
its undue focus on divisive issues like communal budgeting and plan
allocation. In pursuance of its wanton policy, the government has
shown undue haste in assuring grants to madrasas promoting Urdu and
reservation in various ministries. During the rule of UPA, Haj subsidy
has grown 200 times. It seems that the government has got itself so
much involved in the politics of appeasement, even to the exclusion of
other social, political and constitutional responsibilities.
Earlier, it was the British who planned a communal divide to meet
their political objectives. Now, history is repeating itself with the
Congress-led UPA taking help of the same divide-and-rule policy in
furthering of its goal.
Now, under the UPA dispensation, where secularism is synonymous with
Hindu bashing, the propagandists of the ruling regime give impetus to
separatism. There is an unconstitutional and unethical bias when it
comes to the rights of the majority community. In fact, it has been
since the time of Mughals a millennium ago that Hindus have been
discriminated against. It seems the time has come for a rehash of the
period when Hindus were treated badly. Their temples were looted as
well as zajia was levied upon them. This regime is also not so much
different from the earlier one. For instance, temple donations are
siphoned for the upkeep of Muslim religions places. Hard-earned money
of tax-payers is being squandered at the altar of Congress?s obnoxious
vote bank politics.
(The writer is senior editor with Kashur Gazette, Delhi.)
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=221&page=27
January 21, 2008
Editorial
A separate growth
Aiding communalism with Plan Fund
By R. Balashankar
This Organiser Special on Republic Day is dedicated to national
unity.
The idea is to fight communalism. The UPA Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh has communalised the polity with his cynical Muslim first plank.
He introduced an obnoxious 15-point programme for Muslims and reserved
15 per cent of the 11th Plan Fund for minorities along with religion-
specific banking, budgeting and education.
In the following pages our expert analysts will show how the UPA plan
divides and discriminates the people of this country and how the
initiatives the ruling conglomerate has undertaken are akin to the 14-
point demands of the pre-1947 Muslim League. We want to forewarn the
nation through this exercise how in the guise of secularism the
national government has become a tool in the hands of destructive and
divisive elements and how it has acquired an unprecedented anti-Hindu
agenda. Secularism, to begin with, was a positive, almost indulgent
rhetoric under Jawaharlal Nehru; understandable in the aftermath of
Partition for which the League and its supporters in India were
responsible. Under Indira Gandhi it became vote bank politics. Rajiv
Gandhi and his successors made it appeasement. Under the UPA,
secularism is interpreted as brazenly anti-Hindu to the extent of
denigrating Hindu ideals becoming state policy.
In one of the most significant books written on minority problem in
India, Indian Muslims: Where Have They Gone Wrong?, Dr. Rafiq Zakaria
says, ?The British got, naturally, worried and they did whatever they
could to disrupt that (Hindu-Muslim) unity. They engineered riots,
they played politics by giving separate electorate to the Muslims,
they devised various methods both political and social?to keep the two
communities apart. They dangled grants and concessions alternately to
both the religious groups. Ultimately they saw to it that the country
was divided, through the distrust that they had so assiduously built
up between the two over the decades. To perpetuate their rule, they
followed the Roman policy of ?Divide and Rule?. But as Maulana
Mohammad Ali rightly put it: ?We divided and they ruled.? The blame
rests as much on our joint leadership as on the British; however in
the last stage it was Jinnah?s obduracy which struck the final blow to
our unity.? The UPA under Sonia Gandhi is playing the role of the
British, to divide and rule.
The historic parallels are strikingly similiar and ominous. Take this
instance, ?Before he opted for Pakistan, Muslim League leader
(Shaheed) Suhrawardy had decided to stay in India and lead the Bengal
Muslims in India. His letter to (Chaudhary) Khaliquzzaman on September
10, 1947, was eloquent and made interesting reading. He was faced with
the dilemma that unless Muslims derived their strength on account of
group solidarity they would not be respected by the Hindus. At the
same time solidarity and strength would raise suspicion about their
bona fides. Hence he suggested formation of strong Muslim pockets
dotted all over the country. His other alternative that both India and
Pakistan should strive to destroy the complex of superiority of their
majority populations and they should accept their minorities as their
own was a cry in the wilderness so far as Pakistan was concerned.?
(Islam: In India?s Transition to Modernity by M.A. Karandikar, Page
276-77)
Manmohan Singh seems to have entirely adopted Suhrawardy?s advice in
the last four years as Prime Minister.
The central government has identified 90 districts in the country as
minority concentrated for special development plans. An intriguing
aspect of this idea is that known Muslim-majority districts say in UP,
Assam, West Bengal, J&K or Kerala are not included in the select 90
list. It is said that altogether the Congress is thus focusing on
nearly 250 Lok Sabha constituencies for doling out excessive
privileges and central funds so as to develop them as captive pocket
boroughs. This may or may not work but the damage to the national
fabric is intrinsic.
In a similar instance, the centre has a plan to make minority students
reap benefits of dual scholarships which is not normally allowed in
the case of non-Muslim students. According to a plan announced by the
UPA in December 2007 Muslim students can avail scholarships
simultaneously from the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Ministry
of Social Justice and Empowerment. This is under a 15-point programme
of the Prime Minister meant only for Muslims.
The Minority Affairs Ministry will distribute Rs 100 crore annually
for scholarships for Muslim students. This will run parallel to the
initiatives of other ministries targeted for the Muslims under the PM?
s new programme. The result is, the same set of people getting
pampered through numerous sources. A report said that 3,200 students
will get this benefit in the current academic year. The UPA followed
it up with reservations in educational institutions and recruitment.
It made an unsuccessful attempt to divide the Indian Army on communal
lines. All this is supposedly to empower the Muslims.
The UPA asked the banks and other financial institutions to have
special provisions for interest-free loans for Muslims along with a
package for 15 lakh special scholarships for Muslim students. The
Prime Minister has announced another programme to offer free coaching
for Muslim students preparing for the competitive examinations, for
which parents cough up lakhs. In the centrally funded Aligarh and
Jamia Milia Universities almost the entire seats and jobs are reserved
for this community.
Through a Constitution amendment, the UPA reserved majority seats in
all the non-aided educational institutions for the minority
communities setting them free from giving reservation quota for the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. But this benefit is not
available to Hindu-run self-financing institutions. This is a blatant
discrimination that will make these institutions financially unviable
and covertly promote religious conversions.
Under the UPA, Muslims need not follow any rule that is compulsory for
other citizens. They need not sing Saraswati Vandana or Vande Mataram
though there is nothing religious about it. There is no need to salute
the national flag or sing the national anthem. They need not register
marriages. In the event of terror attacks?nearly 6,000 people have
been killed in the last four years?there will be no combing operations
in Muslim localities. Not a single terror attack has been solved
during this period.
And now comes the permanent scourge in the form of communal budgeting
and plan allocation. All these are over and above the existing schemes
in the Departments of Social Welfare, Education etc. for promotion of
madrasas, Urdu, and reservation in various ministries for removing
backwardness. The UPA has also created a separate ministry for
minorities, now presided over by A.R. Antulay, a crude practitioner of
minority politics. During the four-year UPA rule, the Haj subsidy has
grown 200 times! The Muslims? ?right first to the national resources?,
as Manmohan Singh coined his absurdly ruinous idea, has become the
only existential agenda of this government. Should the majority Hindus
take this nonsense in stoic silence? Should not we get up and stop
this outrage on national security? This is worse than the regenerate
Wahabism introduced by Mahathir in Malaysia.
Manmohan Singh has no use for the more enlightened views of Jawaharlal
Nehru, who as India?s first Prime Minister laid the foundations of
Indian planning.
Calling planning the first attempt in India to integrate agriculture,
industrial, social, economic and other aspects of the country into a ?
single framework of thinking? in his speech on first draft five-year
plan, Nehru said, ?It has made people think of this country as whole.
I think it is most essential that India, which is united politically
and in many other ways, should, to the same extent, be united mentally
and emotionally also. We often go off at a tangent on grounds of
provincialism, communalism, religion or caste. We have no emotional
awareness of the unity of the country. Planning will help us in having
an emotional awareness of our problems as a whole. It will help us to
see the isolated problems in villages or districts or even provinces
in their larger context. Therefore, the mere act of planning, the mere
act of having approached the question of progress in this way and of
producing a report of this type is something on which we might, I
think, congratulate ourselves.?
Again, in a speech Laying the Foundations (Broadcast from the Delhi
Station of All India Radio, December 31, 1952), Nehru after a visit to
Kanyakumari said, ?From that southern tip of India, I pictured this
great country spread out before me right up to the Himalayas in the
north and thought of her long and chequered story. Ours is a wonderful
inheritance but how shall we keep it? How shall we serve the country
which has given us so much and make her great and strong?...?
?We look at our own country and find both good and ill, powerful
forces at work to build her and also forces, which would disrupt and
disintegrate her. We cannot do much to affect the destiny of this
world as a whole but surely we can make a brave attempt to mould the
destiny of our 360 (then) million people... In India, the first
essential is the maintenance of the unity of the country, not merely a
political unity but a unity of the mind and the heart, which precludes
the narrow urges that make for disunity and which breaks down the
barriers raised in the name of religion or those between State and
State or, for that matter, any other barrier. We must aim at a
classless society,? Nehru said. He added, ?Of course, you must plan
for everybody. No planning which is not for all is good enough. You
must always have that view before you and you must prepare the
foundations for the next step towards the final goal. And so, you
ultimately start a process which grows by itself.? Economic Democracy
(Speech in Parliament, New Delhi, December 15, 1952, Jawaharlal Nehru?
s Speeches: 1949-1953, published by The Publications Division,
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India)
I have quoted Nehru on Planning, only to underline how flawed Manmohan
Singh?s approach is.
There is an interesting survey taken up by the Left leaning socio-
scientific NGO Shastra Sahitya Parishad. Kerala: How it lives, How it
thinks, released in December 2006. According to the survey, it is not
minority Muslims or Christians but Hindus comprising 54.47 per cent of
Kerala?s 3.2 crore population who are at the economic downslide. The
survey, by the Marxist NGO, says Hindus in the state form the major
chunk of the state?s poor with over 39 lakh living below poverty line.
Condition of Hindus is worse than that of Christians and Muslims in
employment, land holding and income. And the survey says the condition
of so-called forward castes is more pathetic than that of the backward
caste Hindus.
In March 2007, the CPM released a Charter of Demands for the
Advancement of Muslim Community. A dangerous document reminiscent of
the Muslim League demands under Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Apart from
focusing on a communal quota for Dalit Muslims?a term that violates
the basic tenet of Islam, which professes equality of all members of
the faith?the charter demands introducing a sub-plan only for Muslims
for allocating separate development funds on communal lines. The party
was not satisfied with the 2007-08 budget allocation of Rs. 500 crore
for Muslim welfare. The wholesale adoption of the Sachar report by the
CPM appears ridiculous considering the abysmal record of the party in
Kerala and West Bengal in the social uplift of the Muslim community,
as underlined in the report. But the CPM?s Muslim courtship in Kerala
is so brazen that it has left the Muslim League way behind in communal
appeal. The Muslim League is being asked to prove its pro-Muslim
character by more zealous outfits ensconced under the CPM perch.
Encouraged by the indulgence of the UPA, Muslim outfits organised a
procession in the capital in March 2007 demanding state-wise quotas in
proportion to their population. Almost all the known Muslim
organisations came on one platform to seek full implementation of
religion-based reservation in jobs, education and growth fund
allocation all over the country. The UPA and the Sachar report have
clearly uncorked the jinn of pre-Partition communal virus.
The UPA has cynically injected a vicious brand of communalism in the
Indian polity with the hope that en bloc Muslim votes will permanently
become its captive preserve. The insincerity and dishonesty of this
Muslim appeasement is underlined by the poor record of its
implementation. On ameliorating the genuine grievances of the Muslims
both the Congress and the Communist-ruled states project a dubious
record. Similar is the sub-text written by more virulent votaries of
vote bank politics like Mulayam Singh and Lalu Prasad Yadav.
On the report of the Sachar Committee, the Prime Minister is again
working on reservations based on religion. This is ultra vires and
goes against every tenet of the Constitution. The Constitution does
not allow this kind of discrimination on caste or religious lines. A
constitutionally formed government is duty bound to treat everybody
equal on legal and policy issues.
Even by Congress standards Manmohan Singh?s prime ministership has
touched a new low. Earlier our prime ministers used to exhort the
countrymen to rise above caste, region and religion and be Indians
first and everything else afterwards. Here is a Prime Minister who
works overtime to violate the letter and spirit of the Constitution to
divide and discriminate the countrymen on communal lines. And he, like
his party, by no means appears contrite over such dangerous
perversion. His government is aggressively working towards a
polarisation of votes by pursuing a policy of minorityism, encouraging
social tension and disquiet. Had the Congress been really sincere
about uplifting the minorities or ameliorating their lot, it would not
have resorted to such tactless exhibitionism and poisonous promotion
of reactionary ideas.
On the Republic Day, 58 years after India became a secular democratic
republic, we are inquiring as to how will this politics of appeasement
affect national unity? Will it create contrived and bogus grievances
deepening divisions in the society or will it strengthen our sense of
oneness and belonging? The politics of appeasement started by the
Congress under Mahatma Gandhi in the early 1920s, resulted in the
country?s vivisection. The tragic history is not forgotten. The wounds
of Partition have not yet fully healed. But the UPA has embarked on a
course that mocks at those who talk about national integration. They
are not taking a calculated risk. The UPA is schemingly provoking a
divide through dubious machinations.
The Planning Commission reports say that at least 26 per cent of India?
s
population is living below poverty line. If emancipation of this
deprived segment is the priority why talk only of 13 per cent Muslims,
all of whom in any case are not below poverty line? As such, learned
maulanas of Muslim Personal Law Board have decreed that Muslims cannot
take to banking or insurance, polio drops or yoga classes, as these
militate against their religious dogmas.
The Sachar Committee claims that only three per cent of Muslim
children go to madrasas. The evolutionary volume was an attempt to
tell social scientists that the ?Missing Muslim? in jobs was not the
result of madrasa education. Sachar was trying to emphasise on a
chimera of conspiracy against Muslims for their backwardness. At
another place the report stated that the condition of Muslims is worse
than that of Dalits.
The notorious record of the UPA government is that it sees citizens as
communal compartments. By introducing the Sachar Committee and
Ranganath Mishra Commission to devise communal quota, by soft-pedaling
on terrorist outfits, indulging the Maoists by politicising internal
security and Islamising the foreign policy the UPA has created a
cantankerous mess of governance. Even its much-hyped Indo-US nuke deal
is in doldrums. The UPA gives the impression that it is working on an
agenda for national disintegration.
A valuable input in the debate came from Bibek Debroy, a well-known
economist. In his column in The Indian Express (June 12, 2007), Debroy
made an interesting observation. He said, ?A 21st century government
should recognise deprivation as an individual issue and defuse
collective tension based on caste or religion. Wherever there is an
attempt to segregate, mainstreaming never occurs and deprivation
becomes permanent. Contrast economic development in special category
Articles 370 and 371 states with Goa? Caste and religion are
attributes that should remain in the private domain, irrelevant for
public policy purposes. What should be relevant for policy is
deprivation based on class. Government permitting that is precisely
what should have happened?But governments won?t permit and will
intervene to encourage this collective caste-cum-religious identity. ?
It is a mindset that the UPA government has encouraged across the
board.?
The National Sample Survey undertook a study and concluded in June
last year that jobless rate among Hindus and Muslims is almost equal.
The Survey said that the Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for the male in
the age group of 15 and above in the educational level in urban India
among the Hindus and Muslims was equal at 71 per cent followed by
Christians at 64 per cent. Outside the education parameter in urban
India, the Survey says, the worker population ratio among the Hindu
male was barely three per cent higher than that for the Muslims at 56
per cent. This was 51 per cent for Christians. This data was released
by the NSSO under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Implementation for the year 2004-05. And this has exposed the bluff
that far more Muslims were unemployed than the Hindus. If this Survey
is any guide then it should be considered a big setback for the
advocates of more religion-based reservations as part of the so-called
affirmative action. The Survey said that the unemployment rate in
urban areas for both the Hindus and the Muslims was the same at four
per cent. This Survey revealed that both in urban and rural areas
there was only a negligible difference in the literacy rate of the two
communities. This revelation explodes the basis of the UPA-sponsored
vote bank quota politics and brings us back to what we said in the
beginning that deprivation has nothing to do with caste or religion in
the present milieu of globalisation, growth and urbanisation. The
allegations of rising income and wealth disparities between different
castes or religious groups?except for Scheduled Tribes who live in
concentrated blocks?has not been proved by any rational survey. But
who cares for facts, since politics in India is all about myth
making?
The UPA has done nothing to encourage national integration. Its
actions are so communally charged that it has refused to give
protection to Taslima Nasreen, even after she deleted all the
objectionable passages from her book, only to please the perverted
fanatics in her community. This might be the first instance in Indian
history that the country has turned its back on an asylum-seeker, who
was hounded out of her country, who was forced by her own hosts in
West Bengal to vacate her second home and has no other place to go.
But the UPA protects and felicitates M.F. Husain about whose
despicable, blasphemous cartoons Hindus have serious objection.
It seems there is no bottom to the depth to which the UPA can sink in
furthering its goal. It has communalised budgeting; it has
communalised banking and financial institutions; it tried even to
communalise the armed forces. It has vitiated the academia spreading
the venom of casteism and communalism and now it is out to destroy the
country by identifying districts as Muslim majority and pampering them
to promote communal segregation. It is bent on dividing the police
force as Hindu, Muslim and Christian, and nobody knows what else
remains to be fragmented on communal lines. Some more aggressively
lunatic in its ranks have even suggested to introduce a communal quota
in the judiciary as well and appoint judges after fixing their
religion tag. Is there any guarantee that people who get their
position only on their religious identity will behave impartially in
their execution of duty? And what will happen to the faith of the
citizens in the system and its commitment to delivering justice? What
will happen to this country once the people lose all hope of fair play
and fair deal under these votaries of fake secularism?
What is the BPL criterion? Those who earn above Rs 12 per day. But
what about the lucky above BPL people? According to the report of
National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS),
394.9 million workers, i.e. 80 per cent of India?s working population,
are in the unorganised sector and 80 per cent of them are among those
who live on less than Rs 20 a day. These are real poor and vulnerable,
the report says. We quote this statistics to show that poverty has
nothing to do with religion. And that politics should be about
marrying policies with the people.
A conservative estimate, supported by all empirical data, gives us a
statistics of almost 30 to 35 per cent of India?s population living in
subhuman conditions. This is not a comforting thought in the 61st year
of Independence. And to know that our political class has only
archaic, time warped ideas for giving opportunity to the less
privileged is a sad commentary.
The UPA as part of its poll-oriented thinking has constituted an equal
rights panel to ensure Muslim representation level. How myopic can the
ruling class get! In a country with over 35 per cent poor to have an
equal rights panel only for the 15 per cent minorities! Does the
government have no responsibility to the rest of the population?
If there is any poor, deprived in the country, it is the Hindu. His
land was taken away, his homes and temples were looted for centuries,
he was made to pay jazia, an oppression tax of slavery, for almost 800
years, for that long the Muslims and for another 150 years Christians
ruled this country. How can the ruling class till 1947, become
deprived needing special affirmative action? It is only the Hindu who
has some claim to a special treatment. And Pakistan was created, after
the bloodiest-ever holocaust in history, to pamper the Muslims. Every
corner of the country where Hindu is in minority is in the grip of
insurgency and terrorism. A convincing Hindu majority is the only
guarantee for the territorial integrity of this country. And by
artificially identifying 90 Muslim-majority districts is Manmohan
Singh trying to lay the foundation for another partition?
The Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has the gumption to claim that
this will not divide the society. It is not entirely surprising, only
God knows what more disastrous plans he has in mind to divide the
society further, that he thinks all that he has done so far is not
enough.
There is no economic or literacy backwardness that is exclusive to one
community. Yes, social and religious attitudes can ghettoize a
community. For that the state cannot do much.
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=221&page=2
January31, 2010
From Sachar to Ranganath Misra
A period of minority assertion, Hindu subjugation
By Dr JK Bajaj
"The High Level Committee on Social, Economic and Educational Status
of Muslim Community in India" set up in 2005 under the chairmanship of
Justice Rajinder Sachar by the Prime Minister, commonly known as the
Sachar Committee, was perhaps the most high powered of such bodies. It
made a comprehensive survey of the status of Muslims in almost all
fields of Indian economy, polity and society.
The six years of UPA rule have been a period of minority assertion.
During this period, the Government of India has assiduously sought to
promote the idea that Christian and Muslim minorities have special
rights and claims on Indian polity, which this government is committed
to honour. The Prime Minister of India himself has gone on record to
state that the minorities have the first right on the resources of
this country, and there have been statements from high governmental
and political authorities expressing the same intent.
These statements of intentions have been backed by institutional and
budgetary actions in favour of the minorities. A separate Ministry of
Minority Affairs has been created to specifically concern itself with
the rights and privileges of the minorities. And, a number of
commissions and committees have been set up to report on the condition
of minorities, and to suggest constitutional, legal, administrative
and fiscal arrangements to give effect to their special privileges and
rights.
"The High Level Committee on Social, Economic and Educational Status
of Muslim Community in India" set up in 2005 under the chairmanship of
Justice Rajinder Sachar by the Prime Minister, commonly known as the
Sachar Committee, was perhaps the most high powered of such bodies. It
made a comprehensive survey of the status of Muslims in almost all
fields of Indian economy, polity and society. The data collected by
the Committee did not show the Muslims to be particularly badly off in
any field. On the other hand, the data indicated a resurgent Muslim
community that was growing fast not only in numbers, but also in its
educational, economic and social status. The Committee, in any case,
went on to give wide-ranging recommendations for institutional and
economic arrangements to be made in favour of the Muslim community.
The Committee, in particular, recommended special treatment for
Muslims in all government schemes. It even recommended special
consideration for Muslims in the matter of disbursement of bank
loans.
Even before the Committee gave its report, the government had launched
a "New 15-Point Programme for the Welfare of the Minorities"; this was
a comprehensive programme for providing special privileges and rights
to the minorities in various walks of Indian polity and economy, for
creating and strengthening special institutional structures and
providing budgetary support for this purpose. The recommendations of
the Sachar Committee were then used for further empowering these
institutional structures and launching new programmes and initiatives
in favour of the minorities in general, and the Muslim minority in
particular.
The Sachar Committee, however, stopped short of recommending
reservations for Muslims in government jobs or in educational
institutions. The Report of the National Commission for Religious and
Linguistic Minorities, which has been recently released, has now
addressed that lacuna. This commission was set up in the Ministry of
Minority Affairs as early as October 2004 under the Chairmanship of
Justice Ranganath Misra. Dr. Tahir Mahmood, Dr. Anil Wilson and Dr.
Mohinder Singh were the other three Members. The Commission submitted
its report in May 2007, but it was made public only during the last
session of the Parliament.
In its report, the Commission has ventured where Justice Sachar had
hesitated to step. It has recommended an across the board 15 per cent
reservation for minorities in all government jobs and educational
institutions. Within this minority quota, the Commission has fixed a
sub-quota of 10 per cent for the Muslims and the remaining 5 per cent
for other minorities. In an extraordinary recommendation, the
Commission has specified that in case the quota for Muslims cannot be
filled for lack of appropriate candidates, it shall be offered to
candidates from other minorities, "but in no case shall any seat
within the recommended 15 per cent shall go the majority community".
The Commission has further clarified that this 15 per cent quota shall
be in addition to what the minority candidates secure on their own
merit in open competition.
The recommendations, if implemented, shall ensure that minorities have
a presence of more than 15 per cent in all walks of Indian public
life. According to the Commission’s own assessment, the educational
and economic status of all minorities excepting the Muslims is
considerably better than the majority. They are therefore likely to
get a substantial share in government jobs and educational
institutions on their own merit, as they do even now. The total share
of minority communities shall therefore turn out to be considerably
more than 15 per cent. From the way the recommendations are
formulated, the intention of the Commission seems to be to ensure that
the religious minorities as a whole have a larger say and share than
their numbers alone would allow.
The tone and tenor of the reports of both the Sachar Committee and the
Misra Commission are not merely to provide special privileges and
rights to the minorities, but also to disprivilege the majority. Both
reports revel in casting unfounded aspersions and making snide remarks
against the majority community. Sachar Committee, in fact, suggests
that it does not really matter whether Muslims or some other community
come to form the majority in India. Misra Commission wants to now
ensure that until the minorities do not become the majority, they
should enjoy a major share in the polity.
Incidentally, the proposal of 15 percent reservation in favour of
religious minorities seems odd in the context of the arguments that
the Ranganath Misra Commission has developed throughout the report.
The thrust of their argument is that reservations on the basis of
religious or caste identity are not justifiable. India should instead
have family-based reservations, and the families qualifying for such
reservations should be identified on the basis of thorough detailed
surveys based on well defined economic and educational criteria.
However, while formulating its recommendations, the Commission
suddenly terms this as the ultimate goal, and meanwhile recommends the
15 per cent reservation for religious minorities. This makes the
recommendations almost sound like a command performance.
The Commission has made another recommendation which, if accepted, has
the potential of drastically changing the religious complexion of
India. Giving its recommendations on an additional reference made by
the government, the Commission has recommended that the Presidential
Order of 1950, which excludes Muslims and Christians from the category
of Scheduled Castes, should be amended to de-link the Scheduled Caste
status from religion. The argument in this case is that the
Constitution "prohibits any discrimination on the ground of religion".
It is strange that a high judicial person can make one set of
recommendations on the basis of religion, and almost the next
paragraph invoke the principle on non-discrimination on the basis of
religion.
The effect of these contradictory recommendations is that those of the
Scheduled Caste persons who choose to convert to a minority religion
shall now be doubly privileged, first as members of minority religions
for which the Commission has recommended 15 per cent quota, and then
as members of the scheduled castes, for whom special constitutional
protection and quotas are available. An immediate consequence of the
acceptance of this recommendation would probably be to allow the so-
called crypto-Christians to formally declare themselves as Christians
and thus raise the proportion of Christians from the present 2.5 to
perhaps around 6.5 per cent.
Fortunately, the Member-Secretary of the Commission, Mrs. Asha Das,
has not consented to this particular recommendation and has appended a
dissenting note. The note, among other things, insists that there is a
difference between religions of Indian origin, and religions like
Islam and Christianity that have originated outside. And, therefore,
the privileges offered to Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist Scheduled
Caste persons cannot be extended to Muslims and Christians. It must be
seen as an unintended benefit of Ranganath Misra Commission Report
that the question of religions of Indian and non-Indian origin has
been now mentioned in an official document. It is also fortunate that
the National Commission on Scheduled Castes, headed by Buta Singh,
formally opposed the recommendation of the Ranganath Misra Commission
to allow members of the Christian and Muslim communities to claim
scheduled caste status.
It seems these detailed reports of various commissions and committees
do bring into the open some important facets of the situation of
minorities. The enormous data collected by the Sachar committee
brought into focus the great strides the Muslim community has made in
terms of sheer numbers, and in terms of educational and economic
attainments during the last two or three decades. Before the Sachar
Committee Report how many of us knew that female literacy amongst
Muslims is higher than Hindus in more than half of the Indian states?
And, that the Muslims are also economically much better of than Hindus
in those states. Ranganath Misra Commission Report has brought into
the open the question of difference between religions of Indian and
non-Indian origin. The report has underlined the fact that even high
government authorities cannot agree on this issue. Let us carry
forward the debates opened up by Justices Sachar and Misra.
(The writer is director, Centre for Policy Studies and can be
contacted at jatinde...@gmail.com)
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=329&page=6
January 21, 2008
Manmohan obsessed with insidious identity politics
By Sandhya Jain
Muslim political assertion will impact upon all political parties
prone to relying upon the community for a consolidated vote share. The
CPM is already feeling the heat on this score in West Bengal;
observers say events in Nandigram contained an unstated component of
Muslim assertion for power within the hitherto bhadralok-dominated
party. In this connection, it may be pertinent to recall that
following Partition, the Muslim community voted en masse for the
Congress Party.
Fortunately, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes nipped one
UPA mischief in the bud by refusing to endorse the May 15, 2007
recommendations of the National Commission for Religious and
Linguistic Minorities that Scheduled Caste status be extended to ?
Dalit Christians? and ?Dalit Muslims?. NCSC chairman Buta Singh
resisted the move by Justice Ranganath Mishra to amend the
Constitution (SCs) Order, 1950, which restricted SC status to groups
among Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists.
The proposal by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA)
government to allocate 15 per cent funds of development and welfare
schemes exclusively for minorities has triggered nationwide
resentment. In the interests of its own political survival, the
Congress Party would do well to rethink its tendency to nurture
communal vote banks as these are beginning to face the law of
diminishing returns.
Most politicians have short memories. Hence it will be in order to
briefly recall the 2004 Assembly election in Assam, where a new Muslim
political party, the Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF), startled
the nation with its performance. Muslims comprise 30 per cent of Assam?
s 26 million population and play a decisive role in nearly 40
constituencies that have hitherto been traditionally won by Congress.
Floated by wealthy businessman Badruddin Ajmal, AUDF contested on a
platform of safeguarding Muslim interests ?without closing the doors
to other communities?. It had an electoral understanding with the
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and gave tickets to Hindus. It
contested 66 of the 126 Assembly seats and won an impressive 10?a
greater achievement than the four seats that heralded the arrival of
the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh in the early 1980s.
The Assam election is worth recalling because though Congress managed
to form the government, Muslim religious leaders campaigning for AUDF
revealed it was the first step in a long-term vision of establishing a
pan-India Muslim political party. One has only to recall that the last
Muslim pan-India formation was the Muslim League to envisage the
possible consequences for the Republic. The comparison with the BSP is
also apt, because like Ms. Mayawati, Muslim parties will also eat into
the Congress vote share and further fragment the polity.
In fact, Muslim political assertion will impact upon all political
parties prone to relying upon the community for a consolidated vote
share. The CPM is already feeling the heat on this score in West
Bengal; observers say events in Nandigram contained an unstated
component of Muslim assertion for power within the hitherto bhadralok-
dominated party. In this connection, it may be pertinent to recall
that following Partition, the Muslim community voted en masse for the
Congress party. After consolidating their separate identity, they
united against the Congress in 1967 and brought the CPM to power.
Nandigram is the beginning of the challenge to CPM hegemony in West
Bengal. As the Hindu community looks for a new saviour, the BJP would
do well do rebuild an independent identity in the State, and not latch
on to the tails of the highly unreliable Mamata Banerjee.
Muslim leaders, both religious and political, are canny enough to
recognise that the Muslim community will remain educationally and
socially backward so long as it persists with the traditional system
of education in the madrasa. It is true that this does not necessarily
translate into economic backwardness, because Muslims largely hail
from artisan and other professional groups that manage to make a
comfortable living without formal education, as is true of similar
Hindu caste groups. But it cannot be denied that this education tends
to reinforce separateness and over-emphasise their religious
identity.
The UPA has erred grievously in creating a separate Ministry for
Minority Affairs. Since as many as 28 per cent of Indians live below
the poverty line, there was no legitimate basis for Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh to state that Muslims have the first claim on
resources, and to follow this up with the Eleventh Plan draft document
setting aside 15 per cent of all developmental and welfare funds for
minorities. It may be added that as in the debate over creamy layer in
caste quotas, so also, the minority quota will not differentiate
between needy and rich Muslims, and may thus end up cornered by
families with political clout or physical muscle. This is already
happening as banks have received instructions to grant loans first to
Muslim applicants; banks will naturally ensure that the recipient of
loans have some financial standing as that the loans can be repaid.
Hindus as a community will have to pay the price of this mindless
pandering to the Muslim community. Sadly, among political parties,
only the BJP has dared oppose these moves, with president Rajnath
Singh warning that this will intensify communal competitiveness and
strife. There is a legitimate fear that the UPA?s special 15-point
programme for minorities in the Eleventh Plan draft paper may trigger
competitive communal demands for budgetary allocations in all states.
It can also lead to caste-based demands for resource allocation, thus
destroying the traditional holistic approach to national development.
The BJP states roundly opposed ?communal budgeting? at the National
Development Council meeting in December 2007. Fearing social strife,
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi suggested that funds for various
schemes and programmes be allocated solely on the basis of socio-
economic criteria and execution entrusted to the States. Madhya
Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Chhattisgarh Chief
Minister Dr Raman Singh insisted that rather than caste or religion,
economic criteria alone determine allocation of funds for welfare
schemes. As economic deprivation is a quantifiable and objective
criteria, not prone to political manipulation, it would be worthwhile
if political parties could sit across the table and opt for economic
criteria over caste and community wherever there is a legitimate case
for special reservations or allocations.
Fortunately, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes nipped one
UPA mischief in the bud by refusing to endorse the May 15, 2007
recommendations of the National Commission for Religious and
Linguistic Minorities that Scheduled Caste status be extended to ?
Dalit Christians? and ?Dalit Muslims?. NCSC chairman Buta Singh
resisted the move by Justice Ranganath Mishra to amend the
Constitution (SCs) Order, 1950, which restricted SC status to groups
among Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists.
Shri Buta Singh candidly asserted that the basic parameter for
recognition as Scheduled Caste was ?untouchability?, which does not
exist in the theology of Christianity and Islam. Thus, the UPA will
not be able to poach upon the constitutional benefits for Hindu SCs
and extend them to Christian and Muslim converts. It is well known
that the recent violence in Kandhamal, Orissa, was caused by a
perverse attempt by converted groups to grab Scheduled Tribe quotas by
forcing the administration to give them ST certificates to which they
are not legally entitled.
(The writer is a senior journalist and can be contacted at
sandh...@airtelbroadband.in)
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=221&page=13
March 25, 2007
A chargesheet
Hindus betraying Hindus
HINDU YOUTH REDUCED TO SECOND-CLASS STATUS
By O.P. Gupta, I.F.S. (retd.)
It is painful to see how a class of ?secular, progressive and liberal?
Hindu politicians right from the days of the 1916 Congress-Muslim
League Lucknow Pact till date in the form of the Sachar Committee
report has been systematically collaborating with Muslim and other
minority politicians in concocting justifications to reduce, bit by
bit, the educational, employment and economic (E3) opportunities for
Hindu boys and girls, including leftist Hindu boys and girls.
Religious minority institutions have been empowered by none other than
our ?secular? Hindu politicians to treat Hindu applicants as second-
class citizens of India at the mercy, whims and fancies of ?minority
managements? even where these institutions receive under Article 30(2)
state grants out of taxes largely collected from we Hindus.
As the political parties in their manifestos openly declare that they
will give special considerations to Muslims and Christians, they
cannot be accused of betraying Hindu youth. Those Hindu parents who
give their votes blindly to such political parties are the real ones
who by casting their votes to such parties accept in principle that
minority students be given special preference over their own children
and, thus, unknowingly, end up betraying their own children,
grandchildren and the Hindu youth.
It is painful to see how Hindu parents are being media managed to harm
and hurt educational, employment, economic and business opportunities
of their own children and grandchildren by giving their notes and
votes to such political parties which shout from their political
rooftops that they will give special preferences to Muslims and
Christians over Hindus.
Since the employment situation is worsening day by day, it is
important that those Hindu parents who have college going children or
grand children, and, those Hindu youth who will soon be entering into
employment market seriously look for and identify those Hindu
politicians who are bent upon to reduce their E3 space.
In January 2007, the Department of Personnel and Training, Government
of India, sent a note to all ?heads of departments, public sector
banks and financial institutions, quasi-government organisa-tions,
autonomous bodies and all appointing authorities,? asking them to ?
scrupulously observe? guidelines to make selection panels more
representative. All selection panels recruiting ten or more vacancies
must have one member belonging to a minority community.
What is more important, the departments have been instructed to submit
half-yearly and annual reports, beginning March 2007, detailing number
of vacancies at all levels?Groups A, B, C and D?and the number of
minorities hired. Dr Manmohan Singh is the Minister for DOPT. This
circular instructs to give special considerations to minorities in all
appointments, so danger bell is ringing loud and clear for all Hindu
job-seekers whether they are leftists or rightists that despite their
better profiles percentage of Hindu intake will be reduced adversely
affecting them all.
A one man Commission headed by Justice Ranganath Mishra was silently
set up by the UPA government which is looking at status of non- Muslim
minorities, and, is mandated to recommend ways of helping them get
better representation in government services. Its report is due by
March 31, 2007. So this Commission is also looking at ways and means
to further reduce percentage of Hindus in public services, bank loans
etc.
Suppose there are 10,000 vacancies, seats reserved for SC Hindus would
be 1500, for ST Hindus 750 and for OBC 2700. Not many Hindus know that
about 70 per cent of Muslims are already covered under the Mandal
Commission formula and are enjoying benefits under the 27 per cent
quota.
In Andhra Pradesh, the Congress government led by Shri Y.S. Rajsekhar
Reddy reserved five per cent of seats in government colleges and in
government jobs for Muslims. It means that only 9500 seats would be
available to all categories of Hindus and other minorities having
reserved 500 seats exclusively for Muslims. So, the number of seats
available for SC Hindus will get reduced to 1425 from 1500, the number
of seats for ST Hindus will get reduced to 712 from 750, and, the
number of seats reserved for OBC will get reduced to 2565 from 2700.
Number of general category seats in which caste Hindus fall will also
shrink from 5000 to 4500. So giving special preferences to minorities
over Hindu candidates, which is the core policy of Congress Party,
equally hurts educational and employment opportunities of all groups
of Hindus, whether SC Hindus, or ST Hindus, or OBC Hindus, or caste
Hindus, or leftist Hindus. It is mere arithmatic. If more than 500
Muslims got more marks than the last Hindu candidate, then Muslim
candidates will spill over into general category 9500 seats.
Incidentally in Andhra Pradesh Muslims enjoy higher literacy rate than
Hindus.
In February 2007, Chief Minister of West Bengal issued instructions
that ?at least 10 per cent of the appointees should be from the
minority community.? By courtesy of Leftist Hindu voters, the
percentage of Hindus? job intake is set to fall in West Bengal.
Shri Arif Mohammad Khan, a former Union Minister in the Rajiv Gandhi
government, has pointed out that 10 Muslim communities are already
part of the Scheduled Tribes and another 83 Muslim communities are
included in the OBC list. ?Together,? he maintains, ?they constitute
more than 70 per cent of total Muslim population leaving out only the
Muslim creamy layer.? Similarly, a good chunk of Christians are
already included in the Scheduled Tribe and the OBC category.
In Bihar, the OBC quota has been divided by ?secular? Hindu
politicians into backward and most backward to help put nine Muslim
groups in the first category and 27 Muslim groups in the second
category.
In Kerala and Karnataka, the Hindu politicians of Congress Party and
the Communist parties have declared the entire Muslim community
backward just to reduce the percentage of Hindus in colleges and in
government jobs.
In Tamil Nadu, 95 per cent of Muslims are included into backward
formula though Muslims have higher literacy rate in Kerala, Karnataka
and Tamil Nadu than Hindus.
Dr Manmohan Singh is a Rajya Sabha Member from Assam and no wonder
there is already five per cent reservation for Muslims in the
recruitment for the Assam Police, adversely affecting employment
opportunities for SCs, STs, OBCs and all other Hindus as shown above.
It is painful to see how a class of ?secular, progressive and liberal?
Hindu politicians right from the days of the 1916 Congress-Muslim
League Lucknow Pact till date in the form of the Sachar Committee
report has been systematically collaborating with Muslim and other
minority politicians in concocting justifications to reduce, bit by
bit, the educational, employment and economic (E3) opportunities for
Hindu boys and girls, including leftist Hindu boys and girls, pushing
them to second and third-class status vis-?-vis minority boys and
girls. It is a sad story of Hindus betraying Hindus.
This is symptomatic of the slave mentality, which is defined as a
tendency to harm, hurt and humiliate members of one?s own community so
as to appease ?others? at the cost of one?s own community. This habit
is also known as gulamiat pasand (GP) or Genetically Acquired Slave
Syndrome (GASS). These terms more accurately describe this class of
Hindus. Raja Jaichand, Mirza Raja Man Singh of Akbar time, Raja
Jaswant Singh of Aurangzeb time etc. were also Hindus but were GP type
carrying GASS virus. In rural areas they are called ?Jaichandi
Hindus?.
We Hindus are told day in and day out that India is a ?secular? state
where religion should be a private matter and every citizen is equal
before law. But in practice our secular Hindu parliamentarians and
legislators have been passing such laws where the State asks for the
religion of an individual and then discriminate against we Hindus. In
this game of secularism, Hindu youth turn out to be the worst victims
of GP Hindu politicians.
The Article 14 of the Constitution reads: ?The State shall not deny to
any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws
within the territories of India.? The Article 15(1) reads: ?The State
shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of
religion, race, caste, sex, and place of birth or any of them.? The
Article 29(2) reads: ?No citizen shall be denied admission into any
educational institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out
of State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or
any of them.? The Article 30(1) reads: ?All minorities, whether based
on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and
administer educational institutions of their choice.? Article 30(2)
reads, ?The State shall not, in granting aid to educational
institutions, discriminate against any educational institution on the
ground that it is under the management of a minority, whether based on
religion or language.?
One may see that the pith and substance of the Article 30 is very much
there in the 14 Points of Jinnah because 28 out of 31 Muslim members
of the Indian Constituent Assembly which drafted the Indian
Constitution were elected on tickets of the Muslim League of Jinnah.
This fact is generally suppressed by ?secular? Hindu historians.
But on calculated mis-representations and soft-peddling by Attorney
Generals appointed by Congress governments, the Supreme Court of India
has ruled that equal treatment guarantee of Articles 14 and 29(2) was
not available to Hindu boys and girls in minority-run institutions,
and; that religious minority educational institutions under Article
30(1) can reserve up to 50 per cent of seats for co-religionist
candidates with the result Hindu students including comrades with
better marks do not get admissions in such institutions but minority
students with lower marks easily get admissions within their reserved
50 per cent quota.
Religious minority institutions have been, thus, empowered by none
other than our ?secular? Hindu politicians to treat Hindu applicants
as second-class citizens of India at the mercy, whims and fancies of ?
minority managements? even where these institutions receive under
Article 30(2) state grants out of taxes largely collected from we
Hindus. In the minority institutions, the SC Hindus and ST Hindus are
denied benefits of their constitutional reservations of 15 per cent
and 7.5 per cent under Article 15. And, for this misfortune of Hindu
boys and girls those Hindu voters are responsible who being unaware of
harm they inflict upon their own children cast their votes in favour
of ?secular? parties or don?t go to cast their votes at all.
Hindu politicians have passed such laws that enable a minority student
to get cheaper educational loans at three per cent interest per annum
from the National Minority Development & Finance Corporation. A
minority businessman can get margin money loan for business at five
per cent interest from NMDFC. Minority students are required to repay
educational loans in five years after completion of his course but a
Hindu student has to repay education loan after one year of completion
of his course. One may see details at (www.nmdfc.org ). A Hindu
student or a Hindu businessman gets bank loans at much higher rates of
interest and harsher terms whether he is a member of the Students
Federation or that of the NSUI or the ABVP etc. This ill-treatment a
Hindu voter has invited for himself and his children by giving his
vote to the so-called secular parties or by abstaining from voting.
Congress and other ?secular? Hindu politicians have invented such a
legal system where a Muslim candidate or a Christian candidate has all
the legal rights to compete on equal footings with a Hindu candidate
for employment, but there are thousands and thousands of posts paid
from government funds for which Hindus cannot even apply, such as the
post of the Principal and Vice Principal of St. Stephen?s College,
Delhi. GP Hindus have set up the National Minority Commission with
nominal Hindu presence to ensure that minorities are not discriminated
but there is no Commission to ensure that Hindus are not victimised by
minorities.
The National Minority Commission does not reflect the religious
demographic reality of India so it does not enjoy the confidence of
Hindus in general. Either more than three-fourth members of the
Minority Commission and other commissions should be Hindus in
proportion to their population or these should be abolished being
unrepresentative and undemocratic.
Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister, his Sachar Committee and many
liberal Hindus make a lot of fuss that Muslims are under- represented
in civil services and in higher education. According to the Sachar
Committee [page 64], only four per cent of the total Muslim population
in India within age group 20 years and above are graduates. At page
65, the Sachar Committee reports that in case of Muslims (age 20 and
above) the number of graduates was under four million i.e. only 1.6
per cent of Muslims are graduates if their population as per Imam
Bukhari is taken to be 250 million or 2.6 per cent of Muslims are
graduates if their population is taken to be 150 million. Since only
educated persons can aspire for public jobs, it is natural that
percentage of Muslims in government jobs should not be more than 2.6
per cent. Muslim percentage in government service is already more than
this percentage by relentless efforts of Congress party to reduce the
Hindu percentage.
Sachar Committee reports that while 26 per cent of those above 17
years age and above complete matriculation, this percentage is only 17
per cent for Muslims. So the recommendation is to open more schools
and colleges in Muslim areas. The Sachar Committee does not tell that
bulk of Muslims who drop out from schools seek gainful employment and
start earning more at younger age than what they will earn even after
graduating. The Census Report 2001 [Statement 10] lets the cat out of
bag when it reports that in the category of household industries (HHI)
workers, Muslims representation was 8.1 per cent which is double the
national average of 4.2 per cent. This index is only 3.2 per cent for
Hindus. In the category of ?other workers? Christians enjoyed 52.8 per
cent representation, followed by Muslims (49.1 per cent) and Hindus
only (35.5 per cent). Thus, higher percentage of Christians and
Muslims are in jobs than Hindu percentage and still Hindu politicians
of ?secular? parties are working hard to reduce E3 space for Hindu
students that too with the help of the votes of Hindu parents.
In a significant development, after the tabling of the Sachar report,
Muslim MPs, cutting across party lines, handed over a wish-list of
sorts to Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh: IITs and
IIMs exclusively for Muslims, 5,000 schools, two lakh scholarships and
more campuses of the Aligarh Muslim University across the country. A
senior HRD official, present at the meeting, said, ?The MPs said since
IITs and IIMs have less than two per cent of Muslim students, the HRD
Ministry should create IITs and IIMs exclusively for Muslim children.?
Urdu schools, they also demanded, should be given adequate
infrastructure support. ?Minority-run societies and NGOs, if they wish
to open schools, should be given CBSE affiliation without any delay,?
an MP demanded. The Muslim MPs said that these suggestions should get
reflected in this year?s budget as well as the Eleventh Plan.
It is painful to see how Hindu parents are being media managed to harm
and hurt educational, employment, economic and business opportunities
of their own children and grandchildren by giving their notes and
votes to such political parties which shout from their political
rooftops that they will give special preferences to Muslims and
Christians over Hindu youth in matters of education, training
facilities, government jobs, jobs under police and paramilitary
forces, employment in banks and other public sector undertakings and
bank loans, educational loans, etc.
As the political parties in their manifestos openly declare that they
will give special considerations to Muslims and Christians, they
cannot be accused of betraying Hindu youth. Those Hindu parents who
give their votes blindly to such political parties are the real ones
who by casting their votes to such parties accept in principle that
minority students be given special preference over their own children
and, thus, unknowingly, end up betraying their own children,
grandchildren and the Hindu youth. I suggest rather than giving their
votes to their ?caste candidate,? Hindu parents should start casting
their votes in favour of welfare of their own children and
grandchildren as Muslim and Christian voters do.
The following data show that the Hindu politicians of the Congress
Party have history, habit and precedent of giving second-class
treatment to Hindus. Giving second-class treatment to Hindus still
continues to be the hidden agenda and core policy of the Congress
Party. The more the Hindus give their notes, votes and support to the
Congress Party, the more emboldened this Party becomes to treat them
and their sons and daughters as the second class.
Let us look at some manifestos of the Congress Party which has been
consistently promising that if elected it will give preferential
treatment to minorities over Hindus.
The 1996 Manifesto of Congress Party states: ?(i) The Congress regards
the 15-point programme for the welfare of the minorities as a charter
of duties. (ii) It has established the National Minority Finance and
Development Corporation?to support projects that promote the well-
being of minorities?with a capital of Rs 500 crore. (iii) A Rapid
Action Force comprising young men from different communities has been
set up. (It is understood that percentage of Hindus in this Force
under instructions of the Congress Governments is much below their
traditional 95 per cent) (iv)The Minorities Commission has been given
statutory status?.
Congress Manifesto of 1998: ?(i) Indira Gandhi?s 15-point programme
for minorities continues to be our blueprint. Each and every element
of this programme will be implemented with renewed vigour. (ii) The
Congress will create a new ministry for minorities to ensure better
coordination and integration. (iii) A high-powered commission will be
set up to examine and give recommendations on how the representation
of minorities in public services could be enhanced in a meaningful
manner. (iv) The Congress will amend the Constitution to establish a
Commission for Minority Educational Institutions and provide direct
affiliation for minority professional institutions to central
universities?.
Congress Manifesto 1999: ?(i) to ensure the reinvigoration of Indira
Gandhi?s historic 15-point programme and the monitoring mechanism
devised by Rajiv Gandhi. (ii) Measures will be taken to increase the
representation of minorities in all public, police and para-military
services both in the central and in state governments. (iii)The
Constitution will be amended to establish a Commission for Minority
Educational Institutions and to provide direct affiliation for
minority professional institutions to central universities (iv)The
National Minorities Development Corporation and the State Minorities
Development Corporations will be made direct-lending institutions?.
Congress Manifesto 2004: ?(i) The Congress believe in affirmative
action for all religious and linguistic minorities. The Congress is
committed to adopting this policy for socially and educationally
backward sections among Muslims and other religious minorities on a
national scale. (ii)The Congress commits itself to amend the
Constitution to establish a Commission for Minority Educational
Institutions that will provide direct affiliation for minority
professional institutions to central universities?.
Hindu readers may note that the 2004 Manifesto boldly stated: ?The
Congress has provided reservations for Muslims in Kerala and Karnataka
in government employment and education on the grounds that they are a
socially and educationally backward class?. But the Census report of
2001, as we have seen above, states that in Kerala and in Karnataka
literacy rate of Muslims was higher than that of Hindus. Even the
discredited Sachar Committee admits it. So it is dishonesty to call
Muslims educationally backward in Kerala and Karnataka states but
Congress and communist Hindu politicians are not ashamed to use false
data just to reduce percentage of Hindus in educational institutions
and in government jobs. Hindu voters of Kerala and Karnataka should
take note of this fraud being played on careers of their children with
help of their votes.
The Congress party and its UPA allies claim that they are the genuine
well wishers of the SC Hindus. Is it true? Christians are demanding
that their ?dalits? should be included in the 15 per cent reservation
quota available to SC Hindus. Muslims are also demanding that ?dalit
Muslims? be included in the same 15 per cent quota. No one knows
precise definition of ?dalit Christian? and ?dalit Muslims?. Since
Christians enjoy much better educational facilities as well as
literacy rate than Hindu SCs, it is natural that Christians will grab
a larger chunk of services within the 15 per cent quota further
worsening the employment opportunities of Hindu SC boys and girls.
Even Sachar Committee admits that Muslims also enjoy better literacy
rate of 59.1 per cent compared to 52.2 per cent for SC & ST Hindus.
Congress party and allies of UPA are supporting the demand to place ?
dalit Christians? and ?dalit Muslims? under the SC category. Shri
Abdul Rahman Antulay, Union Minister for Minority Affairs publicly
stated in November 2006 that it was time to include dalit Muslims and
dalit Christians in SC/ST Reservations.
Close on the heels of Prime Minister Sardar Manmohan Singh?s ?Muslim
first? remarks made at the National Development Council meeting, a
High Level Committee of the Human Resource Development Ministry led by
Shri M.A.A. Fatmi, Minister of State, has made a case for review of
the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950 so as to include
Muslims and Christians in the SC category (Indian Express, February
19, 2007).
A NGO has already moved to the Supreme Court to include dalit
Christians into the SC definition by amending the 1950 order, and; no
wonder the Manmohan Singh-led Government may manage to lose this case
by not presenting the case of Hindu SCs properly. So the danger bell
for SC Hindu students is already ringing. The point is whether they
and their parents are aware about it.
In its 2004 manifesto, the CPI(M) promised to extend reservation
facility to ?dalit Christians? by including them in the 15 per cent
quota. The 1998 Joint-manifesto of all Left parties also promised to
include ?dalit Christians? into the SC reservations of 15 per cent
quota.
BSP leader late Kanshi Ram was reported to have assured support of his
party to include ?dalit Christians? in the Presidential Order of
1950.
DMK leader K. Karunanidhi, Chief Minister Tamil Nadu, also supports
inclusion of ?dalit Christians? into the SC category.
In September 2004, Ram Vilas Paswan, president of Lok Janshakti Party
had promised to grant Scheduled Caste status to socially and
economically backward Muslims. In December 2006, he supported a sub-
quota for Muslims within the 27 per cent OBC quota who are already
covered under the Mandal OBC formula while supporting demand to
include ?dalit Christians? and ?dalit Muslims? under the 15 per cent
quota. Shri V.P. Singh also supports a sub-quota for Muslims within
the 27 per cent OBC space.
On December 5, 2006 the Samajawadi Party led by Shri Mulayam Singh,
the Congress party and their other allies in UP passed a resolution in
the UP State Assembly demanding reservations for ?dalit? Christians
and ?dalit? Muslims within 15 per cent quota which will harm the
employment opportunities of SC and ST Hindus as Christians and Muslims
both enjoy higher literacy rate over SC and ST Hindus.
So those SC and ST Hindus who do not want to harm and hurt career
prospects of their children should never cast their votes in favour of
any of these secular parties. SC and ST Hindu job seekers and students
must explain difficulties which await them if their parents did not
exercise their votes with due caution or abstained from voting.
No parent knowingly wants to hurt career of his children so it is duty
of Hindu students studying in colleges and universities to brief their
parents the misfortune which will visit them if they voted to any
party which wants to include Christians and Muslims in the 15 per cent
quota. A parent is so busy in earning livelihood that he does not get
time to read the manifesto and thus understand dirty tricks of GP
Hindu politicians being played against Hindu Youth.
Since the employment situation is worsening day by day, it is
important that those Hindu parents who have college going children or
grand children, and, those Hindu youth who will soon be entering into
employment market seriously look for and identify those Hindu
politicians who are bent upon to reduce their E3 space.
The problem of unemployment continues to worsen day by day and in this
environment Congress and other secular parties are hell bent through
the Sachar Committee to reduce employment space available to Hindu
youth. The National Sample Survey Organisation?s latest report of
January 2007 shows that unemployment is much higher among youth (15-29
years age) as compared to overall population, and, that unemployment
is rising.
The unemployment rate in Delhi has gone up from 3.2 per cent in
1999-2000 to 5.3 per cent in 2004-05 and in Kolkata from 7 per cent to
8.1 per cent. (Indian Express February 16, 2007)
At the end of December 2005 about 393 lakh job seekers were waiting
for jobs on the live registers of 947 employment exchanges across the
country against which only 1.73 lakh got jobs in 2005. About 50 to 55
lakh new persons register every year with the employment exchanges
looking for jobs.
Over 52 lakh graduates and post-graduates were waiting for jobs in
December 2005 in all the employment exchanges.
According to the Sept 2006 National Sample Survey report, 58 per cent
of Indians were without jobs in 2004-05 and the unemployment rate was
higher among educated ones than among less educated ones. In rural
areas, 56 per cent of people were unemployed and in urban areas 63 per
cent were unemployed. According to a study by the Hewitt Associates,
by 2020, India will have the largest number of educated but unemployed
youth in the world.
M.V. Rajasekharan, Minister of State told the Lok Sabha (August 23,
2006) that annual growth rate of employment creation during the
1983-99 was 2.7 per cent which slowed to 1.07 per cent during
1994-2000. Shri Suresh Pachaury, Minister of State informed the
Parliament (August 23, 2006) that there was no proposal to remove ban
on creation of new posts in the government sector.
Mulayam Singh Yadav, Chief Minister of UP has been claiming that he
has fulfilled his promise to the Muslim community to raise percentage
of Muslims in the UP Police to 15 per cent.Traditionally percentage of
Hindus in the UP Police had been above 95 per cent. So the credit for
reducing job opportunities of Hindu youth in the UP Police should go
to those Hindu parents who vote for Mulayam Singh. It is a tragic case
of Hindu parents voting for someone who is determined to reduce
employment space of their own children.
In December 2006 press reported that Raghubansh Prasad Singh?s
Ministry of Rural Development, for the first time in the history of
Independent India, set aside Rs 1,000 crore for religious minorities
for the three schemes (i) Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY)
(ii) Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) and(iii) Sampoorna Grameen Rojgar Yojana
(SGRY). Till now such physical and financial allocations were made
only for SCs and STs. Thus, under these three schemes, funds are
available to Hindus including those Hindus who had voted for Shri
Raghubansh Prasad Singh in the 2004 election and has been reduced by
Rs1000 crore by this Hindu politician. It is another tragic case of a
Hindu politician betraying his own Hindu voters.
Even the discredited Sachar Committee Report admits (page 53) that the
SCs and STs are still the least literate group both in urban and rural
India but Manmohan Singh thunders that ?Muslims? shall be have the ?
first? claim over national resources. We must stand up and tell this
minority politician who never won confidence of any Lok Sabha
constituency that if any group which has legitimate first claim over
national resources it is the group of farmers and SC & ST Hindus. For
the anti-Hindu policies of Manmohan Singh-led UPA government, the
price was paid by Captain Amrinder Singh specially in the urban areas
of Punjab in recently held assembly elections.
The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) data shows that level
of acute poverty is equally high among all communities including
Hindus also. As much as 84 per cent Hindus in the below poverty line
(BPL) category in rural areas live in conditions dubbed as ?below
double poverty line?. But showing its anti-Hindu bias, the Congress is
diverting huge funds only to address the poor among Muslims. Why it is
not simultaneously addressing the poverty of Hindus too?
(To be continued)
[Shri O.P. Gupta recently retired in the rank of Secretary to the
Government of India in the Indian Foreign Service (1971 batch). He has
served as Ambassador to Finland, Estonia, Jamaica, Tunisia, Tanzania,
etc., and Consul General, Dubai and Birmingham (UK).]
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=176&page=3
Sid Harth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For religious demographics of the Republic of India, see Religion in
India.
A Statue of Shiva.
A Statue of the Buddha.
A Statue of Jain deity Bahubali.
Indian religions are the related religious traditions that originated
in the Indian subcontinent,[1]
namely Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, inclusive of their
sub-schools and various related traditions. They form a subgroup of
the larger classes of "Eastern religions" and also Indo-European
religions . Indian religions have similarities in core beliefs, modes
of worship, and associated practices, mainly due to their common
history of origin and mutual influence.
The documented history of Indian religions begins with historical
Vedic religion, the religious practices of the early Indo-Aryans,
which were collected and later redacted into the Samhitas, four
canonical collections of hymns or mantras composed in archaic
Sanskrit. These texts are the central shruti (revealed) texts of
Hinduism. The period of the composition, redaction and commentary of
these texts is known as the Vedic period, which lasted from roughly
1500 to 500 BCE.
The late Vedic period (9th to 6th centuries BCE) marks the beginning
of the Upanisadic or Vedantic period.[2][3] This period heralded the
beginning of much of what became classical Hinduism, with the
composition of the Upanishads, later the Sanskrit epics, still later
followed by the Puranas.
Jainism and Buddhism arose from the sramana culture. Buddhism was
historically founded by Siddhartha Gautama, a Kshatriya prince-turned-
ascetic, and was spread beyond India through missionaries. It later
experienced a decline in India, but survived in Nepal and Sri Lanka,
and remains more widespread in Southeast and East Asia. Jainism was
established by a lineage of 24 enlightened beings culminating with
Parsva (9th century BCE) and Mahavira (6th century BCE).[4]
Certain scholarship holds that the practices, emblems and architecture
now commonly associated with the Hindu pantheon and Jainism may go
back as far as Late Harappan times to the period 2000-1500 BCE.[5][6]
Hinduism is divided into numerous denominations, primarily Shaivism,
Shaktism, Vaishnavism, Smarta and much smaller groups like the
conservative Shrauta. Hindu reform movements such as Ayyavazhi are
more recent. About 90% of Hindus reside in the Republic of India,
accounting for 83% of its population.[7]
Sikhism was founded in the 15th century on the teachings of Guru Nanak
and the nine successive Sikh Gurus in Northern India[8]. The vast
majority of its adherents originate in the Punjab region.
Common traits
Aum
Sometimes summarised as "Dharmic" religions or dharmic traditions,
(though the 'subtler' meaning of Dharma or dhamma differs per
religion); Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism share certain key
concepts, which are interpreted differently by different groups and
individuals.[9][10][11]
Common traits can also be observed in both the ritual and the literary
sphere. For example, the head-anointing ritual of abhiseka is of
importance in three of these distinct traditions, excluding Sikhism.
Other noteworthy rituals are the cremation of the dead, the wearing of
vermilion on the head by married women, and various marital rituals.
In literature, many classical narratives and purana have Hindu,
Buddhist or Jain versions.[12]
All four traditions have notions of karma, dharma, samsara, moksha and
various forms of Yoga. Of course, these terms may be perceived
differently by different religions. For instance, for a Hindu, dharma
is his duty. For a Jain, dharma is righteousness, his conduct. For a
Buddhist, dharma is usually taken to be the Buddha's teachings.
Similarly, for a Hindu, yoga is the cessation of all thoughts/
activities of the mind.[13]
For Jains, Yoga is sum total all physical, verbal and mental
activities.
Rama is a heroic figure in all of these religions. In Hinduism he is
the God-incarnate in the form of a princely king; in Buddhism, he is a
Bodhisattva-incarnate; in Jainism, he is the perfect human being.
Among the Buddhist Ramayanas are: Vessantarajataka,[14]
Reamker, Ramakien, Phra Lak Phra Lam, Hikayat Seri Rama etc. There
also exists the Khamti Ramayana among the Khamti tribe of Asom wherein
Rama is an avatar of a Bodhisattva who incarnates to punish the demon
king Ravana (B.Datta 1993). The Tai Ramayana is another book retelling
the divine story in Asom.
Prehistory
"Priest King" of Indus Valley CivilizationEvidence attesting to
prehistoric religion in the Indian subcontinent derives from scattered
Mesolithic rock paintings such as at Bhimbetka, depicting dances and
rituals. Neolithic agriculturalists inhabiting the Indus River Valley
buried their dead in a manner suggestive of spiritual practices that
incorporated notions of an afterlife and belief in magic.[15]
Other South Asian Stone Age sites, such as the Bhimbetka rock shelters
in central Madhya Pradesh and the Kupgal petroglyphs of eastern
Karnataka, contain rock art portraying religious rites and evidence of
possible ritualised music.[16]
The Harappan people of the Indus Valley Civilization, which lasted
from 3300–1300 BCE (mature period, 2600-1900 BCE) and was centered
around the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra river valleys, may have worshiped
an important mother goddess symbolising fertility,[17]
a concept that has recently been challenged.[18] Excavations of Indus
Valley Civilization sites show small tablets with animals and altars,
indicating rituals associated with animal sacrifice.
Vedic tradition
Vedic period
Main article: Historical Vedic religion
See also: History of Hinduism
See also: Vedas, Upanishads, and Brahmanas
The Vedic Period is most significant for the composition of the four
Vedas, Brahmanas and the older Upanishads (both presented as
discussions on the rituals, mantras and concepts found in the four
Vedas), which today are some of the most important canonical texts of
Hinduism, and are the codification of much of what developed into the
core beliefs of Hinduism.
The Vedas reflect the liturgy and ritual of Late Bronze Age to Early
Iron Age Indo-Aryan speaking peoples in India. Religious practices
were dominated by the Vedic priesthood administering domestic rituals/
rites and solemn sacrifices. The Brahmanas, Aranyakas and some of the
older Upanishads (such as BAU, ChU, JUB) are also placed in this
period. Many elements of Vedic religion reach back to early Bronze Age
Proto-Indo-Iranian times. The Vedic period is held to have ended
around 500 BCE.
Akshardham the largest Hindu temple in the world.Specific rituals and
sacrifices of the Vedic religion include:
The Soma cult described in the Rigveda, descended from a common Indo-
Iranian practice.
Fire rituals, also a common Indo-Iranian practice (See
Zoroastrianism):
The Agnihotra or oblation to Agni.
The Agnistoma or Soma sacrifice (including animal sacrifice) .
The Agnicayana, the sophisticated ritual of piling the Uttara fire
altar.
The Darsapaurnamasa, the fortnightly New and Full Moon sacrifice
The Caturmasya or seasonal sacrifices (every four months)
a large number of sacrifices for special wishes (Kāmyeṣṭi)
The Ashvamedha or horse sacrifice.
The Purushamedha, or sacrifice of a man, imitating that of the cosmic
Purusha and Ashvamedha
The rites referred to in the Atharvaveda are concerned with medicine
and healing practices, as well as some charms and sorcery (white and
black magic).
The domestic (grihya) rituals deal with the rites of passage from
conception to death and beyond.
Vedanta
Main article: Vedanta
Hindu Swastika
The period of Vedanta (Sanskrit : end of Vedas), typically thought to
have begun around 600 BCE, marked the end of the evolution of the main
Vedic texts; it also accompanied the transformation of the semi-
nomadic nature of the Indo-Aryan tribes to agriculture-based polities,
as they increasingly formed permanent settlements in the Indo-Gangetic
plain and other parts of Northern India. This period was foreshadowed
by the Brahmanas that interpreted the four canonical Vedas in various
fashions, which finally led to the Upanishads. While the ritualistic
status of the four Vedas remained undiminished, the early Upanishads
mainly relate to spiritual insights. At this time, the concepts of
reincarnation, samsara, karma, and moksha began to be accepted in
ancient India outside the sphere of the priestly establishment i.e.
the Brahmana class. Some scholars think that these new concepts
developed by aborigines outside the caste system,[19] others detect
Sramana or even Ksatriya influence. These concepts were eventually
accepted by Brahmin orthodoxy, and were to form much of the core
philosophies of the later epics and Hinduism, as well as, against a
different philosophical and religious background, in Buddhism and
Jainism.
Astika and Nastika categorization
Main articles: Āstika and nāstika, Hindu philosophy, and Buddhism and
Hinduism
See also: Adi Shankara and Charvaka
Astika and nastika are sometimes used to categorise Indian religions.
Those religions that believe that God is the central actor in this
world are termed as astika. Those religions that do not believe that
God is the prime mover and actor are classified as nastika religions.
From this point of view the Vedic religion (and Hinduism) is an astika
religion, whereas Buddhism and Jainism are nastika religions.
Another definition of the terms astika and nastika, followed by Adi
Shankara, classifies religions and persons as astika and nastika
according to whether they accept the authority of the main Hindu
texts, the Vedas, as supreme revealed scriptures, or not. By this
definition, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Purva Mimamsa and
Vedanta are classified as astika schools, while Charvaka is classified
as a nastika school. By this definition, both Buddhism and Jainism are
classified as nastika religions since they do not accept the authority
of the Vedas.
Shramana tradition
Main article: Shramana
See also: Gautama Buddha and Mahavira
A statue of Gautama Buddha.
A statue of Mahavira.Vedic Brahmanism of Iron Age India co-existed and
closely interacted with the parallel non-Vedic shramana traditions.[20]
[21][22][23]
These were not direct outgrowths of Vedism, but separate movements
that influenced it and were influenced by it.[24]
The shramanas were wandering ascetics. Buddhism and Jainism are a
continuation of the Shramana tradition, and the early Upanishadic
movement was influenced by it.[25][26][27][28][29][30]
The 24th Jain Tirthankar, Mahavira (599–527 BCE), stressed five vows,
including ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfulness), asteya (non-
stealing) and aparigraha (non-attachment).
The historical Gautama Buddha, who was a Buddha, was born into the
Shakya clan of Angirasa and Gautama Rishi lineage,[31]
just before the kingdom of Magadha (which lasted from 546–324 BCE)
rose to power. His family was native to Kapilavastu and Lumbini, in
what is now southern Nepal.
The Ajivikas and Samkhyas, both of which did not survive, also
belonged to the sramana tradition.
Rise and spread of Jainism and Buddhism
Main articles: Pre-sectarian Buddhism, Indian Buddhism, Silk Road
transmission of Buddhism, and Jain community
See also: History of Buddhism and History of Jainism
Further information: Mauryan period and Gupta period
Buddhist Mahabodhi Temple
Both Jainism and Buddhism spread throughout India during the period of
the Magadha empire. Scholars Jeffrey Brodd and Gregory Sobolewski
write that "Jainism shares many of the basic doctrines of Hinduism and
Buddhism."[32] and scholar James Bird writes, "But when primitive
Buddhism originated from Hindu schools of philosophy, it differed as
widely from that of later times, as did the Brahmanism of the Vedas
from that of the Puranas and Tantras."[33]
Palitana Jain TemplesBuddhism in India spread during the reign of
Asoka the Great of the Mauryan Empire, who patronised Buddhist
teachings and unified the Indian subcontinent in the 3rd century BCE.
He sent missionaries abroad, allowing Buddhism to spread across Asia.
[34] Jainism began its golden period during the reign of Emperor
Kharavela of Kalinga in the 2nd century BCE.
Both Jainism and Indian Buddhism started declining following the rise
of Puranic Hinduism during the Gupta dynasty. Buddhism continued to
have a significant presence in some regions of India until the 12th
century. Jainism continues to be an influential religion in Gujarat,
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Period after 200 BCE
Main articles: decline of Buddhism in India, Hindu philosophy, and
Pala Empire
Further information: Puranas
After 200 CE several schools of thought were formally codified in
Indian philosophy, including Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Purva-
Mimamsa and Vedanta.[35]
Hinduism, otherwise a highly polytheistic, pantheistic or monotheistic
religion, also tolerated atheistic schools. The thoroughly
materialistic and anti-religious philosophical Cārvāka school that
originated around the 6th century BCE is the most explicitly atheistic
school of Indian philosophy. Cārvāka is classified as a nastika
("heterodox") system; it is not included among the six schools of
Hinduism generally regarded as orthodox. It is noteworthy as evidence
of a materialistic movement within Hinduism.[36]
Our understanding of Cārvāka philosophy is fragmentary, based largely
on criticism of the ideas by other schools, and it is no longer a
living tradition.[37]
Other Indian philosophies generally regarded as atheistic include
Classical Samkhya and Purva Mimamsa.
Between 400 CE and 1000 CE Hinduism expanded as the decline of
Buddhism in India continued.[38] Buddhism subsequently became
effectively extinct in India but survived in Nepal and Sri Lanka.
There were several Buddhistic kings who worshiped Vishnu, such as the
Gupta, Pala, Malla, Somavanshi, and Sattvahana.[39]
Buddhism survived followed by Hindus. National Geographic[40]
edition reads, "The flow between faiths was such that for hundreds of
years, almost all Buddhist temples, including the ones at Ajanta, were
built under the rule and patronage of Hindu kings."
Post-Vedic development of Hinduism
Main article: History of Hinduism
A Statue of Lord Vishnu.The end of the Vedantic period around the 2nd
century AD spawned a number of branches that furthered Vedantic
philosophy, and which ended up being seminaries in their own right.
The output generated by these specialized tributaries was
automatically considered a part of the Hindu or even Indian
philosophy. Prominent amongst these developers were Yoga, Dvaita,
Advaita and the medieval Bhakti movement. The modern day popular
movements were the ones founded by Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo,
Raja Ram Mohan Roy among others.
In the latter Vedantic period, several texts were also composed as
summaries/attachments to the Upanishads. These texts collectively
called as Puranas allowed for a divine and mythical interpretation of
the world, not unlike the ancient Hellenic or Roman religions. Legends
and epics with a multitude of gods and goddesses with human-like
characteristics were composed. Two of Hinduism's most revered epics,
the Mahabharata and Ramayana were compositions of this period.
Devotion to particular deities was reflected from the composition of
texts composed to their worship. For example the Ganapati Purana was
written for devotion to Ganapati (or Ganesh). Popular deities of this
era were Shiva, Vishnu, Durga, Surya, Skanda, and Ganesh (including
the forms/incarnations of these deities.)
Bhakti Movement
Guru Ravidas - a figure from the Bhakti EraThe Bhakti Movement began
with the emphasis on the worship of God, regardless of one's status -
whether priestly or laypeople, men or women, higher social status or
lower social status.
The movements were mainly centered around the forms of Vishnu (Rama
and Krishna) and Shiva. There were however popular devotees of this
era of Durga.
Vaishnavism
The most well-known devotees are the Alwars from southern India. The
most popular Vaishnava teacher of the south was Ramanuja, while of the
north it was Ramananda.
Several important icons were women. For example, within the
Mahanubhava sect, the women outnumbered the men[41],
and administration was many times composed mainly of women.[42]
Mirabai is the most popular female saint in India.
Sri Vallabha Acharya (1479–1531) is a very important figure from this
era. He founded the Shuddha Advaita (Pure Non-dualism) school of
Vedanta thought.
Shaivism
The most well-known devotees are the Nayanars from southern India. The
most popular Shaiva teacher of the south was Basava, while of the
north it was Gorakhnath.
Female saints include figures like Akkamadevi, Lalleshvari and Molla.
Recent groups
The largest religious gathering ever held on Earth, the 2001 Maha
Kumbh Mela held in Prayag attracted around 70 million Hindus from
around the world.Main articles: Religion in India, Hindu reform
movements, Hindutva, and Communalism (South Asia)
The modern era has given rise to dozens of Hindu saints with
international influence. For example, Brahma Baba established the
Brahma Kumaris, one of the largest new Hindu religious movements
teaches the discipline of Raja Yoga to millions. Representing
traditional Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Prabhupada founded the Hare Krishna
movement, also international with many followers. In late 18th century
India, Swaminarayan founded the Swaminarayan Sampraday. Anandamurti,
founder of the Ananda Marga, has influenced many worldwide. Through
all these new Hindu denominations traveling international, many Hindu
practices such as yoga, meditation, mantra, divination, vegetarianism
have become absorbed by new coverts and others influenced.
Sikhism
Harmandir Sahib or The Golden Temple of the Sikhs.Main article:
Sikhism
See also: History of Sikhism, Sikhism and Jainism, Sikhism and
Hinduism, and Sikhism in India
Sikhism originated in fifteenth century Northern India with the
teachings of Nanak and nine successive gurus. The principal belief in
Sikhism is faith in Vāhigurū— represented by the sacred symbol of ēk
ōaṅkār [meaning one god]. Sikhism's traditions and teachings are
distinctly associated with the history, society and culture of the
Punjab. Adherents of Sikhism are known as Sikhs (students or
disciples) and number over 23 million across the world.
Although it began as a relatively neutral faith system that proposed
to include the best practices of Hinduism and Islam, over time its
Gurus led followers in various rebellions and battles against the
Islamic Mughal rulers of the time, most notably against Aurangzeb.
Status in the Republic of India
Main article: Religion in India
See also: Legal Status of Jainism as a Distinct Religion
In a judicial reminder, the Indian Supreme Court observed Sikhism and
Jainism to be sub-sects or special faiths within the larger Hindu fold,
[43]
and that Jainism is a denomination within the Hindu fold.[44]
Although the government of British India counted Jains in India as a
major religious community right from the first Census conducted in
1873, after independence in 1947 Sikhs and Jains were not treated as
national minorities.[45]
In 2005 the Supreme Court of India declined to issue a writ of
Mandamus granting Jains the status of a religious minority throughout
India. The Court however left it to the respective states to decide on
the minority status of Jain religion.[46][47]
However, some individual states have over the past few decades
differed on whether Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs are religious
minorities or not, by either pronouncing judgments or passing
legislation. One example is the judgment passed by the Supreme Court
in 2006, in a case pertaining to the state of Uttar Pradesh, which
declared Jainism to be undisputably distinct from Hinduism, but
mentioned that, "The question as to whether the Jains are part of the
Hindu religion is open to debate.[48]
However, the Supreme Court also noted various court cases that have
held Jainism to be a distinct religion.
Another example is the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Bill, that is an
amendment to a legislation that sought to define Jains and Buddhists
as denominations within Hinduism.[49]
Ultimately on July 31, 2007, finding it not in conformity with the
concept of freedom of religion as embodied in Article 25 (1) of the
Constitution, Governor Naval Kishore Sharma returned back the Gujarat
Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2006 citing the widespread
protests by the Jains[50]
as well as Supreme Court's extrajudicial observation that Jainism is a
"special religion formed on the basis of quintessence of Hindu
religion by the Supreme Court"[51]
See also
Indian philosophy
History of Yoga
Religion in India
Religious thinkers of India
Ayyavazhi and Hinduism
Buddhism and Jainism
Indology
Notes
^ Adams, C. J., Classification of religions: Geographical,
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2007. Accessed: September 5, 2007
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/497215/classification-of-religions
^ Indiana University "India Studies Program" Passage to India, Module
http://www.indiana.edu/~isp/cd_rom/mod_10/mod_10_x.htm
11. "Upanishads came to be composed already in the ninth and eighth
century B.C.E. and continued to be composed well into the first
centuries of the Common Era. The Brahmanas and Aranyakas are somewhat
older, reaching back to the eleventh and even twelfth century B.C.E."
^ [1] Paul Deussen, Philosophy of the Upanishads, Pg. 51. "these
treatises are not the work of a single genius, but the total
philosophical product of an entire epoch which extends [from]
approximately 1000 or 800 BC, to c.500 BC, but which is prolonged in
its offshoots far beyond this last limit of time."
^ Harry Oldmeadow (2007) Light from the East: Eastern Wisdom for the
Modern West, World Wisdom, Inc. ISBN 1933316225 – "Over time, apparent
misunderstandings have arisen over the origins of Jainism and
relationship with its sister religions of Hinduism and Buddhism. There
has been an ongoing debate between Jainism and Vedic Hinduism as to
which revelation preceded the other. What is historically known is
that there was a tradition along with Vedic Hinduism known as Sramana
Dharma. Essentially, the sramana tradition included it its fold, the
Jain and Buddhist traditions, which disagreed with the eternality of
the Vedas, the needs for ritual sacrifices and the supremacy of the
Brahmins." Page 141
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Oldmeadow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wisdom
^ Indiana University, Module 9, "Passage to India" One is left largely
with scholarly guesses, but it is intriguing to entertain the
possibility that traditions of ritual bathing, some sort of tradition
of meditation or Yoga, possible proto-types of Shiva and a mother
goddess, and a cult of sacred animals, all of which are prominent
features in later Hindu traditions, may indeed be traceable ultimately
all the way back to the third millenium B.C.E., and possibly earlier
to the Baluchistan and Sind village cultures that go back to time
immemorial.
http://www.indiana.edu/~isp/cd_rom/mod_09/mod_09.htm
^ Indiana University "India Studies Program", Module 6 The passage to
India: "As mentioned earlier in our brief summary of the religions of
India, the Jain tradition is one of the oldest traditions in India and
may go back as far as Indus Valley times, that is, to the second
millenium Before the Common Era (2000-1500 BCE), although the precise
origins of the tradition are not yet fully known"
http://www.indiana.edu/~isp/cd_rom/mod_06/mod_06.htm
^ "Major Religions of the World Ranked by Number of Adherents".
Adherents.com.
http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html. Retrieved
2007-07-10.
^ Adherents.com. "Religions by adherents" (PHP).
http://www.adherents.com/misc/rel_by_adh_CSM.html. Retrieved
2007-02-09.
^ Frawley, David. From the River of Heaven: Hindu and Vedic Knowledge
for the Modern Age. Pg 27. Berkeley, California: Book Passage Press,
1990. ISBN 1878423010.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Frawley
^ Encarta encyclopedia [2]"Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism share with
Hinduism the concept of dharma along with other key concepts, and the
four religions may be said to belong to the dharmic tradition.".
Archived 2009-10-31.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encarta
^ Westerlund, David Questioning the Secular State: The Worldwide
Resurgence of Religion in Politics page 16 "may provide some
possibilities for co-operation with Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists, who
like Hindus are regarded as adherents of ‘dharmic' religions."
^ c.f. Encyclopedia Britannica, s.v. "Jainism > Jainism, Hinduism, and
Buddhism"
^ "yogascittavrttinirodhah" Sutra 1 of Patanjali's Yogadarshana
^ Pollock, P. 661 Literary Cultures in History:
^ Heehs 2002, p. 39.
^ "Ancient Indians made 'rock music'". BBC News. 19 March 2004.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3520384.stm. Retrieved
2007-08-07.
^ Fowler 1997, p. 90.
^ Sharri R. Clark, The social lives of figurines : recontextualizing
the third millennium BC terracotta figurines from Harappa, Pakistan.
PhD dissertation, Harvard 2007
^ “This confirms that the doctrine of transmigration is non-aryan and
was accepted by non-vedics like Ajivikism, Jainism and Buddhism. The
Indo-aryans have borrowed the theory of re-birth after coming in
contact with the aboriginal inhabitants of India. Certainly Jainism
and non-vedics [..] accepted the doctrine of rebirth as supreme
postulate or article of faith.” Masih, page 37.
^ S. Cromwell Crawford, review of L. M. Joshi, Brahmanism, Buddhism
and Hinduism, Philosophy East and West (1972): "Alongside Brahmanism
was the non-Aryan Shramanic culture with its roots going back to
prehistoric times."
^ Y. Masih (2000) In : A Comparative Study of Religions, Motilal
Banarsidass Publ : Delhi, ISBN 8120808150 Page 18. "There is no
evidence to show that Jainism and Buddhism ever subscribed to vedic
sacrifices, vedic deities or caste. They are parallel or native
religions of India and have contributed to much to the growth of even
classical Hinduism of the present times."
^ Dr. Kalghatgi, T. G. 1988 In: Study of Jainism, Prakrit Bharti
Academy, Jaipur
^ P.S. Jaini, (1979), The Jaina Path to Purification, Motilal
Banarsidass, Delhi, p. 169 "Jainas themselves have no memory of a time
when they fell within the Vedic fold. Any theory that attempts to link
the two traditions, moreover fails to appreciate rather distinctive
and very non-vedic character of Jaina cosmology, soul theory, karmic
doctrine and atheism"
^ S. Cromwell Crawford, review of L. M. Joshi, Brahmanism, Buddhism
and Hinduism, Philosophy East and West (1972): "Alongside Brahmanism
was the non-Aryan Shramanic culture with its roots going back to
prehistoric times."
^ Karel Werner, The Longhaired Sage in The Yogi and the Mystic. Karel
Werner, ed., Curzon Press, 1989, page 34. "Rahurkar speaks of them as
belonging to two distinct 'cultural strands' ... Wayman also found
evidence for two distinct approaches to the spiritual dimension in
ancient India and calls them the traditions of 'truth and silence.' He
traces them particularly in the older Upanishads, in early Buddhism,
and in some later literature."
^ Gavin D. Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge
University - Press : UK ISBN 0521438780 - “The origin and doctrine of
Karma and Samsara are obscure. These concepts were certainly
circulating amongst sramanas, and Jainism and Buddhism developed
specific and sophisticated ideas about the process of transmigration.
It is very possible that the karmas and reincarnation entered the
mainstream brahaminical thought from the sramana or the renouncer
traditions.” Page 86.
^ Padmanabh S. Jaini 2001 “Collected Paper on Buddhist Studies”
Motilal Banarsidass Publ 576 pages ISBN 8120817761: "Yajnavalkya’s
reluctance and manner in expounding the doctrine of karma in the
assembly of Janaka (a reluctance not shown on any other occasion) can
perhaps be explained by the assumption that it was, like that of the
transmigration of soul, of non-brahmanical origin. In view of the fact
that this doctrine is emblazoned on almost every page of sramana
scriptures, it is highly probable that it was derived from them." Page
51.
^ Govind Chandra Pande, (1994) Life and Thought of Sankaracarya,
Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 8120811046 : Early Upanishad thinkers like
Yajnavalkya were acquainted with the sramanic thinking and tried to
incorporate these ideals of Karma, Samsara and Moksa into the vedic
thought implying a disparagement of the vedic ritualism and
recognising the mendicancy as an ideal. Page 135.
^ A History of Yoga By Vivian Worthington 1982 Routledge ISBN
071009258X - "The Upanishads were like a breath of fresh air blowing
through the stuffy corridors of power of the vedic brahminism. They
were noticed by the Brahmin establishment because the yogis did not
owe allegiance to any established religion or mode of thought.. So
although, the Upanishads came to be noticed by Brahmin establishment,
they were very largely saying what may well have been current among
other sramanic groups at that time. It can be said that this atheistic
doctrine was evidently very acceptable to the authors of Upanishads,
who made use of many of its concepts." Page 27.
^ A History of Yoga By Vivian Worthington 1982 Routledge ISBN
071009258X: "The idea of re-incarnation, so central to the older
sramanic creeds is still new to many people throughout the world. The
Aryans of the Vedic age knew nothing of it. When the Brahmins began to
accept it, they declared it as a secret doctrine. […] It will be seen
from this short account of Jains, that they had fully developed the
ideas of karma and reincarnation very early in history. The earliest
Upanishads were probably strongly influenced by their teachings.
Jainism the religion, Samkhya the philosophy and yoga the way to self
discipline and enlightenment dominated the spiritual life of Indian
during the Dravidian times. They were to be overshadowed for over
thousand years by the lower form of religion that was foisted on the
local inhabitants by the invading Aryans, but in the end it was
Sramanic disciplines that triumphed. They did so by surviving in their
own right and by their ideas being fully adopted by the Brahmins who
steadily modified their own vedic religion." Page 35.
^ The Life of Buddha as Legend and History, by Edward Joseph Thomas
^ P. 93 World Religions By Jeffrey Brodd, Gregory Sobolewski
^ P. 66 Historical researches on the origin and principles of the
Bauddha and Jaina religions: embracing the leading tenets of their
system, as found prevailing in various countries; illustrated by
descriptive accounts of the sculptures in the caves of western India,
with translations of the inscriptions ... which indicate their
connexion with the coins and topes of the Panjab and Afghanistan.by
James Bird
^ Heehs 2002, p. 106.
^ Radhakrishnan & Moore 1967, p. xviii–xxi.
^ Radhakrishnan & Moore 1967, p. 227–249.
^ Chatterjee & Datta 1984, p. 55.
^ "The rise of Buddhism and Jainism". Religion and Ethics—Hinduism:
Other religious influences. BBC. 26 July 2004.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/history/history_2.shtml.
Retrieved 2007-04-21.
^ Durga Prasad, P. 116, History of the Andhras upto 1565 A. D.
^ January 2008, VOL. 213, #1
^ Ramaswamy, P. 204 Walking Naked
^ Ramaswamy, P. 210 Walking Naked
^ Supreme Court observation, Bal Patil vs. Union of India, Dec 2005 In
various codified customary laws like Hindu Marriage Act, Hindu
Succession Act, Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act and other laws of
pre and post- Constitution period, the definition of 'Hindu' included
all sects and sub-sects of Hindu religions including Sikhs and Jains
^ Supreme court of India, in the judgement of Bal Patil vs. Union of
India, Dec. 2005. The Supreme Court observed in a judgment pertaining
to case of Bal Patil vs. Union of India: "Thus, 'Hinduism' can be
called a general religion and common faith of India whereas 'Jainism'
is a special religion formed on the basis of quintessence of Hindu
religion. Jainism places greater emphasis on non-violence ('Ahimsa')
and compassion ('Karuna'). Their only difference from Hindus is that
Jains do not believe in any creator like God but worship only the
perfect human-being whom they called Tirathankar."
^ [Supreme Court observation, Bal Patil vs. Union of India, December
2005
http://www.judis.nic.in/supremecourt/qrydisp.asp?tfnm=27098]
The so-called minority communities like Sikhs and Jains were not
treated as national minorities at the time of framing the
Constitution.
^ Syed Shahabuddin. "Minority rights are indivisible". The Tribune.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20051125/edit.htm#4.
^ Supreme court of India, in the judgement of Bal Patil vs. Union of
India, Dec. 2005. In an extra-judicial observation not forming part of
the judgment the court observed :"Thus, 'Hinduism' can be called a
general religion and common faith of India whereas 'Jainism' is a
special religion formed on the basis of quintessence of Hindu
religion. Jainism places greater emphasis on non-violence ('Ahimsa')
and compassion ('Karuna'). Their only difference from Hindus is that
Jains do not believe in any creator like God but worship only the
perfect human-being whom they called Tirathankar."
^ (para 25, Committee of Management Kanya Junior High School Bal Vidya
Mandir, Etah, U.P. v. Sachiv, U.P. Basic Shiksha Parishad, Allahabad,
U.P. and Ors., Per Dalveer Bhandari J., Civil Appeal No. 9595 of 2003,
decided On: 21.08.2006, Supreme Court of India) [3]
^ Gujarat Freedom of religions Act, 2003
^ "Religious freedom Bill returned". The Indian Express. 2007-07-31.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/207905.html. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
^ The Times of India, 11 Mar, 2008 In his letter dated July 27, 2007
he had said Jainism has been regarded as "special religion formed on
the basis of quintessence of Hindu religion by the Supreme Court".
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Gujarat_govt_revokes_conversion_amendment/articleshow/2853456.cms
References
Chatterjee, S; Datta, D (1984), An Introduction to Indian Philosophy
(8th ed.), University of Calcutta, ASIN: B0007BFXK4
Fowler, JD (1997), Hinduism: Beliefs and Practices, Sussex Academic
Press, ISBN 1-898-72360-5,
http://books.google.com/books?id=RmGKHu20hA0C
Heehs, P (2002), Indian Religions: A Historical Reader of Spiritual
Expression and Experience, New York: New York University Press, ISBN
0-814-73650-5
Oberlies, T (1998), Die Religion des Rgveda, Wien
Radhakrishnan, S; Moore, CA (1967), A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy,
Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-01958-4
Rinehart, R (2004), Contemporary Hinduism: Ritual, Culture, and
Practice, ABC-Clio, ISBN 1-57607-905-8
External links
Statistics
"Census of India 2001: Data on religion". Government of India (Office
of the Registrar General).
http://www.censusindia.gov.in/. Retrieved 2007-05-28.
Constitution and law
"Constitution of India". Government of India (Ministry of Law and
Justice).
http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/welcome.html. Retrieved 2007-05-28.
Reports
"International Religious Freedom Report 2006: India". United States
Department of State.
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71440.htm.
Retrieved 2007-05-28.
Categories:
Indian religions |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Indian_religions
Religion in India |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Religion_in_India
Religious comparison
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Religious_comparison
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_religions
Aboriginal Spirituality
A resource on aboriginal spirituality
Aboriginal Spirituality
Spirituality for Indigenous Australians takes many forms. Some
Indigenous Australians share the religious beliefs and values of
religions introduced into Australia from other cultures around the
world, particularly Europe. But for most people religious beliefs are
derived from a sense of belonging-to the land, to the sea, to other
people, to one's culture.
Aboriginal spirituality mainly derives from the stories of the
Dreaming.
We recommend this article: Aboriginal Spirituality - 1, and also this:
Aboriginal Spirituality - 2.
Aboriginal Spirituality
Aboriginal Wisdom
Collin Fischer (CJ), aboriginal wisdom keeper and medicine man will
share the wisdom of his aboriginal ancestors.
Aborigine
A word Usually referring to the original inhabitants of Australia
(also called "Abos"}They are a shamanic people who have lived in
Australia for over 10,000 years. Their term for the astral world is
"The Dream Time". Ayers Rock. an unusual rock outcrop in central
Australia, is regarded as a vortex, and is regarded as sacred by the
aborigines.
Aboriginal Spirituality: Mandala as Symbol of the Universe Mandala,
which literally means circle, largely associated with religions and
cults of India and Tibet, was also used as a potent symbol by the
American Indians, the original inhabitants of Central America, and by
the aborigines of Australia.
Across cultures, the universe is represented as a series of concentric
circles, maybe as a model of the solar system. In Tantra, the central
point represents Mount Meru around which the earth is situated, and
the concentric circles represent the cosmic aspects of the universe,
like energy fields and atmospheric zones. In Hindu and Buddhist
interpretations, the centre of the Mandala is the ultimate divine
principle uniting the object and the subject as they spin out of the
centre. This may refer to the cosmos or to the human body.
Aboriginal Spirituality: Encyclopedia II - Australian Aboriginal art -
Religious and cultural aspects of Aboriginal art
Traditional Aboriginal art almost always has a mythological undertone
relating to the Dreamtime of Australian Aborigines. It originated
around 500 years ago. Many modern purists will say if it doesn't
contain the spirituality of aborigines, it is not true aboriginal art.
Wenten Rubuntja, an Aboriginal landscape artist says it's hard to find
any art that is devoid of spiritual meaning; "Doesn't matter what sort
of painting we do in this country, it still belongs to the people, all
the people. This is worship, work, culture. It's all Dr ...
See also:
Australian Aboriginal art, Australian Aboriginal art - Aboriginal
painting, Australian Aboriginal art - Bark painting, Australian
Aboriginal art - Carvings and sculpture, Australian Aboriginal art -
Other art, Australian Aboriginal art - Religious and cultural aspects
of Aboriginal art, Australian Aboriginal art - Graffiti and other
destructive influences, Australian Aboriginal art - Modern Aboriginal
Artists, Australian Aboriginal art - List of contemporary Aboriginal
artists, Australian Aboriginal art - Famous sites of Aboriginal art
Ayers Rock
A large sandstone outcropping that rises from the desert in central
Australia.
It is the most sacred site of the Aborigines and is place of
pilgrimage from all over the globe. In aborigine myth it is said that
there was a great battle here (perhaps the War in Heaven of
Revelations) in which creation was thrown out of Dreamtime (the Astral
World) and began to live in the material world.
Aboriginal Spirituality: Encyclopedia II - Corrientes - History
In 1516, Juan Díaz de Solís commanded the first expedition to reach
the area populated mainly by Guaraní aboriginals, but his expedition
was attacked and Solís perished in the adventure. Sebastián Gaboto
established in 1527 the Sancti Spiritu fort upstream of the Paraná
River, and in 1536 Pedro de Mendoza reached further north into the
basin of the river, searching for the Sierras of Silver. Juan Torres
de Vera y Aragón founded on April 3, 1588 San Juan de Vera de las
Siete Corrientes ("Saint John of ...
Aboriginal Spirituality: Encyclopedia II - Santa Fe Province - History
The aboriginal tribes who inhabited this region were the Tobas,
Timbúes, Mocovíes, Pilagás, Guaycurúes and Guaraníes. They were
nomadic, lived from hunting, fishing and fruit recollection. The first
European settlement was established in 1527, at the confluence of the
Paraná and Carcarañá rivers, when Sebastián Gaboto, on his way to the
north, founded a fort named Sancti Spiritu, which was destroyed two
years later by the natives. In 1573 Juan de Garay founded the city of
Santa Fe in the surroundings of present town Cayastá, but the city was
moved bo ...
Aboriginal Spirituality: Encyclopedia II - Bahá'í Faith and Education
- Type of education
The type of education that is written about in the Bahá'í writings
does not point to one type of education. There are many conceptions
about what constitutes education, and what subjects should be taught.
For example, aboriginal people who followed a tradiional subsistence
lifestyle were considered by many as uneducated, although they had a
stock of knowledge required to function in those societies. On the
other hand, if absolutely any form of education would fulfill the
requirement — as anthropologists assure us that every culture
"educates" ...
See also:
Bahá'í Faith and Education, Bahá'í Faith and Education - Purpose,
Bahá'í Faith and Education - Type of education, Bahá'í Faith and
Education - Moral and spiritual education, Bahá'í Faith and Education
- A Useful trade or profession, Bahá'í Faith and Education - Literacy,
Bahá'í Faith and Education - Languages, Bahá'í Faith and Education -
Other subjects, Bahá'í Faith and Education - Pedagogical issues,
Bahá'í Faith and Education - Responsibility, Bahá'í Faith and
Education - Environmental factors, Bahá'í Faith and Education - Bahá'í
education in practice, Bahá'í Faith and Education - Ruhi sequence of
courses, Bahá'í Faith and Education - Core curriculum, Bahá'í Faith
and Education - Fundamental verities, Bahá'í Faith and Education -
Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Bahá'í Faith and Education - Social and economic
development, Bahá'í Faith and Education - Praise for teachers
Aboriginal Spirituality: Spiritual Theosophical Dictionary on
Dravidians
Dravidians. A group of tribes inhabiting Southern India; the
aborigines.
Aboriginal Dreaming
An English expression adopted by Australian Aborigines to convey ideas
that, though related in their thought, are not usually denoted by a
single word in any of their languages.
One sense is that of a primordial epoch, the Dreaming or Dreamtime,
when beings with remarkable powers arose from the ground, descended
from the sky, or appeared from over the horizon. They gave the earth
its shape by creating physical features (often from parts of their own
bodies), fixed life in species form, established human culture, and
gave everything its name.
These creative beings, who in their totality are the ultimate
explanation of all things, are themselves called Dreamings (roughly
equivalent to the anthropological term totems).
Their significance to the Aborigines is not merely historical but
personal and social, for each individual and group gains a distinctive
identity through its association with one or more Dreamings. In many
regions it is held that such beings reincarnate themselves as humans,
or that they left relics behind that, to this day, are sufficiently
potent to impregnate women.
This sense of oneness, in which past and present, spirit being and
human being, are somehow fused, is also seen in ceremonies in which
the actors wear designs and make movements symbolic or mimetic of what
the Dreamings did in the Dreamtime. By extension, from these two
senses of Dreaming, the Aborigines form other expressions, such as
Dreaming-place (a site at which a Dreaming was active and left
something of itself) and Dreaming-track (an imagined path along which
a Dreaming traveled from place to place in the primordial epoch).
Contrary to what is sometimes suggested, the term has no necessary
connection with the verb to dream, even though present-day revelations
to humans by Dreamings normally occur while the recipient is in a
dream or trance state.
See Astral World.
Sun - Moon
Sun
(1) The sun may be a symbol of the self (i.e. your true and total
self), or of the conscious ego.
(2) It may symbolize intelligence, as distinct from intuition.
Moon
From prehistoric times the moon has been regarded as the source of all
fertility. It governs ocean tides and rainfall, menstruation and
birth. (Even when seen as male, the moon has been associated with
fertility: for example, in Australian aboriginal tradition, the moon
makes women pregnant.) It therefore symbolizes (the possibility of)
personal growth.
Sun, Moon, Intelligence, Intuition, Conscious ego, Fertility, Ocean
tides, Rainfall, Menstruation, Birth, Aboriginal tradition, Aboriginal
spirituality, Pregnant, Pregnancy, Personal growth
Aboriginal Spirituality: Alternative Health Dictionary on Didgeridoo
vibrational healing
didgeridoo vibrational healing: Group of techniques, of Australian
aboriginal origin, promoted by the Emerging Light Center of Queens, in
New York City. It helps to remove blocks. Its theory posits spiritual
centers and a personal spiritual being with a reachable core.
A didgeridoo (also spelled didjeridu) is a hornlike wind instrument,
generally three feet long, of hollowed, petrified eucalyptus bark.
Aborigines use it to produce a sound that effects healing on an
energetic or spiritual level. This sound expands one's aura.
Aboriginal Spirituality: Spiritual Theosophical Dictionary on Bhons
Bhons (Tibet, Tibetan). The followers of the old religion of the
Aborigines of Tibet; of pre-buddhistic temples and ritualism; the same
as Dugpas, "red caps", though the latter appellation usually applies
only to sorcerers.
Quetzo-Cohuatl (Mex.). The serpent-god in the Mexican Scriptures and
legends. His wand and other "land-marks" show him to be some great
Initiate of antiquity, who received the name of "Serpent" on account
of his wisdom, long life and powers. To this day the aboriginal tribes
of Mexico call themselves by the names of various reptiles, animals
and birds.
Aboriginal Spirituality: Spiritual Theosophical Dictionary on Ulupi
Ulupi (Sanskrit). A daughter of Kauravya, King of the Nagas in Patala
(the nether world, or more correctly, the Antipodes, America).
Exoterically, she was the daughter of a king or chief of an aboriginal
tribe of the Nagas, or Nagals (ancient adepts) in pre-historic America
- Mexico most likely, or Uruguay.
She was married to Arjuna, the disciple of Krishna, whom every
tradition, oral and written, shows travelling five thousand years ago
to Patala (the Antipodes). The Puranic tale is based on a historical
fact. Moreover, Ulupi, as a name, has a Mexican ring in it, like "
Atlan ", " Aclo ", etc.
Aboriginal Spirituality: Spiritual Theosophical Dictionary on
Tassissudun
Tassissudun (Tibet, Tibetan). Lit., "the holy city of the doctrine"
inhabited, nevertheless, by more Dugpas than Saints.
It is the residential capital in Bhutan of the ecclesiastical Head of
the Bhons - the Dharma Raja. The latter, though professedly a Northern
Buddhist, is simply a worshipper of the old demon-gods of the
aborigines, the nature-sprites or elementals, worshipped in the land
before the introduction of Buddhism.
All strangers are prevented from penetrating into Eastern or Great
Tibet, and the few scholars who venture on their travels into those
forbidden regions, are permitted to penetrate no further than the
border-lands of the land of Bod.
They journey about Bhutan, Sikkhim, and elsewhere on the frontiers of
the country, but can learn or know nothing of true Tibet; hence,
nothing of the true Northern Buddhism or Lamaism of Tsong-kha-pa. And
yet, while describing no more than the rites and beliefs of the Bhons
and the travelling Shamans, they assure the world they are giving it
the pure Northern Buddhism, and comment on its great fall from its
pristine purity.
Uragas (Sanskrit). The Nagas (serpents) dwelling in Patala the nether
world or hell, in popular thought ; the Adepts, High Priests and
Initiates of Central and South America, known to the ancient Aryans;
where Arjuna wedded the daughter of the king of the Nagas - Ulupi.
Nagalism or Naga-worship prevails to this day in Cuba and Hayti, and
Voodooism, the chief branch of the former, has found its way into New
Orleans.
In Mexico the chief "sorcerers ", the " medicine men ", are called
Nagals to this day; just as thousands of years ago the Chaldean and
Assyrian High Priests were called Nargals, they being chiefs of the
Magi (Rab.Mag), the office held at one time by the prophet Daniel. The
word Naga, " wise serpent ", has become universal, because it is one
of the few words that have survived the wreck of the first universal
language. In South as well as in Central and North America, the
aborigines use the word, from Behring Straits down to Uruguay, where
it means a "chief", a "teacher and a " serpent ".
The very word Uraga may have reached India and been adopted through
its connection, in prehistoric times, with South America and Uruguay
itself, for the name belongs to the American Indian vernacular. The
origin of the Uragas, for all that the Orientalists know, may have
been in Uruguai, as there are legends about them which locate their
ancestors the Nagas in Patala, the antipodes, or America.
Aboriginal Spirituality: Spiritual - Theosophy Dictionary on Sanskrit
Sanskrit [from Sanskrit sanskrita or samskrita]
The ancient sacred language of the Aryans, originally the sacred or
secret language of the initiates of the fifth root-race. The Sanskrit
language possesses voluminous and valuable works in prose and in
verse, some of which, like the Vedas, date back, in the opinion of
certain scholars, to the years 30,000 BC or even far beyond. Almost
every phase of philosophic thought, expressed and studied in the West,
is represented in one form or another in ancient Hindu literature.
Besides this, these old Sanskrit writings are replete with recondite
subjects dealing with the wondrous potentialities of the human spirit
and mind, the building and destruction of worlds and universes, etc.
The Sanskrit language, derives from one of the earliest of the Aryan
tongues, a lineal descendant of an Atlantean progenitor.
"In ancient times in India, and in the homeland of the Aryans before
they reached India by way of Central Asia, this very early Aryan
speech was used not only by the Aryan populace, but in the sanctuaries
of the Temples was taken in hand and developed or composed or builded
to be a far finer vehicle for expressing abstract religious and
philosophic conceptions and thoughts. This tongue thus composed or
developed by initiates of the Aryan stock, because of this formative
work upon it was finally given the name Sanskrita, signifying an
original natural language which had become perfected by initiates for
the purpose of expressing far more subtle and profound distinctions
than ordinary people would ever find needful. So great was the
admiration in which the Sanskrit language thus perfected was held,
that it was commonly said of it that it was the work of the Gods,
because it had thus become capable of expressing godlike thoughts:
profound spiritual subtleties and philosophical distinctions. Thus it
was that Sanskrit is really the mystery-language of the initiates of
the Aryan race; as the Senzar of very similar history was the mystery-
language of the later Atlanteans; and is still used as the noblest
mystery-language by the Mahatmas.
"Sanskrit was not known as a spoken tongue to the Atlanteans in their
prime, but in the degenerate or later times of Atlantis, when the
earliest Aryans already had appeared on the scene of history, this
early Aryan speech above alluded to, was already in existence; and the
Aryan initiates were then in the course of perfecting it as their
temple-language or mystery-tongue . . . Thus Sanskrit was not spoken
among the Atlanteans, nor can it therefore be called an Atlantean
language; although its verbal roots of course go back to earliest
Atlantean times, but only its verbal roots" -- G. de Purucker
"The Vedas, Brahmanism, and along with these, Sanskrit, were
importations into what we now regard as India. They were never
indigenous to its soil. There was a time when the ancient nations of
the West included under the generic name of India many of the
countries of Asia now classified under other names. There was an
Upper, a Lower, and a Western India, even during the comparatively
late period of Alexander; and Persia (Iran) is called Western India in
some ancient classics. The countries now named Tibet, Mongolia, and
Great Tartary were considered by them as forming part of India. When
we say, therefore, that India has civilized the world, and was the
Alma Mater of the civilizations, arts, and sciences of all other
nations (Babylonia, and perhaps even Egypt, included) we mean archaic,
pre-historic India, India of the time when the great Gobi was a sea,
and the lost 'Atlantis' formed part of an unbroken continent which
began at the Himalayas and ran down over Southern India, Ceylon, and
Java, to far-away Tasmania" (Five Years of Theosophy 179).
Blavatsky states that Sanskrit has never been known nor spoken in its
true systematized form except by the initiated Brahmins. This form of
Sanskrit was called -- as well as by other names -- Vach, the mystic
speech, which resides in the sounds of the mantra. "The chanting of a
Mantra is not a prayer, but rather a magical sentence in which the law
of Occult causation connects itself with, and depends on, the will and
acts of its singer. It is a succession of Sanskrit sounds, and when
its strings of words and sentences is pronounced according to the
magical formulae in the Atharva Veda, but understood by the few, some
Mantras produce an instantaneous and very wonderful effect" (BCW
14:428n). This Vach, or the mystic self of Sanskrit, was the
sacerdotal speech of the initiated Brahmins and was studied by
initiates from all over the world.
"It is admitted that, however inferior to the classical Sanskrit of
Panini, the language of the oldest portions of Rig Veda,
notwithstanding the antiquity of its grammatical forms, is the same as
that of the latest texts. Every one sees -- cannot fail to See and to
know -- that for a language so old and so perfect as the Sanskrit to
have survived alone, among all languages, it must have had its cycles
of perfection and its cycles of degeneration. And, if one had any
intuition, he might have seen that what they call a 'dead language'
being an anomaly, a useless thing in Nature, it would not have
survived, even as a 'dead' tongue, had it not its special purpose in
the reign of immutable cyclic laws; and that Sanskrit, which came to
be nearly lost to the world, is now slowly spreading in Europe, and
will one day have the extension it had thousands upon thousands of
years back -- that of a universal language. The same as to the Greek
and the Latin: there will be a time when the Greek of Aeschylus (and
more perfect still in its future form) will be spoken by all in
Southern Europe, while Sanskrit will be resting in its periodical
pralaya; and the Attic will be followed later by the Latin of Virgil.
Something ought to have whispered to us that there was also a time --
before the original Aryan settlers among the Dravidian and other
aborigines, admitted within the fold of Brahmanical initiation, marred
the purity of the sacred Sanskrita Bhasha -- when Sanskrit was spoken
in all its unalloyed subsequent purity, and therefore must have had
more than once its rise and fall. The reason for it is simply this:
classical Sanskrit was only restored, if in some things perfected, by
Panin. Panini, Katyayana, or Patanjali did not create it; it has
existed throughout cycles, and will pass through other cycles
still" (Five Years of Theosophy 419-20).
Aboriginal Spirituality
Spirituality for Indigenous Australians takes many forms. Some
Indigenous Australians share the religious beliefs and values of
religions introduced into Australia from other cultures around the
world, particularly Europe. But for most people religious beliefs are
derived from a sense of belonging-to the land, to the sea, to other
people, to one's culture.
Aboriginal spirituality mainly derives from the stories of the
Dreaming.
We recommend this article: Aboriginal Spirituality -
1, and also this: Aboriginal Spirituality -
2. Aboriginal wisdom,
Aboriginals,
Shaman,
Healer,
Native spirituality,
Australia
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bademiyansubhanallah
17 Mar 2010, 0214 hrs IST, ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: A little less than a month after he formally took over as
BJP president, Mr Nitin Gadkari announced his team of office-bearers
and national executive here on Tuesday. In keeping with the party’s
new mantra, he has given 33% representation to women, but was
hamstrung with the acute talent deficit and pulls and pressures from
various quarters, including the RSS and the top brass, in preparing
the list.
A look at the composition of the new team would make it obvious that
the notorious ‘quota system’ — so far associated only with Congress,
with each top leader managing to get his nominees squeezed in — has
found its way into the BJP too. Members identified with front-ranking
leaders have been given more-than-adequate representation.
If the new BJP president was expected to announce a team capable of
taking on a youthful, resurgent Congress led by Mr Rahul Gandhi, it
has been belied. While a few fresh, younger faces have been inducted
in Mr Gadkari’s team, his task of building a team for the future has
been rendered that much more difficult by his failure to look beyond
the pool that was already available before him.
Thus, many leaders who failed to make their mark in the previous team
have been included in the new list of office-bearers. Also, leaders
whose performances were dubbed as disastrous in their respective home
states have been rehabilitated at the national level, lending credence
to the perception that Mr Gadkari did not exactly have a free
hand.
After holding wide-ranging consultations, the BJP president came out
with a list of 39 office-bearers. It includes, besides Mr Gadkari, 11
vice-presidents (two slots have been left vacant), 10 general
secretaries and 15 secretaries.While Mr Ram Lal has been retained as
general secretary in-charge of organisation, Mr Anant Kumar, Mr Vijay
Goel and Mr Thawar Chand Gehlot, who were there in the previous team,
too have been given a fresh innings.
Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, former Jharkhand
chief minister Arjun Munda, Mr J P Nadda, minister for parliamentary
affairs,
forests and environment in Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh BJP chief
Narendra Singh Tomar, Mr Dharmendra Pradhan, secretary in the previous
team, and Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad are the new general
secretaries.
In what is being considered as recognition of his performance, Mr
Prasad will also be the chief spokesman of BJP. He will be assisted by
six more spokespersons, including Mr Prakash Javadekar and Mr Rajiv
Pratap Rudy, who were performing the job in the previous regime too.
The new spokespersons include former Union minister Syed Shahnawaz
Hussain, former Rajya Sabha member Ramnath Kovind, former Organiser
editor Tarun Vijay and Ms Nirmala Sitharaman, a party leader hailing
from Andhra Pradesh.
While former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Shanta Kumar and Mr
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi will continue as vice-presidents, Mr Vinay Katiyar
has been elevated. The new vice-presidents are former Uttarakhand
chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, Rajya Sabha member Najma
Heptullah, Lok Sabha member Bijoya Chakravarti, former MPs Karuna
Shukla and Hema Malini, Bihar MLC Kiran Ghai and former Gujarat BJP
chief Purushottam Rupala.
There will be 15 secretaries, including popular TV actress Smriti
Irani, Lok Sabha members Varun Gandhi, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Saroj
Pande, former Union ministers Santosh Gangwar, Ashok Pradhan and Kirit
Somaiya, former MPs Tapir Gao and Kiran Maheshwari and Mr Murlidhar
Rao. Former Delhi mayor Arati Mehra too has been made a secretary. Mr
Piyush Goyal is the new treasurer.
The party’s central parliamentary board, the top policy-making body,
has been left more or less untouched, with Mr Gadkari being the only
new member. The president simultaneously released the new list of
national executive comprising 81 members. It includes 26 women. The
chief ministers of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal
Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttarakhand and the deputy chief ministers of
Bihar and Jharkhand have been named as permanent invitees.
Political yoga: A new phase in our democracy
17 Mar 2010, 0619 hrs IST, ET Bureau
It is a rather curious mix, our ready veneration of sundry godmen and
the equally-prompt readiness to push them off their pedestals when we
find
that they, well, aren’t so godly after all. Perhaps we haven’t yet got
to the stage where we can quite accept that men and matters spiritual
can really have anything to do with the material world.
Or, rather, we feel a greater sense of betrayal when that supposedly
personalised link to the spirit-realm turns out to have baser
moorings. A bit unlike other parts of the world, where godmen or cults
openly make a virtue out of, what for us, are vices. No experiments,
for us, sorry. Thus the scorn heaped upon the one who was recently
supposedly taped frolicking with an actress.
His excuses that he was in some sort of trance or merely
‘experimenting’ with stuff didn’t quite wash. We like our trances to
be more unearthly, thank you. But that does posit the curious
phenomenon of our preoccupation with such godmen . Perhaps the search
for deliverance, some sort of sense of agency.
Sure, there are any number of genuine worthies, people who really can
be what they say they are. But then, the whole thing is also open to
abuse. Just consider the number of such people over the years who have
come crashing to the ground, or are behind bars now.
But deliverance is at hand: a spiritual/health guru who wants to
expand our horizons and jump into the fray to improve the lot of the
nation. In a possible first of its kind, a well-known yoga guru has
just announced his intention to form a political party. Which, given
his stress on physical exercise, might give a new twist to his stated
intention of ‘cleansing’ the wider body politic.
Well, nothing wrong with that per se, as with his calls to crack down
on fake religious gurus. This would certainly at least make a
difference from our usual spectrum of left-centre-right politics. More
like a ‘save the nation, hold your breath’ kind of situation . The age
of the political asana might be upon us.
Stop the Vedanta Project in Orissa
17 Mar 2010, 0617 hrs IST, ET Bureau
In the long-term interest of internal security, survival of an
endangered primitive tribe and justice and fairness , the government
should withhold
clearance to the bauxite mining project spread over Orissa’s Kalahandi
(South) and Rayagada forest divisions, proposed by minerals major
Vedanta.
The core issue is violent disruption of a tribal people’s life for the
sake of mineral extraction in a manner that would mock the ruling
ideology of inclusive growth, and give legitimacy to the Maoists.
Maoists represent themselves as the only champions of India’s
dispossessed and exploited rural masses, especially the scheduled
tribes.
The state has identified Maoists as India’s primary internal security
threat, and launched an offensive , labelled Operation Green Hunt,
against them. Its premise is that Maoists obstruct the reach of the
uplifting arms of the state as they delve deep into rural India’s
swamps of underdevelopment. If only the Maoists would step aside, in
peace or at the point of a bayonet, the state would take care of the
poor.
This claim would be blown to smithereens if the state were to
facilitate a classic case of development that impoverishes a
defenceless populace, perhaps to extinction. Vedanta’s treatment of
the Dongria Konds, who live on and off the land sought to be mined,
has led many ethics-sensitive large investors in Britain to exit the
company. A fact-finding team of the ministry of environment and
forests has come up with findings that discourage further progress in
the project.
India can progress with some of its bauxite continuing to lie
underground for some more time. India cannot progress with a growing
internal security threat, fed by the state’s failure to live up to its
commitment to the common people. One of the UPA government’s major
legislative achievements, in its previous term, was the Forest Rights
Act, whose sincere implementation would deprive Maoists of a crucial
support base.
The law is being subverted all over the country, for want of political
mobilisation in its support. The Lanjigarh bauxite mining project, if
it goes through, would be yet more subversion of a key instrumentality
of inclusive growth.
Sidhu in Gadkari’s team
Express News Service
Posted: Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010 at 0031 hrs
Chandigarh:
Member of Parliament (MP) from Amritsar Navjot Singh Sidhu is among
the 15 national secretaries appointed by BJP national president Nitin
Gadkari on Tuesday. With his elevation, Sidhu will find himself in a
greater organisational responsibility as part of the core team of the
party. The Indian Express had on January 20 this year reported Sidhu’s
likely prospects of elevation to the plum post.
Navjot Sidhu’s new political assignment comes as a breather for him,
given that his equation with the BJP state leadership headed by
Rajinder Bhandari, who relinquished charge last month, has been
persistently waning. At one point, Sidhu even contemplated to quit as
an MP.
Sidhu now finds himself on this post despite the fact that his
adversaries in the saffron party have been promulgating Sidhu as a non-
cadre leader without a Sangh background. Sidhu, a three-time MP from
Amritsar, was the lone legislator from the BJP to win the Lok Sabha
seat last year.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Sidhu-in-Gadkari-s-team/591688
Ramdev may join politics, takes dig at Maya
ANI
Posted: Tuesday , Mar 16, 2010 at 1615 hrs
Lucknow:
Yoga Guru Swami Ramdev on Tuesday hinted at entering politics, saying
that he would join with the objective of cleansing the system.
"I will join politics to cleanse the system," said Ramdev. Ramdev said
he would not stand for elections personally, but would field
candidates in all 543 Lok Sabha constituencies.
Earlier, commenting on the giant currency garland controversy, Ramdev
criticized Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati of doing business
through politics. Some people are doing business over politics," said
Ramdev.
Raising questions over the giant garland, used to honour Mayawati
during the Bahujan Samaj Party's silver jubilee celebrations on
Monday, Ramdev said, "Money that should be used for the upliftment of
Dalits is seen being worn as a garland."
40 Comments |
We are with you pls go ahead.
By: Prabhulal buj | Wednesday , 17 Mar '10 9:56:45 AM
Dear, Swami Ramdev ji, we need such a great person who can take to
india's ranking No.1 in the world.I have seen almost all head
politician but I haven't seen who can lead the biggest loktantrik
country(india). The all indian politicain are corrupted.We never
expect from them that india will comes out as a devlop country in few
centuries. So I just requiest to you(Swami ji) that pls be positive we
are with you please go ahead. God bless you.
Guide Followers to believe in Democracy
By: Ganesh Singh | Wednesday , 17 Mar '10 9:44:24 AM
Baba Ramdev is doing gr8 job no doubt about it. But what I think his
followers are middle class people who doesn't go for vote. The people
who vote are poor people who still leaves in villages and think of
their survival. They vote according to their casts or who ever
provides them monetary benefits. My view is that Babaji inspite of
starting his new party should guide and teach this middle class people
to believe in democracy, vote and to vote for right candidates without
any influence. If he makes new party, one more party in indian
democracy will come and divide the votes nothing else.
Good Idea
By: mukesh | Wednesday , 17 Mar '10 9:43:48 AM
Hello Ramdev Baba, This is very good idea for you to handle politics
from out side. We need India purification movement and make Bharat out
of India. All the best and go ahead.
Let us Support Baba Ramdev's Cause
By: Leeladhar Sharma | Wednesday , 17 Mar '10 8:22:31 AM
Baba Ramdev has tailked about practical problems being faced by the
Indian Democracy. He has identified problem areas and is planning to
cleanse the system of its evils- a huge task to to make India a less
corupt country. Honest and Hardworking people need to whole-heartedly
come together for the first and last lest it is too late.
I would vote for him
By: Asit | Wednesday , 17 Mar '10 8:18:47 AM Rep
Hi four loksabha elections have been over since I was 18 years old .
Never ever i had the urge to vote for any one or any political party
in India but if Baba contests in the election of 20-14 definitely I
would vote for him and contribute as a party worker taking 5-7 days
leave from my organization. I belive in what he says and does and am
happy that he took such a necessary step to clean the system . God
save the current politicians from jail if he wins :)
Power Corrupts
By: Spirit | Wednesday , 17 Mar '10 8:15:00 AM
Politicians don not become corrupt, it's the corrupt people who become
politicians. Baba Ramdev should not take a plunge in the dirty waters
of politics. No one can change the world neither the already
established society, ecpect a World War 3. All change has to be at an
individual level and every individual is responsible for bringing that
change in him/herself. Baba Ramdev could and may have been acting as a
catalyst to bring about that change on the individual level of human
beings, but joiing politics he is looking for power now. Surely, power
corrupts.
How About Nikhilananda?
By: Dr. Verma | Wednesday , 17 Mar '10 6:30:49 AM
Personally, I would prefer a real-blooded human like Nikhilananda
rather than a cold, fundamentalist fish of Ramdeva's ilk. If he cannot
correct the strabismus in his eyes by yoga, what hope does realpolitik
have?
Colonel
By: Shashi Sharma | Wednesday , 17 Mar '10 2:24:07 AM
He is trying to bite more than he can chew. He is a good yoga guru and
he should stick to that. YES indian political system is corrupt and
democracy seems to be dead. But politics and democracy has its own
form in India and is very deep rooted.Ushering in revolutions is
easier said than done. He can contribute by bringing in good health
and that should be it. Leave the politics to the politicians.
be decisve
By: sonam | Wednesday , 17 Mar '10 1:13:14 AM
if Ramdev baba really want to do something for indian society he
should continue with his job and make indian citizens healthy!!when he
can't influence people for accepting yoga what he will do in
politics??
Baba Ramdevji, Most Honest In India
By: Sudhir | Wednesday , 17 Mar '10 1:03:02 AM
Baba Ramdevji is the Most Honest Person in India. His vision of India
& the World is very Practical. His ideas are very close to Real
Democracy where People are important, Hindus, Jains, Buddhists,
Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Adivasis etc The very rich & corrupt
politicians are not helping Poor & Middle Class people. Ramdevbaba's
Party will help Indian People to achieve Health, Happiness, Equality.
His Party will deal with the problem of Terrorism very effectively.
kalki has come
By: jai_hind | Wednesday , 17 Mar '10 0:53:29 AM
oh the so called intelluctuals do not even know about the bharat
swabhiman andolan, to all the people i would like to inform that
shradey swami ramdev's strength is no match for these puny
politicians... shradey swami ramdev's power 1.by 2013 there would be
one yoga teacher in every village of india, almost 50% work has been
done in the present 2.many polticians such that madhya pradesh chief
minister shivraj singh chouhan have bowed down to the power of swami
ramdev and have introduced bhagvat gita in the school's on swami
ramdev's suggestion even nepal's President Ram Baran Yadav had come to
patanjali yogpeeth and also wanted baba ramdev to set a yog peeth in
nepal.. 3.there is going to be atleast 10 patanjali yogpeeths with an
area of thousand's of acres to be set up in india till 2014 4.the
bharat swabhiman andolan has 1 lakh members who have dedicated their
lives for the independence of common people from this dark politics.
jai hind
Come on!!!!!!!
By: Vivek | Wednesday , 17 Mar '10 0:43:58 AM
Good to know his intentions, but I am sure COngress will ask Muslims
that he has saffron coloured dresses (what ever he wears) and others
like BJP/Shiv Sena/VHP etc ride onto his back about the very name of
Ramdev baba, and at the end he will be found that it was a mistake by
our beloved Swami Ramdev......people will do some yoga in his rally
but will not vote for him despite of him being honest and un
corrupted....reason: he is not going to distribute liqour and dresses
or money at the time of elections...
We are with you
By: N Gulati | Wednesday , 17 Mar '10 0:43:03 AM
Baba Ramdev Ji, the path is full of thorns but you have the guts to
travel and take us along. You know the real India. You are our future.
There are millions who want India to be number 1. We have fortotten
our great past and lost confidence and our leaders are running scared
of small countries like Pakistan. Our soldiers are not afraid but
leaders are. You are the one who make a Rana Pratap out of an Indian.
May God be with you. Jai Hind
Yoga guru
By: Salim | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 22:29:00 PM
I like Baba Ramdev. If he can spread yoga and its truthfullness to
everyone in India and abroad world would automatically be clean of
corruption But if he joins politics it would make him dirty But i will
still work for him
correction
By: Girish | Wednesday , 17 Mar '10 7:25:23 AM
He wont join politics he has only shown interest to help create a
political party with respectable agenda and practice, that it.
Ramdev baba only saviour
By: K Parameswaran | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 21:14:46 PM
it is a welcome decision from baba ramdev.Good people like babaji
should join politics so as to cleanse corrupt political system.It is
also necessary to change constitution because present one is lenient
to create corrupt people and criminals.
Welcome Ramdev ji
By: Ajoy | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 20:51:34 PM
I am surprised to see people advising Ramdev ji no to contest polls,
as if it is a birth right of fake Gandhis only. And someone also told
about progress. Well we can all see the progress under Abu Azmis of
SP,Mamtas and Pawars of UPA,Raj Thakreys of MNS,Yadav brothers,commies
and fake Gandhis. Great progress indeed. If Ramdevji's intentions are
clean, he is welcome.
Some hope at last?
By: Dr. Ranjana Bajpai | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 20:41:46 PM
Welcome to the murky Indian Politics, Ramdevji. Wish you add a dash of
honesty, nationalism, spiritualism and accountability replacing the
current blend of crime, lineage, money and muscle power. Whatever said
and done, Indian politics is going to witness some real interesting
drama in the lower and upper houses of the parliament.
Bye old politicians, and religion politics
By: Ash | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 20:39:40 PM
Indians in the past was conquered by Mughals, and then British because
they were not united. Congress has been using religion politics to
divide religions, and rule Indians. It is high time that an ethical
leader like Baba Ramdev emerges who unites Indians. A leader who does
not play religion, or regional politics. We hope that all the
religions rally behind him, and throw out unethical Congress, BSP etc.
and start enjoying clean politics. All religions will thrive, instead
of being made to fight each other. It is time for peace, and clean
politics!
Cleaning up Indian politics
By: Padam Singh | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 20:34:44 PM
How does Ramdev expect to clean politics - something God cannot do.
Nehru, Indira and Rajiv Gandhi were personally honest people but
corruption flourished. Nehru was too weak, although people like Kairon
were children in the world of corruption compared to the present day
politicians. Indira encouraged it as did Rajiv. Today Manmohan Singh,
though personally incorrigble, has to allow corruption - the Shibu
Sorens, Mayawatis, the Yadavs, the Khodas, Gogois etc. We may, like
the people who write letters like mine condemning corruption, keep
commenting and suggest action, but then we are the ones that bring
these parasites to power. Let's face facts we Indians, if not corrupt
abet it otherwise what is there stopping the honest public coming out
on the streets and forcing a showdown with the powers that be. No. We
would rather come out in force for the Gymkhanna Club elections or a
Twenty 20 game of cricket. Asked to describe an Indian I said - lazy
and indifferent to others
Ask an average indian
By: Subrata Mahanty | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 20:34:02 PM
The views of Mr.Ramdev are very natural and are practicable in Indian
society, which will make us filth-proof. Be it the debate on currency,
gay-sex or any legitimate debate which comes in the day to day life of
an average Indian, Baba's stance remains above all. He should motivate
enthusiastic youth to join politics and make india corruption free. It
should not be the case to diplomatize the situation into a religious
matter, otherwise we are losing a very good leader. We have already
losed Mr.APJ Abdul Kalam, Mr.AB Bajpayee from the leadership list
because of some leg-pulling politics. Politics is not bad, It has
become bad...Let's make it clear; so that evry one in my country can
utter... SAARE JAHAAN SE ACCHHAA HINDUSTAAN HAMAARA JAI HIND
Babaramdevji on Maya
By: Reddy | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 20:12:04 PM
YES only BABARAMDEVJI can give great governence to our country(BHARAT)
we all r with u BABA just kick this bloody corrupt polictican from our
country (Maya,sonia,all other parties) must be kicked out our country.
THis country belongs to only Indians not for outsiders. BABA suggested
to take out Rs.1000 and 500n notes should be rollback so that we can
control the corruption. if this so called governemnt run by (Manmohan
singh(remote controlled by Sonia)) why dont u rollback. u dont have
guts to do reason u have u r share in that. go ahead BABA we r with u
we need very badly for this country. Jai Hind Vandaymataram
Bharatmataki ji. Reddy
Good news
By: naresh | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 20:06:24 PM
I think there is only one person who can do for our india which has
power of people. Most of people know him very well. I am ready to be a
member of his party.
Koshti
By: Anil Kumar Koshti | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 19:53:43 PM
Ram Dev ji is a grate man and he can do something to our country. His
thinking and way of life should be followed by everyone. we know every
politician is currupt in our country but some body is low or high. but
when everyone can't do as well as he say then we can beleave Baba Ram
Dev. everybody's have two face one is good (according to only me) or
Bad (according to only me)but I believe this man and support to
everyside for win to cleance politics.
Baba Ramdem to enter politics to cleanse
By: shanthanu | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 19:38:44 PM
My humble request to him is, whether you touch the filth or filth
falls on you it is you who is affected as filth remains as abhorring
as ever. Please keep a distance and involve yourself in the noble
cause you are busy with. You dealing with people like Mayawathi is
unthinkable.
RIGHT TO FORM PARTY IN DEMOCRACY BUT MUD-SLINGING SHOULD BE BANNED
By: RAJAT KUMAR MOHINDRU .JALANDHAR CITY .PUNJAB | Tuesday , 16 Mar
'10 19:37:32 PM
World's biggest democratic country India where every person has the
right of freedom and expression , there are different Political
Parties who's representatives contest Elections . As Baba Ram Dev
vision to go ahead with formation of Political Party , it is his
fundamental right whether he is interested in forming a party or to
give support to another Political Party . It depends upon his vision ,
his ideology . As the need of time is of Two Party system in the
country or the Election commission of India should provide Negative
voting if the number of Political Parties go on increasing ,to bring
down the number of Political Parties through Negative Voting by the
voters issue may kindly be considered. The Mud -slinging on each other
by Political Leaders should strictly refrain to make democratic
process more healthy.
We Dont Need Him.....
By: kirankulkarni | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 19:36:45 PM
No BABA can save India from getting screwed by the Islamic Extremists
and I dont think somebody can do the damage control act for all the
things that Indian National Congress has done over a period of six
decades. I suggest Swami Ramdev to stick to his "YOGA school" and help
some obess and diabetic guys rather than doing some endless-hopeless
marathon running with 550 mentally upset tranglodites in the
parliament.. I also suggest people not to back Babaji since the first
thing he would do in case he tastes power, is banning BRANDED food and
beverages, which will paralyse economy. I also believe that this
country needs more of a HARD Stern Faced Ruler,perhaps a dictator who
ll "flush the shit" from this Society. DEMOCRACY IS IN A STATE OF
COMA.
Ramdev may join politics
By: alka | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 19:15:29 PM
Baba Ramdev should get elected and make a rule for all politicians and
policemen in his state to lose weight and get medically fit within a
year. It is amazing how politicians become gain weight sitting on
peoples money.
Only India Baba with clean image
By: Mohanjit | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 18:38:01 PM
Baba Ramdev is required with his mass public support to root out evils
in the society as Raj / Bal Thackerey's. Baba is spreading message of
health, Indian culture, swadeshi things etc. thru his daily
discourses. VOTE HIM TO POWER.Ramdev never says he is GOD but beleives
in karma, he never uses teachers to teach yoga but sweats daily
himself so that his followers get rid of dangerous diseases. We like
him even if he resembles a caveman.
IT IS HIGH TIME ENGLISH MEDIA HIGH LIGHT THE AIMS OF BABA RAM DEVJI
MAHARAJI
By: n.r.i. | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 17:53:32 PM
IT IS HIGH TIME ENGLISH MEDIA LIKE I.E. GIVE COVERAGE TO BABA RAM
DEVJI MAHARAJ .MY COMMENTS ARE ALWAYS BLOCKED . LETS HOPE BABA RAM
DEVJI MAHARAJ WIN WITH TOTAL MAJORITY AND CLEAN POLITICS AND ENGLISH
MEDIA . JAI HIND
ram dev.
By: vijai lugani | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 17:44:17 PM
baba ram dev should not join politics. what he is doing namely
spreading yoga in nook and corner of world , treatment through aruveda
and teaching moral values to the people and more ever politics is
dirty game and he shoul not waste his energy in this. many swamis
tried in politics from the arya samaj which he is follower , namely
parkasveer, swamy agnivesh ect.uma bharti have been failed.swami must
know door ke dhol suhvane hote he
India needs cavemans like this
By: Raj Thackrey | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 17:26:25 PM
I am sure looking at the twenty first century and progress, india
deserves cavemans like this to take india forward i mean back to
middle ages lol. More than seventy percent of indians are brain washed
by this man so they deserve to be like him in future.
cavemen
By: bal | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 18:53:42 PM
you are insulting ayogi calling him cavemen cavemen must be your
ancestors whom you dont have any regards
Cavemen
By: Arvind Mathur | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 22:14:56 PM
If this person can brain wash 70% indians that is better than what the
current political parties do. He will unite 70% Indians to do what is
right for India. Besides why do you discriminate against the
traditional attire of Yogi Baba's - they are not going to wear Pants
and Coats - why should they ?
Inida needs more than just yoga
By: haris | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 20:35:15 PM
baba ram dev's might have a good intention ie to cleanse the system.
But this lacks the STUFF to lead this nations in this modern age.
Ruling a big nation is not like teaching Pranayamam, it is a bit more
complex
Baba Ramdev hints of Joining Politics
By: P L Bajaj | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 17:19:48 PM
Suggest the political party of Baba Ramdev to start contesting
election at lower level, so that the party will be experienced &
matured by the time of Lok Sabha elections. I would like to see a
corruption free India. Hope Baba Ramdev will achieve this target in
future.
Jai ho Neta ji
By: Dr. Ram Chander Sharma | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 17:08:10 PM
The gullible Indian voter will soon see the tricks of another Swami,
who is exlointing the religious sentiments of public. The Indian
political system is open to illiterates, musclement, hoarders,
religious leaders, tantricks, dacoits, filim wallahs and now another
money minter. There must be reservations for technocrates in the
parliament and the state lagislators to keep the political chors at
bay Siot Sunderbani Jammu.
Political Thieves
By: Arvind Mathur | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 22:19:45 PM
I wonder why you believe that technical people are not political
thieves ? We have lots of Engineers in the government who are total
Chors or even Maha Chors.
Educated illiterates
By: Ash | Tuesday , 16 Mar '10 20:46:14 PM
India has problems because some of it educated illiterates are not
able to understand clean politics from unethical politicians. It is
probably ignorant people like you in the past who invited British to
India, and they ruled us.
NEW MAXIM
By: NIRANJAN | Wednesday , 17 Mar '10 8:31:58 AM
I LIKE YOUR NEW MAXIM, OR WHATEVER IT CAN BE CALLED: 'THE EDUCATED
ILLITERATE'. IT IS UNFORTUNATE THAT INDIA IS FULL OF PEOPLE WHO ARE
ONLY EDUCATED IN A UNIVERSITY OR SCHOOL, BUT ARE TOTALLY IGNORANT OF
THE WORLD AS A WHOLE. MEMBERS OR BSP, SS, SP, MNS ARE ONLY A FEW
EXAMPLES OF SUCH GROUP OF PEOPLE.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/india-needs-cavemans-like-this/591533/#postComment
Row over Maya mala, I-T to probe money source
ENS Economic Bureau
Posted: Tuesday , Mar 16, 2010 at 2340 hrs
New Delhi:
Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati being offered a garland made up of 1000
rupee notes during BSP's Maharally in Lucknow.
A day after the BSP’s maharally, the Income Tax (I-T) department said
on Tuesday that it would probe the “source of money” of the huge
currency-note garland presented to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister
Mayawati.
Sources said the I-T department would investigate the ownership of the
Rs 1,000 notes used in the garland, the bank from which the money was
sourced, whether the money used was from disclosed income sources.
After a preliminary investigation, the department would accordingly
make a case for tax evasion.
Under the Income Tax Act, 1967, the department has power to suo motu
initiate inquiries into suspicious transactions. It can issue summons
under Section 131 and impound and retain in its custody any books of
account or other documents for the purpose. It can also call for any
information required for the case under Section 133(6).
The sources said the intelligence department would also be asked to
look into the entire funding of the rally organised by Mayawati for
the silver jubilee function of the BSP.
The Congress, meanwhile, accused Mayawati of failing to control
communal riots in Bareilly and compared her with Roman emperor Nero.
“What kind of a government is this? Bareilly is burning and there is
celebration in Lucknow,” Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said,
demanding a judicial inquiry into the riots. “The Nero sitting in UP
has a big role. Without administrative support, no riot can continue
for two weeks,” he said.
Tewari said there was an attempt to “polarise” the people in UP and it
was the BJP that had taught the BSP the “politics of riots”.
Comments (4) |
Maya Ki Mala ki Maya
By: Ashok K Gupta | 17-Mar-2010
Mala makes Mayas and Mayas make malas.This is how our political wheel
is running.Mayas & malas are inseprable in our
legislation,executive,.........We have silent endorsement in our
mandate,so why hue & cry now.
It is biased news from Media
By: Chandra | 17-Mar-2010
Media never made news about when fraud is committed by Congress. INR
60000 crore scam by our telecommunication Minister. Who cares. Penny
wise and Pound Foolish.
All eyewash
By: anand | 17-Mar-2010
Nothing is going to happen.Any scam tainted politician or neta got
harsh punishment in this country.A big no. For 2-3 days this is
another scoop news for channels and media,that's all. The citizens of
this country is getting fooled again and again.
Maya mala versus italian bofors Q mals
By: ramdev | 17-Mar-2010
Atleast for bad or worse Maya appeared with the mala. How about the
Bofors mala wore by the Quttorachi? How was he allowed to go free with
thousand of crores mala? Indian media especially congress channels
like NDTV only make noise of the Maya mala and silent about the
Italian Q mala
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/row-over-maya-mala-it-to-probe-money-source/591635/
Pune blast a blot, advisories ignored: Chidambaram
Express news service
Posted: Tuesday , Mar 16, 2010 at 2336 hrs
New Delhi:
Describing the Pune blast as a “blot on our record”, Home Minister P
Chidambaram stated in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that there was no
intelligence failure.
Chidambaram, who was replying to queries by Shiv Sena member Bhavana
Gawali Patil and Supriya Sule during question hour, said, “Despite the
intelligence shared, despite the advisories issued, the Pune blast
occurred... I regard that as a blot on our record.”
The Home Minister said enough information had been shared with the
Maharashtra Government about the terrorist threat.
He said consequently, the Pune Police had issued an advisory to all
establishments in the Koregaon Park area of Pune on October 9, 2009.
German Bakery manager Praveen Pant had acknowledged the receipt of the
advisory. The advisory was repeated in December. However,
establishments in the area did not pay any heed to the advisories.
These establishments, according to him, had to take their own minimal
security measures, which was not done.
Responding to queries of members, the minister said the Centre was
encouraging all states to set up anti-terrorist squads and NSG hubs,
modernise their police forces and procure advanced weapons.
Regarding the inadequacy of bullet-proof jackets in Maharashtra
Police, the Home Minister said the Centre planned placing an order for
their purchase for the central forces and the state could either
piggyback the Centre or make its own procurement.
Comments (1) |
Issue
By: ravi | 17-Mar-2010
Issue advisories every day like bhel puri, papri chhat & when the
blast occurs, say that advisory was issued. wow what gems we have as
Home Ministers!
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pune-blast-a-blot-advisories-ignored-chidambaram/591631/
DP cracks corrupted Godman's pan India network
Agencies
Posted: Tuesday , Mar 16, 2010 at 1625 hrs
New Delhi:
The Delhi Police submitted before a court that self-styled Godman Shiv
Murat Dwivedi was running a huge network of flesh trade involving more
than a hundred brokers and thousand prostitutes across the country.
Appearing before Special Judge S K Sarwaria, the investigating agency
pleaded for extension of his custodial interrogation to unearth the
vast network.
"We have to unearth the whole network in which more than hundred
brokers and thousand prostitutes are involved. He has also amassed
huge property in Mumbai, Noida, Kolkata, Varanasi and Gowardhan," the
police contended, also placing eight diaries and five CDs seized by it
before the court.
It further contended that the dairy contains information pertaining to
money transactions contact details of more than three thousand persons
which has been written in coded language.
The court after hearing the police's contention accepted its plea and
extended Dwivedi's custodial remand for four more days. Dwivedi, is
accused in four cases under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and
one case of robbery. He was arrested on March nine under the
provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
Dwivedi is alleged to have earned crores of rupees through the sex
racket.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/dp-cracks-corrupted-godmans-pan-india-network/591536/
Godman, 7 held in sex racket
Express News Service
Posted: Saturday , Feb 27, 2010 at 0024 hrs
New Delhi:
Shiv Murat Dwivedi and seven others at the office of the DCP (South)
in Hauz Khas on Friday.
He organised satsangs, composed spiritual music, constructed a temple
and has now been arrested for running a prostitution racket.
Following the arrest of the self-styled spiritual guru, his accomplice
and six sex workers on Thursday, the South Delhi police claimed to
have unearthed a major prostitution racket.
The police said the accused — his real name is Shiv Murat Dwivedi, but
he was also known by many others, including Rajiv Dwiwedi, Shiv Murti
and Shiv Roop and Swami Ichadari Sant Swami Bhimanandji Maharaj
Chitrkootwale — arranged for sex workers in upscale areas of the
Capital as well as five-star hotels.
Of the six arrested, two are working with airlines and one is a
management student, the police said.
Yet another is a former student of a South Delhi school, the police
said. The arrested associate has been identified as Parveen Kumar
(28).
“On Thursday, Sub-Inspector Sanjay Sharma was sent to Dwivedi as a
decoy customer. After he struck a deal at Saket with him, we arrested
the group. The cars they were travelling in — a Honda Civic and a
Honda City — were also seized,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police
(South), H G S Dhaliwal.
Dwivedi came from Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh, to Delhi in 1988 and
began working as a security guard at a hotel in Nehru Place. Later, he
worked at a massage parlour in Lajpat Nagar and began a prostitution
racket, for which he was arrested in 1997.
After being released on bail, he transformed himself into a spiritual
leader.
“He soon began a flesh trade racket. He also constructed a 200-bed
hospital in Chitrakoot, a temple in Khanpur and began holding
satsangs,” DCP Dhaliwal said. The hospital and the temple were meant
to further sex trade in the garb of charity, he added.
The police recovered Rs 1.55 lakh, besides copies of a magazine
containing Dwivedi’s articles on spirituality as well as video CDs of
his sermons in the impounded cars.
Comments (5) |
Take it easy guys
By: Nick | 28-Feb-2010
Hey guys relax, its not only in India it is all over the world. When
it happens in India involving some thing like a Guru its splashes
world over, when such things happen in Catholic and Evangelist
churches those just go under the carpet helped by the same media. He
just used that as front to run his business, that's all about it.
think
By: pravin tarhal | 28-Feb-2010
this is very common today. but most fustrating is that we the people &
media are supporting these kind of things to happen like all leading
newspapers in delhi or all over india are full with classifieds of
massage parlours, friendship networks, with phone numbers & openly
indicating what they are trading of using sentenses like"hot body to
body" pujabi,russian,collage girl,foreigners,"full
satisfaction,moksh,full enjoyment" You(IE)can Claim that i have wrote
offenssive words above.but the classifides & the peoples cant be
stopped. this is fustrating. If somebody call on those numbers got
directly got asked about the requirement of the type of girl , period
& place of delivery. that means the police is slipping or acting like
they are in slip.ALL THESE THINGS ARE SUPPORTED BY US PEOPLE & THE
MEDIA. CAN WE STOPP THIS ? I DONT THINK SO BECAUSE THERE IS LOSS OF
EASY MONY......... THE TIME HAS COME TO THINK ABOUT THE SOCIETY
GODMEN AND RELIGION
By: NIRANJAN | 27-Feb-2010
OVERALL WE INDIANS ARE CONSIDERED VERY SMART PEOPLE. WE ALWAYS LOOK
BEFORE WE LEAP AND DON'T TRUST ANYONE EASILY. HOWEVER, WHEN IT COMES
TO RELIGION AND GODMEN TALKING ABOUT RELIGION, WE BECOME SO NAIVE THAT
WE ARE READY TO DO ANYTHING THAT THESE GODMEN ASK US TO DO. THIS IS
THE RESULT OF THE SUPERSTITIOUS NATURE OF OURS WHICH MAKES US TOO
STUPID WHEN WE SEE A PERSON IN SAFRON OR WHITE CLOTHES PREACHING LIKE
HE KNOWS IT ALL. I WISH AND HOPE THAT ALL THESE GODMEN BE SCRUTINIZED
BY SOME AUTHORITY OR EVEN NGOs AND EXPOSE THEIR SCAMS.!
The Scam artists
By: deepak | 27-Feb-2010
In order to expose these rascals you need an expert who is an
authority on the subject matter of religion.In my experience vast
majority of the general public and the so called 'spiritual gurus' do
not even know the meaning of the word 'religion',or who is God? or
what is the relationship between us and God? or what is the activity
that we should perform and the goal of that realtionship? In my
opinion only a Vaishnava can be deemed as an authority in spiritual
matters. Rest all must be rejected. deepak
Godmen
By: nihichsu | 27-Feb-2010
This is to respond to Mr. Niranjan's comments. It is not only that we
Indians trust fully these Godmen and get fooled. This is happening
everywhere in the world including USA, Europe, China etc. Religion and
its Godmen have indulged into nefarious activities all over the world.
Hindus are not the only scapegoats. This is happening amongst Roman
Catholics, Protestants, other Christian sects, Islam and its various
sects, Buddism etc. True that Karl Marx said "Relgion is the opium of
the masses".
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/godman-7-held-in-sex-racket/584978/0
Godman’s ashrams face public fury after footage with starlet
Express news service
Posted: Thursday , Mar 04, 2010 at 2350 hrs
Chennai:
A day after a private TV channel and a vernacular weekly showed
visuals claiming them to be of popular spiritual leader Paramahamsa
Nithyananda with a film actress of yesteryears, his ashrams, statues
and even posters were targeted by angry protesters.
A group of advocates in Chennai and Coimbatore approached the police
commissioners in the cities with the demand that the police book the
godman under criminal charges even as his organisation blamed
“conspiracy, graphics and rumour” for the controversy.
The controversy began on Tuesday when Sun News aired video clippings
that showed the godman allegedly in a compromising position with the
actress. The Nakkeeran weekly followed up with screenshots and news in
its latest issue that hit stands on Wednesday.
The video enraged fringe Hindu outfits like Hindu Makkal Katchi and
atheistic Dravidar Kazhagam alike, both attacking the properties
managed by Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam in their boroughs of strength.
While the former demanded action against Nithyananda for bringing
disrepute to religion, the latter raised similar demands for duping
people. Protests were staged across the state, including in
Tiruvannamalai, Namakkal, Coimbatore and Salem.
Meanwhile, the Dhyanapeetam issued a statement stating that the
'defamatory' video was a mix of conspiracy, graphics and rumour. "We
are working on a legal course of action and will come up with updates
in due course," said the statement.
Comments (6) |
What conspiracy ?
By: syArjun | 04-Mar-2010
People who are commenting here are fools or his die hard supporters.
It is Nithyanada in the video -if you cant see then ur blind. Second -
No one is trying to defame the Hindus , it is the 'Love Gurus' who are
destroying hinduism. True some elements may be acting to bring
disrepute to hinduism but here we have the Proof of swamigal(Swami
Gal). Anyways , it is the fools money that nithyananda is getting so
who cares. Hindus will learn by example who is true and who is fraud.
Nithyanada should have married and indulged in these pleasures, he has
brought disrepute to the Ochre robe and should be punished for it.
People see the robe and fall at the feet of the wearer ..we have so
much respect for that robe! I have seen his videos .. his lectures are
prepared by a team of writers and his organisation is run by an expert
management team. They charge huge amount and guarantee you realisation
after a 21 days program. Bah ! wake up all of you.
No confirmation yet.
By: Ayarn | 04-Mar-2010
The fellow in the video could be a good actor paid by some opposition
to defame the swami. Who knows? Who can confirm or not whether it is
really nithyananda? You can't jump to conclusion based on low
resolution video clip, it can very well be a setup to discredit the
organisation because they have too much power and support in south
india.
be selfish
By: shanthakumar | 04-Mar-2010
whatever it may be ,we should not look on the world, we should be very
clever in this cheating world work for our family, thats
enough,angrily if we do something it will not affect us ,surely it
affects our family ,in the most populated country such as india these
godman will not stop cheating people, our life is in our hand, be
clever have a happy life to all my indians
are you people blind?
By: raj | 04-Mar-2010
why is it so hard to beleive that the guy in the video is who he
is?..Nithyanandam is just another common man, a very intelligent
fraudster who has basic needs like every human being. It is so clear
from the video that he has some physical relationship that woman,
which is not an issue. The real issue is that - he is leading a double
life and fooling his followers..he is just a egomaniac and a cheat.
Blasphemy
By: vyasa | 04-Mar-2010
Misbehavior of the actual culprits in certain religions doesn't get
publicized whereas as history has proved Hindu Saints,Gods are always
target of the certain elements that belong to certain religions whose
main ambition is increasing headcount by indulging in
blasphemy,conversions through abuse and deceit( they take advatage of
peoples poverty,(give people some amount of money if they give up
Hinduism and take up their religion),illiteracy,ignorance).
Conspiracy
By: Brhamanda | Thursday , 4 Mar '10 1:19:37 AM
Just 2 days back there was a so called scandal about another spiritual
guru.Looks like whoever is behind all these TV shows is pretty
desperate to curb the popularity of Hinduism and Hindu spiritual
masters. We all know how alike the characters look even in all those
60's movies where hero does double action right? We are talking about
today where the technology has advanced rapidly than even in 60's. It
is not even confirmed if the person in the video is Swamiji so people
need not jump to conclusions by watching the video.We are talking
about Nithyanada who doesn't even eat onions,garlic,green chillies and
the vidoe says he's drinking liquor.That shows what a joke that video
is. Abusing an enlightened master is the worst sin which stays with
the soul making it suffer for life(s) together.Those who have
attempted to malign Swamiji and did the video have made their
choice.You don't make your choice by just watching or even reading
about a stupid video.
From MP to DM, ‘godman’ played host to all at his Chitrakoot ashram
Vijay Pratap Singh
Posted: Monday , Mar 01, 2010 at 0251 hrs
Allahabad:
Former DM of Chitrakoot, Hridesh Kumar, inaugurates a function at
Dwivedi’s ashramFlower & Cake DeliveryValentine
Gift'sDiscussionBlogsHeadley is smart - By Arun
Self-styled godman Swami Shiv Murat Dwivedi alias Swami Bhimanandji
Maharaj alias Swami Ichchadhari Sant — arrested on Friday for
allegedly running a sex racket — has links with several influential
people back home in Chitrakoot district, Uttar Pradesh.
A four-day programme he organised at his ashram at Chamrauha village
in October 18, 2009, was inaugurated by Hridesh Kumar, then district
magistrate of Chitrakoot. The Samjawadi Party (SP) MP from Banda, RK
Singh Patel, SP Member of Legislative Council Yuvraj Singh, and slain
dacoit Dadua’s son and zila panchayat chairman Veer Singh were special
invitees on the occasion. In hoardings, Rural Development minister
Daddu Prasad was named as the chief guest for the programme. He did
not attend. But local BSP leaders like Vinod Kumar Dwivedi, the block
pramukh of Manikpur, did attend and stayed for the cultural programme
by girls from Delhi.
A month after the programme, Manikpur police lodged an FIR against the
godman and three others for a clash during the dance programme, said K
K Mishra, Station House Officer of Manikpur.
Officials said Hridesh Kumar, who inaugurated the programme, also
issued a rifle licence to the godman. Kumar, who is currently the
District Magistrate of Ghazipur, refused to comment.
Lok Sabha member R K Singh Patel said he did not know the godman
personally. “But I know his father Bachcha Lal,” he said. “Being the
MP from the area, I accepted the invitation. If he is running a sex
racket, he must be punished. I don’t have any connection with him.”
MLC Yuvraj Singh said: “Our society respects godmen. I was invited by
Dwivedi, so I went. It was the first and the last time I saw
him.”
BSP block pramukh Vinod Kumar Dwivedi said he went to the ashram
because, “like others, I was also invited. I did not know that he was
involved in such activities.”
The godman often visited Chamrauha which he has renamed “Sai Nagar”.
He is building a large temple in his ashram — the work has been on for
two years.
On Sunday, the Delhi Police sent a team to Chitrakoot to collect
evidence against him and information about his past. “Shiv Murat
Dwivedi was first arrested in Lajpat Nagar in 1997 for running a
prostitution racket in a massage parlour,” said DCP (South) HGS
Dhaliwal. “He had worked at a massage parlour in the area in 1990.
During the job, he came in contact with pimps and started the sex
racket. He has links with several influential persons and leaders in
Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.”
The Chitrakoot police, too, have started collecting details of the
criminal activities of his family. His father Bachcha Lal Dwivedi is
named in five criminal cases— these include murder, dowry death, theft
and patronising dacoits. His elder brother Ram Murat Dwivedi was
booked for the murder of his wife; younger brothers Sanjay and Krishna
Dwivedi were booked in theft cases in 2001. In spite of their criminal
past, several members of the family had managed to get arms licences.
Bachcha Lal has a licence for a double-barreled gun. Shiv Murat
Dwivedi and Sanjay Dwivedi got licences for rifles in 2009. Chitrakoot
SP Veer Bahadur Singh said he had asked the Manikpur police to probe
how these were issued.
Comments (1) |
Swami Chakar Dhar
By: Harbans Lal | 01-Mar-2010
He should be nominated as a member Rajya Sabha.
In UP hometown, ‘godman’ Dwivedi sports political ties
Vijay Pratap Singh
Posted: Monday , Mar 01, 2010 at 0041 hrs
Allahabad:
Months before his arrest in sex racket, a programme at the Chitrakoot
ashram of Swami Shiv Murat Dwivedi attended by SP parliamentarian, BSP
leader and the then District Magistrate
Self-styled godman Swami Shiv Murat Dwivedi alias Swami Bhimanandji
Maharaj alias Swami Ichchadhari Sant — arrested on Friday for
allegedly running a sex racket — has links with several influential
people back home in Chitrakoot, UP.
A four-day programme he organised at his ashram at Chamrauha village
in October 18, 2009, was inaugurated by Hridesh Kumar, then district
magistrate of Chitrakoot. The Samjawadi Party (SP) parliamentarian
Banda, RK Singh Patel, SP Member of Legislative Council Yuvraj Singh,
and slain dacoit Dadua’s son and zila panchayat chairman Veer Singh
were special invitees on the occasion. In hoardings, Rural Development
minister Daddu Prasad was named as the chief guest for the programme.
He did not attend. But local BSP leaders like Vinod Kumar Dwivedi, the
block pramukh of Manikpur, did attend and stayed for the cultural
programme by girls from Delhi.
A month after the programme, Manikpur police lodged an FIR against the
godman and three others for a clash during the dance programme, said K
K Mishra, Station House Officer of Manikpur.
Officials said Hridesh Kumar, who inaugurated the programme, also
issued a rifle licence to the godman. Kumar, who is currently the
District Magistrate of Ghazipur, refused to comment.
Lok Sabha member R K Singh Patel said he did not know the godman
personally. “But I know his father Bachcha Lal,” he said. “Being the
MP from the area, I accepted the invitation. If he is running a sex
racket, he must be punished. I don’t have any connection with him.”
MLC Yuvraj Singh said: “Our society respects godmen. I was invited by
Dwivedi, so I went. It was the first and the last time I saw
him.”
BSP block pramukh Vinod Kumar Dwivedi said he went to the ashram
because, “like others, I was also invited. I did not know that he was
involved in such activities.”
The godman often visited Chamrauha which he has renamed “Sai Nagar”.
He is building a large temple in his ashram — the work has been on for
two years.
On Sunday, the Delhi Police sent a team to Chitrakoot to collect
evidence against him and information about his past.
“Shiv Murat Dwivedi was first arrested in Lajpat Nagar in 1997 for
running a prostitution racket in a massage parlour,” said DCP (South)
HGS Dhaliwal. “He had worked at a massage parlour in the area in 1990.
During the job, he came in contact with pimps and started the sex
racket. He has links with several influential persons and leaders in
Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.”
The Chitrakoot police, too, have started collecting details of the
criminal activities of his family. His father Bachcha Lal Dwivedi is
named in five criminal cases — these include murder, dowry death,
theft and patronising dacoits. His elder brother Ram Murat Dwivedi was
booked for the murder of his wife; younger brothers Sanjay and Krishna
Dwivedi were booked in theft cases in 2001.
In spite of their criminal past, several members of the family had
managed to get arms licences. Bachcha Lal has a licence for a double-
barreled gun. Shiv Murat Dwivedi and Sanjay Dwivedi got licences for
rifles in 2009. Chitrakoot SP Veer Bahadur Singh said he had asked the
Manikpur police to probe how these were issued.
Comments (3) |
what a shame!
By: Shraddha | 04-Mar-2010
After having all these facts published, still there is no action.
People should stand up against such phony men of god and treat them
humanly. With justice! Jail these sick men, not godmen!
GODMAN
By: Tota Ram | 02-Mar-2010
India has a great civilization and has had great religious teachers
like Swami Ramkrishna, Swami Dayanand etc. Like any other country we
do also have scoundrels in our country posing as Saints. I suggest
public cateration of these people.
GODMEN AND POLITICIANS
By: NIRANJAN | 01-Mar-2010
ON ONE HAND POLITICIANS ARE SMART ENOUGH TO FOOL THE AAM AADMI FOR AT
LEAST FIVE YEARS. ON THE THE OTHER HAND THEY ARE GULLIBLE ENOUGH TO
BELIEVE IN SUCH GODMEN WHO, I AM SURE, PROMISE THEM THE 'GADDI' IN
DELHI OR SUCH THINGS BY THEIR 'TANTRIK' POWERS. SUPERTITIONS IS THE
ROOT CAUSE OF THE EVIL IN INDIA. UNFORTUNATELY THE NETAs FOSTER THESE
KINDS OF PEOPLE AND THE THE REAL SUFFERES IS THE AAM AADMI!
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/in-up-hometown-godman-dwivedi-sports-political-ties/585556/0
In UP village, devotees stop cops from probing ‘godman’ property
Express News Service
Posted: Sunday , Mar 07, 2010 at 0109 hrs
New Delhi:
Followers of self-styled godman Shiv Murat Dwivedi formed a human
chain around his property in his village in Uttar Pradesh on Friday
and thwarted attempts by a Delhi Police team from entering the
premises for probe into the alleged multi-crore sex racket he ran.
“We believe Dwivedi’s henchmen learnt about our arrival and got locals
to form the human chain,” DCP (South) H G S Dhaliwal said.
The team was supposed to take Dwivedi to the ashram and an upscale
house he built for his parents in Manekpur area of Chitrakoot in Uttar
Pradesh, but a crowd of around 2,000 did not let them enter, the
police said.
The police need to establish in court that Dwivedi accumulated
property and wealth from his crime syndicate to initiate the stringent
Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against Dwivedi.
MCOCA also gives police the right to seize property built with money
from such a syndicate.
Dhaliwal said the police are in the final stages of filing an
application to invoke provisions of MCOCA in court.
In Chitrakoot, Dwivedi reportedly claimed innocence and alleged that
some politicians had framed him in the sex racket case. Asked by the
media about his alleged links with slain dacoit Dadua, Dwivedi
accepted that he knew Danua but denied involvement in any crime.
In another development, police said they have found Dwivedi had at
least four bank accounts under his ‘real’ name: Rajiv Ranjan Dwivedi.
The daily or monthly transactions ranged between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1
lakh in each account, officers said.
“He ran his empire very professionally,” DCP Dhaliwal said. He
purportedly gave his staff and call girls allegedly working under him
“proper holidays” and weekly breaks.
Chitrakoot police begin process to strip ‘godman’ of his arms licence
Vijay Pratap Singh
Posted: Thursday , Mar 04, 2010 at 0306 hrs
Lucknow:
The temple which is under construction at Chitrakoot’s Chamrauha area.
express photo
Self-styled ‘godman’ Swami Shiv Murat Dwivedi alias Swami Bhimanandji
Maharaj alias Swami Ichchadhari Sant, who was arrested in Delhi on
February 26 for allegedly running a sex racket, is all set to be
stripped of his arms licence.
The Chitrakoot police today began proceedings to cancel his licence
that was issued by former district magistrate Hridesh Kumar.
“Taking cognizance of media reports and his arrest by the Delhi
Police, I have initiated the cancellation proceedings. Following an
inquiry, it came to light that the Manikpur police had ignored two
cases against him and made recommendations for the licence. I have
sent a report to the district magistrate to cancel his licence,” said
SP Veer Bahadur Singh.
Singh added that three licences had been issued to Swami and his
family members, including his father, Bachcha Lal, and brother Sanjay
Murat Dwivedi.
“The inquiry is on against his father and brother who possess licences
for a double barrel gun and rifle, respectively. If the police find
their involvement in criminal cases, their licences too will be
cancelled,” he added.
A team of five policemen from Delhi, led by Station House Officer of
Saket, Bhrama Deo, has arrived in Chitrakoot to collect information
about the ‘godman’.
“We have started verifying the statements of the ‘godman’ and are
inspecting his properties. We have also learnt that he was
constructing a multi-crore temple at Chamrauha under Manikpur police
station in Chitrakoot,” said Deo. The police team has inspected the
temple, the godman’s ashram and the residence of his father. “After
physical inspection, we will obtain the papers of his properties and
assets from the district magistrate,” said Deo.
The Delhi Police have intitiated proceedings to invoke Maharashtra
Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the ‘godman’.
Under MCOCA, stringent punishment is awarded to a person or gang
operating as part of a crime syndicate, said Deputy Commissioner of
Police (South) H G S Dhaliwal.
Give copy of custodial interrogation plea to Dwivedi: Court to cops
NEW DELHI: A city court on Wednesday asked the Delhi Police to provide
a copy of their application, seeking to interrogate ‘godman’ Shiv
Murat Dwivedi in custody, to the accused.
Metropolitan Magistrate Ravinder Singh, who was approached by the
police for permission to question Dwivedi (39), said: “the accused
(should) be provided a copy of the remand application”. “Once an
accused is remanded in judicial custody, the police cannot seek his
custody unless there are special reasons,” the counsel appearing for
Dwivedi said. The accused has a right to know the grounds for his
detention and custodial interrogation, he added.
The police said custodial interrogation of Dwivedi was required to
unravel the case. “Fix the application for arguments tomorrow,” the
court said after hearing the arguments. pti
From driver to godman’s deputy, Praveen was on a roll for two years
Sahim Salim
Posted: Saturday , Mar 06, 2010 at 0030 hrs
New Delhi:
The self-styled godman Swami Shiv Murat Dwivedi, arrested from South
Delhi for allegedly running a multi-crore sex racket, took good care
of the people loyal to him.
The police said Dwivedi elevated the financial standing of his second-
in-command, Parveen Kumar, also arrested along with him on February
25.
Sources said Kumar, a native of Jhajjar in Haryana, would drive an
auto-rickshaw till 2008. Two years after he started working with
Dwivedi, Kumar drove a Honda City — it was seized by the police during
his arrest.
“He was Dwivedi’s face in the racket. He was in charge of the
logistics; he also made and finalised the deals. Whenever Dwivedi was
busy giving sermons, Kumar took charge of the racket,” a senior police
officer said.
A police team, meanwhile, recovered a rifle and other weapons
purportedly belonging to Dwivedi from his residence in Chitrakoot,
Uttar Pradesh, after a raid on Friday. Sources said it also came to
light during the raid that Dwivedi's personal bodyguards carried
firearms.
“We first need to assess and seize his property. He has many areas
within the Capital where he functioned. We need to investigate whether
the house owners knew about his operations,” a senior police officer
said.
The police are, meanwhile, also probing the allegations made by the
father of a Jaipur-based girl who said Dwivedi was behind the
abduction of his daughter. The 22-year-old woman is missing since
December 23 last year.
MCOCA likely to be invoked against ‘godman’
Express News Service
Posted: Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 0105 hrs
New Delhi:
The South Delhi police are likely to invoke provisions of the
Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the 39-year-
old ‘godman’ Swami Shiv Murat Dwivedi, arrested on Friday for
allegedly running a high-profile sex racket.
Under MCOCA, stringent punishment is awarded to a person or gangs
operating as a syndicate.
Dwivedi was arrested along with an accomplice and six women, including
two air-hostesses, for allegedly running a multi-crore sex racket.
“We are looking at the possibility of whether Dwivedi can be slapped
with charges under the provisions of MCOCA,” Deputy Commissioner of
Police (South), H G S Dhaliwal said. MCOCA allows the police to adduce
as evidence the confession of the accused made before a senior police
officer not below the rank of a DCP.
Police officials said that in all, Dwivedi has four cases registered
against him. In 1997, Dwivedi was arrested on charges of running a
prostitution racket in Lajpat Nagar. The next year, he was arrested
for dacoity in Badarpur. In 2003, he was arrested from Noida Sector 24
— charges under the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act and the
Gangster Act were slapped.
The police said Dwivedi undertook charity activities as a guise to
explain the flow of money — he earned close to Rs 2 lakh every month
through his criminal activities. DCP Dhaliwal said they will seek
police custody to take Dwivedi to Chitrakoot for verifying the
ownership of his properties and investigate if his activities extended
to UP.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mcoca-likely-to-be-invoked-against-godman/585961/
‘Godman’ booked for abduction
Express News Service
Posted: Monday , Mar 08, 2010 at 0104 hrs
Ghaziabad:
A self-styled godman in Ghaziabad has been booked for abducting his
cousin.
The police said the accused, Anup Kumar Sahay, is a resident of Vijay
Nagar. According to a complaint filed by the victim’s mother Subha
Srivastava, the accused, along with his brother Ashok Kumar Sahay, had
abducted her daughter, Priyanka. “Priyanka has been missing since
February 15, when she went to purchase milk,” Subha Srivastava has
stated in the complaint. The police said the two accused are
Priyanka’s cousins and often visited her house in Raj Nagar.
Superintendent of Police (City) Ghaziabad Avdhesh Kumar Vijeta said
the police received the complaint on Saturday. “Sahay has been booked
under Sections 363, 313 and 366 of the IPC which pertain to kidnapping
and forcing a woman to undergo abortion without her will.”
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/godman-booked-for-abduction/588008/
Caught on camera, godman held for extortion
Express News Service
Posted: Friday , Mar 13, 2009 at 2249 hrs
Mumbai:
Them & US From ABCD to almightyHealth dangers of GM FoodsStand on Bt
Brinjal
The Pydhonie police arrested a godman on Holi on charges of extortion
after the victim recorded the threat in a camera embedded in a pen.
One Mohammad Ashfaq Qureshi, a gold-dust contractor, had lodged a
complaint that godman Mohammad Gulzar had threatened to kill him
either by cursing or stabbing if he did not leave his job. Sheikh then
told Qureshi that he must pay him Rs 2 lakh if he wanted to keep his
business.
Acting on Qureshi’s complaint, the police set a trap and sent Qureshi
with Rs 25,000 in marked notes, to pay Sheikh. However, the clinching
evidence in the case was the video clip Qureshi had recorded with a
video recording pen. Sheikh was arrested on Wednesday. The police
believe that a business rival must have approached Sheikh to threaten
the complainant and are investigating into his identity.
“Sheikh is the typical godman. He began threatening Qureshi on
February 28, saying that if he didn’t leave his business, he would use
black magic to kill him. He said that if he wanted to continue with
his business, he should pay him Rs 2 lakh,” said a police officer from
Pydhonie police station. “Qureshi agreed to meet Sheikh and recorded
his threats on a video recording pen. We asked him to contact Sheikh
and pay him so that we could to trap him,” said the officer.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/caught-on-camera-godman-held-for-extortion/433787/
Godman stages suicide drama at police station
Rajeev P I
Posted: Sunday , May 18, 2008 at 2341 hrs
Kochi, May 17:
Kerala's latest screwball comedy starring yet another godman was
played out right inside a police station at Aluva here on Saturday
morning. This was staged by Swami Himaval Bhadranandaji, an
engineering course dropout-turned-political prophet, godman and maker
of fine holy ashes from thin air.
The Swami had the whole state watching him live on TV as he pranced
about in the police station with a fully loaded .32 revolver pressed
to his own head, vowing to pull the trigger to teach the local media a
deadly lesson for daring to give him a bad press.
All through the two-hour drama hogging all TV channels in the state,
the cops made no attempt at all to disarm the godman lording over
their police station — he even had the cops help recharge his mobile
so that he could keep calling up people with his free hand and held
the gun with the other. Senior police officers kept pleading with him
to go easy on the trigger.
The drama ended with the Swami pulling the trigger, finally. But
instead of shooting the reporters or himself, he shot through the
police station roof. A bullet grazed his own left hand and the godman
collapsed in a howling heap, leaving startled cops in the room to run
for their lives. The police, however, picked up a media reporter who
screamed and went down as soon as the swami fired. The police rushed
him to hospital while TV channels began saying he had been shot. But
the man soon came to, only to say he had fainted in fright.
Swami Bhadranandaji, who runs an outfit called “Karma” in Kochi, began
falling out with the media after some local newspapers began poking
into his activities after the fall of another high-profile local
godman, Swami Amritachaitanya last week. The latter was exposed to
have been a fraudster wanted by Interpol — besides a porn video star
and producer, mostly using under-age girls from poor families, many
lured in with educational sponsorships.
Bhadranandaji, who loved dropping names and claiming high political
connections, even fixed an official red beacon of the kind ministers,
high court judges and senior officials use, on the dome of his
personal car. He had a sizeable following in Kochi and Kozhikode, and
had often been hogging attention with his predictions and claims,
including his political prophesies, until reports hinted at a darker
side too.
The swami had barged into a local newspaper office on Friday and
threatened the staff there for printing some unedifying reports, and
the police had promptly filed a case against him. On Saturday morning,
he called the media to his home to announce his protest suicide, and
the police had got him to shift the drama to the police station
instead.
Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the swami appeared to have
got a gun license from the local administration without police
verification. Though the swami had claimed the minister was his close
pal, Balakrishnan denied it.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/godman-stages-suicide-drama-at-police-station/311137/0
Fifth case against ‘godman’
Express News Service
Posted: Friday , Mar 05, 2010 at 0128 hrs
New Delhi:
The police have unearthed yet another case of immoral trafficking
against self-styled godman Swami Shiv Murat Dwivedi — arrested last
Friday for allegedly running a sex racket in the Capital — taking the
total number of cases against him to five.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), H G S Dhaliwal said Dwivedi was
arrested under the ITP Act in Srinivaspuri in 1998. “He was convicted
and a monetary fine was slapped against him. This is the fifth case
against him. In 1997, Dwivedi was arrested on charges of running a
prostitution racket in Lajpat Nagar. The next year, he was arrested
for dacoity in Badarpur. In 2003, he was arrested from Noida Sector-24
under the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act and was also charged
under the Gangster Act.”
Police said they have two convictions and five cases against Dwivedi
and enough evidence to invoke the stringent Maharashtra Control of
Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against him. A court, meanwhile, sent
Dwivedi to police custody till March 9.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Fifth-case-against--godman-/587114/
Namesake on terror list, Kerala godman on the run
Rajeev PI
Posted: Saturday , May 10, 2008 at 2305 hrs
KOCHI, MAY 10 :
The next time you ask what’s in a name, consider this: A one-time
temple priest-turned astrologer-turned alleged NRI fraudster-turned
Godman-cum-benami real estate operator (and much more), is the latest
news sensation in Kerala, his face and profile hogging front pages and
almost all local TV channel now panting to come up every hour with
more dark tidbits and legends about him. All this because the media
here took to believing, and still insists, that he is really his far
more notorious namesake accused of a lot more potent stuff, including
smuggling sophisticated weapons for extremist outfits linked to the
1993 Mumbai blasts.
The man in the headlines, Santosh Madhavan, used to be a school
dropout turned priest for many years in local temples in Kochi, before
he took on an astrologer’s image and flew off to Dubai, only to end up
in a financial fraud. Before Interpol Dubai put out a red corner alert
for him, Madhavan made his way back to India, grew a beard, put on
white robes, courted the local glitterati including top film stars and
promptly turned himself into
Swami Amritachaitanya. The 2004 Interpol alert for him and his
sidekick Saifuddeen Ali Kannu who fled with him, says both are wanted
in Dubai for fraud and mentions his date of birth as 18 March, 1973.
The other Santosh Madhavan, who too had a red corner Interpol notice
for him pending since 1993, was declared wanted by the Mumbai Police
after his brother Trikesh Madhavan was arrested following the seizure
of some imported weapons soon after the Mumbai blasts. The brother
named him as the kingpin and he was charged, in police language, of a
“criminal conspiracy to commit terrorist acts with the use of
sophisticated fire arms, with the intention to adversely affect
communal harmony”. This Santosh Madhavan was born on 7 June, 1960, and
UAE cops had finally caught him in Abu Dhabi by end-2003, at the
instance of the Interpol in India.
Things began getting tough for Santosh Madhavan alias Swami
Amritachaitanya after a Malayalam magazine put out a cover story
saying the Swami running his celebrity-studded posh ashram in Kochi
was his gunrunner namesake, and mistakenly superimposed the latter’s
profile on him. With almost the entire local media taking it up
together, the man vanished, only to go to both the cops and the CBI in
Kochi a couple of days ago offering to surrender, while maintaining he
was not the other Madhavan. Neither the cops nor the CBI took him in
and he went away.
A day later, the cops had some afterthought and began raiding the
ashram and looking up his suspected benami real estate deals, claiming
they were following up media reports. They claimed they had nothing
yet to arrest him for. Remarkably, the local cops say they are
ascertaining only if he was actually the wanted gunrunner, as was
being reported.
The investigating officer, Shaneel Babu, claimed to have no clue if
there really were two different Interpol red corner alerts for both
the Madhavans still available on the Internet, that both were
distanced by some 13 years in age—or even that that the gunrunner
Madhavan had a brother that this one did not. He also did not want to
comment on why the police began raiding Madhavan’s premises after
letting him off when he voluntarily offered to surrender a day
earlier.
Senior cops did not wish to comment on the possibility of arresting
this Madhavan since there is a Dubai Interpol alert out for him, and
India has an extradition agreement in force with the UAE.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/namesake-on-terror-list-kerala-godman-on-the-run/307537/0
Move to strip Godman of arms licence
Vijay Pratap Singh
Posted: Thursday , Mar 04, 2010 at 0136 hrs
Allahabad:
Self-styled ‘godman’ Swami Shiv Murat Dwivedi alias Swami Bhimanandji
Maharaj alias Swami Ichchadhari Sant, who was arrested on February 26
for allegedly running a sex racket in the Capital, is set to be
stripped of his arms licence.
The Chitrakoot police on Wednesday began proceedings to cancel
Dwivedi’s licence, issued by former district magistrate Hridesh
Kumar.
“I have initiated the cancellation proceedings and have sent a report
to the district magistrate for the same. Following an inquiry, it came
to light that the Manikpur police had ignored two cases registered
against him and put in recommendations for the licence,”
Superintendent of Police Veer Bahadur Singh said.
Singh added that three licences had been issued to Dwivedi, his father
Bachcha Lal and brother Sanjay Murat Dwivedi. “An inquiry is on
against his father and brother. If the police find their involvement
in criminal cases, their licences will also be cancelled,” he added.
A team of five policemen, led by Station House Officer of Saket Bhrama
Deo, went to Chitrakoot to collect information on Dwivedi.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Move-to-strip-Godman-of-arms-licence/586562/
chhotemianinshallah
I fully understand – and love Hussain’s paintings and art work --
knowing where he comes from (Bollywood poster art). I’ve called the
immensely popular Baba Ramdev “an idiot” on TV and got enough hate
mail. In Bombay, despite the Shiv Sena’s threats, I continue to edit
and publish a gay and lesbian magazine called ‘”Bombay Dost” and have
even sent copies to Bal Thackeray for reviewing in his stupid
newspaper ‘Saamna”. I even wrote a letter to his nephew to get out of
Bombay as it belonged to my Mother’s family (her family temple still
stands safe from Muslim marauders at Banganga at South Bombay’s tip at
Walkeshwar (Walu means sand and Keshwar is another name for Shiva with
his matted hair).
India is a huge jigsaw puzzle and you must love the whole picture to
understand how to navigate it. For example, I would support Taslima
Nasreen because she is a Muslim who challenges Islam from “within
Islamic tradition”. I will NOT support Hussain because he is a Muslim
suddenly seeing “purity”: in depicting Hindu goddesses in the nude. He
happens to be Muslim and let him interpret Islam from within Muslim
tradition and not give me lectures how much of Tulsidas’ Ramayana he
knows. When asked why he did not paint Mohamed’s wife Ayesha in the
nude, his answer was:” But Muslims won’t tolerate that” says it all.
You must know Hinduism takes to “shashtrarth” (shredding the
scriptures and analyzing them ruthlessly) seriously and I have stood
within orthodox gatherings of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad known as the
most intolerant of the right wing Hindus and talked about “Our
Homosexual Heritage” without a single person throwing stones at me. I
dare Hussain or any Muslim gay man to do that at a gathering of devout
Muslims. Or Christians for all I care. One of my Christian kids did
that at a Christian-Muslim gathering and they threw shoes at him. He’s
converted to Kali worshup in retaliation...
If you don’t know your India then don’t interpret it for these damn
Feringis and their followers. I don’t care to say more than that.
Hinduism will find her feet and she will find it though every kind of
discourse and discussion. But that will be W-I-T-H-I-N the four
corners of the Indic Dharma as even the Akali-Sikhs are realizing
after their followers got beheaded in the cesspool called Pakistan.
India will win in the end
Ashok Row Kavi
http://www.southasiamail.com/news.php?id=60545
Husain and Hinduism
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No one has said Husain "hates Hinduism". He is accused of treating
without respect the objects of Hindu worship. It does not matter what
Hindu holy books he has read, or even what he thinks of them.
If he wants to be judged by the same standards as devout Hindu artists
who have depicted sexuality as an aspect of the divine he must enter
the same devotional path. To do anything else is to be a hypocrite..
Bhaskar Menon
http://www.southasiamail.com/news.php?id=60561
None owns a religion
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No one owns a religion, God or the books, they are public universal
figures and respected by any one who chooses to, but every one has a
right to speak about it; good, bad or ugly. Freedom of speech
ultimately brings the justice and balance to the society.
The loud Muslims, Jews, Hindus or Christians do not represent the
overwhelming majority of the people and I hope the media catches that,
and shares it with the universe.
Prophets Cartoons became a mess, because a few Muslims chose to make a
mess of it, despite the appeal including my own, to follow the
prophet's example; to pray for goodwill to prevail. Muslims did not
care about the Fatwa on Rushdie, a few Bushes among them carried it
forward any way, despite the majority' non-consensus. The more these
radicals show irritation, the more the temptation to irritate.
We represent the views of a great majority of moderates, but some of
us in public are gutless, if we don't condemn the cartoons, or Hussain
himself, then we are bad guys; the right wingers are a few but have
the capacity to bark in concert... and ascribe as though majority of
Muslims or Hindus support them.
As a Journalist, what would you do to communicate to the world at
large, that the outrage does not represent the majority?
Mike Ghouse
http://www.southasiamail.com/news.php?id=60560
India is a mess, says travel writer
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The overwhelming reasons for why India is NOT a good place to live in,
despite all of its current and expected continuing economic boom.
If you are Indian, or of Indian descent, I must preface this post with
a clear warning: you are not going to like what I have to say. My
criticisms may be very hard to stomach. But consider them as the hard
words and loving advice of a good friend. Someone who’s being honest
with you and wants nothing from you.
These criticisms apply to all of India except Kerala and the places I
didn’t visit, except that I have a feeling it applies to all of India,
except as I mentioned before, Kerala.
Lastly, before anyone accuses me of Western Cultural Imperialism, let
me say this: if this is what India and Indians want, then hey, who am
I to tell them differently. Take what you like and leave the rest. In
the end it doesn’t really matter, as I get the sense that Indians, at
least many upper class Indians, don’t seem to care and the lower
classes just don’t know any better, what with Indian culture being so
intense and pervasive on the sub-continent. But here goes,
nonetheless.
India is a mess. It’s that simple, but it’s also quite complicated.
I’ll start with what I think are India’s four major problems–the four
most preventing India from becoming a developing nation–and then move
to some of the ancillary ones.
First, pollution. In my opinion the filth, squalor and all around
pollution indicates a marked lack of respect for India by Indians. I
don’t know how cultural the filth is, but it’s really beyond anything
I have ever encountered. At times the smells, trash, refuse and
excrement are like a garbage dump.
Right next door to the Taj Mahal was a pile of trash that smelled so
bad, was so foul as to almost ruin the entire Taj experience. Delhi,
Bangalore and Chennai to a lesser degree were so very polluted as to
make me physically ill. Sinus infections, ear infection, bowels
churning was an all to common experience in India. Dung, be it goat,
cow or human fecal matter was common on the streets. In major tourist
areas filth was everywhere, littering the sidewalks, the roadways, you
name it. Toilets in the middle of the road, men urinating and
defecating anywhere, in broad daylight.
Whole villages are plastic bag wastelands. Roadsides are choked by it.
Air quality that can hardly be called quality. Far too much coal and
far to few unleaded vehicles on the road. The measure should be how
dangerous the air is for one’s health, not how good it is. People
casually throw trash in the streets, on the roads.
The only two cities that could be considered sanitary in my journey
were Trivandrum–the capital of Kerala–and Calicut. I don’t know why
this is. But I can assure you that at some point this pollution will
cut into India’s productivity, if it already hasn’t. The pollution
will hobble India’s growth path, if that indeed is what the country
wants. (Which I personally doubt, as India is far too conservative a
country, in the small ‘c’ sense.)
More after the jump..
The second issue, infrastructure, can be divided into four
subcategories: roads, rails and ports and the electrical grid. The
electrical grid is a joke. Load shedding is all too common, everywhere
in India. Wide swaths of the country spend much of the day without the
electricity they actually pay for. Without regular electricity,
productivity, again, falls.
The ports are a joke. Antiquated, out of date, hardly even appropriate
for the mechanized world of container ports, more in line with the
days of longshoremen and the like. Roads are an equal disaster. I only
saw one elevated highway that would be considered decent in Thailand,
much less Western Europe or America. And I covered fully two thirds of
the country during my visit.
There are so few dual carriage way roads as to be laughable. There are
no traffic laws to speak of, and if there are, they are rarely obeyed,
much less enforced. A drive that should take an hour takes three. A
drive that should take three takes nine. The buses are at least thirty
years old, if not older.
Everyone in India, or who travels in India raves about the railway
system. Rubbish. It’s awful. Now, when I was there in 2003 and then
late 2004 it was decent. But in the last five years the traffic on the
rails has grown so quickly that once again, it is threatening
productivity. Waiting in line just to ask a question now takes thirty
minutes. Routes are routinely sold out three and four days in advance
now, leaving travelers stranded with little option except to take the
decrepit and dangerous buses.
At least fifty million people use the trains a day in India. 50
million people! Not surprising that waitlists of 500 or more people
are common now.
The rails are affordable and comprehensive but they are overcrowded
and what with budget airlines popping up in India like Sadhus in an
ashram the middle and lowers classes are left to deal with the over
utilized rails and quality suffers. No one seems to give a shit.
Seriously, I just never have the impression that the Indian government
really cares. Too interested in buying weapons from Russia, Israel and
the US I guess.
The last major problem in India is an old problem and can be divided
into two parts that’ve been two sides of the same coin since
government was invented: bureaucracy and corruption.
It take triplicates to register into a hotel. To get a SIM card for
one’s phone is like wading into a jungle of red-tape and photocopies
one is not likely to emerge from in a good mood, much less satisfied
with customer service.
Getting train tickets is a terrible ordeal, first you have to find the
train number, which takes 30 minutes, then you have to fill in the
form, which is far from easy, then you have to wait in line to try and
make a reservation, which takes 30 minutes at least and if you made a
single mistake on the form back you go to the end of the queue, or
what passes for a queue in India.
The government is notoriously uninterested in the problems of the
commoners, too busy fleecing the rich, or trying to get rich
themselves in some way shape or form. Take the trash for example,
civil rubbish collection authorities are too busy taking kickbacks
from the wealthy to keep their areas clean that they don’t have the
time, manpower, money or interest in doing their job.
Rural hospitals are perennially understaffed as doctors pocket the
fees the government pays them, never show up at the rural hospitals
and practice in the cities instead.
I could go on for quite some time about my perception of India and its
problems, but in all seriousness, I don’t think anyone in India really
cares. And that, to me, is the biggest problem. India is too
conservative a society to want to change in any way.
Mumbai, India’s financial capital is about as filthy, polluted and
poor as the worst city imaginable in Vietnam, or Indonesia–and being
more polluted than Medan, in Sumatra is no easy task. The biggest rats
I have ever seen were in Medan!
One would expect a certain amount of, yes, I am going to use this
word, backwardness, in a country that hasn’t produced so many Nobel
Laureates, nuclear physicists, eminent economists and entrepreneurs.
But India has all these things and what have they brought back to
India with them? Nothing.
The rich still have their servants, the lower castes are still there
to do the dirty work and so the country remains in status. It’s a
shame. Indians and India have many wonderful things to offer the
world, but I’m far from sanguine that India will amount to much in my
lifetime.
Now, have at it, call me a cultural imperialist, a spoiled child of
the West and all that. But remember, I’ve been there. I’ve done it.
And I’ve seen 50 other countries on this planet and none, not even
Ethiopia, have as long and gargantuan a laundry list of problems as
India does.
And the bottom line is, I don’t think India really cares. Too
complacent and too conservative.
Sean Paul Kelley
(Sean Paul Kelley is a travel writer. He founded The Agonist, in 2002,
which is still considered the top international affairs, culture and
news destination for progressives. He is also the Global Correspondent
for The Young Turks, on satellite radio and Air America.)
http://www.southasiamail.com/news.php?id=60440
Taslima Nasreen’s statement
Back To Main Letters
Taslima's article sparks violence in Karnataka, 2 killed, the article
is followed by my commentary and Quotes from Quraan.
The Indian Muslim clergy and the leadership needs to jump in on this.
As an individual she has the right to express her opinions whether we
agree or not, as much as any one has a right to condemn her
statements.
The major mistake Muslims are making is not to have a debate with her
on the issues, that's the civil and democratic thing to do. She will
lose the debate "She told the Muslim women to burn the Burqa" as if
she will start wearing a skirt if a westerner says "Burn the Saree, it
is a sign of backwardness". Neither is a sign of backwardness, it is a
culture that has evolved and no one will drop what they are used to on
the sound of a word 'drop'. In a democracy, people should have the
freedom to speak; the best way to combat a bad idea is to offer good
ideas to compete.
The major mistake Muslims are making is not to have a debate with her
on the issues. They did not have enough faith in their culture or
religion to debate. Taslima would have easily lost in a debate from a
few intellectuals and most likely she would not have gone on the
attack binge.
Ms. Nasreen is a bellyacher and not a reformer. A reformer brings
solutions to the issues and presents his or her research and asks the
scholars to review and build consensus for a gradual acceptance of the
proposed ideas. Instead, she agitates and builds resentment and does
exactly opposite of what she claims to do; reform. Her approach is
wrong and her statements may please the Islam-bashers and earn some
circulation. However, her opinion does not affect the world or the
religion of Islam.
The take of Quraan on this at: Link:
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/03/taslimas-article-sparks-violence-in_01.html
Mike Ghouse
http://www.southasiamail.com/news.php?id=59726
Dr. Abdul Kalam's Letter to Every Indian
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Why is the media in India so negative?
Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our
achievements?
We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories
but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?
We are the first in milk production.
We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat.
We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a
self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such
achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and
failures and disasters.
I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was
the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken
place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had
the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed
his desert into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture
that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments,
deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.
http://www.southasiamail.com/news.php?id=59530
On line petition to Penguin re. Doniger’s book
Back To Main Letters
http://www.petitiononline.com/dharma10/petition.html This is an
earnest request to you to sign the online petition and forward it to
your friends for signature.
The petition to the Penguin Group asks for an apology for the
publication of the factually incorrect and offensive book “The Hindus-
An Alternative History” by Wendy Doniger. We expect Penguin Group to
withdraw the book immediately. “The Hindus: An Alternative History” is
rife with numerous errors in its historical facts and Sanskrit
translations. These errors and misrepresentations are bound and
perhaps intended to mislead students of Indian and Hindu history. .
Throughout the book, Doniger analyzes revered Hindu Gods and Goddess
using her widely discredited psychosexual Freudian theories that
modern, humanistic psychology has deemed limiting. These
interpretations are presented as hard facts and not as speculations.
Doniger makes various faulty assumptions about the tradition in order
to arrive at her particular spin. In the process, the beliefs,
traditions and interpretations of practicing Hindus are simply ignored
or bypassed without the unsuspecting reader knowing this to be the
case. This kind of Western scholarship has been criticized as
Orientalism and Eurocentrism. The non Judeo-Christian faith gets used
to dish out voyeurism and the tradition gets eroticized... .
We emphasize that this defamatory book misinforms readers about the
history of Hindu civilization, its cultures and traditions. The book
promotes prejudices and biases against Hindus. Can Penguin’s editors
really be incompetent enough to have allowed this to pass to
publication? If this is not deliberate malice, Penguin must act now in
good faith. As concerned readers, we ask PENGUIN GROUP to: 1. WITHDRAW
all the copies of this book immediately from the worldwide bookshops/
markets/ Universities/Libraries and refrain from printing any other
edition. .
2. APOLOGIZE for having published this book “The Hindus: An
Alternative History”. This book seriously and grossly misrepresents
the Hindu reality as known to the vast numbers of Hindus and to
scholars of Hindu tradition. PENGUIN must apologize for failure to
observe proper pre-publication scrutiny and scholarly review. Vishal
Agarwal
http://www.southasiamail.com/news.php?id=58891
Indonesia restores Hindu temple
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I am pleased to see Indonesia Highlighting and restoring the Hindu
Temple, they are indeed following Islam, which forbids one to
desecrate a place of worship. I commend Suwarsono Muhammad for this
initiative, it is time we live the will of God; Co-existence and
harmony with life and matter.
Mike Ghouse
http://www.southasiamail.com/news.php?id=58048
India and China
Back To Main Letters
I think Hoagland is baiting India. We gain nothing from being too
close to the USA which can never get out of its hobbyhorse of a Paki-
Hug.
Rubbing China the wrong way will not help. Every reasonable effort:
diplomatic, strategic alliances with the ring of Sinophobia and last
but not the least, an effort to build a string of pearls around China
is the way out of any direct confrontation with China.
Even if we maintain our pace of growth at 7.5 per cent for the next 25
years, China will still far outpace us and become an economy 30 times
our GDP by 2025 by the estimates of the World Bank.. There’s no way, a
third rate government that is soft and kowtows to every Pakistani
threat can face China. Even in our soft power we are losing. Recently
China has even reclaimed Buddhism and Sanskrit as it’s intellectual
property whereas here we have secularists and shadow Islamists playing
footsie with our Hindu culture.
China has always been a ‘hard power” it knows that the power on earth
is its to grab and the heavens are everybody property. India knows
nothing because it has learnt nothing from the Arthashastra – the
people (Jana) must be kept happy and then alone the State becomes
strong as Chanakhya said so firmly.
China and India had over 40 per cent of the world’s industrial
production and trade in the early 15th and 16th century before the
white tribes swept out of Europe.and the barbaric Muslim lands and
ruined one of the greatest civilizations on earth, as Will Durant
noted so vividly..
Together we can make the planet anew. But maybe the human race is
fated to flounder on the rock of the monotheistic God born in the
deserts of West Asia. If we don’t know our own Karma, then it’s no use
trying to live out others’. That would be truly against Dharma.
Not that this political class in India has a clue of its own
historical importance. China never had a soft power ideological core.
Its hard shell hides a very soft underbelly. Just as the whole of East
Asia under its belly felt its fist, it imported everything “soft” and
“spiritual” from India. That’s why they are so rich and diverse and
stand up to China, which itself found its spine only with the wisdom
of the Buddha was grabbed by it by sending pilgrims into India. Unlike
the religions of West Asia, India didn’t export its religion or
spiritual wealth. Only peoplecwho understood its value came and drank
from this huge font of wisdom.
. Now India is adrift and China’s star on the ascendant. I salute it.
Truely and sadly
Ashok Row Kavi
http://www.southasiamail.com/news.php?id=57717
India as viewed by a Pakistani intellectual
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Here are some mind-boggling facts about India, a country that was
known as a "third world" nation barely 20 years ago – written by a
Pakistani. By Dr Farrukh Saleem, former Pakistani journalist,
Executive Director Center For Research and Security Studies
• 12 percent of all American scientists are of Indian origin; 38
percent of doctors in America are Indian; 36 percent of NASA
scientists are Indians; 34 percent of Microsoft employees are Indians;
and 28 percent of IBM employees are Indians. Sabeer Bhatia created and
founded Hotmail. Sun Microsystems was founded by Vinod Khosla. The
Intel Pentium processor, that runs 90 percent of all computers, was
fathered by Vinod Dham.
• Rajiv Gupta co-invented Hewlett Packard's E-speak project. Four out
of ten Silicon Valley start-ups are run by Indians. Bollywood produces
800 movies per year and six Indian women have won Miss Universe / Miss
World titles in the last 10 years.
• • The four richest Indians can buy up all goods and services
produced in a year by 169 million Pakistanis and still be left with
$60 billion to spare. • The four richest Indians are richer than the
forty richest Chinese. • Regardless of what Forbes or any other
western press may report, on 29 October 2007, as a result of the stock
market rally and the appreciation of the Indian rupee, Mukesh Ambani
became the richest person in the world, with net worth climbing to US
$63.2 billion (Bill Gates, the richest American, stood at around $56
billion). Indians and Pakistanis have the same Y-chromosome
haplogroup. We Pakistanis have the same genetic sequence and the same
genetic marker (namely: M124). We have the same DNA molecule, the same
DNA sequence. Our culture, our traditions and our cuisine are all the
same. We watch the same movies and sing the same songs. What is it
that Indians have and we don't?
• INDIANS ELECT THEIR LEADERS!!!!! And India thinks of construction of
its own nation, unlike some other nations who are more concerned with
the destruction of other's. Sam Koshy, Winnipeg
http://www.southasiamail.com/news.php?id=56378
India in Afghanistan
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By Jeremy Kahn
What’s more dangerous than being an American in Afghanistan? Being an
Indian in Afghanistan. On Oct. 8, 09 a car bomb exploded outside the
Indian Embassy in Kabul, killing 17 people and wounding 76. The attack
came 15 months after another bomb damaged the embassy and killed 58,
including the Indian defense attaché. On Feb 26 2010 a Kabul terror
strike killed seven Indians. Elsewhere in the country, Indian workers
have been victims of suicide attacks and kidnappings.
Although rarely discussed in the West, India is a key player in the
Afghan conflict. New Delhi has long sought to keep friendly
governments in Kabul as a bulwark against archrival Pakistan. India
pledged more than $1.2 billion in reconstruction aid to Afghanistan,
making it the country’s fifth-largest donor and the biggest within the
region. There are at least 4,000 Indian workers and security personnel
employed on reconstruction projects in the country. India also opened
an air base in Tajikistan, its first on foreign soil, to supply its
Afghan operations.
All of which makes Pakistan very nervous. Pakistan has accused India
and Hamid Karzai’s government of covertly supporting militants who are
challenging Islamabad’s authority over Baluchistan, an oil- and gas-
rich province in southwest Pakistan. Some believe Islamabad’s military
and intelligence services have allowed the Taliban safe haven in
Pakistan largely because they view the Afghan insurgents as a proxy
force against India. Indian and Western intelligence services found
strong evidence that Pakistan’s premier spy agency, the Inter-Services
Intelli-gence, helped plan the July 2008 Indian Embassy bombing in
Kabul. And, while India is still investigating the latest attack on
its embassy, Afghan ambassador to the U.S. Said Jawad wasted no time
in pointing the finger at Is-lamabad again.
The new Great Game being played out between India and Pakistan in
Afghanistan has complicated matters for the U.S. and its NATO allies.
“While Indian activities largely benefit the Afghan people,” Gen.
Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, wrote
in his recent report to President Obama, “increasing Indian influence
in Afghanistan is likely to exacerbate regional tensions and encourage
Pakistani countermeasures in Afghanistan or India.” Evidently, the
road to peace in Afghanistan runs not just through Kabul and
Islamabad, but Delhi as well.
Corruption in India
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By Shashi Tharoor
One of the questions people keep asking me since my entry into
politics is what we can do about corruption. What would I do, one
citizen recently asked in an on-line chat, if I became the “concerned
authority”? No such prospect — the Vigilance Commissioner isn’t a
Member of Parliament! — but in fact corruption is a national malaise
and a social ill, not just one that a “concerned authority” can solve.
We are all complicit — those who demand bribes and those who give
them.
But one of the things that intrigues me is the extent to which
corruption is a middle-class preoccupation, when in fact the biggest
victims of corruption in our country are in fact the poor. For the
affluent, corruption is at worst a nuisance; for the salaried middle-
class, it can be an indignity and a burden; but for the poor, it is
often a tragedy.
The saddest corruption stories I have heard are those where corruption
literally transforms lives for the worse. There are stories about the
pregnant woman turned away from a government hospital because she
couldn’t bribe her way to a bed; the labourer denied an allotment of
land that was his due because someone else bribed the patwari to
change the land records; the pensioner denied the rightful fruits of
decades of toil because he couldn’t or wouldn’t bribe the petty clerk
to process his paperwork; the wretchedly poor unable to procure the
BPL ["Below Poverty Line"] cards that certify their entitlement to
various government schemes and subsidies because they couldn’t afford
to bribe the issuing officer; the poor widow cheated of an insurance
settlement because she couldn’t grease the right palms … the examples
are endless. Each of these represents not just an injustice, but a
crime, and yet the officials responsible get away with their exactions
all the time. And all their victims are people living at or near a
poverty line that’s been drawn just this side of the funeral pyre.
One of the reasons that I was an early supporter of economic
liberalization in India was that I hoped it would reduce corruption by
denying officialdom the opportunity (afforded routinely by our license-
quota-permit raj) to profit from the power to permit. That has
happened to some degree, especially at the big-business level. But I
underestimated the creativity of petty corruption in India that
leeches blood from the veins of the poorest and most downtrodden in
our society. No one seems to be able to do anything about it, but I’d
like to try. I’d welcome any ideas readers might have to set me on my
way.
A Catalyst for Development
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Dr. Thomas Abraham
People of Indian origin (PIO) constitute a global community of over 22
million people. It is bigger than many countries of Europe. It has
been estimated that, PIOs living outside India has a combined yearly
economic output of about $250 billion, about one third of the GDP of
India. Whether they come from Africa, Asia, the Americas, Australia,
the Caribbean or Europe, they are Indians in body and spirit. Almost
all of them maintain their Indian cultural traditions and values. They
seem to have meaningfully integrated in their countries without losing
their ethnic identity.
Looking at the numbers of the NRI/PIO communities, we see the
following:
North America (Mostly USA & Canada) 3.2 Million
South America (Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Surinam, Jamaica, etc.) 1.6
million
Europe (U.K., Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, etc.) 2.5
million
Africa (South Africa, Mauritius, East African countries, etc.) 2.5
million
Middle East (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc.) 3.5 million
Far East & South East Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, Mayanmar, etc.) 3.5
million
Pacific Island (Fiji, Australia, New Zealand) 0.7 million
Srilanka and Nepal 4.5 million
Total 22.0 million
Note: Since hard numbers have not been available, these are
approximate estimates and obtained from individual country statistics
and from the report of the High Level India Diaspora Committee
appointed by Govt. of India
With over 22 million people of Indian origin living outside India, a
new global community of Indian origin has been developed. Most people
of Indian origin have become highly successful in business and
professions. If their professional expertise and financial resources
are to be pooled together, it will benefit not only people of Indian
origin but also their countries and India. In addition, people of
Indian origin could assume a new role in providing help in case of
crisis to their communities around the world.
Of the 22 million, about 50% constitute the first generation
immigrants from India and their immediate families, generally termed
as non-resident Indians (NRIs). This is the group one should reach out
for investments and for business and technology collaborations in
India. This group also has taken great interest in India’s
developments. Where are these communities? They are spread across the
Middle East, USA, Canada, U.K. and other European countries, Australia
and Southeast and Far Eastern countries.
Need for Mobilizing the Community
As a first step toward bringing our communities together, the Indian
American community, under the leadership of the National Federation of
Indian American Associations, took the initiative to organize the
First Global Convention of People of Indian Origin in New York in
1989. The triggering point for the global Indian community to come
together was, when an elected Indian dominated government in Fiji was
thrown out by a military dictator in 1987. At the First Global
Convention, the major issue of concern to everyone was human rights
violations, be in Fiji, Guyana, Trinidad, South Africa, Sri Lanka,
U.K. and even in the U.S.A. with “Dot Buster” issue. The Global
Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) was formed at this
convention to help in networking our communities and take up issues
such as human rights violations of Indians around the world. GOPIO
filed petitions at the UN and a concerted effort was made to fight
these issues.
Changing Objectives
In the last one decade, the whole world has changed, so are the people
of Indian origin (PIO) communities. Since our first global convention
of people of Indian origin, Indian dominated parties were elected to
power in Fiji, Guyana and Trinidad. South Africa has several Indians
as ministers in the government. The late Dr. Chheddi Jagan, former
President of Guyana, Mr. Basdeo Panday of Trinidad and Mr. Mahendra
Chaudhry of Fiji were present at GOPIO’s first convention who went on
to become the President and Prime Ministers of their respective
countries. For a while, in the 1990s, we in the GOPIO felt that human
rights violations or being in political sideline are not major issues
for global Indian communities. After several brain-storming sessions
and conferences, GOPIO concluded that creating economic opportunities
by pooling our professional and financial resources is a platform to
bring our communities together. Economic progress of countries with
large PIO population and India should be one of the priorities of PIOs
as global citizens. Our ultimate goal should be to make our movement
working toward on issues of poverty, education and social justice of
our people. As we network globally, it should not only help our
communities to achieve economic progress, but also help the larger
communities we live in.
As global citizens, we PIOs have a stake in the new globalization
scenario where the closed net economic boundaries of countries are
already broken. In the new economic scenario, GOPIO Business Council
has been formed to cater the needs of small and medium businessmen
from our PIO community to network and promote collaborations. GOPIO
has also set up GOPIO.Connect to help and promote NGOs who are
involved in India developmental activities.
The last decade also saw PIOs becoming enormously rich, thanks to the
information technology revolution. Although many of them left India
with a meager amount of dollars or pounds in their pocket, with their
dedication and hard work they became successful in the West and in
particular the USA, Canada, U.K. and other European countries. Now our
community is growing in large number in Australia and New Zealand. The
PIO populations in all these countries are expected to increase in
this decade. Therefore, PIO communities will have important roles to
play in all these countries.
Development Initiatives by NRIs/PIOs
With large number of NRIs/PIOs taking active interest in developments
in India, several new non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been
launched in the US, Canada, Europe and countries in the Middle and Far
East to promote education, health care and developments including
water management, rural development and self help programs. NRIs and
PIOs are also increasingly supporting several NGOs in India in a range
of developmental, educational and social programs. With the net worth
of the NRI/PIO baby boomer generation increasing, tremendous
opportunities are provided for the govt. agencies and NGOs in India to
reach out more NRIs/PIOs to interest them to help in India
developmental activities.
Role for Govt. of India
Till the middle of 1970s, the Government of India did not take any
interest in non-Resident Indians (NRIs), a definition which was given
by the Reserve Bank of India when they wanted the Indian banks to
attract NRI deposits. In the 1980s, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
invited a few NRIs to come back to India to help in development of
some core sectors including telecommunications. In the 1990s, with
economic liberalization by Narasimha Rao/Dr. Manmohan Singh team, an
impetus was provided for NRIs/PIOs to become more active in the Indian
scene.
Also, in the year 2000, a High Level Indian Diaspora Committee chaired
by Dr. L.M. Singhvi, was set up by the government of India to look
into the issues of NRIs and PIOs and to explore avenues of
opportunities for NRIs/PIOs to help India. The committee after
visiting several countries submitted a report with several
recommendations. The best news to NRIs/PIOs was provided by the
Vajpayee administration in January 2002, i.e. to accept the some of
the recommendations of the committee. Later, the Govt. of India
organized the first Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) in New Delhi in
January 2003 followed by three more such meetings in the month of
January in New Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad in 2004, ’05 and ’06
respectively.
India government also decided to provide dual nationality to NRIs/
PIOs. The Indian Parliament passed a legislation to grant dual
citizenship to NRIs/PIOs in December 2003 and again in 2005. The dual
citizenship card was issued officially at the PRB-2006 in Hyderabad.
This will help to bring 22 million people of Indian origin living
outside India closer to India. It will help to mobilize professional
and financial resources of NRIs/PIOs for India’s development. Also, it
is of great sentimental values to PIOs/NRIs living outside India to
feel that they are now part of Mother India
India Govt. is now going a step further to grant voting rights for
Indian citizens living outside India in the Assembly and Parliamentary
elections, provided they are in the constituency at the time of
elections. This will make NRIs feel full participants for India’s
developmental activities. GOPIO had passed resolution on this at its
convention in Zurich in 2000 and has been campaigning on this issue
since then.
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA)
GOPIO had campaigned for this new ministry similar to the Ministry for
Overseas Chinese in China. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh fulfilled
this demand in 2004. The new ministry has been organizing the annual
PBD. However, we see a bigger role for MOIA in reaching out all those
NRIs/PIOs who could contribute to India’s development. The ministry
also should work with groups such as GOPIO and other organizations to
motivate more NRIs/PIOs to take active interest in India in all areas
of investment, business, technology transfer, development and
charitable activities. There should be separate cells in MOIA to
promote each of these activities.
GOPIO.Connect
Initiated in 2002, GOPIO.Connect acts more as a catalyst to help NGOs
in India and outside to promote their activities as well as to provide
exposure to more NRIs and PIOs. The objectives are as follows:
• Capture and understand key developmental need areas in India where
NRI/PIO community can help
• Organize interactive sessions with NRI/PIO run civil service
organizations on India development issues to widen awareness
• Research on key development-related laws and highlight their
enforcement issues for NRI/PIOs
• Provide help to execute development projects in India
• Encourage NRI/PIOs to research key development-related trends in
India at academic institutions to facilitate new policy
recommendations in various government ministries
NRI/PIO’s Role for the Motherland/Adopted Countries
There are enormous opportunities for NRIs/PIOs to get actively
involved in India’s development as well as support various social
service activities. Many NRIs and organizations have taken major
initiatives in supporting their former schools and colleges, some have
set up schools and colleges in their villages and towns, while others
have been supporting social and environmental causes. The same level
of activities can be initiated by Indo-Caribbeans, Indo-Fijians and
other such communities who live in the developed countries. In the
next level of activities, different nationality segments of our PIO
communities such as Indo-Caribbeans or Indo-South Africans should form
partnerships with other PIO and NRI communities for the development of
their former adopted countries.
Looking to the Future
A former American Ambassador to India, Frank Wisner was quoted at a
speech in 2002 “Linkages between our two societies need to be
developed.” This is where, GOPIO and PIO communities around the world
can play a major role, i.e. to develop linkages between societies,
i.e. Indians with Dutch, Indians with Americans, Indians with
Australians, etc. Diplomats to countries come and go, business
delegations between countries come and go. However, the lasting bond
between countries will take place when we as global citizens develop
linkages. When an issue comes, we as global PIOs should focus upon
them and try to influence the opinion makers in whatever countries we
live in to take right decision and action. We need to build coalitions
with like-minded communities to make our voice heard. Whether it is
India related issues or human rights violations or violations of civil
and political rights in countries such as Fiji, Trinidad, Zimbabwe,
Africa or the Middle East, we have an important role to play.
NRI/PIOs as global citizens have done a great job in building good
image for their Motherland in their respective countries. NRI/PIOs
have worked behind the scene to create interest among companies to
take interest in India. If right opportunities are created, NRI/PIOs
could become solid and life long partners of India’s development as
well as those countries with large PIO population. And in turn, we are
making our contributions to the world’s development and peace, as it
is said, “Vasudeva Kudumbakam”, “World is one Family.”
***
Dr. Abraham has been serving the NRI/PIO community for the last 33
years. He served as the first president of the Federation of Indian
Associations of New York in 1976 and the National Federation of Indian
American Associations in 1980. Dr. Abraham currently serves as the
Chairman of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO)
which he founded in 1989 and as a Founder Board of Director of Indian
American Kerala Center in New York. Dr. Abraham is Vice President of
Business Communications Co., a leading industry and market research
firm based in Norwalk, CT, USA.
Climate Change Discord
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By Chandru Arni
Without doubt, the conference on Climate change and Global warming was
a fiasco, failure and a retrograde step. It even went back on the
Kyoto Protocol, held in 1997 in Japan where 37 industrialized
countries committed themselves to a reduction of 6 greenhouse gases to
as much as 5% of the 1990 level.
The reasons:
1. It was a wrong place and a wrong time for the meet. Copenhagen, a
chilly city made even more icy in December. The delegates shivered and
probably wished the temperature to be a few degrees warmer and some
sunlight! How could these delegates (90 % of who did not know enough
of the subject believe that the Earth getting warmer by a few degrees
can destroy itself?)
2. The conference had too many countries in participation. It was a
merry mix-up with hundreds of politicians and delegates confusing the
issue. This is one of the reasons that United Nations General Assembly
cannot take any meaningful decisions. Most of them are skeptics, and
do not accept anything based on scientific predictions and demand
physical evidence.
3. Every politician had been warned to put the country before the
Earth. Patriotism towards the country was more important than saving
the Earth.
However he was told that he must show concern for the Earth.
4. Every politician was told NOT to commit to a figure or, if he is
pushed to commit to some small figure he should ensure it could not be
verified. If he is accused of not showing concern he should indulge in
a blame game. Without these “protections” he could not face the
Parliament (or a Senate) on his return.
5. Most of the Politicians and delegates not having a technical
background should have undergone a small scientific instruction course
before attending the conference lest they talk without the desired
seriousness.
6. Lastly, all the countries recognized in advance that nothing
substantial will be achieved and waited for a political agreement to
mess around in platitudes and show a consensus. The Heads of the big
countries could spare just a day or two to get a final agreement –
shows their seriousness and commitment.
COMMENT
The setting of goals for achieving stabilization of greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere and carbon emissions at a level that
would prevent dangerous interference with the climate system and
temperatures not to go higher than 3
degrees WILL NOT be achievable for the next 20 years unless the above
state of affairs stop and someone who knows takes charge
Why is our Earth warming up?
The concentration of carbon in living matter is almost 100 times
greater than its concentration in the earth. So living things extract
carbon from their nonliving environment. For life to continue, this
carbon must be recycled.
The carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere is gradually and steadily
increasing. The, CO2 in the atmosphere retards the radiation of heat
from the earth back into space which and is referred to as the
“greenhouse effect”. With this effect the Earth gets warmer; in other
words these gases regulate our climate by trapping heat and holding it
in a kind of warm-air blanket that surrounds the earth and warm the
earth. If we don’t have any such blanket the Earth will on the other
side become far too cold for our existence. We must have this balance
But we have gone the other side and this increase is surely caused by
human activities:
Examples of malpractices and disregard
1. Burning natural gas, coal and oil - including gasoline for
automobile engine
2. Deforestation
3. Some farming practices and land-use changes
These are caused by Greenhouse Gases than Carbon Dioxide like methane
( caused by burning forests, flatulence of cattle produces methane
that is expelled, etc).Growing rice has an adverse environmental
impact because of the large quantities of methane and this can be
reduced by better agricultural practices like draining paddy fields.
4. Luxury of man: Chlorofluorocarbons, a totally human luxury (used in
refrigerators and aerosol cans,)
5. Rise in Human and Cattle population.
6. Increase in Environmental pollution
What are the effects of global warming and the greenhouse effect?
1. Weather changes. Even a small increase in the global temperature
would lead to significant climate and weather changes, affecting cloud
cover, precipitation, wind patterns, the frequency and severity of
storms, and the duration of seasons.
2. Temperature. Rising temperatures would raise sea levels as well,
reducing supplies of fresh water as flooding occurs along coastlines
worldwide
3. Sea levels rising: and global warming is at least part of the
cause.
If the sea level were to rise in excess of 4 meters almost every
coastal city in the world would be severely affected, Long-term
changes are mainly caused by temperature (because the volume of water
depends on temperature). The rise is also due to melting glaciers
(irreversible phenomena) caused by global warming.
4. Land. Millions of people also would be affected, especially poor
people who live in precarious locations or depend on the land for a
subsistence living.
Solutions
1. Saving energy and Life style changes and “throw away” practices. Be
frugal. Use Carpools.
2. Using Government and Media to highlight the problems and offer
solutions. Pour more money into research activities for clean energy.
3. Plant trees and support Organic farming (In simplest terms, organic
farming is a form of agriculture that avoids any use of synthetic
chemicals or Genetically Modified Organisms.)
4. Use Alternative energy rather than coal and petroleum
a. Using Solar power: solar cells capture the heat from the sun and
store it.
b. Using wind power: Wind turbines capture the energy of moving air
and convert to electric y
c. Biofuels: Converting organic matter into fuel (ethanol, marine
algae
d. Nuclear energy: It is a source of clean energy but is only a
temporary solution. It has the drawbacks of disastrous consequences of
accident and getting rid of nuclear waste.
e. Use of CFL (compact fluorescent light bulbs) for lighting. If a
building’s indoor incandescent lamps are replaced by CFLs, the heat
produced due to lighting will be reduced. Its environmental advantages
are big because of its lower energy requirement. For a given light
output, CFLs use 20 to 33 percent of the power of equivalent
incandescent lamps. If a building’s indoor incandescent lamps are
replaced by CFLs, the heat produced due to lighting will also be
reduced.
f. Use of hydrogen
A hydrogen vehicle is a vehicle that uses hydrogen as its onboard fuel
for motive power. The power plants of such vehicles convert the
chemical energy of hydrogen to mechanical energy (torque). With
further research and development, this fuel could also serve as an
alternative source of energy for heating and lighting homes,
generating electricity, and fueling motor vehicles.
Challenge for Haiti
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By Todd Moss
As the international response to Haiti’s earthquake shifts from
emergency rescue to longer term reconstruction, things are inevitably
going to get harder. There are some very good ideas floating out
there, not least Michael Clemens’ golden door visa proposal and Jeff
Sachs’ urging for a recovery trust fund (It’s too bad he couldn’t
resist swathing the idea in jabs at the donors and the United States).
But as the donor community starts making that shift and planning
projects, Joshua Nadel, a professor of Caribbean history, has this
very good reminder:
A top-down, donor-driven reconstruction that excludes Haitians will be
seen as paternalistic and will likely join the litany of failed
development projects in the country; in order to get it right,
Haitians need to sit at the table.
This seems obvious: “participation” and “ownership” are standard
buzzwords of the development planning set. But making this dynamic
work in practice is challenging in the best of situations. In Haiti,
this is even trickier since many of the institutions of the Haitian
state have been destroyed and many officials, police, and other
leaders have died. Yet if the donors take the shortcut of just doing
their own thing, I suspect Nadel’s prediction will, sadly, turn out to
be right.
National shame or national scandal?
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By Jeffrey Simpson
Somewhere between a national shame and a national scandal lies
Canada’s export of asbestos.
The federal government promotes asbestos exports – they have risen
sharply in the past year – despite the fact that the use of asbestos
has all but disappeared in this country. Why? Because scientists,
governments, industries and unions have concluded that the product can
lead to a variety of health-related problems and, in some cases, to
death.
Indeed, while the federal government promotes exports, a multiyear
construction project is refitting the Parliament Buildings, among
other reasons to remove asbestos. What our parliamentarians won’t have
in their buildings apparently will be in buildings in the developing
world.
The reason the federal government will not stop defending asbestos is
politics – Quebec politics, in fact. The asbestos produced in Canada
comes from Quebec, from the Jeffrey and LAB Chrysotile mines that
employ about 700 people. A large town in Quebec is even called
Asbestos.
No federal government has had the courage to say: Enough is enough!
We’re not exporting to developing countries any product we won’t use
at home for health reasons. Fear of offending Quebec has put a sock in
the mouth of federal governments, and fear of losing a few votes has
forced Quebec governments into acrobatic flights of hypocrisy to
defend the indefensible.
This week, Quebec Premier Jean Charest has been making headlines
outside Quebec, attacking Ottawa for questioning his government’s
intention to impose strict vehicle-emission standards. It’s all a lot
of blah-blah because Quebec’s rules are going to be superseded by new
national regulations in the U.S. and Canada.
Beating up on Ottawa is good politics, regrettably, in Quebec, but it
so happened that these attacks came from far away – from India, in
fact, where Mr. Charest was leading a Quebec trade delegation
promoting his province’s exports, including asbestos.
It was reported in the Quebec media that asbestos represents 11 per
cent of Quebec’s exports to India, a tidy sum of $427-million. Half of
India’s asbestos comes from Quebec, of the chrysotile variety with
fibres so fine they can penetrate some filtration masks and so enter
lungs, where they can create a variety of health problems, including
lethal ones.
On the eve of Mr. Charest’s visit, scientists from 28 countries urged
him to stop exporting all forms of asbestos. A hundred scientists said
the province won’t use asbestos at home because it can cause death,
while promoting it “where protections are few and awareness of the
hazards of asbestos almost non-existent.” Even some brave scientists
in Quebec, where criticism of asbestos exports has been often regarded
as “anti-Quebec,” urged the Premier to act.
But Mr. Charest said it was up to India to act if it felt asbestos led
to health problems. He was accompanied by a representative of an
asbestos lobby group that receives money from both the federal and
provincial governments; his group, he said, gives information to
asbestos users about its possible risks. In other words, caveat
emptor! Meantime, it’s business as usual for Quebec’s asbestos
exports.
Happily, some elements of the Quebec media have been all over this
story, slamming the Premier’s evident hypocrisy and noting how it
tarnishes Quebec’s precious international image. But, by extension,
the export also tarnishes Canada’s image because, Quebec pretensions
notwithstanding, most people abroad don’t even know where Quebec is,
whereas they do know about Canada.
Ottawa is intimately involved in this dirty game, too. It even sends
diplomats to international meetings to frustrate any worldwide action
against asbestos. And Canadian taxpayers are soiled by this export of
a dangerous product that is scarcely, if ever, used in this country.
Face up to it: Canadians, in their moral superiority, might think our
country has an unsullied international image, especially in
environmental matters. The reality is that those in the fisheries
business know how poorly we have managed some of our stocks. Europe
and the rest of the world are utterly repelled by the slaughter of
seals, and no amount of public-relations campaigning and political
posturing will alter that reality.
The tar sands are a growing PR nightmare, as is Canada’s weak
greenhouse-gas emissions record. To these are added the ongoing export
of asbestos from Quebec, exposing the province’s hypocrisy and
tarnishing Canada’s reputation abroad. (The Globe and Mail)
(See related article under Weekender)
Jeffrey Simpson is a columnist for the Globe and Mail.
Pakistan “Going To The Dogs”?
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By Virginia Moncrieff
Burnt and bombed schools, harsh religious edicts, strict rules of
dress, the total subjugation of women is now a way of life for most
citizens of the beautiful Swat Valley in northern Pakistan.
Swat is a stunning area of the world. It’s often called the
Switzerland of Asia, though for my money, it has a landscape that is
far more awe-inspiring than anything Europe can offer. Now it is
almost entirely over run by Taliban who are ruthless in their demands
on the citizens.
Cruelty is a feature of Taliban rule, under the guise of proper
Islamic practice, and Swat is receiving bucket loads of cruelty,
daily. “Un-Islamic” activities like dancing and singing, listening to
CDs and watching DVDs or being clean-shaven are now outlawed. Buses
playing music for their passengers are bombed for promoting “vulgarity
and obscenity” that “gravely offends pious people.” Girls are banned
from attending school under threat of violence and death.
The Taliban advance into Swat is only now being reported. While the
lawless badlands of the Afghan border areas have attracted much hand
wringing, the Talib have crept into sophisticated, cultural Swat -
nowhere near Afghanistan - and are now ruling the place with an iron
fist.
Pakistani political analyst Farrukh Khan Pitafi told the Huffington
Post from Islamabad that the free-for-all enjoyed by the Taliban stems
from bloody-minded opportunism dating back to the Pervez Musharraf
government.
“It is evident that the Musharraf’s strategy of allowing the Taliban
to grow in order to exploit western fear(s) of them (taking) over to
garner support for his rule is either beyond the control of the
government now or then. Some segment(s) of the power elite has not
given up that ploy.
“It has never been possible for any radical group (to flourish)
without the tacit support of at least some elements in the
establishment. It is my belief that Musharraf consciously allowed
these elements to thrive,” says Mr. Khan Pitafi. “At that time it
seemed convenient but now this movement is spinning out of control.
There is a chance also that some pro-Musharraf elements within the
civil military bureaucracy are still in touch with the Taliban in
order to destabilize the democratic government.”
“Ruthless murderers” is how Asif Ali Zardari, the new Pakistan
president described the Taliban in Swat, as he started making the
right noises about taking them on. He has sent in 12,000 army troops
to do battle with the estimated 4,000 Taliban who are running the
Valley. Reports from Swat suggest that not terribly much “doing
battle” is taking place; troops stay within their barracks, and
failing to protect those that the Taliban publicly threaten to kill
(and usually do).
Farrukh Khan Pitafi is is convinced that solutions must be found from
within and not through the advice or intervention of the United
States, which will create further difficulties for the national
administration’s fight against the insurgents.
“The speed with which the Taliban movement is destroying peace and
progress of the country is heartrending and baffling,” he says. “The
government right now is so unstable that it can hardly confront the
demon of Talibanization. Is there any solution? Well it certainly is
not more US across the border attacks for they inflict pain and give
the Taliban an excuse to further expand. The only solution then is to
strengthen the democratic government, do away with the remnants of
Pervez Musharraf and the retrogressive religious politicians and help
the federal and provincial governments improve coordination. This
seems an arduous process but unless these things are done the country
essentially is going to the dogs.”
India Sees Terrorism Threats
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By VIBHUTI AGARWAL
NEW DELHI—India put its security apparatus on high alert following
intelligence reports of two possible assaults in the air— one from a
plane hijacking, the other from paragliders, officials said.
Also Friday, the U.K. raised its terrorist-threat level to severe from
substantial, but declined to say why it was doing so.
Indian Officials said the Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-
Taiba was behind both threats. The group was responsible for the
November 2008 terrorist siege in Mumbai.
On Friday, the home ministry, which is in charge of internal security,
issued a security alert to all airports and airlines following an
intelligence notification of a plot to hijack a plane.
“We have reliable information of a planned plane hijack by terrorists.
We have advised the civil aviation ministry to take necessary steps,”
said Omkar Kedia, a home ministry spokesman.
Airport security was tightened following the warning. Sky marshals
were deployed on certain flights and passengers were being subject to
more intense security screening, he said.
Later Friday, U.K. Bansal, an official at the home ministry, said: “We
have intelligence reports that LeT has purchased 50 paragliding kits
from Europe with an intention to launch attacks on India.” No other
details were available.
India celebrates one of its biggest holidays of the year, Republic
Day, on Tuesday.
Indian interior ministry recommends extra security measures for
India’s flagship airlines. Video courtesy of Reuters.
The alerts came two days after U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates,
traveling in the region, warned of efforts by al Qaeda and its
affiliates to destabilize South Asia and trigger a war between India
and Pakistan.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since they became
independent nations in 1947. In December 1999, Islamic militants
hijacked an Air India flight from Nepal’s capital, Katmandu, to
Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. It ended when New Delhi released
three Islamic terrorists in exchange for 167 passengers and crew.
The U.K.’s move Friday reversed a lowering of the threat level in
July. The U.K. reduced the threat level from critical to severe in
July 2007. A spokesman for the home office referred questions to a
statement from the home secretary.
The United Kingdom’s security experts says they fear an attack from
female suicide bombers. Video courtesy of Fox News.
“The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre has today raised the threat to
the U.K. from international terrorism from substanital to severe. This
means that a terrorist attack is highly likely, but I should stress
that there is no intelligence to suggest than an attack is imminent,”
said Home Secretary Alan Johnson.
Mr. Johnson said the terror-threat level is under constant review and
is based on a wide range of factors.
US leads global relief effort for Haiti
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By Paul Woodward
As the survivors of Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake struggle in
worsening conditions, three US presidents came together on Saturday to
launch a fundraising effort across America. With his two predecessors
at his side, the US president appealed for national unity in support
of the people of Haiti.
“Flanked by two of his immediate predecessors – George W Bush and Bill
Clinton – President Barack Obama announced yesterday the launch of a
new fund-raising effort for Haiti and vowed a sustained US commitment
to rebuilding the island nation in the aftermath of the devastating
earthquake,” The National reported.
” ‘By coming together in this way, these two leaders send an
unmistakable message to the people of Haiti and to the people of the
world,’ Mr Obama said, speaking in the White House Rose Garden. ‘In
these difficult hours, America stands united. We stand united with the
people of Haiti, who have shown such incredible resilience, and we
will help them to recover and to rebuild.’”
The BBC noted: “When US President Barack Obama announced that one of
the biggest relief efforts in US history would be heading for Haiti,
he highlighted the close ties between the two nations.
” ‘With just a few hundred miles of ocean between us and a long
history that binds us together, Haitians are our neighbours in the
Americas and here at home,’ he said.
“Hundreds of thousands of Haitians have indeed become neighbours of
Americans.
“Some 420,000 live in the US legally, according to census figures.
Estimates of the number of Haitians in the country illegally vary
wildly, from some 30,000 to 125,000.
“It is a sizeable diaspora which wants to see quick and decisive
action from its adopted homeland.
“Desperate to see aid getting through to friends and relatives, many
expatriate Haitians have welcomed President Obama’s decision to send
up to 10,000 troops to help rescue efforts.”
On his blog at The New York Times, Nicholas D Kristof noted a concern
expressed by some Americans: that American generosity towards Haiti
has done little to alleviate the country’s troubles in the past. He
pointed out, however, that US aid to its impoverished neighbour falls
short of the contributions coming from many other more distant
nations.
“The United States contributed $2.32 per American to Haiti over the
last three years for which we have data (about 80 cents a year).
That’s much less than other countries do, even though Haiti is in our
hemisphere and has historic close ties to the US. For example, Canada
contributed $12.13 per person to Haiti over three years, and Norway
sent $8.44. … Other countries that contribute more, per capita, to
Haiti than the US are Luxembourg, Sweden, Ireland, France,
Switzerland, Spain and Belgium. True, there are more Americans, so
collectively our aid amounts to more than one-quarter of the pot in
Haiti, but that’s only because we’re such a big country. Given the per
capita sums, we have no right to be bragging about our generosity in
Haiti.”
Meanwhile, The Guardian reported: “The Haiti earthquake death toll is
predicted to reach 200,000 as relief workers struggle against looting
and logistical nightmares that have delayed vital supplies of food,
water and medical help.
“International aid has begun to reach the capital, Port-au-Prince,
four days after the quake destroyed much of the Haiti’s
infrastructure, from hospitals and prisons to the presidential palace
itself.
“The Red Cross said a convoy of trucks carrying a ‘huge amount’ of aid
from the Dominican Republic was due to arrive in the capital this
afternoon, bringing a 50-bed field hospital, surgical teams and an
emergency telecommunications unit.
“The supplies and medical teams had to be sent in by land because
‘it’s not possible to fly anything into Port-au-Prince right now’,
said Paul Conneally, the charity’s spokesman in Dominica. ‘The airport
is completely congested.’
“Mark Pearson of the charity ShelterBox said: ‘It’s utter chaos at the
airport. Buildings have been completely destroyed, the hospital has
been destroyed. It’s a full scale emergency, there’s so much
destruction.
” ‘The priority at the moment is search and rescue and then after that
emergency shelter provision, so obviously there’s frustration. There’s
no fuel and people are hunting for water. It’s difficult to put the
scale of destruction into words.’”
The New York Times said: “Countries around the world have responded to
Haiti’s call for help as never before. And they are flooding the
country with supplies and relief workers that its collapsed
infrastructure and nonfunctioning government are in no position to
handle.
“Haitian officials instead are relying on the United States and the
United Nations, but coordination is posing a critical challenge, aid
workers said. An airport hobbled by only one runway, a ruined port
whose main pier splintered into the ocean, roads blocked by rubble,
widespread fuel shortages and a lack of drivers to move the aid into
the city are compounding the problems.
“Across Port-au-Prince, hunger was on the rise. About 1,700 people
camped on the grass in front of the prime minister’s office compound
in the Pétionville neighborhood, pleading for biscuits and water-
purification tablets distributed by aid groups. Haitian officials said
tens of thousands of victims had already been buried.”
Time magazine said: “An armada of US warships is steaming toward
Haiti, to be joined by at least one Coast Guard cutter en route from
the Pacific via the Panama Canal - and manned and unmanned aircraft.
Within two hours of the quake, one of the globe’s biggest warships,
the carrier USS Carl Vinson, was ordered from off the Virginia coast
toward Haiti, swapping its jet fighters for heavy-lift helicopters as
it steamed south at top speed. Three ships, including the Vinson and
the hospital ship USNS Comfort, boast state-of-the-art medical
facilities that will care for injured Haitians. Thousands of troops
are on their way to Haiti or already there, running the airport and
clearing ports for many more to follow. Up to 10,000 troops will be in
Haiti or floating just offshore by Monday.
“It fell to State Department spokesman PJ Crowley to clarify a
delicate point: ‘We’re not,’ he insisted, ‘taking over Haiti.’
Strictly speaking, that’s true: Haiti remains a sovereign country, and
there are 9,000 UN peacekeepers already there, charged with
maintaining security. But as death stalks those smothered beneath the
rubble of pancaked buildings, and poor sanitation triggers outbreaks
of dysentery and other diseases, one nation in the world has the
muscle to quickly make a difference. That’s why the US is racing aid
to the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere. If things get worse,
the US - fairly or unfairly - will be blamed by many for not doing
enough.”
India’s growth prospects raised to 9%
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by Sunil Kashyap
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, himself an economist of international
repute, hoped double digit GDP growth rate for the economy in next
couple of years given to potential and enormous opportunities present
in India.
Urging NRIs at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Dr. Singh expressed
government’s commitment to provide investment friendly environment in
the country by reducing all hurdles for setting up project in India.
His assurance came a day after steel tycoon LN Mittal counted
challenges for executing mega projects in the country.
Addressing a gathering of the Indian diaspora, the PM said, “I
recognize the frustration well-wishers feel when they lament why
things don’t work faster or why well-formulated plans and policies
don’t get implemented as well as they should be.”
The PM’s projections can make economists and analyst to revise their
forecasts besides strengthening the common belief of India achieving
the past glories of economic growth leaving behinds the worst of
global slowdown.
Government has been expediting investment in road and infrastructure
projects through increased public spending besides taking a slew of
measures for cutting red tape, resolving legal issues and making land
acquisition simplified for setting up industries.
America’s long way to social development
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By Dr. John Samuel
United States of America, the most economically and militarily
advanced country, has a long way to go if it wants to be a socially-
developed country as well. It is hoped with his rhetorical elegance
and intelligence, Barack Obama would be able to help the country to
make significant progress in this direction.
With America’s economic leadership being challenged by China, the U.S.
needs to make the advance called for in social development to remain
ahead of other nations as a progressive and productive one on earth.
Its democracy is nothing unique considering that there are several
countries that can claim to be even more democratic since, unlike in
the U.S., it is not money alone that determines the successes or
failure of politicians in other democracies.
Among the social development factors, one of the most important is the
ability of a nation to provide essential services such as health care
for its people. It is a basic human need to get health care without
becoming bankrupt in the process. Several million American are
becoming increasingly unable to meet its horrendous costs in an
economy with more than one in ten unemployed. It is not certain even
the watered-down health care bill would have a smooth voyage in terms
of passage. It is unfortunate that many of the developing nations of
the world are blinded by the past economic success of the U.S. and
even in health care matters they follow the awful American example.
A second indictor of social underdevelopment in the U.S. is the
predominance and prevalence of the notion that the individual is
responsible for his/her safety and security. In most other countries,
the state takes over this function entirely and a police force is
responsible for the protection of individuals. It is unfortunate that
Americans live as if they are in a society that existed 200 or more
years ago when wild animals roamed and lack of law and order was the
norm and the individual needed protection from hostile forces using
one’s own devices such as guns. When the gun lobby bribes politicians
to support their cause of selling even more weapons of mass murder, as
seen in the numerous incidents of shootings by deranged individuals,
it would not be easy to change course despite the fact that there were
more gun death per 1000 population the U.S. than in any other country
in the world. Only an amendment of the Constitution of the country can
help. The Constitution is for the people, not the other way around.
This is not easy unless in the second term of his office, President
Obama turns his attention to this waxing issue.
A third indicator of social underdevelopment is the rising power of
fundamentalism among religious groups. Here the reference is not to
Islamic fundamentalism alone, but Christian fundamentalism as well.
Religious fundamentalism – Islamic, Christian or Hindu – is a danger
to smooth functioning of any society. “Live and let live” should be
the way of the future if unnecessary conflicts and deaths are to be
avoided. The state may not be able to play a direct role here.
Finally, it is the fundamentalism that leads to state executions as a
means of those who have supposedly committed a serious crime, at times
of innocent people. The state has to business to take away anyone’s
life though for the protection of society, it can take away the
freedom of dangerous individuals. European countries and Canada have
succeeded in abolishing capital punishment. In some U.S. states also
capital punishment is not allowed.
There could be other instances of lack of social development that
needs mention. We invite our readers to come up with suggestions.
Happy New Year to all.
Dr. John Samuel is the President and Managing Editor of South Asia
Mail.
Is Climate Change for Real?
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By Amit Bhattacharya
The hard talk is on at Copenhagen. In the huddle are negotiators from
more than 192 nations, trying to forge a common plan to save the
planet. At last count, 110 world leaders were slated to gather in the
Danish capital for end-of-summit declarations that may well lay the
ground for a fundamental retooling of the global economy.
Beyond the hope, hype and bickering about who pays how much to whom,
lies a plain fact - there’s near-total consensus among governments of
the world that fossil fuel emissions have been leading to a critical
rise in atmospheric greenhouse gases, which in turn is causing global
temperatures to rise and changing the Earth’s climate patterns.
Ironically, this consensus totally breaks down when civil society
begins to talk about climate change. The Internet is replete with
assertions of climate change being the “biggest scam of the century”.
Okay, you may argue that internet is also full of accounts from
victims of alien abductions and creationists who denounce evolution.
Society’s loony fringe often has exaggerated presence on the Internet.
Except, with the climate debate, it’s not exactly the loony fringe.
Consider this: Of the top 12 bestselling books on climatology in
Amazon.com, only three - one by Al Gore and two by leading climate
scientist James Hansen - present the mainstream scientific view on the
subject. As many as five other books deny human induced climate change
in some way or the other.
Look at opinion polls. A survey conducted in the US by the respected
Pew Research Center in October showed a 14% drop in the number of
Americans who thought there was solid evidence that the Earth was
warming from 71% who had said yes to the question in April 2008, to
57% in October 2009. Only 36% of the respondents thought humans were
causing it, down from 47% last year.
Then there is the “climategate”episode, in which leaked emails of
British climatologists proved at least to some people that scientists
were cooking data to fit their models.
That the Earth is steadily warming has itself been denied by some
experts. They point out that the global temperatures haven’t really
gone up since 1998, and the graph has been more or less flat since
then (despite the 2000-2009 decade being the warmest on record). There
are others who say that the warming trend of the last century is part
of a natural cycle and not human-induced; that human activities
haven’t reached the critical scale to impact climate. Many of these
experts point to waxing and waning of solar activity to explain
temperature variations on Earth.
All this brings us to the point of this post: Governments of the world
are convinced about the warming effects of greenhouse emissions, but
are the people? Is the science of global warming settled?
During the course of a climate change fellowship I attended in the US
last month, leading climatologists spoke on the subject. The insights
we got were both revealing and troubling. To answer the second
question first - yes, the science behind what’s causing the Earth to
heat up seems pretty settled. A few notable dissenters aside, an
overwhelming majority of climatologists believe there’s strong
evidence to show that fossil fuels are causing the warming.
It’s not just about individual scientists. The study of climate change
is a multidisciplinary system science. Like any science of this
nature, there are things that are well established and areas which
aren’t as clear, that is, where competing explanations exist and some
parts that are yet speculative. Understanding is built and unbuilt
through accumulated evidences over decades.
As Stephen Schneider, professor for Interdisciplinary Environmental
Studies at Stanford University and a preeminent climate change expert
put it, understanding climate is like understanding the world economy:
it’s never solved by one new piece of information. And the answers are
never in plain yes or no, but in degrees of certainty.
For instance, to understand whether human activity was leading to a
rise in global temperatures, scientists had to build climate models
based on observed data and make predictions. These models predict an
overall warming trend. Temperature data of the last 100 years, and the
last 50 years, bear this out. Since there are two possible outcomes in
the data set “warming or cooling” there’s a 50% chance that this
prediction was random.
There’s more. The models also predict that middle of the continents
warm up more than middle of oceans. Again, observations show that’s
the case. Models predict stratosphere cools, lower atmosphere warms.
Right again. Models predict the stratosphere cools because of ozone
depleting substances and relative damping. They also predict that
there’s more warming at night than the day. Yet again, the models get
it right.
Put together, these models leave a statistical possibility of just 5%
that all these correct predictions were arrived at by pure chance. In
other words, the statement that humans through fossil fuel emissions
are warming up the planet has a scientific accuracy of around 95%.
That’s a very high degree of certainty. No other competing explanation
of the observed data’s natural cycle or solar activity comes anywhere
close to the robustness of this theory. (Of course, there’s still a 5%
chance that the warming is being caused by a factor that’s yet
unknown; but can we risk our planetary future on this basis?)
To return to the first question: Why are so many people not convinced?
There are two main reasons why this is so. The first one is obvious:
There are strong vested interests in letting people believe that
warming is a myth; or that the issue is far from settled. It’s no
surprise that a lot of climate change deniers get funds from
multinational oil conglomerates. There are websites that carry lists
of who gets funded by whom. (There would, of course, be some genuine
non-believers in the mix, but oil funding is the ugly, predominant
truth.)
The second reason is the way the science works and the way scientists
communicate it. Climate science is all about probabilities, not
certainties. And scientists are careful about throwing in all the
caveats while making their points. On the other hand, people who are
cherry-picking facts to suit their slant are forceful and definitive.
No guessing which set of speakers would leave a more lasting
impression on primetime TV.
There’s no denying that climate is the most politicized and
contentious science of our times. But on one side is method and
rigour, and on the other, half-truths and slant. At stake is a planet
called Earth.
South Asia and climate change
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By Simon Tay
Climate change is a critical and pressing issue we are faced with
today. In South Asia we are increasingly exposed to the results of
climate change, such as the latest typhoons and floods in the region,
causing loss of lives and damage to property as well as displacing
families and increasing the spread of tropical diseases.
There is also the risk of rising sea level and increasing
temperatures. A recently released report from the Asian Development
Bank (ADB) shows that South Asia is likely to suffer more from climate
change than elsewhere in the world. There will be considerable
economic costs too, with a projected 7-8 per cent loss in GDP, unless
climate change is addressed.
It is an issue, on which developed and developing countries should
come together. Yet differences and suspicions remain.
Copenhagen meetings are going on to reach a consensus on a new climate
agreement. However, after Barcelona, it seems that the negotiations
have not progressed so far that a new legal framework will be ready
for Copenhagen. A realistic outcome will probably be a political
framework which can form the basis for future negotiations on the post-
Kyoto treaty.
South Asian countries need to think about their position on the
international stage. We all see the need to bring together the US,
India, China and south-east Asia, and mediators can help bring these
nations together. Singapore and other countries in the region could
very well play that role.
If we do not, we risk having larger and more powerful countries coming
to agreements alone and the decisions risk being made without our full
attention and participation.
The world is also looking at alternative sources of energy. It is
clear that some countries are more able and capable to deploy energy
saving mechanisms such as windmills and water/tidal turbines. Solar
energy, though a good solution, is still very expensive and presently
is not optimal.
Without the big nations on board, it may be understandable that other
nations approach Copenhagen cautiously. A solitary commitment by any
single nation cannot solve this global challenge.
Simon Tay is Chairman, Singapore Institute of International Affairs
(SIIA) and former chairman of Singapore National Energy Agency
Stephen Harper in world affairs
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By Bruce Anderson
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s trip to China garnered huge coverage
at home, and likely helped his political fortunes somewhat.
First of all, it was a distraction from the politics of Afghan
detainees, and the week wasn’t kind to the Conservatives on that
issue. Almost anything is better than having lots of voters focus
exclusively on pictures of heavily redacted documents and watch some
increasingly effective opposition prosecution of the issue.
Beyond that though, the Prime Minister is working hard to position
himself as competitive with Michael Ignatieff when it comes to what’s
important on the world stage. His rising profile as the nation’s top
diplomat also continues the process of softening his personal image.
That he amiably absorbed the shots Chinese leaders inflicted about the
lack of a prior visit seemed in contrast with a more prickly reaction
we might have seen earlier in his career.
Conventional wisdom holds that Canadians feel conflicted about China,
anxious to enhance our trade opportunities on the one hand, but
reluctant to look indifferent about the human rights abuses in that
country. Over the years I’ve done public opinion research in this
area, that’s not exactly what I’ve seen.
For one of the world’s great selling nations, our citizenry is
actually a bit tentative about the importance of international
commerce. When it comes to trade agreements, we’ve often had a foot on
the brake and a foot on the accelerator at the same time. For many,
the apparent success of Nafta has softened opposition to the concept
of free trade, but not yet translated into a full-on embrace of the
philosophy.
Most Canadians are very hesitant about any notions of free trade with
China, and tepid at best about investment by Chinese state enterprises
in the Canadian resource sector. This comes from a reflexive worry
about our ability to compete with bigger players, and a longstanding
instinct not to bargain away our natural resources birthright.
We’re also less passionate than we used to be about involving
ourselves in the social rights agendas of other countries. We are
fatigued with the idea of nation building in Afghanistan. We don’t
always feel confident knowing when and where our voice is needed in
other trouble spots, how forceful our interventions should be in order
to be helpful, and whether we can really avoid being brushed off. Our
collective attentiveness to global issues has been slipping for years,
which contributes to this uncertainty.
A renewal of Canadian interest in international affairs would be a
good thing for Canada. Doing so requires this type of intense focus
from our political leaders, and benefits from vigorous competition
between parties to help inform and clarify our choices. Whatever
policy we make around trade and investment flows with China, whatever
role we choose to play in promoting human rights or fighting
collective environmental problems, it can’t help but be in our
interests to make these decisions on a more broadly informed basis.
That’s why many observers likely hope that the Prime Minister’s
extensive foreign policy work this year was about more than connecting
with targeted segments of Canadian voters, and winning a few more
seats, but instead signals a new era of active Canadian outreach. And
why most of the same observers also welcome the fact that the Liberals
have talented people like Michael Ignatieff, Bob Rae and trade critic
Scott Brison to provide a serious and thought provoking challenge to
the government.
Obama Reassures Singh On U.S.-India Ties
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By Don Gonyea
As a sign of India’s rising stature, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was
treated to the first state visit of Obama’s presidency. The two
leaders pledged to strengthen their economic ties, and Obama
reiterated the importance of the U.S. relationship with India.
Obama tried to assuage growing concerns by many in India that the
relationship between these two nations is being eclipsed by a greater
U.S. outreach to China, India’s neighbor.
That was the broad message of all of the White House events Tuesday.
“It will be another opportunity to convey to the prime minister and
the people of India, as India assumes its rightful place as a global
leader in this century, that you will have no better friend and
partner than the United States of America,” Obama said.
“I was deeply impressed by President Obama’s strong commitment to the
India-U.S. strategic partnership and by the breadth of his vision for
global peace and prosperity,” Singh said.
“After eight years — some of those years in which we did not have, I
think, either the resources or the strategy to get the job done — it
is my intention to finish the job,” Obama said.
But a weak Afghan government, the country’s mountainous terrain and
the tenacity of the insurgents all add up to a very difficult task, no
matter what the strategy.
A poll published Wednesday by USA Today shows support for Obama on
Afghanistan plummeting. Three months ago, 56 percent approved of his
handling of the issue. Now 55 percent disapprove.
Any big buildup is likely to displease much of the American public as
the war enters its ninth year, with casualties rising.
Obama predicts that the public will give him a fair hearing when he
presents his case: “I feel very confident that when the American
people hear a clear rationale for what we’re doing there, and how we
intend to achieve our goals, that they will be supportive.”
The president has the Thanksgiving weekend to finalize his strategy
for Afghanistan, and his plan for selling that strategy both at home
and abroad.
HARPER AND INDIA
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By Rana Sarkar
There are few more important things Prime Minister Stephen Harper can
do for the future of the Canadian economy in our lifetimes than start
free-trade talks with India. Against the backdrop of aging
populations, thickening borders and the unlikely return of the U.S.
consumer as the global ATM – and in order to build the foundation for
competitiveness beyond the current downturn – we need to think
differently and act quickly to reduce our reliance on a single
partner.
We need to diversify into the big trading markets of the European
Union, Brazil, China and India. Given global multilateral trade talks
are mired in the sands of Doha for the foreseeable future, Canada’s
preference for bilateral pacts has proven a good instinct. With NAFTA,
and an EU free-trade deal in the works, we have secured two of the
largest markets, but Brazil remains tied up in its own regional
trading regime and China seems forever complicated. And so India
stands out as the next great opportunity for Canada.
Frankly, the timing could not be better. India is keen to expand its
global trade footprint and is selectively engaging in large deals of
its own, including ones with the EU and South Korea. But it is also
keen to get a foothold in the North American market. A quiet visit by
the Indian commerce minister to Ottawa in September has set the stage
for diplomatic dialogue on a comprehensive economic partnership – a
commitment to talk about talks. The Prime Minister should follow up
aggressively in India this week and stake his claim for full-blown
free-trade discussions.
“ Most countries got the memo circulated at Davos a few years ago”
An agreement will not happen overnight and will likely take years to
negotiate. But seizing on this initiative is rich with symbolism of
our intent to engage the New India and will help us jump the snaking
cue of the global great and good forming in Delhi. Most countries got
the memo circulated at Davos a few years ago: India, like China before
it, emerged from the global economic realignment as one of the great
players of the 21st century. It is now the fourth-largest economy in
the world in purchasing power parity, having grown at 6 to 9 per cent
over two decades, and will be, barring calamity, one of the big three
within 30 years.
Its self-sustaining growth is now past the tipping point – not fuelled
by exports alone but by a private sector composed of millions of
entrepreneurs, domestic consumption and new global ambition. India is
set to become one of the great global consumer markets in the decades
ahead as its North American-sized middle class flex their credit cards
and the country brings half a billion of its poorest into the global
economy for the first time.
Underwriting this growth has meant converting two enormous challenges
into strengths. India’s democracy, long viewed as a handicap to
growth, is now widely regarded as a source of multilayered strength,
able to see off complex challenges from security threats to brokering
the aspirations of the fast urbanizing poor. India’s billion-plus
population, once a Malthusian trap, now looks more like a demographic
dividend featuring a young population (half under 25) set to grow
rich(er) before they grow old – similar to postwar America and
Europe.
A Canada-India free trade agreement would likely be focused primarily
on investment, labour mobility and services – fears of job losses and
a flood of cheap exports are overblown. The China-U.S. relationship,
often citied by critics of trade arrangements between developed and
big emerging markets, is instructive: Job losses and cheap imports
have occurred precisely because trade and investment liberalization is
lacking, creating a situation where China has depressed its currency
to dampen consumption and drive exports that are bought by U.S.
consumers increasingly through debt – debt that is, in turn, financed
by the Chinese. This, of course, will not be the case with Canada’s
trade with India.
With similar democratic institutions, Commonwealth heritage and strong
diasporic links, Canada and India have much in common institutionally,
making an agreement possible. What is required now is a greater level
of political and corporate-sector commitment – and a little
imagination – to make it a reality. (The Globe and Mail)
Rana Sarkar is president and executive director of the Canada-India
Business Council.
Mohammad Akbar: Canada should strengthen trade relationship with India
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By Mohammad Akbar
In light of news that China has overtaken Canada as the number one
exporter to the U.S., it makes more sense than ever that we stop
putting all our eggs into one basket.
Canada should seek to diversify its trade for the same reasons that an
investor diversifies his or her portfolio—to get better gains and
reduce risk.
Canadian businesses are concerned by the potential upheaval in North
American trade amid the emergence of a “Buy American” mentality and
the likelihood that NAFTA may be placed back on the negotiation
table.
This is an opportune time for Canada to rethink its approach towards
international trade. We can and should open as many doors around the
world as possible for our businesses by moving toward free trade with
the world’s largest and fastest growing economies.
Preferential trade agreements or free trade agreements are becoming
very popular around the world as many countries become increasingly
disenchanted with the multilateral trade regime established under the
World Trade Organization.
I would suggest this is a very good time to be thinking of building a
stronger trade relationship with India.
The Indian economy has grown by more than nine percent for three years
running—growth that has been supported by economy-wide reforms, huge
inflows of direct foreign investment, rising foreign exchange
reserves, and a flourishing capital market.
Furthermore India is interested in building regional and bilateral
trade relationships and has entered into in number of them with the
zeal of a new convert. It is currently negotiating a free trade
agreement with the European Union and has signed an agreement to
cooperate in trade, investment, and energy issues with the U.S.
The Indian government is looking at alternative energy sources and has
also signed a wide-ranging nuclear treaty with the U.S.—an area that
can be exploited by Canada due to its comparative advantage in the
energy sector.
The Indian services sector, which accounts for more than 50 percent of
its GDP, is another tremendous opportunity for Canada .
Canada also has strong immigration ties with India that are currently
not reflected in trade relations. Over the last five years, trade
between the two countries has only amounted to about US$4 billion.
In this age of globalization, economic relations are a key to
strengthening political and foreign relations. A bilateral agreement
with India could yield meaningful strategic benefits.
India is an important country for Canada because of its geographical
location and its emerging role in global politics. Greater market
access to India and its one billion people will also help reduce
Canadian businesses’ vulnerability to the ups and downs of the U.S.
market. That will expand production here at home and create more jobs
while at the same time providing a cheap source of imports for both
goods and services.
In short, free trade with India would not only be a tremendous benefit
to Canadian business but would also establish Canada’s presence
politically and socially in one of the world’s great emerging
markets.
Mohammad Akbar is a professor of economics in the school of business
at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
Singh’s US visit is rich with symbolism
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Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s upcoming state visit to the US
would be reinforcement of America’s friendship with India. The trip
will be a test of India’s willingness to follow through with
acquisitions of civilian nuclear technology and ‘to agree to a test
ban’.
‘The first state visit under the Obama administration is rich with
symbolism,’ ‘It will solidify the US-Indian relationship under a
Democratic president.’
Obama administration has many officials who were skeptical of the
India-US civil nuclear deal. ‘The visit will be a test of India’s
willingness to follow through with concrete acquisitions of civilian
nuclear technology, and to agree to a test ban.
Manmohan Singh is scheduled to visit the US Nov 24.
The Obama administration early on learned to de-hyphenate India and
Pakistan, he said, adding ‘The challenges facing Pakistan’s survival
from within are driving relations there and are of a more urgent
nature than the slowly but steadily developing relationship with
India.
For Americans and Europeans, the terrorist origins in Pakistan are as
alarming as they are to Indians. US officials understand well,
perhaps better than some in the Bush administration that India is
pursuing improvements in its external circumstances along every
azimuth.
‘The relationship is important, and increasingly so, but it is not
exclusive in either direction. Both nations are pursuing their
interests with a cool eye and a sense of balance. This is a healthy
basis for long-term cooperation where the interests coincide.
The US and India share concerns about the terrorist threats we face.
We have a common interest in globalisation occurring in an orderly
fashion and a host of other issues. In those efforts, our allied
efforts will be critical.
Douglas H. Paal, is vice president for studies at the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace.
Religious Freedom in India
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Lalit K Jha
A US government report on Monday praised the religious freedom in
India despite mentioning instances of attacks on religious minorities,
and lauded the “independent” judiciary and a “vibrant” civil society
for acting against violations whenever they occur.
The annual report on International Religions Freedom, between July
2008 and June 2009, released in Washington by Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, also mentioned the Mumbai terror attacks in which
extremists targeted luxury hotels, a crowded railway station, a Jewish
centre, a hospital and restaurants.
It, however, criticised the police and law enforcement agencies for
often not acting swiftly to effectively counter violence and attacks
by extremists.
“In general, India’s democratic system, open society, independent
legal institutions, vibrant civil society and press all provided
mechanisms to address violations of religious freedom when they did
occur,” the State Department said in its annual report.
In its section on India, it said, although vast majority of citizens
of every religious group lived in peaceful coexistence, “some
organised societal attacks against minority religious groups
occurred,” and accused enforcement agencies for not acting swiftly in
many cases.
It also mentioned the violence in Kandhamal in August 2008 after the
killing of Swami Lakshmanananda by individuals affiliated with the
Maoists. The violence claimed 40 lives and left 134 injured, it said.
“Although most victims were Christians, the underlying causes that led
to the violence have complex ethnic, economic, religious and political
roots related to land ownership and government-reserved employment and
educational benefits,” it said, adding that police arrested 1,200
persons, including a Maoist leader and registered over 1,000 criminal
cases.
According to several independent accounts, an estimated 3,200 refugees
remained in relief camps, down from 24,000 in the immediate aftermath
of the violence, the report noted.
It said numerous cases remained in courts, including those related to
the 2002 Gujarat violence, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, and the more
recent attacks against Christians, and some extremists continued to
view the ineffective investigation and prosecution as a signal that
they could commit such violence with impunity.
The State Department report said government officials responded to a
number of new and previous violent events, helping to prevent communal
violence and providing relief and rehabilitation packages for victims
and their families.
It also praised leaders of religious groups for making public efforts
to show respect for other groups by celebrating their holidays and
attending social events, and for protesting cases of violence against
other communities.
“Muslim groups protested the mistreatment of Christians by Hindu
extremists… Christian clergy and spokespersons for Christian
organisations issued public statements condemning anti-Muslim violence
in places such as Gujarat,” it said.
After the Mumbai strikes, religious leaders of all communities
condemned the attacks and issued statements to maintain communal
harmony, the report said.
Lalit K Jha is a talented and results-oriented journalist with
extensive experience reporting upon international affairs and
government operations for leading national newspapers and wire
services.
Taliban Terror in Pakistan
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By Walid Phares
Taliban Terror in Pakistan
The war between the Taliban and Pakistan continues to accelerate. Just
last weekend, Pakistan’s army responded to a long string of Taliban
attacks by launching a massive ground operation in Waziristan.
But through this already-long fight, the press and other observers
have only focused on the continuing bloodshed rather than the fact
that the Taliban continue to launch suicide bombers and other types of
attacks inside Pakistan’s cities against its police and military
forces. We warned that the Taliban’s war on Pakistan’s government and
civil society, would widen since the assassination of Prime Minister
elect Benazir Bhutto in December 2007. And so it is today.
It is unfortunate, but nevertheless true, that he most important
events – the worst events — in this war have yet to happen. And
analysts must focus on the lessons learned so far so that the worrying
projections can be accompanied with parallel policy suggestions.
The jihadi campaign in Pakistan was planned years ago, but the
electoral victory in 2007 of the secular Party of the People, headed
traditionally by the Bhutto clan, triggered an acceleration of the
Taliban general offensive. Initially the Mullahs of the most radical
Salafists on the face of Earth – in partnership with al Qaeda — wanted
to seize Pakistan gradually, with further infiltration. They were
building their “Emirate” sanctuary in Waziristan and beyond, while
penetrating the intelligence agencies and other segments of the
bureaucracy.
But since September 2008 when Benazir’s widower Asif Ali Zardari was
elected as new President and as he clearly pledged to fight
“terrorism,” the Taliban leaped to preempt his designs. In one short
year, they escalated their attacks reaching a point 60 miles from
Islamabad last April. That week, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton said that Zardari’s government was “abdicating to the Taliban
and the extremists.”
In fact when the Jihadist forces entered the Swat valley and began
heading towards the capital’s suburbs, the country’s Government was
tested strategically. I told Fox News then that this was a “red line.”
Crossing it towards Islamabad meant a Taliban advance all over the
country. But if the Army would cross it in reverse, it would mean a
full fledge war against the Taliban. And in fact it did happen, as we
can see today. So what are the lessons so far?
Taliban Forces
First, the Taliban and their jihadi allies have clearly shown that
they have cells capable of conducting terror attacks way beyond their
enclaves. Hence one needs to expect protracted violence in urban
zones. The armed Islamists aren’t a new force appearing only this
year, but a network growing for decades. Now is their time to try to
take out the secular government.
Second, the attacks against the military headquarters and bases, never
performed before, can be copycatted against more dangerous locations,
including nuclear sites: storage locations, launching pads or delivery
systems. It is a question of time before such a scenario could
materialize.
Third, assassinations are still possible. As with the late lady
Benazir, the Taliban knows that achieving such goals can trigger even
wider clashes inside the country.
Fourth, the present Pakistani government is strategically decided to
fight and dismantle the Taliban enclaves in the Northwest provinces.
If this government fails, such an opportunity will not happen again
soon. All of these factors indicate that this is the last card been
played, in this generation, against the jihadists of Pakistan.
Fifth, the Taliban war on the secular government in Pakistan shows a
determination to take over that country. It also shows that the notion
of a “moderate Taliban” has no connection to reality. Otherwise the
Pakistani Muslim Government would have found these alleged “moderate
Taliban” and mobilize them against the bad guys. It didn’t happen and
it won’t.
Hence, based on these findings, the following are strategic
recommendations for the US Administration to consider seriously:
a. As Pakistan’s armed forces and its government are waging a counter
campaign on the Taliban, Washington must refrain from regurgitating
the myth of “cutting deals with the good Taliban” as an exit strategy
for Afghanistan. Such a hallucination would crumble the determination
of anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan and would weaken the resolve of
the Pakistanis engaged in their own national counter terrorism
campaign against the Taliban.
b. The Obama Administration must help Zardari’s government discretely
and at the demand of the latter. US and Pakistani leaders should
coordinate efforts without exposing this cooperation to jihadist
propaganda
c. The Obama Administration must rapidly extend resources to General
McCrystal in Afghanistan so that the pincer movement against the
regional Taliban can happen at the same time. Now that the Pakistanis
are on the offensive in Waziristan, NATO and Afghan forces must take
the offensive on the other side of the border. The Taliban must not be
enabled to fight one adversary at a time, by massing all their
resources in two countries against one foe then move to the next.
I am sure US and NATO strategists and Pakistani decision makers have
this in mind. But we need to make sure US decision makers do not have
other plans in mind. Otherwise, if the pincer strategy is not
performed, we may lose not one but two countries in the region to the
jihadists, one of them being already nuclear.
*****
Dr Walid Phares is the Co-Secretary General of the Transatlantic
Parliamentary Group on Counter Terrorism and a senior fellow at the
Foundation for Defense of Democracy.
http://www.southasiamail.com/blog/
The World is What it is: Authorized Biography of VS Naipaul
By Patrick French
Review by Cyril Dabydeen
A curmudgeon, there’s no question, as far as rumours go about V. S.
Naipaul, Nobel Laureate and Booker Prize winner, benighted by the
Queen for being litterateur par excellence. He’s both celebrated and
derided, all at the same time. But why? The recent Authorized
Biography by Patrick French is still hotly discussed in literary
circles; mention the name V.S. Naipaul, and you’re bound to get a
terse reaction, even with vitriol, often contrapuntal or just
contrarious. Many Caribbean intellectuals are fraught over him for his
damning comments about race and Africa; at conferences I’ve heard the
call for his books to be burned. His spat with the other Caribbean
Nobel Laureate, Derek Walcott, is well-known (a la “V.S. Nighfall”);
yet Walcott has acknowledged Naipaul’s superb craftsmanship as a
master stylist bent on changing the novel’s “bastardized form”--as
Naipaul sees it.
Naipaul has said, “I became a writer to be free.” And maybe too free
he is: his earliest books about India such as An Area of Darkness and
A Wounded Civilization caused quite a stir. But Naipaul’s novels from
the earliest, such as A House for Mr Biswas, to the later books like
The Enigma of Arrival and A Bend in the River are classics, or near
classics. Indeed the Nobel Prize Committee 's citation of Naipaul's
award was for his "incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to
see the presence of suppressed histories," and singling out The Enigma
of Arrival (1987) for its "unrelenting image of the placid collapse of
the old colonial ruling culture and the demise of European
neighbourhoods."
Maybe therein lies the problem or dilemma, jaundiced as Naipaul’s view
may be. And the Muslim fundamentalist world has come in for much of
his criticism in books such as Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey
and Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions Among the Converted Peoples.
Late distinguished post-colonial critic Edward Said would describe
what he calls Naipaul’s “funny moments... at the expense of Muslims,
who are ‘wogs’ after all as seen by Naipaul's British and American
readers, potential fanatics and terrorists, who cannot spell, be
coherent, sound right to a worldly-wise, somewhat jaded judge from the
West."
Yet Said acknowledged in his Reith Lectures Naipaul’s "extraordinary
antennae as a novelist," of his "sifting through the debris of
colonialism and post-colonialism, remorselessly judging the illusions
and cruelties of independent states and the new true believers...."
This distilled view is juxtaposed with Naipaul’s earlier expression in
Middle Passage (1962): "History is built around achievement and
creation; and nothing was created in the West Indies,” which caused
furore among some West Indian intellectuals; and Naipaul has gone on
to speak of "the colonial smallness [of Trinidad] that didn't consort
with the grandeur of my ambition."
Naipaul has influenced a whole slew of writers, including this writer–
as well as many modern-day Indians like Amitav Ghosh. Indeed, “it was
Naipaul who first made it possible for me to think of myself as a
writer,” Ghosh has said as he grew more comfortable with the
indwelling life of the mind. The most well-known Chinese-American
writer, Ha Jin, told us (when I was a juror of the Neustadt
International Prize for Literature at the University of Oklahoma) how
he would read Naipaul all the time on his train journeys in the US,
with a similar response to Ghosh’s; Ha Jin was a fellow juror.
Recent book reviewers of the French Biography have commented on
Naipaul’s treatment of his wife, Pat (he met her at Oxford), and
perhaps she was his best editor and confidante; and French quotes
Naipaul as saying “I have killed her”; Pat died of breast cancer. His
unsentimental self is what we have and being unequivocal about art as
well as equally satirical about politics as Naipaul assesses old and
new societies, often unsparing about the latter.
About himself and India, Naipaul has said: “I cannot belong to India
for the simple reason that I don’t know the language.” Naipaul, of
course, is of Indian forbears: the grandson of an indentured sugar
cane worker–of Brahmin caste--brought from Uttar Pradesh by the
British to the Chaguanas plantations in Trinidad. And you would think
that Naipaul would hate the British for this. But he has said, in
l979, perhaps too forthrightly: "I do not write for Indians, who in
any case do not read. My work is only possible in a liberal, civilized
western country"; and the enigma echoes: "The thing about being an
Indian, and it remains true of Indian writing now, is that it seems to
work without history, in a vacuum."
Misanthropic, if not satirical, Naipaul continues to excite or
intrigue, perhaps for just being outrageous with trenchant utterances
like his egregiously famous: "The dot means my head is empty":
referring to the bindi Hindu women wear; or, on Pakistan: "The
Pakistani dream is one day there'll be a Muslim resurgence and they
will lead the prayers in the mosques in Delhi"; and of Britain, it’s
“a country of second-rate people--bum politicians, scruffy writers and
crooked aristocrats."
In French’s Biography, there are touching elements, such as Naipaul’s
obsession and praising of his writer-father Seepersad Naipaul, and
about the family squabbles pitting the Capildeo clan (on his mother’s
side) with the Naipauls (on his father’s), all which rivets the
attention, as one is also acutely aware of Naipaul seeing “mimic men”
in the colonial setting with all that’s banal or incongruous.
V.S. Naipaul keeps seeking out other meanings in a diasporic new world
order by setting his gaze on more than imaginary homelands (as Salman
Rushdie does), always with troubling enigmas and, on occasion,
mutinies, if a million or more in India–which still beckons. Indeed,
he is the sum of his books; the novels always tell more than the
biography; and Naipaul affirms Marcel Proust’s axiom: of "the
secretions of one's innermost self, written in solitude and for
oneself alone that one gives to the public,” seen in his own
imaginative outpouring. But maybe with Naipaul controversy never ends:
the latest is about his Pakistani-journalist wife Nadera Naipaul’s
spat with Winnie Mandela over an interview-article in the UK’s Evening
Standard touching on Nelson Mandela’s patriarchal image. Read on!
Cyril Dabydeen’s novel, Drums of My Flesh (TSAR Publications) won the
Guyana Prize for Best Book of Fiction and had been nominated for the
prestigious IMPAC/Dublin Prize for Literature.
http://www.southasiamail.com/news.php?id=60443
Media, entertainment seen as $24 bn industry in India by 2014
Mumbai, The $13 billion Indian media and entertainment industry is
seen growing 13 percent annually over the next five years to net
revenues of $24.25 billion by 2014, says a report released Tuesday.
The study by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (FICCI) made the projection based on the recovery staged by
the industry in the last quarter of 2009, which, it feels, will
continue in the future.
The growth will be driven by factors like favourable demographics,
high economic growth, strong fundamentals, expected rise in
advertising revenue and increasing penetration, adds the study,
conducted jointly by consultancy KPMG.
“The media and entertainment industry represents the face of consumers
in India,” said FICCI secretary general Amit Mitra, after the study
was released by Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan at the Frames
2010 conference.
“It is a part of our daily life and touches maximum number of people.
So despite the challenging last year, I’m excited by the potential of
the industry to even grow beyond 13 percent per annum over the next
few years,” Mitra said.
Others who attended the inaugural event at India’s commercial and
entertainment hub included actors Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif and
filmmakers Yash Chopra and Karan Johar.
Speaking on the session, Shah Rukh Khan said the three basic needs of
every Indian — food, clothing and shelter (roti, kapda aur makaan) —
appeared to have been fulfilled for most.
“There is now a fourth desire and that is entertainment and movies are
a popular source of this fourth requirement. Another concept popularly
emerging and posing to have a great future is sport entertainment,” he
said.
“We are at the threshold of a huge burst on the entertainment arena in
India and entertainment is the packaging of a growing economy.”
As per the FICCI-KPMG study several factors augur well for the
industry, notably the potential for growth in media reach, impact of
digitisation and convergence, better consumer understanding,
innovation and enhanced penetration of regional markets.
The study also gives the following estimates of the size of various
segments of media and entertainment industry in 2009 and the
projection for 2014:
Television: From $5.71 billion to $11.58 billion
Filmed Entertainment: From $1.98 billion to $3.09 billion
Print Media: From $3.88 billion to $5.97 billion
Radio: From $173 million to $364 million
Music: From $184 million to $382 million
Animation: From just $71 million to $1.03 billion
According to the study, gaming will be the fastest growing sector in
the media and entertainment industry. This sector grew 22 percent in
2009 and is expected to expand by 32 percent per annum to reach $711
million by 2014.
http://www.southasiamail.com/news.php?id=60556
PakNationalists - Bal Thackeray 'Wanted' By Pakistan
© paknationalists |
4:33 PM Posted by com puter
© 2007-2009. All rights reserved. AhmedQuraishi.com & PakNationalists
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted
in any medium
without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Indian Hindu Terrorist Bal Thackeray 'Wanted' By Pakistan
Thackeray issued a call to form Hindu suicide squads, "to take the
Muslims head on". Labeling them as "trouble makers", Balaji called for
them to be wiped out from the country to make India secure. Urging
Hindus to start referring to India Hindu rashtra" (Hindu nation), the
Shiv Sena militant leader maintains that only "our religion [Hinduism]
is to be honored here" and then "we will look after other religions".
At least two senior retired Indian military officers answered Bal
Thackeray's call to set up the suicide squads in India.
By S.M Hali
The Daily Mail of Pakistan
Wednesday, 17 March 2010.
WWW.PAKNATIONALISTS.COM
According to reports, the eighth Indian dossier containing more
"details" on the Mumbai terror attacks has been handed over to the
Interior Minister, Mr. Rehman Malik by Foreign Secretary Salman
Bashir.
India had submitted the dossier last week at the one-point Foreign
Secretary level talks, seeking "strict action" against Jamaat-ud-Dawah
(JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, who is alleged to be the mastermind of the
26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. India had submitted three dossiers, one
of them concerning the handing over of Saeed and 34 others wanted by
India.
However, after the talks, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir had
commented that evidence presented by New Delhi against Saeed was "mere
literature" and India did not have enough proof against him. Earlier,
New Delhi had expressed "severe concern" over Islamabad's "inaction"
against Saeed. India needs to accept the fact that Pakistan's free and
fair judiciary, whose independence was acclaimed by India too, had
examined the evidence against Hafiz Saeed, after he was arrested in
the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks. In light of the data presented by
India as "proof" incriminating Hafiz Saeed, the independent judiciary
in Pakistan had considered it inadequate to convict him thus he was
set free. India, which boasts of an independent, fair and free
judicial system in its own country, should realize that it has Ajmal
Kassab in its custody, who is alleged to be the sole survivor of the
attackers involved in the Mumbai carnage. Despite Ajmal Kassab's
signed "confession", video footage of the assailants and hundreds of
"witnesses" of the heinous crime, Indian judicial system is yet to
declare Mr. Kassab guilty of any crime. India will have to put faith
in Pakistan's judiciary or provide solid evidence of Hafiz Saeed's
involvement in the gory episode.
India had also expressed dissent over Islamabad allowing Saeed to make
'provocative and insidious' statements against India during a
television interview. Saeed had declared an open 'Jihad' against India
in the interview. "If India is not ready to talk on water and Kashmir
then Pakistan should wage a war against India. JuD will fight along
with the Pakistan army," the Jihadi leader had said.
Hafiz Saeed's comments may be termed provocative but surely it is not
a serious crime meriting his arrest and handing over to India. If it
were so, India's own firebrand demagogue Bal Keshav Thackeray,
popularly known as Balasaheb Thackeray, who is the founder and chief
of the Shiv Sena, a hardcore Hindu terrorist, Marathi ethnocentric and
extremist party, must be taken cognizance of. The hothead, highly
vocal radical leader, in his vitriolic comments seldom hides the venom
he harbors for Muslims and Pakistan. In 2002, Thackeray issued a call
to form Hindu suicide squads, "to take the Muslims head on". Labeling
them as "trouble makers", Balaji called for them to be wiped out from
the country to make India secure. Urging Hindus to start referring to
India Hindu rashtra" (Hindu nation), the Shiv Sena militant leader
maintains that only "our religion [Hinduism] is to be honored here"
and then "we will look after other religions".
At least two organizations founded and managed by the retired Indian
Army officers namely Lieutenant Colonel Jayant Rao Chitale and
Lieutenant General P.N. Hoon (former commander-in-chief of the Western
Command), answered Bal Thackeray's call to set up the suicide squads
in India. Lieutenant General Hoon claimed, Thackeray instructed him to
set up the training camps. Another Balaji follower is Indian Army's
serving Lieutenant Colonel Srikanth Prasad Prohit, wanted by Pakistan
for his complicity in torching the Samjhota Express which took a toll
of 59 Pakistani passengers. Bal Thackeray continues to publish
inflammatory editorials in his party's newsletter, Samna
(Confrontation). When explaining his views on Hindutva he has
conflated Islam with violence and has called for Hindus to "fight
Islam". In an interview in Suketu Mehta's book 'Maximum City', he
advocates the hanging of Indian Muslims and mass expulsion of Muslim
migrants from neighboring Bangladesh. One of his more acerbic
statements needs attention: "They [Muslims] are spreading like a
cancer and should be operated on like a cancer. The... country should
be saved from the Muslims and the police should support them [Hindu
Maha Sangh] in their struggle just like the police in Punjab were
sympathetic to the Khalistanis."
Balasaheb Thackeray criticized and challenged Indian Muslims through
his party newspaper, Samna, around the time the 16th century Babri
Masjid was demolished by members of the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) in the northern town of Ayodhya, on December 6,
1992. The razing of the mosque was followed by a mass genocide of
Muslims. The Justice Srikrishna Commission of Enquiry, which
investigated the ensuing communal riots in Mumbai, named Thackeray for
sparking anti-Muslim violence, which led to more than 1,000 deaths in
several ensuing riots, many by having kerosene poured on their bodies
while alive and then being burned to death. The Srikrishna Commission
found that Thackeray was personally responsible, not only for inciting
the mobs through his incendiary speeches, but also directly
coordinating the movement of the rioters. In a deposition before the
Srikrishna Commission a witness alleged Thackeray coordinated much of
the January 1993 Mumbai carnage. Yuvraj Mohite claimed, "Balasaheb
ordered that not one Muslim be left alive to stand in the witness box,
and asked his men to send the additional police commissioner, A A
Khan, to his Allah." Balaji later announced: "I am proud of what my
boys have done. We had to retaliate and we did. If it was not for us,
no one would have controlled the Muslims." He has since made more
inflammatory statements regarding Muslims, and reiterated his desire
for Hindus to unite across linguistic barriers and to see "a Hindustan
for Hindus" and to "bring Islam in this country down to its knees".
I rest my case for readers to decide themselves, whether Balaji
Thackeray should be handed over to Pakistan to face trial for his
crimes against humanity or not? Surely there is enough evidence to
convict him.
This op-ed was published by The Daily Times. It is reproduced here
through a special arrangement.
© 2007-2009. All rights reserved. AhmedQuraishi.com & PakNationalists
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted
in any medium
without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
http://pak-nationalists.blogspot.com/2010/03/paknationalists-bal-thackeray-wanted-by.html
Sid Harth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Subcategories
This category has only the following subcategory.
B
[+] Bofors scandal (10 P)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Bofors_scandal
Pages in category "Political scandals in India"
The following 14 pages are in this category, out of 14 total. This
list may not reflect recent changes (learn more).
1
Indian political scandals
1971 Nagarwala scandal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Nagarwala_scandal
B
Barak Missile scandal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barak_Missile_scandal
Bofors scandal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bofors_scandal
C
Cash-for-votes scandal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cash-for-votes_scandal
F
Fodder Scam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fodder_Scam
H
Hawala scandal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala_scandal
M
Harshad Mehta
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harshad_Mehta
Haridas Mundhra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haridas_Mundhra
Q
Ottavio Quattrocchi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottavio_Quattrocchi
S
SNC Lavalin scandal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNC_Lavalin_scandal
Sukh Ram
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukh_Ram
T
Taj corridor case
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_corridor_case
Tata Tapes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Tapes_controversy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Political_scandals_in_India
1971 Nagarwala scandal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On May 24, 1971 , INR 60 lakh (= £330,000) (was withdrawn from the
State Bank of India (Parliament Street branch) and given to a
Bangladesh ka babu or "man from Bangladesh" after the chief cashier,
Ved Prakash Malhotra, got a call purportedly from Indira Gandhi then
Prime Minister of India asking him to do so.
Later it was discovered that former army captain, Rustom Sohrab
Nagarwala, then attached to Indian intelligence or R&AW, collected the
money from Malhotra, by "mimicking the voice of Mrs. Indira Gandhi",
presumably for being diverted to the Mukti Bahini in its guerrilla-
liberation campaign from West Pakistan. Nagarwalla, it was later
alleged, was about to leave that same evening for Nepal. He was
arrested, however, after Malhotra went in person to collect a receipt
from P. N. Haksar, Indira Gandhi's personal secretary, informing him
that the requested payment was done. A stunned Haksar informed
Malhotra that Mrs Gandhi had instructed nothing of the sort and urged
him to inform the police immediately.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%26AW
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukti_Bahini
The opposition parties suspected that the money belonged to Indira
Gandhi. They also alleged that it was not an isolated case.
The investigating officer, D. K. Kashyap, investigating the case was
killed in a car attack. Nagarwala was sentenced for four years and
died in prison in February, 1973. This was due to deliberate neglect
of his increasing ill-health, a point in fact later confirmed in an
official enquiry.
A Commission of Inquiry was set up by Janata Party under Justice P.
Jagan Mohan Reddy on June 9, 1977, to probe into the Nagarwala case.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._Jagan_Mohan_Reddy
Justice Jaganmohan Reddy listed four "incontrovertible facts" - one of
them being the fact that Indira Gandhi did not have any account in
that branch - but concluded that they were not sufficient to hold that
the money belonged to her. "There were several lacunae," he said, and
listed them. "To supply an answer to these (lacunae) would force me to
leave the safe haven of facts which required to be established by
evidence and enter the realm of conjectures and speculation." (p.
176).
External links
[1]
India's National Magazine
From the publishers of THE HINDU
Vol. 15 :: No. 17 :: August 15 - 28, 1998
JAIN COMMISSION REPORT
A law unto itself
The Jain Commission has run amuck, flouting the Commissions of Inquiry
Act, its own terms of reference, the rules of natural justice and the
norms of the judicial function.
A. G. NOORANI
JUSTICE M.C. JAIN has driven a coach and four through the law in his
Final Report. Let us consider first the law and, next, Jain's conduct.
Section 3 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act puts a strong fetter on
the Government as well as the Lok Sabha's power to appoint a
Commission of Inquiry. A Commission can be appointed only "for the
purpose of making an inquiry into any definite matter of public
importance." In the case of a former Chief Minister of Bihar, K. B.
Sahay, the Supreme Court said: "If the charges were vague or
speculative suggesting a fishing expedition, we would have paused to
consider whether such an inquiry should be allowed to proceed." (AIR
1969 S.C. 258 to 262; emphasis added, throughout).
The Royal Commission on Tribunals of Inquiry headed by Lord Justice
Salmon noted realistically that "as the agitation for an inquiry is
very often the result of nothing more than general allegation and
rumour, it is necessary to keep the Tribunal within reasonable
bounds... The Act lays down ... that what is to be inquired into shall
be a 'definite matter'. Accordingly, no Tribunal should be set up to
investigate a nebulous mass of vague and unspecified rumours. The
reference should confine the inquiry to the investigation of the
definite matter which is causing a crisis of public confidence. (1966;
Cmnd. 3121, p. 30, para 78). The Commissions of Inquiry Act of 1952 is
based on the British statute, the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act,
1921.
The Jain Commission did just that - launch a fishing expedition spread
over seven years. Similar violations of the law by the Thakkar
Commission that inquired into Indira Gandhi's assassination and the
Thakkar-Natarajan Commission that inquired into the Fairfax case have
gone unnoticed. Secondly, appointed to inquire into a "definite"
matter of public importance, the Commission's report must be based on
legal evidence and it must either give a finding of fact or decline to
do so if the evidence is inadequate. It is utterly impermissible for
it to voice "suspicion", whether directly or indirectly. To mention
mere "possibilities" as distinct from probabilities and refuse to
"rule out" some is calculatedly to raise a suspicion that they did
occur, the lack of evidence notwithstanding. No judicial exercise, be
it in a court of law or an inquiry, can indulge in such an exercise.
The third violation of the law is as gross and occurs despite an
important but overlooked ruling of the Supreme Court. No Commission of
Inquiry has any right to recommend prosecution or interrogation of any
individual. On December 11, 1956, the Government of India set up a
Commission of Inquiry to go into the affairs of companies controlled
by Ramkrishna Dalmia and his associates. Clause 10 of the terms of
reference of the Commission directed it to inquire into "any
irregularities" in those firms, except those in respect of which
criminal proceedings were pending in a court of law and to recommend
thus "and the action which in the opinion of the Commission should be
taken as and by way of securing redress or punishment or to act as a
preventive in future cases."
This part of Clause 10 was struck down by the Bombay High Court and
the Supreme Court. In the High Court, Chief Justice M. C. Chagla ruled
that it was not open to the Commission "to point out to the Union
Government what civil or criminal action can be taken with regard to
these breaches of law" under the new Companies Act. That was "beyond
the legislative competence of Parliament". The Commission was asked
"to inform the Government in order that Government should launch civil
or criminal proceedings. Now, such an investigation can only be
instituted by means of the judicial process and not through the device
of a Commission."
Justice Chagla amplified: "It is not open to the Government by this
notification to put any individual in the position of an accused, to
constitute a Commission to investigate into any offence that he might
have committed, and to place before it materials collected so that on
the strength of those materials a prosecution could be launched.... it
would be competent to Government to get information with regard to
breaches of law, so that legislation may be passed to prevent such
breaches in future, and there is no reason to suggest why breaches of
law referred to in the first part of Clause (10) were to be
investigated into only for the purpose of instituting civil or
criminal proceedings and not also for the purpose of legislation. In
our opinion, therefore, the last part of Clause (10) from the words
"and the action" to "in future cases" is ultra vires of the Act and
the Government is not competent to require the Commission to make any
report with regard to these matters (Ram Krishna Dalmia vs. Mr.
Justice S. P. Tendulkar 59, Bom.L.R. 769 at 775).
The ruling was upheld by a unanimous judgment of a Constitution Bench
of the Supreme Court delivered by Chief Justice S. R. Das. He held
that "there can be no objection even to the Commission of Inquiry
recommending the imposition of some form of punishment which will, in
its opinion, be sufficiently deterrent to delinquents in future. But
seeing that the Commission of Inquiry has no judicial powers and its
report will purely be recommendatory and not effective proprio vigor
and the statement made by any person before the Commission of Inquiry
is, under Section 6 of the Act, wholly inadmissible in evidence in any
future proceedings, civil or criminal, there can be no point in the
Commission of Inquiry making recommendations for taking any action 'as
and by way of securing redress or punishment' which, in agreement with
the High Court, we think, refers in the context to wrongs already done
or committed; for redress or punishment for such wrongs, if any, has
to be imposed by a Court of law properly constituted exercising its
own discretion on the facts and circumstances of the case and without
being in any way influenced by the view of any person or body,
howsoever august or high-powered it may be. Having regard to all these
considerations it appears to us that only that portion of the last
part of Clause(10) which calls upon the Commission of Inquiry to make
recommendations about the action to be taken 'as and by way of
securing redress or punishment' cannot be said to be at all necessary
for or ancillary to the purposes of the Commission." (AIR 1958 S.C.
538).
If the Jain Report is invalid on this score, the Action Taken Report
(ATR) falls with it. Section 3(4) of the Act was amended in 1971 to
bind the Government to lay before the Lok Sabha (or the State
Assembly, as the case may be) the Commission's report "together with a
memorandum of the action taken thereon within a period of six months
from the submission of the report by the Commission..." The
Government's ATR must be based on the Commission's Report
("thereon").
Fourthly, while Commissions of Inquiry are not bound by the Indian
Evidence Act, 1872, they are not free to disregard the principles
underlying it. The Law Commission's 24th Report (1962) on the Act
quoted G.W. Keeton's remarks in his classic Trial by Tribunal (1960):
"When the question of the involvement of a particular person in a
particular transaction is under consideration, however, the Tribunal
restricts itself to the facts admissible under the normal rules of
evidence." The Law Commission said approvingly: "We recommend that the
same practice should be followed in our country also." It did not
recommend any statutory provision lest "a rigid provision may defeat
the very object of the Act; namely, to find out the truth." But in its
pursuit, speculation cannot be substituted for evidence.
In 1970, Justice Y. V. Chandrachud said in his report on the
circumstances relating to the death of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya: "I have
to grapple with quite a mass of irrelevant and hearsay evidence.... I
could not reject that evidence on the ground of its inadmissiblity
under the Evidence Act but that does not mean that I must accept it as
good evidence" (p. 7). For instance, the Evidence Act makes
inadmissible opinion evidence except in some specific cases such as
handwriting or expert evidence (Sections 45 to 51). It is not open to
a person to say, for instance, that in his opinion, X conspired to
murder Y. He can only depose to facts within his personal knowledge.
Jain declared open season on assassination "theories". The Radcliffe
Tribunal, set up to probe into allegations in the press on espionage
and breaches of security in the Admiralty, noted that "most of these
statements, it turned out, were either pure comment expressed in the
form of assertion of fact or else inferences put together from other
readily accessible sources... Our only function, as we have seen it,
is to try to report on the facts coming before us in our inquiry..."
Fifthly, if the Report must be based on facts, not opinions, what must
be the standard of proof of the facts? Section 3 of the Evidence Act
simply says that "a fact is said to be proved when, after considering
the matters before it, the court either believes it to exist, or
considers its existence so probable that a prudent person ought, under
the circumstances of the particular case, to act upon the supposition
that it exists." There is a similar formulation in regard to a
situation in which a fact is "disproved". In contrast is the
definition of "not proved" - "neither proved nor disproved". That is
the honest course when evidence is inadequate. To seek refuge in
suspicion when there is no proof is unjudicial. To arraign people on
suspicion is unjust.
IT is all right to decide civil disputes on a balance of
probabilities. But no "prudent man" will inflict punishment save on
the basis of proof beyond reasonable doubt, the rule in criminal
cases. The S.R. Das Commission on Partap Singh Kairon insisted on the
stricter standard of proof. For, "No individual shall be condemned on
suspicion, however strong. " The Evidence Act does not apply but its
fundamentals do.
The J. R. Vimadalal Commission's Report (1978) on J. Vengala Rao,
former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, opted for a lower standard
but held that "the graver the consequence of a finding in regard to a
particular allegation, the higher should be the preponderance of
probability which a Commission of Inquiry should require to be
established, before it holds a fact to be proved and arrives at a
finding to that effect."
T.A. HAFEEZ
D.R. Karthikeyan, chief of the Special Investigation Team and later
Director of the CBI.
These Commissions were concerned with charges of abuse of power by
Chief Ministers. How much more stringent must be the standard of proof
in a case in which the allegation is culpable neglect that leads to
murder or actual complicity in it? No prudent person would accept any
other test but proof beyond reasonable doubt.
There was a Commission of Inquiry which had to probe into a bizarre
case seven years later. It was honest enough to pronounce "not proved"
despite proven indications that could legitimately create suspicion in
a layperson's mind. The Judge refused to endorse suspicions despite
the fact that he detested the policies of the person under suspicion,
Indira Gandhi. Justice P. Jaganmohan Reddy, one of the finest judges
to have sat on, was appointed as Commission of Inquiry on June 9,
1977, to probe into the Nagarwala case. On May 24, 1971, R. S.
Nagarwala was able to take out Rs. 60 lakhs from the State Bank of
India's Parliament Street branch by "mimicking the voice of Mrs.
Indira Gandhi" to Chief Cashier Ved Prakash Malhotra. Nagarwala died
of heart attack in prison. Neglect by the authorities was patent. The
investigating officer, D. K. Kashyap, was killed in a car attack. If
Milap Chand Jain had been let loose on the case at the behest of the
Government, a mountain of suspicion would have been raised. Justice
Jaganmohan Reddy only listed four "incontrovertible facts" - one of
them being the fact that Indira Gandhi did not have any account in
that branch - but concluded that they were not sufficient to hold that
the money belonged to her. "There were several lacunae," he said, and
listed them. "To supply an answer to these (lacunae) would force me to
leave the safe haven of facts which required to be established by
evidence and enter the realm of conjectures and speculation." (p.
176). He did not talk of "needles of suspicion" nor direct a "finger
of suspicion".
Lastly, a Commission's report is very much open to judicial review. It
can be quashed by the High Court or the Supreme Court if, among other
things, it has failed to abide by the rules of evidence or if its
reasoning is illogical grossly. The Privy Council set aside the Report
of a New Zealand Royal Commission set up under the Commissions of
Inquiry Act, 1908. It applied the established rules of evidence, that
is, ".... the person making a finding... must base his decision upon
evidence that has some probative value.... What is required... is that
the finding must be based upon some material that tends logically to
show the existence of facts consistent with the finding and that the
reasoning supportive of the finding, if it be disclosed, is not
logically self-contradictory." Judicial review is allowed in relation
to "primary facts... not supported by any probative evidence" and to
"reasoning by which the decision-maker justify inferences of fact that
he had drawn (but) is self-contradictory or otherwise based upon an
evident logical fallacy."
Jain's Report would collapse if these six legal principles were
applied to it. Courts in India have for over a century decided
conspiracy cases. Jain could not apply the law because it would
demolish his suspicions or conspiracy theories. Nor could he
articulate them without contradicting himself. Sample this from Volume
VI (p.29): "The standard proof is very high in criminal trial and it
is difficult to collect such evidence in a case where people feel that
there is deeper conspiracy, national and international. The theory of
conducting the investigation from the scene of crime to the criminal
may sometimes unearth the whole conspiracy but it is also very likely
that the whole conspiracy may not be unravelled even after reaching to
the executors of the conspiracy from the scene of the crime. In a case
of the present nature, in which even the main culprits were not
available as they have consumed cyanide and died or are absconding, it
is all the more difficult to unearth the conspiracy if any behind the
LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam)." Mark the words "if any."
ANU PUSHKARNA
Justice Milap Chand Jain.
This special pleading is followed by these bold assertions: "In a
Commission of Inquiry, the inadmissible evidence in a Court of Law can
form the basis of factual findings and the standard of proof is not so
strict before the Commission of Inquiry. The factual findings can be
recorded on the basis of even probabilities."
THE entire Volume II on "persons/agencies responsible for the
assassination" rests on opinions aired and theories spun heedless of
implausibilities and contradictions. The Khalistan Guerilla Force
(KGF) issued a press note on May 22, 1991, the day after the
assassination, claiming responsibility for the crime jointly with the
LTTE. The blast, it said, was made with '''satellite wave control'
with the help of computer at a distance of 60 kms... about 90
persons... have been killed." Instant rejection would have been a
sound response even in 1991. In 1998 no sensible person would waste a
minute on this.
Jain dwells on it at length and ties himself up in knots: "The press
note may be fake but it does point to a link with the LTTE." A fake
provides guidance: "The Sikh militant group solely has not claimed
responsibility. Any group by the name of Khalistan Guerilla Force may
be non-existent. The group could have claimed the sole responsibility
but it has not done so. If a fake responsibility was to be claimed,
the group could have come out with claiming sole responsibility. But
the note clearly makes out that it is not only the job of LTTE but
there is some other force also behind the LTTE." So, whether the KGF's
press note was fake or not, it "proves" a "wider conspiracy" to Jain's
satisfaction. Such logic surfaces again on page 118: "Unless there is
some link, it is inconceivable that such a claim would have been made
in the press release that the assassination has been done in
collaboration with the LTTE. It is quite possible that this may be
with a view to mislead the investigation and instead of directing
investigation towards the LTTE, it may take up investigation against
the Khalistani extremists. But the question is how such a press
release appeared on 22-5-1991 claiming assassination by the terrorist
groups mentioned therein... The information contained therein
regarding the method of blast with a satellite control system, may
also be incorrect and this information may also be incorrect that
Chintamani Raman has been baptised Sikh by taking Amrit at a
Gurudwara."
"Without attaching any significance to these informations (sic.), the
very fact of the press release having been issued the same night
involving the two different terrorist organisations becomes relevant
and assumes importance from the point of view of establishing link
between the two, and therefore it is quite possible that they may have
acted in concert on the basis of which the press release was issued."
Such contradictions invalidate the Report.
The record shows that in December 1990, Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar
sent Mahant Sewa Dass Singh to London at government expense to bring
around Jagjit Singh Chohan and score a "victory" by "settling" the
Punjab problem. The Mahant claimed that Chohan told him of a plan to
assassinate Rajiv Gandhi. On May 28, 1991, he wrote to the President:
"The anti-India forces are diverting the attention from the killers by
blaming the Tamils or LTTE. The LTTE has repeatedly denied that they
have hand in the killing of Mr. Rajiv Gandhi. So I request to your
goodself to ask the Government to direct the energies towards the real
killers." Which Judge would waste his time on such a witness?
This letter was produced by D. R. Karthikeyan, then Joint Director of
the Central Bureau of Investigation and head of the Special
Investigation Team (SIT), when he appeared before Jain on September
19, 1997. It did not worry Jain one bit. The Mahant also said: "The
theory about the human bomb is all non-sense." Why? Because Chohan
"himself told me this when I spoke to him on telephone after the
assassination."
A professional investigator, Karthikeyan saw through the Mahant as any
educated person would. Yet, Jain pressed him to accept other
"possibilities". He writes: "On being questioned as to whether he
rules out any possibility of any conspiracy beyond LTTE, or is there
any conspiracy behind LTTE or behind the persons who have been
prosecuted, the witness replied that Shri Rajiv Gandhi being a dynamic
leader taking bold decisions in many fields, there may have been many
groups inimical to him and many conspiracies also. Thus, there are any
number of possibilities of any one of those numerous inimical groups
targeting him. As an investigator, what he can speak about is about
the conspiracy that actually fructified in the killing of Shri Rajiv
Gandhi on 21-5-1991 at Sriperumbudur. He, however, stated that he
agrees that there are possibilities of other groups inimical to Shri
Rajiv Gandhi joining hands with an organisation like the LTTE to
eliminate him but his submission is that he is talking about
probabilities and not possibilities, and according to him involvement
of any other terrorist group was most improbable and stated that LTTE
is not just a mercenary who can be made to do a task by somebody else
looking to their thinking, the making and the philosophy of the LTTE,
and he expressed his firm opinion that in this operation, LTTE acted
alone."
The contrast between the two attitudes emerges starkly and to the
Judge's disadvantage in Volume V on the 21 suspects, in Chapter X on
the SIT's stand "on theories (sic) beyond LTTE." Karthikeyan told him
that "there is hardly anything either in its investigation or from
intelligence from any quarter to lend credibility to and sustain such
theories and hypothesis. In the absence of any evidence they have to
remain as such for ever in the realm of endless speculation." He said
emphatically: "I, as the leader of the Team, my officers and the
prosecutors are confident that there is very little scope of
involvement of any person or group beyond the LTTE and the 41 persons
charged by us" - notwithstanding the difficulties in investigating a
conspiracy several of whose participants were dead or beyond reach.
Jain's comment on this defies belief: "His statement does not
completely rule out the possibility of involvement beyond LTTE and
beyond the 41 charge-sheeted accused persons." This deliberate
misconstruction is followed by the admission that "the Commission has
done that exercise to the extent possible" - a pursuit of
"possibilities" followed by airing of suspicions.
It is in this context that Jain criticises the SIT for not
interrogating six public figures, including Chandra Shekhar and
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi. Regardless of that
"failure" by the SIT, "the evidence and circumstances on some theories
examined by the Commission do point some accusing finger on some
agencies, organisations, outfits or individuals. The Government may
adopt such course of action as it may think fit in respect
thereto." (Volume V; Page 361). In law, a Commission of Inquiry can
only return a finding based on evidence or decline to do so because
the evidence is inadequate, as Justice Jaganmohan Reddy did. No
Commission has the right to point "an accusing finger" on the basis of
"theories" it has examined. No Government is entitled to act on such
suspicion and launch a witchhunt.
But the "accusing finger" is waved all over the Report and
recommendations for action by way of investigation or interrogation
abound (Volume II, pp. 202 and 231). This is not the remit the
Commission was given. It is unable to give a finding after years of
inquiry and expects others to do better. "No definite clinching
evidence establishing the link between Khalistani extremists and LTTE
has come before the Commission but the circumstances as considered
above do warrant further probe. "But, surely, there was to be some
finality to the Final Report. The Commission's order of July 2, 1993
said that "a thorough probe is needed leaving no areas including the
areas covered by the charge-sheet". That was five years ago. After
nearly seven years of labour, the Jain Commission can do no more than
urge "further scrutiny, examination and action in accordance with
law," in respect of the 21 suspects it names. But, as Jain himself
admitted, "This Commission is required to prove the criminal
conspiracy. It has to find out the persons and agencies responsible
for conceiving, preparing and planning the assassination of Shri Rajiv
Gandhi and whether there was any conspiracy behind it."
THE ATR is motivated. Tongue firmly in cheek, it quotes the Interim
and Final Reports together on some points to establish, without
comment, Jain's inconsistencies. On his quaint notions of evidence,
the ATR says: "While noting this observation of the Commission,
Government understand that any probe must eventually result in
judicially admissible evidence." Yet the "foreign hand" will be
"examined in depth" by the Ministries of External Affairs and Home,
and the I.B. and the RAW, all of which have nothing better to do,
apparently. The ATR accepts the stand of the CBI and the judgment of
the Designated Court generally and specifically, on the 21 suspects
except in regard to Kumaran Padmanathan and Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan,
oddly enough. The MDMA will also target Karunanidhi on the basis of
"serious observations" in the Interim Report although the Final Report
declares that "there is no indictment in the Interim Report of any
individual" (volume VI, p. 60). The MDMA will be an instrument of the
Government.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has good reason to be happy with Jain. He
brought down the United Front Government and has this to say of the
Godse case: "There was a conspiracy theory in the assassination of
Mahatma Gandhi. The RSS was banned and Savarkar was charged-sheeted
and finally the political leaders were exonerated. The conspiracy as
to who was responsible for the assassination of the Father of the
Nation - not the particular Nathu Ram Godse who pulled the trigger -
remains yet to be unveiled." He is wrong. The RSS was accused even by
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel - who would have liked it to join the
Congress - of spreading "communal poison". On September 11, 1948,
Patel wrote to RSS chief M. S. Golwalkar: "As a final result of the
poison, the country had to suffer the sacrifice of the invaluable life
of Gandhiji. Even an iota of the sympathy of the Government or of the
people no more remained for the RSS. In fact, opposition grew.
Opposition turned more severe when the RSS men expressed joy and
distributed sweets after Gandhiji's death." Patel wrote to Hindu
Mahasabha leader Shyama Prasad Mookerjee on July 18, 1948: "Our
reports do confirm that, as a result of the activities of these two
bodies (RSS and Hindu Mahasabha), particularly the former, an
atmosphere was created in the country in which such a ghastly tragedy
became possible..." Mahasabha president V. D. Savarkar was acquitted,
despite the fact that the approver badge was found to be a reliable
witness only because there was no independent corroboration of the
approver's evidence as the law strictly required.
[2]
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030627/asp/nation/story_2107442.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Nagarwala_scandal
Hawala scandal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Hawala scandal or hawala scam was an Indian political scandal
involving payments allegedly received by politicians through hawala
brokers, the Jain brothers. It was a US$18 million bribery scandal
that implicated some of the country's leading politicians. There were
also alleged connections with payments being channelled to Hizbul
Mujahideen militants in Kashmir.[1]
Those accused included L. K. Advani, Madhav Rao Scindia, Arjun Singh,
V. C. Shukla, P. Shiv Shankar, Moti Lal Vora, Ajit Panja, Sharad
Yadav, Balram Jakhar and Madan Lal Khurana. Many were acquitted in
1997 and 1998, partly because the hawala records (including diaries)
were judged in court to be inadequate as the main evidence.[2] The
failure of this prosecution by the Central Bureau of Investigation was
widely criticised.[3]
See also
Vineet Narain, the journalist who broke the story
Further reading
Kapoor, S. (1996), Bad Money, Bad Politics: The Untold Hawala Story,
Har–Anand Publications, Delhi - cited (p.22) by Ashok V. Desai in The
Economics and Politics of Transition to an Open Market Economy: India,
OECD Working Paper 155 accessed at [4] Nov 2, 2006
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/18/3/1921937.pdf
Hawala. An Informal Payment System and Its Use to Finance Terrorism by
Sebastian R. Müller (Dec. 2006), ISBN 3-8655-0656-9
Notes
^ Open letter to Prime Minister of India Narsimhanrao, Canadian
Journalists for Free Expression, July 16, 2001 accessed at [1] Nov 2,
2006
http://www.cjfe.org/protestlets/2001/indiag16.html
^ Sudha Mahalingam, Jain Hawala Case: Diaries as evidence, Frontline
magazine, Vol.15: No.06: Mar 21 - Apr 3, 1998, accessed at [2] Nov 2,
2006
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1506/15060270.htm
^ A glaring CBI failure, editorial, The Tribune, Feb 2, 2000 accessed
at [3] Nov 2, 2006
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000202/edit.htm#1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala_scandal
A glaring CBI failure
EVEN by its own abysmal standard, the CBI hit a new low of
incompetence on Monday. The hawala case involving Jains and several
top leaders and a few bureaucrats just disappeared into history
without leaving any scar. The last chargesheet has been thrown out by
a court. In Delhi again, a sessions judge reprimanded the agency for
trying to distort records to secure the release of a person from whose
house it had recovered nearly a kilo of opium. In Calcutta, it found
its case against the only Indian link in the Purulia arms dropping
case was thrown out a the court, which lamented that there was nothing
on record to link the Ananda Marg with the frightening operation
although it is apparent that it was the intended recipient. For one
day it is a distressingly long list of fiascos and worse. For those
who are struggling to come out of the shock acquittal of the accused
in the Priyadarshini Mattoo case, the latest clutch of failures must
be a painful reminder.
The hawala case once appeared to be clear cut but the CBI succeeded in
converting it into a ridiculously porous one. It had the dairy of
Jains, several computer disks and it also had a detailed confessional
statement by one of the brothers. All it had to do was to collect
circumstantial evidence by painstaking leg work and, yes, its
homework. Instead it sent in for its hack writer and wove a story on
the basis of the diary, some loose sheets and the confession. The
court held the paper proof as inadmissible thereby nearly killing the
prosecution case. When Mr S.K. Jain retracted his statement the CBI
charge looked flat like a table without legs. Only the last rites
remained and they were performed on Monday. In the West, money-
laundering and tax fraud are considered serious economic offences and
there are independent investigating agencies to chase and punish the
guilty. Big names had been jailed within a very short time. The hawala
case would have most certainly ended in a string of conviction if the
CBI had pursued the leads with a degree of diligence and commitment.
For instance, it hurled very serious allegations against Mr Arif
Mohammed Khan but failed to find any evidence to prop them up. It
means that either the charges were flippand and false or the agency is
lazy and stupid.
The arms dropping case is as serious in terms of national security as
the hawala case is in terms of economic security. Yet only a bunch of
mercenaries face a jail term and the real criminals are free. It is
like shooting the messenger for bringing an unpleasant message. Who
organised the gun running, which the court says, could disturb the
entire region? In other words, what was the purpose or the motive?
Again, who or what stood to gain by receiving this deadly cargo? Those
who read the escapades of Sherlock Holmes in their school days will
know that the clue to solving a crime is to search for the motive and
the likely beneficiary. The CBI obviously has not learnt this basic
lesson. It has a weak alibi in the fact that seven other accused are
absconding and they are all, apart from Davy, avaduts and anands,
meaning members of the Anand Marg cult. As the judge has curtly
remarked, the CBI had conveniently concluded that the cult had ordered
the arms and since its three-storeyed white building in the area was
the focus of dropping, the charge stood established. But the court
cannot go only on circumstantial evidence even if it is as compelling
as in this case; there must be strong basis to accept it as
substantial evidence. So he acquitted a local cult member and for the
present cleared even the Ananda Marg of any link with the gun running.
India is wracked by armed insurgency and yet a bunch of amateurs are
able to sneak into the country to dump several crates of arms and
ammunition with precision and the CBI, thanks to their chance arrest
at Mumbai airport, can only proceed against five wretched crew members
and a flamboyant sub-leader. What is the message the CBI is sending to
potential economic pirates and arms smugglers? It is terrifying.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000202/edit.htm#1
His Excellency Atal Behari Vajpayee
Prime Minister, Republic of India
Office of the Prime Minister
New Delhi, India
110 011
Fax: +91 11 301 6857
July 16, 2001
Your Excellency,
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), a non-profit, non-
governmental organization dedicated to fighting for freedom of
expression as stipulated in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, wishes to protest the recent prosecution of Vineet
Narain, editor of the New Delhi-based investigative journal Kalchakra.
Contempt of court charges issued by the Jammu and Kashmir State were
brought against Narain as a result of the paper's investigation into
Jammu and Kashmir High Court justice T.S. Doabia's involvement in
resolving a land dispute. The article in question was published in the
December 16, 2000 issue of Kalchakra. In it, it was suggested that a
friendship with Indian Supreme Court chief justice A.S. Anand (former
chief justice of the Jammu/Kashmir High Court) had unjustifiably
influenced Doabia's decisions to help Anand secure legal victories for
close family members and associates in various property disputes.
Mr Narain made a request to the High Court for a venue change (to New
Delhi) for the court hearing, yet was instead granted relocation to
Jammu, a place he feels threatened for his life. Mr Narain says he
fears threats posed by militant groups in Kashmir who were angered by
his investigations into their underground funding networks. Mr Narain
is well known in India for exposing the so-called hawala scam, a US$18
million dollar bribery scandal that implicated some of the country's
leading politicians. He reported that some of those allegedly involved
in channelling payoffs to politicians were also responsible for
transferring money to militant groups in Kashmir, including the Hezb-
ul Mujahedeen. The Indian government acknowledged the potential threat
to Mr Narain's safety by providing him with special security
protection between 1996 and 1998, at the height of efforts to
prosecute those involved in the hawala scandal. Now, however, Mr
Narain feels that local officials have essentially ignored all
requests for his protection while in Kashmir.
CJFE believes that this case demonstrates an abuse of the contempt of
court law, which should never be used to shield members of the
judiciary from scrutiny by the press. CJFE asks for a prompt inquiry
into the possible political motivations behind Mr Narain's prosecution
as well as to provide him with protection if required to appear in
court in Jammu.
Sincerely,
Sharmini Peries
Executive Director
http://www.cjfe.org/protestlets/2001/indiag16.html
JAIN HAWALA CASE
Diaries as evidence
The Supreme Court has acquitted L.K. Advani and V.C. Shukla in the
Jain hawala case. However, in admitting that the Jain diaries are
admissible evidence, the court has paved the way for prosecution in
cases where the payoffs indicated are corroborated by other evidence.
SUDHA MAHALINGAM
THE acquittal of L.K. Advani and V.C. Shukla of the charges of
corruption and criminal conspiracy in the Jain hawala case
overshadowed certain other important aspects of the Supreme Court
verdict that was delivered on March 2. One of these is the reversal of
the position the Delhi High Court had taken on the admissibility of
the Jain diaries as evidence. A three-member Bench of the apex court,
comprising Justices M.K. Mukherjee, S.P. Kurdukar and K.T. Thomas,
ruled that one of the diaries presented by the prosecution was
admissible as evidence under Section 34 of the Indian Evidence Act,
1872.
Justice M. Shamim of the Delhi High Court, who too had acquitted
Advani and Shukla, had taken the view that the entries made in the
Jain diaries "can be used only by way of corroboration to other pieces
of evidence" that the prosecution had at its disposal. In other words,
the diaries could not be used as lead or sole evidence. The Central
Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which investigated the cases, had
appealed to the apex court against this order.
While reversing this position of the High Court, the apex court held
that the entries in one of the diaries, MR 71/91, would be admissible
under Section 34 of the Indian Evidence Act. In doing so, the court
interpreted the provisions of Section 34 to give them their "ordinary,
natural and grammatical meaning" and not a restrictive meaning since
the context or the principle of construction did not warrant it.
According to Section 34, "entries in books of account, regularly kept
in the course of business, are relevant" as evidence. Both prosecution
and defence counsel placed emphasis on the interpretation of the key
words in the section. Defence counsel Kapil Sibal argued that while
the diaries and spiral pads recovered from the residence of the Jains
were "books" within the meaning of Section 34, they were not
admissible as evidence since neither were they "books of account" nor
were they "regularly kept" in the course of "business". Sibal argued
that "account" meant a formal statement of money transactions between
parties arising out of a contractual or a fiduciary relationship. His
contention was that these "books of account" did not relate to a
"business" nor were they "regularly kept".
SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY
L.K. Advani
Additional Solicitor-General Altaf Ahmed, who appeared for the
prosecution, argued that the High Court's interpretation of the words
"books of account" and "business" in the above section was a truncated
view. It disabled law from "dealing with illicit business and
situations connected therewith, such as the case in hand where a
conspiracy was hatched to receive money through hawala channels and
other sources and to distribute it as bribes to politicians to
influence favourable decisions from them."
He argued that the word "business" under Section 34 should receive the
widest possible meaning and should be understood and construed to mean
and include all such efforts of people, which, by varied methods of
dealing with each other, were designed to improve their individual
economic conditions and satisfy their desires.
The apex court interpreted the words "account", "books of account",
"business" and "regularly kept" in a general sense. Since the entries
made in the document in question were totalled and balanced, the court
held that the document was a "book of account" recording monetary
transactions that were duly reckoned, rather than a memorandum book.
While interpreting the word "business", it upheld earlier judgments to
mean a real, substantial and systematic or organised course of
activity or conduct with a set purpose. Since the Jains carried on
their activities continuously in an organised manner with a set
purpose (be it illegal) to augment their own resources, the court
ruled that MR 71/91 was a book of account kept in the course of
business. In deciding that the "books of account" were indeed
"regularly kept", the court relied on the relevance of the nature of
occupation of the parties involved.
However, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal of the CBI on the
ground that there was no independent evidence to indicate that the
amounts paid by the Jain brothers, were actually received by the
"recipients". Hence, the Bench observed that the recipients could not
be held liable under Section 34. The Judges observed: "Since, however,
an element of self-interest and partisanship of the entrant to make a
person - behind whose back and without whose knowledge the entry is
made - liable cannot be ruled out, the additional safeguard of
insistence upon their independent evidence to fasten him with such
liability has been provided for in Section 34 by incorporating the
words 'such statements shall not alone be sufficient to charge any
person with liability'."
Referring to the statements of the four witnesses who had admitted
receipts of payments as shown against them in MR 71/91, the Supreme
Court held that they could at best be proof of reliability of the
entries so far as they were concerned and not others. In other words,
it maintained that the statements of the witnesses could not be
independent evidence under Section 34 as against the two respondents
in this case.
One important implication of the apex court's ruling is that it has
changed the perception about the cohesiveness of the Jain diaries/
hawala case in which, it was believed, all the accused would stand or
fall together. In admitting that the diaries are admissible evidence,
the court has paved the way for the prosecution to proceed at least in
those cases where the payoffs indicated in the diaries have been
corroborated by other evidence. The CBI had filed 34 charge-sheets in
the court of the Special Judge against powerful individuals across the
political spectrum. While the investigative agency claims to have
obtained corroborative evidence against most of the accused either
through independent investigation of their bank accounts, passports,
official documents, circumstantial evidence or in the form of evidence
relating to favours rendered as quid pro quo for payments, it remains
to be seen which of these will stand fresh judicial scrutiny in the
light of the present judgment. The Special Courts dismissed most of
these cases, some of them at the stage of charge-sheeting itself, on
various grounds. The CBI has appealed to the higher courts in respect
of every case.
SANDEEP SAXENA
V.C. Shukla
The apex court also went into the conspiracy theory under Section 10
of the Indian Evidence Act, 1972. Counsel for the CBI had submitted
that material collected during the investigation and placed on record
clearly established the existence of a general conspiracy among the
accused Jains to promote their economic interest by corrupting public
servants. He had also contended that a number of separate conspiracies
with similar purpose had been hatched between the Jains and various
public servants. However, since the agency had failed to file a charge-
sheet against the Jains for having entered into a criminal conspiracy
among themselves, the court did not even consider the matter.
Statements made by certain witnesses, which were furnished by the CBI,
were found to be either irrelevant to the charges of conspiracy or
insufficient as reasonable ground to believe that all of them had
conspired together.
The CBI appears to have bungled in not having framed a charge of
conspiracy among the accused Jains to offer illegal gratification to
Advani and Shukla. It had framed charges of two separate conspiracies,
in both of which the Jains together figured as the common party and
Advani and Shukla as the other. Advani had been accused of receiving
Rs.25 lakhs from the Jains when he was a member of Parliament (besides
the Rs. 35 lakhs he allegedly received when he was not an MP). In the
charge-sheet filed against Shukla and the Jains, it was alleged that
during 1988-91, when Shukla was an MP and a Cabinet Minister, he
allegedly received Rs. 39 lakhs from the Jains. The Jains were charged
with abetment under Section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act
(PCA).
The court held that since it found no prima facie evidence of
corruption under Section 7 of the PCA against Advani and Shukla, the
question of abetment did not arise. Advani's name did not even figure
in M 71/91, the diary admitted as evidence and in the case of Shukla,
the evidence was insufficient, the court said. The Bench held that
where no offence had been committed, the question of aiding or
abetting it did not arise.
Since no prima facie case had been established against the two
respondents, the Bench did not deem it necessary to go into the
question of whether an MP came within the definition of a 'public
servant' under the PCA so as to make the respondents liable for
prosecution for alleged commission of offences that attracted the
provisions of the Act.
India's National Magazine
From the publishers of THE HINDU
Vol. 15 :: No. 06 :: Mar. 21 - Apr. 3, 1998
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1506/15060270.htm
Vineet Narain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vineet Narain (born 1956) is a prominent Indian journalist and anti-
corruption activist. His exposure of the 1990s Hawala scandal led him
to use a public interest petition to apply pressure on the Central
Bureau of Investigation. The CBI was widely criticised when its
prosecutions collapsed, and the Supreme Court of India in deciding the
Vineet Narain Case made directions that included new supervision of
the CBI by the Central Vigilance Commission.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bureau_of_Investigation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Vigilance_Commission
Family and early life
Born in 1956, Vineet Narain had his primary education in Western Uttar
Pradesh and did his higher studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University in
New Delhi. His father was an academician and served as the Vice
Chancellor of two prominent universities in U.P. He fought against
interference of the political masters in the admission procedure of
some of the professional courses in the state.[citation needed] His
mother was active in students politics at the Lucknow University. Her
father was then the Secretary of the UP Legislative Council.
Narain married outside his caste. His wife is an assistant professor
of Russian language at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She
was educated at Modern School in New Delhi. His eldest son Azeez
Narain is a manager in Tata Administrative Services (TAS). His younger
son, Eeshit Narain is an independent film maker based in Delhi
<ShreeJee Productions>.
Narain was drawn to social work from his early youth. He worked in a
village at the age of 18 years with an NGO.
Hawala Scam
Vineet Narain was responsible for bringing the Hawala scandal to light.
[citation needed] 115 top bureaucrats were identified as having
participated in the scam.[citation needed] Case No.340-43 of 1993,
Supreme Court of India
The case got a momentary boost up as a result of a PIL (Public
Interest Litigation) filed in the Supreme Court.[citation needed] In
1996 for the first time in Indian history, several cabinet ministers,
chief ministers and governors were charge-sheeted.Out of them the
person who is still on the run is EX-M.P -Chandravijay Singh from
Moradabad for land scams and legal paper forgery-booked under the high
court NEW-DELHI.[citation needed] Several landmark decisions were
passed by the Supreme Court of India in the Vineet Narain Vs Union of
India and Ors case.[unreliable source?][2]
In July 1997, Mr. Narain compelled the Chief Justice of India comment
on the Hawala case. He wrote a book on the case entitled Hawala ke
Deshdrohi or Dangerous Silence.
Indian Judiciary
Narain brought out a series of land scams involving of one of the
sitting chief justices of India.[citation needed] As a result,
contempt of court proceedings were initiated against him and he fled
the country.[3] Later on, due to the intervention of various
international organisations like Committee to Protect Journalists, all
the proceedings against him were withdrawn.[4]
TV Journalism in India
He launched Kalchakra, the first Hindi-language video magazine, in
1989. He faced hurdles due to financial crisis and by the government
controlled censor board. He writes a weekly syndicated column in
several regional daily newspapers.
Earlier he worked as a correspondent of national dailies and has
appeared in programmes on several international television networks.
[citation needed] He began investigative TV journalism in 1980. TV &
Video World reported, "It may sound surprising, but men of principles,
willing to take tough stand and unwilling to compromise on basic
ideals, still exist in our society. When, in April 1987, one of his
programmes in the Sach Ki Parchhain series was arbitrarily stopped by
Doordarshan authorities, its producer, TV and newspaper journalist
Vineet Narain vowed never to present anything on the government-
controlled network until it was made autonomous and functioned more
democratically."[citation needed]
Current Activities
Vineet Narain writes a syndicated column in over 22 national dailies
on a weekly basis. Vineet Narain gives a weekly news report from India
on telephone to SBS Radio, Australia and also contributes to weekly
columns in two dozen popular dailies of India.[citation needed]
Through Kalchakra Investigative News Bureau, he, along with his
associates, undertake investigative journalism in India. He is also
the founder Secretary of People’s Vigilance Commission, a group headed
by J F Ribeiro, Ex-DGP, Punjab. Narain has been involved in the wider
restoration works in Braj.[5]
Notes
^ Vineet Narain Case, Directions of the Court accessed at [1] Nov 2,
2006
^ Vineet Narain's web-site
^ INDIA: Vineet Narain contempt trial postponed, August 10, 2001,
Committee to Protect Journalists, New York accessed at [2] Nov 2,
2006
^ India annual report 2002, Reporters Without Borders accessed at [3]
Nov 2, 2006
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reporters_Without_Borders
^ www.brajfoundation.org
External links
Vineet Narain's Website
http://www.vineetnarain.net/
Kalchakra's Website
http://www.kalchakra.org.in/
Current Activity
http://www.brajfoundation.org/
Supreme Court Judgement Vineet Narain & Ors Vs. Union Of India & Anr
http://www.rishabhdara.com/sc/view.php?case=13530
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vineet_Narain"
Case DetailsVINEET NARAIN & ORS versus UNION OF INDIA & ANR
Supreme Court Cases
1996 SCC (2) 199 JT 1996 (1) 708 1996 SCALE (1)SP31
Case Law SearchIndian Supreme Court Cases / Judgements / Legislation
Judgement
VINEET NARAIN & ORS V. UNION OF INDIA & ANR [1996] RD-SC 158 (30
January 1996)
VERMA, JAGDISH SARAN (J) VERMA, JAGDISH SARAN (J) BHARUCHA S.P. (J)
SEN, S.C. (J)
CITATION: 1996 SCC (2) 199 JT 1996 (1) 708 1996 SCALE (1)SP31
ACT:
HEADNOTE:
O R D E R The true scope of this writ petition has been indicated
during the earlier hearings. At this stage, when some charge sheets
have been filed in the Special Court and there is considerable
publicity in the media regarding this matter, with some speculation
about its true scope, it is appropriate to make this order to form a
part of the record.
The gist of the allegations in the writ petition are that Government
agencies, like the CBI and the revenue authorities, have failed to
perform their duties and legal obligations inasmuch as they have
failed to properly investigate matters arising out of the seizure of
the so called "Jain Diaries" in certain raids conducted by the CBI.
It is alleged that the apprehending of certain terrories led to the
discovery of financial support to them by clandestine and illegal
means, by use of tainted funds obtained through 'hawala' transactions;
that this also disclosed a nexus between several important
politicians, bureaucrats and criminals, who are all recipients of
money from unlawful sources given for unlawful considerations; that
the the CBI and other Government agencies have failed to fully
investigate into the matter and take it to the logical and point of
the trail and to prosecute all persons who have committed any crime;
that this is being done with a view to protect the persons involved,
who are very influential and powerful in the present set up; that the
matter discloses a definite nexus between crime and corruption in
public life at high places in the country which poses a serious threat
to the integrity, security and economy of the nation; that probity in
public life, to prevent erosion of the rule of law and the
preservation of democracy in the country, requires that the Government
agencies be compelled to duly perform their legal obligations and to
proceed in accordance with law against each and every persons
involved, irrespective of the height at which he is placed in the
power set up.
The facts and circumstances of the present case do indicate that it is
of utmost public importance that this matter is examined thoroughly by
this Court to ensure that all Government agencies, entrusted with the
duty to discharge their functions and obligations in accordance with
law, do so, bearing in mind constantly the concept of equality
enshrined in the Constitution and the basic tenant of rule of law: "Be
you ever so high, the law is above you".
Investigation into every accusation made against each and every person
on a reasonable basis, irrespective of the position and status of that
person, must be conducted and completed expeditiously. This is
imperative to retain public confidence in the impartial working of the
Government agencies.
In this proceeding we are not concerned with the merits of the
accusations or the individuals alleged to be involved, but only with
the performance of the legal duty by the Government agencies to
fairly, properly and fully investigate into every such accusation
against every person, and to take the logical final action in
accordance with law.
In case of persons against whom a prima facie case is made out and a
charge sheet is filed in the competent court, it is that court which
will then deal with that case on merits, in accordance with law.
However. if in respect of any such person the final report after full
investigation is that no prima facie case is made out to proceed
further, so that the case must be closed against him, that report must
be promptly submitted to this Court for its satisfaction that the
concerned authorities have not failed to perform their legal
obligations and have reasonably come to such conclusion. No such
report having been submitted by the CBI or any other agency till now
in this Court, action on such a report by this Court would be
considered, if any when that occasion arises. We also direct that no
settlement should be arrived at nor any offence compounded by any
authority without prior leave of this Court.
We may add that on account of the great public interest involved in
this matter, the CBI and other Government agencies must expedite their
action to complete the task and prevent pendency of this matter beyond
the period necessary.
It is needless to observe that the results achieved so far do not
match the available time and opportunity for a full investigation ever
since the matter came to light. It is of utmost national significance
that no further time is lost in completion of the task.
Copyright
Reproduced in accordance with s52(q) of the Copyright Act 1957 (India)
from judis.nic.in, indiacode.nic.in and other Indian High Court
Websites
http://www.rishabhdara.com/sc/view.php?case=13530
Vineet Narain contempt trial postponed
http://cpj.org/2001/08/vineet-narain-contempt-trial-postponed.php
New York, August 10, 2001—Yesterday's scheduled contempt of court case
against journalist Vineet Narain has been postponed due to violence in
Jammu and Kashmir State, the trial venue. It is not known when the
next hearing will be held.
Narain is the founding editor of the New Delhibased investigative
journal Kalchakra. He faces contempt charges based on a December 16,
2000, Kalchakra article in which Narain alleged that Jammu and Kashmir
High Court justice T.S. Doabia had been unduly influenced by his
friendship with Indian Supreme Court chief justice A.S. Anand in
deciding a land dispute.
Jammu City was placed under curfew after three Muslim militants opened
fire at a local train station on August 7, killing 11 people,
according to international press reports. The curfew went into effect
on August 8 and prevented Narain from reaching the court, the
journalist told CPJ via e-mail.
Narain, who is currently in hiding, said that the Jammu and Kashmir
High Court could not convene as planned due to "hostile conditions in
Jammu."
The curfew was lifted yesterday, August 9, according to Indian and
international press reports.
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has not yet responded to a July 6
letter from CPJ and Human Rights Watch urging him to order an
immediate inquiry into possible political motivations behind Narain's
prosecution, and to provide him with adequate security protection
during the trial. CPJ reiterated these requests in a separate letter
that was faxed to the prime minister on August 8.
http://cpj.org/2001/08/vineet-narain-contempt-trial-postponed.php
Committee to Protect Journalists
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an independent,
nonprofit organization based in New York, New York, United States,
that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.
History
A group of U.S. foreign correspondents founded CPJ in 1981 in response
to harassment from authoritarian governments.
Operations
CPJ organizes vigorous public protests and works through diplomatic
channels to effect change. CPJ publishes articles, news releases,
special reports, a biannual magazine called Dangerous Assignments[1],
and an annual worldwide survey of press freedom called Attacks on the
Press[2].
CPJ also administers the annual CPJ International Press Freedom
Awards, which honor journalists and press freedom advocates who have
endured beatings, threats, intimidation and prison for reporting the
news.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPJ_International_Press_Freedom_Awards
Each year, CPJ compiles a list of all journalists killed in the line
of duty around the world. Since 1992, the first year that CPJ began to
statistically monitor deaths, 661 journalists have been killed[3]
CPJ is a founding member of the International Freedom of Expression
Exchange (IFEX), a global network of more than 70 non-governmental
organizations that monitors free expression violations around the
world and defends journalists, writers and others who are persecuted
for exercising their right to freedom of expression.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Freedom_of_Expression_Exchange
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_expression
Active engagements
On December 26, 2007, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
appealed to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to forthwith bring to
justice the killers of Davao City broadcaster Ferdinand Lintuan, who
was murdered on December 24.[4]
Staff and directors
The current (2009) executive director of CPJ is journalist Joel Simon,
who assumed the position in July 2006 after having served as deputy
director since 2000.[5] His predecessor was veteran foreign
correspondent Ann Cooper, who served as executive director from 1998
to 2006.[6]
CPJ's board of directors includes prominent American journalists,
including Christiane Amanpour, Tom Brokaw, Anne Garrels, Charlayne
Hunter-Gault, Gwen Ifill, Jane Kramer, Anthony Lewis, Dave Marsh, Kati
Marton, Michael Massing, Victor Navasky, Andres Oppenheimer, Clarence
Page, Norman Pearlstine, Dan Rather, John Seigenthaler, and Mark
Whitaker.
See also
CPJ International Press Freedom Awards
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPJ_International_Press_Freedom_Awards
List of journalists killed in Russia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_journalists_killed_in_Russia
External links
Committee to Protect Journalists website
http://www.cpj.org/
International Freedom of Expression Exchange
http://www.ifex.org/
References
^ [1]
http://cpj.org/Briefings/2005/DA_spring05/DA_spring_05.pdf
^ [2]
http://cpj.org/attacks04/pages/attacks04index.html
^ [3]
^ GMA NEWS.TV, Aggressively pursue Lintuan killers, NY media group
urges Arroyo
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/74305/Aggressively-pursue-Lintuan-killers-NY-media-group-urges-Arroyo
^ CPJ Staff bios
http://cpj.org/about/staff.php
^ Poynter Online Forums
http://www.poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=11487
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_to_Protect_Journalists
bademiyansubhanallah
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Caste-related violence and hate crimes in India have occurred despite
the gradual reduction of casteism in the country.
According to a report by Human Rights Watch, "Dalits and indigenous
peoples (known as Scheduled Tribes or adivasis) continue to face
discrimination, exclusion, and acts of communal violence. Laws and
policies adopted by the Indian government provide a strong basis for
protection, but are not being faithfully implemented by local
authorities."[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_crime
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Watch
Phoolan Devi
Main article: Phoolan Devi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoolan_Devi
Phoolan Devi (1963 – 2001) was an Indian dacoit (bandit), who later
turned politician. Born in a lower-caste Mallaah family, she was
mistreated and abandoned by her husband. She was later kidnapped by a
gang of dacoits. The upper-caste Thakur leader of the gang tried to
rape her, but she was protected by the deputy leader Vikram, who
belonged to her caste. Later, an upper-caste Thakur friend of Vikram
killed him, abducted Phoolan, and locked her up in the Behmai village.
Phoolan was raped in the village by Thakur men, until she managed to
escape after three weeks.
Phoolan Devi then formed a gang of Mallahs, which carried out a series
of violent robberies in north and central India, mainly targeting
upper-caste people. Some say that Phoolan Devi targeted only the upper-
caste people and shared the loot with the lower-caste people, but the
Indian authorities insist this is a myth[2]. Seventeen months after
her escape from Behmai, Phoolan returned to the village, to take her
revenge. On February 14, 1981, her gang massacred twenty-two Thakur
men in the village, only two of which were involved in her kidnapping
or rape. Phoolan Devi later surrendered and served eleven years in
prison, after which she became a politician. During her election
campaign, she was criticized by the women widowed in the Behmai
massacre. Kshatriya Swabhimaan Andolan Samanvay Committee (KSASC), a
Kshatriya organization, held a statewide campaign to protest against
her. She was elected a Member of Parliament twice.
On July 25, 2001, Phoolan Devi was shot dead by unknown assassins.
Later, a man called Sher Singh Rana confessed to the murder, saying he
was avenging the deaths of 22 Kshatriyas at Behmai. Although the
police were skeptical of his claims, he was arrested. Rana escaped
from Tihar Jail in 2004. In 2006, KSASC decided to honor Rana for
"upholding the dignity of the Thakur community" and "drying the tears
of the widows of Behmai."[3]
Andhra Pradesh
This state is considered to be one of the least caste-crime infested
places of India which has not had many Dalit Massacres.
Ranvir Sena
Main article: Ranvir Sena
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranvir_Sena
Ranvir Sena is an caste-supremacist fringe paramilitary group based in
Bihar. The group is based amongst the forward-caste landlord, and
carries out actions against the outlawed naxals in rural areas. It has
committed violent acts against Dalits and other members of the
scheduled caste community in an effort to scuttle reform movements
aimed at their emancipation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naxalite
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheduled_caste
Tamil Nadu
The state of Tamil Nadu has witnessed several caste-based incidents
both against Dalits and Brahmins[citation needed]. In 2000, three
young men belonging to the Dalit undercaste were killed in the
Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu. This fuelled some localized violence
in the caste-sensitive region, which has seen numerous caste-related
incidents in which the majority of the victims have been Dalits. Six
of the killings have been registered as murders under the Indian Penal
Code and others as "Deaths under suspicious circumstances". No arrests
have been made in these cases.
However, several Dalits have been arrested as goondas (hoodlums). The
Chief minister of Tamil-Nadu, M. Karunanidhi, has been accused of
having an "anti-Dalit" bias by the radical organization "Dalit
Panthers of India". Theories concerning these crimes against Dalits
range from "alcohol bootleggers opposing prohibition movements among
Dalits" to "inter-caste relations between an upper-caste Vanniya boy
and a Dalit girl"[citation needed]. Political parties sympathetic to
the Dalits have protested against these incidents[4] and have alleged
systemic biases against Dalits in several parts of the country.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemic_bias
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Penal_Code
Bant Singh case of Punjab
On the evening of January 5, 2006 Bant Singh, a poor Sikh Dalit, was
attacked by unknown assailants. His injuries necessitated medical
amputation. He alleges that this was in retaliation for actively
working to secure justice for his daughter, who was gang raped by
upper caste members of his village in Punjab five years earlier.[5][6]
A 55-year-old Dalit Sikh woman, Sawinder Kaur has been tortured,
stripped and tied to a tree in Ram Duali village of Punjab because her
nephew eloped with a girl from the same community. The police arrested
four persons for allegedly committing the crime on 9 September 2007.
[7]
In January, 1999 four members of the village panchayat of Bhungar
Khera village in Abohar paraded a handicapped Dalit woman naked
through the village. No action was taken by the police, despite local
Dalit protests. It was only on July 20 that the four pancha yat
members were arrested, after the State Home Department was compelled
to order an inquiry into the incident.[8]
A Dalit Sikh woman, Sukhwinder Kaur of Sumel Kheri village was
molested and beaten up by an octroi contractor of Malaudh when she
resisted his attempt to sexually exploit her.[9]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit
Kherlanji massacre
Main article: Kherlanji Massacre
On September 29, 2006, four members of the Bhotmange family belonging
to the Dalit underclass were slaughtered in Kherlanji, a small village
in Bhandara district of Maharashtra. The women of the family, Surekha
and Priyanka, were paraded naked in public, then allegedly gang-raped
before being murdered[1]. Although initially ascribed by the media and
by the Human Rights Watch to upper castes, the criminal act was
actually carried out by Kunbi[10] caste (classified as Other Backward
Classes[11] by Government of India) farmers for having opposed the
requisition of the Dalit land to have a road built over it.
On November 23, 2006, several members of the Dalit community in the
nearby district of Chandrapur staged a protest regarding this
incident.The protesters allegedly turned violent and pelted stones.
The police had to resort to baton charging to control the situation.
Dalit leaders, however, denied that they had sparked the violence and
that they were "protesting in peace".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kherlanji_Massacre
2006 Dalit protests in Maharashtra
Main article: 2006 Dalit protests in Maharashtra
In November-December 2006, the desecration of a Ambedkar statue in
Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) triggered off violent protests by Dalits in
Maharashtra. Several people remarked that the protests were fueled by
the Kherlanji Massacre[12]. During the violent protests, the Dalit
protestors set three trains on fire, damaged over 100 buses and
clashed with police[13]. At least four deaths and many more injuries
were reported.
Later, the Kanpur Police arrested a Dalit youth Arun Kumar Balmiki for
desecrating the Ambedkar statue. According to the police, the youth
had "admitted to having damaged the statue in a drunken state along
with two friends"[14]. Earlier in a similar case, a Dalit youth was
held for desecrating an Ambedkar statue in Gulbarga, Karnataka[15].
In response to these protests, Raj Thackeray drew attention to another
incident in Kherlanji, in which a Dalit allegedly raped a girl and
killed her. Thackeray demanded action on those responsible for the
rape and the subsequent death of the girl, and also remarked that
nobody helped the girl's family[16].
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raj_Thackeray
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kherlanji_Massacre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Dalit_protests_in_Maharashtra
Rajasthan
In the Indian province of Rajasthan, between the years 1999 and 2002,
crimes against Dalits average at about 5024 a year, with 46 killings
and 138 cases of rape.[17][18] In January 2007, a Jat girl was thrown
into a canal near the border with Haryana for marrying a Dalit boy,
although she swam to shore and was rescued by strangers.[19]
See also: 2008 caste violence in Rajasthan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_caste_violence_in_Rajasthan
Punjab
On 25 May 2009, violence and rioting broke out when thousands of
protesters took to the streets in almost all major towns and cities in
the Indian state of Punjab after a dalit preacher, Sant Ramanand, was
attacked in a temple in Vienna, Austria. He was among 16 people
injured, including another preacher Sant Nirajnan Dass, and later died
in hospital. Both the preachers were from a low-caste Sikh sect which
has a large following in parts of Punjab and had travelled to Vienna
to conduct a special service. Several high-caste Sikh groups had
apparently opposed his presence and threatened violence. This happened
after the preacher had reportedly made remarks about the Sikh groups.
[20]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rama_Nand
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna
Other incidents
On September 1, 2007 some Yadavs poured steaming dal on a Dalit woman
and her infant daughter, and beat up several other Dalits, for
allowing their children to play in the premises of a temple at
Shivayalay Mushari, on the outskirts of Patna.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yadav
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patna
See also
Communalism (South Asia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communalism_(South_Asia)
Religious violence in India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_violence_in_India
References
^ "India Events of 2007". Human Rights Watch.
http://www.hrw.org/legacy/englishwr2k8/docs/2008/01/31/india17605.htm.
^ "Phoolan Devi: Champion of the poor". BBC News. 2001-07-25.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1456441.stm. Retrieved
2006-12-11.
^ "Kshatriya Samaj to honour Phoolan's killer". The Tribune,
Chandigarh. 2006-05-21. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060501/nation.htm#5.
Retrieved 2006-12-11.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060501/nation.htm#5
^ Victims of bias,The Hindu
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1712/17121060.htm
^ Paying a price for securing justice for his daughter, The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/16/stories/2006011608190500.htm
^ Bant Singh can still sing, Tehalka Magazine
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main16.asp?filename=Cr020406do_bigha.asp
^ Dalit woman tied naked to a tree
http://www.aiccindia.org/newsite/0804061910/news/Dalit_woman_tied_naked_to_tree_in_Punjab_11_Sep_2007.htm
^ Down and out in Punjab By Praveen Swami
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1626/16260650.htm
^ Dalit woman molested, beaten up Malaudh (Ahmedgarh), April 27
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050428/ldh1.htm
^ "Dalit blood on village square". Frontline.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=20061201004713000.htm&date=fl2323/&prd=fline&.
Retrieved 2006-12-10.
^ "Age old rivalry behind Khairlanji violence". NDTV.
http://origin.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?slug=Age+old+rivalry+behind+Khairlanji+violence&id=96718&category=National.
Retrieved 2006-12-10.
^ "Khairlanji to Kanpur". The Indian Express. 2006-12-02.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/17707.html. Retrieved 2006-12-02.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/khairlanji-to-kanpur/17707/
^ "Maharashtra: Dalit anger leaves 4 dead, 60 injured". Rediff.com.
2006-11-30. http://www.rediff.com/news/2006/nov/30statue.htm.
Retrieved 2006-12-02.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2006/nov/30statue.htm
^ "Dalits force police to let off suspect in Kanpur". Business
Standard. 2006-12-01. http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c_online.php?leftnm=11&bKeyFlag=IN&autono=18172.
Retrieved 2006-12-02.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?tp=on&autono=18172
^ "Dalit youth held for desecrating Ambedkar statue". Deccan Herald.
2006-09-26. http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/Sep222006/district1711462006921.asp.
Retrieved 2006-12-02.
^ "Situation in Mumbai, state back to normal". The Times of India.
2006-12-02.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mumbai/Situation_in_Mumbai_state_back_to_normal/articleshow/678044.cms.
Retrieved 2006-12-02.
^ http://www.indiatogether.org/dalit/articles/bidwai1002.htm
^ BBC NEWS | South Asia | Dalits in conversion ceremony
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6050408.stm
^ (Hindi)CNN/IBN Video
http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/55743/girl-escapes-honour-killing-now-fights-a-lonely-battle.html
^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8066783.stm
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste-related_violence_in_India"
http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/111615/revered-godman-accused-of-land-grabbing.html
http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/111608/baba-ramdev-forays-into-politics-forms-new-party.html
VIDEO AND AUDIO NEWS
Low-caste Hindus hold mass conversions
SEE ALSO
Indian Dalit leader passes away
09 Oct 06 | South Asia
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6032563.stm
Kanshi Ram: Champion of the poor
09 Oct 06 | South Asia
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6034823.stm
Anger over Gujarat religion law
20 Sep 06 | South Asia
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5362802.stm
Conversions harder in India state
26 Jul 06 | South Asia
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5215696.stm
Furore reflects India's caste complexities
20 May 06 | South Asia
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4998274.stm
India mourns Dalit ex-president
10 Nov 05 | South Asia
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4424216.stm
India dalits protest arson attack
05 Sep 05 | South Asia
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4216290.stm
Country profile: India
31 Aug 06 | Country profiles
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/country_profiles/1154019.stm
RELATED BBC LINKS
Hindu caste system - BBC religion and ethics
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbreligion/F2213234
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbreligion/F2213239
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbreligion/F2213233
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbreligion/F2213236
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbreligion/F2213237
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/living/caste.shtml
RELATED INTERNET LINKS
National Conference of Dalit Organisations
http://www.nacdor.org/
National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights
See also:
25 Jul 01 | South Asia
'Bandit Queen' shot dead
29 Jun 01 | South Asia
Indian bandit offers to surrender
07 Mar 00 | South Asia
Court rules out caste differences
28 Sep 99 | South Asia
Dalits' political awakening
12 Oct 00 | South Asia
Analysis: India's criminal politicians
Internet links:
US article on the Bandit Queen
http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/96nov/bandit/bandit.htm
See also:
25 Jul 01 | South Asia
'Bandit Queen' shot dead
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1456178.stm
29 Jun 01 | South Asia
Indian bandit offers to surrender
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1412944.stm
07 Mar 00 | South Asia
Court rules out caste differences
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/669285.stm
28 Sep 99 | South Asia
Dalits' political awakening
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/459591.stm
12 Oct 00 | South Asia
Analysis: India's criminal politicians
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/701360.stm
See also:
26 Feb 00 | South Asia
Analysis: Bihar's pivotal politician
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/658347.stm
25 Feb 00 | South Asia
Jayalalitha will face corruption trial
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/657030.stm
21 Feb 00 | South Asia
Net shame for corrupt officials
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/650952.stm
11 Feb 00 | South Asia
Guide to Indian state elections
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/638134.stm
Internet links:
Central Bureau of Investigation
http://www.cbi.gov.in/index.php
Election Commission of India
http://www.eci.gov.in/
Indian Elections 99 - BBC News Online
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/special_report/1999/08/99/indian_elections/default.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/701360.stm
India's "Untouchables" Face Violence, DiscriminationHillary Mayell
for National Geographic News
June 2, 2003
More than 160 million people in India are considered "Untouchable"—
people tainted by their birth into a caste system that deems them
impure, less than human.
Human rights abuses against these people, known as Dalits, are legion.
A random sampling of headlines in mainstream Indian newspapers tells
their story: "Dalit boy beaten to death for plucking flowers"; "Dalit
tortured by cops for three days"; "Dalit 'witch' paraded naked in
Bihar"; "Dalit killed in lock-up at Kurnool"; "7 Dalits burnt alive in
caste clash"; "5 Dalits lynched in Haryana"; "Dalit woman gang-raped,
paraded naked"; "Police egged on mob to lynch Dalits".
"Dalits are not allowed to drink from the same wells, attend the same
temples, wear shoes in the presence of an upper caste, or drink from
the same cups in tea stalls," said Smita Narula, a senior researcher
with Human Rights Watch, and author of Broken People: Caste Violence
Against India's "Untouchables." Human Rights Watch is a worldwide
activist organization based in New York.
India's Untouchables are relegated to the lowest jobs, and live in
constant fear of being publicly humiliated, paraded naked, beaten, and
raped with impunity by upper-caste Hindus seeking to keep them in
their place. Merely walking through an upper-caste neighborhood is a
life-threatening offense.
Nearly 90 percent of all the poor Indians and 95 percent of all the
illiterate Indians are Dalits, according to figures presented at the
International Dalit Conference that took place May 16 to 18 in
Vancouver, Canada.
Crime Against Dalits
Statistics compiled by India's National Crime Records Bureau indicate
that in the year 2000, the last year for which figures are available,
25,455 crimes were committed against Dalits. Every hour two Dalits are
assaulted; every day three Dalit women are raped, two Dalits are
murdered, and two Dalit homes are torched.
No one believes these numbers are anywhere close to the reality of
crimes committed against Dalits. Because the police, village councils,
and government officials often support the caste system, which is
based on the religious teachings of Hinduism, many crimes go
unreported due to fear of reprisal, intimidation by police, inability
to pay bribes demanded by police, or simply the knowledge that the
police will do nothing.
"There have been large-scale abuses by the police, acting in collusion
with upper castes, including raids, beatings in custody, failure to
charge offenders or investigate reported crimes," said Narula.
That same year, 68,160 complaints were filed against the police for
activities ranging from murder, torture, and collusion in acts of
atrocity, to refusal to file a complaint. Sixty two percent of the
cases were dismissed as unsubstantiated; 26 police officers were
convicted in court.
Despite the fact that untouchability was officially banned when India
adopted its constitution in 1950, discrimination against Dalits
remained so pervasive that in 1989 the government passed legislation
known as The Prevention of Atrocities Act. The act specifically made
it illegal to parade people naked through the streets, force them to
eat feces, take away their land, foul their water, interfere with
their right to vote, and burn down their homes.
Since then, the violence has escalated, largely as a result of the
emergence of a grassroots human rights movement among Dalits to demand
their rights and resist the dictates of untouchability, said Narula.
Lack of Enforcement, Not Laws
Enforcement of laws designed to protect Dalits is lax if not non-
existent in many regions of India. The practice of untouchability is
strongest in rural areas, where 80 percent of the country's population
resides. There, the underlying religious principles of Hinduism
dominate.
Hindus believe a person is born into one of four castes based on karma
and "purity"—how he or she lived their past lives. Those born as
Brahmans are priests and teachers; Kshatriyas are rulers and soldiers;
Vaisyas are merchants and traders; and Sudras are laborers. Within the
four castes, there are thousands of sub-castes, defined by profession,
region, dialect, and other factors.
Untouchables are literally outcastes; a fifth group that is so
unworthy it doesn't fall within the caste system.
Although based on religious principles practiced for some 1,500 years,
the system persists today for economic as much as religious reasons.
Because they are considered impure from birth, Untouchables perform
jobs that are traditionally considered "unclean" or exceedingly
menial, and for very little pay. One million Dalits work as manual
scavengers, cleaning latrines and sewers by hand and clearing away
dead animals. Millions more are agricultural workers trapped in an
inescapable cycle of extreme poverty, illiteracy, and oppression.
Although illegal, 40 million people in India, most of them Dalits, are
bonded workers, many working to pay off debts that were incurred
generations ago, according to a report by Human Rights Watch published
in 1999. These people, 15 million of whom are children, work under
slave-like conditions hauling rocks, or working in fields or factories
for less than U.S. $1 day.
Crimes Against Women
Dalit women are particularly hard hit. They are frequently raped or
beaten as a means of reprisal against male relatives who are thought
to have committed some act worthy of upper-caste vengeance. They are
also subject to arrest if they have male relatives hiding from the
authorities.
A case reported in 1999 illustrates the toxic mix of gender and
caste.
A 42-year-old Dalit woman was gang-raped and then burnt alive after
she, her husband, and two sons had been held in captivity and tortured
for eight days. Her crime? Another son had eloped with the daughter of
the higher-caste family doing the torturing. The local police knew the
Dalit family was being held, but did nothing because of the higher-
caste family's local influence.
There is very little recourse available to victims.
A report released by Amnesty International in 2001 found an "extremely
high" number of sexual assaults on Dalit women, frequently perpetrated
by landlords, upper-caste villagers, and police officers. The study
estimates that only about 5 percent of attacks are registered, and
that police officers dismissed at least 30 percent of rape complaints
as false.
The study also found that the police routinely demand bribes,
intimidate witnesses, cover up evidence, and beat up the women's
husbands. Little or nothing is done to prevent attacks on rape victims
by gangs of upper-caste villagers seeking to prevent a case from being
pursued. Sometimes the policemen even join in, the study suggests.
Rape victims have also been murdered. Such crimes often go
unpunished.
Thousands of pre-teen Dalit girls are forced into prostitution under
cover of a religious practice known as devadasis, which means "female
servant of god." The girls are dedicated or "married" to a deity or a
temple. Once dedicated, they are unable to marry, forced to have sex
with upper-caste community members, and eventually sold to an urban
brothel.
Resistance and Progress
Within India, grassroots efforts to change are emerging, despite
retaliation and intimidation by local officials and upper-caste
villagers. In some states, caste conflict has escalated to caste
warfare, and militia-like vigilante groups have conducted raids on
villages, burning homes, raping, and massacring the people. These
raids are sometimes conducted with the tacit approval of the police.
In the province Bihar, local Dalits are retaliating, committing
atrocities also. Non-aligned Dalits are frequently caught in the
middle, victims of both groups.
"There is a growing grassroots movement of activists, trade unions,
and other NGOs that are organizing to democratically and peacefully
demand their rights, higher wages, and more equitable land
distribution," said Narula. "There has been progress in terms of
building a human rights movement within India, and in drawing
international attention to the issue."
In August 2002, the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination (UN CERD) approved a resolution condemning caste or
descent-based discrimination.
"But at the national level, very little is being done to implement or
enforce the laws," said Narula.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/06/0602_030602_untouchables.html
SOURCES AND RELATED WEB SITES
National Campaign on Dalits Human Rights
http://www.dalits.org/
Crimes Against Dalits
These are JUST SOME of the Crimes committed on Dalits from April 2000
to December 2002, reported in National Daily's. Hundreds of Such
crimes go unreported. If you find any such crimes happening in your
neighbourhood, please send the details of such crimes to us.
dal...@ambedkar.org
Please check this page for updates. Meanwhile THINK what YOU can do to
stop this madness.
• Exclusive Report:Five Dalits Lynched in Haryana (06 Nov)
• Dalit elopes with Jat girl, death stalks Haryana village (30 Oct)
• Untouchability, The Dead Cow And The Brahmin (23 Oct)
• A Dalit damned for defying her village (07 Aug)
• Dalit burnt alive, tension brews in Mansura village (29 May)
• Pakistani Dalits protest genocide of Dalits (29 May)
• Dalit hanged for having illicit ties (15 May)
• 6 Dalits shot dead in Bihar (09 May)
• Dalit houses attacked in Salem village (02 May)
• Attack on Dalit youth in Bellary (26 Apr)
• Dalits face wrath of upper castes in UP village (24 Apr)
• Dalit teenager raped in Rajasthan (24 Apr)
- 18-year-old girl raped, murdered (21 Mar)
- Crime in Chennai (21 Mar)
- Couple hounded by cops for inter-caste marriage (04 Feb)
- Students demonstrate against sexual harassment (04 Feb)
- Dalit woman raped (26 Jan)
- Caste Discrimination in Hyderabad Central University (15 Jan)
- Dalit women molested near Davangere (15 Jan)
- Another youth killed by lover's parents (15 Jan)
- Koli girl's gang-rape infuriates ministers, MLAs (15 Jan)
- 3 Dalits Shot Dead (08 Jan)
- Dumb girl accuses cop of rape (07 Dec)
- Woman Paraded Naked For Playing Cupid (07 Dec)
- Alleged rape of Dalit minor (27 Nov)
- Atrocity on SC girl in Karnataka (27 Nov)
- Dalit woman beaten to death by excise officials in Kerala (27
Nov)
- Yet another life sacrificed at the altar of love (27 Nov)
- Custodial death sparks protest (1 Nov)
- Landless woman stripped, beaten up (29 Oct)
- 2 dalit girls raped (29 Oct)
- Dalit girl raped (11 Oct)
- SC hostel inmates left in lurch (6 Oct)
- JNU girl alleges molestation, casteist slur (22 Sept)
- Goan Dalit denied equality even in death (13 Sept)
- Dalit student in Delhi University beaten up by upper caste hostel
mates (10 Sept)
- Naked assault Crime: Dalit woman is stripped and paraded for two
hours in Karnataka (3 Sep)
- Discrimination against Dalits in Chhattisgarh (3 Sep)
- Stripping of Dalit by cop: Panel orders probe (2 Sep)
- Dalit gang-raped in Kankipadu mandal (31 Aug)
- Dalit woman gang-raped in Vijayawada (30 Aug)
- Dalit woman paraded naked in Bellary village (29 Aug)
- Raped Dalit woman ends life (27 Aug)
- Three tribals killed (9 August)
- Caste Hindus terrorise Dalits in MP's Mugalia (8 August)
- Caste's cruel: lovers hanged in UP (8 August)
- Dacoits rape 2 tribal women (29 July)
- Gang-rape of Dalit woman in Rohtak (24 July)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/GangrDalit.htm
- TD men attack Dalits for voting for Congress (19 July)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/TDmenattack.htm
- Liberty, Equality etc --- but not for Dalits (17 July)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/LibEqualityetc.htm
- Castes and killings in Jehrana and Hasanpur (16 July)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Cakillings.htm
- Bihar panchayats deny Constitutional reservations (13 July)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Bihar_panchayats_deny.htm
- Landlord urinated in my mouth, alleges Dalit (11 July)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Landlord_urinated_in.htm
- Dalit hacked, ban order in Bellary village (6 July)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Dalit_hacked_ban.htm
- Harassed Dalit woman fights for justice (3 July)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/harassed_dalit_woman.htm
- Dalit family spends year in hut looking for justice (3 July)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/dalit_family_spends.htm
- Stripping of women: DM orders probe (1 July)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/stripping_of_women.htm
- Caste row in Indian school (30 Jun)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/941496.stm
- Dalits banished for drawing water from village well (29 Jun)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Dalitsbanished.htm
- Six people massacred in Bihar (29 Jun)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Sixpeople.htm
- Dalit leader blames Jehrana carnage on casteism (28 Jun)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Dalitleader.htm
- Four Dalits lynched in Bhojpur (26 Jun)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/FourDalits.htm
- Discrimination in promotions alleged (26 Jun)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Discriminationin.htm
- Punish the guilty (22 Jun)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Punishthe.htm
- Sexual assault on Dalit woman (15 Jun)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Sexualassault.htm
- 5 dalits shot dead in UP (14 Jun)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/5dalits.htm
- Dalit woman gang raped (14 Jun)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Dalitwoman2.htm
- Dalits don’t redraw the village map here, those who do get killed
(12 Jun)
- Untouchability faces no threat here (11 Jun)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Untouchabilityfaces.htm
- Dalit killed for entering temple (10 Jun)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Dalitkilled.htm
- Villagers still terrified (25 May)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Villagersstill.htm
- Police atrocities (23 May)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Policeatrocities.htm
- Dalits barred from temple (21 May)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Dalitsbarred.htm
- No justice for tortured labourer (21 May)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Nojustice.htm
- Well divides Dalits and upper castes (21 May)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Welldivides.htm
- Rape victim dies due to doctors' negligence (17 May)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Rapevictim.htm
- ‘Atrocities on SC/STs on the rise’ (17 May)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Atrocitieson.htm
- Officials accused of harassing Dalits (12 May)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Officialsaccused.htm
- Tribal dies due to starvartion (4 May)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Tribaldies.htm
- Leaders allege harassment of tribals (4 May)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Leadersallege.htm
- Minor Dalit girl raped at Kallipalli village (1 May)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/MinorDalit.htm
- Inter-caste marriage claims girl (26 Apr)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Inter-caste.htm
- Caste-based segregation at JNTU hostels: SFI (26 Apr)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Caste-based.htm
- Atrocities against Dalits surface in village near Bhopal (26 Apr)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Atrocitiesagainst.htm
- Clashes as Dalits stopped at tap (23 Apr)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Clashesas.htm
- Voting rights still elude most Dalits (23 Apr)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Votingrights.htm
- Stripped nude for offering water (19 Apr)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Strippednude.htm
- Untouchability in AP (18 Apr)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Untouchabilityin.htm
- Denial in death (16 Apr)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Denialin.htm
- 3 tribals killed in police firing (7 Apr)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/3tribals.htm
- `Untouchable' fined, beaten for entering Orissa village temple (7
Apr)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Untouchablefined.htm
- Old Dalit couple attacked at home (2 Apr)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/OldDalit.htm
- Vigil for Kamballapalli (14 Mar)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Vigilfor.htm
- Custodial Torture of Dalit Youths (14 Mar)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/CustodialTorture.htm
- Dalits houses torched, 15 arrested (7 Mar)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Dalitshouses.htm
- Lashes greet caste student (5 Mar)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Lashesgreetl.htm
- Starving the poor (27 Feb)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Starvingthe.htm
- Dalit Girl Victimised at Cochin University (19 Feb)
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/DalitGirl.htm
- Discriminating the distressed (19 Feb)
http://www.ambedkar.org/research/Discriminatingthe.htm
- Youth dies in custody,constable booked
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Youthdies.htm
- Quake can't shake caste system
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Quakecan.htm
- Ten Dalit Houses Set On Fire
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/TenDalit.htm
- Three Dalits hurt in attack
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/ThreeDalits.htm
- Dalit community alleges social boycott by villagers
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Dalitcommunity.htm
- 14-year-old Dalit girl raped
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/14-year-old.htm
- Booked for raping Dalit
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Bookedfor.htm
- Dalit beaten up for seeking money back
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalitbeaten1.htm
- 'Dalits denied entry in many temples'
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalitsdenied.htm
- 150 dalit families rendered landless
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/dalitfamilies.htm
- Four Dalits gunned down in Bihar
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalitsgunned.htm
- 3 Orissa tribals killed in police firing
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Orissatribals.htm
- SC woman raped
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/SCwoman.htm
- Alleged attacks on Dalits
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Allegedattacks.htm
- Court pulls up police for custodial torture
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Courtpulls.htm
- IITs: Doing Manu Proud
http://www.ambedkar.org/research/IITs.htm
- Discrimination against Koluru Dalits alleged - Dalit commits
suicide, Shinor tense
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Discriminationagainst.htm
- Assertion, Co-option and Marginalization of Dalits
http://www.ambedkar.org/research/Assertion.htm
- An instance of untouchablility in Channagiri taluk
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Aninstance.htm
- Scavengers: Mumbai's Neglected Workers
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Scavengers.htm
- Gang rape of dalit housewife flayed
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Gangrape.htm
- Witches exorcised with Bajrang Dal help
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Witchesexorcised.htm
- 15-year-old Dalit girl raped
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/15-year-oldDalit.htm
- Caste system main barrier to India's IT superpower ambitions?
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Castesystem.htm
- Dalit samiti condemns Neelur incident
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/samiticondemns.htm
- Acid attack on Dalit
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/overfishing.htm
- One held for raping Dalit girl
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Oneheld.htm
- Tribal schoolgirls sexually assaulted
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Tribalschoolgirls.htm
- 'Police atrocities' on tribals condemned
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Policeatrocities.htm
- Bihari girls sold to work in Punjab
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Biharigirls.htm
- Boy stripped, assaulted in Orissa village
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Boystripped.htm
- Dalit 'killed' in lock-up at Kurnool
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalitkilled.htm
- Dalit beaten up for stoning dog
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalitbeatenup.htm
- Solidarity With Sardar Buta Singh
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Solidarity.htm
- Three dalits killed in Bihar
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Threedalits.htm
- Dalit students humiliated
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/studentshumiliated.htm
- Orissa tribal group gheraos police station after attack
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Orissatribal.htm
- Sexploitation of an alarming nature
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Sexploitationof.htm
- Dalit students forced out of classrooms
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalitstudents.htm
- Deep prejudice
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Deepprejudice.htm
- Four dalits burnt alive in Rajasthan
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Fourdalits.htm
- Attack on Dalits: action sought against culprits
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Attackon.htm
- Atrocity against magistrate opens can of worms
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Policeatrocity.htm
- RPI activist shot dead in Mulund
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/RPIactivist.htm
- Dalit village still deserted
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalitvillage.htm
- Dalit branded witches, one dies after `torture'
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalitwidows.htm
- The bells of Guruvayoor
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Thebells.htm
- Vayalar Ravi to move court on temple issue
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/VayalarRavi.htm
- Dalit tortured by cops for three days
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalittortured.htm
- SC, STs face higher risk of poverty due to caste
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/facehigher.htm
- AIIMS chief biased against SC/STs
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/AIIMSchief.htm
- Dalit MLA's outrage over veedu remark
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalit%20MLA.htm
- Minister accused of raping tribal girl
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Ministeraccused.htm
- Dalits decry bid to hush up death casem
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalitsdecry.htm
- 'Discrimination' made IAS officer quit
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Discrimination.htm
- Death does not come as the end
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Deathdoes.htm
- Bihar's landless landlords die watching others..
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Biharslandless.htm
- 'Witch' paraded naked in Bihar
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Witchparaded.htm
- Dalit's death after police torture alleged
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalitsdeath.htm
- 'Govt apathy' towards women leads to suicide
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Govtapathy.htm
- Atrocities against Dalits high in Punjab
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Atrocities%20against.htm
- ABVP attack Dalit prof at varsity
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/ABVP%20attack.htm
Aurangabad, Aug 15: The 15-day-long lull of student activism at Dr
Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University ended on Monday when students
belonging to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad barged into the
cabin of professor of social sciences, Dr B H Kalyankar, a renowned
intellectual from the Maratha community and blackened his face, `to
teach him a lesson for attacking Hindusim.'
- Dalit judge moves SC over courtroom 'purification'
NEW DELHI: A Scheduled Caste judge in Allahabad has appealed in the
Supreme Court against his compulsory retirement in the aftermath of an
incident in which his courtroom was washed with `Ganga jal' by his
`upper' caste successor.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalit%20judge.htm
- Dalit boy beaten to death for plucking flowers
BAREILLY: A teenaged Dalit boy was allegedly beaten to death by the
nagar panchayat President of Fateh Ganj for plucking some flowers from
his garden
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalitbeaten.htm
- Girl tortured, burnt to death in UP
Lucknow: History probably repeated itself when a strikingly similar
incident, as Phoolan Devi's physical torture and humiliation two
decades ago, was reported from Azamgarh district in Eastern Uttar
Pradesh.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Girl%20tortured.htm
- Caste groups clash; cops use force
JALANDHAR, July 30 (UNI) -The demand for the release of a suspect in a
theft case from police custody snowballed into an inter-caste tension
at a city police station last night when two warring caste groups
exchanged brickbats and the police used force to quell the clash.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Caste%20groups.htm
- Five Dalits hacked to death
HYDERABAD: In a gruesome incident, five Dalits were hacked to death at
Surampalli village under Tekmal police limits of Medak district, some
100 km from here, on Thursday night
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Five%20Dalits.htm
- Communal clash sparks tension
AYAMKONDAN, JULY 20. Tension prevailed in Meensuriti village near
Jayamkondan in Perambalur district late last night following a
communal clash between Vanniyars and Dalits of the village.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Communal%20clash.htm
- Tribal family stripped for shooing away hens
BHUBANESWAR: Four members of a tribal family were stripped, beaten up
and made to parade naked before their fellow villagers in Chhatam, in
Orissa's tribal-dominated Sundergarh district.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Tribal%20family.htm
- Bihar Minister sacked
EMBARRASSED BY the charges of torture of two Dalits by Minister of
State for Cooperatives Lalit Yadav, Chief Minister Rabri Devi on
Monday promptly sacked him.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Bihar%20Minister.htm
- 32 kids rescued from bonded labour
MUMBAI: Following a raid by police officials along with Samarthan, a
Mumbai-based NGO, 32 children were rescued from Walope village near
Chiplun in Ratnagiri district.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/32%20kids.htm
- Life in Chains
Bonded Labour: Tortured and terrorised, five men suffered in fetters
in a stone quarry for two years
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Life%20in.htm
- A cry for justice
At the National Public Hearing on Dalit Human Rights in Chennai, the
country's most oppressed section narrates its tales of woe.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/A%20cry.htm
- Four-year-old girl beheaded for sacrifice
A 40-YEAR-old man allegedly 'sacrificed' a four-year-old girl on
Monday in Miragpur village, 30 km from Roorke. Only the head of the
victim has been recovered so far
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Four-year-old.htm
- Dalit girl hostel for sexual exploitation
PALAKKAD, JULY 2. The shocking revelations of sexual exploitation of
some inmates of the Government-run Agali Tribal Girls Hostel in the
tribal heartland of Attappady in Palakkad district resulting in a few
of them becoming pregnant has rocked Kerala, the most literate State.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalit%20girl.htm
- Action to be taken in killing of two Adivasis
he National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has
directed the collector and the superintendent of police of Dhar
district in Madhya Pradesh to take action against the police officials
responsible for killing two Adivasi youths in June.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Action%20to.htm
- Gujarat tribals fear losing grants
IN ITS eagerness to keep an eye on any possible conversions, the
Social Welfare Department of the Gujarat Government has made changes
in the application form for seeking grants.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Gujarat%20tribals.htm
- Dalit colony razed in Sonepat
SONEPAT: More than 100 kutcha and pucca houses were razed to the
ground by officials of the demolition squad with the help of the
police in RK Colony on the GT Road about eight km from here, on
Wednesday night.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalit%20colony.htm
- Becoming A ‘Servant Of God’
June 25 — You can tell the “servants of God” from the other Dalit
women outside the Hindu temple in Manvi, a village in northern
Karnataka, by their jewelry. They’re wearing red beaded necklaces with
silver and gold medallions.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Becoming%20A.htm
- Caste Struggle
June 25 — On paper, the people in the slum on Delhi’s Lodi Road don’t
even exist. The Dalits, or literally “broken people,” as members of
India’s Untouchable castes are now called, don’t show up on electoral
rolls, ration cards or water bills.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Caste%20Struggle.htm
- Brutal Murder of 3 Dalits
M.Puliangudi is a Village situated in Cuddalore District in Tamilnadu.
This village has a population of around 3000 in which about 300 people
are be Dalits and the remaining population belongs to Vanniyar
community. Vanniyars are the landed population.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Brutal%20Murder.htm
- Return to an abhorrent past
The shankaracharya of Puri, Nischalanand Saraswati, has said that neo-
converts to Hinduism should pray in separate temples. These swastik
temples, as they will be called, are to be for the exclusive use of
all those who have joined or rejoined the Hindu fold. Those 'lucky'
enough to be born Hindus can, of course, continue to pray in the
existing temples across India and the globe.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Return%20to.htm
- Low - cost for low caste
SHANKARACHARYA of Govardhan Peeth in Puri Jagatguru Nischalananda
Saraswati was in the news for "reconverting" 72 tribal Christians in
the same area where Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two
minor sons were roasted alive. Presumably, the conversions did not
contravene the special laws that exist in Orissa. Nobody should grudge
His Grace for his mission as long as he uses persuasion, and not
force.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Low%20-%20cost.htm
- Charges filed in Kambalapalli Dalit killings
BANGALORE: The Civil Rights Enforcement Cell (CRE) filed the
chargesheet last Thursday in the court of Civil Judge, Chintamani,
indicting 32 persons, including one Maddi Reddy, as the main accused
in the burning of seven dalits in Kambalapalli village in Chintamani
taluk of Kolar district in March this year. All the accused are now in
judicial custody.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Charges%20filed.htm
- 15 killed in Bihar caste violence
Fifteen persons were killed in two separate incidents of caste
violence in Nawada district of central Bihar last night.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/15%20killed.htm
- Two cases of Rape
Woman panch stripped for being raped in MP
NCW to intervene in Biswas rape case, Lalita
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Two%20cases.htm
- The drumbeats of oppression
In a village in Tamil Nadu's Pudukkottai district, Dalits are
subjected to a vicious attack for refusing to subject themselves to
rites of social oppression.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/The%20drumbeats.htm
- Murder of three Dalits in Cuddalore
The recent murder of three Dalits in Cuddalore district shows that
caste oppresion is a living reality in rural Tamil Nadu.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Murder%20of.htm
- Dalits and land issues
ON December 25, 1927, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar led a historic
mahasatyagraha to defy a ban imposed by caste Hindus on Dalits drawing
water from public sources. More than 10,000 Dalits participated in
it.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalits%20and%20land.htm
- Dalit killed by 4 upper caste persons
Police officials interrogate people witness to the murder of a dalit
youth in Amraiwadi area of Ahmedabad.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalit%20killed.htm
- Landlords exploit the drought-hit Dalits
Drought is driving Dalit women into the arms of landlords and
contractors. As most of their men have migrated in search of a
livelihood or been forced into bonded labour, the Dalit women fall
back on Thakurs, Chaudhary-Patels and Rabari-Desais in these trying
times.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Landlords%20exploit.htm
- Dalit woman gang-raped, paraded naked
FARIDKOT: A married, Dalit woman was gang-raped and paraded naked in
the village Tharajwala of Muktsar district because of her brother's
alleged involvement with a girl of the village.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalit%20woman.htm
- DSS activist says he was kidnapped
Dalit Sanghrasha Samiti activist Manjunath Kundar, who was missing for
about 15 days and later found near Sakaleshpur, has alleged that his
political opponents in connivance with the police, masterminded his
''kidnapping``
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/DSS%20activist.htm
- Dalit farm worker killed in caste conflict
MEERUT: A 40-year-old dalit agricultural labourer was tortured and
humiliated before being shot dead in front of his wife and others at
Kabaraut village, 35 km from Muzaffarnagar, allegedly by some
influential persons, on Tuesday evening.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/worker%20killed.htm
- Nailing evidence-Police cap under a dead man
Uttar Pradesh: The scene at the wheat fields along the national
highway in Basai village was gory on May 2 morning. Villagers going
for work saw five bodies soaked in blood. Vijay Singh, Jaipal Singh,
Satbir Singh and SugreevÑall Dalits of the villageÑwere dead, but
another Dalit, Santhosh was still hanging on to life, though his neck
had a deep gash. He was rushed to hospital.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Nailing%20evidence.htm
- 7 hurt in caste clash near Hoskote
Seven persons were injured and two huts destroyed following clashes
between Caste Hindus and Dalits in Hoskote Taluk, the hotbed of
political and caste-based conflicts in Bangalore Rural dis-trict, on
Tuesday night.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/7%20hurt.htm
- Dalit killings cause concern in Uttar Pradesh
Two recent incidents involving killing of dalits by members of the
upper caste have brought under fire the Bharatiya Janata Party-led
coalition government in Uttar Pradesh.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalit%20killings.htm
- SI guns down four Dalits in Uttar Pradesh
Angry at his daughter eloping with a Dalit, a police sub-inspector
avenged the humiliation by killing four of the latter`s family.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/SI%20guns.htm
- The carcass collectors of Rann
Ever since animals started dying in the drought, the only way to
collect the carcasses and get it surveyed has been through people from
this Dalit community.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/carcass%20collectors.htm
- Caste off!!
One of the tragedies of our history books is that they do not look at
history holistically, but rather as specific events of battles won or
lost and so on. In the bargain, we fail to learn our lessons
completely, which is perhaps the primary purpose of reading history.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Caste%20off.htm
- Water shortage re-ignites caste clashes
AMRELI (Gujarat), APRIL 27. As the mercury soars and water resources
dry up, clashes over collecting water in the drought- hit areas of
rural Gujarat are becoming common. And with that has returned with a
bang the caste consciousness, which was slowly getting blurred.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Water%20shortage.htm
- Double infliction on Dalits
Drought has failed as a great leveller of the financial status of
individuals here, as farmers who take to agricultural or manual labour
stand divided. Even in hunger, the Dalits are not equal to the upper
castes in the backward Rangareddy district in Telangana.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Double%20infliction.htm
- Four Dalits gunned down in Bihar
At least 4 Dalits were gunned down, 3 others received serious injuries
and more than a dozen houses were burnt by upper castes in Khairahni
village under the jurisdiction of Nokha police station in Rohtas
district of central Bihar during the wee hours today.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Four%20Dalits%20gunned.htm
- Deprived of their due
A study highlights the flouting of the norms of reservation for the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in appointments to
institutions of higher learning.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Deprived.htm
- Dalit bridegroom dismounted from mare
Riding a mare in a wedding procession still proves to be a nightmare
for many a Dalit bridegrooms in Rajasthan. A Dalit bridegroom was
reportedly dismounted from the mare and stones were thrown at the
'baaratis` injuring four of them at Sardada village of Deoli tehsil in
Tonk district on Wednesday.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Dalit%20bridegroom.htm
- Untouchables remain victims of persecution
MADRAS, Apr 21: India's dalits, or "untouchables," remain wide-spread
victims of persecution, of-ten with state collusion, a two-day public
hearing here concluded Thursday, reports AFP.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/RS%20adjourned.htm
- Landlords attack dalits, burn houses
CUDDAPAH, APRIL 19. Upper caste landlords have attacked dalits and set
ablaze 30 houses belonging to the latter, near Rajupalem in B. Kodur
mandal.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/Landlords%20attack.htm
-7 Dalits burnt alive in Karnataka caste clash
KOLAR: Seven persons, including three women, were burnt alive and one
person was stabbed to death in a major flare-up of caste-related
violence at Kambalpally village in Karnataka's Kolar district on
Saturday night, police said on Sunday.
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/hl/7%20burnt%20alive.htm
Woman Stripped, Killed
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Woman%20Stripped_Killed.htm
20 Dalits injured in mob attack
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/20_Dalits_injured_in_mob_attack.htm
Priest slaps Dalit, ties him with rope
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/_ties_him_with_rope.htm
A temple entangled in clash between castes
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/A_temple_entangled_in_clash_between_castes.htm
Another batch of bonded labourers set free
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Another_batch_of_bonded_labourers_set_free.htm
Caste factor in delivery of justice highlighted
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Caste_factor_in_delivery_of_justice_highlighted.htm
Cry of the oppressed goes unheard
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Cry_of_the_oppressed_goes_unheard-Deccan.htm
Dalit mother raped for son’s ‘criminal’ affair
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/DALIT_MOTHER_RAPED.htm
Tragic end to inter-caste marriage
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Tragic_end_to_inter-caste_marriage.htm
http://www.ambedkar.org/crime.htm
Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1999/india/index.htm
Amnesty International
http://www.amnesty.org/en/features-news-and-updates
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/06/0602_030602_untouchables.html
bademiyansubhanallah
NEW DELHI, March 16 (APP) Nitin Gadkari, a new young leader of
Bhartiya Janata Party gave his party a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS) colour when he inducted over a dozen Sang men in the new
organisational set up.
BJP, which was defeated in the last Lok Sabha elections is undergoing
organisational changes to give it a new face – a young face by
restructuring the party. Nitin Gadkari was also appointed as young
leader in the main opposition party a few months back.
Nitin Gadkari, who is also a man from RSS appointed emerging Hindutva
icon Varun Gandhi, known for his hate speech against Muslims during
last Lok Sabha elections as party’s one of the fifteen secretaries.
Tarun Vijay, former editor of RSS mouthpiece Panchajanya, became one
of the six BJP spokespersons. Another RSS man, Ram Nath Kovind, who
headed the BJPs scheduled castes cell, was also appointed as a party
spokesperson.
Former general secretary (organisation) Sanjay Joshi, another RSS man
is expected to be taken in the party.
Ram Lal, a RSS swayamsevak will continue to hold a powerful position
of general secretary (organisation). Of the 10 general secretaries
appointed by Gadkari, four are RSS men. They include, besides Ram Lal,
Narendra Singh Tomar, Thavar Chand Ghelot and Jagat Prakash Nadda.
Some of the RSS men inducted into the party’s organisational setup
include Bhagat Singh Koshiyari (vice-president), Kirit Somaya
(secretary), Kaptan Singh Solanki (national executive member) and Nana
Shamkule (national executive member). Vinay Katiyar, a hardliner, was
made a vice-president.
Senior party leader Yashwant Sinha could not find any prominent
position in the new organisational set up.
Bollywood actress Hema Malini and television actress Smriti Irani were
inducted as vice-president and secretary respectively. Actress Kiron
Kher (wife of Anupam Kher) was also brought in as a member of the
party’s national executive with a purpose to draw crowd.
The new set up reflected the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan
Bhagwat’s diktat on the need to give the party a youthful look.
For the first time as many as 12 women national office-bearers have
been appointed in a list of 36 that includes 11 vice-presidents, 10
general secretaries (not counting 2 joint general secretaries) and 15
secretaries.
http://www.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=98718&Itemid=2
Opinion » Editorial
March 18, 2010 New-look Team Gadkari
Even as the Women's Reservation Bill struggles to stay the course, the
Nitin Gadkari-led Bharatiya Janata Party has demonstrated exemplary
support to the cause of female empowerment by allocating close to a
third of its party posts to women. This is a message as much to the
Bill's biggest and loudest champion — the Congress party — as to the
obstructionist Yadav troika of Mulayam Singh, Lalu Prasad, and Sharad
Yadav. Although the Congress was the first to decide in principle that
women should get a critical share of party posts, Congresswomen
continue to be a largely invisible lot. In allocating generous space
to women at various levels in the party hierarchy, the BJP has shown
that gender justice need not become hostage to legislative battles.
Team Gadkari also scores in bringing a blend of experience and youth
to the table. Old hands expectedly dominate the party's parliamentary
board while a fair sprinkling of young people, drawn from diverse
social backgrounds, have made it to the lower echelons of power.
When Mr. Gadkari beat competition from a range of heavyweight insiders
to become the BJP chief, not many thought him capable of finding his
way in the factional minefield that the BJP has become in recent
years. The new incumbent was inexperienced in realpolitik, and
moreover, the shadow of Jhandewalan loomed large over his appointment.
In the event, Mr. Gadkari has proved that he has a better grip of
politics and party affairs than most of the veterans. The confidence
has begun to show — especially in Parliament where Arun Jaitley and
Sushma Swaraj have emerged as formidable team leaders. It was at Mr.
Jaitley's instance that the Women's Reservation Bill came to be
debated before being put to vote in the Rajya Sabha. His speech in
support of the Bill reflected bipartisanship of a kind sorely lacking
in Indian political discourse. More importantly — without prejudice to
what this newspaper thinks about the BJP's disintegrative political
programme and ideology — it came across recently as a sober party
capable of making its point skilfully, without resorting to drama and
bad behaviour. There is also a flip side to the new thrust. Team
Gadkari includes the disagreeable and intemperate Varun Gandhi, who
has been rewarded with the prize post of party secretary. The
accommodation of the young man from a famous lineage, whose vitriol
against Muslims fetched him a prison stay during the 2009 general
election, is a concession to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. As long
as the BJP remains a child of the shadowy RSS, it will not be able to
resist the temptation to play communal politics — which has proved to
be its undoing again and again.
Keywords: Bharatiya Janata Party, Nitin Gadkari, Congress party, Arun
Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Comments:
While complementing Mr.Gadkari, the editorial couldn't resist the
temptation to have a dig at BJP's ideology, its RSS connection and of
course Varun Gandhi. Did BJP, while in power at the Centre, do any
harm to the Muslims. Of course there were the Gujarat riots during
that period. But what happened in Gujarat was not different from the
anti-Sikh riots by Congressmen after Indira Gandhi's assasination. But
the latter was long forgotten by the media, while Gujarat and one of
Varun Gandhi's election speeches remain a weapon in the armoury of the
media to beat BJP with. When nearly a billion people of the country
are reeling under the impact of prices of essential commodities going
through the roof, the media is not agitated. It allows the government
to get away with lame excuses and no action. But when a garland of
notes was given to Mayawathi by her supporters the media was busy
jeering at her. When the investigators called Chief Minister Modi as
part of the investigation of the Gujarat riots, a gleeful media had
nothing else to talk about for days. The media seems to think that the
opposition is a nuisance and a road block for progrss. The fourth
estate is clearly forgetting its mission. A post script: this writer
is not a BJP or a BSP supporter.
from: K.Vijayakumar
Posted on: Mar 18, 2010 at 12:30 IST
http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/article253979.ece
NEW DELHI, March 18, 2010 Sharad Pawar favours 33 per cent quota for
women
Gargi Parsai
PTI Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar at the Parliament House in
New Delhi. Photo: PTI
Putting at rest all speculation about his views on the Women’s
Reservation Bill, Nationalist Congress Party leader and a key ally of
the United Progressive Alliance government, Sharad Pawar, said here on
Thursday that he favoured a 33 per cent reservation for women in the
Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies. ``The Bill should be passed [in
the Lok Sabha] as it is,’’ he said.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Kharif Campaign, 2010,
here on Thursday, Mr. Pawar said there is no reservation for
minorities or the Other Backward Class under the Constitution.
``Therefore, first let the Bill be passed with 33 per cent reservation
for women. We don’t want the quota to be reduced,’’ he categorically
said.
To a question, Mr. Pawar said he did have a talk with Samajwadi Party
leader Mulayam Singh (who is insisting for a quota within quota or for
a reduced percentage of reservation for women) but as far as he was
concerned, he does not want the quota of 33 per cent to be reduced.
Asked about the controversy over the comments made by former Congress
spokesman Satyavrat Chaturvedi, Mr. Pawar said, ``that chapter is
closed. These things can happen.’’
Asked if he was seeking an apology from Mr. Chaturvedi, who has since
been divested of his position as a Congress spokesman, Mr Pawar said,
``No.’
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article254505.ece
KOLKATA, March 18, 2010 Initiative to ensure menstrual hygiene among
rural women
Ananya Dutta
When women in rural areas are asked to spend Rs.15 on a packet of nine
sanitary napkins, they respond by saying they would rather continue to
use rags and spend the money on their husbands or children.
But the Gender Hygiene Programme (GHP) launched here three years ago
is attempting to change this attitude towards menstrual hygiene. The
programme, under way in five districts in West Bengal, involves self-
help groups (SHG) manufacturing inexpensive sanitary towels from
cotton and tissue paper. The napkins are then sold by the same women
to others in the village.
The set-up requires a capital of Rs.1,600 and assures the women
involved, an average income of Rs.900 a month. It may not be the most
attractive economic option available to an SHG, but it is self-
sustaining with a steady source of income. At the same time, it
promotes hygiene, said Dhrubajyoti Ghosh, GHP project director and an
environmental sanitation engineer.
The programme suffered hiccups with some partner non-governmental
organisations backing out or some SHGs closing shop and even had
issues with quality control, but after three years, the GHP has been
able to come up with a standardised product.
“The pads made by us are the cheapest option available and, at the
same time, are marketed without providing any subsidy,” Dr. Ghosh
said.
Even though the Indian Council of Social Science Research is
responsible for research and the implementation of the GHP, and the
programme is backed by the State government. There is no subsidy
involved.
However, the government set-up is essential in promoting the programme
as ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers and women involved
with the Integrated Child Development Services are being roped in to
spread the message. The district administration in Bankura is now
trying to induct all 32,000 women from various SHGs as users.
“Implementing such a scheme requires both administrative backing and
political will,” said Ashish Sinha, a Bankura district administration
official.
However, Dr. Ghosh felt the issue of menstrual health must have a
wider approach. “The total sanitation programme has been going on for
about 30 years, but there is a need to redefine sanitation.”
No one has ever considered the safe disposal of menstrual fluids, Dr.
Ghosh said.
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article253925.ece
March 18, 2010 Women's Bill
Women should not look at the reservation Bill as empowerment. Do we
seriously believe that a hard working woman will contest elections?
Will the political parties give her a ticket?
Only women with strong political and financial backgrounds will be
brought to the forefront and allowed to be a part of the legislature.
The plight of poor women will remain unchanged.
Pooja Panickar, Kozhikode
The political support for the women's quota Bill should not cease with
it being passed. Money and background should not be criterions in the
selection of candidates. Women from all sections, particularly
underprivileged sections, should be given chances; then only will the
need for having such a reservation be met. The problems of the
underprivileged sections will be addressed only when they are
represented.
Swarnalatha, Omalur
Reserving seats for women in the legislature is acting out of pity
instead of letting women come to power on their own potential. Hard
work will be degraded by a sense of entitlement. Let merit prevail
irrespective of sex.
Solung Khya Sonam, Itanagar
It is ironical that Parliament, which was debating the women's quota
Bill just a week ago, is now fighting over the currency garland
offered to a woman Chief Minister. Valuable time of the august body is
being misappropriated for such non-issues. Nobody seems to bother
about the unattended legislative business.
Newspapers should republish historic debates and discussions in
Parliament from their archives to pave the way for healthy debates in
Parliament.
Rajeswari Janakiraman, Chennai
http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/letters/article254055.ece
KOCHI, March 18, 2010 Divorced Muslim women entitled to maintenance
Special Correspondent
A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Wednesday ruled that a
divorced Muslim woman's right to claim maintenance under Section 125
of the Criminal Procedure Code did not stand “extinguished” if payment
under Section 3 of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce)
Act 1986 had not been made by her former husband.
The Bench comprising Justice R. Basant and Justice M.C. Hari Rani made
it clear that a divorced Muslim woman would be entitled to claim
maintenance from her former husband till she remained a divorcee.
However, her remarriage or actual payment of maintenance or fair
provision under Section 3 of the Act shall “extinguish” her right to
claim maintenance under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The court ruled that a pronouncement of talaq remained valid only if
attempts for reconciliation by two arbitrators in terms of Islamic
laws were made before such pronouncement.
If such efforts for reconciliation failed, it shall be decided that
there had been a “reasonable cause” for such divorce.
The reasonableness of such substantive cause for divorce could not be
justifiable by a court.
The court made this ruling while dealing with a Muslim divorce case.
The court observed that it was assumed that a Muslim man could
unilaterally end his marriage by pronouncing talaq without the
intervention of a court.
This provision was arbitrary. Though it might offend the notion of
gender justice, such practice was well settled in the country. Such a
divorce was considered perfectly valid.
The Supreme Court did not appear to have addressed the issue so far.
The obligation of hapless Muslim women to suffer polygamy and
arbitrary termination of marriage by pronouncing talaq without court
intervention appeared to offend the fundamental rights guaranteed
under the Constitution.
The court observed that these issues would have to be addressed by the
secular State.
The issues could not be pushed under the carpet by the legislature or
the constitutional courts. The court expressed the hope that the
legislatures would soon address the issue.
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article254054.ece
NEW DELHI, March 17, 2010 Sushma: we’ll attend all-party meet on
women’s Bill with open mind
Neena Vyas
The Hindu The BJP will have an open mind on possible amendments the
govt. may propose before the Women's Bill is taken up in the Lok
Sabha, party leader Sushma Swaraj has said.
Related
Politics of Women's Reservation Bill
No proposal to dilute women’s Bill: Congress
No dissent note by Lalu Prasad on Women’s Bill
All views can be considered: Pawar
Women’s Bill will be tabled next month, says Moily
India takes a giant leap for womankind
The 14 years journey of Women’s Reservation Bill
Fearing virtual revolt, BJP cracks the whip
Mulayam fears male representation will dwindle in Parliament
Women get one-third share in Gadkari team
Barack Obama and women MPs do not alone mean equality and justice
Remark being interpreted as willingness on BJP’s part to dilute
provisions
In the Rajya Sabha the Bharatiya Janata Party may have dittoed the
Women's Reservation Bill as presented by the government, but it will
have an open mind on possible amendments the government may propose
before the measure is taken up in the Lok Sabha.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj was
categorical on this when asked whether the party would stick to the
position it adopted in the Rajya Sabha or approach the subject with an
open mind, if and when an all-party meeting was called.
“We will go to the all-party meeting with an open mind,” Ms. Swaraj
said, refusing to discuss hypothetical questions what the party's
stand would be if there was a proposal to dilute the 33 per cent
reservation to 20 or 25 per cent or if the issue of sub-quotas for
backward caste women or other groups were to come up.
The “open mind” remark has already begun to be interpreted as a
willingness on the part of the BJP to dilute the provisions. For, the
party has in the last few years been a strong votary of increasing
women's representation by making it mandatory for political parties to
give at least 33 per cent ticket to women, an idea rejected by the
Left and described by Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun
Jaitley as a non-starter for increasing women's representation.
The BJP has been very clear that it will not support any sub-quota for
Muslim women as it is opposed to any religion-based reservation. On
the backward caste quota, the party will take a stand as and when, and
if at all, the issue comes up. Now there are no quotas for backward
castes and therefore there cannot be a backward caste sub-quota for
women.
Party leaders are worried that while the BJP is trying to take some
credit for supporting the women's Bill in the Rajya Sabha — without
its support the Bill could not have been adopted — it would invite the
charge, as would the Congress, of short-changing women if it were to
agree to any dilution.
On Wednesday, Ms. Swaraj and Mr. Jaitley, in a joint statement, said:
“The BJP was committed to the Bill. The BJP lent a loud and clear
support but also wanted the dignity of the House maintained … and it
was the Opposition-dominated House that had approved the Bill despite
mismanagement by the government.” .
But the party's worry now is that many of its MPs do not want it to be
proactive on this subject. They have in fact charged the leaders with
“helping the Congress” push the Bill through, when there was no need
for the Opposition party to do so. If the issue were to be prised open
once again at an all-party meeting or at a series of consultations
with parties, the BJP would have to calibrate its stand, keeping its
commitment to the Bill and yet not be seen to be actively pushing it
as its MPs do not want that.
As of now, the party leadership is not only supporting the 33 per cent
reservation Bill but is also justifying to the hilt the rotation of
reserved seats. Mr. Jaitley, in fact, was one of the few speakers who
lauded this aspect of the Bill, much to the annoyance of fellow BJP
MPs.
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article253976.ece
New Delhi, March 17, 2010 No dissent note by Lalu Prasad on Women’s
Bill
Special Correspondent
THE HINDU Congress Spokesman Jayanthi Natarajan is confident that the
Women's Bill will get passed in the Lok Sabha in its original form.
Related
NEWS
Sharad Pawar favours 33 per cent quota for women
Sushma: we’ll attend all-party meet on women’s Bill with open mind
Politics of Women's Reservation Bill
No proposal to dilute women’s Bill: Congress
The Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad did not give any dissent
note to the Women's Reservation Bill when it was discussed in the
Parliamentary Standing Committee.
In fact, Mr. Prasad, who is a member of the Committee, attended only
one meeting, the Congress said on Wednesday. However, the dissent note
over reserving 33 per cent for women in the Lok Sabha and State
Assemblies came from two members of the Samajwadi Party.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj
Party have been opposing the Bill from the beginning and insisting on
a quota for the backward class and Muslim women within the quota.
“Only two members from the Samajwadi Party, Virendra Bhatia and
Shailendra Kumar, gave a note for reducing the quota from 33 per cent
to 20 per cent. A similar demand was made by some members of the
Congress also, but unofficially,'' a party leader said.
At a routine party briefing, Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan
said the Women's Reservation Bill would not be diluted and it would be
brought and passed in the Lok Sabha in its original form.
“We are fully confident that all our allies will be with us and the
Women's Reservation Bill will be passed in the Lok Sabha,'' she said,
ruling out any reduction in the quota despite the Nationalist Congress
Party suggesting that a reduction could lead to a consensus.
“No pressure from allies”
Denying pressure from the allies to reduce the percentage of
reservation, Ms. Natarajan said it would be discussed with the allies.
But the government was committed to passing the Bill in the present
form.
She said the Standing Committee on the Bill had considered all aspects
and come to the conclusion that the Bill should be passed as it was.
Any changes, if required, could be introduced subsequently.
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article253928.ece
Volume 22 - Issue 24, Nov. 19 - Dec. 02, 2005
India's National Magazine
from the publishers of THE HINDU
LEGISLATION
In defence of women
T.K. RAJALAKSHMI
A new Bill proposes amendments to the existing laws to widen the scope
of the definition of rape and to deal with other forms of sexual
assault on women and minors.
SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY
Girija Vyas, Chairperson of the National Commission for Women,
addressing the media at Parliament House in August following a gang
rape on a bus in Najafgarh.
IN 1996, the minor daughter of a government employee was molested by
her father and his friends. The incident evoked public outrage and
drew the attention of women's organisations, lawyers' groups and
concerned individuals to the need for a system to deal with child
molestation and child rape, but nothing much happened in the case. It
was not rape, the court averred, as there was no "penile-vaginal"
penetration. The culprits were punished under Section 354 of the
Indian Penal Code (IPC), which provided for a maximum punishment of
two years.
Laws relating to rape and sexual assault have remained more or less
unchanged since the introduction of the IPC in 1860. It was only in
1983 that some amendments to the rape law was made. Now, for the first
time, a comprehensive piece of legislation covering almost every
aspect of sexual assault against women and minors has been drafted at
the initiative of the All India Democratic Women's Association
(AIDWA). It is called the Criminal Law Amendment Bill. It is based on
the 172nd report of the Law Commission to amend laws relating to
sexual assault in Sections 375, 376, 354 and 509 of the IPC, the
relevant sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973, and
the Indian Evidence Act. When it becomes law, the legislation will be
called the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2000.
The Bill recommends changes in the CrPC and the Evidence Act in order
to make the procedures fair and sensitive to victims of sexual
assault, including minors. The National Commission for Women (NCW) has
backed this legislation. At a two-day national consultation organised
by the NCW, the draft Bill was discussed in detail in the presence of
women activists, lawyers and senior police officers from various
States.
Broadly based on two Bills, one framed by the Law Commission in its
172nd Report, 2000, and the other drafted by a sub-committee of the
NCW in 1992, the Bill drafted by Kirti Singh, president of the Delhi
unit of the AIDWA, seeks to redress almost all the weaknesses in the
present law. Women's organisations have found from experience that the
existing laws neither define nor reflect all kinds of sexual assault
undergone by women. There is a standard notion of rape - the
penetrative one - while other forms of penetration by other parts of
the body as well as by objects have never come under the ambit of
sexual assault. Neither has protracted sexual assault or incest been
addressed adequately. Recognising these lacunae, the Supreme Court in
Sakshi versus Union of India had suggested that the legislature bring
about the required changes. Subsequently, the apex court directed the
Law Commission to examine the law and suggest changes.
The draft Bill seeks to do away with outdated notions of "outraging
the modesty" of women, embodied in some sections dealing with
molestation and eve-teasing. Supreme Court advocate Kirti Singh, also
an advocate of the Supreme Court, said that the Bill was a complete
overhaul of the IPC sections concerned. The 1983 amendments did not
question the patriarchal definition of rape. Talking to Frontline, she
said that the piece of legislation sought to incorporate the notion of
rape as experienced by women themselves, and not what a man perceived
rape to be. Every aspect, be it penetrative sexual assault or non-
penetrative sexual assault as applicable to every possible category of
victim and even marital rape, has been covered in the Bill. It is a
progressive piece of legislation with extensive procedural amendments
applicable to every kind of sexual assault. The Bill is particularly
sensitive to sexual assaults on minors.
THE definition of rape under Section 375 has been enlarged,
incorporating international legal standards. The offence is now called
sexual assault rather than rape, at the suggestion of the Law
Commission and the NCW sub-committee. However, the Bill drafted by
AIDWA has a more nuanced approach to sexual assault, defining it as an
offence committed by a man against a woman, rather than making it
gender-neutral. It also distinguishes this from child sexual assault,
which can be committed on a child of either sex by a man or a woman.
Sub-sections within Section 375 deal in detail with forms of sexual
assault on women as well as minors.
Significantly, the Bill redefines consent whereby the absence of
resistance cannot be deemed as consent. Consent is only the
unequivocal voluntary agreement by a person to engage in sexual
activity. This is important because under the existing law, if a woman
alleging rape does not have any injuries on her person, she is often
disbelieved and the absence of her consent is not considered at all.
Also, while raising the age of consent to 18 years, the Bill makes the
provision that consent would be a valid defence if the complainant was
between 16 and 18 years and the accused not more than five years
older. The Bill, therefore, recognises the prevalence of consensual
sexual activity between young people.
The Bill recognises new categories of aggravated sexual assault, in
addition to the already existing ones on custodial rape introduced in
1983. Under the existing law, punishment for the general category of
rape is a minimum of seven years in jail and 10 years for custodial/
aggravated rapes. The Bill now provides for cases of sexual assault on
a minor below 16 years, on a pregnant woman, and on a person afflicted
with mental or physical disability. Also included is sexual assault by
a person in a position of economic, political or social dominance and
aggravated sexual assault of a persistent nature that has the
potential to cause bodily harm.
One other important and somewhat debatable aspect is that the Bill
proposes to take away from the courts the power of discretion to award
less than the statutory minimum punishment. The Bill calls this a
"seemingly harsh amendment", but considers it necessary in the context
of courts awarding much less than the statutory minimum punishment for
reasons that the women's movement has found unjustifiable. And there
have been cases where no reasons were cited at all when courts awarded
light sentences. During discussions on the Bill at the NCW convention,
there seemed to be no overwhelming support for the death penalty for
those accused of sexual assault.
The Bill also deals with marital rape and proposes punishment for rape
within marriage. It proposes the deletion of Section 354 of the IPC
dealing with molestation, on the grounds that it does not make a
distinction between an adult and a minor. Instead, it has suggested
introducing Section 376 D to deal with all possible ramifications of
unlawful sexual conduct. The Bill holds that molesting a minor and an
adult are two different crimes and the punishment accordingly should
be different.
Instead of the definition of molestation as "sexual assault committed
with the intention of outraging the modesty of a woman" in Section
354, the Bill defines molestation as "touching with a sexual purpose
and without the consent of the woman". A higher punishment has been
recommended for molestation of minors by people who may be de jure or
de facto guardians of the victims.
Similarly, the Bill redefines Section 509 which deals with sexual
harassment. As in molestation, sexual harassment is now punishable
only when it is done with the intention of outraging the modesty of a
woman. The Bill states that words and gestures made with a sexual
purpose are punishable and that sub-sections under the redefined
Section 509 would deal with such offences committed against minors as
well.
Asha Sinha, Inspector-General of Police, CID, Jharkhand, said that one
reason for the non-registration of cases of sexual assault was the
insensitivity of both the police and the public. She explained that
sexual assault was seen as a social crime and so successful handling
of such cases was not usually seen as a reflection of policemen's
performance. The police in Jharkhand recently started a grievance cell
and she recommended fast-track courts and compensation for each
category of violence against women.
It was learnt that Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, who was present
on the first day of the convention, expressed his appreciation of the
comprehensiveness of the Bill, which is expected to be tabled during
the winter session.
Almost 10 years have passed since the infamous Jhaku case, as the 1996
incident came to be known, but assaults against minors continue
unabated. An analysis of the rapes committed over the past decade
shows that 30 per cent of the crimes have been committed against
minors.
Statistics of the National Crime Records Bureau show that in 2003,
there were more than 15,000 cases of rape and 32,000 cases of
molestation. There is reason to believe that many crimes against
women, including rape, do not get reported or registered because of
the stigma that the victims could attract. Many cases do not reach the
trial stage for lack of evidence.
The proposed amendments are expected not only to increase the
reporting of sexual assaults, but also to facilitate speedy trials and
convictions. While women's groups are aware that law by itself may not
be able to bring about the required drop in the rate of crimes against
women, they hope that the amendments, if passed by Parliament, will go
a long way in challenging social stereotypes.
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2224/stories/20051202002910500.htm
Volume 18 - Issue 14, July. 07 - 20, 2001
India's National Magazine
from the publishers of THE HINDU
WOMEN'S RIGHTS
An inequitous proposal
A proposed Bill on the removal of ceiling on monthly maintenance
payable to wives and other dependents as laid down in Section 125 of
the CrPC leaves Muslim women out of its purview.
T.K. RAJALAKSHMI
in New Delhi
IN a move that could benefit women faced with the prospect of divorce
and possible destitution, the Union Law Ministry has decided to
introduce a Bill that would seek to amend Section 125 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The amendment would remove the existing
ceiling of Rs.500 on the monthly maintenance payable for such women,
and for dependents such as parents and children. The ceiling was fixed
in 1955 and retained in CrPC, 1973. The amendment would also seek to
expedite the grant of interim maintenance.
RAJEEV BHATT
A group of Muslim women. The issue of maintenance for them has to go
beyond political considerations.
An increase in maintenance has been a long-standing demand of women's
movements and was articulated as early as in 1974 - in the Committee
on the Status of Women in India report. The CSWI report, "Towards
Equality", stated: "The inclusion of the right to maintenance in the
Criminal Procedure Code has the great advantage of making the remedy
both speedy and cheap. The underlying principle is to prevent
vagrancy, which usually leads to commission of crimes. From this point
of view, it seems unjustified to limit the total amount of maintenance
for all dependent persons to Rs.500."
Amendments to provisions in four acts, namely, Section 36 of the
Indian Divorce Act, 1869, Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
and Section 39 of the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act 1936 and Section
39 of the Special Marriages Act, will be made so that applications to
the court for interim maintenance are disposed of within 60 days of
their filing.
However, once again there is silence on the issue of payment of
maintenance to Muslim women. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on
Divorce) Act, 1986 that became law in the wake of the Shah Bano
judgment, had stirred a debate over its adequacy with regard to
payment of maintenance for Muslim women. The Supreme Court in Mohd
Ahmad Khan v Shah Bano Begam and others held that if a divorced woman
is able to maintain herself, the husband's liability ceases with the
expiry of the period of iddat (three menstrual courses after the date
of divoce, that is, roughly three months), but if she is unable to
maintain herself after the period, she is entitled to have recourse to
Section 125 CrPC. This decision led to a controversy and in order to
dilute the judgment in the Shah Bano case, the Muslim Women's Bill,
later to become the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce)
Act, 1986, was passed. Women's organisations are critical of the Act.
They are opposed to it primarily because it denies Muslim women the
option of exercising their rights under the provisions of secular
legislation, which the CrPC is.
Women's groups and secular-minded people hold the view that it is
unfair to continue to deprive Muslim women the benefits of the secular
provisions of the Acts. The first time around, the Muslim Women's Act
had deprived Muslim women, on grounds of religion, of the rights under
Section 125 CrPC. The Act was seen as violative of the principle of
equality before law. According to "Judgment Call", a document
published by Majlis, a legal advocacy centre based in Mumbai, the Act
provided two sets of remedies depending upon the jurisdiction of the
High Court. While in some States she was entitled to a fair and
reasonable provision, in addition to maintenance during the iddat
period, in others her right to maintenance was confined to the iddat
period. The 1986 Act has been challenged in the Supreme Court. The All
India Muslim Personal Law Board (AMPLB) has, however, defended it.
Given the circumstances under which the Act came into being and the
mixed support it received from members of the Muslim community as well
as organisations of women and advocacy groups, it was evident that the
issue would be resurrected. In fact the debate over a uniform civil
code, reforms in personal laws and the applicability of secular
legislation to everybody never really died down. When minority
politics and issues took firm shape in the 1990s following the
demolition of the Babri Masjid, the issue of providing for fair
maintenance to divorced Muslim women was put on the backburner.
The Centre for Women's Develop-ment Studies (CWSD), while welcoming
the removal of the ceiling on maintenance and other legal reforms,
regretted the continued exclusion of Muslim women from "benefits under
a law that they had enjoyed since 1898, particularly when these
amendments are contemplated to be extended to the Hindu, Parsi, Indian
Divorce and Special Marriages Acts." The Joint Women's Programme (JWP)
and the Muslim Women's Forum wanted the benefits to be extended to
Muslim women. JWP secretary Jyotsana Chat-terjee said that the
organisation would make a representation to the Law Minister on this
issue. The All India Democratic Women's Association has held that
while the space for secular legislation should be expanded, existing
personal laws should undergo reforms so as to become more gender-
just. Indu Agnihotri of AIDWA recalled that a private member's bill in
the Lok Sabha, moved some years ago by Sushila Gopalan of the
Communist Party of India (Marxist), had sought the removal of the
ceiling on maintenance.
AIDWA in a statement welcomed the Law Ministry's initiative and
suggested that the law be strengthened by providing that, in the event
of conflicting claims about a husband's income, the wife's statement
should be accepted and the onus would be on the husband to disprove
it. It suggested changes in the disqualifying norms for receiving
maintenance.
Regretting the exclusion of Muslim women from the purview of the
proposed amendments, Sona Khan, a Supreme Court advocate, questioned
the constitutionality of the 1986 Act. One of the advocates who
appeared in the Shah Bano case, she told Frontline that the denial to
Muslim women of benefits available to other divorced women under
secular provisions was discriminatory. She maintained that Section 127
(3) (b) CrPC ensured that if a woman received any relief after
divorce, under any customary or personal law, "she shall not be
entitled to the benefit of seeking maintenance under Section 125."
Khan claimed that the dower or mehr (a consideration for entering into
the contract of marriage and payable by the husband) that the Muslim
woman had a right to receive either at the time of marriage or anytime
later, has been unfairly equated with the right to maintenance under
Section 125. The Shah Bano judgment had interpreted and justified the
secular provisions by using the provisions under personal and
customary law, and according to Khan the judgment is law even today as
it has not been overruled by the Supreme Court. Even the dower, Khan
held, was most of the time waived by the wife on the first night of
marriage.
DEFENDING the Muslim Women's Act, 1986 is the AIMPLB. Hasina Hashia,
member of the AIMPLB and an associate professor in Jamia Millia
Islamia university, is categorical that Muslim women are not entitled
to maintenance beyond the iddat period and that Section 125 CrPC
cannot apply to them. Section 5 of the 1986 Act lays down that only if
the divorced woman and her former husband exercise their option to be
governed by Sections 125 to 128 of the CrPC will their case be
considered under it.
Hashia told Frontline that accepting maintenance beyond the iddat
period was haraam (illegitimate) under the Shariat as all relationship
between a man and his wife would have ceased. After that she could be
supported either by her relatives or the Wakf Board. She said that the
AIMPLB was demanding a lower ceiling for maintenance for Muslim women
and that if a lump sum could be decided depending upon the income of
the man, it would not go beyond the tenets of Muslim personal law. The
concept of Mata (a parting gift to serve a social purpose) as espoused
by some sections of the Muslim intelligentsia could be explored. The
Board is yet to have a final opinion on this concept, which finds
mention in the Koran.
All solutions, Hashia maintained, are to be found within the
parameters of the Shariat. She recommended the setting up of Dar-ul-
Qaza or Islamic courts to resolve disputes of all kinds.
Sabiha Hussain of the CWDS, who has done a considerable amount of work
relating to issues of Muslim women, said frivolous excuses were often
given for divorcing Muslim women. She quoted a study conducted during
1998-99 involving 10 Muslim women from a mixed socio-economic
background in Bihar. Some had been divorced for not cooking what they
had been asked to cook, yet others were divorced for not possessing
good looks and so on. Some of them did not get maintenance even for
the iddat period and at the time of divorce, no witnesses were
present. Only two got back their mehr after three months of the
divorce.
A seminar in May organised by the CWDS and the Majlis on the issue of
maintenance rights of Muslim women debated the provisions of the
Muslim Women's Act, 1986 vis-a-vis benefits under Section 125 CrPC.
While some like Flavia Agnes of the Majlis felt that a fresh look at
the Act was necessary, others felt that the Act needed to be
interpreted in such a way as to make it more gender-just given the
Indian social realities. The seminar, which witnessed divergent views,
finally recommended that personal laws of all communities be
strengthened in order to make them more gender-just and to weed out
gender discrimination; that the Muslim Women's Act, 1986 be
strengthened to uphold positive and gender-just interpretations and
that the ceiling on the amount of maintenance payable under Section
125 CrPC be removed.
The issue of maintenance for Muslim women has to go beyond any
political considerations and it is the executive's responsibility to
ensure that no community is discriminated against in the formulation
of a legislation. The silence on the issue of Section 125 CrPC vis-a-
vis Muslim women's maintenance points to the fact that considerations
other than respecting the personal laws of a community have been at
play. It reflects the government reluctance to open what it sees as a
veritable Pandora's box. What is surprising is that it does not seem
to care much about the sentiments of the minorities while dealing with
other issues concerning them.
http://www.flonnet.com/fl1814/18140890.htm
Volume 17 - Issue 06, Mar. 18 - 31, 2000
India's National Magazine
from the publishers of THE HINDU
A committed fighter
Geeta Mukherjee, 1924-2000.
T.K. RAJALAKSHMI
THE death of Geeta Mukherjee, veteran parliamentarian and Communist
Party of India (CPI) member, has had two immediate consequences. In
political terms, the CPI has lost a gritty and indefatigable
representative; and for young communists there is one few er of the
old guard to emulate. Geeta Mukherjee had undergone heart surgery in
1990 but that did not deter her from continuing with her party and
parliamentary activities. She was the Deputy Leader of the CPI in the
Lok Sabha.
K. RAMESH BABU
As chairperson of the Joint Select Committee of Parliament on the
Women's Reservation Bill (which provides for the reservation of one-
third of the total number of seats in State Assemblies and Parliament
for women), she was determined to see the bill rea ch its logical
conclusion. On March 3, a day before she succumbed to a heart attack,
Geeta Mukherjee vehemently protested on the floor of the House against
the Bihar Governor's decision to invite the National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) to form the governm ent in the State. She condemned the
action as "undemocratic".
Close friends recalled that though she was unwell, she wanted to
attend Parliament in the wake of the developments in Bihar and the
controversy over the Gujarat government's decision to allow its
employees to take part in the activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS). Although she was equally committed to other issues, her
chief preoccupation since 1996, when she took over as chairperson of
the Joint Select Committee, was to ensure the passage of the Women's
Reservation Bill. She even reported ly turned down a ministerial berth
in the I.K. Gujral government on the grounds that she wanted to
concentrate fully on the bill. She strived to carry everyone along
with her on the Women's Bill issue, including those who wanted a
separate quota for Othe r Backward Classes (OBCs). With her strong
political convictions and ideological commitment, Geeta Mukherjee was
liked by people across party lines.
Mukherjee, went to school in Jessore, now in Bangladesh, was born as
Geeta Roy Choudhary in a middle class family. Her father was a Rai
Bahadur, a title bestowed upon him by the colonial rulers. As a
student, Geeta Mukherjee joined the Bengal Provincial Students
Federation (BPSF) in 1939. At that time, the BPSF was leading an
agitation demanding the repatriation and release of persons imprisoned
in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. She was the secretary of the
Students Federation from 1947 to 1951. Geeta Mukherjee studied Bengali
literature and graduated from the Ashutosh College in Calcutta. In
1942, she joined the CPI and married Biswanath Mukherjee, who was
already an established student communist leader. Geeta Mukherjee first
came into the limelight during the postal workers' strike of 1945. On
July 29, 1945 she addressed a rally, where she was the only woman
student speaker.
When the Communist Party was banned in 1948, she and Biswanath
Mukherjee were detained without trial for six months in the Presidency
Jail, Calcutta. Geeta Mukherjee was best known for her active role in
the student, peasant and women's movements. For ma ny students of the
1960s, she was a role model. She remained with the CPI after the
Communist Party split in 1964. She was elected to the West Bengal
Assembly, in 1967 and 1972, from Tamluk constituency in Midnapore
district. In 1978, she was elected to the Lok Sabha from Panskura and
represented that constituency since then.
Geeta Mukherjee was elected to the National Council of the party in
1978 and to its National Executive in 1981. She was elected one of the
national secretaries of the CPI at the 17th Congress of the party held
in Chennai in 1998. Geeta Mukherjee thus bec ame the first woman
secretariat member of any Indian communist party. Paying tributes to
her on the occasion of the International Women's Day on March 8,
women's organisations observed that under her chairpersonship the
report of the Joint Select Committ ee of Parliament on the Women's
Reservation Bill was completed in record time.
Geeta Mukherjee participated in various agitations including those
taking up the cause of women beedi workers. However, she took
particularly strong positions on gender issues. Amarjeet Kaur, general
secretary of the National Federation of Indian Women ( NFIW), the
women's wing of the CPI, said that on the dowry issue, Geeta Mukherjee
was keen that CPI cadres practised what they said in public.
An Executive Council member of the NFIW since 1965, Geeta Mukherjee
was also a member of the National Commission for Women in 1988 and of
the National Commission on Rural Labour in 1986. She was also a member
of the Press Council.
Geeta Mukherjee always wanted the mass organisations of the party to
keep her posted on the issues and developments so that she could raise
them in Parliament, Amarjeet Kaur said. Before raising a question, she
ensured that she had a good understanding o f the subject.
In Geeta Mukherjee's life, there was no contradiction between theory
and practice. A diehard optimist, she was a person of humility,
simplicity and absolute ideological conviction. Her colleagues recall
that despite the split in the Communist Party in 19 64, the political
upheavals in Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s
and early 1990s, Geeta Mukherjee's commitment to the people's
democratic revolution remained undiluted.
Geeta Mukherjee wrote some books for children. Bharat Upakatha
(Folktales of India) and Chotoder Rabindranath (Tagore for Children)
are two of them. She translated in Bengali Bruno Apitz's classic Naked
Among Wolves. She loved poetry and used to read and recite Kazi Nazrul
Islam and Rabindranath Tagore.
A passionate and compassionate political activist, as described by
President K.R. Narayanan, Geeta Mukherjee has left a void not only in
the communist movement but also in the women's and other democratic
movements in the country.
http://www.flonnet.com/fl1706/17061060.htm
Volume 23 - Issue 25 :: Dec. 16-29, 2006
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
WORLD AFFAIRS
Sex and the state
RAFIA ZAKARIA
The euphoria surrounding Pakistan's new law on "protection of women"
ignores the fact that the Hudood laws are still intact.
ANJUM NAVEED/AP
President Pervez Musharraf with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on
December 5 at a women's conference in Islamabad, where he promised
more legislation to protect the rights of women.
ON November 16, Pakistan's National Assembly passed the patronisingly
titled "Protection of Women (Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill 2006". The
Bill, which has since been passed by the Senate, was introduced to the
populace in a televised address by President General Pervez Musharraf,
who called it a "major achievement". International media, continuing
their affair with Pakistan's "enlightened" dictator, also celebrated
the new law as a much-awaited respite for Pakistan's rights-
impoverished female population. In their euphoria for a "good news
story" emerging from an otherwise troubled region of the world, few of
the commentators bothered to look at the concrete provisions of the
Bill. Even fewer bothered to consider whether the celebrated Bill
would assuage the scourge of jurisdictional confusion that exists
between the Sharia and civil courts.
The Bill purports to amend clauses in the controversial Zina and
Hudood Ordinances, which were promulgated by General Zia-ul-Haq in
1979. As per the provisions of the Bill, only sections of which have
been released to the public, rape or zina bil jabr will be tried under
the Pakistan Penal Code instead of under the Zina and Hudood
Ordinances. This change of jurisdiction, politically spun as rescuing
rape victims from the arduous requirement of "producing four adult
male witnesses" to accomplish a prosecution, is meant to draw
attention away from the fact that the Zina and Hudood Ordinances have
not actually been repealed. Adultery continues to remain a crime
punishable by death and minorities and women continue to count as half
witnesses in hadd cases. The celebrations surrounding the passage of
the Bill also ignore the fact that the Council of Islamic Ideology, a
constitutional body set up to review the Zina and Hudood Ordinances,
explicitly stated in its 2006 report that "piecemeal amendments to the
Zina and Hudood Ordinances would not bring them into accord with the
Koran and Sunna".
Furthermore, the effectiveness of the jurisdictional changes
introduced by the Protection of Women Bill is further reduced by the
fact that it introduces the new crime of "lewdness" or "fornication"
to the Pakistan Penal Code. Section 496B, Clause 7, of the Pakistan
Penal Code, now forbids consensual sex outside of marriage and
requires those engaging in it to be punished by five years'
imprisonment and a fine of Rupees 10,000. In a lackadaisical attempt
to deter false charges, lawmakers have also chosen to include a "qazf"
provision in the law that would impose the same punishment on those
making false charges of fornication. Happily citing this provision as
a built-in mechanism against misuse, lawmakers knowingly chose to
ignore the fact that the same provision exists in the Hudood
Ordinances against those bringing false charges of adultery and has
never once in 27 years been used to punish someone making a false
accusation of adultery. Capitalising on the political tractability of
the existing jurisdictional confusion, government proponents of the
Protection of Women Bill also tout its "firewall" provision that will
ostensibly prevent rape victims from being tried under the fornication
clause if they are "unable to prove their rape charges".
In an editorial published in Daily Times, Asma Jehangir of the Human
Rights Commission of Pakistan termed the Bill "a victory for no one".
In her astute discussion of the provisions of the Bill, she pointed
out that the unamended portions of the Zina and Hudood Ordinances
continued to discriminate on the basis of sex and religion and
economic status. Pointing to the law of Qisas and Diyat, which was
also left untouched by the Bill, she says: "Murder can be waived or
compromised but zina can still be punished with stoning to death. A
person who can pay his way out of death penalty or manoeuvre a
compromise can be set free but lesser offences can beget
imprisonment."
Her emphasis on the class dimension of vulnerability to legal abuse at
the hands of the state is an important basis for evaluating this new
Bill. Records of women imprisoned under charges of fornication or
adultery under the Hudood Ordinances reveal that it is Pakistan's poor
women who are most frequently victimised by the state's unchecked
power in legislating morality in the name of Islam. Therefore, while
the promised jurisdictional changes under the Bill may place a
placating Band-Aid on a festering wound, they fail to address the
reality that a poor woman who chooses to file a rape charge still
faces incredible challenges that are rudely ignored by this
politically inspired piece of legislation. The case of Mukhtar Mai,
the courageous gang-rape survivor from Meerwala, is a testament to the
limited utility of the legal changes sought by the law. The very fact
that her rape case was tried not just in a Sharia court or a civil
court but also in a "special terrorism court" shows how jurisdictional
rules can easily be superseded by governmental directive in an
essentially undemocratic system where courts in general have limited
legitimacy.
Judging legal changes in Pakistan by evaluating the legitimacy that
Pakistan's legal institutions actually possess goes against the
predilection of elite Pakistani scholars and their Western
counterparts bent on celebrating General Musharraf as the heaven-sent
liberal scion saving Pakistan from the mullahs. The elite in Pakistan
have little or no reliance on the legal system as a means of dispute
resolution. The poor, intimidated by the jurisdictional morass created
by the hodge-podge of civil courts, federal Sharia courts and special
terrorism courts, lack the material resources and, understandably, the
will to navigate a system whose primary aim seems to be to serve the
objectives of those in power. In the unlikely event that a poor person
is able to secure a conviction from a court, few if any mechanisms
exist for it to be enforced against the other party, particularly if
they happen to be powerful or command material resources. Predictably,
the most high-profile cases ever tried in Pakistani courts are those
brought by those holding the reins of government against former rulers
accused of corruption. Ultimately, Musharraf's rise to power with the
aid of unilateral constitutional amendments sharpens the irony of his
being celebrated as someone responsible for instituting the rule of
law in a militarised state.
The leniency of the Pakistani public to the legal or constitutional
usurpations of power of the Musharraf administration is ultimately
also a product of the self-perpetuating cycle of institutional
weakness that maintains the status quo. In a simplistic yet
illuminating calculus, the Pakistani public, fed up with the slew of
corrupt civilian governments of the past decades, supports the
military administration because it maintains law and order through
force. In turn, the military administration, adept at maintaining its
hold over Pakistani politics, refuses to pour the billions of dollars
of aid money it regularly receives into the court system, which if
truly legitimate and powerful, could check the military's claim to
power. The legal system thus remains impoverished, under-funded and
ultimately powerless, while the current administration can manipulate
world opinion through the pretence of legal changes to gain political
mileage. The hollowness of the legal institutions ultimately enables
them to be symbolically manipulated as agents of change and harbingers
of the rule of law while never actually threatening the omniscient
hegemony of the military. One recent instance that demonstrates the
farcical status of Pakistan's courts in curbing state power is the
imprisonment without charge of dozens of women belonging to the Baloch
Bugti tribe in a government effort designed to force their husbands,
fathers and brothers out of hiding. Of course, the legal basis for
such an action, which no court could possibly sanction, has yet to be
explained.
Even more depressingly, the military is hardly alone in perpetuating
this cycle. Past civilian administrations, led either by Benazir
Bhutto or Nawaz Sharif, have been equally reticent to strengthen a
court system that might ultimately be a check on their own power. In
the context of the Protection of Women Bill, the liberal Pakistan
People's Party(PPP) as well as the Muhajir Qaumi Movement(MQM) has
joined the Musharraf administration in supporting the changes and
heralding the birth of what is being called a new configuration in
Pakistani politics. Indeed, supporting the legislation bears political
rewards for both, since it marks their recognition of the reality that
in the eyes of the aid-giving West, being "enlightened" means
supporting President Musharraf.
The louder the mullah-dominated Muttahida Majlis Amal (MMA) protests
against the Bill, the more resplendent the bounty of dollars of which
the Musharraf administration, and now even the PPP and the MQM, may
partake of. This new coalition of corrupt authoritarian liberals
against religious zealots is particularly worrisome if one remembers
the denouement of the Iranian Revolution which was presaged by just
such a Western-supported political configuration. And what about the
Pakistani women in whose name these reforms are undertaken? Stuck
between Musharraf and the mullahs, they must accept the meagre scraps
of half-hearted changes promised by the Protection of Women Bill, or
shudder in fear of an MMA government that will relegate them to their
houses and force them into burqas.
To keep this fear alive, since it stands to benefit so much from the
ominous threat it represents, the Musharraf administration has done
little to thwart the passage of the Hasba Bill in North West Frontier
Province. This new Bill, which was adopted by the NWFP provincial
government days before the passage of the Protection of Women Bill in
the National Assembly, revives the medieval institution of "mohtasibs"
or "moral police". In yet another parallel system of justice, these
mohtasibs will now patrol the streets of the province to insure that
"society is guided by the Sharia". Vigilante groups have already begun
the process by standing guard outside universities and turning away
women students not covering their heads as well as harassing
minorities under a variety of pretexts.
Human rights organisations in Pakistan and abroad have denounced this
"give and take" attitude of the Musharraf administration that has now
become proficient at maintaining liberal pretences and legitimising
itself as the bastion of anti-extremism, while also appeasing the MMA.
Civil society organisations such as the Aurat Foundation, the Women's
Action Forum, Sungi and ANAA have all protested against the Bill.
Minority rights organisations such as the National Solidarity of Equal
Rights have highlighted the reality that Hudood laws left untouched by
the legislation prevent non-Muslims from being either full witnesses,
judges or even lawyers in cases brought under the Hudood Ordinances.
According to Amna Buttar, president of ANAA, "the new law removes a
noose but fires a bullet" in continuing to retain the many provisions
that may be used to persecute women in the name of regulating sex and
morality. This equivocation, which sees legislating on sex as a means
of ensuring the moral life of society, ignores the reality that moral
wrongs when legislated upon by the state give the latter inordinate
power in making the lives of ordinary citizens completely vulnerable
to unchecked and indiscriminate intrusions and abuses of power.
In the final analyses, the debate surrounding the Women's Protection
Bill must focus on the status of the rule of law in Pakistani society.
The duplicitous rhetoric of curbing extremism by promoting militarism
masks the grotesque mess of parallel jurisdictions and inaccessibility
to justice for both male and female citizens of Pakistan. The Asian
Development Bank reports that Pakistan received $1.1 billion in United
States aid to fight the "war against terror" last year and is
scheduled to receive another $900m this year. A total of $3.7 billion
has been given to Pakistan by the U.S. since January 2002. It is safe
to assume that not a cent of this bounty has been used to revive
Pakistan's weak and failing legal institutions. Unless Western powers
realise that victory in the war against extremism hinges not on
propping up authoritarian regimes but on long-term investment in
strengthening democratic and legal institutions, Pakistani women will
continue to bear the unjust burden of misogyny and discrimination.
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2325/stories/20061229000306200.htm
Volume 24 - Issue 05 :: Mar. 10-23, 2007
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
LEGISLATION
Self-help doubts
T.K. RAJALAKSHMI
Opposition grows to the microfinance Bill on the grounds that it,
among other things, excludes the big players in microfinance.
G. KRISHNASWAMY
In Hyderabad, the office of the Mutually Aided Cooperative Thrift &
Credit Society, which helps members of self-help groups.
THE heightened allocations to the social sector and the rhetoric of
women's empowerment notwithstanding, a Bill meant to guarantee
financial services to women and other disadvantaged sections has run
into rough weather. The Ministries of Women and Child Development and
Rural Development are not in agreement with certain provisions of the
Micro-Financial Sector (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2007, which
they believe has been drafted in haste.
The main objective of the Bill is to provide for the promotion,
development and orderly growth of the microfinance sector in rural and
urban areas so as to offer an enabling environment to ensure that the
people, especially women and certain disadvantaged sections, have
universal access to integrated financial services of banks.
Another objective is to regulate the functioning of microfinance
organisations. In its previous avatar it was known as the National
Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Amendment) Bill, 2006. The
Bill was first drafted in 2000 with the objective of giving a
legalised structure to microcredit and microfinance organisations.
According to a note prepared by the Department of Economic Affairs
(Banking Division) in the Finance Ministry, the Bill was formulated
after consultations with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the National
Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), and the Indian
Banks' Association (IBA).
The logic was that "many microcredit-providing institutions such as
MFIs [microfinance institutions] and SHGs [self-help groups] have been
repeatedly stressing the need for regulation of this sector in view of
its rapid growth and fear of less-than-credible institutions dealing
with the poor and illiterate people." But the main problem with the
Bill is that it excludes the big players in microfinance.
The Bill demonstrates perhaps that the talk of "inter-sectoral"
convergence is just rhetoric. It also brings out the lack of inter-
Ministerial discussion and deliberation.
For instance, the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK), set up in 1993 under
the Ministry of Women and Child Development to provide credit to poor
rural women, has been left out from the to-be-constituted microfinance
development council (MDC), whose objective is to advise NABARD on
matters relating to microfinance.
The council will have two women nominees, who may not necessarily
represent the Ministry of Women and Child Development. This, said a
senior woman bureaucrat, was ironical as 90 per cent of microcredit
borrowers were women. Women and Child Development Minister Renuka
Choudhary said the Bill was inimical to the interests of poor women.
Excluding the RMK was a big surprise, considering that it has
benefited 5,68,000 women so far. The Bill has also run into trouble
from women's organisations and those closely involved with SHGs.
The All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) believes that
while the microfinance Bill ought to be rejected outright, there is
also a need to look at the working of SHGs over the past two decades.
According to AIDWA, unlike women's and people's science groups, the
Government of India and other high-profile NGOs viewed SHGs as banking
institutions whose savings needed to be mopped up in order to ease the
burden of public investment.
Among the problems facing SHGs, it said, was the exclusion of a great
number of poor people from the formation of SHG federations because of
definitional problems and the lack of representation of women in the
decision-making processes. Said Sudha Sundararaman, general secretary,
AIDWA: "Instead of replacing formal credit institutions, the SHGs are
designed to function as groups to ensure efficient transactions and
repayments on a limited credit-based agenda. This works against the
inclusion of issues such as domestic violence, sexual and reproductive
rights and political participation. Such issues are then addressed by
women `in spite of' rather than as a legitimate agenda of the SHGs."
Main objections
The main objections to the Bill are that it excludes from its purview
non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and companies registered as
not-for-profit under Section 25 of the Companies Act; these two
categories of companies deal with 90 per cent of microfinance. The
Bill, instead, seeks to regulate societies, cooperative societies and
trusts registered under State laws, also called microfinance
organisations (MFOs), which handle only 10 per cent of such services
in the country.
These smaller organisations could also get into trouble, given the
conditionalities such as profitablity, 15 per cent capital adequacy
ratio (that is, the capital base of the organisation should comprise
at least 15 per cent of its outstanding loans), three years'
experience and NABARD certification.
Nevertheless, the Cabinet and the Group of Ministers has cleared the
Bill and it is likely to be tabled in the current session of
Parliament.
The concern among non-governmental organisations (NGOs) involved with
SHGs is that MFIs, profit-oriented as they are, may introduce
practices that might corrupt the SHG model itself. They also feel that
the conditionalities are harsh considering that even commercial banks
were required to have a capital adequacy ratio of only 8 per cent.
Thomas Franco Rajendra Dev of the Mahalir Association for Literacy
Awareness and Rights (MALAR), a federation of SHGs in Kanyakumari
district, said repayment rates were, by and large, very good and that
was one reason why MFIs wanted to enter the picture in a big way and
that too without many regulations.
He said MFIs in Andhra Pradesh used coercive methods to make women
repay their loans and added that he knew of many instances of such
harassment. He said that in the last seven or eight years, a lot of
SHGs and microcredit institutions had been formed with the sole
purpose of obtaining and disbursing loans. Only in some States,
especially Kerala, where linkages had been made between literacy,
political empowerment and economic empowerment within SHGs, the
poorest among the women had benefited and emerged as a force.
Incidentally, estimates of the number of SHGs in the country range
from seven million to more than a crore. The demand for micro-credit
is estimated to be close to Rs.1 lakh crore. Until December 2006,
24.82 lakh SHGs had been credit-linked with a cumulative bank loan of
Rs.13,720.82 crore. As on January 25, 2007, about 24.33 lakh SHGs,
with a bank loan of Rs.10,895 crore, had been formed under the
Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana of the Ministry of Rural
Development. Last year alone, Rs.65,000 crore was disbursed as
microcredit.
V. RAJU
At Sattenapalli in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district in July 2006, a
victim of harassment by microfinance companies is consoled by National
Commission of Women member Nirmala Venkatesh. The companies wanted the
girl to repay the loan taken by her mother who is no more.
But there are doubts whether it can help rural poverty. Franco
Rajendra Dev said it was an illusion that microfinance alone would
eradicate poverty; it had to be accompanied by other measures,
including land reforms, which was the experience of both Kerala and
West Bengal. The Integrated Rural Development Programme, which began
in 1979, he said, failed to reduce poverty, as it was unconnected with
the other causes of poverty.
He said that within MALAR, which was based on the People's Science
Movement model, nearly 10 per cent of the women had improved their
quality of life; handloom weavers had become owners of looms, pottery
workers had turned owners and women had opened grocery shops and got
into lease cultivation.
While this was a positive outcome, the main problem was the small net
profit in these ventures and the challenges of the market. There was a
lot to learn from the Kudumbashree model in Kerala, where the poorest
of the poor among women were identified under the Asraya scheme and
marketing outlets were provided for their SHG products. In West
Bengal, too, 16 government departments were involved in SHGs in one
way or other. There was a separate Ministry for SHGs as well. The
marketing of the products was allowed through the public distribution
system (PDS).
Critics of the Bill accused the major players of charging high rates
of interest and resorting to other irregularities, including inhuman
methods of recovery, which, in States such as Andhra Pradesh, even
drove women to commit suicide. The majority of the borrowers were
women, organised into SHGs or otherwise. Last year, the Collectors of
East Godavari and Krishna districts submitted a report each to the RMK
about women committing suicide because of harassment by the MFIs. Most
of the suicides were reported from Guntur, East Godavari and Krishna
districts.
In Krishna district, of the 19 unnatural deaths of women in 2005-06,
10 were confirmed to have committed suicide. In general, the district
administration's observations were that MFIs imposed a non-
transparent, flat rate of interest instead of a simple interest on the
diminishing principal amount; the periodicity of repayment was weekly
instead of monthly, the insurance policy of MFIs was such that
premiums were collected without giving any policy; and they used
methods of recovery that were demeaning to women, including making
them stand in the hot sun, locking up their homes and even advising
them to commit suicide.
In raids on the local offices of some of the MFIs operating in the
district, signed cheques, blank, signed plain sheets of paper, and
home-site pattas and land title-deeds were seized.
Contentious proposal
One of the proposals in the Bill is to allow MFOs that have a capital
base of Rs.5 lakh to mobilise thrift. Such a move, critics argued,
would restrict the expansion of the capital that was being created by
SHGs. They said group savings were normally used in an emergency, but
if MFOs were allowed to mop up the thrift, the purpose of SHGs would
be defeated and women would find themselves again at the mercy of
moneylenders.
Sources in the RMK said the word "thrift" was a clever way of defining
"public deposit" as the RBI had not prescribed any "safety norms" for
banks that accepted public deposits. This could allow unscrupulous
MFOs, as also moneylenders who could register as MFOs, a backdoor
entry and accept not only savings from people but also lend at very
high rates of interest. Another worry was that caste and communal
organisations could enter the fray, especially if the Bill allowed
them to collect deposits through thrift.
The Bill does not provide any cap on the rate of interest, especially
when there were known instances of MFIs charging flat rates of 15 to
30 per cent and using unethical means of recovery. On the other hand,
there was a cap of Rs.50,000 on borrowing. There were objections to
NABARD functioning as the regulatory body because it was
insufficiently manned in the districts and there could be a conflict
of interest as it was a promoter of SHGs and NGOs. "A promoter cannot
be a regulator," said Franco.
Yet another criticism has been that State governments were not
consulted during the formulation of the Bill despite the fact that
many of the MFOs were registered under State laws.
The controversy over the Bill also comes in the context of a
widespread SHG movement comprising mainly of poor women in the
villages. The experience of the SHGs has been a mixed one, depending
on the level of political awareness and rate of literacy and social
and political organisation in the States. The possible enactment of
the microfinance Bill has caused consternation among groups working
with SHGs.
A two-day national consultation organised by Nirantar, an organisation
that deals with gender and education issues, debated the implications
of the Bill as well as the role of the SHGs.
More than 40 organisations from 19 States participated. The conference
discussed a study prepared by Nirantar, titled "Examining empowerment,
poverty alleviation, education within self-help groups" and a broad
consensus emerged on the positive and the negative outcomes of the
experiences of women in SHGs.
The study was done among 2,750 SHGs, the majority of them formed under
government programmes, in 16 States. The survey revealed that the
benefits had not percolated equitably to all women and most of them
had not received any capacity-building inputs for the past two years.
The experience differed from State to State and on the level of
political consciousness as well.
At the consultation itself, the consensus was that the microfinance
Bill would do more harm than good to rural women. It sought a wider
consultation with all the stakeholder before the Bill is passed.
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2405/stories/20070323002409700.htm
Women's Reservation Bill
The Women's Reservation Bill is the one subject that has been most
talked about and the least acted upon. Now, one can easily visualise
that the Bill stands the 'brightest' chance of getting drowned in the
din and noise of tehalka.com. But the singular d isservice meted out
to the women's issue has, unfortunately come from no less a person
than Chief Election commissioner, M.S. Gill. (See his interview in
Frontline dated March 16, 2001.)
To quote Gill: "My solution is simple. Instead of amending the
Constitution every other day with all the negative points it involves,
have a simple amendment in the RPA (Representation of Peoples Act)
where all you would say is this: all parties that hav e their
recognition and privileges of the Commission shall retain these only
for so long, at every election they fight in every State they put up X
percentage of women candidates."
With this simple solution, Gill wants us to believe that the
proportion of women which is only '8 per cent in Parliament and
Assemblies over the last 50 years' will overnight jump from 8 to 15 or
20 per cent, even if a little less than 33 per cent of th e ticket is
given to women by the political parties.
The Frontline correspondent who interviewed Mr. Gill has chosen to
describe his solution as 'unique'. Unique indeed - not as a solution
but as a way of scuttling the whole issue.
Gill, at least for the record, asserts that gender justice is
certainly his priority but not higher than his loyalty to the
Constitution. He does not want the fault of political parties to visit
on the Constitution. So he wants the Constitution to be lef t
undisturbed by gender considerations. He ascribes the fact of women
not being given the ticket to an adequate extent to the fault of
political parties. He declares: "The flaw is that women are not
getting space in the political parties. Guaranteed spac e. Assured
space."
Gill's solution can at best only guarantee party ticket for women in
elections. It will certainly not ensure their presence in Parliament
or Assemblies unless a specific number of constituencies are mandated
to return only a woman as the representative.
We have on hand our own experience with regard to the elections to
local bodies. Only the 83rd amendment to the Constitution has given
the women the guaranteed and assured space in the local bodies. Not
before. Not otherwise than by reservation.
The delay over passing of the Bill is of course a matter of serious
concern not only to women, but also to all those who genuinely seek
women to be empowered. But, it cannot be an alibi for pushing through
a non-serious and frivolous proposal, from which ever quarters it may
emanate.
W.R. Varada Rajan
Received on email
http://www.flonnet.com/fl1807/18071290.htm
Volume 24 - Issue 25 :: Dec. 22, 2007-Jan. 04, 2008
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
COVER STORY
Lacunae in law
V. VENKATESAN
India’s legal response to violence against women has by and large been
characterised by the absence of sympathy for the victim.
RAJESH KUMAR SINGH/AP
At a rally in Allahabad on December 8 to create awareness about the
Domestic Violence Act.
The World Human Rights Conference in Vienna recognised gender-based
violence as a human rights violation in 1993. In the same year, the
United Nations, through a declaration, defined violence against women
as any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to
result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to a
woman, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary
deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.
In 1995, the U.N.’s Special Report on Violence Against Women added
“violence perpetrated or condoned by the State” to this definition.
Because of the social group to which she belongs, in times of war,
riots and ethnic, caste or class violence, a woman may be raped or
brutalised as a means of humiliating the community to which she
belongs. Male perception of the female sex and women as the property
of men contributes to this extreme form of gender violence.
It may be worthwhile to look at India’s legal response to the first
two of these three major forms of violence, namely, violence against
women in the private and public domains, and discern what many
observers have noted as the absence of attitudes sympathetic to women
among those enforcing or interpreting these laws.
Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which defines the rape of
a woman by a man, has an important exception: sexual intercourse by a
man with his wife, the wife not being under 15 years of age, is not
rape. Thus “marital rape” as an offence is outside the purview of
Indian criminal law.
The introduction of Section 376A in the IPC somewhat limits this
exception. Under this Section, a man who has sexual intercourse with
his wife who is living separately from him under a decree of
separation or under any custom or usage, without her consent shall be
punished with imprisonment up to two years and shall also be liable to
pay a fine.
Comparison with the punishments prescribed in the IPC for other
categories of rape brings out starkly the bias in the law in favour of
judicially separated men. The IPC prescribes a minimum sentence of
seven years for those convicted in non-custodial rape cases and 10
years in the case of custodial rapes.
The Law Commission has rejected proposals to repeal the marital rape
exception on the grounds that it would amount to “excessive
interference with the marital relationship” (Review of Rape Laws,
172nd Report, 2000, Chapter 3, page 14).
Clearly, some of the ingredients of Section 375 apply also to marital
rape. These include the commission of the offence by the man against
the victim’s will and without her consent. The assumption that a woman
forsakes her right to refuse consent for sexual intercourse with her
husband as long as the marriage persists has been questioned by many
feminist scholars. Such an assumption would inevitably mean that the
law treats women as the property of their husbands.
In R v. R (Rape: Marital Exemption) (1991), the House of Lords widened
the scope of criminal liability by declaring that a husband could be
charged as the principal offender in the rape of his wife. This
decision obliterated the protection of the husband from such
prosecution under the doctrine of marital exemption. The wife was
supposed to have given a general consent to her husband as a natural
implication of the marriage. This has now become an outmoded view of
marriage in the U.K.
Cruelty by husband
Section 498A – inserted into the IPC in 1983 – is a major legislative
measure to tackle cruelty by a husband or relatives of the husband.
Under it the offender could be punished with imprisonment for up to
three years and also be liable to pay a fine. The Amendment Act, which
introduced this Section in the IPC, had the objective of combating the
menace of dowry deaths. Section 498A covers both physical and mental
abuse. It is felt that Section 498A’s scope is limited as it is silent
on other kinds of cruelties involving psychological, economic and
sexual abuses. The Section defines cruelty as any act that drives a
woman to commit suicide or cause grave injury or danger to life.
The same Act also introduced Section 113A to the Indian Evidence Act
to raise a presumption regarding the abetment of suicide by a married
woman, if the suicide took place within seven years of her marriage.
Her husband or such relative of her husband would be presumed to have
abetted her suicide in such a case.
In 1986, the Dowry Prohibition (Amendment) Act introduced Section 304-
B in the IPC to define dowry death. The court shall presume that an
accused person caused a dowry death if the death of the woman is an
unnatural one and it happened within seven years from the date of
marriage. The woman must have been subjected to cruelty, relating to a
demand for dowry, in the immediate period before her death.
The Domestic Violence Act, enacted in October 2006, provides for,
among other significant reliefs, the right to residence in the shared
household, the right to protection orders, and the mandated return of
Stree-dhan (dowry), besides giving courts the power to restrain the
alienation of assets. It defines violence in all its dimensions, from
the physical to the sexual and the economic. This definition was taken
from the U.N. Model Code on domestic violence and from the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women, to which
India is a party. It applies to not only married women but also women
in live-in relationships and daughters/mothers facing violence in
domestic relationships.
One year on, the Act is not exactly a success story. Lawyers
Collective, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), which was largely
involved with this law in its formative stages, undertook the task of
evaluating enforcement using available data. Its report shows that the
main users of this law are women in matrimonial relationships. A few
widows have used it to prevent dispossession, and some young girls
have prevented forcible marriages by fathers.
The major breakthrough the law achieved was the declaration of the
right to reside in the shared household. The law makes a clear
distinction between the ownership of the shared household and the
right to reside in it. What the law does is to grant the right to
reside and not to be dispossessed, except by authority of law.
Indira Jaising of Lawyers Collective wrote in an article published in
Indian Express on October 26: “This provision suffered a major setback
at the hands of the judiciary. The Supreme Court, even before the ink
on the Act was dry, declared in a judgment (S.R. Batra v. Taruna
Batra) that a woman could claim this right only in relation to a
household owned/rented by her husband. This means that if her husband
lives with his parents and she has her matrimonial residence there,
she cannot claim right to residence there. The judgment not only
overlooks the law itself, it also overlooks the existing social
reality of the joint family, which continues to be the predominant
pattern.”
The report prepared by Lawyers Collective documents how several courts
have refused relief to women on the basis of this judgment. It
demonstrates that in India women have lesser protection than tenants,
who cannot be evicted except by the procedure established by law.
Anti-rape law
Under Section 375 of the IPC, a man is said to commit rape if he has
sexual intercourse with a woman under any of the six specified
circumstances. They are: i) it should be against her will; ii) without
her consent; iii) when her consent has been obtained by putting in
her, or in any person whom she is interested in, the fear of death or
of hurt; iv) when she consents believing that he is her husband,
whereas he is not; v) when she consents by reason of unsoundness of
mind or intoxication or administration of stupefying substance; or,
vi) when she is under 16 years of age. The provision also says that
penetration is sufficient to constitute the sexual intercourse
necessary for the offence of rape.
Researchers have found serious gaps in using this provision to secure
the conviction of alleged rapists. Pratiksha Baxi says in her article
in the book The Violence of Normal Times (edited by Kalpana
Kannabiran, Women Unlimited, New Delhi, 2005), that the popular
perception that women commonly lie about being raped inflects medical
jurisprudence and in the testimony to rape.
She points to one of the medico-legal propositions that acquires an
axiomatic status that an able-bodied adult woman cannot be raped by an
unarmed man. According to her, in the trial courts, the view is that
women have the natural ability to resist rape by crossing their legs.
Here, she says, the male body is not thought of as a weapon, and
women’s ability to resist is seen as given in nature.
When she conducted interviews with experts at the Forensic Science
Laboratory, she found that the practice of using lie-detection tests
on raped women was common. She added that medico-legal textbooks did
not prescribe the use of lie-detection tests on raped women, and to
the best of her knowledge the documentation regarding such tests did
not enter at the trial or appellate level.
For the victim, the process of testifying itself adds to her trauma.
Pratiksha Baxi notes that it makes her relive the rape and humiliates
her. Trial court Judges, she finds, recognise emotional distress
produced by the testimony not as a sign of suffering but as a sign of
complicity in a lie.
She adds: “The cross-examination of the victim itself produces trauma.
It attacks the reputation and veracity of the victim. It makes her
relive the rape and humiliates her. The production of trauma by the
law itself is a serious issue that severely compromises the mental
health of rape survivors.”
Another issue in establishing rape is the ethics of the two-finger
test. The test was evolved as an answer to the medico-legal problem
that in some cases the hymen might remain intact (especially in female
children) despite repeated instances of penile penetration. The answer
was found in partial penetration, which denoted penile penetration of
the vaginal orifice irrespective of whether the hymen was ruptured or
not.
The test is performed by a technique that is in a mimetic relationship
to the act of penile penetration. The test replaces the notion that
the presence or absence of the hymen can by itself signify virginity
or its absence. It is a technique that verifies whether the hymen is
broken or not, and whether it is distensible or not.
The substitution of the erect penis, Baxi points out, rests on the
precarious desexualisation of the clinical practice. She adds:
“The line between the two-finger test (as if it were a surgical
procedure) and assault is a thin one, which is determined by whether
the medical examination is carried out with or without the consent of
the patient. Medical jurists have been aware of the mimesis in their
emphatic recommendation that doctors must secure the patient’s consent
for this test. Consent then converts assault into a medical test.”
Baxi further asks: “The issue of consent is constitutive, for to
refuse the test is interpreted as evidence of a false complaint. It is
not clear what this consent entails. Did it imply consent to allow the
medical jurist to penetrate her with her consent or is it consent
towards allowing the state to produce signs of her own subjection?”
And, how are the results of the test interpreted? When two or more
fingers are easily admissible in the vagina, the patient might be
characterised as being “used to sex” or “habituated to sex”. The word
habituated, Baxi says, lies in the realm of interpretation, deriving
its meaning from the medico-legal domain, for the word does not appear
in any statute. The words “habituated”, “habitual, or “used to sexual
intercourse” continue to appear in appellate judgments and animate the
legal discourse in trial courts.
Baxi argues that if the hymen acts as a sign it does so
retrospectively after the technique is deployed on the victim’s body.
Thus while the “natural” state of the hymen is not reliable, it is a
technique which allows for a verification of the actual by
substituting the penis with two fingers.
The interpretation of the findings of the two-finger test provided in
the medico-legal certificate of the victim is transcribed as
“habituated to sex” or “used to sex”. If a victim is categorised as
habituated, it is assumed that she must have experienced regular
sexual intercourse and this sexual intercourse must have been
consensual.
Baxi quotes a defence lawyer who had been practising criminal law in
the trial court as saying that if doctors give a certificate saying no
sign of injury and write that she is habituated, the advantage of this
goes to the accused.
Thus, medico-legal techniques such as the two-finger test result in
symbolic re-rape of victims. The phallocentric law insists on doing
mimetically to the victim what the accused rapist did to her, in order
to know that rape was real.
Outraging modesty
Section 354 of the IPC provides for a punishment of up to two years
with fine to anyone who assaults or uses criminal force on any woman,
intending to outrage her modesty. But the provision does not define
modesty.
The Supreme Court, in a recent judgment, defined modesty in this
Section as follows: “Modesty is an attribute associated with female
human beings as a class. It is a virtue which attaches to a female
owing to her sex. The act of pulling a woman, removing her sari,
coupled with a request for sexual intercourse, is such as would be an
outrage to the modesty of a woman; and knowledge, that modesty is
likely to be outraged, is sufficient to constitute the offence without
any deliberate intention having such outrage alone for its object.”
As rape is constituted, only penetration is present. In cases where
sexual assault does not lead to penetration, the prosecution is
inclined to invoke Section 354 against the accused, which results in
milder punishment.
Section 511 of the IPC deals with punishment for attempting to commit
offences that are punishable with imprisonment for life or other forms
of imprisonment. It provides that when an offence is attempted to be
committed for which no specific punishment has been provided for in
the code, an offender will be punishable with half the longest term of
punishment that is prescribed for committing the respective offence.
In other words, a court can convict the accused for attempted rape.
Yet courts have in general been reluctant to do so even when the
accused has been caught while attempting rape. Ranjana Kaul, a member
of the Delhi Commission for Women, points out in an article that they
often rely upon the technicality of the absence of penetration to rule
out attempt and have invariably imposed on the accused the relatively
minor punishment of imprisonment up to two years for molestation.
"The emergence of sexual harassment as a wrong and a form of
discrimination against women has been articulated exclusively by the
Indian courts, and has not been enacted into any statute," says Ratna
Kapur, in her book, Erotic Justice.
Sexual harassment
The inability of Section 354 of the IPC to address adequately the
claims of sexual harassment ultimately led to the filing of a class
action petition in 1997 in the Supreme Court. The petition was brought
by certain social activists and NGOs to assist in finding suitable
methods for the realisation of the true concept of “gender equality”
and to prevent sexual harassment of women in all workplaces through
judicial process, to fill the vacuum in the existing legislation.
The Supreme Court held in this case (Visakha v. State of Rajasthan)
that sexual harassment is a clear violation of the rights under
Articles 14, 15 and 21 of Constitution. One of the logical
consequences of such an incident is also the violation of the victim’s
fundamental right under Article 19(1)(g) “to practise any profession
or to carry out any occupation, trade or business”. Such violations
attract the remedy under Article 32 for the enforcement of these
fundamental rights of women.
The court defined sexual harassment to include such unwelcome sexually
determined behaviour (whether directly or by implication) as: a)
physical contact and advances; b) a demand or request for sexual
favours; c) sexually coloured remarks; d) showing pornography; or e)
any other unwelcome physical verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual
nature.
The court directed all employers or persons in charge of the
workplace, whether in the public or private sector, to take
appropriate steps to prevent sexual harassment, and create mechanisms
for the settlement or prosecution of complaints. It laid down 12
guidelines in this regard and declared that these would constitute the
law of the land until the legislature took further action.
Ironically, Parliament took almost 10 years after the Vishaka judgment
to prepare a draft Bill on sexual harassment. The draft Bill, the
Protection of Women Against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2007,
is yet to be introduced in Parliament.
REFERENCES
1. Ratna Kapur, `Erotic Justice'; Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2005.
2. Kalpana Kannabiran (ed.), `The Violence of Normal Times'; Women
Unlimited, New Delhi, 2005.
ONLINE
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=33866
http://www.judis.nic.in/supremecourt/qrydisp.aspx?filename=13856
http://prsindia.org/docs/draft/draft_sexual_harassment_bill.pdf
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2425/stories/20080104242502000.htm
Volume 16 - Issue 17, Aug 14 - 27, 1999
India's National Magazine
from the publishers of THE HINDU
SOCIAL ISSUES
'Dowry deaths' in Bangalore
Investigations by a women's group in Bangalore point to a high
incidence of unnatural deaths among newly married women following
dowry-related incidents, with the persons responsible for them largely
being acquitted.
PARVATHI MENON
in Bangalore
HOARDINGS put up by the traffic police at prominent places along
Bangalore's traffic-congested roads exhort reckless drivers to go
slow. Grim statistics loom over traffic snarls - 704 men and women
died in traffic accidents in the city in 1997, 726 in 1998, and 168
until June 1999. Reckless driving is truly a problem in India's sixth
largest metropolis, and the seriousness with which it is being
addressed is gratifying to the citizens of the city.
There is, however, another category of deaths that occur on a daily
basis in the city, for which no such public recognition or concern is
awarded. These figures far outnumber traffic-related deaths (or indeed
any category of avoidable death). They are exclusively of women -
mainly young, newly married women. In police records they are
classified under three specific categories, which invoke different
sections of the law. They are "dowry murders" (committed by the
woman's husband or members of his family for additional dowry or non-
payment of promised dowry); "suicides" (forced or voluntary, but in
most cases related to dowry demands); and "accidents" (a majority
classed under "stove-burst" or "kitchen-accident"). Deaths under these
three categories add up to an alarming figure. In Bangalore city,
1,133 women died in murders, suicides and accidents in 1997, 1,248 in
1998, and 618 till mid-July 1999.
K. GOPINATHAN
A police officer examines the body of Bhagyamma, a young mother who
hanged herself in Kengeri, near Bangalore. In her suicide note, which
she wrote on her legs in order to avoid its detection until the police
arrived, Bhagyamma blamed her husband for her death.
On an average, therefore, almost one hundred women have been dying
violent deaths every month in the privacy of their homes. And these
are the official figures. When 44 persons died of plague by September
1994 in Surat, the epicentre of the plague outbreak of that year, the
epidemic assumed the proportions of a national crisis. Yet, public
acknowledgement of the unnatural deaths of young women in Bangalore
city is restricted to perfunctory two-line news items in the daily
newspapers, where they are reported as "accidents" or "suicides" over
"dowry harassment". Thereafter, they drop from public consciousness
into the anonymity of a police or court 'case'.
A dowry murder comes under a distinct class of violence. Motivated
mainly by greed, the crime is committed within the four walls of a
home on an unsuspecting wife by her own husband or his family; there
are rarely any eyewitnesses who are prepared to give evidence against
the murderers. The large number of these deaths is an indication that
the law is not a sufficient deterrent for those who commit these
crimes. Nor have these grotesquely violent murders sparked the kind of
social outrage that could pressure the government and its law-
enforcing machinery into acting swiftly and firmly in enforcing the
law. The scale of this problem, its causes and consequences, have not
been adequately acknowledged by the state and its agencies, the media,
or the public at large.
"Such figures certainly impress upon us the need to relook at what we
understand by the police classification of 'unnatural deaths'," says
Donna Fernandes of Vimochana, a women's organisation which first
uncovered the horrifying dimensions of the problem in Bangalore. "Our
investigations have proved that for large numbers of married women,
the right to live in safety and in a climate free from intimidation
and violence is under great threat. Why is there this social unconcern
when women are dying in such large numbers?"
DOWRY-RELATED violence against married women by the families they
marry into is a phenomenon that is on the increase all over the
country, particularly in urban areas where such violence gets reported
on. Women's groups have been engaging with this issue at various
levels in different parts of the country. In the absence of comparable
data from other cities, it may be premature to conclude that the high
incidence of unnatural deaths of young women in Bangalore is, in some
way, a problem specific to this city. What has put Bangalore on the
map of cities with a high incidence of dowry-related atrocities
against women is an exceptional research-cum-social-intervention
project by Vimochana. This study has, for the first time, quantified
this problem and put it firmly in the public realm. Vimochana's
sustained two-and-half-year campaign on the issue of unnatural deaths
of women resulted in the setting up, on April 7, 1999, of a Joint
House Committee on Atrocities against Women to investigate these
deaths and make recommendations for their prevention. The Joint
Committee, which was chaired by BJP MLA Premila Nesargi, presented its
report on July 1.
There are therefore two detailed public documents on the phenomenon of
the high rate of unnatural deaths of women in Bangalore - the
Vimochana documentation and campaign material and the House Committee
Report. There is also detailed, month-wise statistics compiled and
maintained by the State Crime Records Bureau, which Vimochana has
collated and analysed in its study. Together these provide a reliable
database on the numbers of women dying; the classification of their
deaths by the police (whether murder, suicide, accident); the ways by
which they die (burning, hanging, poisoning, and so on); the reasons
for the death; the nature of the police investigation into each of
these cases; the reasons for the slow pace of judicial redress; and
the reasons why so many dowry death cases end in acquittal of the
accused. Vimochana's database, which it began compiling from early
1997, also includes a detailed register of the women who are admitted
into the burns ward of the Victoria Hospital, their ages, marital
status, reasons for death, and case details.
Unnatural deaths and stove-bursts
In the early phase of the study, as it collated police statistics,
Vimochana noted a major anomaly between its figures and those of the
police. It found that a large number of deaths were being classified
in police records as "accidents" under "UDR" (Unnatural Death
Register). The category of "dowry deaths" in a technical sense only
included those cases that had been booked by the police under the
relevant sections of the law . The "accident" cases that were closed
for want of evidence, however, were largely due to "stove-bursts" or
"kitchen accidents". On the basis of its follow-up investigations with
the families of the victims of these so-called accidents, Vimochana
came up with some startling findings that changed the whole perception
of this social problem, the assumptions that underlay it, its causes
and the course that remedial action must take. Vimochana alleged that
a large number of murders and suicides, punishable under law, were
being made to look like "accidents" by the husband and members of his
family. These cases were closed by the investigating police officers
for want of hard evidence of a crime. When a professional eye looked
at the whole category of unnatural deaths (and not just "dowry
deaths"), the number of women dying in suspicious circumstances rose
sharply. Vimochana's contention is that a large number of the cases
simply escape detection and punishment in the prevailing social
conditions.
K. BHAGYA PRAKASH
A burns victim in a Bangalore hospital. There is evidence to suggest
that a large number of murders and suicides of young married women are
made to look like stove-burst "accidents".
Frontline attempted an independent assessment of some of the findings
of the Vimochana study, as well as of the House Committee Report. Data
provided to Frontline by the police department for Karnataka as a
whole show that out of 3,826 deaths recorded as accidents in 1997,
1,715, or around 50 per cent, were connected with fire accidents,
including stove and cooking gas cylinder bursts. V. Gowramma, a
Vimochana activist and the recipient of this year's Neerja Bhanot
award (which was instituted in memory of the 23-year-old Pan Am
airhostess who died showing exemplary courage in helping passengers
escape during a hijack attempt in Karachi in 1986), says: "We found
that of 550 cases reported between January and September 1997, 71 per
cent were closed as 'kitchen/cooking accidents' and 'stove-bursts'
after conducting investigations under Section 174 of the Code of
Criminal Procedures." When the cause of death in a majority of
registered dowry death cases is due to burning, such a high rate of
"stove-burst" accidents involving daughters-in-law can hardly be
regarded as natural or coincidental.
"It is an unfortunate fact that in a strictly legal sense, an
accidental stove-burst is not an offence under the law," Bangalore
City Police Commissioner L. Revannasiddaiah observed to Frontline.
"However, what is the use of an investigation if it does not arrive at
the truth? If there are two or three stove-burst accidents in a day,
in which only daughters-in-law die, we must look behind the formal
facade and take up investigations immediately." Noting that the police
are now trying to do this, he asked: "Have you ever heard of a mother-
in-law or a husband dying in a stove-burst?"
Since September 1997, two Vimochana volunteers have been posted
permanently at the burns ward of the Victoria Hospital, where most of
the serious burns cases in the city are admitted. "About seven cases
are admitted on an average every day, with the numbers going up to ten
following certain traditional festivals, when it is the practice for
women to be sent to their natal homes with additional demands for
dowry," explained Donna Fernandes. "The burnings usually take place
past 1 a.m., well past cooking time, which itself throws the 'stove-
burst' theory into doubt. Women come with burns of 70 per cent and
more, and on their death leave behind babies and small children."
There are several reasons why murders or forced suicides often get
registered as a "stove-burst". "The first reaction of a woman who has
been burnt by her husband or his family is to say it is a stove-
burst," says Rudrappa Hanagavadi, Special Executive Magistrate for
Bangalore, who is reponsible for the conduct of inquests in cases
relating to women who have died under suspicious circumstances. "Her
dying declaration, which is supposed to be taken in private by the
policeman in the presence of a doctor, is invariably a public
procedure, and she is afraid to tell the truth." Members of the
husband's family often threaten to harm her children and her natal
family if she does not say she was injured in a cooking accident.
Often, relatives and friends of the victim are reluctant to raise
doubts about the nature of the death as they fear harassment by the
victim's husband and his family. They also do not want to get involved
in laborious police and legal proceedings. The police, for their part,
do not try to penetrate this community resistance to look for evidence
of what really could have happened.
THERE are pressures on women to conceal the truth about what happened
to them even when they know they are dying. This correspondent visited
the Victoria Hospital burns ward on July 13 . On that day, five women
were admitted. There was Shabrin Begum, 20, who had been married for
one month, and had been admitted with 90 per cent burns; Selvi, 18,
married for two years and admitted with 80 per cent burns; Lalitha,
married for eight years and admitted with 80 per cent burns; Aniyamma,
40, with five children, admitted with 60 per cent burns; and Rehana
Taj, 15, from Kolar district, unmarried, and admitted with 45 to 50
per cent burns.
In her first dying declaration, Shabrin, an articulate PUC student,
said she was injured in a kitchen accident. In her second declaration,
she said her husband and mother-in-law set her on fire; based on this
declaration, the police have filed cases against them under Sections
498(A) and 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) (FIR Crime No. 479/99
filed on July 16, 1999 at the Madivala police station). Selvi gave
three dying declarations: in her first declaration she said she was
injured in an accident; in her second declaration, she said she had
attempted suicide; in her third declaration, she alleged that her
mother-in-law attempted to murder her. A case has been booked under
Section 302 of the IPC (FIR Crime No. 261/99 filed on July 16, 1999 in
the Srirampura police station). Lalitha gave two dying declarations,
the first saying that she was injured in a kitchen accident, the
second that she did it to herself out of "despair". Her relatives did
not wish to file a complaint, and Lalitha herself said nothing about
dowry demands. With tact and persuasiveness, the police could have
elicited the real causes behind Lalitha's despair. But her case (UDR
No. 17/99) was closed as a suicide after her death on July 16, 1999.
K. BHAGYA PRAKASH
At Vimochana's office premises in Bangalore, Donna Fernandes (left)
and V. Gowramma (centre). Vimochana's study has quantified for the
first time the problem of dowry-related atrocities against women in
Bangalore.
Who is dying and why?
* Manjula smiles shyly from out of her marriage photographs. She was
married in May 1998, when she was just 18, to Vruthesh Prasad, a
mechanic in the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation. Her father
gave her a dowry worth almost Rs.2 lakhs. Manjula used to complain to
her mother and sister that she was being harassed by her husband, his
brother and other members of his family for more dowry, but her family
told her she must adjust and that they would try to meet the demand.
On July 7, 1999, more than a year after her marriage, Manjula was
dead. She was found in her brother-in-law's bathroom, a pool of blood
under her head and between her legs, her upper torso and face burnt.
Her husband's family said she had committed suicide (there was a tin
of turpentine and a box of matches lying near her), but her own family
filed a police complaint. A case has been booked against four persons
under Section 498(A) and 304(B) of the IPC (FIR Crime No. 388/99).
* "I never imagined that he would be like this," a shaken B.P.
Krishnaswamy said of his son-in-law, H. Narasimhamurthy, a primary
school teacher at Bapu Palika Mahila Prautha Salai in Yeshwantpur.
Krishnaswamy trades in vegetables. His daughter, B.K. Rojavathi, a
primary school teacher in Seshadripuram Primary School in Yelahanka,
narrowly escaped an attempt on her life by her husband. She was
married in May 1999; her husband was given a dowry of Rs.30,000 in
cash and another lakh of rupees worth of jewellery and household
goods; soon after the marriage, Rojavathi's husband and father-in-law
demanded more dowry from her. On July 16, her husband, under the
pretext of taking her to a temple, took her instead to the isolated
Soldevanahalli forest and tried to strangle her with a chain that she
was wearing. When that was not successful, he returned with a can of
kerosene from his scooter, and poured it over her. A forest guard saw
him just as he tried to light a flame. Narasimhamurthy fled the scene,
the police were informed and Rojavathi was quickly taken to hospital.
Cases have been booked against her husband under Sections 498(A) and
307 of the IPC (FIR Crime No. 446/99 filed on July 16 at the
Nelamangala police station). He is absconding, as is the rest of his
family. Rojavathi, the whites of her eyes suffused with blood owing to
the effects of strangulation, and her body bruised from the blows she
sustained, is slowly recovering from her injuries and shock.
* H.T. Indira, a young wife and mother, died in November 1998; her
husband's family tried to pass it off as suicide by hanging. A charge-
sheet (CC No. 2033/99) was filed within a month of her death under
Sections 498(A) and 304(B) of the IPC; it names four accused - her
husband P.Thyagaraj, brothers-in-law P. Sivakumar and P.
Krishnamurthy, and mother-in-law Padmamma. Says Indira's sister
Chandramma, who has undertaken to fight the case: "My sister suffered
unspeakable torture for more dowry. A week before her death, they
threw her out of the house with the child and she slept on the steps
that night. She told a neighbour that she was leaving as she could
bear it no longer." According to Chandramma, Indra's brother was to
have brought her home but she died before that. "This is not a
suicide, I know," asserts Chandramma. "My sister was forced to commit
suicide."
These three recent incidents share a certain pattern of social
behaviour and individual response. The giving of dowry, an act illegal
in itself, is not perceived by the victim's families as socially
condemnable, or as having made the woman's position vulnerable right
from the day of the marriage. The husband and his family view her
primarily as a money-source and increase their pressure until it
results in her death or suicide. What is also significant is the
absence of support structures for the woman - a counselling centre, a
shelter home, concerned neighbourhoods - which could prevent the worst
from happening. She cannot even turn to her own family when in the
throes of distress.
SOME broad generalisations have been made from the database now
available on unnatural deaths of women. Its victims are generally
young (Vimochana's study, in fact, looks only at the death of married
women between the ages of 18 and 40), and in a large number of cases
the death occurs within the first two years of marriage. A large
number of victims (and perpetrators of the violence) are from poor or
lower middle-class backgrounds, although this is not an issue that
affects poor women alone. In most cases, the woman would have
undergone mental and physical harassment prior to her death. Lastly, a
majority of dowry murders and suicides are by burning. Police figures
made available to Frontline on suicide deaths alone show that more
than 50 per cent of suicides are committed by the woman setting
herself on fire. In one of the several studies that Vimochana
undertook, it found, for example, that out of 711 women who died in
1998 under unnatural circumstances, 454 died of burns. Significantly,
441 were between the ages of 18 and 30.
"In 90 per cent of the cases I deal with, the women are from poor
backgrounds," Hanagavadi told Frontline. "Migrants, like construction
workers and those who live in slums, account for a large number of
those involved in such cases."
The House Committee recommendations
Vimochana and the House Committee concur on one point. The special
laws that are in place to deal with atrocities against women are
undermined at every stage of investigation at both the police and
judicial levels. The House Committee made exhaustive recommendations
covering every stage of the police investigation and judicial
procedure - the registration of the complaint when a death or injury
under suspicious circumstances takes place, the preparing of the First
Information Report (FIR), the recording of a victim's dying
declaration, the inquest proceedings, the post-mortem and forensic
investigations, the framing of the charge-sheet, and the judicial
process after that. The Committee presented five draft bills to the
House dealing with atrocities against women. One of these, the
Karnataka Prevention of Domestic Violence and Atrocities Against Women
Bill, 1999, deals specifically with the issue of marital violence and
dowry-related deaths.
The investigative process
While the reasons for the large number of violent crimes against women
must be sought in a fast-changing social and economic milieu which
reinforces rather than retards patriarchal notions and values,
accountability for the failure to prevent such crimes must be shared
by the institutions of civil society: the legislature, the police, the
judiciary, and, to some extent, the media as well. The death of a
woman in unnatural circumstances has to go through two procedural
tiers. The first is investigation by the police and the inquest
officer (a government official at the level of a district magistrate)
with assistance from doctors who perform the post-mortem as well as
forensic experts. Upon the thoroughness of this investigation depends
the fate of the case once it gets admitted into the courts. This is
the second procedural tier. If the charge-sheet in a particular case
has sound investigative backing, it will have a much better chance of
standing up in a court of law.
Deaths, whether murders or suicides, that are related to the
relentless demand for dowry constitute a special category of crime.
Given the cultural context, tremendous social pressures operate upon
the victim and her family, pressures that seek to obscure truth and
scuttle the investigation. In Bangalore, there is a groundswell of
resentment among the families of victims and activist groups against
the police department for what is perceived as a lack of thoroughness
and integrity in pursuing cases of unnatural deaths among women. The
House Committee was severe in its criticism of police investigations
and set out elaborate recommendations on how the investigative
mechanism could be sensitised, streamlined and improved.
''There is only one institution in this society that is charged by law
to intervene in a situation like this, and that is the police," says
Revannasiddaiah. "But you must understand this institution too is a
product of this society. We have not been structured, resourced,
motivated and kept in readiness to meet this requirement, and we too
proceed on the old track." But he adds that the old mind-set of the
police force is changing and that he is making a conscious effort to
sensitise the force in its perceptions and investigative approach
towards domestic violence against women.
The Vanitha Sahaya Vani was set up seven months ago by the police
department for women in distress to call in for help and counselling.
While this was initially welcomed by women's activists, it has come in
for some criticism as the success of this facility, they say, is now
being measured in terms of the numbers of "reconciled" cases, and not
by the additional number of offences detected. For a woman desperate
enough to call the help-line, advice to "adjust" to the unequal terms
of her marriage closes one more door or escape route.
Under Revannasiddaiah's initiative, the police department worked with
Vimochana and a group of concerned IAS officers to bring out a manual
of guidelines for investigating offences against women. He has also
constituted a new forum, Parihar, under the police department, which
he hopes will meet the needs of women in crisis - in homes or at
workplaces.
Registration of a complaint
The House Committee Report has drawn attention to the need for the
police to register a complaint immediately after receiving information
about grievous injuries sustained by a woman under suspicious
circumstances. "After they receive a complaint the police should go to
the house and seal it off, which they do not always do," notes
Hanagavadi. They tend to wait until the death of the woman, by which
time valuable evidentiary material slips out of their hands. The FIR
must, on the basis of initial investigations, book a case under the
relevant sections of the law. "Who decides whether a death in
suspicious circumstances is a murder or a suicide or caused by a
cooking accident or a stove-burst?" asks Donna Fernandes. "If done by
an incompetent investigating officer, a chance of a cursory
investigation is very high. We believe from our investigations that
the temptation to classify and reduce unnatural deaths as accidents
and suicidal burns is high as it reduces workload and suits the
purposes of reporting." Members of families of victims who testified
before the House Committee had grievances relating to the FIRs and the
carelessness with which they were made. It is mandatory for a Deputy
Superintendent of Police (DSP), and in cities an Assistant
Commissioner of Police, to investigate all cases of attempted suicide
and death, under suspicious circumstances, of young married women
within the first five years of marriage. However, according to
Vimochana activists, the police do not always follow this injunction.
The dying declaration
The recording of the statement of the victim, which often becomes her
dying declaration, is a part of the investigative procedure, but it
often turns into a procedure for absolving the real perpetrator of the
crime. It is quite common to find a burns victim giving more than one
dying declaration. Meant to be recorded in privacy, the dying
declaration is often taken in the presence of the victim's husband and
his relatives. As mentioned earlier in the story, when this
correspondent visited the burns ward of Victoria Hospital, there were
three women who gave more than one dying declaration each. One of
them, Selvi, gave three in the course of one afternoon. "Such a case
is unlikely to stand in court. The defendant lawyer will present it as
conflicting evidence," a Special Public Prosecutor in Bangalore told
Frontline.
The inquest
A crucial part of the investigative process, the inquest, is to be
conducted by an officer of the level of a magistrate. He must visit
the spot of the death, examine the body, collect physical and verbal
evidence, and give a report that indicates the cause of death. Both
Vimochana and the House Committee have recommended that the inquest be
made an independent inquiry accountable to a higher review committee.
The House Committee has also recommended that the magistrate hold a
public hearing within a week of the woman's death, at which all
evidence, including the post-mortem and forensic reports, should be
presented. The final report should be a public document.
"Because of the alarming increase in the incidence of dowry-related
deaths, Assistant Commissioners were appointed to assist Tahsildars in
conducting inquests," explains Special Executive Magistrate Hanagavadi
as we drive to Kengeri where he is to conduct an inquest in the case
of a death by hanging that had been reported. "It is a horrible job,
seeing the deaths of young women every day." As an Assistant
Commissioner, Hanagavadi has three other charges and is on the move
the whole day. The post of Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) was
created in March 1998 to look exclusively into unnatural deaths of
women. A person is appointed to it for a year and this is extendable
by another year. Bangalore has two SEMs.
A large crowd had gathered outside the one-room dwelling where
Bhagyamma, a young wife and mother, had hanged herself from the
ceiling; her four-month-old baby lay in a crib nearby. On examination
of her body, it was found that she had written her suicide note on her
two legs, obviously hoping that it would escape detection until the
police arrived. In it she squarely blamed her husband, a groundsman at
the stadium of the Sports Authority of India, for her death. She could
no longer bear his torture, the suicide note said. She asked that her
child be taken care of by her mother after her death. Bhagyamma's
inquest report (No.42/99-2000) was sent on July 20, 1999 to the
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court.
The judicial process
Once a case enters the courts, it often takes months for it to be
heard and tried. In Bangalore, there used to be only one Special Court
to try cases of atrocities against women. By August 1998, there were
1,600 pending cases in the court, "the highest pendency rate for a
sessions court anywhere in the country," a Special Public Prosecutor
told Frontline. Three new courts were set up that month to clear the
backlog of cases. The average time taken for a case to be disposed of
is six to seven years.
There is a high rate of acquittals in cases of dowry murders or
suicides. The same Special Public Prosecutor told Frontline that of
the 730 cases pending in his court at the end of 1998, 58 resulted in
acquittals and only 11 in convictions. At the end of June 1999, out of
381 cases pending, 51 resulted in acquittals and eight in
convictions.
What are the reasons for this? Families of the victims, ignorant of
the law and its procedure, get demoralised with the long wait before a
case can be decided. "In 90 per cent of the cases, witnesses turn
hostile," the Special Public Prosecutor told Frontline. "Money plays a
major role. Since most of the aggrieved families are poor, they are
willing to make out-of-court settlements. It is common to find that
during the trial, they will suddenly change their story and say that
the victim had a health problem or that her death was an accident. In
fact, in eight of my cases, the parents gave their second daughter in
marriage to the same person after the case was filed!" The second
reason, according to him, is the "perfunctory police investigation"
that spoils the case right from the start. The "half-hearted
presentation of cases by the prosecutors who are burdened with 10 to
12 cases at any given point of time" is yet another reason he cites
for the high rate of acquittal. However, the "most important reason"
according to him "is the liberal view taken by the judiciary in cases
of dowry deaths."
Vimochana, in collaboration with the National Law School University,
proposes to have a public hearing before a Truth Commission from
August 15 to 17, 1999 in Bangalore. The Commission will comprise
representatives of the Law Commission, former judges, lawyers and
women activists. Complaints from parents who have lost daughters in
suspicious circumstances, in which justice was not perceived to have
been done, will be heard. The findings of the Truth Commission will be
made the subject matter of a public interest petition before the
Supreme Court with a view to bringing relief to the aggrieved
families. Geetha Ayappa, a lawyer who has been working with Vimochana
in the campaign, looks ahead to a new stage of pressing for action:
"We will use the evidence we get to invoke the Supreme Court's
intervention to protect a woman's right to life."
http://www.flonnet.com/fl1617/16170640.htm
Volume 24 - Issue 17 :: Aug. 25-Sep. 07, 2007
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU • Contents
COLUMN
The shadow of child abuse
R.K. RAGHAVAN
It is debatable whether the law alone can tackle the serious problem
of sexual abuse of children.
S.R. RAGHUNATHAN
Children taking part in a rally in Chennai as part of a campaign
against child abuse. A file picture.
I’m a 37-year-old woman, sexually abused as a 6-year-old by a man now
aged 47; he is still out there, somewhere, living, working, breathing
in a street near you. The experience has haunted me all these years.
Six years ago I star ted confiding in certain people around me (though
not my family members) and it became apparent that three women and
three men in my social circle had been sexually abused as children.
THIS is how a reader responded recently to a Sunday Times (London)
article on the menace of child assault, which is often inexactly
described as paedophilia. Paedophilia also covers even non-assaults in
which a mentally sick person derives immense gratification from merely
looking at pornographic images of children. The evil is definitely not
something unknown to mankind. History is replete with instances of
uninhibited child sexual abuse by those who co mmanded wealth and
wielded authority. These persons were guilty of outrageous practices,
which hardly, however, caused social indignation. Public opinion was
not stirred by these practices because the common belief at that time
was that these were a prerogative of royalty and affluent landholders
and that making a noise about them would only exacerbate the problem.
The prohibition of child marriage in India through the Child Marriage
Restraint Act of 1929 was at least partially motivated by the need to
protect children from being treated as mere sexual toys. The Offences
against Children (Prevention) Bill, 2007, which has been in a state of
limbo with the Ministry of Women and Child Development, is another
example of an endeavour to curb the exploitation of children. The
point that is debatable is whether law alone can tackle the problem.
The global incidence of child abuse is still substantial enough to
cause worry. While sexual abuse of children can encompass an entire
continuum from fondling to rape, according to Crime in India 2005 (the
official publication of t he Union Home Ministry), more than 4,000
girl children were raped during the year (a 13 per cent increase over
2004). Also, there were 145 cases of procuring of minor girls and 28
of buying girls for prostitution, both sharp rises over the previous
year. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
(NSPCC) in the United Kingdom reported that about 16 per cent of all
women and 7 per cent of all men interviewed by it said that they had
been sexually abused before they were 12. Further, more than 90 per
cent of all sex and violent offenders were prone to reoffend,
indicating that sexual assault of children was too serious a matter to
be left solely to the police.
The media undoubtedly gloat over celebrity misbehaviour with children.
Whether it is for commercial gain or pure enlightenment, such coverage
has helped to arouse noticeable public interest in a subject that
normally repels civilised human beings. The British press was until a
few days ago full of the trial of Chris Langham, the award-winning
stage comedian who was accused of having had sex with a teenager years
ago and was also in possession of pornographic child images. While he
has been cleared of the former charge, the jury found him guilty of
downloading pictures of child abuse on to his home computer.
Langham’s case raises several points. First is the ease with which
many in society are able to hide their perversions for a considerable
period of time. They get caught very late in their lives when they
have already caused plenty of damage to their hapless victims, and any
penalty in the form of incarceration means little to them. We must,
however, feel gratified that destiny does catch up with at least a few
who indulge in child sexual abuse. Such instances should deter those
who wrongly believe that their status in society is a guarantee
against exposure. This is why everything needs to be done to ensure
that victims do not suffer in private and are unafraid of the
consequences of going to town against their aggressors. The role of
the media and social action groups in facilitating this process can
hardly be exaggerated.
Secondly, Langham’s exploits confirm the widely held impression that
cyberspace offers alluring opportunities to paedophiles. Those who
protest against policing cyberspace will understand from the Langham
case the hollowness and unreasonableness of their stand. Cyberspace
panders unwittingly to trusted and seemingly respectable people in
society who masquerade as upholders of the rights of children but are
inclined to abuse the latter in the shadow of their private moments.
It is for this reason, if not for anything else, that monitoring of
the Internet by law enforcement agencies has become a sad necessity.
Finally, a major argument that the 58-year-old actor put forward in
court was that his was not a crime but an aberration, the consequence
of his own victimisation when he was a child of eight. When Langham
downloaded questionable images, not only was he researching for one of
his plays – a claim considered facetious by one of his fellow-actors –
but he was also apparently trying to dissect his own childhood
experience.
Whether Langham’s defence is truthful or not, it brings us to the
question, how relevant is one’s childhood experience to one’s conduct
later on in life? While Langham’s deposition to the magistrate in his
defence is more the rule rather than an exception, it is the belief
that the insidious impact of child sexual abuse often does not allow
many child victims to lead optimal lives as adults.
An effective therapy
Eileen Vizard’s research (reported in detail in Newstatesman; August
9) is an eye-opener of sorts. Vizard is a consultant with the NSPCC,
which recently co-authored a major study on “Links between Juvenile
Sexually Abusi ve Behaviour and Emerging Severe Personality Disorder
Traits in Childhood”. This three-year study covered 280 identified
juvenile sexual abusers, 10 per cent of whom were women. Most of their
victims were relatives, friends and acquaintances, which is the usual
relationship proximity for adult child sex abusers as well. While
child-on-child sex abuse is hardly ever considered or even taken
seriously, the stark fact remains that one-third of convicted child
sex offenders reported their sexual interest in children even as young
teenagers, besides also starting their patterns of sexually abusive
behaviour from that age. Vizard’s research, like many others before,
counters the belief that exposure to child pornography is not all that
harmful. The stimulus provided by online images of sexual activity
involving children affirms for most people a hitherto reprehensible
fantasy. Often, the ensuing rationalisation also leads to a repetition
of similar behaviour towards other children.
Andrew Durham, who works for the Warwickshire Council in the U.K.,
affirms this explicitly: “When young people see adults abusing
children on the Net, it normalises what is being done.” What is of
some consolation is Vizard’s view, which is also widely subscribed to
and is the focus of much research, that cognitive behavioural therapy
is effective in “dealing with feelings and impulses in a non-damaging
way”.
The significance of Vizard’s study is its emphasis on the treatment of
child abusers. But then, how do we supervise and manage juvenile sex
offenders in the community once they are sent back to us after serving
their sentences? I tend to agree with Minette Marrin’s (“We need more
than jail for child abuse”, The Sunday Times, June 3) view on the
administration of antiandrogen drugs and antidepressants, even if such
a course is only partially effective.
What is more essential is keeping track of such offenders once they
are out in society so as to prevent them from reoffending. This
requires a good information system and an informant channel. Sex
offender registries, like those that exist in the U.K., have their own
share of failings, even in that far less populous country with a
better overall understanding of sexual violence against children.
Coupled with some counselling, such registration can take reasonable
care of the tendency of some convicts to lapse into delinquency. While
the recent establishment of the Technology Coalition and the Financial
Coalition Against Child Pornography is a welcome initiative, it would
be a cause for a lot more cheer if there were a substantial
involvement from the information technology (IT) and financial
industry in India as well.
In this context, Tulir – Centre for the Prevention and Healing of
Child Sexual Abuse (CPHCSA), Chennai, an organisation that addresses
itself solely to the problem of sexual abuse of children, is indignant
that a proposed Bill to amend the Information Technology Act, 2000,
has dropped an expert committee suggestion that a comprehensive
definition of “child pornography” should find a place in the Act. This
is in spite of India having ratified the Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography. It is ironic that the lawmakers of
a country that is synonymous with IT are myopic to the transnational
nature of the crime of possession and distribution of images of child
abuse, a fact that has a huge impact on the rapidly widening contours
of sexual crime against children everywhere.
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2417/stories/20070907506208400.htm
Volume 26 - Issue 24 :: Nov. 21-Dec. 04, 2009
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
COVER STORY
Victims always
VENKITESH RAMAKRISHNAN AND
AJOY ASHIRWAD MAHAPRASHASTA
The S.C. and S.T. (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has failed to make
Dalits any safer.
RANJEET KUMAR
An innocent survivor amidst scattered bodies, a scene after the
Ranveer Sena's carnage of Dalits at Shankarbigha in Jehanabad district
of Bihar on the eve of Republic Day in 1999. Dalit rights activists
say the Ranveer Sena, a private militia of Bhumihar landlords which
terrorised Dalits in the 1990s, is regrouping.
THE ascent of the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to power in
Uttar Pradesh on May 13, 2007, was seen as a defining moment in the
politics of Dalit empowerment in the country. The Scheduled Caste
(S.C.) leader of an avowedly “Dalit assertive” party had been Chief
Minister earlier too, but the difference this time was that her party
came to power on its own, without needing the support of other parties
and independent members.
Thousands of Dalits who gathered in the State capital, Lucknow, on
that day expressed the hope that atrocities against the S.Cs would
decline drastically under the new “single-party” regime. Many social
activists and observers who spoke to Frontline then also hoped that a
single-party government under a Dalit Chief Minister in the country’s
most populous State would have a salutary effect on Dalits’ condition
elsewhere in the country too.
Approximately a year later, papers and documents presented at a two-
day international seminar on Uttar Pradesh, organised by the Observer
Research Foundation (ORF), a Delhi-based think tank, provided an
indication of the situation on the ground. The papers documented that
“within a month of the [Mayawati] government’s assumption of office,
seven Dalits were killed in Muzaffarnagar, while three Dalit women
were raped in the same district”. The papers also revealed that
reports from areas such as Rae Bareli, Mohanlalganj, Lakhimpur Kheri
and Mahoba were of a similar nature and that atrocities against Dalits
continued in spite of the political gains made by the BSP.
The presentations at the seminar pointed out that the political
leadership found it difficult to implement what was perhaps its most
important Dalit empowerment programme – the allotment of patta land to
Dalits – on account of strong anti-Dalit sentiments within the
administration.
A field study presented at the seminar revealed that in scores of
villages in western Uttar Pradesh, in districts such as Baghpat,
Muzaffarnagar and Meerut, Dalits were unable to occupy patta land
allotted to them because of intimidation and in some cases even
physical prevention by upper-caste groups. Not surprisingly, sections
of the police and the administration were hand in glove with the upper-
caste elements. Such was their allegiance to the caste interests that
even repeated orders from the Chief Minister’s Office to the District
Magistrates failed to have any effect in a number of cases.
The National Crime Record Bureau’s (NCRB) statistics for 2007 for
crimes against members of the S.Cs and the Scheduled Tribes (S.Ts)
corroborated the presentations made at the seminar. The figures showed
that Uttar Pradesh topped the list on atrocities against the S.Cs and
the S.Ts, with 2,113 cases out of a total of 9,819. The data also
indicated a 10.2 per cent increase in crimes against the S.Cs and the
S.Ts at the national level. Uttar Pradesh accounted for 20.5 per cent
of all cases in India. The BSP’s argument was that under the
“friendly” Mayawati regime more S.C. members made bold to register
cases against their oppressors.
There was merit in this argument, but the fact remained that Dalits
were at the receiving end in large parts of Uttar Pradesh, where the
politics of empowerment of the S.Cs and the S.Ts, the protection of
their interests, their physical safety and the assertion of their
constitutional rights had acquired, in comparative terms, the highest
political and electoral acceptability.
Social and political observers hark back to an observation made by
B.R. Ambedkar to explain this context. Ambedkar had said: “History
shows that where ethics and economics come in conflict, victory is
always with economics. Vested interests have never been known to have
willingly divested themselves unless there was sufficient force to
compel them.”
Long-standing apartheid
Twenty years after the passage of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, the vociferous advocacy
of the same by almost all political parties and even the rise of the
politics of S.C.-S.T. empowerment across the country, it seems that
the quantum of “sufficient force” visualised by Ambedkar would have
been colossal. As the case of Uttar Pradesh indicates, the effective
implementation of the Act would take a lot more than electoral
victories and increasing political space.
The gaps in the implementation of the Act stand in stark contrast to
the convictions that underlay its enactment. In simple terms, the
legislation aims to prevent the various forms of offences by persons
other than members of the S.C. and the S.T. against members of these
communities. But studies have shown that it has systematically been
prevented from achieving its goal. A number of factors have
contributed to this, but the most important is the caste and class
prejudices in society. These prejudices have got institutionalised,
through religious and social practices, into a unique system of long-
standing apartheid. That they have a class character is also evident;
the Dalit and Adivasi communities that are discriminated against
constitute almost 80 per cent of India’s poor.
The S.C./S.T. Act is seen to be empowering as it is the first
legislation to use and define the term “atrocities” committed against
the S.Cs and the S.Ts. Introducing the Bill, the then Union Law
Minister, B. Shankaranand, said the normal provisions of the existing
laws, such as the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Civil
Rights Act (PCRA), 1955, had been found inadequate to check the
atrocities, gross indignities and offences against the S.Cs and the
S.Ts. Therefore, the Act prescribes harsher punishments than the
punitive measures detailed in the IPC and the PCRA, which used only
the term “offences” vis-À-vis caste-related crimes.
The Act also introduced an executive system specifically to govern
justice for the S.Cs and the S.Ts in cases of 22 broad types of
atrocities relating to socio-economic discriminatory practices, which
are listed in it. This system should comprise special courts, a
special public prosecutor, nodal officers in each State, an S.C. and
S.T. protection cell, and State-level and district-level monitoring
and vigilance committees to identify atrocity-prone areas, and a
special officer appointed by the district head to look after each case
of atrocity. In actuality, in most States the full system has either
not been constituted or has been functioning ineffectively.
Gaps in implementation
ANU PUSHKARNA
Activists of the Dalit Sena staging a demonstration in New Delhi on
July 21 demanding action from the Bihar government to check atrocities
on Dalits.
The gaps in its implementation could be studied at two levels – the
executive and the judiciary. The National Human Rights Commission
(NHRC) noted in its 2002 report: “Under-reporting is a very common
phenomenon and the police resort to various machinations to discourage
S.C./S.T. [persons] from registering their cases, to dilute the
seriousness of the violence, to shield the accused persons from
arrests and prosecution.”
A study done by National Dalit Movement for Justice (NDMJ), part of
the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), showed that
between 1992 and 2007 only 33 per cent of the atrocity cases were
registered under the S.C./S.T. Act. The majority of the cases were
registered under IPC sections and 1 per cent under the PCRA. It also
showed that the conviction rate of cases under the S.C./S.T. Act was
just 3.3 per cent for the country as a whole.
The figures at the level of the judiciary are equally pathetic.
Between 1992 and 2007, as many as 80 per cent of the cases heard by
the special courts (created under Section 14 of the Act) were not
registered under the Act. In 95.1 per cent of the cases charge sheets
had not been filed. The monitoring advisories set up in States on an
ad hoc basis by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment (MSJE)
and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) noted that in many cases the
police wilfully neglected the S.C./S.T. Act and did not register first
information reports (FIRs). Among the recommendations made were the
setting up of special police stations and the launching of awareness
campaigns about the Act.
The Ahmedabad-based Council for Social Justice (CSJ) has collected
documents of 400 cases pertaining to 2004 filed under the S.C./S.T.
Act in Gujarat. There are some startling revelations in them. Despite
Section 18 of the Act restricting anticipatory bail in atrocity cases,
anticipatory bail had been granted in 320 of the 400 cases.
Valjibhai Patel, secretary CSJ, told Frontline: “Rule 4(1) of the Act
says that there should be two panels of advocates in atrocity cases –
a state-appointed public prosecutor and a panel created by the
district head. In most of the cases, we see no such panels. The Act
states that an officer below the rank of DSP [Deputy Superintendent of
Police] cannot investigate the case. Many of the accused have been
acquitted by courts just because the case was investigated by officers
below the rank of DSP. I have seen in Gujarat rape cases of Dalits
being sent to Lok Adalats meant for only compoundable offences.”
Plight of women
Dalit women face the worst atrocities as both women and Dalits. A
seminal study conducted by the NCDHR (“Dalit Women Speak Out”, 2006)
enumerating the experiences of 500 Dalit women from Andhra Pradesh,
Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh presents a shocking picture of the
conditions they live in. The study records the violence – physical,
sexual and mental – inflicted on Dalit women. The study reinforces
calls for comprehensive preventive measures to be put in place to
eradicate caste discrimination and violence against Dalit women, in
conjunction with measures to help Dalit women achieve their rights.
Valjibhai Patel says that though the Act mentions punitive measures
against negligence, to date not a single official in India has been
punished despite serious violations of the Act all over the country.
He says the judiciary should also be made accountable, not just the
police and the district administration. “There are many cases of
atrocities where the accused has been punished under the IPC but has
been acquitted under the S.C./S.T. Act. In Gujarat, one of the
professors who raped his Dalit student got life imprisonment but was
acquitted under the S.C./S.T. Act. The Khairlanji case is a big
example where the people now serving the death penalty were acquitted
under the S.C./S.T. Act. How is this possible? This means there is
some problem in investigation and pursuance of the Act,” he says. The
CSJ has filed a petition in the Supreme Court regarding the violation
of the Act, the first hearing of which will be on December 3.
Budget and policy
The MJSE is responsible for the implementation of the S.C./S.T. Act.
To implement the Act effectively, the MSJE has to provide for special
courts for the trial of offences and for the relief and rehabilitation
of victims of such offences. The Ministry provides financial resources
for the implementation of the Act through the Special Central
Assistance (SCA) from the Union government, which is 50 per cent of
the total expenditure of the States and the total expenditure of the
Union Territories.
However, the allocation of funds every year under the SCA has seen a
steady decline. Under the Act taluk- and mandal-level officers are
responsible for disbursing compensation and this work has to be
monitored by the District Magistrate/Collector and the district
monitoring and vigilance committee. Separate funds have to be given to
police stations/courts towards travelling allowance/dearness allowance
(T.A./D.A.) of victims and witnesses on FIR investigation and it has
to be monitored by the Superintendent of Police (S.P.) and the
District Judge (D.J.). There is also clear direction in the Act that
arrangements should be made for maintenance expenses and reimbursement
of medical costs of victims of atrocity.
In 2008, the Dalit Arthik Adhikar Andolan, also a part of the NCDHR,
looked into the actual budget for the S.C./S.T. Act in each State and
estimated the amount every State actually needed for its proper
implementation. Its calculations have been done on the basis of the
number of compensation cases in each State, the average cost of
running the present number of special courts and special police
stations, and relief and rehabilitation measures for victims specified
in the Act.
The results in all the States reveal that the actual budget allocated
for the Act is much less than what is required. This is despite the
fact that both the Central government and the State governments share
the amount made available for the programme under the special
component plan. Uttar Pradesh ranks the highest in terms of this
deficit, and its figure stands at a staggering Rs.1,640 crore.
Rajasthan, also a State with one of the highest rates of caste crimes,
is second with Rs.1,157 crore, and Bihar follows with Rs.1,085 crore.
According to the actual budget allocated, as shown in the MJSE annual
report, Uttar Pradesh, since 2007, ranks the highest in the allocation
of funds for the Act, with around Rs.950 crore, followed closely by
Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Among the big States, the lowest
allocation is in Bihar, with just Rs.27 crore. Chhattisgarh’s
allocation is Rs.40 crore. In Haryana, which has one of the largest
numbers of caste crimes, the allocation is only Rs.60 crore. In the
South, Tamil Nadu ranks the lowest, granting around Rs.235 crore.
An NCDHR analysis of the qualitative investments of the Central
government shows that in this year’s Budget the amount spent on wage
labour, school education, basic health, shelter, nutrition and primary
necessaries involving Dalits is 62.44 per cent of the total special
assistance funds. In sectors where the upper classes dominate, such as
higher education, entrepreneurial development, and land and asset
building, the allocation is 37.56 per cent. State budgets present a
similar trend. Most of the funds still go to the traditional
occupation of Dalits, such as cleaning, agricultural labour, leather
works, and so on, which is in contrast to the theme of the SCP of
systematic empowerment of Dalits in all sectors of production. It
therefore does not surprise when the S.C./S.T. Act, a tool for legal
empowerment of Dalits, lacks funds for its implementation.
The aggressive pursuit of neoliberal economic policies by governments
at the Centre and in many States over the past decade has also
resulted in an increase in atrocities against the S.Cs and the S.Ts.
Ironically, even the Uttar Pradesh government is not free from such
ventures. The government’s ambitious 1,047-kilometre-long Ganga
Expressway project, connecting Greater Noida near Delhi and Ballia in
eastern Uttar Pradesh, was expected to acquire 64,000 hectares of
land, 70 per cent of which is agricultural land. A number of observers
and social analysts pointed out that this acquisition would militate
against the basic livelihood of a large section of Dalits who were
into share-cropping with upper-caste, land-owning farmers.
According to NCRB data since 2005, Uttar Pradesh ranks the highest in
the number of cases of caste atrocities, followed closely by Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat. “Acts like
these empower and help organise Dalits. With greater awareness about
the Act, we have seen a rise in caste atrocities every year,” said
Sirivella Prasad of the NDMJ.
The trend clearly shows that caste atrocities have increased with
greater social and economic mobility of the S.Cs and the S.Ts which
disrupts the exploitative status quo of a feudal society.
Many activists note that atrocity cases happen when Dalits try to
avail themselves of legal resources; assert their right over land,
water, and livelihood; assert their right to choose their occupation;
attempt to participate in the cultural life of the community; assert
their right to vote; and are victimised to satisfy the superstitions
of dominant castes (witchcraft, human sacrifice). With respect to the
S.Ts, activists say most of the atrocities happen when they try to
organise themselves politically against the combined exploitation of
government officials and industrial goons in the hinterland.
However, the Act is not clear about the rules with respect to social
and economic boycott of the S.Cs and the S.Ts and there is an ongoing
advocacy campaign among Dalit groups to seek amendments to certain
provisions of the Act to make it stronger. Said Colin Gonsalves of
Human Rights Law Network: “Unless the institutional caste bias is
systematically done away with at the policy level and proper action is
taken against negligent officials, violations will continue to happen.
The legal system has failed the S.Cs and the S.Ts. The Act is a clear
instance of wonderful legislation but useless implementation. Our
judiciary needs at least 15 per cent reservation for the S.Cs right
from the lower courts to the Supreme Court. The Rajasthan High Court
has not had a single Dalit judge since Independence – absurd for a
State that ranks very high in caste crimes.”
To put it simply, caste is a combined social system of occupation,
endogamy, culture, social class and political power, which has
historically been exploitative for Dalits and Adivasis. In this
context, the S.C./S.T. Act and its status echo Ambedkar’s words: “This
condition obtains even where there is no slavery in the legal sense.
It is found where, as in caste system, some persons are forced to
carry on the prescribed callings which are not their choice.”
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2624/stories/20091204262400400.htm
bademiyansubhanallah
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or
discuss these issues on the talk page.
Its neutrality is disputed. Tagged since August 2009.
It may contain original research or unverifiable claims. Tagged since
August 2008.
This box: view • talk • edit
Debt bondage (or bonded labor) is an arrangement whereby a person is
forced to pay off a loan with direct labor in place of currency, over
an agreed or obscure period of time. When a debtor is tricked or
trapped into working for very little or no pay, or when the value of
their work is significantly greater than the original sum of money
borrowed, some consider the arrangement to be a form of unfree labour
or debt slavery. It is similar to peonage, indenture or the truck
system.
Legal Definition
Debt bondage is classically defined as a situation when a person
provides a loan to another and uses his or her labor or services to
repay the debt; when the value of the work, as reasonably assessed, is
not applied towards the liquidation of the debt, the situation becomes
one of debt bondage. See United Nations 1956 Supplementary Convention
on the Abolition of Slavery.
[edit] Historical background to bonded labor
Prior to the early modern age, feudal and serfdom systems were the
predominant political and economic systems in Europe. These systems
were based on the holding of all land in fief or fee, and the
resulting relation of lord to vassal, and was characterized by homage,
legal and military service of tenants, and forfeiture.[citation
needed]
A modernization of the feudal system was "peonage", where debtors were
bound in servitude to their creditors until their debts were paid.
Although peons are only obliged to a creditor monetarily.[citation
needed]
Historical peonage
Peonage is a system where laborers are bound in servitude until their
debts are paid in full. Those bound by such a system are known, in the
US, as peons.[citation needed] Employers may extend credit to laborers
to buy from employer-owned stores at inflated prices.[original
research?] This method is a variation of the truck system (or company
store system), in which workers are exploited by agreeing to work for
an insufficient[original research?] amount of goods and/or services.
In these circumstances, peonage is a form of unfree labor. Such
systems have existed in many places at many times throughout history.
Historical examples
The American South - Such a system was often used in the southern
United States after the American Civil War where African-American and
poor white farmers, known as sharecroppers, were often extended credit
to purchase seed and supplies from the owner of the land they farmed
and pay the owner in a share of the crop.
In Peru a peonage system existed from the 1500s until land reform in
the 1950s. One estate in Peru that existed from the late 1500s until
it ended had up to 1,700 peons employed and had a jail. Peons were
expected to work a minimum of three days a week for their landlord and
more if necessary to complete assigned work. Workers were paid a
symbolic 2 cents per year. Workers were unable to travel outside of
their assigned lands without permission and were not allowed to
organize any independent community activity.
Thousands of such laborers were sold into slavery during the West
African slave trade and ended their lives working as slaves on the
plantations in the New World. For this reason, section 2 of the Slave
Trade Act 1843 enacted by the British Parliament declared "persons
holden in servitude as pledges for debt" to "be slaves or persons
intended to be dealt with as slaves" for the purpose of the Slave
Trade Act 1824 and the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.
It continued to be very common in Africa and China, but was suppressed
by the authorities after the establishment of the People's Republic of
China.[citation needed]. It persists in rural areas of India, Pakistan
and Nepal.[citation needed]
In Niger, where the practice of slavery was outlawed in 2003, a study
found that almost 8% of the population are still slaves.[1] Descent-
based slavery, where generations of the same family are born into
bondage, is traditionally practised by at least four of Niger’s eight
ethnic groups. The slave masters are mostly from the nomadic tribes —
the Tuareg, Fulani, Toubou and Arabs.[2]
According to some claims, 40 million people in India, most of them
Dalits, are bonded workers, many working to pay off debts that were
incurred generations ago. Rise of Dalit politicians in India, and
their overwhelming support by non-Dalits, as well as Government
commitment to overall improve education, communication and living
standards in India has resulted in rapid decline of bonded labor in
India. Penalties for those indulging in employing bonded labor are
severe and Human Rights Groups are very active in curbing these
practices. Television media and increased penetration of cheap
satellite television has spread awareness to the most remote areas and
made people aware of the rights, hence the evidence of forced labor in
India is rapidly declining.
These claimed figures are comparable to ones in Bolivia, Brazil, Peru
and Philippines.
There are no universally accepted figures for the number of bonded
child labourers in India. Again, Government's commitment to universal
education and poverty eradication programmes have resulted in
significant decrease in number of bonded labors. In the traditional
industries of high quality hand-woven fabrics and handicrafts,
increased awareness by international buyers and stringent checks put
in place by multinational corporations on their suppliers has resulted
in suppliers and manufacturers to replace bonded child labor by
instead offering educational facilities to children of their employees
and workers. International Tourists to places like Rajasthan also play
their part and have at many times reported instances of child labor to
authorities who swiftly act to curb any child labor. In contrast, of
20 million bonded labourers in Pakistan 7.5 million are children.
Modern views
See also: Human trafficking http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Slavery_International
According to Anti-Slavery International, "A person enters debt bondage
when their labor is demanded as a means of repayment of a loan, or of
money given in advance. Usually, people are tricked or trapped into
working for no pay or very little pay (in return for such a loan), in
conditions which violate their human rights. Invariably, the value of
the work done by a bonded laborer is greater that the original sum of
money borrowed or advanced."[citation needed]
Some see the term as also applying to inhabitants of countries who
must work to repay extensive national debt, but which incurrance of
debt they did not agree to, and (arguably) have not benefited from.[3]
According to the Anti-Slavery Society:
Pawnage or pawn slavery is a form of servitude akin to bonded labor
under which the debtor provides another human being as security or
collateral for the debt. Until the debt (including interest on it) is
paid off, the creditor has the use of the labor of the pawn.[4]
At international law
Debt bondage has been defined by the United Nations as a form of
"modern day slavery" [5] and is prohibited by international law. It is
specifically dealt with by article 1(a) of the United Nations 1956
Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery. It persists
nonetheless especially in developing nations, which have few
mechanisms for credit security or bankruptcy, and where fewer people
hold formal title to land or possessions. According to some
economists, for example Hernando de Soto, this is a major barrier to
development in those countries - entrepreneurs do not dare take risks
and cannot get credit because they hold no collateral and may burden
families for generations to come.[citation needed]
Where children are forced to work because of debt bondage of the
family, this is considered not only child labor, but one of the worst
forms of child labor in terms of the Worst Forms of Child Labour
Convention, 1999 of the International Labour Organization.[citation
needed]
Despite the UN prohibition, Anti-Slavery International estimates that
"between 10 and 20 million people are being subjected to debt bondage
today."[citation needed] Other estimates place the number as high as
40 million. Researcher Siddharth Kara has calculated the number of
slaves in the world by type, and determined the number of debt bondage
slaves to be 18.1 million at the end of 2006. [6] He has updated this
number for the end of 2009 to be 18.4 million, the increase primarily
as a result of the 2007 global commodity bubble, followed by the
global economic crisis of 2008 and 2009.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_law
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernando_de_Soto_(economist)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneurs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worst_Forms_of_Child_Labour_Convention,_1999
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Labour_Organization
Modern examples
Prostitution - News media in western Europe regularly carry reports
about one particular kind of debt bondage: women from Eastern Europe
who are forced to work in prostitution as a way to pay off the "debt"
they acquired when they were illegally smuggled to destinations in
Western Europe. This form of debt bondage also takes place in other
parts of the world, such as women moving from Southeast Asia or Latin
America.[citation needed]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_America
Marxist analysis
According to Marxist economists, debt bondage is characteristic of
feudal economies, where families are considered the responsible unit
for financial relationships, and where heirs continue to owe parents'
debts upon their deaths. Fully capitalist economies are characterized
by the individual taking all responsibility, and such mechanisms as
bankruptcy and inheritance taxes reducing creditors' rights (while
increasing the power of the state). Heirs are freed from the creditor,
but at the cost of a drastically increased power accruing to the state
itself.
Debt bondage is often a form of disguised slavery in which the subject
is not legally owned, but is instead bound by a contract to perform
labor to work off a debt, under terms that make it impossible to
completely retire the debt and thereby escape from the contract.
[citation needed]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxist_economists
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inheritance_taxes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt
See also
Bonded Labour Liberation Front, India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonded_Labour_Liberation_Front
Bondage in Pakistan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bondage_in_Pakistan
Debtor's prison
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debtor%27s_prison
Karl Marx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx
Peon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peon
The State of Bonded Labor in Pakistan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_State_of_Bonded_Labor_in_Pakistan
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worst_Forms_of_Child_Labour_Conventionhttp:
References
This article includes a list of references, related reading or
external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline
citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise
citations where appropriate. (September 2009)
^ [1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4250709.stm
^ [2] http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/10013271.html?page=3
^ Debt Bondage Or Self-Reliance, GATT-Fly
^ [3] http://anti-slaverysociety.addr.com/pawnage.htm
^ The Bondage of Debt: A Photo Essay, by Shilpi Gupta
http://journalism.berkeley.edu/projects/asiaproject/Gupta.html
^ Kara, Siddharth (January 2009). Sex Trafficking - Inside the
Business of Modern Slavery. Columbia University Press. ISBN
978-0231139601.
External links
Photo-story on modern-day slavery (debt-bondage) in Brazil by
photographer Eduardo Martino
http://www.eduardomartino.com/pages/slavery_brazil.html
Human Rights Watch report on Thai women tricked into debt bondage in
Japan
http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/2000/japan/6-sec-6-7-8.htm
1996 Human Rights Watch report on bonded child labor in India
http://www.ilo.org/sapfl/lang--en/index.htm
http://anti-slaverysociety.addr.com/bclab.htm
http://clpmag.org/article.php?article=Twenty-First-Century-Slavery_146
http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1996/India3.htm
Anti-Slavery International
Common Language Project article on bonded labor in Pakistan
Bonded child labor
The ILO Special Action Programme to combat Forced Labour (SAP-FL)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonded_labor
THE SMALL HANDS OF SLAVERY
Bonded Child Labor In India
Human Rights Watch Children's Rights Project
Human Rights Watch/Asia
Human Rights Watch
Copyright © September 1996 by Human Rights Watch.
All rights reserved.
rinted in the United States of America.
ISBN 1-56432-172-X
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 96-77536
This is the half report. (The last part)
The first part would follow in the next post...
Another writer, a human rights lawyer with extensive experience
working with bonded laborers, put it more bluntly. "A bonded labourer
who becomes free without the means to survive," he wrote, "becomes
free to die."30
As of 1996, a bonded laborer identified and released by the state is
entitled to a rehabilitation allowance of 6,250 rupees. The 1994-1995
annual report of the Indian government's Ministry of Labour reported
that in August 1994, state and central government labor officials
agreed to raise the rehabilitation allowance to 10,000 rupees.31
Nonetheless, as of July 1996, this raise had not been effectuated.
The failure of state governments to comply with their legal
obligations under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act-
particularly the formation and adequate functioning of the district-
level vigilance committees-is one of the primary reasons behind the
low enforcement rate of the law and the continuing high prevalence of
bonded labor. (Indeed, by some accounts, bonded labor is actually
increasing during the 1990s.32) Another contributing factor, mentioned
previously in the context of child labor policy, is the failure of the
government to gather and maintain accurate or even plausible
statistics.
The statistics problem is as acute in the bonded labor context as it
is in the child labor context. According to credible estimates, the
number of bonded laborers in India is approximately sixty-five
million, representing slightly more than 7 percent of the country's
total population.33 Certain individual states alone are estimated to
have bonded labor populations of one to two million people; a report
from Tamil Nadu, based on extensive research conducted at the
direction ofthe Supreme Court, concluded that there were "well over 10
lakhs" (one million) bonded laborers working in that state.34 Other
states known to have high rates of bondage include Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh, Haryana, and Bihar.
In contrast to the figures used by social scientists, the Indian
government's figures regarding bonded labor are unconvincingly low.
The central Ministry of Labour relies on the state Ministries of
Labour-which are charged with enforcing the Bonded Labour System
(Abolition) Act-to report the number of bonded laborers identified,
released, and rehabilitated. Based on information submitted by the
states, the central Ministry of Labour's 1994-1995 Annual Report
stated that the nationwide target for 1994-1995 was the rehabilitation
of 2,784 bonded laborers-a figure representing less than .005 percent
of all estimated bonded laborers. The figure for the total number of
bonded laborers identified, when viewed in contrast to the same
figures provided in 1989, illustrate the lack of implementation of the
Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act. In 1989, the total number of bonded
laborers identified was 242,532.35 By 1995, this number had risen to
251,424.36 These figures indicate that from 1988 to 1995, only 8,892
bonded laborers had been identified throughout the country, at a time
when nongovernmental sources were reporting that there were as many as
sixty-five million bonded laborers in India by 1994.37 Ironically, in
the paragraph following the presentation of statistics in the 1994-95
Annual Report, the report states that "[t]he [state] Governments are
attaching the highest priority to the total eradication of the bonded
labour system in the country."38
The central government's reliance on and acceptance of state
government statistics regarding bonded labor is misplaced and
irresponsible. The majority ofstate governments vastly underreport the
incidence of bonded labor within their borders. For instance, the
government of Tamil Nadu, where an independent commission recently
concluded that there existed more than one million bonded laborers,
stated in a sworn affidavit to the Supreme Court that "in Tamil Nadu,
only stray cases of bonded labour are noticed..."39 Twelve other state
governments made the same assertion to the court, which expressed its
disbelief by ordering independent investigations into the matter.40
In interviews with Human Rights Watch, top labor officials from the
states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, both states with high levels of debt
bondage, asserted that there was no bonded labor in their states. "I
frankly don't think it [bonded labor] exists in Rajasthan," said Ashok
Shekhar, Labour Commissioner for Rajasthan; one of his subordinates
added that, "there is no case of bonded labour in Rajasthan."41 When
asked about the reports of widespread bondage from journalists and
activists, Commissioner Shekhar conceded, as noted, that there might
exist "technical bonded labour," whereby an advance is paid to secure
a worker's labor, but he insisted that this practice was "not really
bondage." He also said that activists who organize against bonded
labor practices in the stone quarries of Rajasthan are not acting on
behalf of the bonded laborers, but rather are hoping to be paid off by
the owners in order to stay quiet. Ashok Bhasin, the Deputy Labour
Commissioner for the neighboring state of Gujarat, concurred
withCommissioner Shekhar's statements. As for his own state, he
asserted that "bonded labour does not exist in Gujarat... neither
among women, men, or children."42
Dr. Manoj Dayal, a professor at the University of Allahabad described
how the government of Bihar "abolished" bonded labor:
As soon as the issue of abolishing bonded labour was raised in Bihar,
the State Government outrightly persisted that there was no system of
bonded labour prevailing in the State; that what exists in the State
is a system of attached labour and that the labourers are assured of
remuneration, cultivable and homestead land, clothing, interest-free
loans and so on. The Bihar Government thus abolished bonded labour by
redefining it and by terming it as "attached labour system."43
Given this willful denial of one of the country's most pressing social
ills, it is not surprising that government officials' efforts on
behalf of bonded laborers have remained meager at best. The failure to
address the issue is doubly egregious in the case of bonded child
laborers, who, without intervention, will be doomed to pass their
entire lives in a state of virtual slavery.
FAILURE OF THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT TO ENFORCE THE LAW
An analysis of data indicating the number of prosecutions launched
under [the Child Labour] Act and convictions obtained would clearly
indicate that this act ... has achieved very little.44
The government's failure to enforce the Child Labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Act and the government's failure to enforce the Bonded
Labour System (Abolition) Act-not to mention the failure to enforce
the several other laws protecting child workers-are twin
manifestations of the same set ofphenomena. These phenomena include
apathy, caste and class bias, obstruction of enforcement efforts,
corruption, low prioritization of the problem, and disregard for the
deep and widespread suffering of bonded child laborers.
Enforcement Statistics
A glaring sign of neglect of their duties by officials charged with
enforcing child labor laws is the failure to collect, maintain, and
disseminate accurate statistics regarding enforcement efforts. Human
Rights Watch met with a top official of the Ministry of Labour, but he
was unable to provide any statistics regarding enforcement of the
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act or other legislation
protecting the rights of child workers.45 We attempted to meet with S.
S. Sharma, the Director General of Labour Welfare and, as such, the
official entrusted with enforcement of the Bonded Labour System
(Abolition) Act. Director-General Sharma refused to grant an interview
to Human Rights Watch while we were in New Delhi, suggesting instead
that we fax him a set of questions, which we did. Unfortunately, we
received no response.46 The enforcement statistics that follow have
been gleaned from a variety of sources, including public government
documents, news reports, and interviews with government officials.
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act
At the national level, from 1990 to 1993, 537 inspections were carried
out under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act. These
inspections turnedup 1,203 violations. Inexplicably, only seven
prosecutions were launched.47 At the state level, the years 1990 to
1993 produced 60,717 inspections in which 5,060 violations of the act
were detected; 772 of these 5,060 violations resulted in convictions.
48
At the state level during the 1993 to 1994 year, the latest period for
which data are available, 1,596 cases were filed against employers.49
The number of convictions is unknown; many of these cases may still be
pending.
When convictions are obtained under the Child Labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Act, the fines are light. The vast majority of adjudicated
offenders receive fines of five dollars or less-just a few hundred
rupees, as opposed to the 10,000 to 20,000 fine stipulated by the act
itself.50 To the knowledge of Human Rights Watch, not a single case
brought under the act has resulted in imprisonment, to date, although
the act allows for sentences of three months to a year for first-time
offenders and six months to two years for repeat offenders.51
Some information is available from various states of India regarding
enforcement of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act. In
Tamil Nadu, the act was not enforced until 1994-eight years after its
passage-when a casewas filed in North Arcot district.52 In the two
years since then, according to a senior state official, there have
been fifteen or sixteen convictions under the Child Labour
(Prohibition and Regulation) Act, and another fifty cases or so are
pending.53 To date, no one has been imprisoned in Tamil Nadu for
violation of either the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act
or the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act. According to activists in
the state, on the rare occasions when prosecutions of Child Labour
(Prohibition and Regulation) Act offenders are mounted by the state,
some judicial magistrates are quick to dismiss the charges, ostensibly
for lack of evidence, but in fact because of corruption or sympathy
with the defendant employers.54
In the Firozabad district of Uttar Pradesh, more than 50,000 children
are estimated to be working in glass factories in violation of the
Factories Act and the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act.55
Nonetheless, in 1995 there were only two convictions for child labor
law violations in Firozabad, and the assistant labour commissioner,
Mr. B. K. Singh, told a journalist that "[t]here is no child labour in
the district now."56 According to the Secretary General of the
National Human Rights Commission, the enforcement problem, in
Firozabad and elsewhere, is "just a matter of people not doing their
work."57
Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act
Official statistics reflecting enforcement of the Bonded Labour System
(Abolition) Act are equally difficult to obtain. Statistics regarding
application of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act to children
are nonexistent. Indeed, at least some government officials
interviewed by Human Rights Watch appeared to be laboring under the
conviction that the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act does not
apply to children, an interpretation that has no basis in the law
itself nor in Supreme Court cases interpreting the law.
As of March 1993, the latest date for which official figures are
available, state governments had reported the identification and
release of a total of 251,424 bonded laborers. This number indicates
all bonded laborers identified and released since the Bonded Labour
System (Abolition) Act was passed in 1976.58 Of this number, 227,404
were reported to have been rehabilitated.59 If this number includes
any rehabilitated bonded child laborers, that fact has not been
reported.
State governments' statistics grossly under-report the current
incidence of bonded labor. As mentioned, the Supreme Court has been
examining the incidence of bonded labor in thirteen states.60 These
thirteen states, chosen by the court for investigation because of
their reputation for high rates of debt bondage, all claimed in
affidavits to the court that there was little or no bonded labor
within their jurisdictions.61 The court, skeptical of these claims,
appointed teams of investigators to study the issue in each state.62
When districts and states do report on statistics regarding the
identification and rehabilitation of bonded laborers, these numbers
are frequently unreliable. The team investigating bonded labor in
Tamil Nadu, for example, found that"[s]tatutory registers relating to
bonded labour were not maintained in many districts."63 Simple neglect
or lack of resources is not the only or even the primary reason for
lack of accurate statistics. According to the investigative team,
"Details provided by the state government and the district
administration do not tally in most districts and even appear
fabricated."64
This can be seen in states' statistics on bonded labor which are
submitted to the central government. For example, there are at least
three examples from 1988 to 1995 where states have reported that the
number of bonded laborers that have been rehabilitated are greater
than the number of bonded laborers that have been identified. In 1988,
the state of Tamil Nadu reported that 34,640 bonded laborers had been
rehabilitated, but they also reported that 33,581 bonded laborers had
been identified, meaning that the state claimed it had rehabilitated
1,059 more people than it had ever identified as bonded laborers.65 In
the 1989-90 report to the Ministry of Labour, the state of Orissa
reported that 51,751 bonded laborers had been rehabilitated, but only
48,657 had been identified.66 The state of Tamil Nadu reported in the
1994-95 Ministry of Labour Annual Report that 39,054 bonded laborers
had been rehabilitated, but they had identified 38,886.67 In total,
these three examples indicate that 4,321 more people were
rehabilitated than were identified as bonded laborers.
These statistics are disturbing for two reasons. The first is that
these statistics are cumulative totals, meaning that every year, new
cases are added to the cases from previous years, dating back to 1976,
when the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act became law, so that the
yearly statistics represent the total number of bonded laborers that
have ever been identified, released, and rehabilitated. The second
factor that makes the statistics suspect is that before bonded
laborers can be eligible for rehabilitation, they must be identified
as bonded laborers. Because ofthis methodology, the cumulative totals
for rehabilitation can never be more than the cumulative totals for
identification and when this occurs, such as the previous three cases,
it indicates a serious flaw in reporting. This may be due to several
factors: state governments may be arbitrarily determining bonded labor
statistics, or the inaccuracies may be due to simple error, or people
who were not bonded laborers are being rehabilitated as bonded
laborers. In one example of the latter, a survey of 180 bonded
laborers who had been officially rehabilitated by the Bihar government
found that 120 had never been bonded.68
Another indication that the law is not being enforced is the fact much
of the money allocated for the rehabilitation of bonded laborers is
unspent and reabsorbed by the government. Funding for rehabilitation
is allocated through a fifty-fifty matching grant in which the states
undertake rehabilitation and the central government matches their
expenditures.69 It is administered through several schemes under the
Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP) and Jawahar Rozgar Yojana
(JRY). Records of expenditures for these programs show that in
1989-90, only 76.16 percent of the funds were utilized. In 1990-91,
78.41 percent of funds were utilized. And in 1991-92, only 47.83
percent of funds available were utilized for rehabilitating bonded
laborers.70 On March 14, 1996, the Parliamentary Committee on Labour
and Welfare reported that only 38.39 percent of the funds available
for the rehabilitation of bonded laborers had been utilized. The
reason given was that "the state governments failed to submit
certificates in regard to the expenditure incurred by them. Because of
this lapse, the Central government did not release funds to them."71
The failure to report expenditures indicates a failure to enforce the
law.
A Supreme Court lawyer closely connected to bonded labor litigation
corroborated the unreliable nature of the district collectors'
reports, saying there is "no mechanism to ascertain [the collectors']
veracity."72 According to thisadvocate and others familiar with the
issue, corruption in application of the Bonded Labour System
(Abolition) Act and dispersal of act-related rehabilitation funds is
common. "A collector may receive 100,000 rupees for rehabilitation
efforts but disperse only 10,000 of it. Embezzlement is difficult to
track, but we all know it happens. For example, a bonded labourer
comes in, puts his thumb print on the document saying he will receive
6,250 rupees, but receives only 3,000 rupees."73
Corruption and neglect are not the only reasons for bad statistics
regarding bonded labor. Another is passivity on the part of enforcing
officials, who too often take no affirmative steps to discover and
root out debt bondage in their districts. Whether this is due to
simple apathy or to a misunderstanding on their part of their official
duties, the effect is disastrous for bonded laborers, who are left in
their state of enslavement indefinitely. In Tamil Nadu, for example,
the investigators found that "most District Collectors... had one
basis to assume that bonded labour does not exist-No one is coming
forward [to report that they are in bondage]."74
Human Rights Watch was unable to obtain any statistics on prosecution
under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act after 1988.75 Up to
1988, there were 7,000 prosecutions under the Bonded Labour
(Abolition) Act throughout India, of which 700 resulted in convictions.
76 It is certain that prosecution under the act is rare. In Tamil
Nadu, the first prosecutions under the twenty-year-old act occurred in
1995, when eight beedi employers were arrested by the North Arcot
District Collector.77 The case, which drew headlines in the regional
press, was depicted as a bold "get tough" measure. The agents spent
one night in jail andwere fined 500 rupees each.78 The Bonded Labour
System (Abolition) Act allows for punishment of three years in prison
and a 2,000 rupee fine.
Obstacles to Enforcement
Apathy
The endemic apathy among government officials charged with enforcing
India's labor laws is apparent at all levels: national, state, and
district. While undoubtedly there are many committed men and women
among their ranks-including, for example, the district collector of
North Arcot in Tamil Nadu, whom Human Rights Watch interviewed-such
commitment is not the norm. From India's top labor officials all the
way down to the local level, where tehsildars (community leaders) use
their influence to support the status quo, Human Rights Watch and
other researchers have found a profound lack of concern for the plight
of bonded and child laborers.
There are many concrete examples of government neglect. The Child
Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, signed into law in 1986,
requires each state to formulate rules for its implementation. Until
this is done, the law cannot be applied in those states. As of July
1996, a full ten years after the act's birth, the majority of states
have failed to formulate and implement these necessary rules.79 It is
a sign of the government's disregard of this issue that we are unable
to report the exact number of India's twenty-five states that have
made rules for the act's application. When we asked a very senior
official of the central Ministry of Labour-who spoke only on condition
of anonymity-how many states had made rules under the Child Labour
(Prohibition and Regulation) Act, he said "I don't know." He then
said, "Laws don't matter. Economics do," and went on to assert that,
until rural prosperity increases, nothing can be done about child
labor.
Clearly, states are receiving no pressure from the national government
to implement the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act. Nor,
for the most part, are they themselves taking the initiative to push
for greater enforcement of child labor legislation. It is at the
district level that most enforcement efforts are coordinated and
carried out, and these efforts are managed and overseen by the
district magistrates. The district magistrates, or collectors as they
are also called, are civil servants appointed by the state ministers,
and are the top law enforcement and administrative authorities at the
district level. At a 1995 conference of district magistrates and
collectors in New Delhi, various district heads told a journalist that
child labor was "very low" on their list of priorities, ranking about
twenty-fifth (investment in high-tech industries was first).80
Regarding the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, the government's
egregious neglect of the law is most evident in the nearly universal
failure of districts to form the requisite vigilance committees, much
less ensure that the committees function meaningfully. The vigilance
committees form the core of act enforcement-if implemented as
intended, these committees could contribute dramatically to the
eradication of bonded labor. For overburdened district collectors,
they would provide resources; for corrupt district collectors, they
would provide oversight; and for all district collectors, they would
provide essential liaison possibilities to the bonded laborer
population, whose interests are usually at odds with the interest and
sympathies of their local leaders.81
Nonetheless, notwithstanding the act's unambiguous requirement that
vigilance committees be formed and active, as well as numerous supreme
court rulings emphasizing the importance of the committees for act
enforcement, Human Rights Watch has learned of no functioning
vigilance committee anywhere in India.
Apathy, or at least a low prioritization of child and bonded labor
issues, is also evident in the slow pace at which complaints are
adjudicated-enforcement in the courts is very slow. One attorney told
us of a case he filed with the Supreme Court under the Bonded Labour
System (Abolition) Act in 1984. A fact finding committee was not
appointed until 1991 and, although arguments and submissionsbefore the
court concluded in 1994, as of 1996 no decision had yet been issued.82
The time table is not much better for the bonded labor case before the
Supreme Court, People's Union for Civil Liberties v. State of Tamil
Nadu, et al., which was filed in 1985 and as of 1996 was under
consideration by the court.
Delays in prosecuting cases under the Child Labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Act are also not uncommon. One such case, filed in 1986
shortly after the act took effect, was reported to be still pending at
the prosecution stage eight years later, in 1994, with the accused
continuing to engage in prohibited practices. The delay in processing
the complaint, filed against an owner of a glass and bangles factory
in Firozabad, is all the more startling in view of the fact that the
complaint was filed by then-Labour Minister P. A. Sangma.83
Caste and Class Bias
A key element of enforcement is the attitude and the tendency toward a
subjective interpretation of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act,
1976 by government officials, including district magistrates, police
officers, labor inspectors, and judges. Too often, because of their
own backgrounds and the climate in which they work, those officers
entrusted with enforcement are more sympathetic to the employers than
to the child or bonded laborers. This phenomenon has been noted
repeatedly in the context of enforcement of the Bonded Labour System
(Abolition) Act.
We had some time back a case before us where pursuant to a direction
given by the Collector as a result of an order made by this Court, the
Tehsildar went to the villages in question and sitting on a dais with
the landlords by his side, he started enquiring of the labourers
whether they were bonded or not and when the labourers, obviously
inhibited and terrified by the presence of the landlords, said that
they were not bonded but they were working freely and voluntarily, he
made a report to the Collector that there were no bonded labourers.84
In the rare instances where vigilance committees or similar bodies
have been formed, according to one researcher, they have been composed
of people who themselves, either directly or through their families,
employ bonded labor.85 District collectors and other civil servants
assigned to bonded labor enforcement are also more often than not
aligned with the property-holding-including the holding of bonded
laborers-class. One researcher told Human Rights Watch of working with
a team of three Indian Administrative Service officers, who had been
assigned by the Supreme Court to investigate a case of bonded labor
affecting between 2,500 and 3,000 people. The investigators were urban
middle-class men from land-owning families in the region; in private
conversations, they made it clear that they considered the use of
bonded labor to be an acceptable practice.86
Many bond masters are themselves government employees, including
teachers, railway workers, and civil administrators.87 Because of
their steady income, these people are more likely to own land-which
they need someone to cultivate-and are more likely to have money
available for lending purposes. They are also more likely to be local
leaders and to have ties to the local and district administration,
both factors which tend to inhibit prosecution.
Despite the obvious limitations of relying on high-caste and local
landowning officials to attack bonded labor, outreach by the
government to affected populations and collaboration with grass-roots
social actions groups have not yet been implemented to any significant
degree.
Obstruction
It is not uncommon for those accused of violating labor laws to engage
in overt obstruction of the legal process. This ranges from
intimidation of thecomplaining workers, to bribery of government
officials, to physical threats and violence against the bonded
laborers and their advocates.88
Those who file suit against employers of bonded labor are frequently
harassed, according to a New Delhi lawyer who has been engaged in
bonded labor cases for more than a decade.89
The danger is greatest to those who work in rural areas, where bondage
is often the norm and is employed by powerful and ruthless owners.
According to another attorney closely related to bonded labor
litigation, the advocates and especially the workers who complain
about their status are "risking their lives... they are putting their
lives on the line, and the state officials have turned a callous eye
to it."90
Government officials may do more than just turn a "callous eye" toward
violence against the bonded laborers and their advocates. Several
activists told Human Rights Watch of police collusion with local
employers, including returning escaped workers to the employers and
intimidating, through force or threat of force, workers who are
attempting to organize for improved conditions.91
Corruption
As noted in previous chapters, corruption among government officials
charged with enforcement of labor laws is notorious and widespread.
Labor inspectors, medical officers, local tehsildars (representatives
of the district magistrates at the local level), and judges and
judicial magistrates are all known to be susceptible to bribery.
Lack of Accountability
Under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, district magistrates
are supposed to report to the state government periodically regarding
the number of cases of bonded laborers identified, released, and
rehabilitated. Most districtmagistrates either do not make these
reports at all, or make them sporadically. Furthermore, no mechanism
is in place whereby the accuracy of the district-level reports can be
ascertained, including such important issues as how many of the
identified workers have actually been released, and whether any
released workers have relapsed into bondage. Often, the district
magistrates will simply report that identified bonded laborers, or
formerly released bonded laborers, are "unavailable for
rehabilitation." That is to say, that their whereabouts are unknown.
Hence the central government's figures for 1994-1995, which state
that, of 251,424 bonded labourers identified between 1976 and 1995,
17,127 are "not available for rehabilitation."92
The rate of return into bondage by previously released bonded laborers
is neither studied nor recorded by the government; the effectiveness
of the rehabilitation scheme is therefore unknown. Various
nongovernmental sources believe the relapse rate to be very high.93
Part of the reason for return may be the long delays between
identification of bonded laborers and dispersal of rehabilitation
monies to them.94 Another factor may be the reportedly widespread
corruption among enforcing officials, who are accused of siphoning off
funds earmarked for rehabilitation purposes.
Lack of Adequate Enforcement Staff
Yet another obstacle to enforcement is the failure to devote
sufficient resources to the issue of bonded child labor. This failure
includes inadequate training of labor inspectors, an insufficient
number of inspectors,95 and anoverburdening of the district
magistrates.96 At both the state and the district level, the number of
personnel devoted to enforcement of child and bonded labor laws is
blatantly inadequate. In Tamil Nadu, for example, "there is only one
Assistant Section Officer dealing with the bonded labour issue for the
whole State... [and he] also holds other responsibilities.97
VII. CONCLUSION: COMBATING BONDED CHILD LABOR
The eradication of bonded child labor in India depends on the Indian
government's commitment to two imperatives: enforcement of the Bonded
Labour System (Abolition) Act, and the creation of meaningful
alternatives for already-bonded child laborers and those at risk of
joining their ranks.
In addition to genuine government action, it is essential that
nongovernmental organizations be encouraged by the government to
collaborate in this effort. The government has the resources and
authority to implement the law, while community-based organizations
have the grass-roots contacts and trust necessary to facilitate this
implementation. Furthermore, nongovernmental groups can act as a
watchdog on government programs, keeping vigil for corruption, waste,
and apathy. The elimination of current debt bondage and the prevention
of new or renewed bondage therefore requires a combination of
concerted government action and extensive community involvement.
Neither standing alone is sufficient. Bonded labor is a vast,
pernicious, and long-standing social ill, and the tenacity of the
bonded labor system must be attacked with similar tenacity; anything
less than total commitment is certain to fail.
ENFORCEMENT OF THE BONDED LABOUR SYSTEM
(ABOLITION) ACT
The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act was passed into law in 1976.
Twenty years later, Human Rights Watch has found that the goals of
this law-to punish employers of bonded labor and to identify, release,
and rehabilitate bonded laborers-have not been met, and efforts to do
so are sporadic and weak at best. The bonded labor system continues to
thrive.
The district-level vigilance committees, mandated by the Bonded Labour
System (Abolition) Act and constituting the key tool of act
enforcement, have not been formed in most districts. Those that have
formed tend to lie dormant, or, worse yet, are comprised of members
unsympathetic to the plight of bonded laborers, in direct
contravention of Supreme Court orders interpreting the act.
Without effective vigilance committees to assist, guide, and oversee
their efforts, district collectors are left alone in their efforts to
enforce the law. Collectors interested in enforcement are limited in
these efforts by competing administrative and prosecutorial duties;
without vigilance committees to share the work, meaningful enforcement
of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act is difficult. Other
collectors are not interested in enforcing the act; for them, the lack
of a good vigilance committee means there is no pressure to do so.
Whether for lack of will or lack of support, India's district
collectors have failed utterly to enforce the provisions of the Bonded
Labour System (Abolition)Act. If collected statistics regarding
prosecutions under the act after 1988 exist, Human Rights Watch was
unable to obtain them. The only attempted prosecutions we learned of
occurred in Tamil Nadu in 1995, when eight employers of bonded child
labor were arrested, kept in jail over night, and fined a nominal
amount. The state of Tamil Nadu has an estimated one million bonded
laborers; according to the North Arcot District Collector, these were
the first charges ever brought under the act in Tamil Nadu.
In addition to prosecuting violators, district collectors are directed
by the act to identify, release, and rehabilitate bonded laborers.
India has an estimated fifteen million bonded child laborers alone.
The Indian government's Ministry of Labour, however, estimated in 1995
that there were just 2,784 bonded laborers of all ages identified and
awaiting rehabilitation. It made no mention of any bonded laborers yet
to be identified. Non-enforcement of the law is virtually guaranteed,
of course, so long as the government engages in a willful denial
regarding the existence and pervasiveness of bonded labor.
The mandated rehabilitation of released workers is essential. Without
adequate rehabilitation, those who are released will quickly fall
again into bondage. This has been established repeatedly, among both
adult and child bonded laborers. Nonetheless, the central and state
governments have jointly failed to implement required rehabilitation
procedures. Rehabilitation allowances are distributed late, or are not
distributed at all, or are paid out at half the proper rate, with
corrupt officials pocketing the difference. One government-appointed
commission found that court orders mandating the rehabilitation of
bonded laborers were routinely ignored.98
Finally, the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act directs vigilance
committees and district collectors to institute savings and credit
programs at the community level, so that the impoverished might have
access to a small loan during financial emergencies. This resource is
crucial. Just as enforcement of the law against employers would work
to terminate the demand for bonded labor, so would available credit
work to end the supply. Nearly every child interviewed by Human Rights
Watch told the same story: they were sold to their employers because
their parents were desperate for money and had no other way to get it.
For some, it was the illness or death of a parent, for others, the
marriage of a sister, and for others still, the need to buy food or
put a roof over their heads. In most cases, the amount of the debt
incurred was very small.
A community-based savings and credit program has been introduced in
North Arcot district, and early indications are that it will strike a
significant blow against bonded child labor. The program was launched
by the district collector for North Arcot, who claimed that sufficient
funds and personnel were available from existing rural development
programs. Similar initiatives should be instituted in all areas where
bonded child labor is prevalent.
CREATING ALTERNATIVES TO BONDED CHILD LABOR
Bonded child labor must be attacked from many fronts. Enforcement of
the law is essential, but it is not enough. The bonded child laborer
must have someplace else to go. The child's parents must have other
options available. The community must support the end of debt bondage
for children. In sum, the attack must be holistic-it must work to
change the system of debt bondage. Elements already in use by
community activists and some government officials include: education,
including vocational training and popular education, and rural
development.
The availability of free, compulsory, and quality education is widely
regarded as the single most important factor in the fight against
bonded and non-bonded child labor. The correlation between illiteracy
and bonded labor is strong, with researchers reporting that literacy
rates among bonded child laborers are as low as 5 percent.99 The
majority of children interviewed by Human Rights Watch had been
schooled for three years or less, and many said they could not read or
write.
Article 45 of the Indian Constitution commits the state to
"endeavor[ing] to provide, within a period of ten years from the
commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education
for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years." The
constitution came into force in 1950. Recognizing the central
importance of education, India's leading non-governmental
organizations have called for the implementation of universal, free,
and compulsory education. Among them are: the Child Labour Action
Network (CLAN), the Campaign Against Child Labour (CACL), the Centre
for Rural Education and Development Action (CREDA), and the Bonded
Labour Liberation Front (BLLF). UNICEF-India and Anti-Slavery
International have likewise called on the Indian government to
implement education for all.
At the same time, alternate efforts to at least minimally educate
bonded children are already underway in a few areas. CREDA in the
carpet-belt, the MV Foundation in Andhra Pradesh, and the Indian
Council on Child Welfare (ICCW)in North Arcot, are all involved in non-
formal education initiatives. Some of these programs utilize modest
financial support to attract children, including small cash stipends
and periodic grain allowances. In addition to classic schooling,
children on the verge of adulthood may benefit from concrete skills
training as well.
CREDA and the MV Foundation also emphasize popular education for all
members of the community, in which community teachers stress the
importance of education for children and the deleterious effects of
exploitative child labor. Such outreach to the community as a whole is
necessary in order to chip away at the thick web of myths and
justifications that support the exploitation of child workers. These
myths contend that children must be trained at the "right" age or they
will never learn a skill; children must be trained in a profession
"appropriate" to their caste and background; children are well-suited
for certain kinds of work because of their "nimble fingers;" and child
labor is a natural and inevitable function of the family unit. These
views are widely shared by parents, educators, government officials,
and the public at large, with the result that talk of children's
rights in regard to labor is dismissed summarily. It is necessary to
change these views in order to change the system.
In sum, the fight against bonded child labor must be carried out on
two fronts: enforcement and prevention. Those employers who continue
to bind children to them with debt, paying just pennies for a
hazardous and grueling work day, must be prosecuted under the Bonded
Labour System (Abolition) Act. Employers or agents that physically
abuse, kidnap, unlawfully confine, threaten with violence, or expose
to dangerous conditions, within the context of the bonded labor
system, should be prosecuted for these crimes under the Indian Penal
Code and the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986. Children must be removed from
bondage and rehabilitated to avoid a subsequent return to bondage.
Finally, the educational and survival needs of all children at risk
must be addressed in order to stop the cycle of bondage.
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: Selected Articles of the Indian Constitution
Article 21. Protection of life and personal liberty-No person shall be
deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure
established by law.
Article 23. Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour-
(1) Traffic in human beings and begar and other similar forms of
forced labour are prohibited and any contravention of this prohibition
shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law.
(2) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from imposing
compulsory service for public purposes, and in imposing such service
the State shall not make any discrimination on grounds only of
religion, race, caste or class or any of them.
Article 24. Prohibition of employment of children in factories, etc.-
No child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in
any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.
Article 39. Certain principles of policy to be followed by the State-
The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing-
(a) that the citizens, men and women equally, have the right to an
adequate means of livelihood;
(b) that the ownership and control of the material resources of the
community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good;
(c) that the operation of the economic system does not result in the
concentration of wealth and means of production to the common
detriment;
(d) that there is equal pay for equal work for both men and women;
(e) that the health and strength of workers, men and women, and the
tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced
by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or
strength;
(f) that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in
a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that
childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against
moral and material abandonment.
Article 39A. Equal Justice and free legal aid-The State shall secure
that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on a basis of
equal opportunity, and shall, in particular, provide free legal aid,
by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that
opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by
reason of economic or other disabilities.
Article 41. Right to work, to education and to public assistance in
certain cases-The State shall, within the limits of its economic
capacity and development, make effective provision for securing the
right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of
unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, and in other cases of
undeserved want.
Article 42. Provision for just and humane conditions of work and
maternity relief-The State shall make provision for securing just and
humane conditions of work and for maternity relief.
Article 43. Living wage, etc., for workers-The State shall endeavour
to secure, by suitable legislation or economic organisation or in any
other way, to all workers, agricultural, industrial or otherwise,
work, a living wage, conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of
life and full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural
opportunities and, in particular, the State shall endeavour to promote
cottage industries on an individual or cooperative basis in rural
areas.
Article 43A. Participation of workers in management of industries-The
State shall take steps, by suitable legislation or in any other way,
to secure the participation of workers in the management of
undertakings, establishments or other organizations engaged in any
industry.
Article 45. Provision for free and compulsory education for children-
The State shall endeavour to provide within a period of ten years from
the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory
education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen
years.
Article 46. Promotion of educational and economic interests of
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections-The State
shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests
of the weaker sections of the people, and, in particular, of the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from
social injustice and all forms of exploitation.
APPENDIX B: The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976
(No. 19 of 1976)
[9th February, 1976]
An act to provide for the abolition of bonded labour system with a
view to preventing the economic and physical exploitation of the
weaker sections of the people and for matters connected therewith or
incidental thereto
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Twenty-seventh Year of the Republic
of India as follows:
CHAPTER I
Preliminary
1. Short title, extent and commencement.-(1) This act may be called
the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976.
(2) It extends to the whole of India.
(3) it shall be deemed to have come into force on the 25th day of
October, 1975.
2. Definitions.-(1) In This act, unless the context otherwise
requires,-
(a) "advance" means an advance, whether in cash or in kind, or partly
in cash or partly in kind, made by one person (hereinafter referred to
as the creditor) to another person (hereinafter referred to as the
debtor);
(b) "agreement" means an agreement (whether written or oral, or partly
written and partly oral) between a debtor and creditor, and includes
an agreement providing for forced labour, the existence of which is
presumed under any social custom prevailing in the concerned
locality;
Explanation.-The existence of an agreement between the debtor and
creditor is ordinarily presumed, under the social custom, in relation
to the following forms of forced labour, namely:
Adiyamar, Baramasi, Bethu, Bhagela, Cherumar, Garrugalu, Hali, Hari,
Harwai, Holya, Jolya, Jeeta, Kamiya, Khundit-Mundit, Kuthia, Lakhari,
Munjhi, Mat, Musish system, Nit-Majoor, Paleru, Padiyal, Pannaayilal,
Sagri, Sanji, Sanjawal, Sewak,, Sewakis, Seri, Vetti;
(c) "ascendant" or "descendant" in relation to a person belonging to
matriarchal society, means the person who corresponds to such
expression in accordance with the law of succession in such society;
(d) "bonded debt" means an advance obtained, or presumed to have been
obtained, by a bonded labourer, or in pursuance of, the bonded labour
system
(e) "bonded labour" means any labour or service rendered under the
bonded labour system;
(f) "bonded labourer" means a labourer who incurs, or has, or is
presumed to have, incurred, a bonded debt;
(g) "bonded labour system" means the system of forced, or partly
forced labour under which a debtor enters, or has, or is presumed to
have, entered, into an agreement with the creditor to the effect
that,-
(i) In consideration of an advance obtained by him or by any of his
lineal ascendants or descendants (whether or not such advance is
evidenced by any document) and in consideration of the interest, if
any, due on such advance, or
(ii) in pursuance of any customary or social obligation, or
(iii) in pursuance of an obligation devolving on him by succession,
or
(iv) for any economic consideration of the interest, if any, due on
such advance, or
(v) by reason of his birth in any particular caste or community, he
would-
(1) render, by himself or through any member of his family, or any
person dependent on him, labour or service to the creditor, or for the
benefit of the creditor, for a specified period or for an unspecified
period, either without wages or for nominal wages, or
(2) forfeit the freedom of employment or other means of livelihood for
a specified period or for an unspecified period, or
(3) forfeit the right to move freely throughout the territory of
India, or
(4) forfeit the right to appropriate or sell at market value any of
his property or product of his labour or the labour of a member of his
family or any person dependent on him
and includes the system of forced, or partly forced, labour under
which a surety for a debtor or has, or has, or is presumed to have,
entered, into an agreement with the creditor to the effect that in the
event of the failure of the debtor to repay the debt, he would render
the bonded labour on behalf of the debtor;
Explanation.- For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that
any system of forced, or partly forced labour under which any workman
being contract labour as defined in Cl. (b) of subsection (1) or Sec.
2 of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 (37 of
1970), or an inter-State migrant workman as defined in Cl. (e) of sub-
section (1) of Sec. 2 of the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation
and of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 (30 of 1979),
is required to render labour or service in circumstances of the nature
mentioned in sub-clause (1) of this clause or is subjected to all or
any of the disabilities referred to in sub-clauses (2) to (4), is
"bonded labour system" within the meaning of this clause.
(h) "family", in relation to a person, includes the ascendant and
descendant of such person;
(i) "nominal wages", in relation to any labour, means a wage which is
less than,-
(a) the minimum wages fixed by the Government, in relation to the same
or similar labour, under any law for the time being in force; and
(b) where no such minimum wage has been fixed in relation to any form
of labour, the wages that are normally paid, for the same or similar
labour to the labourers working in the same locality;
(j) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act.
3. Act to have overriding effect.-The provisions of this act shall
have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained
in any enactment other than this act, or in any instrument having
effect by virtue of any enactment other than this act.
CHAPTER II
Abolition of Bonded Labour System
4. Abolition of bonded labour system.-(1) On the commencement of this
act, the bonded labour system shall stand abolished and every bonded
labourer shall, on such commencement, stand freed and discharged from
any obligation to render any bonded labour.
(2) After the commencement of this act, no person shall-
(a) make any advance under, or in pursuance of the bonded labour
system, forced labour, or
(b) Compel any person to render any bonded labour or other form of
forced labour.
5. Agreement, custom, etc. to be void.-On the commencement of this
act, any custom or tradition or any contract, agreement or other
instrument (whether entered into or executed before or after the
commencement of this act), by virtue of which any person, or any
member of the family or dependent of such person, is required to do
any work or render any service as a bonded labourer, shall be void and
inoperative.
CHAPTER III
Extinguishment of liability to repay bonded debt
6. Liability to repay bonded debt to stand extinguished-(1) On the
commencement of this act, every obligation of a bonded labourer to
repay any bonded debt, or such part of any bonded debt as remains
unsatisfied immediately before such commencement, shall be deemed to
have been extinguished.
(2) After the commencement of this act, no suit or other proceeding
shall lie in any civil Court or before any other authority for the
recovery of any bonded debt or any part thereof.
(3) Every decree or order for the recovery of bonded debt, passed
before the commencement of this act and not fully satisfied before
such commencement, shall be deemed, on such commencement, to have been
fully satisfied.
(4) Every attachment made before the commencement of this act, for the
recovery of any bonded debt, shall, on such commencement, stand
vacated; and where, in pursuance of such attachment, any moveable
property of the bonded labourer was seized and removed from his
custody and kept in the custody of any Court or other authority
pending sale thereof such moveable property shall be restored, as soon
as may be practicable after such commencement, to the possession of
the bonded labourer.
(5) Where, before the commencement of this act, possession of any
property belonging to a bonded labourer or a member of his family or
other dependent was forcibly taken over by any creditor for the
recovery of any bonded debt, such property shall be restored, as soon
as may be practicable after such commencement, to the possession of
the person from whom it was seized.
(6) If restoration of the possession of any property referred to in
sub-section (4) or sub-section (5) is not made within thirty days from
the commencement of this act, the aggrieved person may, within such
time as may be prescribed, apply to the prescribed authority for the
restoration of the possession of such property and the prescribed
authority may, after giving the creditor a reasonable opportunity of
being heard, direct the creditor to restore to the applicant the
possession of the concerned property within such time as may be
specified in the order.
(7) An order made by any prescribed authority, under sub-section (6),
shall be deemed to be an order made by a civil Court of the lowest
pecuniary jurisdiction within the local limits of whose jurisdiction
the creditor voluntarily resides or carries on business or personally
works for gain.
(8) For the avoidance of doubts, it is hereby declared, that, where
any attached property was sold before the commencement of this act, in
execution of a decree or order for the recovery of a bonded debt, such
sale shall not be affected by any provision of this act:
Provided that the bonded labourer, or an agent authorized by him in
this behalf, may, at any time within five years rom such commencement,
apply to have the sale set aside on his depositing in Court, for
payment to the decree-holder, the amount specified in the proclamation
of sale, for the recovery of which sale was ordered, less any amount
as well as mesne profits, which may, since the date of such
proclamation of sale, have been received by the decree-holder.
(9) Where any suit or proceeding, for the enforcement of any
obligation under the bonded labour system, including a suit or
proceeding for the recovery of any advance made to a bonded labourer,
is pending at the commencement of this act, such suit or other
proceeding shall, on such commencement, stand dismissed.
(10) On the commencement of this act, every bonded labourer who has
been detained in civil prison, whether before or after judgement,
shall be released from detention forthwith.
7. Property of bonded labourer to be freed from mortgage, etc.-(1) All
property vested in a bonded labourer which was, immediately before the
commencement of this act under any mortgage, lien, charge, or other
incumbrances in connection with any bonded debt shall, in so far as it
is relatable to the bonded debt, stand freed and discharged from such
mortgage, charge, lien or otherincumbrances in connection with any
bonded debt, and where any such property was, immediately before the
commencement of this act, in the possession of the mortgagee or the
holder of the charge, lien or incumbrance, such property shall (except
where it was subject to any other charge), on such commencement, be
restored to the possession of the bonded labourer.
(2) If any delay is made in restoring any property, referred to in sub-
section (1), to the possession of the bonded labourer, such labourer
shall be entitled, on and from the date of such commencement, to
recover from the mortgagee or holder of the lien, charge or
incumbrance, such mesne profits as may be determined by the Civil
Court of the lowest pecuniary jurisdiction within the local limits of
whose jurisdiction such property is situated.
8. Freed bonded labourer not to be evicted from homestead, etc.- (1)
No person who has been freed and discharged under this act from any
obligation to render any bonded labour, shall be evicted from any
homestead or other residential premises which he was occupying
immediately before the commencement of this act as part of the
consideration for the bonded labour.
(2) If, after the commencement of this act, any such person is evicted
by the creditor from any homestead or other residential premises,
referred to in sub-section (1), the Executive Magistrate in charge of
the sub-division within which such homestead or residential premises,
is situated shall, as early as practicable, restore the bonded
labourer to the possession of such homestead or other residential
premises.
9. Creditor not to accept payment against extinguished debt.-(1) No
creditor shall accept any payment against any bonded debt which has
been extinguished or deemed to have been extinguished or fully
satisfied by virtue of the provisions of this act.
(2) whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1), shall be
punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three
years and also with fine.
(3) The Court, convicting any person under sub-section (2) may, in
addition to the penalties which may be imposed under that sub-section,
direct the person to deposit, in Court, the amount accepted in
contravention of the provisions of sub-section (1), within such period
as may be specified in the order for being refunded to the bonded
labourer.
CHAPTER IV
Implementing Authorities
10. Authorities who may be specified for implementing the provisions
of this act.- The State Governments may confer such powers and impose
such duties on a District Magistrate as may be necessary to ensure
that the provisions of this act are properly carried out and the
District Magistrate may specify the officer, subordinate to him, who
shall exercise all or any of the powers, and perform al or any of the
duties, so conferred or imposed and the local limits within which such
powers or duties shall be carried out by the officers so specified.
11. Duty of District Magistrates and other officers to ensure credit.-
The District Magistrate authorized by the State Government under Sec.
10 and the officer specified by the District Magistrate under that
section shall, as far as practicable, try to promote the welfare of
the freed bonded labourer by securing and protecting the economic
interests of such bonded labourer so that he may not have any occasion
or reason to contract any further debt.
12. Duty of the District Magistrate and officers authorized by him.-It
shall be the duty of every District Magistrate and every officer
specified by him under Sec. 10 to inquire whether after the
commencement of this act, any bonded labour system or any other form
of forced labour is being enforced by, or on behalf of, any person
resident within the local limits of his jurisdiction and if, as a
result of such inquiry, any person is found to be enforcing the bonded
labour system or any other system of forced labour, he shall forthwith
take such action as may be necessary to eradicate the enforcement of
such forced labour.
CHAPTER V
Vigilance Committees
13. Vigilance Committees.-(1) Every State Government shall, by
notification in the Official Gazette, constitute such number of
Vigilance Committees in each district and each sub-division as it may
think fit.
(2) Each Vigilance Committee, constituted for a district, shall
consist of the following members, namely:
(a) The District Magistrate, or a person nominated by him, who shall
be the Chairman;
(b) three persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled
Tribes and residing in the district, to be nominated by the District
Magistrate;
(c) two social workers, resident in the district, to be nominated by
the District Magistrate;
(d) not more than three persons to represent the official or non-
official agencies in the district connected with rural development, to
be nominated by the State Government;
(e) one person to represent the financial and credit institutions in
the district, to be nominated by the District Magistrate.
(3) Each Vigilance Committee, constituted for a sub-division, shall
consist of the following members, namely:
(a) The Sub-Divisional Magistrate, or a person nominated by him, who
shall be the Chairman;
(b) three persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled
Tribes and residing in the sub-division, to be nominated by the Sub-
divisional Magistrate;
(c) two social workers, resident in the sub-division, to be nominated
by the Sub-divisional Magistrate;
(d) not more than three persons to represent the official or non-
official agencies in the sub-division connected with rural
development, to be nominated by the State Government;
(e) one person to represent the financial and credit institutions in
the sub-division, to be nominated by the Sub-divisional Magistrate.
(f) one officer specified under Sec. 10 and functioning in the sub-
division;
(4) Each Vigilance Committee shall regulate its own procedure and
secretarial assistance as may be necessary, shall be provided by-
(a) the District Magistrate, in the case of Vigilance Committee
constituted for the district;
(b) the Sub-divisional Magistrate, in the case of a Vigilance
Committee constituted for the sub-division.
(5) No proceeding of a Vigilance Committee shall be invalid merely by
reason of any defect in the constitution, or in the proceedings, of
the Vigilance Committee.
14. Functions of Vigilance Committees.-(1) The functions of each
Vigilance Committee shall be-
(a) to advise the District Magistrate or any officer authorized by him
as to the efforts made, and action taken, to ensure that the
provisions of this act or any rule made thereunder are properly
implemented;
(b) to provide for the economic and social rehabilitation of the freed-
bonded labourers;
(c) to co-ordinate the functions of rural banks and co-operative
societies with a view to canalizing adequate credit to the freed-
bonded labourers;
(d) to keep an eye on the number of offences of which cognizance has
been taken under this act;
(e) to make a survey as to whether there is any offence of which
cognizance ought to be taken under this act;
(f) to defend any suit instituted against a freed-bonded labourer or a
member of his family or any other person dependent on him for the
recovery of the whole or part of any bonded debt or any other debt
which is claimed by such person to be bonded debt.
(2) A Vigilance Committee may authorize one of its members to defend a
suit against a freed-bonded labourer and the member so authorized
shall be deemed, for the purpose of such suit, to be the authorized
agent of the freed-bonded labourer.
15. Burden of proof.- Whenever any debt is claimed by a bonded
labourer, or a Vigilance Committee, to be a bonded debt, the burden of
proof that such debt, is not a bonded debt shall lie on the creditor.
CHAPTER VI
Offences and Procedure for Trial
16. Punishment for enforcement of bonded labour.-Whoever, after the
commencement of this act, compels any person to render any bonded
labour shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may
extend to three years and also with fine which may extend to two
thousand rupees.
17. Punishment for advancement of bonded debt.-Whoever advances, after
the commencement of this act, any bonded debt shall be punishable with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and also with
fine which may extend to two thousand rupees.
18. Punishment for extracting bonded labour under the bonded labour
system.-Whoever enforces, after the commencement of this act, any
custom, tradition, contract, agreement or other instrument, by virtue
of which any person or any member of the family of such person or any
dependent of such person is required to render any service under the
bonded labour system shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term
which may extend to three years and also with fine which may extend to
two thousand rupees; and out of the fine, ifrecovered, payment shall
be made to the bonded labourer at the rate of rupees five for each day
for which the bonded labour was extracted from him.
19. Punishment for omission or failure to restore possession of
property to bonded labourers.-Whoever, being required by this act to
restore any property to the possession of any bonded labourer, omits
or fails to do so, within a period of thirty days from the
commencement of this act, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a
term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to
one thousand rupees, or with both; and, out of the fine, if recovered
payment shall be made to the bonded labourer at the rate of rupees
five for each day during which possession of property was not restored
to him.
20. Abetment to be an offence.-Whoever abets any offence punishable
under this act shall, whether or not the offence abetted is committed,
be punishable with the same punishment as is provided for the offence
which has been abetted.
Explanation.-For the purpose of this act, "abetment" has the meaning
assigned to it in the Indian Penal Code.
21. Offences to be tried by Executive Magistrates.-(1) The State
Government may confer, on an Executive Magistrate the powers of a
Judicial Magistrate of the first class or of the second class for the
trial of offences under this act; and on such conferment of powers,
the Executive Magistrate, on whom the powers are so conferred, shall
be deemed, for the purposes of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2
of 1974), to be a Judicial Magistrate of the first class, or of the
second class, as the case may be.
22. Cognizance of offences.-Every offence under this act shall be
cognizable and bailable.
23. Offences by companies.-(1) Where an offence under this act has
been committed by a company, every person who, at the time the offence
was committed, was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company
for the conduct of the business of the company, as well as the
company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be
liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where any
offence under this act has been committed by a company and it has been
proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or
connivance of, or is attributable to, any neglect on the part of, any
director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such
director, manager, secretary or other officer shall be deemed to be
guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and
punished accordingly.
Explanation.-For the purposes of this section,-
(a) "company" means any body corporate and includes a firm or other
association of individuals; and
(b) "director", in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.
CHAPTER VII
Miscellaneous
24. Protection of action taken in good faith.-No suit, prosecution or
other legal proceeding shall lie against any State Government or any
officer of the State Government or any member of the Vigilance
Committee for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be
done under this act.
25. Jurisdiction of Civil Courts barred.-No Civil Court shall have
jurisdiction in respect of any matter to which any provision of this
act applies and no injunction shall be granted by any Civil Court in
respect of anything which is done or intended to be done by or under
this act.
26. Power to make rules.-(1) The Central Government may, by
notification in the official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the
provisions of this act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the foregoing power, such
rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:
(a) the authority to which application for the restoration of
possession of property referred to in sub-section (4), or sub-section
(5) of Sec. 6 is to be submitted in pursuance of sub-section (6) of
that section;
(b) the time within which application for restoration of possession of
property is to be made under sub-section (6) of Sec. 6, to the
prescribed authority;
(c) steps to be taken by Vigilance Committees under Cl. (a) of sub-
section (1) of Sec. 14, to ensure the implementation of the provisions
of this act or of any rule made thereunder;
(d) any other matter which is required to be, or may be prescribed.
(3) Every rule made by the Central Government under this act shall be
laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of
Parliament while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days
which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive
sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately
following the session or successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses
agree in making any modification in the rule or both Houses agree that
therule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only
in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so
however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without
prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that
rule.
(1) The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Ordinance, 1975 (17 of 1975),
is hereby repealed.
(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything or any action taken under
the Ordinance (including any notification published, direction of a
nomination made, power conferred, duty imposed or officer specified)
shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding
provisions of this act.
APPENDIX C: The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Rules, 1976
(Published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section
3(i),
February 28, 1976)
In exercise of powers conferred by sub-section (1), read with sub-
section (2) of Sec. 26 of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act,
1976 (19 of 1976), the Central Government hereby makes the following
rules, namely:
1. Short title and commencement.-(1) These rules may be called the
Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Rules, 1976.
(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the
official Gazette.
2. Definitions.-In these rules, unless the context otherwise
requires,-
(a) "Act" means the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 (19 of
1976);
(b) "District Vigilance Committee: means a Vigilance Committee
constituted for a district under sub-section (1) of Sec. 13;
(c) "section" means a section of the act;
(d) "Sub-divisional Vigilance Committee" means a Vigilance Committee
constituted for a sub-division under sub-section (1) of Sec. 13.
3. Term of office, and vacation of seat members of District Vigilance
Committees.-(1) Every member of a District Vigilance Committee,
nominated under Cls. (b), (c), (d) and (e) of sub-section (2) of Sec.
13 shall hold office for a period of two years from the date on which
his nomination is notified in the official Gazette and shall, on the
expiry of the said period, continue to hold office until his successor
is nominated and shall also be eligible for re-nomination.
(2) Every member referred to in sub-rule (1), -
(a) may, by giving notice in writing of not less than thirty days to
authority which nominated him, resign his office and, on such
resignation being accepted or on the expiry of the notice period of 30
days, whichever is earlier, shall be deemed to have vacated his
office.
(b) shall be deemed to have vacated his office,-
(I) if he fails to attend three consecutive meetings of the District
Vigilance Committee without obtaining leave of the Chairman of such
absence:
Provided that the authority, which nominated him, may, if he is
satisfied that such member was prevented by sufficient cause from
attending the three consecutive meetings of the Committee restore him
to membership;
(ii) if he becomes subject to any of the following disqualifications,
namely:
(1) is adjudged insolvent;
(2) is declared to be of unsound mind by a competent court;
(3) is convicted of an offence which, in the opinion of the authority
which nominated him, involves moral turpitude;
(c) may be removed from office, if the authority, which nominated such
member is of the opinion that such member has ceased to represent the
interest to represent which he was nominated:
Provided that a member shall not be removed from office under this
clause unless a reasonable opportunity is given to him for showing
cause against such removal.
(3) A member, nominated to fill a casual vacancy shall gold office for
the unexpired portion of the term of his predecessor.
4. Term of office, and vacation of seat of members of Sub-divisional
Vigilance Committees.-(1) Every member of a Sub-divisional Vigilance
Committee, nominated under Cls. (b), (c), (d) and (e) of sub-section
(2) of Sec. 13 shall hold office for a period of two years from the
date on which his nomination is notified in the official Gazette and
shall, on the expiry of the said period, continue to hold office until
his successor is nominated and shall also be eligible for re-
nomination.
(2) Every member referred to in sub-rule (1), -
(a) may, by giving notice in writing of not less than thirty days to
authority which nominated him, resign his office and, on such
resignation being accepted or on the expiry of the notice period of 30
days, whichever is earlier, shall be deemed to have vacated his
office.
(b) shall be deemed to have vacated his office,-
(i) if he fails to attend three consecutive meetings of the Sub-
divisional Vigilance Committee without obtaining leave of the Chairman
of such absence:
Provided that the authority, which nominated him, may, if he is
satisfied that such member was prevented by sufficient cause from
attending the three consecutive meetings of the Committee restore him
to membership;
(ii) if he becomes subject to any of the following disqualifications,
namely:
(1) is adjudged insolvent;
(2) is declared to be of unsound mind by a competent court;
(3) is convicted of an offence which, in the opinion of the authority
which nominated him, involves moral turpitude;
(c) may be removed from office, if the authority, which nominated such
member is of the opinion that such member has ceased to represent the
interest to represent which he was nominated:
Provided that a member shall not be removed from office under this
clause unless a reasonable opportunity is given to him for showing
cause against such removal.
(3) A member, nominated to fill a casual vacancy shall gold office for
the unexpired portion of the term of his predecessor.
5. Prescribed authority under sub-section (6) of Sec.6.-An application
under sub-section (6) of Sec. 6 for restoration of possession of any
property referred to in sub-section (4) or sub-section (5) of that
section shall be made to the Executive Magistrate, on whom the powers
of a Judicial Magistrate of the first class or of the second class
have been conferred under sub-section (1) of Sec. 21, and within the
local limits of whose jurisdiction the said property is, or the
applicant has reason to believe is, situated at the time of making the
application:
Provided that where there are two Executive Magistrates, on one of
whom the powers of a Judicial Magistrate of the first class and on the
other the powers of a Judicial Magistrate of thesecond class have been
conferred under sub-section (1) of Sec. 21 having jurisdiction to
entertain the application for restoration of possession of property
referred to in sub-rule (1), the application shall be made to the
Executive Magistrate on whom the powers of a Judicial Magistrate of
the second class have been conferred.
6. Time within which an application under sub-section (6) is to be
made.-
An application under sub-section (6) of Sec. 6 for restoration of
possession of any property referred to in sub-section (4) or sub-
section (5) of that section shall be made within a period of ninety
days from the date on which these rules come into force.
7. Records to be maintained by District Vigilance Committees to ensure
the implementation of the provisions of the act and rules.-In order to
ensure the implementation of the act and rules, every District
Vigilance Committee shall maintain the following registers in respect
of freed-bonded labourer with the local limits of its jurisdiction,
namely:
(a) a register containing the name and address of freed bonded
labourer;
(b) a register containing the statistics relating to the vacation,
occupation, and income of every freed-bonded labourer;
(c) a register containing the details of the benefits which the freed-
bonded labourers are receiving, including benefits in the form of
land, inputs for agriculture, training in handicrafts and allied
occupations, loans at differential rates, interest of employment in
urban or non-urban areas;
(d) a register containing details of cases under sub-section (6) of
Sec. 6, sub-section (2) of Sec. 8, sub-section (2) of Secs. 9, 16, 17,
18, 19, and 20.
APPENDIX D: The Children (Pedging of Labour) Act, 1933
(Act No. 2 of 1933)
[24th February, 1933]
An act to prohibit the pledging of labour of children
Whereas it is expedient to prohibit the making of agreements to pledge
the labour of children and the employment of children whose labour has
been pledged;
It is hereby enacted as follows:
1. Short title, extent and commencement.-(1) This act may be called
the Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933.
(2) It extends to the whole of India
(3) This section and Secs. 2 and 3 shall come into force at once, and
the remaining sections of this act shall come into force on the first
day of July, 1933.
2. Definitions.- In this act, unless there is anything repugnant in
the subject or context,-
"an agreement to pledge the labour of a child" means in agreement,
written or oral, express or implied, whereby the parent or guardian of
a child, in return for any payment or benefit received by him,
undertakes to cause or allow the services of the child to be utilized
by him, undertakes to cause or allow the services of the child to be
utilized in any employment:
Provided that an agreement made without detriment to a child , and not
made in consideration of any benefit other than reasonable wages to be
paid for the child's services, and terminable at not more than a
week's notice, is not an agreement within the meaning of this
definition;
"child" means a person who is under the age of fifteen years; and
"guardian" includes any person having legal custody of or control over
a child.
3. Agreement contrary to the act to be void.-An agreement to pledge
the labour of a child shall be void.
4. Penalty for parent or guardian making agreement to pledge the
labour of a child.-Whoever, being the parent or guardian of a child,
makes an agreement to pledge the labour of that child, shall be
punished with fine which may extend to fifty rupees.
5. Penalty for making with a parent or guardian agreement to pledge
the labour of a child.-Whoever makes with the parent or guardian of a
child shall be punished with fine which may extend to two hundred
rupees.
6. Penalty for employing a child whose labour has been pledged.-
Whoever, knowing or having reason to believe that an agreement has
been made to pledge the labour of a child, in furtherance of such
agreement employs such child, or permits such child to be employed in
any premises or place under his control, shall be punishable with fine
which may extend to two hundred rupees.
APPENDIX E: The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986
Number 61 of 1986
[23rd December 1986]
Statement of Objects and Reasons
There are a number of acts which prohibit the employment of children
below 14 years and 15 years in certain specified employments. However,
there is no procedure laid down in any law for deciding in which
employments, occupations or processes the employment of children
should be banned. There is also no law to regulate the working
conditions of children in most of the employments where they are not
prohibited from working and are working under exploitative
conditions.
2. This Bill intends to-
(i) ban the employment of children, i.e., those who have not completed
their fourteenth year, in specified occupations and processes;
(ii) lay down a procedure to decide modifications to the Schedule of
banned occupations or processes;
(iii) regulate the conditions of work of children in employments where
they are not prohibited from working;
(iv) lay down enhanced penalties for employment of children in
violation of the provisions of this act, and other acts which forbid
the employment of children;
(v) to obtain uniformity in the definition of "child" in the related
laws.
3. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objects.
An act to prohibit the engagement of children in certain employments
and to regulate the conditions of work of children in certain other
employments.
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Thirty-seventh year of the Republic
of India as follows:
PART I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title, extent and commencement.-(1) The act may be called the
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.
(2) It extends to the whole of India.
(3) The provisions of this act, other than part III, shall come into
force at once, and part III shall come into force on such date as the
Central Governmentmay, by notification in the Official Gazette,
appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different states and
for different classes of establishments.
2. Definitions.- In this act, unless the context otherwise requires.
(i) "appropriate Government" means, in relation to an establishment
under the control of the Central Government or a railway
administration or a major port or a mine or oil field, the Central
Government, and in all other cases, the State Government;
(ii) "child" means a person who has not completed his fourteenth year
of age;
(iii) "day" means a period of twenty-four hours beginning at mid-
night;
(iv) "establishment" includes a shop, commercial establishment,
workshop, farm, residential hotel, restaurant, eating house, theatre
or other place of amusement or public entertainment;
(v) "family" in relation to an occupier, means the individual, the
wife or husband, as the case may be, of such individual, and their
children, brother or sister of such individual;
(vi) "occupier", in relation to an establishment or a workshop, means
the person who has the ultimate control over the affairs of the
establishment or workshop;
(vii) "port authority" means any authority administering a port;
(viii) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under Section 18;
(ix) "week" means a period of seven days beginning at mid-night on
Saturday night or such other night as may be approved in writing for a
particular area by the inspector;
(x) "workshop" means any premises (including the precincts thereof)
wherein any industrial process is carried on, but does not include any
premises to which the provisions of section 67 of the Factories Act,
1946, for the time being, apply.
PART II
PROHIBITION OF EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN IN CERTAIN OCCUPATIONS AND
PROCESSES
3. Prohibition of employment of children in certain occupations and
processes.-No child shall be employed or permitted to work in any of
the occupations set forth in Part A of the Schedule or in any workshop
wherein any of the processes set forth in Part B of the Schedule is
carried on:
Provided that nothing in this section shall apply to any workshop
wherein any process is carried on by the occupier with the aid ofhis
family or to any school established by, or receiving assistance or
recognition from, Government.
4. Power to amend the Schedule.-The Central Government after giving,
by notification in the Official Gazette, not less than three months
notice of its intention so to do, may, be like notification, add any
occupation or process to the Schedule and thereupon the Schedule shall
be deemed to have been amended accordingly.
5. Child Labour Technical Advisory Committee.-(1) The Central
Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, constitute an
advisory committee to be called the "Child Labour Technical Advisory
Committee" (hereafter in this section referred to as the Committee) to
advise the Central Government for the purpose of addition of
occupations and processes to the Schedule.
(2) The Committee shall consist of a Chairman and such other members
not exceeding ten, as may be appointed by the Central Government.
(3) The Committee shall meet as often as it may consider necessary and
shall have power to regulate its own procedure.
(4) The Committee may, if it deems necessary so to do, constitute one
or more sub-committees, and may appoint any such sub-committee,
whether generally or for the consideration of any particular matter,
any person who is not a member of the Committee.
(5) The term of office of, the manner of filing casual vacancies in
the office of, and the allowances, if any, payable to, the Chairman
and other members of the Committee, and the conditions and
restrictions subject to which the Committee may appoint any person who
is not a member of the Committee as a member of any of its sub-
committees shall be such as may be prescribed.
PART III
REGULATION OF CONDITIONS OF WORK OF CHILDREN
6. Application of Part.-The provisions of this Part shall apply to an
establishment or a class of establishments in which none of the
occupations or processes referred to in section 3 is carried on.
7. Hours and period of work.-(1) No child shall be required or
permitted to work in any establishment in excess of such number of
hours as may be prescribed for such establishment or class of
establishments.
(2) The period of work on each day shall be so fixed that no period
shall exceed three hours and that no child shall work for more than
three hours before he has had an interval for rest for at least one
hour.
(3) The period of work of a child shall be so arranged that inclusive
of his interval for rest, under sub-section (2), it shall not be
spread over more than six hours, including the time spent in waiting
for work on any day.
(4) No child shall be permitted or required to work between 7 p.m. and
8 a.m.
(5) No child shall be required or permitted to work overtime.
8. Weekly holidays.-Every child employed in an establishment shall be
allowed in each week, a holiday of one whole day, which day shall be
specified by the occupier in a notice permanently exhibited in a
conspicuous place in the establishment and the day so specified shall
not be altered by the occupier more than once in three months.
9. Notice to Inspector.-(1) Every occupier in relation to an
establishment in which a child was employed or permitted to work
immediately before the date of commencement of this act in relation to
such establishment shall, within a period of thirty days from such
commencement, send to the Inspector within whose local limits the
establishment is situated, a written notice containing the following
particulars, namely:-
(a) the name and situation of the establishment;
(b) the name of the person in actual management of the establishment;
(c) the address to which communications relating to the establishment
should be sent; and
(d) the nature of the occupation or process carried on in the
establishment.
(2) Every occupier, in relation to an establishment, who employs, or
permits to work, any child after the date of commencement of this act
in relation t such establishment, shall, within a period of thirty
days from the date of such employment, send to the Inspector within
whose local limits the establishment is situated, a written notice
containing the particulars as are mentioned in sub-section (1).
Explanation.-For the purposes of sub-sections (1) and (2), "date of
commencement of this act, in relation to an establishment" means the
date of bringing into force of this act in relation to such
establishment.
(3) Nothing in sections 7, 8 and 9 shall apply to any establishment
wherein any process is carried on by the occupier with the aid of his
family or to any school established by, or receiving assistance or
recognition from, Government.
10. Disputes as to age.-If any question arises between an Inspector
and an occupier as to the age of any child who is employed or is
permitted to work byhim in an establishment, the question shall, in
the absence of a certificate as to the age of such child granted by
the prescribed medical authority, be referred by the Inspector for
decision to the prescribed medical authority.
11. Maintenance of register.-There shall be maintained by every
occupier in respect of children employed or permitted to work in any
establishment, a register to be available for inspection by an
Inspector at all times during working hours or when work is being
carried on in any such establishment, showing-
(a) the name and date of birth of every child so employed or permitted
to work;
(b) hours and periods of work of any such child and the intervals of
rest to which he is entitled;
(c) the nature of work of any such child; and
(d) such other particulars as may be prescribed.
12. Display of notice containing abstracts of sections 3 and 14.-Every
railway administration, every port authority and every occupier shall
cause to be displayed in a conspicuous and accessible place at every
station on its railway or within the limits of a port or at the place
of work, as the case may be, a notice in the local language and in the
English language containing an abstract of sections 3 and 14.
13. Health and safety.-(1) The appropriate Government may, by
notification in the Official Gazette, make rules for the health and
safety of the children employed or permitted to work in any
establishment or class of establishments.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions,
the said rules may provide for all or any of the following matters,
namely:-
(a) cleanliness in the place of work and its freedom from nuisance;
(b) disposal of wastes and effluents;
(c) ventilation and temperature;
(e) artificial humidification;
(f) lighting;
(g) drinking water;
(h) latrine and urinals;
(i) spittoons;
(j) fencing of machinery;
(k) work at or near machinery in motion;
(l) employment of children on dangerous machines;
(m) instructions, training and supervision in relation to employment
of children on dangerous machines;
(n) device for cutting off power;
(o) self-acting machines;
(p) easing of new machinery;
(q) floor, stairs and means of access;
(r) pits, sumps, openings in floors, etc.;
(s) excessive weights;
(t) protection of eyes;
(u) explosive or inflammable dust, gas, etc.;
(v) precautions in case of fire;
(w) maintenance of buildings; and
(x) safety of buildings; and machinery.
PART IV
MISCELLANEOUS
14. Penalties.-(1) Whoever employs any child or permits any child to
work in contravention of the provisions of section 3 shall be
punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than
three months but which may extend to one year or with fine which shall
not be less than ten thousand rupees but which may extend to twenty
thousand rupees or with both.
(2) Whoever, having been convicted of an offence under section 3,
commits a like offence, afterwards, he shall be punishable with
imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but
which may extend to two years.
(3) Whoever-
(a) fails to give notice as required by section 9; or
(b) fails to maintain a register as required by section 11 or makes
any false entry in any such register; or
(c) fails to display a notice containing an abstract of section 3 and
this section as required by section 12; or
(d) fails to comply with or contravenes any other provisions of this
act or the rules made thereunder, shall be punishable with simple
imprisonment which may extend to one month or with fine which may
extend to ten thousand rupees or with both.
15. Modified application of certain laws in relation to penalties.-(1)
Where any person is found guilty and convicted of contravention of any
of the provisions mentioned in sub-section (2), he shall be liable to
penalties as providedin sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 14 of this
act and not under the acts in which these provisions are contained.
(2) The provisions referred to in sub-section (1) are the provisions
mentioned below:-
(a) section 67 of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948);
(b) section 40 of the Mines Act, 1952 (35 of 1952);
(c) section 109 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (44 of 1958); and
(d) section 21 of the Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961 (27 of 1961).
16. Procedure relating to offences.-(1) Any person, police officer or
Inspector may file a complaint of the commission of an offence under
this act in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(2) Every certificate of as to the age of a child which has been
granted by a prescribed medical authority shall, for the purposes of
this act, be conclusive evidence as to the age of the child to whom it
relates.
(3) No court inferior to that of a Metropolitan Magistrate or a
Magistrate of the first class shall try any offence under this act.
17. Appointment of Inspectors.-The appropriate Government may appoint
Inspectors for the purposes of securing compliance with the provisions
of this act and any Inspector so appointed shall be deemed to be a
public servant within the meaning of the Indian Penal Code (45 of
1860).
18. Power to make rules-(1) The appropriate Government may, by
notification in the Official Gazette and subject to the condition of
previous publication, make rules for carrying into effect the
provisions of The act.
(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the
foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the
following matters, namely:-
(a) the term of office of, the manner of filing casual vacancies of,
and the allowances payable to, the Chairman and member of the Child
Labour Technical Advisory Committee and the conditions and
restrictions subject to which a non-member may be appointed to a sub-
committee under sub-section (5) of section 5;
(b) number of hours for which a child may be required or permitted to
work under sub-section (1) of section 7;
(c) Grant of certificates of age in respect of young persons in
employment or seeking employment, the medical authorities which may
issue such certificate, the form of such certificate, thecharges which
may be thereunder and the manner in which such certificate may be
issued:
Provided that no charge shall be made for the issue of any such
certificate if the application is accompanied by evidence of age
deemed satisfactory by the authority concerned;
(d) the other particulars which a register maintained under section 11
should contain.
19. Rules and notifications to be laid before Parliament or State
legislature.-(1) Every rule made under this act by the Central
Government and every notification issued under section 4, shall be
laid, as soon as may be after it is made or issued, before each House
of Parliament, while it is in session for a total period of thirty
days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more
successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session
immediately following the session or the successive sessions
aforesaid, both Houses agree that the rule or notification should not
be made or issued, the rule or notification shall thereafter have
effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may
be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be
without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under
that rule or notification.
(2) Every rule made by a State Government under this act shall be laid
as soon as may be after it is made, before the legislature of that
State.
20. Certain other provisions of law not barred.-Subject to the
provisions contained in section 15, the provisions of this act and the
rules made thereunder shall be in addition to, and not in derogation
of, the provisions of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948), the
Plantations Labour Act, 1951 (69 of 1951), and the Mines Act, 1952 (35
of 1952).
21. Power to remove difficulties.-(1) If any difficulty arises in
giving effect to the provisions of this act, the Central Government
may, by order published in the Official Gazette, make such provisions
not inconsistent with the provisions of this act as appear to it to be
necessary or expedient for removal of the difficulty:
Provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of a period
of three years from the date on which this act receives the assent of
the President.
(2) Every order made under this section shall, as soon as may be after
it is made, be laid before the Houses of Parliament.
22. Repeal and savings.-The Employment of Children, Act, 1938 (26 of
1938) is hereby repealed.
(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken or
purported to have been done or taken under the act so repealed shall,
in so far as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of this act,
be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding
provisions of this act.
23. Amendment of Act 11 of 1948.-In section 2 of the Minimum Wages
Act, 1948,-
(i) for clause (a), the following clauses shall be substituted,
namely:-
(a) "adolescent" means a person who has completed his fourteenth year
of age but has not completed his eighteenth year;
(aa) "adult" means a person who has completed his eighteenth year of
age;
(ii) after clause (b), the following clause shall be inserted,
namely:-
(bb) "child" means a person who has not completed his fourteenth year
of age;
24. Amendment of Act 69 of 1951.-In the Plantations Labour Act,
1951,-
(a) In section 2, in clauses (a) and (c), for the word "fifteenth",
the word "fourteenth" shall be substituted;
(b) section 24 shall be omitted;
(c) in section 26, in the opening portion, the words "who has
completed his twelfth year" shall be omitted.
25. Amendment of Act 44 of 1958.-In the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958,
in section 109, for the word "fifteen", the word "fourteen" shall be
substituted.
26. Amendment of Act 27 of 1961.-In the Motor Transport Workers Act,
1961, in section 2, in clauses (a) and (c), for the word "fifteenth",
the word "fourteenth" shall be substituted.
THE SCHEDULE
(See section 3)
PART A
Occupations.-Any occupation connected with -
(1) Transport of passengers, goods or mails by railway;
(2) Cinder picking, clearing of an ash pit or building operation in
the railway premises;
(3) Work in a catering establishment at a railway station, involving
the movement of a vendor or any other employee of the establishment
from one platform to another or into or out of a moving train;
(4) Work relating to the construction of a railway station or with any
other work where such work is done in close proximity or between the
railway lines;
(5) A port authority within the limits of any port.
(6) Work relating to selling of crackers and fireworks.*
(7) Abattoirs/Slaughter houses.**
PART B
(1) Beedi-making.
(2) Carpet-weaving.
(3) Cement manufacture, including bagging of cement.
(4) Cloth printing, dyeing and weaving.
(5) Manufacture of matches, explosives and fireworks.
(6) Mica-cutting and splitting.
(7) Shellac manufacture.
(8) Soap manufacture.
(9) Tanning.
(10) Wool-cleaning.
(11) Building and construction industry.
(12) Manufacture of slate pencils (including packing)*
(13) Manufacture of products from agate.*
(14) Manufacturing processes using toxic metals and substances such as
lead, mercury, manganese, chromium, cadmium, benzene, pesticides and
asbestos.*
(15) "Hazardous processes" as defined in section 2(cb) and `dangerous
operations' as notified in rules made under section 87 of the
Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948).**
(16) Printing as defined in section 2(k) (iv) of the Factories Act,
1948 (63 of 1948).**
(17) Cashew and cashewnut desaling and processing.**
(18) Soldering processes in electronic industries.**
*Inserted by notification No. SO. 404 (E) dated 5th June, 1989
published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary.
**Inserted by notification No. SO.263 (E) dated 29th March, 1994
published in Gazette of India, Extraordinary.
1 All names have been changed.
2 All dollar amounts refer to U.S. dollars.
3 The estimate of fifteen million bonded child laborers is
conservative. Anti-Slavery International reported in 1991 that India
had fifteen million bonded child laborers working in agriculture
alone. Anti-Slavery International, Children in Bondage: Slaves of the
Subcontinent (London: 1991), p. 30. Given that agriculture accounts
for approximately 52 to 87 percent of all bonded child laborers (see
chapter on agriculture), there could be millions more working in non-
agricultural occupations. "Indians form panel to stop child labor,"
United Press International, November 18, 1994. Other activists and
academics estimate that one quarter of all working children, that is,
between fifteen and twenty-nine million, are bonded laborers. Based on
these and other coinciding estimates, Human Rights Watch considers
fifteen million to be a reliable minimum indicator of the prevalence
of bonded child labor in India.
4 The United Nations Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of
Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to
Slavery, 1956, defines debt bondage as "the status or condition
arising from a pledge by a debtor of his personal services or those of
a person under his control as security for a debt, if the value of
those services as reasonably assessed is not applied towards the
liquidation of the debt or the length and nature of those services are
not respectively limited and defined." It should be noted that many
Indian activists consider all child labor to be a form of bondage,
given the child's powerlessness and inability to freely choose to
work. This report, however, considers bonded child labor to be that
which conforms to the definition of the U.N. Supplementary
Convention.
5 Between $15 and $220, at the late 1995 exchange rate of thirty-four
rupees to the U.S. dollar.
6 Iqbal Masih was shot and killed on April 16, 1995. Initially blamed
on the carpet industrialists of Pakistan, the murder was later
attributed to a villager whom Masih reportedly discovered involved in
an illicit act.
7 See chapter on handwoven carpets.
8 Neera Burra, Born to Work: Child Labour in India (New Delhi: Oxford
University Press, 1995), p. xxii.
9 Ministry of Labour, Annual Report 1994-95 (New Delhi: Government of
India, 1995), p. 95. The actual quote is: "Out of India's total
workforce of 314 million, about 80% (249 million) are in rural areas.
About 64% of the workers (200 million) are engaged in agriculture.
About 85% of the workers (267 million) are self-employed or on casual
wages. Only about 15% (47 million) have regular salaried employment."
10 Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, Part I,
Section 2(ii).
11 There is no universal definition of a child under Indian law. The
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, the Minimum Wages
Act, 1948, the Plantation Labour Act, 1951, the Apprentices Act, 1961,
and Article 24 of the Indian Constitution define "child" as any person
under the age of fourteen. The Shops and Establishments Act, 1961
allows the definition to be set by the states and in thirteen states,
the minimum age is twelve, and in eleven states, the minimum age is
fourteen. The Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1993 defines a child
as anyone below the age of fifteen. The Juvenile Justice Act, 1986
defines "juveniles" as any male under sixteen or any female under
eighteen.
12 Bonded child labor is convenient, cheap, compliant, and dependable.
It depresses wages. It is easily replenishable. Bonded labor among
both adults and children is not a new phenomenon in India. It is an
old arrangement, and a convenient one for the lucky top layers of
privilege. Those who have the power to change this arrangement are, by
all measures, uninterested in doing so.
13 United Front Coalition's Economic Program, presented June 6, 1996,
pp. 3-4. From MakroIndia Business Page sponsored by Amrok Securities
Private Limited at www.macroindia.com/hlight1.htm.
14 See Human Rights Watch/Asia, Contemporary Forms of Slavery in
Pakistan (New York: Human Rights Watch, July 1995); Anti-Slavery
International, Children in Bondage: Slaves of the Subcontinent
(London: Anti-Slavery International, 1991); INSEC, Bonded Labour in
Nepal under Kamaiya System (Kathmandu: INSEC, 1992); and Report of the
Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery (18th Session, June
1993), UN DOC E/CN.4/1993/67.
15 Asia Watch and Human Rights Watch Women's Rights Project, A Modern
Form of Slavery: Trafficking of Women and Girls into Brothels in
Thailand (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1993); Americas Watch, "Forced
Labor in Brazil Revisited," vol. 5, no. 12, November, 1993; Middle
East Watch and Human Rights Watch Women's Rights Project, "Rape and
Mistreatment of Asian Maids in Kuwait," vol. 4, no. 8, July 1992;
Americas Watch, The Struggle for Land in Brazil: Rural Violence
Continues (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1992); Americas Watch,
"Forced Labor in Brazil," vol. 2, no. 8, December 1990; and National
Coalition for Haitian Refugees, Americas Watch, and Caribbean Rights,
Harvesting Oppression: Forced Haitian Labor in the Dominican Sugar
Industry (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1990).
16 Human Rights Watch/Asia, Rape for Profit: Trafficking of Nepali
Girls and Women to India's Brothels (New York: Human Rights Watch,
June 1995).
17 All dollar amounts in this report are in U.S. dollars.
18 Pradeep Mehta, "Cashing in on Child Labor," Multinational Monitor,
April 1994.
19 Ministry of Labour, Annual Report 1994-95, p. 95.
20 K. Mahajan and J. Gathia, Child Labour: An Analytical Study (New
Delhi: Centre of Concern for Child Labour, 1992), p. 25. Citing the
Indian Council for Child Welfare, Mahajan and Gathia report that
"slavery is on the increase among children below the age of 15 years."
Gathia also notes, in another study, that the number of children in
India who will not be in school by 2000 may be as high as 144 million,
indicating there may be tens of millions more child laborers in India
by 2000. (See: Child Labour Action Network (CLAN), Political Campaign
for Compulsory Primary Education (New Delhi: Child Labour Action
Network, 1996), p. 2.
21 Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade, Child
Labour in India: A Perspective, June 10, 1995, p. 32.
22 In 1984, the Operations Research Group-Baroda, an independent
research organization based in Baroda and Madras, estimated there were
forty-four million child laborers in India. Taking into account
population growth and employment trends, that figure would be
approximately sixty million in 1995. Another frequently cited figure
is one hundred million child laborers, a number that corresponds to
the government's estimate of all non-school-going children, who are
assumed to be working more than eight hours a day. Peace Trust and
Bhagwati Environment Development Institute, From the South, vol. 2,
no. 1, January-March 1995, p. 1. Anti-Slavery International confirmed
this estimate of 115 million in a telephone interview on August 14,
1996. Official government figures on the working child population, on
the other hand, are based on the 1981 census and are absurdly
inaccurate, with the government claiming there are only about
seventeen million child laborers. (See chapter on the role of the
Indian government.) A 1994 report by the Indian government's
Department of Women and Child Development, the Indian Council for
Child Welfare, and UNICEF-India concluded that "the number of working
children is closer to 90 million than the figure of 20 million assumed
by the government." Department of Women and Child Development, Indian
Council for Child Welfare, and UNICEF, India Country Office, "Rights
of the Child: Report of a National Consultation," November 21-23,
1994.
23 There are no accurate statistics that give the number of street
children in India. In 1983, the Operations Research Group stated that
there were forty-four million working children in India of which
eleven million were street children. This number must be considered
significantly low, given the fact that the study is now thirteen years
old. The government of India's 1991 Census estimated that eighteen
million children live and work in India's urban slums (huts,
tenements, pavement dwellings), which by the nature of their residence
and the fact that they were considered working, qualified them as
street children. The estimated population of India's street children
is between eleven to eighteen million, based on the Operations
Research Group's 1983 estimate and the 1991 Census estimate.
24 Peace Trust and Bhagwati Environment Development Institute, From
the South, Vo. 2, No. 1, January-March 1995, p. 1.
25 At a non-formal education center run during the evenings (as are
most, to accommodate the work schedules of the children), Human Rights
Watch asked one group of working children what they did for fun. The
boys perked up and rattled off a variety of activities: playing with
friends, going to the movies, riding a bicycle. The girls, however,
were puzzled by the question. Finally a teacher stepped in to explain:
the girls do not have the opportunity to do anything for fun; when
they are not working for wages or against a loan, they are working for
the family.
26 Mahajan and Gathia, Child Labour..., September, 1992, p. 24.
27 Human Rights Watch interview with social activist, November 21,
1995, Madras, Tamil Nadu. Advances in the beedi industry of Tamil Nadu
range from 500 to 5,000 rupees. These figures were confirmed by Human
Rights Watch interviews with dozens of bonded child beedi rollers.
28 There are an estimated 327,000 child workers in the beedi industry
(Burra, Born to Work p. xxiv); 300,000 child carpet weavers (Mehta.,
"Cashing in on Child Labor..."); and more than 200,000 children
working in silk weaving (see chapter on silk for details and
citations).
29 According to a 1991 study of child labor in India, these training
centers include "many [children] well below age fourteen." The manager
of one government program claimed that a ban on child labor in the
carpet industry would be "suicidal" for exports. See Myron Weiner, The
Child and the State in India (New Delhi: Oxford University Press,
1991), p. 86
30 Tanika Sarkar, "Bondage in the Colonial Context," Patnaik and
Manjari Dingwaney, eds., Chains of Servitude: Bondage and Slavery in
India (New Delhi: Sangam Books, 1985), p. 97.
31 See generally Uma Chakravarti, "Of Dasas and Karmakaras: Servile
Labour in Ancient India," Chains of Servitude . . .
32 Manjari Dingwaney, "Unredeemed Promises: The Law and Servitude,"
Chains of Servitude . . ., pp. 312-313.
33 For example: "The children were frequently beaten with iron
rods . . . and wounded with scissors . . ., if they were slow in work,
or if they asked for adequate food, or if they so much as went to the
toilet without the owner's permission." Appendix XV, "Reports on Child
Labour of Mirzapur," Law Relating to the Employment of Children
(1985), p. 160. Another report detailed a woman's attempt to rescue
her youngest son after his brother died on the job in a carpet-weaving
factory; the employer of her son threatened to kill the boy if she
attempted to meet him. "Bonded labourers' mothers want to see PM,"
Times of India, August 14, 1995.
34 Y. R. Haragopal Reddy, Bonded Labour System in India (New Delhi:
Deep and Deep Publications, 1995), p. 82. Similar incidents took place
across India in the mid-1980s. See, e.g., Ajoy Kumar, "From Slavery to
Freedom: The Tale of Chattisgarh Bonded Labourers," Indian Social
Institute, 1986, p. 8, reporting that bonded agricultural laborers who
attended meetings with labor activists were publicly beaten and driven
from their homes.
35 Human Rights Watch interview with rural activist, Dec. 13, 1995,
Rajasthan.
36 R. K Misra., Preliminary Report on the Child Labour in the Saree
Industry of Varanasi, Human Rights Cell, Banaras Hindu University,
Varanasi, 1995, p. 13.
37 Convention on the Suppression of Slave Trade and Slavery, signed at
Geneva, September 25, 1926; Protocol Amended the Slavery Convention,
signed at Geneva, September 25, 1926, with annex, done at, New York,
December 7, 1953, entered into force, December 7, 1953. A slave is
someone "over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of
ownership are exercised." Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of
Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to
Slavery, done at Geneva, September 7, 1956; entered into force, April
30, 1957 (Supplementary Convention).
38 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery.
39 Ibid.
40 Forced Labour Convention (No. 29), 1930, adopted at Geneva, June
28, 1930, as modified by the Final Articles Revision Convention,
adopted at Montreal, October 9, 1946.
41 International Labour Organisation, Conventions and Recommendations
1919-1966 (Geneva: ILO, 1966), p. 891. The ILO also passed the
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (No. 105) in 1957; India,
however, chose not to sign this convention.
42 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, G.A. Res.
2200 (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16), U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966)
(entered into force March 23, 1976).
43 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
G.A. Res. 2200 (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16), U.N. Doc. A/6316
(entered into force January 3, 1976).
44 Convention on the Rights of the Child, G.A. Res. 44/125, U.N. GAOR,
44th Session, Supp. No. 49, U.N. Doc. A/44/736 (1989) (entered into
force September 2, 1990).
45 Ibid. India ratified the Convention subject to a reservation that
these economic and social rights will be "progressively implemented,"
"subject to the extent of available resources."
46 Ibid.
47 See chapter on carpets; see also Human Rights Watch/Asia, Rape for
Profit: Trafficking of Nepali Girls and Women to India's Brothels
(Human Rights Watch: New York, 1995).
48 Convention on the Rights of the Child, G.A. Res. 44/125, U.N. GAOR,
44th Session, Supp. No. 49, U.N. Doc. A/44/736 (1989) (entered into
force September 2, 1990).
49 See S. K. Singh, Bonded Labour and the Law (New Delhi: Deep and
Deep Publications, 1994), pp. 48-51.
50 People's Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India [Asiad
Workers' Case], AIR 1982 S.C. 1473, paragraph 1486.
51 Ibid., paragraph 1490. For a discussion of Supreme Court decisions
affecting bonded labourers, see Y. R. Haragopal Reddy, Bonded Labour
System in India (New Delhi: Deep and Deep Publications, 1995), ch. 4.
52 People's Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India, (1982) 3
SCC 235, paragraphs 259-260.
53 Neeraja Chaudhary v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 3 SCC 243, paragraph
255 (1984).
54 "No child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work
in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment."
Constitution of India, Article 24.
55 Consequently, post-act social action litigation on behalf of bonded
laborers is brought under both the Bonded Labour System (Abolition)
Act and the Constitution of India. For a discussion of cases see
Reddy, Bonded Labour System in India, ch. 4.
56 The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, Sec. 4, 5, 6, and
14. See Appendix for full text.
57 Ibid., Sec. 16. The maximum penalties for a first-time offender
under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act are weaker
than the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act in terms of potential
length of incarceration (one year), but significantly stronger in
terms of monetary punishment (ten to twenty thousand rupees). See the
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, Sec. 14 (1).
58 Ibid., Sec. 2(1)(I)(a) and (b). Because no minimum wages have been
set by the government for children's work, the second prong of this
definition applies. See also People's Union for Democratic Rights v.
Union of India, (1982) 3 SCC 235, paragraphs 259-260, in which the
Supreme Court ruled that "where a person provides labour or service to
another for remuneration which is less than minimum wage, the labour
or service provided by him clearly falls within the scope and ambit of
the word `forced labour'..." All forms of forced labor are forbidden
under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act.
59 "It shall be the duty of every District Magistrate and every
officer specified by him under Sec. 10 to inquire whether after the
commencement of this act, any bonded labour system or any other form
of forced labour is being enforced by, or on behalf of, any person
resident within the local limits of his jurisdiction and if, as a
result of such inquiry, any person is found to be enforcing the bonded
labour system or any other system of forced labour, he shall forthwith
take such action as may be necessary to eradicate the enforcement of
such forced labour." Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, Sec.
12.
60 Human Rights Watch interview with Mirzapur District Collector Mr.
Bachittar Singh, December 19, 1995, Mirzapur. A 1994 study describing
the multifarious duties of district magistrates notes that "[n]o
district magistrate can properly perform all the assignments given to
him." See also S. K. Singh, Bonded Labour and the Law, p. 124-125,
142, 147.
61 Ibid., Sec. 11 requires the district magistrate to "as far as
practicable, try to promote the welfare of the freed bonded labourer
by securing and protecting the economic interest of such bonded
labourer so that he may not have any occasion or reason to contract
any further bonded debt."
62 Ibid., Sec. 14.
63 Reddy, Bonded Labour System in India, p. 163.
64 Ibid., citing, inter alia, Lr. No. Y-11011/4/84-BL, dated February
14, 1986, Director General (Labour Welfare), Ministry of Labour,
Government of India.
65 Ibid., p.166.
66 Ministry of Labour, Annual Report 1994-1995, p.97.
67 The Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933, Sec. 2. "Child" is a
person less than fifteen years old.
68 Ibid., Sec. 4 - 6.
69 Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, Part I,
Section 2(ii).
70 The twenty-five occupations and industries where child labor is
prohibited are: beedi-making; carpet-weaving; cement manufacture;
cloth printing, dyeing and weaving; manufacture of matches, explosives
and fireworks; mica-cutting and splitting; shellac manufacture; soap
manufacture; tanning; wool-cleaning; the building and construction
industry; manufacture of slate pencils; manufacture of agate products;
manufacturing processes using toxic metals and substances; "hazardous
processes" as defined by the Factories Act, Sec. 87; printing as
defined by the Factories Act, Sec. 2; cashew and cashewnut processing;
soldering processes in electronic industries, railway transportation;
cinder picking, ashpit clearing or building operations in railway
premises; vending operations at railway stations; work on ports; sale
of firecracker and fireworks; and work in slaughter houses. Child
Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, Part II (Prohibition of
employment of children in certain occupations and processes), Sec. 3,
Schedules A and B; as amended by Government Notification Nos. No.SO
404(E) (June 5, 1989) and No. SO. 263(E) (March 29, 1994).
71 Myron Weiner, The Child and the State in India (New Delhi: Oxford
University Press, 1991), pp. 80-81.
72 Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade, Child
Labour in India..., p. 40.
73 Ibid.
74 The prevalence of corruption among factory and labor inspectors and
other charged with enforcing child labor laws was confirmed to Human
Rights Watch by multiple sources, including an official of the
national government. See also Commission on Labour Standards, Child
Labour in India... , p. 40.
75 The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, Sec. 3.
76 See chapter on handwoven carpets.
77 Ibid., Sec. 10.
78 According to R. V. Pillai, the Secretary General of the National
Human Rights Commission (NHRC), there is frequent collusion between
medical officers of the government and employers of child labor, who
bribe the medical officers in order to obtain certificates stating the
children working for them are above the age of fourteen. Secretary
General Pillai stated that some medical officers are "notorious" for
engaging in these acts, to the extent that the NHRC has recommended to
some district magistrates that they file criminal charges against
corrupt medical officers. Human Rights Watch interview with Secretary
General Pillai, December 28, 1995, New Delhi.
79 "No child who has not completed his fourteenth year shall be
required or allowed to work in any factory." The Factories Act, 1948,
Sec. 67.
80 Ibid., Sec. 2(m)(I) and (ii).
81 To get around this restriction, factory owners have been known to
"partition their premises and isolate the areas where work is being
done with power." See Burra, Born to Work, p. 75.
82 According to Burra: "In order to evade the Factories Act, ninety
per cent of the units show that they have less than nine workers. In
some factories I visited, I noticed around fifty workers. But when I
asked the employer, he said there were only eight people working
there!" Ibid., p. 136.
83 The Scheduled Castes and The Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, 1989, Section 3(1).
84 The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and
Conditions of Service) Act, 1979, ch. II - ch. VI.
85 The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, Sec. 6,
10, and 64.
86 Campaign Against Child Labour (CACL), "Reference Kit on Child
Labour for Media Persons," January 1995.
87 All testimonies in this report are from children interviewed by
Human Rights Watch researchers in November and December, 1995, except
where otherwise noted. All names have been changed.
88 "50,000 cr beedies consumed annually," Indian Express, February 1,
1995. One crore, abbreviated as "cr," is equal to ten million.
89 Ibid.
90 Burra, Born to Work, p. xxiv. Another account estimates 248,000
child beedi workers in Tamil Nadu. See R. Vidyasagar,"A Status Report
on Child Labour in Tamil Nadu," Madras, 1995, p. 8.
91 "Children shall be free," The Hindu, September 24, 1995; "50,000 cr
beedies consumed annually," Indian Express, February 1, 1995.
92 "Ragi" is a type of grain, commonly given to South Indian
agricultural laborers instead of cash wages. See R. Vidyasagar, "Debt
Bondage in South Arcot District: A Case Study of Agricultural
Labourers and Handloom Weavers," Chains of Servitude, p. 146.
93 L. R. Jagadheesan, "Whole families are pledged for paltry sums,"
Indian Express, April 25, 1995.
94 The minimum wage for beedi rolling varies from state to state. The
wage is slightly lower in Karnataka than in Tamil Nadu, while in the
neighboring state of Kerala it is significantly higher, at forty-two
rupees per thousand beedi rolled. "50,000 cr beedies consumed
annually," Indian Express, February 1, 1995. The minimum wage does not
apply to children, but is a good indicator of the market value of
labor, and non-bonded children in the beedi industry appeared to be
receiving wages comparable to the government-set minimum wage. Many
activists and some government officials are pressing for legal reform
to apply the same minimum wage to adults and children, on the grounds
that such a move would decrease child labor and increase adult
employment.
95 This wage is actually 3.65 rupees more than the government set
minimum wage for beedi rolling (30.90 rupees per 1,000 beedies).
Regardless of whether adults or children roll beedies, they are paid
the same on a piece-rate basis. The only wage differentials
occurbetween bonded and non-bonded beedi rollers. This indicates that
there would be no significant difference between adult and child wages
when bondage is not a factor or when payment is solely based on
production (piece-rate) which is a very common way of paying people in
informal occupations where the majority of Indians, children and
adults, work. There are other examples of this. For example, in
stainless steel factories in Madras, adults and children receive the
same piece-rate wages. In Pakistan, where bonded labor is also
endemic, adults and children have been paid on the same piece-rate
basis in the country's soccer ball industry. These findings call into
question a commonly held tenet about child labor: that children's
wages depress adult wages in the same industry and that removing
children from work would automatically lead to an increase in adult
wages. In addition, Neera Burra notes that the piece-rate wage
structure in home-based, informal work actually provides an incentive
to use children, as their help increases the production, which in-turn
provides a higher family income, and says "Unless the issue of home-
based, piece-rate workers is resolved and minimum wages and social
security provided to this sector, children will continue to be
exploited." See Burra, Born to Work, p. 255. Removing children from
employment would not necessarily result in raising adult wages unless
the problems of piece-rate wages and other forms of payment based
solely on productivity are addressed as well.
96 Human Rights Watch interview with longtime social welfare activist,
November 21, 1995, Madras.
97 Jacob Varghese, "Freedom at Mid-Day," Worldvision: A Worldvision of
India Magazine, Monsoon 1993, p. 6-7.
98 National Children's Day in India is celebrated on November 14, the
birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru, one of the founding fathers and the
first prime minister of India.
99 Human Rights Watch interview with social welfare activist, November
21, 1995, Madras.
100 Ibid.
101 Vidyasagar,"A Status Report...," p. 9.
102 Ibid. Vidyasagar cites a study of one beedi manufacturing village
that found 25 percent of all beedi rollers to have tuberculosis.
103 Human Rights Watch interviews, North Arcot district, Tamil Nadu,
November 25, 1995.
104 Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966, Sec.
2(I).
105 Asha Krishnakumar, "Reprehensible by any name: Children in beedi
industry," Frontline (Madras), November 17, 1995, p. 87.
106 Vidyasagar, "Status Report...," p. 8.
107 Local government authorities estimate there are 45,000 bonded
child laborers in the North Arcot district alone, most working in the
beedi industry. "Child Labour Abolition Support Scheme (A proposal
submitted to the International Labour Organisation)," North Arcot
Ambedkar District, 1995, p. 1. An estimated 30,000 bonded children
work in the beedi industry in North Arcot. See Vidyasagar, "A Status
Report...," p. 8. Unlike most beedi-producing areas, where 90 percent
of the workers are women and children, North Arcot district has a
significant percentage of adult male beedi workers. Vidyasagar
attributes the high rate of bondage in North Arcot to the presence of
men workers in the same industry, hypothesizing that "men use
children's labour to augment their income by keeping them under
bondage by paying low wages." Ibid.
108 "Child labour census in Tamil Nadu district," The Hindu, April 28,
1995.
109 "Child Labour Abolition Support Scheme (A proposal submitted to
the International Labour Organisation)," North Arcot Ambedkar
District, 1995, p. 8.
110 Ibid. pp. 1, 8-12, and 25.
111 Human Rights Watch interview with North Arcot District Collector
M. P. Vijaykumar, November 27, 1995, Vellore, Tamil Nadu.
112 Depending on the circumstances of the case, a bondmaster could be
charged under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, the Child
Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, or the Factories Act. As of
1995, the collector had initiated a limited number of prosecutions
under all three laws, including a handful of cases against parents who
had bonded their children. Human Rights Watch interview with North
Arcot District Collector M. P. Vijaykumar, November 27, 1995, Vellore,
Tamil Nadu; "Project Proposal for Community-Based Convergent
Services," North Arcot Ambedkar District, June, 1995, p. 15 Most
activists agree that prosecution of parents is misguided. Among
prosecuted employers, as of December 1995 the collector had not aimed
for prison sentences, but instead sought only modest fines.
113 North Arcot Ambedkar District, "Child Labour Abolition Support
Scheme (CLASS)," Proposal submitted to International Labour
Organisation, 1995, p. 10.
114 Reddy, Bonded Labour System in India, p. 56.
115 Human Rights Watch interview with North Arcot District Collector
M. P. Vijaykumar, November 27, 1995, Vellore, Tamil Nadu.
116 Vidyasagar, "A Status Report ...," p.9.
117 The "silver" referred to throughout this discussion is not pure
silver, but a blend of silver and lesser metals.
118 The figure of 100,000 working children in Salem is based on a
social scientist's finding that Salem district accounts for 10.93
percent of all child workers in the state of Tamil Nadu, and the 1981
census figures of 975,055 working children, below the age of fourteen,
in Tamil Nadu. See Vidyasagar, "A Status Report...," pp. 2 -3. Based
on more reliable statistics and analyses, however, Vidyasagar himself
estimates that there are four million working children in Tamil Nadu,
which would indicate about 400,000 child laborers in Salem district
alone. Ibid., p. 5.
119 Ibid., p. 14.
120 Human Rights Watch interview with the chief of a village near
Salem, Tamil Nadu, November 30, 1995.
121 Background information on the silver industry of Salem was
provided during a Human Rights Watch interview with staff members of a
local nongovernmental organization, November 30, 1995. It requested
anonymity in order to avoid possible repercussions against its
programs or staff.
122 Human Rights Watch interview with a social worker who works with
the children in this industry, Salem, November 28, 1995.
123 Human Rights Watch interview with a small-scale silver smithy
owner who, at the time of the interview, had three bonded children
working, Salem, November 30, 1995.
124 See chapter on applicable law.
125 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Project Officer J. L.
Poland, December 1, 1995, Salem, Tamil Nadu. The district government's
goal was to establish twenty such schools, with one hundred working
children in each.
126 Ibid. Instead of prosecuting, the office is employing a
"cooperative approach" and "working with the companies [that employ
child laborers]," according to the project officer. A local activist
put this another way. "He [the district collector] is collaborating
with the big mill and factory owners.... They [government officials]
will never worry about the welfare of the child labourers." Human
Rights Watch interview, November 30, 1995.
127 Ibid.
128 Report of the Commission on Bonded Labour in Tamilnadu, submitted
to the Supreme Court for Supreme Court Civ. Writ Petition No. 3922 of
1985. October 31, 1995, Madras, Tamil Nadu, p. 75.
129 Vidyasagar, "A Status Report...," p. 12.
130 Report of the Commission on Bonded Labour in Tamilnadu, p. 76.
Those few gem workers who are not scheduled caste members are members
of lower castes.
131 "A training centre on synthetic diamonds production," The Free
Press Journal, January 16, 1996.
132 Ibid.
133 Ibid.
134 Ibid.
135 There have been several other problems with this initiative.
According to the director of a local social welfare organization, the
new machines, which the government encouraged people to buy, were very
expensive (valued at 8,000 rupees each) and were sold to participants
by government agents at an inflated price (up to 16,000 rupees each).
These purchases were financed by bank loans set up with government
assistance, and buyers were then saddled with long-term bank debts. A
second problem was over saturation of the market as a direct result of
the gem park scheme. More than 6,000 people bought these machines and
were trained to use them. Many of these buyers were entering into the
industry for the first time, enticed by government promises of steady
earnings. With more and more American diamonds being produced, a glut
in the market soon developed. Within a year, many of the machines
stood idle, their owners having defaulted on the loans and begun
looking for other means of income generation. Another accusation
against the program is that the training process has been inadequate,
with the result that some participants never even learned how to use
their machines. Some machines, then, were idle from the start. That
the production glut happened anyway underscores an even greater
potential for market flooding.
136 Report of the Commission on Bonded Labour in Tamilnadu, p. 76.
137 There are five distinct stages of gem production: slicing,
shaping, preforming, faceting, and polishing. Each of these stages
requires minute and sustained attention to detail. Report of the
Commission on Bonded Labour in Tamilnadu, p. 75.
138 Vidyasagar, "A Status Report...," p.13, citing eye specialist Dr.
Jaiswal. According to Dr. Jaiswal, eyeglasses are not usually required
by the general population until after the age of thirty-five.
139 "Silk Exports May Fall 20 Percent," Business Line, March 7, 1996.
140 Ibid.
141 "Indo-German Trade Surges By 20% to DM 8.17 Billion," Business
Standard, June 12, 1996.
142 See Sanjay Sinha, The Development of Indian Silk: A Wealth of
Opportunities (New Delhi: Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd.,
1990), p. 46-47, 56-59; government subsidies as of 1990 totaled $20
million annually; The Hindu, "Sericulture project for 7 more
districts," November 21, 1995, p. 5. The article reported that World
Bank funding of sericulture projects would continue and the annual
production of silk was expected to more than double by end of eight-
year project. "Sericulture" refers to the culture of the silkworm.
143 "Silk Exports May Fall 20 Percent," Business Line, March 7, 1996.
144 Public Interest Research Group, The World Bank and India (New
Delhi: Public Interest Research Group, 1994), p. 81.
145 Ibid., p. 82.
146 "Karnataka to Have 7 Integrated Silk Growth Centres," Business
Line, January 31, 1996; "Silk-Mixed Fare on the Cards for the Future,"
Economic Times, February 3, 1996.
147 The World Bank, India-UP Diversified Agriculture Support Project
(DASP), Project Identification Number INPA35824, Proposal Date: March,
1995.
148 The World Bank, Working With NGOs (Washington D.C.: The World
Bank, 1994), p.5.
149 There is also a significant amount of bonded child labor in the
silk powerloom industry, with at least 35,000 bonded children working
the powerlooms of Tamil Nadu alone. This area demands further
investigation and action on the part of government authorities, but is
beyond the scope of the present report.
150 Human Rights Watch interview with researcher R. Vidyasagar,
November 17, 1995, Madras; Report of the Commission on Bonded Labour
in Tamilnadu, October 31, 1995, Madras, submitted in connection with
Supreme Court Civ. Writ Petition No. 3922 of 1985, p. 73; R.K. Misra,
Preliminary Report on the Child Labour in the Saree Industry of
Varanasi, Human Rights Cell, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 1995,
p. 10.
151 Misra, Child Labour in the Saree Industry of Varanasi, p. 3.
152 Human Rights Watch interview with director of government cocoon
market, December 7, 1995, Magadi, Karnataka.
153 No systematic study has been undertaken on child labor in the silk
industry of Karnataka. Nonetheless, a detailed study of one Taluk
(subdivision of a district) near Bangalore found 10,000 bonded child
silk workers in that Taluk alone. Based on this figure,an overall
estimate of 100,000 is conservative.
154 Sinha, The Development of Indian Silk: A Wealth of Opportunities
(New Delhi: Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., 1990), p. 11.
155 Ibid., p. 31.
156 Ibid. at 31.
157 Memorandum to Human Rights Watch from author Rudi Rotthier and
photographer Marleen Daniels, November 1, 1995 (Rotthier/Daniels
memorandum).
158 Human Rights Watch interviews, December 6, 1995, Ramanagaram,
Karnataka.
159 Results of a 1995 survey conducted by social service organization
in Magadi Taluk, rural Bangalore District, Karnataka.
160 Rotthier/Daniels memorandum.
161 Human Rights Watch interview with social activist, December 7,
1995, rural Bangalore district.
162 Human Rights Watch witnessed many children working in the twining
factories and spoke with several of them briefly, usually in view of
their employers. We were unable to gain access to the children in a
setting more secure and conducive for interviews. Instead, we relied
largely on information provided by a local social welfare
organization. Although the particulars of these three testimonies were
confirmed repeatedly by our own conversations and observations, the
testimonies themselves were recorded by this organization and not by
Human Rights Watch.
163 Rotthier/Daniels memorandum.
164 Sinha, The Development of Indian Silk, p. 63.
165 A researcher who undertook a detailed study of the industry
reported that girls who work in the silk factories tend to have
irregular and very painful menstrual periods, and may suffer other
reproductive problems. Human Rights Watch interview with social
activist in a village in Rural Bangalore district, Karnataka, December
7, 1995. A female leather worker interviewed in Ambur, Tamil Nadu,
reported the same phenomenon in the shoe factories of that town. To
Human Rights Watch's knowledge, there has been no effort by the
government to investigate these or other health problems experienced
by working children.
166 Ibid.
167 Human Rights Watch interview with researcher R. Vidyasagar, Nov.
17, 1995, Madras; Report of the Commission on Bonded Labour in
Tamilnadu, Oct. 31, 1995, Madras, submitted in connection with Supreme
Court Civ. Writ Petition No. 3922 of 1985, p. 76.
168 Misra, Preliminary Report on the Child Labour, p. 8.
169 Sinha, Development of Indian Silk, p. 34.
170 On November 24-25, 1995, Human Rights Watch interviewed forty
people in four of the Kanchipuram area regarding the use of bonded
child labor in the silk handloom industry. Most of those interviewed
were bonded child laborers; others were parents of working children,
non-bonded child workers, owners, employers, and agents. Except where
otherwise noted, all information regarding the practices of the
Kanchipuram silk industry was obtained during these interviews. All
information regarding the practices of the Varanasi silk industry is
from Misra, Preliminary Report on the Child Labour, except where
otherwise noted.
171 Human Rights Watch interview with researcher R. Vidyasagar, Nov.
17, 1995, Madras, Tamil Nadu.
172 Misra, Preliminary Report on the Child Labour, p. 8.
173 Misra, Preliminary Report on the Child Labour, p. 11.
174 Ibid., p. 30.
175 Ibid., pp. 10-11.
176 One wealthy employer told Human Rights Watch researchers, in an
interview in Kanchipuram on November 23, 1995, that he has suffered
losses totaling 200,000 rupees because of children running away. While
he declined to specify how many children ran away or over what period
of time this loss occurred, this figure is a clear indicator of the
desperate conditions and deep suffering of the bonded child laborer's
life.
177 B.N. Juyal, Child Labour: The Twice Exploited (Varanasi: Gandhian
Institute of Studies, 1985).
178 Jagaran, Dec. 14, 1994 (cited by Misra, Preliminary Report on the
Child Labour, p. 5).
179 Ibid.
180 Misra, Preliminary Report on the Child Labour, p. 47.
181 "Thousands of persons are committing offenses under this act every
year. However not one person is known to have been convicted in
Varanasi." Ibid., p. 44. Nor have there been any convictions in the
Kanchipuram area.
182 See chapter on applicable law.
183 Human Rights Watch interview with North Arcot District Collector
M. P. Vijaykumar, Nov. 27, 1995, Vellore, Tamil Nadu; Misra,
Preliminary Report on the Child Labour, p. 42.
184 Human Rights Watch interview with director of government cocoon
market, Dec. 7, 1995, Magadi, Bangalore Rural District, Karnataka.
185 Sinha, Development of Indian Silk, pp. 47, 57.
186 "By the Skin of Its Teeth - Indian Leather Industry," Financial
Express Investment Week, August 9, 1995; "Indian Shoe Manufacturers
Increased Exports Rs. 9.14 Bil in 1994-95, Compared With Rs. 5.23 Bil
in 1992-93," Reuters, March 27, 1996.
187 Prakash Mahtani, Chairman of the Council for Leather Exports,
predicted exports valuing seven billion dollars by the year 2000.
Sharika Muthu, Times of India, Shoe Fair Supplement, "Global Giants
Stepping into Indian Shoes," Oct. 17, 1994.
188 The Factories Act, 1948, Sec. 2(m)(i) and (ii); The Child Labour
(Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, Sec. 3. (The act does not
apply to workshops where occupier is assisted by family).
189 See chapter on the role of the government.
190 Based on our observations of the Bombay leather shoe industry,
girl workers comprise approximately 5 percent of the child workers
overall.
191 Human Rights Watch interview with local resident and shoemaker,
January 16, 1996, Bombay.
192 A small percentage of the boys are brought in from Uttar Pradesh
and other parts of Maharashtra. These children make wooden heels for
shoes, while the children from Rajasthan make the leather sandals
known as chappals. Times of India, "Children toil for 12 hours in
chappal units," February 12, 1996.
193 The information on Rajasthani shoemaking communities was gathered
during several Human Rights Watch interviews in villages near
Viratnagar, Rajasthan, Dec. 13-14, 1995.
194 At the same time, their daughters are being forced into carpet-
weaving. See chapter on carpets.
195 Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, Sec. 2(1)(g)(I)(1).
196 Ibid., Sec. 2(1)(I)(a) and (b). Because no minimum wages have been
set by the government for children's work, the second prong of this
definition applies.
197 People's Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India, (1982) 3
SCC 235, paragraphs 259-260.
198 Times of India, "Children toil for 12 hours in chappal units,"
February 12, 1996.
199 According to the Ministry of Labour, 84.98 percent of child labor
is in agriculture. Ministry of Labour, Government of India, "Children
and Work," produced for Workshop of District Collectors/District Heads
on "Elimination of Child Labour in Hazardous Occupation," New Delhi,
September 13-14, 1995, p. 3. For statistics on bonded child laborers,
see Burra, Born to Work..., pp. 32-33, the range is so great because
no definitive study has been undertaken to determine the number of
bonded child laborers in agriculture. The 85 percent of all bonded
laborers was confirmed by Anti-Slavery International in a telephone
interview with Human Rights Watch on August 14, 1996; but like other
statistics on bonded and child labor, no comprehensive survey has been
taken to document this.
200 Dalit groups have largely rejected the terms "untouchable" and
"harijan" (children of God) to describe their communities. They are
also referred to as "scheduled castes," a term which like "scheduled
tribes" refers to groups designated on a schedule attached to the
Indian Constitution as entitled to special consideration, including
some quotas for educational and career opportunities, in recognition
of their historically disadvantaged status. Many, if not the majority
of India's bonded laborers are members of the Dalit communities, or
are "scheduled tribes"-indigenous tribal people, also known as
adivasi. However, in some industries, Dalits occupy positions other
than bonded laborers. In the silk industry, for example, some loom-
owners and weavers are also Dalits.
201 See for example, A.R. Desai, ed. Repression and Resistance in
India, (Bombay: Popular Prakashan Private Ltd., 1990).
202 All interviews by Human Rights Watch, December 9, 1995, Anekal
Taluk, Bangalore Rural District.
203 Kiran Kamal Prasad, "Bonded Labour in Anekal Taluk, Bangalore
Urban District, Karnataka" (Guddhati village: Self published, March
12, 1991), p.4.
204 Ibid.
205 Government of India, 8th Five Year Plan: 1992-1997 (New Delhi:
Cosmos Bookhive (P) Ltd., 1992), pp. 64-65.
206 Kiran Kamal Prasad, "Bonded Labour in Karnataka," (Bangalore: Self
published, 1995), p. 4.
207 Ibid.
208 Ibid.
209 Ministry of Labour statistics on bonded labour are cumulative
totals. For a further discussion of these statistics and their
methodology, see below.
210 Kiran Kamal Prasad, "Bonded Labour...", p. 3.
211 Ibid, p. 2.
212 "23 Children Rescued from Bondage," The Statesman, January 26,
1996.
213 Pradeep Mehta, "Cashing in on Child Labor."
214 Ela Dutt, "Rug Firms With No Child Labor Need Help," India Abroad,
February 3, 1995.
215 See Hamish McDonald "Boys of bondage: Child labour, though banned,
is rampant," Far Eastern Economic Review, July 9, 1992, p. 19 (with
arrival of Nepali children, including girls, reports of sexual abuse
and rape increasing).
216 "Mirzapur Carpets - Taking Exports to a New High," Economic Times,
June 10, 1996.
217 Since 1994, the carpet industry has been experiencing a decline in
terms of global market share. It declined to a 17 percent share of the
global market in 1995, from 21 percent in 1994. Most reports attribute
this to increased competition from China and Iran. "Hand-Knotted
Carpet Units Losing Out to China, Iran," Financial Express, March 12,
1996; "Mirzapur Carpets - Taking Exports to a New High," Economic
Times, June 10, 1996.
218 "Steps taken to Curb Child Labour in Carpet Industry," Times of
India, December 11, 1995.
219 India's total exports in 1995 were $26.2 billion; carpet exports
were valued at $650 million, or about 2.5 percent of the total
exports.
220 "Steps taken to Curb Child Labour in Carpet Industry."
221 Edward A. Gargan, "Bound to Looms by Poverty and Fear, Boys in
India Make a Few Men Rich," New York Times, July 9, 1992.
222 "Mirzapur Carpets - Taking Exports to a New High."
223 Molly Moore, "Factories of Children; Youth Labor Force Growing in
Asia to Meet Export Demand, Help Families," Washington Post, May 21,
1995. Although the highest concentration of carpet villages is in
Mirzapur district, carpet manufacturing is also a dominant industry in
the neighboring districts of Allahabad, Varanasi, and Jaunpur.
224 Neera Burra, Born to Work, p. xxii.
225 According to one 1995 report, carpet manufacturers have found a
new way to exploit the poverty of the Bihar inhabitants: in addition
to bringing Bihar children into bondage in the carpet belt,
manufacturers are beginning to bring bondage to the children, setting
up hundreds of looms in the poorest districts of Bihar. See "Ex-child
labourers make a fresh start," Times of India, July 31, 1995.
226 Anti-Slavery International (ASI), "Slavery Today in India,"
Factsheet B, July 1994. According to ASI, 10,000 boys have been
kidnapped from the boys' district (Chichoria, Bihar) alone.
227 Prem Bhai, "The Working Conditions of the Child Weaver in the
Carpet Units of Mirzapur and Summary of Findings," Law Relating to
Employment of Children, 1985, p. 146.
228 Shamshad Khan, "Migrant Child Labour in the Carpet Industry of
Mirzapur-Bhadohi," (undated).
229 A detailed 1984 study found that approximately 50 percent of
migrant child weavers were paid only in food; another 40 percent of
them received only one or two rupees per day. Prem Bhai, "Working
Conditions of the Child Weaver..." p. 151.
230 Except where otherwise noted, all child testimonials from the
carpet belt are drawn from Human Rights Watch interviews, December 19,
1995, in several rural villages of Mirzapur district, Uttar Pradesh.
231 See especially Prem Bhai, "The Working Conditions of the Child
Weaver in the Carpet Units of Mirzapur and Summary of Findings," Law
Relating to Employment of Children, 1985.
232 See, e.g., "Ex-Child Labourers make a Fresh Start," Times of
India, July 31, 1995.
233 Information on health risks from Human Rights Watch interviews in
Mirzapur district, Uttar Pradesh, and Jaipur district, Rajasthan; also
McDonald, "Boys of bondage...," July 9, 1992, p. 18; Shamshad Khan,
"Improvement in Health, Hygiene and Nutritional Status of Child Labour
in Carpet Industry: Experience of CREDA," February 26, 1990.
234 Molly Moore, "Factories of Children; Youth Labor Force Growing in
Asia to Meet Export Demand, Help Families," Washington Post Foreign
Service, May 21, 1995.
235 "19 Children Rescued from Bonded Labour," Indian Express, Nov. 9,
1995.
236 Bhai, "The Working Conditions of the Child Weaver...", p. 151.
237 Ibid., p. 152.
238 Pradeep Mehta, "Cashing in on Child Labor."
239 See McDonald, "Boys of Bondage...," p. 19.
240 See chapter on leather for a more detailed discussion of the
Rajasthani shoemaking communities.
241 Approximately 80 percent of the child carpet-makers in Rajasthan
are female (Human Rights Watch interview with social activist,
December 14, 1995, Viratnagar). This is quite different from the
pattern in the Uttar Pradesh carpet belt, where 95 percent of the
carpet-makers are male.
242 Human Rights Watch interview, December 13, 1995, village near
Viratnagar, Jaipur district, Rajasthan.
243 Ibid.
244 Anti-Slavery International, "Slavery Today in India," Factsheet B,
July 1994.
245 Ibid. As of 1991, the number of government-run carpet-training
centers was reported as approximately two hundred. Weiner, The Child
and the State in India, p. 86.
246 Human Rights Watch interview with local children's rights
activist, December 13, 1995, Viratnagar, Rajasthan.
247 B. N. Juyal, "Official Schemes Exacerbate Situation in Northern
States," Vigil India, No. 69, August 1995, p. 6.
248 Ibid.
249 Ibid. Under the Emergency of 1975-1977, then Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi suspended civil liberties, arrested hundreds of opposition
leaders and activists, and attempted to push through a number of
economic reforms, including new development programs.
250 Indian Constitution, Article 24.
251 Gargan, "Bound to Looms..."
252 McDonald, "Boys of bondage ..." p. 19 .
253 Ibid.
254 Human Rights Watch interview with Mirzapur District Collector
Bachittar Singh, December 19, 1995, Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh.
255 Human Rights Watch interview with Rajasthan Labour Commissioner
Ashok Shekhar, December 15, 1995, Jaipur, Rajasthan.
0 S. B. Civil Writ Petition No. 263/1995, Ugam Raj Mohnot v. State of
Rajasthan and Others, filed January 18, 1995, before the High Court of
Judicature for Rajasthan, Jaipur Bench, Jaipur. The writ requests,
inter alia, that the Court "direct the State Government to make Rules
under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, and to
implement the provisions of this act forthwith strictly..." The
petitioner is coordinator of the Rajasthan branch of the Centre of
Concern for Child Labour (CFCCL) and he filed the petition on behalf
of the organization.
1 Civ. Writ Petition No. 3922 of 1985 with Civ. Writ Petition No. 153
of 1982, Record of Proceedings, August 7, 1995.
2 Human Rights Watch interview with Ms. Srilata Swaminathan, Rajasthan
Kisan Sangathan, December 13, 1995, Jaipur, Rajasthan.
3 Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade, Child Labour
in India..., p. 41.
4 This section discusses the government's child labor programs. These
are not programs designed specifically to address the needs of bonded
child laborers; as of July 1996, the Indian government has no such
program.
5 UNICEF, "Child Labour: UNICEF India Position," 1995, p. 4. There are
467 districts in all of India.
6 See Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade, Child
Labour in India..., p. 42-45 (describing eighteen policies, laws,
committees, etc. established by central government since 1921).
7 Ibid., p. 45.
8 Ibid.
9 "Non-formal education" is typically part-time instruction that
emphasizes basic literacy and life skills. It is geared toward working
children.
10 The majority of the funds for this program were provided by the
International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), a
program of the International Labour Organisation. IPEC focuses on "the
worst abuses of child labour: hazardous work, forced labour, the
employment of working children who are less than 12 or 13 years old,
girls and street children." The NGO Group for the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, 1993, "Eliminating the Exploitation of Child
Labour: International, national and local action," May 1993, p. 8.
11 Commission on Labour Standards, "Child Labour in India," p. 49
(source: Ministry of Labour). Additional IPEC programs serve nearly
55,000 children. Ministry of Labour, Government of India, "Children
and Work," Workshop of District Collectors/District Heads on
"Elimination of Child Labour in Hazardous Occupations," New Delhi,
September 13-14, 1995, p. 11.
12 Ministry of Labour, "Children and Work," p. 5.
13 "Data on Child Labour yet to be Compiled," The Hindu, April 10,
1995, p. 13. The article uses the figure of 850 crore rupees; one
crore is equal to ten million.
14 Ministry of Labour, "Children and Work," p. 5.
15 "India has told the International Labour Organisation it requires
no external financial assistance for the various remedial measures it
is taking [to eliminate children from the workforce in hazardous
industries]." "Collectors Meeting on Child Labour," The Statesman
(Calcutta edition), September 10, 1995; "Government today informed the
Rajya Sabha that it had rejected the offer by some countries to help
India check the problem of child labour, saying it preferred to depend
on its own resources." "India rejects aid to tackle child labour," The
Statesman, March 12, 1996; "India spurns aid to abolish child labour,"
Times of India, February 11, 1996.
16 The issue of foreign aid also underscores the government's
sensitivity to external critiques of child labor in India. According
to one diplomat in New Delhi, "the Indian government is known to have
discouraged suggestions, including one from the European Union, for
financial assistance." The diplomat attributed this stance to a desire
by the government "to avoid any meddling in its programme for
abolition of child labour," pointing out that international funding
brings with it accountability for the use of funds, something the
Indian government may wish to avoid. "India spurns aid," Times of
India, Feb. 11, 1996. Others believe that the government is
positioning the issue of external aid as a bargaining chip in the
ongoing debate over a linkage between trade and labor. Under this
view, "[i]f the developed countries demand that the pace of compliance
with international labour standards should be faster... India could
then ask for a substantial part of the cost of the programmes to be
shared by the developed countries." Ibid.
17 The twenty million figure was used by then-Prime Minister Rao on
August 15, 1994, when he announced the government's goal of releasing
two million child workers from hazardous industries by the year 2000.
Campaign Against Child Labour, "Reference Kit for Media Persons,"
January 1995, p. 8.
18 Department of Women and Child Development, Indian Council for Child
Welfare, and UNICEF, India Country Office, "Rights of the Child:
Report of a National Consultation, November 21-23, 1994, p. 102.
19 N.K. Doval, "Double-speak on child labour," The Hindu, December 28,
1994; Ministry of Labour, Children and Work, September 13-14, 1995.
Based on 1981 figures, the Planning Commission for the Census of India
estimated that there were seventeen and a half million child laborers
under the age of fourteen in 1985, eighteen million in 1990, and 20
million in 1995 See Commission on Labour Standards, Child Labour in
India, p. 3
20 Gerry Pinto, UNICEF, "Child Labour in India: The Issue and
Directions for Action," 1995, p. 2; UNICEF et al., "Rights of the
Child," p. 101.
21 Ministry of Labour, Children and Work, September 13-14, 1995, p. 2.
Preliminary numbers released from the 1991 census include a total
population of 844 million people, 298 million of whom are children
under the age of fifteen. Of these children, 221million live in rural
areas and seventy-one million in urban areas. These numbers are
already considered out of date, with most sources reporting an overall
population of more than 900 million. India's population is expected to
cross the one billion mark by the turn of the century.
22 Human Rights Watch interview with National Human Rights Commission,
Secretary General R. V. Pillai, New Delhi, December 28, 1995.
23 This chapter discusses only certain aspects of the Bonded Labour
System (Abolition) Act. For a more comprehensive overview, see the
chapters on the legal context of bonded child labor and on the beedi
industry. The full text of the act may be found in the appendix.
24 Bonded Labour (System Abolition) Act, Ch. IV, Art. 10, Art. 12 and
Ch. V, Art. 14. There are twenty-five states in India and 467
districts. Stanley Wolpert, India (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1991), p. 199; UNICEF, "Child Labour: UNICEF India Position,"
1995, p. 4.
25 See chapter on applicable law for details of the committees'
duties.
26 Judgement in Writ Petition No. 1187, 1982 (cited in Vivek Pandit,
"Prevention of Atrocities (Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes): Bonded
Labour, Their Rights and Implementation", 1995), p. 7.
27 Neeraja Chaudhary v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 3 SCC, paragraphs
243, 255 (1984).
28 For details, see chapter on applicable law.
29 Neeraja Chaudhary v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 3 SCC 243, paragraphs
245-246 (1984).
30 Pandit, "Bonded Labour," p. 18.
31 Ministry of Labour, Annual Report 1994-1995, p. 97.
32 See, e.g., Mahajan and Gathia, Child Labour: An Analytical Study,
p. 25. Not only is the incidence of bonded child labor increasing, but
the wages paid to bonded laborers are steadily decreasing in real
terms. S.P. Tiwary, "Bondage in Santhal Parganas," Chains of
Servitude..., p. 206.
33 "Citizen's [sic] Body on Bonded Labour," Times of India, November
18, 1994.
34 Report of the Commission on Bonded Labour in Tamilnadu, October 31,
1995, Madras, p. 208, Part VIII, para. A. This report was submitted by
order of the Supreme Court in connection with Supreme Court Civ. Writ
Petition No. 3922 of 1985 (Public Union for Civil Liberties v. State
of Tamil Nadu and Others).
35 Sarma, Welfare of Special Categories of Labour, p. 55, citing
1989-90 Ministry of Labour statistics.
36 Ministry of Labour, Annual Report 1994-95, p. 97.
37 "Citizen's [sic] Body on Bonded Labour," Times of India, November
18, 1994.
38 Ibid.
39 Affidavit on behalf of the State Government of Tamil Nadu, October
7, 1994. This affidavit was submitted by order of the Supreme Court in
connection with Supreme Court Civ. Writ Petition No. 3922 of 1985
(Public Union for Civil Liberties v. State of Tamil Nadu and Others).
40 The case that sparked this inquiry, Public Union for Civil
Liberties v. State of Tamil Nadu and Others, was filed in 1985. Much
of the delay in its resolution is due to the state governments'
failure to respond to court directives in a timely manner. In its
order requiring the states to report on bonded labor practices, the
court noted that "It does appear to us that no significant progress
has been made by the concerned authorities and it is not unlikely that
the attitude of the concerned authorities is not enthusiastic as one
would expect in a matter of such significance." Record of Proceedings,
May 13, 1994. As of August 1996, Human Rights Watch has been unable to
find out whether the case has been resolved.
41 Human Rights Watch interview with Ashok Shekhar, Labour
Commissioner for Rajasthan, December 15, 1995, Jaipur, Rajasthan.
42 Human Rights Watch interview with Ashok Bhasin, Deputy Labour
Commissioner for Gujarat, December 15, 1995, Jaipur, Rajasthan.
43 Manoj Dayal, "Abolition of Bonded Labour an Eye-wash in Bihar,"
Patrika, December 26, 1995.
44 Department of Women and Child Development, Indian Council for Child
Welfare, UNICEF-India, "Rights of the Child: Report of a National
Consultation, November 21-23, 1994, p. 102.
45 The inability to come up with basic statistics regarding
enforcement was not an aberration, but rather just one example of a
chronic failure to keep-and make public-this information. See, e.g.,
"Scheme to divert kids from hazardous units," Indian Express, February
27, 1995.
46 The questions we asked of the Director General of Labour Welfare
included questions regarding: agency estimates of the number of bonded
child laborers in India; the number of district vigilance committees
currently in operation, and their activities to date; the number of
cases prosecuted under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act and
the results of these prosecutions; the number of people rehabilitated
under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act; whether any bonded
child laborers have ever been rehabilitated under the act; and the
agency opinion regarding the case of bonded labor currently before the
Supreme Court, in which thirteen states are accused of allowing
widespread bonded labor to flourish.
47 Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade, Child
Labour in India: A Perspective, June 10, 1995, p. 33. Inspections by
the national government presumable took place in New Delhi and other
centrally-administered territories.
48 Ibid.
49 N.K. Doval,"Double-Speak on Child Labour," The Hindu, December 28,
1994.
50 Molly Moore, "Poverty Weaves Harshness Into Lives," Guardian
Weekly, June 4, 1995, p. 19 (reprint from Washington Post) (of 4,000
convictions reported under the Act since 1986, 3,500 offenders got off
with a fine equivalent to five dollars or less; figures from report by
an Indian Chamber of Commerce and the International Labour
Organisation). The assertion that there have been 4,000 convictions
under the act does not coincide with the data released by the
government regarding 1990 to 1993 convictions, reported above. The
government's figures of 772 convictions for one three year period
indicate that, since the act was passed in 1986, total convictions
probably number 2,500 or less.
51 Hema Shukla, "India Insincere in Ending Child Labor," United Press
International, September 12, 1994.
52 Human Rights Watch interview with North Arcot District Collector M.
P. Vijaykumar, November 27, 1995, Vellore, Tamil Nadu.
53 Human Rights Watch interview with senior state official, a former
district collector of Tamil Nadu, November 22, 1995, Madras, Tamil
Nadu.
54 Human Rights Watch interviews, November 17 - December 1, 1995,
Tamil Nadu.
55 Human Rights Watch interview with social activists, December 22,
1995, Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh. See also Burra, Born to Work, p. xxiii
(of 200,000 glass workers in Firozabad, 50,000 are children).
56 Srawan Shukla, "Childhood goes up in Smoke in the `Land of Glass,'"
Times of India, November 19, 1994.
57 Human Rights Watch interview with R. V. Pillai, Secretary General,
National Human Rights Commission, December 28, 1995, New Delhi.
58 Ministry of Labour, Annual Report 1994-1995, pp. 96-97.
59 Ibid., p. 97.
60 The case, Public Union for Civil Liberties v. State of Tamil Nadu
and Others (Civ. Writ Petition No. 3922 of 1985), is investigating the
practice of bonded labor, and the states' failure to eradicate that
practice, in the states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Andhra
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Meghalaya.
61 Public Union for Civil Liberties v. State of Tamil Nadu and Others,
Civ. Writ Petition No. 3922 of 1985 with Civ. Writ Petition No. 153 of
1982, Record of Proceedings, August 7, 1995, p. 2.
62 Ibid., p. 3.
63 G. V. Krishnan,"TN has 10 Lakh [one million] Bonded Workers, says
Panel," Times of India, March 1, 1996.
64 Ibid.
65 Reddy, Bonded Labour System in India, p. 153. Citing 1988-89
Ministry of Labour statistics.
66 Sarma, Welfare of Special Categories of Labour, p. 55, citing
1989-90 Ministry of Labour statistics.
67 Ministry of Labour, Annual Report 1994-95, p.97.
68 Manoj Dayal, "Abolition of Bonded Labour an Eye-wash in Bihar,"
Patrika, December 26, 1995.
69 Ministry of Labour, Annual Report 1994-95, p. 97.
70 Hoshiar Singh, Administration of Rural Development in India (New
Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 1995), pp.165-188.
71 "Allocations for Labour Schemes Unutilised," Times of India, March
15, 1996.
72 Human Rights Watch interview, December 29, 1995, New Delhi.
73 Ibid. See also Reddy, Bonded Labour System in India, p. 171.
74 Report of the Commission on Bonded Labour in Tamil Nadu, October
31, 1995, Madras, submitted for Supreme Court Civ. Writ Petition No.
3922 of 1985, Part V, p. 1.
75 We asked the Director General of Labour Welfare for India for these
statistics, but he declined to respond.
76 Reddy, Bonded Labour System in India, p.161.
77 Human Rights Watch interview with District Collector M. P.
Vijaykumar, November 27, 1995, Vellore, Tamil Nadu.
78 Ibid. See also "8 Beedi Agents held under Bonded Labour System
(Abolition) Act," Indian Express, September 10, 1995.
79 Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade, Child
Labour in India..., p. 9 ("There is also apathy amongst State
Governments. Most states do not have yet in place the framing of rules
for the enforcement of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation)
Act of 1986, nearly a decade later!"). The Commission on Labour
Standards and International Trade was appointed by the Indian
government in August 1994 for the purpose of studying "Issues
Concerning the Protection of Labour Rights and Related Matters."
Ibid., appendix 1.
80 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Belgian journalist Rudi
Rotthier, October 19, 1995.
81 The Supreme Court noted this in directing states to include social
action groups in their efforts against bonded labor, stating that
"patwaris and tehsildars [local leaders] [are] either in sympathy with
the exploiting class or lacking in social commitment or indifferent to
the misery and suffering of the poor . ." Crim. Writ Petition No. 1263
of 1982, Neeraja Chaudhary v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 3 SCC
paragraphs 243, 251 (1984).
82 Human Rights Watch interview with attorney Jose Varghese, November
15, 1996, New Delhi.
83 Child Workers News, Vol. 2, No. 2, April-June 1994.
84 Crim. Writ Petition No. 1263 of 1982, Neeraja Chaudhary v. State of
Madhya Pradesh, 3 SCC 243, paragraph 252 (1984).
85 Tiwary, "Bondage in Santhal Parganas," Chains of Servitude, p.
207.
86 "Bonded labour is employed by powerful landlords from whom the many
political parties draw political support and this poses a major
obstacle to implementation of the legislation. The power of those
opposed to the eradication of bondage ensures the continuation of the
economic conditions which nurture the system." See Mahajan and Gathia,
Child Labour: An Analytical Study, p. 25.
87 Human Rights Watch interviews with local social activists, December
1, 1995, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, and December 18, 1995, Varanasi, Uttar
Pradesh.
88 These phenomena are discussed in previous chapters.
89 Human Rights Watch interview with Jose Varghese, November 15, 1995,
New Delhi.
90 Human Rights Watch interview with Supreme Court attorney, December
29, 1996.
91 For example, see Ajoy Kumar, "From Slavery to Freedom: The Tale of
Chattisgarh Bonded Labourers," Indian Social Institute, 1986, pp.
12-13.
92 Ministry of Labour, Annual Report 1994-1995, p. 97.
93 See G. Satyamurty, "Trouble Dogs Freed Bonded Labourers," The
Hindu, October 27, 1994; also, in a memorandum to Human Rights Watch,
journalists Marleen Daniels and Rudi Rotthier reported their discovery
in a rural village that, of twenty-one children liberated from bondage
in 1993, nineteen had been returned to bondage one year later.
(Rotthier/Daniels memorandum to Human Rights Watch, November 1,
1995).
94 For example, in Tamil Nadu, the rehabilitation allowance for a
bonded laborer released in December 1992 was not approved for
distribution until March 1994. Report of the Commission on Bonded
Labour in Tamil Nadu, October 31, 1995, Madras, submitted in
connection with Supreme Court Civ. Writ Petition No. 3922 of 1985, p.
18.
95 See Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade, Child
Labour in India..., p. 40.
96 See Neeraja Chaudhary v. State of Madhya Pradesh, paragraph 251.
97 Report of the Commission on Bonded Labour in Tamil Nadu, October
31, 1995, Madras, submitted in connection with Supreme Court Civ. Writ
Petition No. 3922 of 1985, p. 137.
98 Sreedhar Pillai, "Of Inhuman Bondage: The Supreme Court Indicts the
Tamil Nadu Government for Failing to Abolish Bonded Labour," Sunday
Magazine (Calcutta), April 7-13, 1996.
99 Tiwary, "Bondage in Santhal Parganas," Chains of Servitude..., p.
205.
http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1996/India3.htm
chhotemianinshallah
NDTV Correspondent, Friday March 19, 2010, New Delhi
Having to contend with both silent sulks and open attack from within
his party, BJP's new president Nitin Gadkari has stoutly defended his
choice of people for his new team of office-bearers.
On the controversial inclusion as Secretary of Varun Gandhi, a man the
party had in the past sought to distance itself from after his hate
speeches, Gadkari said exclusively to NDTV: "Varun Gandhi should be
given a chance, why hold the past against him?"
Gadkari also made clear that, "Those who have complaints about the new
team should speak to me, not the media," a barb at partymen like actor
Shatrughan Sinha, who had criticised the new president for leaving out
"the most deserving people". (Read: Shatrughan slams Gadkari)
The actor had particularly talked about the exclusion from the team of
veteran Yashwant Sinha, saying the team was constituted without
consulting "people who matter like my friend and leader of opposition
Sushma Swaraj and some other top leaders".
Gadkari countered the charges by saying: "It's wrong to say that
Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie were excluded because they are Advani
detractors... It's not possible to include everyone on the team."
The BJP chief, who was reported scrambling for approval from the RSS
for his list of office-bearers hours before he announced the names,
however, maintained that there was no pressure from the RSS on team
selection.
He also sought to clear the air on the inclusion of a number of
celebrities as senior office-bearers by saying, "The celebrities we
included are also committed party workers, they are not just
celebrities." Getting in people like Hema Malini as Vice President and
Navjyot Singh Sindhu and Smriti Irani as Secretaries is seen by many
as a move by Gadkari to use known faces strategically in his bid to
revive and re-popularise the BJP. The Sangh's choice of workers is not
personality-based.
In the broad-based interview, Gadkari talked about the summons to
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi from the Supreme Court-appointed
Special Investigation Team (SIT) looking into 2002 Gujarat riots
cases. "Modi is a big leader of our party, the SIT summons make no
difference", Gadkari said.
Talking exclusively to NDTV in Mumbai, Gadkari also commented on the
issue of partners Shiv Sena targeting non-Maharashtrians in the city.
"We believe Mumbai is for all Indians, but just because we have some
differences with the Shiv Sena, doesn't mean it will impact our
alliance," he said.
Nitin Gadkari's new team for BJP
http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/nitin-gadkaris-new-team-for-bjp-17797.php
Gadkari sheds kilos for a lean makeover
http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/nitin-gadkari-in-youngistan-17791.php
Gadkari, RSS differ over his new team
http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/gadkari-rss-differ-over-his-new-team-17787.php
Gadkari's new team: Comeback for Varun, Raje?
http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/gadkaris-new-team-comeback-for-varun-raje-17713.php
http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/give-varun-gandhi-a-chance-gadkari-18105.php
Shatrughan slams Gadkari's team, says 'new wine in old bottle'
18 Mar 2010, 2122 hrs IST, PTI
MUMBAI: Upset over being ignored by BJP president Nitin Gadkari, actor-
turned-MP Shatrughan Sinha on Thursday became the first party leader
to
publicly criticise the composition of the new team of office bearers,
saying it was "new wine in old bottle".
While there have been reports of unease among some leaders, Sinha was
forthcoming in an interview claiming some of the "most deserving"
people have been left out in the much-awaited team announced on
Tuesday.
The 'Bihari Babu' dubbed Gadkari's team, touted by the party as an
effective blend of youth, experience and women, as "new wine in old
bottle and, if we include bodies like the party's parliamentary board,
old wine in old bottle".
Without naming anyone, he said some of those inducted could have been
avoided.
For the record, Sinha refuted suggestions that he was a contender for
any post. He felt that senior leader and former union minister
Yashwant Sinha should have been included with an eye on Bihar assembly
elections due in October this year.
Yashwant Sinha, a former leader of opposition in the Bihar assembly,
has held key portfolios at the centre including those of Finance and
External Affairs.
"Bihar assembly polls are most crucial for the party in the near
future, yet a leader of the calibre of Yashwant Sinha has been kept
out of the team. Some of the people who could have been avoided have
been taken at the cost of some of the most deserving people," he
said.
"I have always treated Gadkari like a younger brother and friend.
Nevertheless, the composition of the new team, personally speaking, is
unfortunate and I am quite unhappy."
Sinha claimed that the team was constituted without consulting "people
who matter like my friend and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha
Sushma Swaraj and some other top leaders".
"Being a senior and matured leader, I do not want to break party
discipline by making any undesirable comments but I am certainly
worried and to a certain extent unhappy with the composition of the
team," he said and went on to add that "most partymen are unhappy but
there is time and we will wait and watch."
Party insiders said Sinha was unhappy over the appointment as general
secretary of Ravishankar Prasad, a fellow Bihari and Kayastha
casteman.
Sinha, one of the star campaigners for the party in the past several
assembly and parliamentary elections, wanted a greater role for
himself in the Bihar polls, sources said.
Deserving people not in Gadkari team: Shatrughan
19 Mar 2010, 0352 hrs IST, ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: BJP’s perennial dissenter Shatrughan Sinha is at it again.
This time, he has attacked party president Nitin Gadkari for not
including
“deserving” leaders in his team.
Mr Sinha, who has been eyeing a party post, couched his criticism in
his “angst” over the denial of a place in the new team of office-
bearers for former Union minister Yashwant Sinha. “Bihar assembly
polls are most crucial for the party in the near future, yet a leader
of the calibre of Yashwant Sinha has been kept out of the team. Some
of the people who could have been avoided have been taken at the cost
of some of the most deserving people,” he said. Incidentally, Mr
Yashwant Sinha represents Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh in the Lok Sabha.
Mr Shatrughan Sinha also insinuated that the list was prepared without
any consultation. “The team was constituted without consulting people
who matter like my friend and leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj.
Being a senior and mature leader, I do not want to break party
discipline by making any undesirable comments, but I am certainly
worried and to certain extent unhappy with the composition of the
team,” he said.
His attack seemed directed against the BJP president as he dismissed
his team as “new wine in old bottle”. To Mr Sinha, the parliamentary
board was “old wine in old bottle”.
Mr Sinha has been at loggerheads with the BJP leadership for a long
time. He had refused to campaign for the NDA in the 2004 Bihar
assembly polls after Mr Nitish Kumar was named as the alliance’s chief
ministerial candidate.
But he made peace with the JD(U) leader after he was declared as the
BJP’s candidate from the Patna Saheb Lok Sabha constituency in 2009.
But for Mr Kumar’s backing, he would not have made it to the Lok
Sabha. Within his own Kayastha community, he did not have much support
as his candidature came at the cost of another legitimate claimant Mr
Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Sinha stirs up hornet’s nest on Gadkari team, BJP quiet
Express news service
Posted: Friday , Mar 19, 2010 at 2340 hrs
New Delhi:
An embarassed BJP on Thursday refused to react to party leader
Shatrughan Sinha’s criticisim of the newly-constituted team of party
office-bearers.
Earlier in the day, the actor-turned-MP said “some of the most
deserving people” have been left out of Nitin Gadkari’s team.
Specifically referring to the exclusion of former Union Finance
Minister Yashwant Sinha, the Patna Sahib MP stressed that Sinha had
held key portfolios at the Centre and in states, and that he was also
a former leader of opposition in the Bihar Assembly.
“Bihar Assembly polls are most crucial for the party in the near
future, yet a leader of the calibre of Yashwant Sinha has been kept
out of the team. Some of the people who could have been avoided have
been taken at the cost of some of the most deserving people,” Sinha
was quoted as saying.
Shatrughan Sinha is considered close to Yashwant Sinha, but he is not
on the best of terms with Ravi Shankar Prasad, who has been elevated
as a general secretary and chief spokesperson.
Sinha further said the team was constituted “without consulting people
who matter like my friend and leader of opposition Sushma Swaraj and
some other top leaders”.
“Being a senior and matured leader, I do not want to break party
discipline by making any undesirable comments but I am certainly
worried and to a certain extent unhappy with the composition of the
team,” he was quoted as saying. Prasad, however, refused to comment.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Sinha-stirs-up-hornet-s-nest-on-Gadkari-team--BJP-quiet/592738
Old faces dominate new BJP prez’s team
Shekhar Iyer, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, March 17, 2010
First Published: 00:52 IST(17/3/2010)
Last Updated: 01:01 IST(17/3/2010)
The big changes that BJP president Nitin Gadkari promised to bring
when he took over three months ago are still far away, judging by the
new team of office bearers he announced on Tuesday.
Gadkari picked many old hands and a few new faces, leaving many
aspirants disappointed even as he sought to perform a balancing act by
giving ample representation to various factions and social groups.
Rajnath Singh, who had to make way for Gadkari, appeared to have
succeeded in ensuring most of the office bearers close to him when he
was president, remained undisturbed in Gadkari’s reshuffle.
Among the other nine general secretaries, at least four are Rajnath
Singh’s core followers, led by former Jharkhand chief minister Arjun
Munda.
Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje was also made general
secretary, honouring the commitment made to her in return for her
stepping down as leader of the Rajasthan opposition.
Gadkari’s personal stamp was reflected in the choice of Himachal
Pradesh minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, as a general secretary, whom he
was associated closely with during their days in the Akhil Bharatiya
Vidyarthi Parishad.
The RSS, which pitched strongly for Gadkari being made president, has
reasons to be pleased, with many of its men allotted key positions.
They include Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, Murlidhar Rao and Tarun Vijay,
former editor of RSS mouthpiece Panchajanyaya.
In a bid to show 33 per cent went to women, Gadkari filled the
national executive with leaders like Maharashtra BJP youth wing leader
Shaina N. C., film star Kiron Kher, Poonam Azad (wife of former
cricketer Kirti Azad), and Shobhatai Phadanvis.
Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, who were critical of the party after
the poll debacle, retained their membership of the national executive.
List of new BJP team
Hindustan Times
New Delhi, March 16, 2010
First Published: 17:10 IST(16/3/2010)
Last Updated: 17:24 IST(16/3/2010)
Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari has announced party's
National Executive. It consists of 121 members, including 13 vice-
presidents, 10 general secretaries, 15 secretaries and one treasurer.
As provided for in the BJP constitution, the office bearers include as
many as 13 women, 33% of the total number. In all, there are 40 women
members. Besides, the president has also constituted BJP's
Parliamentary Board. The names of the members of the Central Election
Committee, Morcha Presidents and Conveners of different cells besides
some other functionaries will be announced later.
Office Bearers
President: Shri. Nitin Gadkari
Vice-Presidents
1. Shri Shanta Kumar
2 Shri Kalraj Mishra
3 Shri Vinay Katiyar
4 Shri Bhagatsingh Koshiyari
5 Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
6 Smt. Karuna Shukla
7 Smt. Najma Heptullah
8 Smt.Hema Malini
9 Smt.Bijoya Chakravarti
10 Shri Purushottam Rupala
11 Smt. Kiran Ghai
12
13
General Secretaries
1 Shri Ananth Kumar
2 Shri Thavarchand Gehlot
3 Smt.Vasundhara Raje
4 Shri Vijay Goyal
5 Shri Arjun Munda
6 Shri Ravishankar Prasad (Chief Spokesperson)
7 Shri Dharmendra Pradhan
8 Shri Narendrasingh Tomar
9 Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda
10 Shri Ram Lal (Organisation)
11 Shri V. Satish (Jt.Gen.Sec.Org)
12 Shri Saudan Singh (Jt.Gen.Sec.Org)
Secretaries
1 Shri Santosh Gangwar
2 Smt.Smriti Irani
3 Smt.Saroj Pande
4 Smt.Kiran Maheshwari
5 Shri Tapir Gao
6 Shri Navjot Singh Siddhu
7 Shri Ashok Pradhan
8 Shri Varun Gandhi
9 Shri Muralidhar Rao
10 Dr. Kirit Somaiyya
11 Dr. Laxman
12 Captain Abhimanyu
13 Smt.Arati Mehra
14 Shri Bhupendra Yadav
15 Kum.Vani Tripathi
Treasurer
Shri Piyush Goyal
Official Spokespersons
Shri Prakash Javdekar
Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy
Shri Shahnawaz Hussain
Shri Ramnath Kovind
Shri Tarun Vijay
Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
Members
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Shri Lal Krishna Advani
Dr. Murali Manohar Joshi
Shri Bangaru Laxman
Shri Venkaiya Naidu
Shri Rajnath Singh
Smt. Sushma Swaraj
Shri Arun Jaitley
Shri Bal Apte
Shri Yashwant Sinha
Shri Gopinath Munde
Shri S.S.Ahaluwalia
Shri Arun Shouri
Shri Balveer Punj
Shri Chandan Mitra
Smt. Mridula Sinha
Shri Shatrughan Sinha
Shri Kaptansigh Solanki
Smt. Sumitra Mahajan
Smt. Jayavantiben Mehta
Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe
Shri Sheshadri Chari
Smt. Anita Arya
Dr. C. P. Thakur
Shri Dilip Singh Judeo
Smt. Sudha Yadav
Shri Ramtahal Chaudhari
Smt. Maneka Gandhi
Shri Yogi Adityanath
Shri Lalji Tandon
Shri Hukumdev Narayan Yadav
Dr. J. K Jain
Dr. Anil Jain
Shri Arun Singh
Shri Nalin Kohli
Shri Jayprakash Agrawal (Surya)
Smt.Punam Azad
Smt. Rekha Gupta
Smt. Pinki Anand
Shri Hari Babu
Smt. Shanta Reddy
Smt.Sukhada Pande
Shri Bhupendrasingh Chudasama
Shri Balubhai Shukla
Shri Omprakash Dhankad
Shri Vinod Khanna
Smt. Kiran Kher
Shri Arjun Meghwal
Shri Subhash Mehriya
Smt.Suman Shringi
Shri Manavendra Singh
Shri Omkarsingh Lakhawat
Shri H. Raja
Smt. Lalitha Kumar Mangalam
Shri M. T. Ramesh
Shri C. H. Vijayshankar
Smt.Gouri Chaoudhari
Shri Bijoy Mahapatra
Smt. Surama Padhi
Smt. Shobhatai Phadanvis
Shri Mahesh Jethamalani
Smt. Shaina N C
Smt. Manisha Chaudhari
Shri Nana Shamkule
Smt. Kanta Nalavade
Smt. Louis Marandi
Shri Sunil Singh
Shri Faggansingh Kulaste
Shri Virendra Kumar Khatik
Smt. Nirmala Bhuriya
Shri Satpal Malik
Dr. Vijay Sonkar Shastri
Shri Manoj Sinha
Smt.Sarla Singh
Shri Rambux Verma
Shri Hukum Singh
Shri Sudhanshu Trivedi
Shri Sadhvi Niranjana Jyoti
Shri Ajay Tamta
Smt. Shanti Mehra
Smt. Ranjana Sahi
BJP National Executive
Permanent Invitees
Chief Ministers
Shri Narendra Modi
Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan
Dr. Raman Singh
Shri Premkumar Dhumal
Shri B. S. Yediurappa
Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank
Deputy Chief Ministers
Shri Sushil Modi
Shri Raghuvar Das
Ex-Governors
Shri Kedarnath Sahni
Shri Kailashpati Mishra
Shri V. Rama Rao
Ex-Chief Ministers
Shri Sundarlal Patwa
Shri Keshubhai Patel
Shri Madanlal Khurana
Shri B. C. Khanduri
Shri Nityanand Swami
Shri Kailash Joshi
Shri Babulal Gaur
Shri Manohar Parrikar
Legislature Leaders
Shri Ganga Prasad
Dr. V. S. Acharya
Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra
Shri Eknath Khadse
Shri Bhausaheb Phundkar
Shri Ghanashyam Tiwari (Officiating)
Shri Om Prakash Singh
Shri Nepal Singh
Shri Mission Ranjan Das
Shri Chaman Lal Gupta
Shri K. V. Singhdev
Shri Manoranjan Kalia
Shri Tamigo Taga, (Arunachal Pradesh)
Shri Anil Viz
Chief Whips in Parliament
Shri Ramesh Bains
Smt. Maya Singh
Parliamentary Party Secretary and Jt.Sec.
Shri Ramkripal Sinha
Shri Shanmuganathan
Others
Shri O.Rajgopal
Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya
Shri Kesarinath Tripathi
Shri Devdas Apte (Bapu Apte)
Shri Sadanand Gowda
Shri Tanveer Hyder Osmani
Dr. Harsh Vardhan
Shri. Vidyasagar Rao
Shri Bandaru Dattatreya
Shri Vinod Pande
Shri M. Bharot Singh
Shri Rajen Gohain
Shri Ramen Deka
Shri Nilmani Dev
Shri Vishnudeo Sai
Shri Naresh Bansal
Shri Harendra Pratap
Shri Rambilas Sharma
Shri Maheshwar Singh
Dr. Nirmal Singh
Shri Rajendra Bhandari
Shri Stayapal Jain
Shri Gulabchand Katariya
Shri Ramdas Agarwal
Shri L. Ganeshan
Shri C. K. Padmanabhan
Shri Tathagat Roy
Shri Shripad Yesso Naik
Shri Rampyare Pande
Shri Anant Nayak
Shri Prakash Mehta
Shri Vinod Tawde
Shri Amit Thakar
Shri Suresh Pujari
Shri R. Ramkrishna
Shri Om Prakash Kohli
Dr. Ramapati Ram Tripathi
Shri Ashok Khajuriya
Shri Mange Ram Garg
Shri Jagdish Mukhi
BJP National Executive
Special Invitees
Shri Padmanabh Acharya
Shri Sukumar Nambiyar
Shri Baldev Prakash Tandon
Shri Vijay Kapoor
Shri Arun Sathe
Shri Nand Kishor Garg
Dr. Vaman Acharya
Shri Jagdish Shettigar
Shri Alok Kumar
Shri Arun Adsad
Shri S. Sureshkumar
Shri C. S. Parcha
Shri Gajendra Chauhan
Smt. Anandiben Patel
Shri Amit Shah
Shri Kishansingh Sangwan
Shri Govind Karjal
Ramji Rishidev
Shri Banvarilal Purohit
Shri Haribhau Bagde
Shri Chaitanya Kashyap
Shri Hriday Narayan Dixit
Shri Tanveer Ahmed
Shri Rajesh Shah
Shri Rajendra Agrawal
Shri Bhupendra Thakur
Shri Harjit Singh Grewal
Shri Ravikant Garg
Shri Suvarn Saleriya
Col. Bainsala
Shri Siddharthanath Singh
Shri Uday Bhaskar Nayar
Smt. Kavita Khanna
Shri Amitabh Sinha
Shri Ashutosh Varshneya
Shri Ajay Sancheti
BJP Parliamentary Board
Shri Nitin Gadkari, Chairman
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Shri Lal Krishna Advani
Dr. Murali Manohar Joshi
Shri Venkaiya Naidu
Shri Rajnath Singh
Smt. Sushma Swaraj
Shri Arun Jaitley
Shri Bal Apte
Shri Ananth Kumar (Secretary)
Shri Thavarchand Gehlot
Shri Ram Lal
http://www.hindustantimes.com/newdelhi/List-of-new-BJP-team/520507/H1-Article1-519745.aspx
Labouring to keep alive
March 18, 2010
First Published: 23:08 IST(18/3/2010)
Last Updated: 23:10 IST(18/3/2010)
When it comes to infusing our laws with the finest principles
possible, India has no parallel. It’s when we come to implementing
these laws that we find many a slip between the proverbial cup and
the lip. Perhaps most deceptive of them all is India’s labour and
industrial practices. Blessed — or, if one looks at it with a
different perspective, cursed — with large deposits of iron ore,
mining is big business in the district of West Singhbhum in Jharkhand.
With the demand for iron ore increasing to fuel national industrial
development, a negative correlation to the length of people’s lives
and health index has become increasingly noticeable. Thousands of
mineworkers, including young boys and girls, suffer from siderosis, a
lung disorder that is caused by prolonged exposure to red (mining)
dust. The lifespan of these workers, who have no or minimal protective
gear, in this region is a shocking 40-45 years. In the meantime, in
21st century India’s national capital New Delhi, a committee appointed
by the Delhi High Court has found workers at Commonwealth Games-
related construction sites not being paid minimum wages and, in many
cases, being made to work overtime for no extra remuneration. Their
living conditions are appalling and in many cases they are bereft of
any sanitation facilities.
In both semi-urban and urban cases, we are dealing with serf-like
conditions while on paper we are chugging along a First World
trajectory. Laws are being openly flouted with the State turning a
blind eye and seemingly only concerned that ‘the work’ is done. Some,
like Jharkhand deputy chief minister, prefer to put such ‘chalta hai’
issues on the backburner (he has asked for a report). That the working
conditions of miners is appalling in this country, more so if the
mines are illegal and that many of the workers don’t work with
protective gear is an old story. What should be a new story if India
is to protect itself from charges of being uncaring towards its own
people is the implementation of laws.
Whenever Indian workers are mistreated abroad, especially in the Gulf
States, we spare no effort in criticising — and rightly so — foreign
governments. But the conditions here are, in many cases, no better. As
job opportunities shrink in rural India and a construction boom takes
place all across, more labourers will enter the cities. This is a
labour class that needs basic protection and policies relating to
special target groups such as women and child labour. There was a time
when labour unions held the nation’s development to ransom. We can’t
now have a callous State holding the lives and livelihood of our
workers hostage in the name of progress.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/editorial-views-on/edits/Labouring-to-keep-alive/Article1-520657.aspx
Face The Nation: Varun no match for Rahul
CNN-IBN
Published on Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 23:21, Updated on Thu, Mar 18, 2010
at 00:50 in Politics section
ANALYSIS: Experts discuss the Gandhi vs Gandhi politics on Face The
Nation.
The (Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has unveiled its new list of office
bearers and the list includes Varun Gandhi. Varun Gandhi, first time
MP from Pilibhit, is best known for his inflammatory pro-Hindutva
speeches during the general elections last year, speeches for which he
was jailed under the National Security Act. Now the BJP has ended his
isolation within the BJP and made Varun an office bearer with the rank
of secretary. CNN-IBN on Face The Nation asked: Can Varun Gandhi
compete with Rahul Gandhi?
Congress, BSP trying to trap Varun: Rajnath
IANS
Published on Wed, Apr 01, 2009 at 13:14, Updated on Wed, Apr 01, 2009
at 13:43 in Politics section
RALLYING FOR VARUN: Rajnath Singh said that the BJP was firmly
standing behind Varun Gandhi.
Raipur: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajnath Singh on
Wednesday asserted that Varun Gandhi was being "politically and
legally" supported by the party. He accused the Congress and Bahujan
Samaj Party (BSP) of "exploiting" the National Security Act (NSA) to
"trap" the BJP nominee in Pilibhit in the Lok Sabha polls.
"What is happening with Varun Gandhi is unfortunate. He is being
harassed and the BJP condemns it," Rajnath Singh said at a press
conference in Raipur.
The 'other' Gandhi, the BJP nominee from the Utar Pradesh Lok Sabha
seat, is now in jail on charges of vilifying Muslims in his campaign
speeches.
"The information I have been getting from Varun Gandhi's secretary is
very disturbing. The episode is a shame for the nation. The BSP and
Congress are trying to trap him," Rajnath Singh said.
"I wanted to personally meet Varun Gandhi but he is jailed in Uttar
Pradesh and I am campaigning in other states. So I have asked Venkaiah
Naidu to meet him and express the party's support. The BJP is
politically and legally rallying behind Varun Gandhi," the BJP
President said.
Varun on D-gang hitlist, moved to Etah jail
Trailing Varun Gandhi: From Pilibhit to Etah
"His detention under the NSA is shameful. It is the joint act of the
Congress and BSP. Where do they want to lead the country?" asked
Rajnath Singh.
The Uttar Pradesh government had on Sunday invoked the NSA against
Varun Gandhi, the BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from the seat held earlier
by his mother Maneka Gandhi, for his reported hate speeches and mob
violence during his arrest on Saturday.
"The Congress and BSP have created an Emergency-like situation by
exploiting the NSA. Varun Gandhi has no criminal record," said the BJP
President.
For reasons of security, Varun Gandhi was shifted from the prison in
Pilibhit to a jail in Uttar Pradesh's Etah town at around 1:30 hrs IST
on Wednesday.
"There is a threat to Varun Gandhi's life. The centre, Uttar Pradesh
government and Election Commission should take note of this and ensure
foolproof security for him," said Rajnath Singh.
"The Congress and BSP have crossed all limits to gain political
mileage. They are playing with fire. The BJP will not remain quiet,"
he added.
BJP, Cong may stun SP, BSP; due to Gandhis
Pallavi Ghosh / CNN-IBN
Published on Sat, May 02, 2009 at 01:06, Updated on Sat, May 02, 2009
at 09:20 in Politics section
New Delhi: After three phases of polling, it appears the Congress and
the BJP may well be doing better than expected in the key state of
Uttar Pradesh with the potential losers being the SP and the BSP.
So has Rahul Gandhi's “go it alone” policy and BJP’s Hindutva slant
clicked? Ground reports suggest so. Muslims, having turned their back
on the Congress after the Babri demolition, are doing a rethink after
Mulayam embraced Kalyan Singh.
The good news for BJP is that Brahmins are tiring of Mayawati's social
engineering which has now begun targeting the Muslims.
It was Rahul's idea to walk it alone in the crucial state despite
having taken the Samajwadi support during the trust vote. But a bitter
SP thinks Rahul's romance with this idea will be shortlived.
There are smiles on BJP faces, having once boasted of big names from
the state, the party was groping for a foothold. Now, after three
phases of polling, the Hindutva strategy, which was not overplayed
except in Pilibhit, may have clicked.
And as the Congress and the BJP prepare for the last two phases, it
will be Gandhi versus Gandhi as Rahul and Varun take each other on.
The national parties are relying on the same family tree to reap a
harvest in Uttar Pradesh.
Six from state get pride of place in Team Gadkari
Express News Service
Posted: Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010 at 0233 hrs
Lucknow:
With six of its leaders being given prominent place in the 121-member
national committee of the BJP, the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit has
certainly managed to find a good place in national president Nitin
Gadkari’s team.
Out of the 13 vice-presidents, three are from the state — Kalraj
Mishra, former national general secretaries Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and
Vinay Katiyar. Among the 15 secretaries in Team Gadkari, three are
again from UP — former Bulandshaher MP Ashok Pradhan, former Bareilly
MP Santosh Gangwar and Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi. Out of the six
official spokespersons, one is from the state — Ramnath Kovind, who
represents the party’s Dalit face.
While Naqvi is one of the prominent Muslim faces from the state,
Katiyar is a firebrand leader and Mishra a veteran. Among the
secretaries too, Santosh Gangwar is a six-time MP and a former Union
minister. After his defeat in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the party
was said to be looking to suitably place him at the national level.
Ashok Pradhan was one of the primary reasons for former chief minister
Kalyan Singh to leave the BJP and is said to have a good base in
Bulandshahr and surrounding districts. And at a time when Singh is
building the base of his new party in this area, Pradhan being lifted
to secretary’s post is certainly strategic.
Varun Gandhi, a first-time MP from Pilibhit and son of Maneka Gandhi,
is the party’s youth face not just in UP but also, on the national
chart. And together, the trio will represent western UP, where the
party is trying to regain grounds with its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal
drifting away.
Gadkari has also given 33 per cent of the posts to women, thus
becoming the first party in the country to give reservation to women
in their organisation. Here too, Uttar Pradesh has been given a “fair
share” with Aonla MP Maneka Gandhi, Mahila Morcha president Sarla
Singh and Saadhvi Niranjana Jyoti being made members of the national
executive. “It is good that even women leaders from UP have been
inducted in the committee. The state has potential and these women
will prove it,” said Vinay Katiyar.
Apart from these “cream” posts, many other leaders from the state have
also found a place in the team. These include Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
Murli Manohar Joshi, Rajnath Singh, Maneka Gandhi, Hukum Singh, Satpal
Malik, Rajnath Singh, Yogi Adityanath, Keshari Nath Tripathi and Lalji
Tandon as members, Hriday Narain Dixit as special invitee and Om
Prakash Singh and Nepal Singh as legislature leaders.
The party’s state unit has thanked Gadkari for giving representation
to UP. State BJP vice-president H N Dixit, who has also been inducted
as a special invitee, said that by including 34 leaders from UP,
Gadkari has shown his trust in the state unit.
“These leaders will certainly strengthen not just state campaigns, but
also national campaigns,” he added.
It is also expected that more faces from Uttar Pradesh will find a
place in the national scene, as the convenors of different cells and
Morcha presidents will be announced in the days to come.
Comments (1) |
Im-mature Varun
By: Ganesh Singh | 17-Mar-2010
Gadkari ji wants to please every one. But if you want to strengthen
your party, you will have to take some tough decisions. you were gr8
in saying that party and his policies makes people and not vice versa
but at present situation you are again doing the same thing. Including
immature persons like Varun Gandhi in your team shows to which level
you are going to please others. Varun has won because of the gr8 work
done by his mother Manekaji not because of his controversial speeches.
I dont know why RSS is intersted in projecting Varun as youth face.
Did they want to pick someone only from elite people of BJP. Can't
they pick some leaders from ABVP as youth face. If they really lack so
they must work with their ground workers to find out someone instead
of proposing Varun.
Gadkari's inclusive act may open old fissures in BJP
Nistula Hebbar / DNA
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 0:45 IST
New Delhi: Nitin Gadkari was the answer of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) to the leadership crisis in the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), driven listless by debilitating factionalism and ego clashes
not long ago. After three months as BJP president, Gadkari had a task
on hand: To give the party a sense of direction. As he came out with
his list of office-bearers on Tuesday, the jury was still out.
The BJP president’s list of 121 office-bearers is a blend of youth and
experience, Hindutva hardliners and doves, and several other
conflicting strains in the party. However, if a team is supposed to be
a statement of intent, Gadkari’s is not one. At best, it reflects his
inclusive approach and his seriousness to promote third and fourth
generations of leaders.
The new BJP team has 13 vice-presidents, 10 general secretaries, 15
secretaries and one treasurer. The party also announced its 81-member
national executive. While several faces have made their debut — actor
Hema Malini as vice-president, and Varun Gandhi, Vani Tripathi, Smriti
Irani and Arti Mehra as secretaries — there is a feeling that many
older faces have been unduly rewarded.
Gadkari’s new team was being closely watched in the context of
factionalism in the party and the RSS’s demands.
Despite a disastrous record as party president, senior leader Rajnath
Singh has managed to get key posts for his people. Three general
secretaries — Thawarchand Gehlot, Narendra Singh Tomar and Vijay Goel
— owe loyalty to him. This means Singh would continue to have a say
under the new dispensation.
In the parliamentary board, the most important body of the party, LK
Advani holds sway.
Except for Rajnath Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi and Thawarchand Gehlot,
all other members — Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and parliamentary
board secretary Ananth Kumar — are Advani loyalists. The arrangement
might also open a can of worms for Gadkari.
While RSS nominees like Varun Gandhi, Muralidhar Rao and Tarun Vijay
have been accommodated, it was expected that Rao would get a better
position. Gadkari, who is trying to project a soft image of himself,
had to accommodate hardliners like Vinay Katiyar to please the mother
organisation.
The biggest disappointment to those expecting Gadkari’s list to be a
departure from the past was the absence of a Muslim face in any
effective party position. While Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Najma
Heptullah have been made vice-presidents, a largely decorative post,
Bhagalpur MP Shahnawaz Hussain, who was tipped to be general secretary
in this team, was adjusted as one of the spokespersons. No Muslim
finds a place in the party’s parliamentary board either.
The list appeared a little skewed in favour of one state and against
some others. For example, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh appeared very
well represented, with the former getting one vice-president in Hema
Malini, three secretaries and the party treasurer Piyush Goel. Out of
the 10 general secretaries, two — Thawarchand Gehlot and Narendra
Singh Tomar — are from Madhya Pradesh.
“We cannot help but compare this to Karnataka’s case, which is the
party’s first government in the south, and apart from Ananth Kumar,
who has always found space at the centre, only Vijayshankar from the
state has been made a member of the national executive,” said a senior
leader.
Women have found ample space in the new team. With 40 out of 121
members being women, the party has kept its promise of 33% quota for
them in organisational posts.
The party’s chief spokesperson and newly appointed Ravi Shankar
described the team as a blend of the young and the old. What it might,
however, do is end the ceasefire in the party and give fresh impetus
to the party’s many discontented elements.
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_gadkari-s-inclusive-act-may-open-old-fissures-in-bjp_1359938
Orissa deploys force to prevent Togadia's Kandhamal visit
PTI
Friday, March 19, 2010 17:18 IST
Phulbani (Orissa): In the face of VHP's international secretary
general, Pravin Togadia's proposed visit to Kandhamal in Orissa this
evening defying ban, the district administration has deployed police
and a magistrate at the entry point to the riot-hit town to prevent
him, official sources said.
The district administration has also imposed prohibitory orders under
section 144 of the CrPC to stop Togadia and other members of the VHP
from visiting the town, additional district magistrate
(ADM),Kandhamal, Arnanchal Das said.
The VHP leader had yesterday challeged the state government to arrest
him as he was all set to defy the ban order. "I will enter to
Kandhamal along with 100 sadhus," Togadia said.
The district administration is also contemplating steps to seal road
at Madhapur, the entry point to Kandhamal district.
Kandhamal witnessed widespread riot from August 2008 till October 2009
following the killing of VHP leader Lakhsmananda Saraswati.
Togadia to defy Orissa govt's ban on his visit to Kandhamal
PTI
Thursday, March 18, 2010 23:10 IST
Bhubaneswar: Defying the Orissa government's ban on his proposed visit
to Kandhamal, VHP leader Pravin Togadia today announced his plan to
forcibly enter into the communally sensitive district tomorrow.
"I will go to Kandhamal along with 100 sadhus as per prior programme,"
Togadia told reporters after addressing a public meeting in Nuapada
district.
The VHP's firebrand leader also challenged the Naveen Patnaik
government to arrest him.
"I am ready to be arrested than succumbing to the state government's
undemocratic decision", he said adding that it was not possible for
him and the VHP to cancel the programme.
"While the state government spread red carpet to welcome the European
diplomats to Kandhamal, it is not proper to clamp ban on the entry of
a Hindu leader," he said.
The administration of Kandhamal imposed prohibitory order under
section 144 of the CrPC at many sensitive places.
"If Togadia or any other person try to defy the ban, action would be
taken in accordance with the law of the land," additional
superintendent of police (ASP), Kandhamal, CR Das said.
Das said the district administration would not tolerate if any one
tried to disturb peace in the area.
BJP cautions Orissa govt over ban on Pravin Togadia's Kandhamal visit
PTI
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 22:39 IST
Bhubaneshwar: Terming the decision to ban the visit of the VHP leader
Pravin Togadia to Kandhamal district as 'whimisical', the BJP today
warned that the Orissa government would be reponsible if communal
harmony was disturbed at any place over the issue.
MF Husain accepting Qatar nationality victory for Hindus: Pravin
Togadia
Nitin Gadkari offers to rebuild Babri Masjid
"Chief minister Naveen Patnaik will be held reponsible if communal
tension Arises in Kandhamal and other parts of the state over the
government's whimisical decision," a statement issued by the state BJP
said.
The saffron party's reaction came a day after the Kandhamal district
administration denied permission to Togadia to enter Kandhamal
district, which had witnessed riots last year and the year before.
"While the government offered a red carpet welcome to diplomats from
nine European countries, there is no point in putting a ban on
Togadia's visit," party's vice-president Ashok Sahu said.
The firebrand VHP leader was scheduled to visit Kandhamal on March 19
and spend a night in Phulbani town.
Togadia's three-day Orissa visit would start from tomorrow, state VHP
general secretary Gouri Prasad Rath said.
Sid Harth
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
BOOKS
Circular reasoning
T. JAYARAMAN
The author loses sight of the possibility that the decline of religion
is indeed the long-term trend in modern industrial societies.
Meera Nanda’s writing occupies a distinctive intellectual niche in the
academic and media discourse on the nature and practice of secularism
in India. In a major book, Prophets Facing Backward, and in a number
of academic papers, essays and media articles (and two short
collections of essays), she has brought to bear a perspective on this
question that distinguishes her work from a wide variety of other
writers and scholars engaged with this theme.
Her work so far has been marked by the special attention she has paid
to the relationship between science and secularism in the Indian
context. Going beyond the limitations of the arguments over the
Nehruvian vision of the link between secularism and scientific temper,
she has drawn attention to the much larger role of science in the
debate between secularists on the one hand and Hindu communalism on
the other. In Meera Nanda’s account, the ideological machinery of
Hindu communalism in the 20th century has drawn sustenance from a more
pervasive and widespread neo-Hinduism, central to whose world view is
the idea that Hinduism provides a uniquely “scientific” perspective in
the spiritual quest. While all fundamentalisms have some form of
exceptionalism as part of their ideological foundations, Hindutva’s
particular brand arises from this allegedly unique “scientific” nature
of Hinduism as compared with all other religions.
Meera Nanda has argued convincingly that it is the widespread
acceptance, overtly or otherwise, of this brand of Hindu
exceptionalism, even by those who were in many other respects in the
secular camp, that rendered Indian secularism vulnerable to attack
even before a full-scale attack was mounted on it by a resurgent
Hindutva in the late 1980s. Meera Nanda has argued, again
convincingly, that all modern trends in Hinduism, given their tendency
for an uncritical acceptance of this notion of Hindu exceptionalism,
render themselves vulnerable to being co-opted into the ranks of
Hindutva. She has provided an engaging account in Prophets Facing
Backward of the different stratagems that neo-Hinduism adopts in the
pursuit of the “scientificity” of Hinduism, often on the basis of
loose pseudo-scientific analogies between the language of science and
the vocabulary of Hinduism. The contemporary brand of Indian pseudo-
science that is actively championed by Hindutva, an Indian parallel as
it were to the well-known link between evangelical Christianity and
the American brand of pseudo-science, is in Meera Nanda’s view rooted
in this aspect of neo-Hinduism. In her short book titled The
Ecological Wrongs of the Religious Right, she has explored the
particular case of the neo-Hindu and Hindutva version of religion-
inspired pseudo-science in the realms of biology and ecology.
In her latest work, The God Market, Meera Nanda turns to explore a
somewhat different aspect of this link between contemporary Hinduism,
the professed secular nature of the Indian state, and Hindutva. The
focus here, in her own words, is on the “changing trends in popular
Hinduism”, and the overall aim is to describe how “modern Hindus are
taking their gods with them into the brave new world and how Hindu
institutions are making use of the new opportunities opened up by
neoliberalism and globalisation”.
The crux of the argument in the book is that there is a causal
connection between economic reforms and the rise of popular Hindu
religiosity. Meera Nanda argues that economic reform, while
encouraging a “neoliberal market economy [sic]”, is also “boosting the
demand and supply for religious services in India’s God market”, and
the progressively greater embedding of a new Hindu religiosity in
everyday life, in both public and private spheres, is aided by the new
political economy. With the withdrawal of the Nehruvian state from the
social sector, a new state-temple-corporate complex is emerging to
fill the space as a consequence of the state actively seeking
partnership with the private sector and the Hindu establishment. The
rising tide of popular religiosity among the Hindu middle classes in
the era of liberalisation is a consequence of this religiosity being
deliberately cultivated by an “emerging state-temple-corporate complex
that is replacing the more secular public institutions of the
Nehruvian era”. This rising tide of popular Hindu religiosity
continues to feed the forces of Hindutva, assisting among other things
in the routine conflation of the domain of the national with the
domain of Hinduism.
The idea that globalisation is in some way intimately connected with,
or is even perhaps one of the drivers of, the many fundamentalisms
that we see in the world today is an idea that has respectable
patronage, including, among others, the eminent historian Romila
Thapar. In the Indian context, it has been widely noted that the
challenge to the Nehruvian vision of secularism and scientific temper
has risen in the same era as the era of economic reform and the right-
ward shift in Indian foreign policy, away from the vision of India as
the leader of the non-aligned world towards a vision of India as a
global player aligned strategically with the United States and the
developed world. In opposition to the view that the Sangh Parivar is
somehow anti-globalisation and that self-reliance is somehow equally a
Parivar slogan (a view aided by the activities and attitudes of the
Swadeshi Jagran Manch, a Parivar outfit), commentators on the Left
have argued that Hindutva is no less pro-economic reform and that it
is equally at home with liberalisation and globalisation.
Nevertheless, few have argued for a causal nexus between globalisation
and the rise of popular Hindu religiosity as closely as Meera Nanda,
or shown the two to be as directly knit as she portrays in this new
book.
OBVIOUS PROPOSITION
Much of the book appears to be actually devoted to arguing the much
weaker proposition that contemporary Hindu institutions are actively
utilising the opportunities provided by the modern world to further
their cause. One may argue that this is a somewhat obvious proposition
with a wealth of examples, which can be picked even from casual
observation, to back it up. Religious preaching or fundamentalist
propaganda can reach out much further in the era of instant
communication. Cable or satellite television broadcasts provide many
opportunities that are utilised by all manner of religious or
fundamentalist organisations. A wide variety of Hindu institutions and
neo-Hindu cults, ranging from the religious trust and administration
associated with the temples at Tirupati and Tirumala to the
organisations associated with religious personalities such as Sai Baba
or Mata Amritanandamayi, run educational institutions and even modern,
officially recognised universities. Hindu organisations and cults
administer a range of charities and organisations dealing with health
and medicine. Hindu organisations have proliferated around the world
and have struck especially strong roots where there is a numerically
significant and well-heeled Indian diaspora. The diaspora followers of
Hindu organisations are also an important source of funds, as well as
prestige and visibility, for Hindu and Hindutva organisations. After
all, what credibility or oomph would a guru or swamiji possess without
at least a small retinue of non-resident Indians and preferably
foreigners?
Meera Nanda covers much of this kind of ground with many apt
illustrations in the second, third and fourth chapters of her book.
One may certainly agree with her in the characterisation that she
offers of the three significant dimensions of contemporary popular
Hindu religiosity, namely the invention of new rituals, the
gentrification of the gods and the booming guru culture. Indeed, much
of the characterisation is based on scholarly work available on the
subject. The existence of a booming guru culture and its links to
Hindutva is of course somewhat obvious.
However, it is arguable whether these examples really lay a basis for
her claims of the emergence of a state-temple-corporate complex. It is
certainly true that the Indian state has increasingly weakened secular
credentials after the rise of Hindutva and the success of Hindutva-
related political forces in being elected to govern both at the Centre
and in the States. Much has been written, including by Meera Nanda
herself, regarding the attempted de-secularisation of government
consequent to the electoral victories of the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), especially at the Centre. The Sangh Parivar penetration of the
government was a major issue in the period of BJP rule, but a timid
United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government refused resolutely to
“detoxify” (to use the late Harkishen Singh Surjeet’s fine phrase)
government institutions, especially in the educational sector, which
was a prime Parivar target.
It is also true that corporate India, despite some initial misgivings,
has learnt to live peaceably with Hindutva. BJP-ruled States have been
no less eager to roll out the red carpet for the captains of industry
both from home and abroad. Several major corporate houses also have a
long record of involvement in charitable work relating to religious
institutions. Corporate houses have demonstrated their willingness to
put secularism on the back burner and prioritise their short-term
economic and financial interests (as with the house of Tatas and the
Modi government).
What is unconvincing is the overarching claim that these examples
point to the emergence of something that merits the rather grand
appellation of a “state-temple-corporate” complex. Indeed, corporate
houses are uncomfortable with a militant Hindutva that disturbs law
and order and stable governance and were certainly more than satisfied
with the return of the UPA to power. Many institutions of the Indian
state are willing to act and do act to protect secular values at
critical moments. The critical issue here is to recognise the
ambivalence of the state and the corporate sector in relation to
secularism and not to one-sidedly use as evidence only their non-
secular or anti-secular actions. Regrettably, in the author’s “take no
prisoners” style of argument, there is little room to understand or
explore this ambivalence. Either the state is secular in full measure
in the classical sense of the term or it must necessarily be
considered entirely anti-secular.
In the event, the author herself can identify only two areas where
this complex [sic] is significant, the first being education and the
second, tourism. Even in these two sectors, the claim that the state
and the private sector are working together to promote Hinduism seems
less than credible. It is certainly true that the increasing
privatisation of education is also utilised by Hindutva-related
organisations to set up their own institutions, like numerous others.
However, Meera Nanda’s claim that what the BJP government could not
establish by way of Hindu-centrism of education is being accomplished
by privatisation requires more evidence than is presented in the
book.
Many would agree with Meera Nanda’s view that secular education is a
public good that the state ought to provide to all its citizens
without throwing them at the mercy of faith-based or cult-based
institutions. But to proceed from the relative absence of state-run
educational institutions and the ideological space that this affords
Hindutva to the claim that “economic globalisation and neoliberal
reforms have created the material and ideological conditions in which
a popular and ritualistic Hindu religiosity is growing” is a leap that
seems unwarranted.
SANDEEP SAXENA
Birla Mandir in New Delhi, illuminated on the occasion of Janmashtami
on August 14.
The argument is even thinner in the case of tourism, where the
author’s argument is based on the state’s, and occasionally corporate
houses’, support for religious tourism. Even this reviewer, who is no
votary of religious pilgrimages, is constrained to point out that
tourism in India, untouched by the religious inclination, is a modern
construct. For the newly rich as well as those of the poor and middle
classes who have small disposable surpluses, religious pilgrimage is
likely to be the first form of tourism. In another direction,
occasions for the mass display of popular religiosity such as the
Kumbh Mela certainly call for the intervention of the government in
the interest of common safety and security. To take all instances of
government regulation of religious tourism uncritically together and
to read into it the emergence of a state-temple-corporate complex does
not seem to aid a critical understanding of the link between popular
religiosity and secularism. It is of course true that religious
pilgrimage sites are happy hunting grounds for Hindutva groups to
further their ideological campaign, and specific issues relating to
some popular pilgrimage sites such as the Amarnath caves can certainly
provide grist to the Hindutva mill.
Popular religiosity is a complex phenomenon, especially in the
presence of many ideological forces and undercurrents in a society in
a state of transition, even if not rapid transformation. It is a
phenomenon that has many layers to it, as activists and scholars on
the issue of communalism have come to recognise across the country.
The book unfortunately displays little inclination to engage carefully
with this literature. Perhaps in the author’s perception such theories
do not belong to the class of “the most cutting-edge social theories
about globalisation and the resurgence of religion” that she promises
the reader in the introductory chapter.
Given the thinness of the author’s evidence relative to the weight of
the theoretical conclusions that she wishes to draw, it is
unsurprising that the theoretical considerations in the book are among
its weakest and most unconvincing sections. The first chapter on
globalisation covers ground that would be quite familiar to most of
the author’s likely audience in India. It is a chapter that leaves one
with the impression that the book is really meant for a non-Indian
audience. But it is in the last chapter that the insufficiency of the
theoretical perspective that Meera Nanda brings to bear on the problem
is most evident as the author showers a series of “cutting-edge social
theories” on an unwary reader.
In substance, the author is in sympathy with the perspective, most
notably espoused by the sociologist Peter L. Berger in his later work,
that the secular project has essentially failed. Berger famously
recanted in 1999 his earlier vision of the inevitable decline of
religion, arguing that the supernatural has not lost its plausibility
in the modern world. While Meera Nanda believes that this is
applicable to India, she disagrees with Berger’s argument that this
persistence of religion lies in the economic fact of the undermining
of life’s certainties for the majority of the population and the
appropriation of secular values by the rich. She, quite correctly,
points to the fact that contrary to what Berger suggests, popular
religiosity in India has also significantly risen among those who have
benefited enormously from economic reform and that popular religiosity
grips both the well-to-do and the poor.
Of course, in transposing Berger’s argument to India, Meera Nanda
(along with Berger) loses sight of the possibility that this
resurgence of religion could well be a short-lived phenomenon and that
the decline of religion is indeed the long-term trend in modern
industrial societies.
NEOLIBERAL PERSPECTIVE
For the subsequent part of her argument the author moves on,
approvingly, to what she calls the “neoliberal” perspective on
religion, the next in her shopping list of theories. This is indeed
curious because while she has always been dismissive of the Marxist
view of religion, labelling it as reductionist, she turns now to a
view that fully merits the label. In this demand-supply view of
religion, espoused by Rodney Stark and his academic collaborators,
there is indeed no room for the notion of secularisation. Religion
always exists, so the argument runs, because there is a need, or a
“demand”, for it. Whether it will be satisfied or not is a question of
the “supply” of appropriate religions that are efficacious in
responding to it. In this view, secularisation is an illusion created
by the lack of appropriate supply to meet the demand for religion over
brief historical periods. Social facts such as the fall of church
attendance and overt religious observance do not mean the progress of
secularisation as the persistence of personal belief points to a
“potential demand” that is not being met by existing religious
institutions.
UNCLEAR RATIONALE
It is from this perspective that the author formulates the proposition
mentioned at the outset of this article, namely, that it is the
neoliberal market economy following globalisation that is boosting the
demand and supply for religious services in India’s God market. The
rationale for this proposition is completely unclear as she appears to
conflate the application of a demand-supply or market perspective on
religion with the nature of religiosity in an era where economic
policy is dominated by the market perspective.
But what is even stranger about the turn that her argument takes is
that, in this demand-supply perspective, the weakly secular character
of the Indian state is indeed a virtue that has led to greater
religious plurality, as evidenced by the wide variety of cults and
sects and religions in India. How then does the author square the
circle, reconciling her use of the neoliberal perspective on religion
after having railed against Hindutva and upbraided the Indian state
for having forsaken secularism? There is indeed no direct answer that
the author provides. All she can offer the curious reader is the
somewhat feeble response that indeed a pure market for religion would
not be problematic, but it is the unfortunate extension of sacrality
to the realm of non-sacral entitites like the nation that is the
source of the problem. The circularity of her reasoning and argument
appears entirely to escape the notice of the author.
The book ends with an appeal for the creation in India of meaningful
secular spaces, where people may interact with each other without
reference to religious identities. Praiseworthy as this statement
undoubtedly is, it is small consolation for the interested reader who,
having followed the author into the blind alley of the demise of
secularisation and its abolition in the neoliberal perspective, is
left wondering where Indian society would find the resources for such
a transformation.
Meera Nanda’s work, as we have remarked earlier, is marked by a strong
tendency to ignore the multi-sided and often contradictory character
of social phenomena. While her perspective has helped shed light on
the social, intellectual and cultural resources that Hindutva can
mobilise, she has rarely been able to throw similar light on the
impulses for secularism in Indian society. One reason for this,
undoubtedly, lies in her resolute unwillingness to consider atheism as
an ally of secularism. She has always been insistent that movements
that are atheist miss the point about the need of the masses for
“meaning” in their lives, which can be met only by religion. That this
“meaning” could also be provided by the advance of a secular
imagination and the retreat of religion is not a prospect that she is
willing to consider.
Another reason lies in her view of ideological transformation purely
as an act of the mind without reference to any social and economic
preconditions for such a transformation. More fundamentally, Meera
Nanda has never reckoned with the possibility that any understanding
of religion in contemporary India needs to grasp the reality of the
incomplete modernisation of Indian society, rooted in the development
of capitalism in an era when it has essentially lost its critical
ideological impulse.
Meera Nanda’s passion for secularism will undoubtedly be shared by
many readers in India and elsewhere, and the many observations that
she has provided on various aspects of the Hindutva communal project
in Indian society are useful and important. Yet, regrettably, she has
little to offer in terms of a way forward from the current scenario
towards a more secular social order except rhetorical calls for a
meaningful, limited secularisation of society.
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2626/stories/20100101262607900.htm
Volume 18 - Issue 01, Jan. 06 - 19, 2001
India's National Magazine
from the publishers of THE HINDU
ANALYSIS
Outsider as enemy
The politics of rewriting history in India.
K.N. PANIKKAR
This is the text of a presentation made at a round table on the topic
of 'The Rewriting of History: Intellectual Freedom and Contemporary
Politics in South Asia', organised as a part of the International
Conference of North African and Asian Scholars (ICANAS) in Montreal
held from August 27 to September 1.
REWRITING of history is a continuous process into which the historian
brings to bear new methodological or ideological insights or employs a
new analytical frame drawn upon hitherto unknown facts. The
historians' craft, the French historian, Marc Bloch, whose work on
feudal society is considered a classic, has reminded us, is rooted in
a method specific to history as a discipline, most of which has
evolved through philosophical engagements and empirical investigations
during the last several centuries. No methodology which the historian
invokes in pursuit of the knowledge of the past is really valid unless
it respects the method of the discipline. Even when methodologies
fundamentally differ, they share certain common grounds, which
constitute the fiel d of the historian's craft. Notwithstanding the
present scepticism about the possible engagement with history, a
strict adherence to the method of the discipline is observed in all
generally accepted forms of reconstruction of the past. A departure
from such norms of the discipline tends to erase the distinction
between myth and history, which the forces of the Hindu rightwing,
actively supported by the present government, are seeking to achieve.
K. PICHUMANI
The makeshift temple that was erected at Ayodhya after the demolition
of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992. The organising principle of
the politics of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple was not only the
privileging of faith over reason, but also the ident ification of an
enemy who acted against the religious interests of Hindus.
The distinction is important, despite the undeniable connection
between history and myth. Although elements which constitute myth are
not verifiable like historical facts, myths do represent reality even
if symbolically and metaphorically. Myths are esse ntially illusory
representations of phenomena and as such do not help discover the
historicity of events and by the very nature of representation they
tend to mask the reality. Yet, there are no myths in which reality is
not embedded in some form, be the y origin, explanatory or
legitimatory myths.1 This integral connection between myth and history
facilitates the transmutation of the latter into the former and
through that change, the existing historical consciousness in society.
The rewritin g of history the Sangh Parivar has undertaken with the
connivance and collaboration of the government is essentially an
attempt at communal mythification, which lends ideological support and
legitimacy to the politics of cultural nationalism.
History as communal ideology
The communal interpretation of history has a fairly long tradition, at
least going back to the colonial times. The history of the subjected
that the colonial administrators and ideologues wrote, either as a
part of their intellectual curiosity or as a po litical mission,
essentially took a religious view of the past. Although James Mill's
periodisation of Indian history into Hindu and Muslim periods is
generally pointed out as an example of this colonial view, almost
every aspect of the social, cultural and political life was
incorporated into this religious schema. This view has had an abiding
influence on Indian historiography, with a large number of Indian
historians of vastly different ideological persuasions rather
uncritically internalising this i nterpretation. Thus the history of
India is seen through a series of stereotypes rooted in religious
identity. No aspect of society or polity has escaped this religious
view, be it social tensions, political battles or cultural
differences. Such an inter pretation of history has been a part of the
textbooks, both of school and college, for a long time, moulding the
historical consciousness of society and in turn the social
perspectives and behaviour of several generations. This divisive
notion of history was one of the several ideological weapons that
colonialism invoked to construct its legitimacy.
In the Hindu communal worldview and politics, the religious
interpretation of history has an entirely different import, even if it
shares much of the colonial assumptions. Unlike the colonial history
which mainly emphasises social divisions, despite invo king the
tyranny of the Yavanas and the Muslims, its focus is more on social
antagonism and political hostility, which differentiates the Hindu
communal from the colonial communal. The antagonism and hostility
encoded in the interpretative structure of t he former, which
identifies the 'outsider' as enemy, turn history into an ideology of
communalism. The politics of Ramjanmabhoomi temple is a good example
of the mediation of such history in the making of popular historical
consciousness. The organising principle of this politics was not only
the privileging of faith over reason, but also the identification of
an enemy who acted against the religious interests of the Hindus.
Among the variety of factors that define the relationship between
communalism and revivalism in India, history plays a central role. The
revivalist ideas were inherent in the social and religious reform
movements of the 19th century, circumscribed as the y were within the
boundaries of caste and religious communities. Yet, revivalism as an
influential tendency emerged only during the second half of the 19th
century. Bankim Chandra Chatterji, Dayananda Saraswathi and Swami
Vivekananda are generally consid ered the early protagonists of this
tendency. Inward looking in their intellectual orientation and engaged
in revitalising Hinduism and Hindu community, they tried to privilege
many ideas and institutions from the ancient past. However, their
perspective was communitarian rather than communal. Antagonism against
other religions and communities was not a part of their perspective.
Even when they were critical of other religions as in the case of
Dayanand, their attempt was to explore religious truth thro ugh a
comparative understanding of different religions. Dayanand after all
was as trenchant a critique of the practices of Sanatani Hinduism as
of other religions. So were Bankim and Vivekananda. These early
articulations of revivalist tendencies were no t rooted in relation to
the 'other' in terms of a community within society.2 It was more in
the nature of internal revitalisation and consolidation in the context
of colonial domination. Communalism, on the other hand, though it
subsumed several elements of revivalism, is firmly anchored on a
hatred of the 'outsider' who, it is held, is mainly responsible for
the distortions and eventual loss of the indigenous civilisational
achievements. Notwithstanding this distinction, revivalism transformed
itself into communalism which, among other things, was made possible
by the m ediation of communal history, which cast the 'outsider' in
the role of the enemy. The inward looking communitarian perspective,
which mainly characterised revivalism, merged with a suspicion
andhostility of 'the other'. This process is facilitated by a r
eligious interpretation of history which by locating the 'outsider' as
the cause of the decline in the fortunes of the community forms the
ideology of communalism.
The concept of the 'outsider', variously described as the Mleccha,
Yavana and Turuska, has been part of the social consciousness for a
long time. They were communities from both within and outside India
and their defining elements were primarily social a nd cultural. The
language, food habits, dress and a variety of other practices
underlined the otherness. The Aryans considered the indigenous
population as Mleccha and at a later stage those who came from
outside, like the Huns and the Muslims, were inco rporated into this
category. Although the otherness was often a source of conflict, both
inter and intra-community, the relationship with the other was not
characterised by continuous hostility and conflict.3 That the
relationship with the out sider in the past was based on
irreconcilable political interests is a construction of communalism
influenced more by political interests rather than by social reality.
Outsider as enemy
The demographic composition of India which reflects the coming
together of a variety of groups - racial, linguistic and ethnic -
during the course of the last two millennia raises the question who
the 'outsider' is in Indian society. According to the Ant hropological
Survey of India there are 4,635 identifiable communities, diverse in
biological traits, dress, language, forms of worship, occupation, food
habits and kinship patterns. Most of these communities have a mixed
ancestry and it is now almost imp ossible to identify their roots.
They could be traced to Proto-Austroloid, Palio-Mediterranean,
Caucasian, Negroid and Mongoloid. The racial component is also quite
varied, drawing from almost every stock in the world. This plurality
is also reflected in the number of languages in use. Apart from
thousands of dialects there are as many as 325 languages and 25
scripts derived from various linguistic families - Indo-Aryan, Tibeto-
Burman, Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic, Andamese, Semitic, Indo-Iranian,
Sino-Tib etan, Indo-European and so on. The Indian society, as a
consequence, is a social and cultural amalgam with many of its
constitutive elements loosing their specific identity, at any rate
none existing in its initial pure form.4
The Hindu communal view of history strives to negate this historical
process by making a distinction between the original inhabitants of
the land and those who settled later. According to this view, all
those who migrated to India and their descendants a re foreigners and
therefore not part of the nation. Thus the Muslims, Christians and
Parsis, who are not indigenous to India and hence outsiders should
either 'Indianise' themselves or live like 'second class citizens
without any rights or privileges'.5 This naturally raises the question
who the original inhabitants were. Were the Aryans, to whom the upper
caste Hindus trace their lineage, indigenous to India? The opinion of
scholars of ancient history, based on archaeological and linguistic
evid ence, has been that Aryans had migrated to India, in all
probability in small groups, over a period of time.6 If this view is
correct, the assumption that the non-Hindu is the only 'outsider'
becomes untenable and the historical rationale for the Hindu nation
basedon Vedic lineage also becomes suspect. The present attempt to
invent the indigenous origins of Aryans, which is supported more by
speculation rather than tangible evidence, is rooted in an anxiety to
overcome this paradox. That the Hindutva historians are not hesitant
to fabricate evidence to prove their contention has been ably
demonstrated by Professor Michael Witzel and Professor Steve Farmer in
their recent article on the Harappan seal.7
The distinction between the indigenous and the 'outsider' is also
sought on the basis of the pure and the impure. The claim to purity,
traced to the idyllic past uncontaminated by the intrusion of the
'outsider', is an essential ideology of religious fun damentalism. One
among the various indicators of this distinction is food habit: those
who ate flesh and those who did not. It is now claimed by the
ideologues of the Sangh Parivar that the Aryans did not partake of
beef, although copious evidence exists , both literary and
archaeological, to the contrary. After a survey of the evidence from
various excavations since 1921, the doyen of Indian archaeologists,
H.D. Sankalia, has opined that "the attitude towards cow slaughter
shows that until the beginning of the Christian era the cow/ox were
regularly slaughtered for food and for the sacrifice etc., in spite of
the preaching of Ahimsa by Mahavira and the Buddha. Beef eating,
however, did decrease owing to these preachings, but never died out
completely". 8 The literary evidence from the Vedic and later periods
are also plenty. Panini, for instance, calls a guest a Goghna, which
means one for whom a cow is killed.9 Even Vivekananda refers to
instances of Rama and Krishna drinking wine and eating meat and Sita
offering meat, rice and wine to the river goddess Ganga in Ramayana
and Mahabharata. In fact, he considered the meat-eating habits of the
Aryans a virtue and attributed the decline of the Hindus in modern
times to the departure from it!10 Yet, the slaughter of cow and eating
beef are now invoked as signs of otherness in a bid to distinguish the
indigenous from the 'outsider'.
Apart from defiling the sacredness and purity of indigenous life, the
communal history also attributes to the 'outsider' a politically
disruptive role. The political history of India, in the account given
by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the progenitor of th e concept of
Hindutva, is a story of foreign invasions and Hindu resistance.
According to him, there were six major invasions of India, which were
successfully met by the Hindus. He characterises them as six 'glorious
epochs' in which the valour and brav ery of the Hindus overcame the
external threat. These 'glorious epochs' are the periods of
Chandragupta and Pushyamitra when the Greek invasions were repelled,
followed by those of Vikramaditya and Yashodharma who defeated the
Shakas and the Huns respect ively. In imagining the Hindu nation as a
historically constituted political entity, this religious view of the
conflict with the 'outsider' is a major factor.11
The consolidation and mobilisation of the Hindus are the main
objectives of the communal construction of history of which Savarkar
set a worthy example. Towards this political end, a systematic
attempt, embracing both the academic and popular histories, has been
on the anvil for quite some time, particularly during the last two
decades. The main thrust of this effort has been to further the
communal consciousness of history. Whenever the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) or its earlier incarnation, the Jan S angh, was able to gain
access to power they have not spared any effort to promote Hinduised
history at the expense of secular history. In 1977, at the instance of
the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS) the government of the Janata
Party, of which the Jan S angh was a partner, tried to withdraw the
history books published by the National Council for Educational
Research and Training (NCERT) on the ground that they were not
sufficiently Hindu in their orientation. In more recent times, the BJP
governments in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi have
revised their textbooks to introduce a communal view of the past,
highlighting the achievements and contribution of the Hindus and
undermining or misrepresenting the role of others. The present gov
ernment at the Centre, led by the BJP, has tried to lend support to
this effort by saffronising research institutions such as the Indian
Council for Historical Research (ICHR), Indian Council for Social
Science Research (ICSSR), Centre for Advanced Studi es (CAS) and so
on. Given the tradition of secular historical writing, these state
interventions to further the influence of communal history have
elicited strong resistance from the fraternity of professional
historians, as they have realised the danger the communal
mythification poses to the discipline of history.
Simultaneously, several initiatives have been taken to transform the
popular historical consciousness in favour of the communal. Among them
the setting up of Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Samiti, with four hundred
branches all over the country, is particular ly significant. Its brief
is to prepare the history of all districts keeping as the ideal the
history written by P.N. Oak, whose main contribution is the
identification of every medieval monument as a Hindu structure.
Incidentally, Oak recently approache d the Supreme Court of India with
a request to declare the Taj Mahal a Hindu building. The Supreme Court
has indeed dismissed the plea stating that Oak seems to have 'a bee in
his bonnet'. But it has not deterred the Archaeological Survey of
India (ASI), under the influence of the Sangh Parivar, to look for a
Hindu temple under every medieval monument! The latest excavation is
at Fatehpur Sikri, a monument constructed by the Mughal Emperor Akbar,
from the vicinity of which Jain idols have been unearthed and promptly
identified as disfigured by Akbar. The present chairman of the ICHR,
B.R. Grover, who has distinguished himself by the statement that the
Babri Masjid had collapsed and not destroyed, saw even the hand of
Auragazeb in this disfigurement! Th e archaeologists of the Sangh
Parivar who are eager to excavate the site of every medieval monument
are totally indifferent to the danger the excavations might spell to
these heritage sites.
The Sangh Parivar, with the support of the government if possible and
without it if necessary, has been engaged in the construction and
dissemination of mythified histories which would help further its
religious politics. Among the innumerable examples o f such
mythification, the 'histories' of Ayodhya circulated during the
Ramjanmabhoomi campaign through political and religious networks,
using audio, video and print materials, are the most instructive. In
fact, mythified histories of Ayodhya considerabl y helped to propel
the campaign. The mythification mainly served two objectives. Firstly,
to prove the deliberate and hostile acts of the 'outsider' and
secondly, to invoke the tradition of resistance and struggle the
Hindus had waged since the 16th cent ury in defence of their faith.
These histories foregrounded many a myth as established 'facts' of
history which later found their way into the textbooks in schools in
BJP-ruled States and those run by the RSS.
In these 'histories' the desecration and demolition of temples by the
medieval Muslim rulers form a central theme, substantiating thereby
the iconoclastic beliefs as well as the religious fanaticism of the
followers of Islam. Such an interpretation, howe ver, overlooks two
significant facts of medieval history. First, as Richard Eaton has
shown in a recent essay, well before the coming of the Muslims to
India temples had been the sites for the contestation of kingly
authority. The early medieval history abounds in instances of
desecration and destruction of temples of their political adversaries
by Hindu rulers. The Cholas, the Pallavas, the Chalukyas, the Palas
and many others had indulged in this 'irreligious' act.12 Secondly,
most of the desecration and destruction took place when "Indo-Muslim
States expanded into the domains of non-Muslim rulers". Once the
territory was conquered and integrated into the kingdom, such
expression of 'fanaticism' rarely occurred. Tipu Sultan, for instance,
desecrated temples during his invasion of Malabar, but after the
conquest he gave generous land grants to several of them. Also he is
not known to have desecrated temples in his own kingdom. On the
contrary, when a Hindu religious institution like the Sringeri Mat was
plundered and destroyed by a Maratha chieftain, Tipu Sultan had met
the expenses for its reconstruction. Similarly the Mughal rulers
generally 'treated the temples lying within their sovereign domain as
state propert y' and 'undertook to protect both the physical
structures and their Brahmin functionaries'.13 Such an attitude
informs even the policy of Aurangazeb, as evident from his orders to
his officials to protect the Brahmins of Benares. The departure from
this general policy, however, occurred either at the time of war or
rebellion as in the case of th e desecration of temples in Orcha by
Shajahan and in Mathura and Benares by Aurangazeb. Thus political
exigencies rather than a 'theology of iconoclasm' were the driving
force behind the destruction and desecration of temples. Yet, the
communal interpret ation of history adopts a purely religious view to
stigmatise the present-day Muslims - described as Baber ke Santan
(children of Baber) - as enemy.
The stigmatisation of the 'outsider' as enemy is not an end in itself.
Its purpose is mainly political: to recall to memory a heroic
tradition of resistance against the 'outsider' and thus to stir the
Hindus out of their lethargy and, in the provocative words of Sadhvi
Ritambara, from their impotence, so that they consolidate and realise
their power. The communal 'histories' of Ayodhya have, therefore,
invented the myth of the heroic resistance to the demolition of the
temple in the birth place of Shri Ramachandra and the later efforts to
reclaim it. A pamphlet entitled, "Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Ka Rakt Ranjit
Itihas" (The Blood Stained History of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi), published
by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) claimed that at the time of the de
molition of the temple, 1,74,000 Hindus sacrificed their lives
fighting against the Muslims. The pamphlet then goes on to record the
77 battles fought thereafter to reclaim the temple in which 3,50,000
Hindus had laid down their lives. The reference to t he exact numbers
involved gives certain historical veracity, which though imaginary
facilitates the social acceptance of myth as history.14
This is not to argue that myths, though lacking historicity, are
'hollow tales' without any element of historical truth.15 The origin
of the myth of 77 battles, for instance, can be traced to an actual
historical incident, even if it was not l inked with the
Ramjanmabhoomi temple: a fight between the Muslims and the Hindus in
1855 over a temple located near the Babri Masjid and dedicated to
Hanuman.16 Interestingly, this battle was waged by a Muslim faqir who
claimed the existence o f a mosque below this temple. During the
course of the inquiry into this incident, conducted by an official of
the Nawab of Awad and the British Resident, the local inhabitants did
not refer either to the existence of the Ramjanmabhoomi temple or
conflic ts in the past between the Hindus and the Muslims over the
possession of the mosque.17 The myths about the Mandir was therefore a
later construction, in all probability an outcome of property disputes
and political interests.
Larger Context
The rewriting of history in which the Sangh Parivar is currently
engaged is not internal to the movements within the discipline of
history. It is integral to a larger and long-term project aimed at
reordering the secular character that informed the educa tional and
cultural policies of independent India. Towards this end, the Sangh
Parivar has already undertaken several initiatives. Prominent among
them are the changes in the content of education, the organisation of
a parallel school system and the cont rol over cultural institutions.
In the field of education the University Grants Commission (UGC) and
the NCERT appear to be pursuing a communal agenda. The UGC is
reportedly working on a uniform syllabus for the country and as a part
of it is preparing to introduce courses on Vedic stu dies, astrology,
palmistry and Hindu rituals. A band of Hindu pandits armed with
university certificates will soon be available, particularly to non-
resident Indians, to conduct the rituals at the time of birth,
marriage and death! The only consolation i s that the Chairman of the
UGC promises to provide such academic service to non-Hindus also. It
appears that the concept of university is undergoing revolutionary
changes inspired by the swadeshi ideas advocated by the Minister for
Human Resource Development. The UGC also insists that all universities
and institutions under them be subjected to the recognition of the
National Accreditation Council. It is feared that such a
standardisation will undermine the autonomy of universities and thus
facil itate the introduction of a 'national' curriculum.
The preparation of a 'national' curriculum framework for school
education is also the urgent task undertaken by the NCERT. The
discussion document released by the NCERT clearly underlines a change
from secular to religious education. Most of the suggesti ons in this
report have a revivalist and chauvinistic ring about them. It
advocates an indigenous curriculum which would 'celebrate the ideas of
native thinkers' among whom non-Hindus are conspicuous by absence. One
of the aims of the new curriculum is ' to inculcate and maintain a
sense of pride in being an Indian through a conscious understanding of
the growth of Indian civilisation and also contributions of India to
the world civilisations in its thoughts, actions and deeds'. The
external influences o n the shaping of the Indian civilisation are
completely overlooked. The concept of secularism itself is sought to
be given a religious meaning by suggesting that sarvadharma samabhava
would facilitate 'the view that religion in its basic form (dev oid of
dogma, myth and ritual) would draw younger generations to basic moral
and spiritual values'.18
Both the UGC and the NCERT appear to draw inspiration from the scheme
prepared by an RSS education outfit, Vidhya Bharati, and presented by
the Human Resource Development Minister to the conference of State
Ministers of Education in 1998. In the name of 'Indianising,
nationalising and spiritualising' education, the attempt then was to
replace secular education with an indigenous system rooted in Hindu
knowledge. To achieve that end, Sanskrit was proposed as a compulsory
subject in schools and the induct ion of the valuable heritage of the
Vedas and Upanishads in the curriculum from the primary to the higher
level, including the vocational stream. Besides these, Indian culture,
conceived in Hindu religious terms, was to form an integral part of
all cours es.19 The incorporation of Sanskrit and Indian culture into
the curriculum is in itself not an undesirable step, but that it
privileged the Hindu system of knowledge to the exclusion of others
amounts to an infringement of the tenets of a secular state. Althou gh
this scheme had to be abandoned due to secular opposition, it gave a
foretaste of the future, if and when the Sangh Parivar gained
sufficient political clout.
The attempt to Hinduise the system of education had, however, begun
much before the BJP gained access to government power. As early as
1942 the RSS had initiated steps to organise its own educational
network. Since then the number of schools run by the P arivar has
steadily increased. It is estimated that now there are about 70,000
schools under its management. And the VHP has recently announced its
intention to further expand its educational activities, particularly
in tribal areas. With the financial a nd administrative assistance
proffered by the present government, a parallel system of Hindu
education is being brought into existence, under the guidance of an
all-India organisation called the Vidya Bharati Shiksha Sanstan, set
up in 1978. It was to he lp this system that the Minister for Human
Resource Development recently mooted the idea of extending the
educational privileges so far enjoyed by the minorities under the
Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution to all others.20 The rather
well-organised attacks on Christians, who own a fairly large number of
educational institutions, are also rooted, at least partially, in this
interest, as it is not possible to capture the educational sector
without eliminating the Christians.
The curriculum of these schools is unambiguously Hindu and militantly
communal, be it related to history, politics or literature. The
textbooks, particularly of history, prescribed in these schools are so
oriented to lend legitimacy to communal politics by stigmatising the
'outsider' and valorising the Hindu. In the process, history is turned
into myth which tends to inculcate in the young minds a false sense of
religious pride and hostility to the members of other denominations.
Not only the entire cul tural tradition is appropriated as Hindu, the
past is represented as a saga of Hindu valour and bravery. In fact,
the defeat of almost every Hindu ruler at the hands of an 'outsider'
is reinterpreted as a victory. A good example of such mythification is
an account of the war between Muhammad Ghori and Prithviraj Chauhan.
In the second battle of Tarain, which Prithviraj lost, he was captured
and executed by Ghori. This historical event is described in one of
the textbooks as follows: "Muhammad Ghori kill ed lakhs of people and
converted Vishwnath temple and Bhagawan Krishna's birthplace into
mosques. He took Prithviraj to Gazni, but Prithviraj killed him there
with one arrow and Muhammad Ghori's corpse lay on the feet of
Prithviraj as if narrating the ta le of his sins."21
The main objective of the rewriting of history is to impart certain
historical legitimacy to communal politics. The way the Indian
national movement is represented in the textbooks used in RSS-
administered schools and the desperate attempt of the ICHR to suppress
the volumes of Towards Freedom are among the several ongoing efforts
in this direction. It is common knowledge that the RSS hardly had any
role in the national movement, except as active collaborators of
colonialism. Yet, the Sangh Pariv ar is keen on appropriating its
legacy, as it would give a much-needed national legitimacy. The
history of the national movement is therefore being rewritten to
establish that the RSS had indeed played a positive role in the anti-
colonial struggle. This requires the projection of its leaders as
freedom fighters on the one hand and the suppression of their actual
role, on the other. In such rewritten history incorporated in all
textbooks of Vidhya Bharati, the founder of the RSS, Keshav Baliram
Hedgewar, figures as a great leader of the anti-colonial struggle,
much ahead of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.22 In a textbook
prescribed by the Uttar Pradesh government, out of about 20 pages
devoted to the Freedom movement, three pages take up the contribution
of Hedgewar, who is credited with the leadership of the agitation
against the partition of Bengal.23
The successful projection of such a positive image of the RSS and its
leaders would depend upon the suppression or elimination of counter
factual evidence. That appears to be the brief of the ICHR, as evident
from the attempt to withdraw the volumes of < I>Towards Freedom. The
published volumes of Towards Freedom do not credit the RSS with any
role in the anti-colonial struggle. Instead there is evidence in them,
in the form of letters and speeches of its leaders, about its active
collaboratio n with the British colonial rule. The ICHR, now firmly
under the control of the RSS, is understandably eager to prevent the
publication of further volumes and withdraw the existing ones, as
they, being documentary histories, would expose the claims of th e
RSS. The knowledge about the role of the RSS, to which the public will
have access through these volumes, is likely to undermine the
nationalist credentials of the Sangh Parivar. It is this fear of
history, which has prompted the ICHR to make the rathe r desperate
move to withdraw the volumes from the Press. In the process all
institutional procedures have been violated and the academic freedom
of the authors has been infringed.
What the ICHR has tried to do rather clumsily and secretly - the
authors who were commissioned to edit the volumes were not even
informed, let alone consulted - is not an isolated incident, but part
of an anti-secular, anti-democratic rightwing agenda wh ich the
present government with the active participation of various arms of
the Sangh Parivar has been pursuing. Towards this end, secular opinion
has been systematically eliminated from all research institutions and
cultural organisations funded by the government and replaced by the
activists or loyalists of the RSS. There is also well-planned and
systematic vilification of secular intelligentsia, as evident from the
false and malicious accusations recently levelled against historians
by Arun Shourie, an RSS ideologue and a Minister in the present
government.
The freedom of expression is particularly under surveillance in the
cultural field. No effort is spared to suppress the long cherished and
historically evolved plural and secular traditions. The artists and
cultural activists who follow such traditions h ave been under severe
strain, often faced with threats and even physical attacks. Some time
back a panel on Ramayana, based on Jataka tales, displayed in an
exhibition on Ayodhya mounted by a cultural organisation, SAHMAT, was
destroyed by the members of the Sangh Parivar. M.F. Husain's paintings
and Deepa Mehta's films have also aroused the ire of the Sangh Parivar
for alleged disrespect to Indian tradition. On the whole, there is a
tendency to control the intellectual and cultural life in conformity w
ith a fundamentalist view. In the way such a view is implemented,
irrationally and aggressively, there are unmistakable signs of fascist
tendencies.
The instrumentalist role of the rewriting of history currently being
promoted by the government and the Sangh Parivar for defining and
demarcating the nation as Hindu, imparts to it an essentially
political character. The stigmatisation of the 'outsider' as enemy
validated by historical experience lends the rationale for the
communal programme of marginalising, if not externalising, the members
of other denominations. Derivatively, it also legitimises the claim of
the 'indigenous' to the nation. The oth erness of 'outsider' therefore
serves as a signifier for internal consolidation and homogenisation.
To the early ideologues of communalism, such as V.D. Savarkar and M.S.
Golwalkar, the religious interpretation of history was the necessary
ideological gr oundwork for recovering the Hindu nation. The present
engagement of the communal forces with history is with no other intent
which, if succeeds, would unsettle the secular character of the
nation. Therefore the current debate about history in India is as much
about the integrity of the discipline as about the future well-being
of the country.
K.N. Panikkar is Professor of Modern History at the Centre for
Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
1. Maurice Godellier, Perspectives in Marxist Anthropology, Cambridge,
1977, pp.207-09.
2. Tapan Roy Choudhry, Perceptions, Emotions, Sensibilities, New
Delhi, 1999 and John Zavos, The Emergence of Hindu Nationalism in
India, New Delhi, 2000.
3. Romila Thapar, 'The Image of the Barbarian in Early India' in
Ancient Indian Social History, New Delhi, 1998, pp.152-192; Aloka
Parasher, Mlecchas in Early India, New Delhi,1991 and Brajadulal
Chattopadhyaya, Representing the Other? Sanskrit Sources and the
Muslims, New Delhi, 1998.
4. K.S.Singh, People of India: An Introduction, New Delhi, 1995.
5. M.S.Golwalkar, We or our Nationhood Defined, Nagpur, 1947.
6. Romila Thapar, 'The Rgveda: Encapsulating Social Change' in
K.N.Panikkar et.al. (ed) The Making of History, New Delhi, 2000, pp.
11-40; R.S. Sharma, Advent of the Aryans in India, New Delhi, 1999
Shereen Ratnagar, End of the Great Har appan Tradition, New Delhi,
2000.
7. An advocate of this theory is a computer scientist based in North
America, N.S. Rajaram, who has authored two books, Aryan Invasion of
India (1993) and The Politics of History (1995). The arguments and
interpretations in these two books are found to be fictional and
historically unfounded. See Shereen Ratnagar, Revisionist at work: A
chauvinistic Inversion of the Aryan Invasion Theory, Frontline,
February 9,1996. More grievously Rajaram has been found faking
evidence by Michael Witzel, Wales Professor of Sanskrit at Harvard
University. For his findings and criticism see website,
http://www.Safarmer.com/horseseal/update.html (The authoritative
version of Witzel and Farmer's collaborative work on Rajaram's
supposed findings has b een published as a cover story in Frontline,
October 13, 2000.)
8. H.D. Sankalia, 'In History', Seminar, No. 93, May 1967, pp.12-16.
Also see Alan Heston, 'An Approach to the Sacred Cow of India',
Current Anthropology, Vol.12, No.2, April 1971 and Marvin Harris, 'The
Cultural Ecology of India's Sacred Cattle', Cultural Anthropology, Vol.
7, No. 1, February 1966.
9. P.V.Kane, History of the Dharma Shastras, Pune, 1975, Vol.ii, pp.
772-76.
10. Complete Works of Vivekananda, Vol.V, Calcutta, 1966, pp.477-498.
11. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History,
Bombay, 1966.
12. Richard M. Eaton, 'Temple Desecration and Indo-Muslim States' in
Essays on Islam and Indian History, New Delhi, 2000.
13. Ibid.
14. K.N. Panikkar (ed.), The Concerned Indian's Guide to Communalism,
'Introduction', New Delhi, 1999, p.xiii.
15. Paul Veyne, Did the Greeks Believe in the Myth?, Chicago,1983.
16. K.N. Panikkar, 'An Overview' in S. Gopal (ed.) Anatomy of a
Confrontation: Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhumi Issue, New Delhi, 1991.
17. The details of this incident and the report of the enquiry are
available in Foreign Political Consultation, No.34, 28 December 1855,
National Archives of India, New Delhi.
18. National Curriculum Framework for School Education - A Discussion
Document, NCERT, New Delhi, 2000, p.24.
19. 'Conference of State Education Ministers and Education
Secretaries, October 22-24, Agenda Papers, Annexure.
20. Ibid.
21. National Steering Committee on Textbook Evaluation:
Recommendations and Report, NCERT, p. 6, New Delhi, 1998.
22. See Sanskar Saurab Series published by the Bharatiya Shiksha
Samiti, Rajasthan.
23. National Steering Committee on Textbook Evaluation:
Recommendations and Report, NCERT, p.14
http://www.flonnet.com/fl1801/18010730.htm
Volume 23 - Issue 01, Jan. 14 - 27, 2006
India's National Magazine
from the publishers of THE HINDU
COMMUNALISM
A saffron assault abroad
NALINI TANEJA
The Hindu Right's attempts to rewrite school textbooks on India and
Hinduism in California meet with stiff resistance from renowned
historians and scholars in the U.S. and abroad.
THE connections between communalist political strategies and textbook
revisions were explored in detail in the media when the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) went about changing the syllabus of the National
Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and getting
school history textbooks rewritten while in government. But few would
imagine that the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS)-linked
organisations were in a position to put their stamp on school
textbooks in California in the United States. The partial success of
the "education" wings of the Hindu Swayamsewak Sangh in getting many
of their revisions approved by the Curriculum Commission (CC) of the
California State Board of Education has caused a virtual
"international scandal".
The State Board of Education, California, is currently engaged in
approving the history/social science textbooks for grades six to eight
in schools, an exercise undertaken periodically. The Hindu Education
Foundation and the Vedic Foundation (based in the U.S.) have used the
occasion to push through "corrections" in the textbooks approved.
Shiva Bajpai, who constituted the one-member ad hoc committee set up
by the Board, succeeded in getting virtually all the changes requested
by these organisations incorporated into the textbooks. Professor
Emeritus at California State University, Northridge, and a Hindutva-
leaning adviser to the Board, Bajpai was proposed as expert by the
Vedic Foundation. That the Hindutva groups have not had a walkover is
thanks to the vigilance and commitment of the many academics involved
in Indian studies all over the world. Intervention by Professors
Michael Witzel and Steve Farmer in the form of a letter, signed by 50
other scholars, presented at a public hearing on November 9, resulted
in the Board reversing its initial approval of the pro-Hindutva
changes. Prof. Witzel is a well-known Indologist and has often taken
up the cudgels against Hindutva ideologues such as David Frawley, N.S.
Rajaram and Konrad Elst in the West.
Witzel's letter, endorsed among others by renowned Indian historians
Romila Thapar, D.N. Jha and Shereen Ratnagar, to Ruth Green,
President, State Board of Education, California, on behalf of "world
specialists on ancient India", voicing "mainstream academic opinion in
India, Pakistan, the United States, Europe, Australia, Taiwan and
Japan" on the issue, is now part of a concerted campaign encompassing
well-known scholars and hundreds of teachers and parents in
California.
These scholars make the important point that the "corrections"
proposed by the Hindu Right in the U.S. reflect political agendas
discriminatory to millions of people in India, especially the
minorities, `lower' castes, and women; and that such revisions have
already been debated thoroughly and rejected by academics and
progressive political opinion in India. Besides, they "do not reflect
the views of majority of the specialists on ancient Indian history,
nor of majority of the Hindus".
Asserting that "the proposed revisions are not of a scholarly, but of
a religious-political nature and are primarily promoted by Hindutva
supporters and non-specialist academics writing about issues far
outside their areas of expertise", the scholars have called on the
Board to "reject the demands by nationalist Hindu (Hindutva) groups".
From India, 12 historians have written to the CC to reject the changes
proposed by the RSS-linked organisations in the U.S.
Signatures opposing the sectarian changes have been pouring in by the
day and the Board, now alert to the issue, has constituted a new
Content Review Committee (among its members are Professors Witzel,
James Heitzman and Stanley Wolpert), which has put together a list of
recommendations that "allow for only such changes as meet the
standards of objective scholarship".
On the other side, the Hindu Education Foundation and the Vedic
Foundation protested the constitution of the Content Review Committee
and the inclusion of Witzel on it. They launched a campaign that the
"corrections" were incorporated through a proper procedure and claimed
that Witzel knew little about Hinduism and ancient Indian history.
They also asserted their right to represent Hindus in the U.S. and
their authority to decide what is the `authentic' depiction of
Hinduism and ancient Indian history.
Frantic mobilisation by Pranawa C. Deshmukh, a professor of physics at
the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, in support of the changes
suggested by the Vedic Foundation and the Hindu Education Foundation,
and the pressure of a host of organisations that constitute the
`parivar' in the U.S. resulted in many of the proposed changes in
textbooks getting the approval despite scholarly opinion being heavily
weighted against it.
The details of how this was achieved remind one of the way in which
RSS-sponsored revisions of textbooks were pushed through during the
BJP's tenure in power at the Centre. During the meeting for the
adoption of the recommendations of the Board by the CC in the course
of a public hearing on December 1 and 2, 2005, the members of the
Commission actually flouted the mandate of the Education Board. Of the
total 156 edits requested, the CC accepted 97 that conformed to what
the Hindutva organisations had proposed.
According to Witzel, "the proceedings of the CC meetings were highly
skewed, irregular and contravened the mandate given by the Board". The
Board had directed that the Commission approve only edits that
"improve the factual accuracy of materials". Instead, matters were so
arranged that several Commissioners had already left in the afternoon
of December 2, by the time this was voted on. Others abstained as they
did not know about the matter at hand (but with stacks of related
papers in front of them which they apparently had not read, including
the letter by more than 100 U.S. professors of Indian background and
others by groups of concerned Indian Americans). All were tired, and
one Commissioner, Stan Metzenberg, Professor of Biology at California
State University, Northridge, took the chance to push through
aggressively the Vedic Foundation's agenda. "The CC redefined their
mandate repeatedly, contravening the mandate of the Board that the
Commission should approve only edits that `improve the factual
accuracy of materials'; they allowed additional changes made from the
floor by Hindutvavadins to be inserted; they pushed through a
sectarian agenda that redefines Indian history and Hinduism," Witzel
said.
The Hindu Education Foundation appreciatively quotes Metzenburg as
saying: "I've read the DNA research and there was no Aryan migration.
I believe the hard evidence of DNA more than I believe historians."
However, finally it had to be agreed as: "Some historians believe in
the theory of an Aryan migration." He insisted that "Hindus should at
least be able to recognise their own religion when they read these
textbooks". In short, the textbooks must reflect popular common sense
rather than strive to mould/challenge popular common sense on the
basis of objective historical facts or the gains of scientific
enquiry.
Witzel puts it thus: "California has been hijacked by a saffron
agenda, worse by a sectarian saffron agenda. In this case, a strident
Vaishnava one that excludes Shaiva, Devi, Tantric, Lingayat and other
forms of Hindu worship and Darshana... The new CA [California] history
textbooks will reflect that."
Going by the "corrections" approved, the word "murti" means "God" (the
CC agreed to the Hindu request to change "statue" to "deity"), the
translation of "brahman" is "God", and all Hindus believe in God whose
name is Bhagwan.
The "corrections" demanded by the Hindutva organisations are integral
to the Sangh Parivar's political agenda in India, and similar to what
the BJP government was trying to do with the NCERT syllabus and
textbooks in social sciences, particularly history.
For example, among the "corrections" suggested is a clear attempt to
deny the integrality of the caste system in ancient India; it was
proposed to delete the reference altogether in one textbook. In
another, it was proposed that the picture of an untouchable be
removed. In yet another book, a reference to caste system as part of
Aryan society was replaced by: "During Vedic times, people were
divided into different social groups (varnas) based on their capacity
to undertake a particular profession." Another reference to caste is
to read as: "A late hymn of the Rg Veda describes the
interrelationship and interdependence of the four social classes."
On women, it was suggested that the references to gender bias in
ancient India were incorrect and insulting to Hindu society. Therefore
the line, "Men had many more rights than women" was to be replaced by,
"Men had different duties (dharma) and rights than women. Many women
were among the sages to whom the Vedas were revealed."
In another textbook, the changes included a specific addition that
"the recent archaeological proofs are negating the Aryan invasion
theory. The new theory suggests that Aryans were not the outsiders".
Elsewhere: "They [Aryans] were part of a larger group of people
historians refer to as the Indo-Europeans" is replaced with the
statement: "Some historians believe the Aryans were part of a larger
group of people known as the Indo-Europeans." "The Vedas came to form
the major beliefs of the religion called Brahmanism" is replaced with:
"The Vedas constitute the source of Hinduism." Early Aryan religion is
to be replaced with references to early Hindu religion.
Still other corrections follow the familiar pattern of ante-dating the
Rg Veda, confusing dates of Indus and Harappa city-based civilisations
with the Vedic civilisation, conflating Brahmanical practices with
Hinduism, describing the Vedas as the source and basic texts of
Hinduism, denying the plurality of gods worshipped through history in
favour of one God in different forms, depicting sudras as "serving all
classes" and doing "labour-intensive work" rather than serving `upper'
castes and so on. The current Hindutva preoccupations such as
asserting the sacredness of cows, vegetarianism and the Saraswati
civilisation myth have also found their way into the textbooks.
Tolerance is shown as "usual" for the time of Asoka in ancient India;
the references to technology, science and mathematics in ancient India
have been modified to enable suitable glorification; and negative
aspects of society are either deleted or presented as cultural
specificities rather than as oppressive ones.
THE moves by the Hindu Right in the U.S. are no flash in the pan. The
web sites of two of the organisations spearheading the Hindutva
campaign - the Hindu Education Foundation and the Vedic Foundation -
expressly state the revision of school textbooks in the U.S. as part
of their political agenda. They regularly "interact" with State
Education Committees that define school curriculum, conduct seminars
and training programmes for teachers and "create resources" for
parents who "wish to provide such opportunities for educators in their
own areas". There are fora of all kinds offering entertainment,
educational services and social support to youth. Alternative social
networks through bhajan mandalis, yoga centres, discussion groups,
special programmes and publications devoted to children, answer the
yearnings for roots and culture among immigrants. The RSS-linked
organisations have penetrated all these and are creating new ones all
the time. The entire effort is part of the RSS' larger goal to
"educate" Hindu children brought up in the U.S. to be "good Hindus"
and to "learn the truth about Indian history and culture", and
ultimately to finance their "social work" in India.
Not long ago, citizens' groups in India and North America exposed the
nexus between funding of charities in the West and the hate campaigns
and the expansion of communal networks of the Sangh Parivar in India.
Infusing hatred directly or through the educational set-up is not as
easy in the U.S. as it is through the Vidya Bharati schools and the
Ekal Vidyalayas in India. The strategy of the Hindu Right is different
in the U.S. It does the next best thing: it creates innumerable social
networks where prejudices are nurtured and fascist solutions to
problems legitimised, and glories of ancient India and Hinduism rule
the roost.
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2301/stories/20060127000807700.htm
Volume 16 - Issue 9, Apr. 24 - May. 07, 1999
India's National Magazine
from the publishers of THE HINDU
COVER STORY
The DMK's turnabout
The circumstances surrounding the fall of the Vajpayee Government may
lead to a realignment of political forces in Tamil Nadu, where the
ruling DMK finds itself politically isolated.
T.S. SUBRAMANIAN
in Chennai
EVEN as All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary
Jayalalitha helped push Vajpayee Government out of power, her
principal political rival in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister and Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi, stood politically isolated
from his erstwhile allies. Karunanidhi's gamble in deciding to support
the BJP-led Government in the vote of confidence, breaking ranks with
four allies - the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC), the Communist Party of
India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Janata Dal
- failed.
Indeed, no party in Tamil Nadu has emerged with a creditable image
from the latest political battle. Clearly, it was not "national
security", as Jayalalitha claimed, but her personal agenda to get the
DMK Government dismissed and extricate herself from the corruption
cases she faces that in the end drove her to desert the BJP-led
Government. On the other hand, the DMK's volte-face and its voting
alongside the BJP made a mockery of its claims to upholding the
Dravidian legacy of combating communalism; Karunanidhi sought to
justify his decision by saying that "Jayalalitha's corruption is more
dangerous than communalism."
The TMC seems to have emerged relatively unscathed; the party made
known its stand opposing in equal measure the BJP's communalism and
the AIADMK's corruption. TMC president G.K. Moopanar did not yield to
pressure from the DMK, some other parties and film actor Rajnikant to
bail out the Vajpayee Government by voting in support of the
confidence motion or abstaining during the vote. Moopanar also
reportedly told Congress(I) president Sonia Gandhi and other
Congress(I) leaders that his party would not support a Congress(I)-led
Government in which the AIADMK was a partner.
Soon after the Vajpayee Government was voted out, Moopanar, in a clear
reference to the AIADMK, said: "Corrupt elements cannot be allowed to
go out of one door and re-enter the government through another door...
The TMC hopes that the Congress(I) will adhere to the principles
contained in the (Pachmarhi) declaration and that the new formation
will fight the twin evils of communalism and corruption."
Sources in the Left parties said that the DMK had placed "personal
interests above national interests" and had lost out eventually.
Informed sources in the TMC and the Left parties said that the DMK had
stood on prestige and that its actions were motivated by a desire to
see that Jayalalitha did not get the "credit" for toppling the
Vajpayee Government. A Left leader said: "If the DMK had joined us,
the credit would not have gone to Jayalalitha. She has accomplished
what she set out to do."
Karunanidhi shrugged off the defeat of the BJP-led Government, saying:
"In a democracy, victories and defeats are common... I do not want to
pretend that I do not feel sad about the defeat." He said the reason
for the defeat was the "magnanimity" of Lok Sabha Speaker G.M.C.
Balayogi in allowing Orissa Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang to vote on
the motion.
THE fall of the Vajpayee Government and the circumstances that led up
to it may lead to a realignment of political parties in Tamil Nadu.
The TMC, the CPI(M) and the CPI may part company with the DMK and
forge a new front, and the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(MDMK) led by Vaiko, which was a constituent of the BJP-led coalition,
may join it. The Congress(I) and the AIADMK may formalise an alliance
and may be joined by the PMK led by Dr. S. Ramadoss.
When it became clear that the AIADMK was preparing to withdraw support
to the Vajpayee Government, the BJP set in motion efforts to win the
DMK's support. Union Home Minister L.K. Advani and Vajpayee spoke to
Karunanidhi on the phone on April 9 and 10 respectively and sought his
party's support. Informed sources in the BJP and the DMK said that
Karunanidhi told them that the DMK's ideology was opposed to that of
the BJP's Hindutva, and that in any case only the party executive
could take a decision.
The first indication that the DMK might strike out on its own came on
April 11, when newspersons asked Karunanidhi what strategy the DMK
would adopt in the light of the political developments in New Delhi.
Karunanidhi asked: "How can we be in a front in which Jayalalitha is a
part?" The DMK also came under pressure from the BJP, which pointed
out that over the past year the Prime Minister had not yielded to the
AIADMK's repeated demands for the dismissal of the Karunanidhi
Government. Vazhapadi K. Ramamurthi of the Tamizhaga Rajiv Congress
too spoke to Karunanidhi and told him that even if the DMK did not
support the BJP, it should do nothing that would assist Jayalalitha in
her efforts to topple the Government.
Even after the DMK indicated that it would go with the BJP, Moopanar
stuck to his stand. "We will always work against corruption and
communalism," he said. When Moopanar met Congress(I) leaders in the
first week of April, he put forward only one condition: a Congress(I)
government should not include the AIADMK.
DMK leaders Murasoli Maran, MP, and Health Minister Arcot N. Veerasamy
met Moopanar on April 12 in order to explain their party's stand. But
Moopanar made it clear that the TMC would have nothing to do with
either the AIADMK or the BJP and that it expected the DMK to take a
similar stand. No such assurance came from Maran and Veerasamy.
S. THANTHONI
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M. Karunanidhi. His
gamble in deciding to spport the BJP-led Government in the vote of
confidence, breaking ranks with his party's allies in the State,
failed.
Jayalalitha left for New Delhi on April 12, ruling out the possibility
of a rapprochement with the BJP because Vajpayee and Advani had spoken
to Karunanidhi.
On April 13 the DMK executive met and passed a resolution which said
that since Jayalalitha posed "the biggest threat to the State and the
nation, the DMK will not support any formation in which Jayalalitha
found a place directly or indirectly." Karunanidhi summed up his
party's intention when he said: "Jayalalitha's corruption is a bigger
threat than communalism." The resolution added that Jayalalitha was
bent on toppling the Government not because she opposed communalism
but because she wanted to extricate herself from the corruption cases
she was facing. Besides, the "one and only item on her agenda" was to
get the DMK Government dismissed, it said.
The DMK's stand shocked the Left parties. State CPI secretary R.
Nallakannu and State CPI(M) secretary N. Sankariah issued a joint
statement asking the DMK to reconsider its stand and take "a political
position which will be firmly against the BJP Government."
When Frontline met Nallakannu and Sankariah separately, they assailed
the DMK line that "Jayalalitha's corruption is more dangerous than
communalism." They agreed that Jayalalitha was monumentally corrupt
and that she had tried to extricate herself from the corruption cases
against her and that the BJP had aided her in this. But, they noted,
the five parties in the DMK-led front in Tamil Nadu had fought this.
However, when the AIADMK had withdrawn its support to the Vajpayee
Government because of "internal contradictions" and the Government was
about to fall, the five parties should back that move, they said.
Jayalalitha's corruption could be tackled later, after the Government
fell, they reasoned.
N. BALAJI
TMC president G.K. Moopanar. The TMC seemed to have emerged
relatively unscathed from the latest round; the party made known its
stand opposing in equal measure the BJP's communalism and the AIADMK's
corruption.
Sankariah said: "We will not protect anybody who is corrupt. The law
will take its own course."
Both Nallakannu and Sankariah squelched the DMK's fears that if the
Congress(I) formed a coalition government with the AIADMK as a
partner, the DMK Government would again be dismissed. Nallakannu said
that in the absence of a majority, the Congress(I) would not be able
to dismiss the DMK Government, and that in any case the Communist
parties would firmly oppose any such move. Nallakannu said that the
DMK's decision to support the BJP at this juncture "does not behove
Tamil Nadu's political background because the legacy of the Dravidian
parties is to oppose sectarian politics."
Informed sources said that Karunanidhi felt "insulted" that CPI(M)
general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet met Jayalalitha in Delhi on
April 14. CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan too met her the next
day.
Karunanidhi accused the CPI(M) and the CPI of initiating steps that
"certainly fragmented" the Third Front. He said: "I do not know what
prompted Mr. Surjeet to ignore the DMK and talk to Jayalalitha." He
wondered what had become of the assurances from West Bengal Chief
Minister Jyoti Basu and Surjeet that the DMK and the TMC were very
much a part of the Third Front and that a collective decision would be
taken. He accused the CPI(M) and the CPI of not consulting the DMK on
the fast-moving developments in New Delhi. He said he was sure that
the political parties which had lined up behind Jayalalitha now would
see her in her true colours at the appropriate time.
SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY
Jayalalitha with CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan at Ajoy Bhavan,
the CPI headquarters, in New Delhi on April 15. The circumstances that
led up to the fall of the Vajpayee Government may lead to a
realignment of political parties in Tamil Nadu.
CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury refuted Karunanidhi's
allegation that he had not been consulted by the Left parties. He said
the Central and State leadership of the CPI(M) had been in constant
touch with the DMK. If the DMK wanted to change its position, the Left
should "not be used as an excuse," he said.
With the defeat of the Vajpayee Government, the DMK, which is without
friends, may face tough days ahead in the political arena. Karunanidhi
admitted as much when he said that the DMK had been isolated from the
Left parties. "But we will not be isolated from the people," he
added.
http://www.flonnet.com/fl1609/16090210.htm
Volume 27 - Issue 06 :: Mar. 13-26, 2010
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
CONTROVERSY
Artist’s alienation
V. VENKATESAN
Harassment by Hindutva fanatics and law enforcers made M.F. Husain
accept Qatari nationality.
V. GANESAN
THAT India’s pre-eminent artist, Maqbool Fida Husain, 94, had to
accept the citizenship of another country may well be the tragedy of
Indian secularism. On February 25, the Government of Qatar conferred
on him Qatari nationality, without his applying for the same.
Husain’s acquisition of Qatar’s citizenship will, in all probability,
raise questions about whether he can retain his Indian citizenship.
Under Section 9 of the Citizenship Act, 1955, any citizen of India who
voluntarily acquires the citizenship of another country shall, upon
such acquisition, cease to be a citizen of India. The key word here is
“voluntarily”. Therefore, when the Central government seeks to
determine whether he “voluntarily” acquired the citizenship of Qatar,
it may well consider the circumstances that left him with no choice,
apart from the obvious facts.
The story of Husain’s struggle for justice has to be traced to 1996,
when Hindutva forces were on the ascendant following their success in
electoral politics. In September 1996, an article by one Om Nagpal,
titled “Is he [Husain] an artist or a butcher?” appeared in Vichar
Mimansa, a monthly magazine in Hindi published from Bhopal. In the
article Husain’s depiction of the goddess Saraswati in the nude was
reproduced. The magazine’s editor, V.S. Vajpayee, had come across it
in the book Husain - Riding the Lightning by Dnyaneshwar Nadkarni.
Husain had drawn this in 1970.
Maharashtra’s then Minister for Culture and Shiv Sena leader Pramod
Navalkar, who came across newspaper reports of the article, and then
read the article, wrote to the Mumbai Police Commissioner informing
him of the material referred to in the article. The Mumbai Police
treated the letter as a complaint and registered a case on October 8,
1996, against Husain under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between
different groups on account of religion, etc.) and 295A (deliberate
and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any
class) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
These are provisions that cannot be invoked without the sanction of
the State government. The non-application of mind by the State
government, before granting sanction, thus sowed the seeds of bigotry.
Soon after, Bajrang Dal activists barged into the Herwitz gallery in
Ahmedabad’s famous Husain-Doshi Gufa art complex to destroy Husain’s
paintings. They ransacked the place and the damage was estimated at Rs.
1.5 crore. Damage was inflicted on all of Husain’s paintings,
including his depictions of the Buddha, Hanuman and Ganesha. The State
government’s reluctance to apprehend those responsible for the attack
encouraged a culture of impunity.
Artists in Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad came out in a public expression
of solidarity with Husain. Husain, then in London, issued a statement
in which he said it was not his intention to hurt people’s feelings
with his art, but if he had, he regretted it.
Metaphoric art
Husain was born in a working class family of some means in Pandharpur,
Maharashtra. He intermittently attended the local college of arts in
Indore. At 17, he was apprenticed to a tailor; he also trained to
become a prayer leader. He moved to Mumbai in 1937 and lived for many
years in a slum. There he worked as an assistant to a billboard
painter, and then became a painter of signs himself. He also worked as
a furniture designer and as a toy maker. He painted determinedly
through all these phases.
His references to Indian culture are metaphoric. In fact, the
Saraswati sketch was really skeletal, an outline showing a woman as a
muse. It revealed Husain’s deft strokes. There was nothing in it that
could be called grotesque. As Rajeev Dhavan records in his book
Publish and be Damned: Censorship and Intolerance in India (Tulika
Books, 2008), it was the Vichar Mimansa headline calling Husain a
butcher that built up hatred against the painter and his works. In
fact, the publication should have been indicted for hate speech.
Since Vichar Mimansa was published from Madhya Pradesh, the
prosecutions should have been launched in that State. But there is no
legal bar to prosecute from any State where the publication was
distributed. This legal labyrinth prompted Hindutva forces to choose
Maharashtra, where the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party was in power,
rather than Madhya Pradesh, which was then ruled by a Congress
government led by Digvijay Singh.
Artists and historians had then sought to expose the vacuousness of
the protests by the Hindutva fringe groups. They pointed out that the
walls of the Hoysala temples depict a variety of Saraswati images, all
nude. Nudity was never questioned in Indian art. Experiments of early
Indian artists were much more daring than Husain’s.
Hate-mongers
On May 1, 1998, Bajrang Dal activists forced their way into Husain’s
South Mumbai home and created mayhem. They were ostensibly provoked by
one of his works exhibited in New Delhi. They interpreted that the
painting depicted Sita perched on the tail of a flying Hanuman, both
in the nude. Husain had never given a caption to this painting, and
the Hindutvavadis gave a free rein to their imagination.
This time, as in 1996, Husain suggested setting up a three-member
committee – an art critic, a lawyer and a representative of the Vishwa
Hindu Parishad (VHP) – that could go through his entire collection. He
said he was prepared to destroy immediately any work that the
committee found objectionable.
But the VHP-Bajrang Dal combine could not be pacified by these
concessions which, to many of Husain’s admirers, seemed unwarranted.
In 2006, Husain was accused of painting a ‘Naked Bharat Mata’ (nude
Mother India). The painting was put up for auction by Apparao
Galleries of Chennai. The title Bharat Mata was given by the
auctioneer without reference to Husain. Husain again apologised and
withdrew the painting from the charity auction.
SEBASTIAN D'SOUZA/AFP
M.F. Husain at the inauguration of his exhibition "...and not only 88
of Husain" at the National Art Gallery in Mumbai in Janary 2004.
Although Husain apologised to stop the hate campaign, he was innocent
and had no intention of painting something profane.
The hate-mongers remained dissatisfied. It was then that Home Minister
Shivraj Patil instructed the police chiefs of Delhi and Mumbai to take
“appropriate action” against Husain on the basis of an intelligence
input that Husain’s Bharat Mata and other controversial paintings of
Hindu goddesses could spark communal trouble. Newspaper reports about
the May 2006 advisory shocked the artistic community.
The advisory was based on the Law Ministry’s review of about six
paintings by Husain. The Law Ministry had concluded that a sound case
had been made for the prosecution of Husain. The United Progressive
Alliance government, which now swears by its resolve to give
protection to Husain if he returns to India, has no explanation why it
responded the way it did in 2006.
Artists such as Vivan Sundaram, Ram Rahman, Shubha Mudgal, Arjun Dev,
K. Bikram Singh, S. Kalidas, Krishen Khanna and Rajen Prasad wrote to
Shivraj Patil on May 8, 2006, to withdraw immediately the advisory, if
it had been issued, as such an action had never been taken earlier
against a visual artist. “The implications of such a step are very
serious and strike at the very foundations of our democratic polity,”
they wrote. They pointed out to Patil that Husain’s work is a
celebration of the multi-cultural and multi-religious life of
independent India. Though a Muslim, Husain has done a series of
paintings celebrating the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the
mythological traditions of other religions that have taken root in
India – such as Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism as well as
Islam. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha on this acclaim.
Meanwhile, death threats were issued, putting a price on Husain’s
head. Ashok Pandey, who claimed to be the president of the Hindu Law
Board, offered a Minister from Uttar Pradesh Rs.101 crore to kill
Husain in response to the Minister’s offer of Rs.51 crore to any
person who assassinated the Danish cartoonist who had insulted the
Prophet.
In Gujarat, Jashubhai Patel, who was earlier president of the BJP unit
in Mehsana district, announced that he would pay one kilogram of gold
to anyone who gouged out the eyes of Husain and cut off his right
thumb so that he would never be able to make paintings of Hindu gods
and goddesses. The Congress Minority Cell in Madhya Pradesh offered Rs.
11 lakh to any patriot who would chop off Husain’s hands because he
had hurt Hindu sentiments. The call was issued by Akhtar Baig, who was
vice-president of Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee in Indore.
If these threats dissuaded Husain from returning to India, he could
not be blamed for it. The police in these States did not take any
action against those who issued the threats despite their identity
having been revealed in the media. Such threats are covered under
Section 503 of the IPC (criminal intimidation), and punishment for
this offence under Section 506 is imprisonment up to seven years.
The same month, there was an exhibition of Husain’s paintings at Asia
House in London. A protest was organised by Arjun Malik of the Hindu
Human Rights Campaign against the exhibition and against the Japanese
firm Hitachi that had supplied plasma screens to the gallery for
better viewing. Asia House gallery succumbed to the pressure by
concluding the exhibition much before the scheduled date.
The controversy over the Bharat Mata painting was an invitation to
bigots to use legal means to harass Husain. In a sense, the legal
process itself was a punishment. A social worker filed a complaint
before the Judicial Magistrate, First Class, in Indore, who summoned
Husain. Husain feared that his life would be in danger in Indore if he
appeared before the magistrate. A bailable warrant was then issued
against Husain. Soon other complaints followed.
Typical of these complaints was that neither the complaint nor the
summoning order referred to any sanction granted by the Central or
State governments – a mandatory requirement under Section 196 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). In a complaint registered in
Pandharpur, a non-existent provision, Section 501B IPC, was invoked on
the basis of which a non-bailable warrant of arrest was issued against
him by a lower court. The court directed the Kerala government to
present him in the Pandharpur court as and when he arrived in Kerala
to receive the Raja Ravi Varma Award for 2007. The basis of the
complaint was that Husain had hurt the sentiments of Hindus through
his painting of Bharat Mata. These multiple proceedings had the
chilling effect of distracting him from his obsession and love for
art. It also dissuaded him from returning to India from his self-
imposed exile in Dubai.
Landmark judgment
In December 2006, the Supreme Court directed transfer of all the
pending cases against him in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar to
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Delhi. When the ACMM issued
a summons to Husain in three such cases, he filed a revision petition
in the Delhi High Court to quash the same.
Despite the ruling of the Delhi High Court on May 8, 2008, quashing
the summons, three cases are pending against him in the Sessions Court
at Patiala House in Delhi on virtually identical charges.
Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul delivered the landmark High Court judgment
in 2008. The essence of the judgment was that Husain’s Bharat Mata
painting is not obscene, as it is not lascivious and nor does it
appeal to prurient interests. The painting depicts India in a human
form, and the naked portrayal of a concept which has no particular
face does not qualify the as obscene, Justice Kaul reasoned. By way of
an abstract expression, Husain tried to elucidate the concept of a
nation in the form of a distressed woman; the aesthetic touch to the
painting dwarfs the so-called obscenity in the form of nudity, he
explained. He also disagreed with the view that the painting could
offend religious feelings.
The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal against this judgment. But three
more cases are yet to be disposed of at the Patiala House District
Court, New Delhi. In one case, a first information report (FIR) was
registered against Husain, and the court ordered a police
investigation, which has not yet been concluded. The remaining two
cases have been transferred from other States to Delhi. It is clear
that after Justice Kaul’s judgment, these cases too needed to be
quashed by the District Court. The Delhi High Court quashed one such
case in 2009. The pendency of these cases made the prospect of his
arrest and harassment real if he returned to India.
Even though Home Minister P. Chidambaram promises full security to
Husain if he returns to India, the threat of vandalism against his
paintings still looms large. Organisers of any exhibition of modern
art, let alone art summits, now tend to exclude Husain’s paintings
from it.
Akhil Sibal, Husain’s advocate in Delhi, said: “The Government of
India has been a silent spectator to his harassment for 15 years. It
has taken neither any clear position nor any unequivocal step to
secure him, and those who support him, a harassment-free environment.
Let the government not be held hostage and paralysed by the shrill
voices of extremists.”
In the case decided by Justice Kaul, the Additional Solicitor General
while assisting the Court promised that he would advise the Central
government to take steps by way of appropriate legislative amendments
to prevent harassment of artists, sculptors, authors, film-makers and
so on in different creative fields. Justice Kaul hoped that this
aspect would get the attention it deserves and the legislature in its
wisdom would examine the feasibility of possible changes in law.
Justice Kaul had made it clear that the criminal justice system should
not be invoked as a convenient recourse to ventilate any and all
objections to an artistic work. The system, he warned, can cause
serious violations of the rights of people in the creative fields, and
this represents a growing intolerance and divisiveness within society
and poses a threat to the democratic fabric of the nation. Therefore,
he said, the magistrates must scrutinise each case in order to prevent
vexatious and frivolous cases from being filed and ensure that it is
not used as a tool to harass the accused. Rather than make empty
promises to Husain to guarantee his security if he returns to India,
the government may well initiate concrete action on the reforms
suggested by Justice Kaul.
http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20100326270611500.htm
Volume 27 - Issue 06 :: Mar. 13-26, 2010
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
CONTROVERSY
Shock and shame
S. ARNEJA
Artist Vivan Sundaram.
IN a recent interview to NDTV, Maqbool Fida Husain, the first global
modernist painter from India, made his decision to accept Qatari
citizenship sound like a practical imperative. He said since he had
found sponsors in London (United Kingdom) and Qatar to complete his
three projects on ancient civilisations, he would have to become a non-
resident Indian (NRI) because of the excessive tax structure
prevailing in India. He justified the decision by saying that even
film directors such as Roman Polanski and Ingmar Bergman had to leave
their countries.
He said: “Had I been 40, I would have fought them [attackers of his
art] tooth and nail but here I want to focus only on my work. I don’t
want any disturbance. I need all comforts and facilities to the
maximum.” He added: “These boundaries are only political boundaries.
The visual arts especially is a universal language; you can be
anywhere in the world but the work that you do has a strong link to
5,000 years of our great Indian culture.”
However, most artists in India expressed shame, sadness and shock at
Husain being pushed to the edge. They recalled Husain’s life and the
implications of his enforced exile.
The renowned Hindustani classical singer Shubha Mudgal says: “It is
tragic that we allowed this to happen. Having gone through what M.F.
Husain has, we are no one to tell him where to go or not. The
government is talking of disaster management now but where was it all
these years? Unfortunately, art does not transcend all boundaries of
prejudices and that prevents the artistic community from taking a
stand together. To top it all, there is no space for artists to get
together to discuss Husain and other issues such as censorship. If
this can happen to Husain, what can happen to many lesser-known
artists?”
The photographer Ram Rahman hesitates to use the word “controversial”
to describe Husain’s paintings. “We have to ask who made these
paintings controversial? Why use a discourse that has been defined by
right-wing militants? And how can we talk of Qatar’s freedom of
expression if Husain and other artists are being attacked in India?”
He is sceptical about the Indian government’s promise of security to
Husain. he said: “He is not a corporate honcho or a political leader.
He is a free bird. Would he be able to work in an environment he knows
is not conducive to work? All because you are letting the RSS
[Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh] and national politics, and not the
Constitution, define citizenry.”
In her recent essay “Modernist Myths and the Exile of Maqbool Fida
Husain”, the art historian Geeta Kapur profiles his exile in its
tragic, political and discursive meanings. She says that Husain faces
multiple exiles. According to her, “if an exiled artist is seen to
radiate a sense of self, an emanation of solitude, crucial to the
creative soul”, it was also crucial for Husain, facing so much apathy,
to impose on himself an exile in order to exercise uncompromised
understanding of ethical issues.
She goes on to write: “Husain is stereotypically a postcolonial artist
and his exile carries the entire burden of the citizenship/community
discourse in India… In post-Independence India, Husain’s visible
identity as a Muslim figured emblematically but was not overplayed,
since the secular was simply a taken-for-granted for all modern
artists. Now, 60 years hence, even as he (so admirably) refuses to
play the opposite role of an embittered Muslim or a national martyr,
he must rely on the modern artist’s sense of singularity to salvage
himself.”
The Husain issue has many political implications. Branding is a
contemporary political reality: someone who is a human rights activist
can be branded as a Maoist or someone speaking for minority rights can
be seen as a terrorist in a security-driven system. All these trends
recoil into suppression of free speech, the most important pillar of a
democratic society.
SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
Film director Shyam Benegal.
In a liberal space, none of the artists discount the right of the
groups protesting against Husain but are critical of violent methods
to assert their point. The film-maker Shyam Benegal, known for his
socially sensitive cinema, says: “There is a convergence of the
politics of intimidation and the politics of identity in these times,
which creates the ‘other’ very easily. How can we just blame the right-
wing groups? It is an organised attitude. The Bhandarkar Oriental
Research Institute in Pune was ransacked in 2004 by the Sambhaji
Brigade, a cultural group of the Nationalist Congress Party.
Similarly, what happened with Shah Rukh Khan is absurd. There are ways
to protest because in a country that guarantees free speech,
sentiments can get hurt. We all have our ways to protest, but to say
you have no right to exist is a matter of concern.”
An important reading of Husain’s ostracism was done by Vivan Sundaram,
painter, sculptor and installation artist: “Visual images can have
many readings, and inbuilt into them are greater ambiguities. But
interpretation in a way that could make way for an attack is being
done by organised right-wing groups and not individuals.” When asked
whether Husain is trying to make a statement by accepting Qatar’s
citizenship, he said, “In a way, he is making some kind of a statement
that if you are insisting I should live in exile, then I will get rid
of this. Vigilance in the public domain is keeping India away from
many progressive thoughts. The government cannot just provide security
but it has to act consistently against fundamentalists. It is a
process, but the political leadership must stand up to it.”
In this polemic, what remains conspicuous is the government’s
emergence as a protector only when the issue of foreign nationality
surfaced. Geeta Kapur gives an explanation. She traces the transition
of an artist from a citizen to an interlocutor in the changed public
discourse. While, she says, the space for artists as citizens began to
be suppressed during the naxalite era of the 1960s and 1970s and then
during the Emergency, it became starker in the 1990s.
“The right-wing swing in Indian politics during the 1990s made the
‘othering’ process at work in the polity fully visible to the more
radical intelligentsia, as it also made visible the alienation of the
minorities and Dalits whose political struggles echoed through and
beyond the public sphere. The artist-interlocutor now undertook to
investigate the fault lines within civil society structures, as well
as to address the conditions of life that fall outside the protocols
of governances,” she writes.
By accepting Qatar’s citizenship, Husain precisely does this. For the
first time, perhaps, with Husain’s issue, citizenry engages with
minority rights and victimisation. These are issues of social
exclusion in terms of caste, gender and religion, which get lost in an
overarching identity of a ‘citizen’. It is in this context that Geeta
Kapur writes: “Husain’s exile is a personal tragedy and a national
shame. It is the exile of a modern artist, of a secular artist and,
more explicitly, a Muslim citizen-artist from secular India. Relayed
into each other, these aspects condense into a logic whereby it is
precisely as a secularist that Husain is accused.”
She goes on to say: “How ironic that antagonists as well as
protagonists should make it mandatory for Husain to publicly embrace
Islam and its metaphysics, endorse a sectarian identity, valorise the
Islamicate legacy, and interpret his present engagement with Arab
civilisation as an endorsement of his ‘originary/ethnic’ identity!
More ironical, that he must thereby shun not only the secular but also
the sovereign status he sought in the embrace of modernity.”
Faced with the empathy within the artistic community for Husain, the
Indian government has woken up to the need to bring Husain back to
India to salvage whatever little goodwill it may have among the
artists and liberal ideologues. But it needs to do more to convince
them about its sincerity.
By Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta
http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20100326270611800.htm
Volume 27 - Issue 06 :: Mar. 13-26, 2010
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
SOCIAL ISSUES
Khap terror
T.K. RAJALAKSHMI
in Rohtak
Haryana’s caste panchayats continue to punish couples, practically
unchecked, for breaking “brotherhood norms”.
BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Azad Singh and Lakshmi, parents of Satish Berwal. The family has been
given police protection.
ON February 12, Meham town in Rohtak district, Haryana, saw a
citizens’ convention that was unusual in more than one sense. First,
it was being held from the ramparts of the Meham Chaubisi Chabootara,
a platform reserved for members of the Meham panchayat (a
conglomeration of 24 villages, better known as the Meham Chaubisi).
Second, the meeting was not dominated by any one caste. Third, it was
a congregation of secular and democratic groups, and a good number of
women participated in it. (Women had never attended meetings at that
venue since all caste and khap panchayats are male-dominated.) Fourth,
it was a meeting where caste and khap panchayats and their
undemocratic ways were roundly criticised. People from neighbouring
villages also attended the meeting and expressed their opposition to
the illegal acts of the panchayats.
The meeting reflected a growing anger against the actions of self-
styled khap panchayats. In early February itself, there were at least
three reported cases of panchayats ordering the expulsion of married
couples for having allegedly violated one community norm or the other.
Meham shot into notoriety 20 years ago following complaints of poll-
rigging and booth-capturing in an Assembly byelection. The election
had to be countermanded twice because of large-scale violence and the
murder of an independent candidate. The Meham Chaubisi has
historically played a crucial role in elections.
Bhaichaara victims
On January 31, Kavita and Satish, a young couple from Kheri Meham with
a nine-month-old child, were told by the khap panchayat that their
marriage three years ago was in violation of the gotra norm of
bhaichaara, or brotherhood. Kavita belongs to the Beniwal gotra and
Satish to the Berwal gotra, and their marriage had seemingly not
violated any caste or gotra norm. However, according to the bhaichaara
norm, girls belonging to a village’s dominant gotra could be accepted
in that village only as sisters, and not as wives. Of late, this has
been used to harass couples who either married out of their own choice
or whose marriages were arranged by their families.
Twenty-one members of the Beniwal gotra convened a meeting and decided
to expel Kavita and Satish from the village. Kavita could not stay in
the village as the wife of Satish, but the child could live with
Satish’s father, Azad Singh, the meeting decreed.
As a punishment for allowing the marriage to take place, the 65-year-
old Azad Singh was paraded around the village with a shoe shoved into
his mouth. Azad Singh’s family is among the poorer ones in the village
and belongs to a minority gotra. “We were told that we could stay on
in the village if we donated whatever land we possessed to the village
dera (a village shelter used by mendicants). As per the ruling, Satish
would become his own child’s uncle while I have to pay Rs.3 lakh for
the upkeep of my grandchild. How will I procure all the money for this
after giving away my land?” said Azad Singh.
Anil Rao, Senior Superintendent of Police, Rohtak, told Frontline that
the couple was now staying in Bhiwani district and that he had sent
word to the police authorities there to provide them security.
Kavita had, with support from her parents, who live in Bhiwani
district, approached the SSP with a detailed complaint, naming the
people who had convened the panchayat and humiliated her father-in-
law. She demanded action against the 21 gotra members involved in the
act. But the police registered a first information report (FIR)
without mentioning any names – reportedly owing to pressure from
influential people. Frontline learnt that at least two revenue
department employees and one panchayat samiti member were involved in
the humiliation of Azad Singh and in the decision to expel the
couple.
The SSP said that the police were doing everything possible to help
the couple and claimed that police intervention had forced the Meham
Chaubisi to reverse its judgment. A joint meeting of the Berwal and
Beniwal khaps resolved that the couple could live as man and wife but
outside their village. The Chaubisi also condemned the humiliation of
Azad Singh.
At Azad Singh’s house, emotions run high. “They have done their worst.
What more can they do?” said Azad Singh, referring to his humiliation.
While he and his wife Lakshmi are relieved to have police protection
against further assaults by members of the dominant gotra, they are
scared to say openly that they will bring their daughter-in-law home.
“What would you do if you are surrounded by the village toughs? But
how can a man and his wife reconvert as brother and sister?” wondered
an elderly relative of Azad Singh. However, she said that the
panchayat was right in its decision but others had influenced it
wrongly. Lakshmi wondered what would be the nature of her relationship
with her grandson, Raunaq, if her son and daughter-in-law were to see
each other as brother and sister.
It was shocking that none of the influential Berwal gotra members was
ready to stand by the family. Dharamraj, a former sarpanch of Kheri
village, said that the khaps’ decision, taken at a joint meeting of
the two khaps, was final. The role of an elected sarpanch, as has been
seen in most cases relating to such issues, is marginal. An older
citizen of the village told Frontline that an elected sarpanch was of
use only if he was influential and “strong”.
The police maintained a studious silence regarding the couple’s desire
to live together in their own village of Kheri. “Mindsets have to
change, and then there is the issue of bhaichaara that cannot be
disturbed,” said a police officer.
It is significant that the Punjab and Haryana High Court took suo motu
notice of the issue and asked the Haryana government to file a reply.
The Director-General of Police told the court that the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, does not cover the activities of
khap panchayats. Equally significant is the fact that apart from the
Left parties and the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA),
which took up the cudgels on Kavita’s behalf, several individuals,
including veteran Congress leader Shamsher Singh Surjewala, and
organisations such as the All India Lawyers’ Union, the All India
Kisan Sabha and a few youth organisations, denounced the undemocratic
diktats of the caste panchayat.
Apart from the Kheri incident, three other cases of caste panchayat
atrocities were reported in the recent past. A couple in Jind district
came under immense pressure to call off their engagement after a
section of residents of the boy’s village, Budalkhera, claimed that
the gotras of the groom and the bride had brotherly relations. The
Budalkhera panchayat declared that the marriage could not take place
in the village. The families of the couple resisted and finally, on
February 6, the panchayat reversed its order. But it ensured that the
wedding took place outside the village.
Similarly, on November 1 last year, a joint panchayat of the Garhi
Ballam and Sundana villages ordered a couple to leave the village for
violating gotra norms. The couple quietly left. No complaint was
lodged.
Curiously, on February 3, in a village in Hisar district, members of
the Scheduled Caste Dhanak community objected to a wedding and
banished the boy from the village, alleging gotra violations. That was
perhaps the first time that the Dhanak community had targeted one of
its own. Until then, only a section of the Jat community was found
raising vocal and violent objections on the grounds of gotra
violations. It was because of the intervention of some Left and
democratic organisations and the determination of the boy’s mother, a
widow who threatened to commit suicide, that the panchayat finally
relented.
The Bhupinder Singh Hooda government’s record in taking on illegal
actions of caste groups is less than satisfactory. Such incidents are
as common as they were before, but many of them go unreported.
“There are so many more important issues – such as dowry, domestic
violence and livelihood issues. But we spend most of our energy and
time fighting the unconstitutional fiats of these self-styled
panchayats,” said Jagmati Sangwan, president of the State unit of
AIDWA.
She pointed out that though the government had promised to set up
shelters for couples who were being targeted by khap panchayats, to
date not a single one had come up.
The Rohtak SSP told Frontline that harassed couples could stay in the
police lines, sharing accommodation with other families until the
government shelters came up. “We can’t provide independent
accommodation for 2,000 couples overnight,” he said.
http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20100326270604400.htm
Volume 27 - Issue 06 :: Mar. 13-26, 2010
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
THE STATES
Facing flak
S. DORAIRAJ
in Chennai
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes criticises Tamil Nadu for
poor implementation of Dalit welfare measures.
E. LAKSHMI NARAYANAN
A Dalit woman staging a dharna outside the Office of the Special
Tahsildar (Adi Dravidar Welfare) in Salem on June 16, 2008, demanding
a patta for the site of her house.
THE sharp criticism of the State administration by the National
Commission for Scheduled Castes for perceived inadequacies in
enforcing the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, 1989, and in implementing various welfare measures
aimed at empowering Dalits has put the Tamil Nadu government in a
tight spot. Despite denials by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, who is
also a top leader of the United Progressive Alliance which is in power
at the Centre, NCSC Vice-Chairman N.M. Kamble’s remarks after a review
meeting in Chennai on February 18 have triggered a fresh debate on a
wide range of Dalit-related issues. These include different forms of
discrimination against Dalits, the lacunae in enforcing the S.Cs and
S.Ts (POA) Act, non-distribution of adequate cultivable land and house
sites to the oppressed sections, non-clearance of the backlog of
promotions, introduction of 3 per cent internal reservation for the
Arunthathiar community, and the lack of political will to end manual
scavenging.
The Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF), led by
functionaries of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and several
Dalit organisations, which participated in the review meeting, made
their submissions to the commission. The NCSC dropped a bombshell by
pointing to the large number of pending cases and the low rate of
conviction in the State under the S.Cs and S.Ts (POA) Act. It did not
take lightly the failure on the part of the police to complete the
investigations in time in many cases. The commission also pointed out
that the details pertaining to the grounds for acquittal in many cases
were not made available to it. It substantiated its claims with a year-
wise break-up of pending cases, disposals and convictions.
The commission pulled up the government for not furnishing district-
wise and ward-wise information regarding the implementation of welfare
schemes for Dalits. The non-appointment of a liaison officer to take
care of the interests of Scheduled Caste government employees
particularly earned the NCSC’s ire. The commission also expressed
anguish over the lack of initiative on the part of the authorities to
retrieve lands that were assigned to the Scheduled Castes but were
still in the possession of non-Dalits. There are as many as 8,000 such
cases.
Top officials of the State government who attended the meeting assured
the NCSC of submitting the information required by it in a month. But
Karunanidhi took issue with the criticism the next day by announcing
that he would apprise the Centre, particularly Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh, of his government’s performance in promoting the welfare of
Dalits.
Refuting the NCSC’s “barbed comments”, Karunanidhi came out with a
detailed statement highlighting the various welfare measures
implemented by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government after he
assumed office as Chief Minister for the first time in 1969. These
include decisions to raise the quantum of reservation for the S.Cs and
the S.Ts from 16 per cent to 18 per cent in 1971 and to earmark a
quota of 1 per cent exclusively for the S.Ts in 1990.
He said the State government had allocated more funds under the
Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP) than the earmarked 19 per cent. He
further said the allocations for divisible expenditure out of the
State Plan funds had grown from Rs.567 crore in 2005-2006 to Rs.2,615
crore in 2009-2010. It was his government that named the Law
University in the State after B.R. Ambedkar, he recalled. On the
commission’s contention with regard to the low conviction rate in
cases registered under the S.Cs and S.Ts (POA) Act, Karunanidhi said
just blaming the government counsel and the courts appeared to be the
motive behind the criticism.
Several Dalit organisations in the State, however, do not seem to be
convinced by the Chief Minister’s claims. Addressing a joint press
conference, Dalit leaders including Puthiya Tamizhagam president K.
Krishnasamy and Republican Party of India’s State general secretary
S.K. Tamilarasan accused the DMK government of attempting to find
fault with the NCSC.
They urged the government to come out with a White Paper in three
months giving district-wise and block-wise details on reservation in
jobs and education, distribution of land, and retrieval of ‘panchami’
land to promote the socio-economic conditions of Dalits in the State.
They also wanted the data on the allocation of funds under the SCSP
and development projects executed for Dalits in villages to be
released without delay.
P. Sampath, State convener of the TNUEF, said there was nothing wrong
in the NCSC Vice-Chairman’s observations regarding the manner in which
S.Cs and S.Ts (POA) Act cases were handled in the State. He said
compromises were reached in many cases at the intervention of the
police, who register counter-complaints from the dominant communities
against the Dalit victims. The bail applications of offenders are
seldom objected to by the police, he alleged.
He said State and district panels set up by the government to monitor
the implementation of the Act had become dysfunctional. In many cases,
investigations were not done by deputy superintendents of police as
laid down by the rules, he alleged.
Official data show that the rate of conviction in cases of atrocities
against Dalits is very low. According to information provided by the
Inspector-General of Police (Social Justice and Human Rights), there
were 18,752 cases – 4,445 fresh cases and 14,307 “brought forward”
cases – involving S.Cs before special courts between 2003 and 2009. Of
these, only 412 ended in conviction, whereas there were 3,354
acquittals. In 2009 alone, there were 420 acquittals against 29
convictions; 2,656 cases were pending at the close of the year.
Official sources acknowledged the prevalence of injustices such as
denial of rights to Dalits to worship in temples, bury or burn their
dead in common burial or cremation grounds; denial of passage to
graveyards; and denial of land, water and promotions.
V. GANESAN
N.M. Kamble, Vice-Chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Castes,
addressing the media after a review meeting in Chennai.
An issue that has come to the fore now is the 3 per cent special
reservation in the State for Arunthathiars in education and
employment. Replying to a query at the press conference held after the
review meeting, Kamble held that the sub-quota announced without
consulting the commission was “unconstitutional” and could be
challenged in a court.
However, Karunanidhi strongly defended the internal reservation for
Arunthathiars, who “are still at the lowest rung in terms of socio-
economic and educational status”. Recalling the Chief Secretary’s
letter to NCSC Chairman Buta Singh in this regard on November 25,
2008, he said that though, according to rules, any such proposal
should be brought to the notice of the commission, it was not
mandatory to get its consent. The Tamil Nadu Arunthathiars (Special
Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions including Private
Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in Services
under the State within the Reservation for the Scheduled Castes) Act,
2009, was enacted after consulting a one-man panel, he pointed out.
The TNUEF has welcomed the Tamil Nadu government’s stand on this issue
though some Dalit organisations have threatened to challenge the Act
in court. Referring to the High Court’s direction that the Act must be
implemented with effect from April 29, 2009, when it came into force,
the TNUEF has urged the NCSC to ensure that it is carried out in tune
with Clause (5) of Article 338 of the Constitution. It also wants a
State Commission for S.Cs to be formed. The front has stressed the
need for raising the quota for Dalits by 1 per cent as the Scheduled
Castes constitute 19 per cent of the State’s total population of
624.06 lakhs as per the 2001 Census.
Sampath said the most contentious issue was the redistribution of
surplus land and wastelands to Dalits as land had become a status
symbol and was an important factor in solving livelihood issues.
Official sources say the government is keen to provide house site
pattas to roofless Dalit families.
According to them, 1,74,952 Dalit families were given house site
pattas from April 1, 2006, to May 31, 2009, under the one-time special
scheme to regularise encroachments on government poramboke lands. And
44,522 acres (one acre is 0.4 hectare) was distributed to 41,064 Dalit
families in five phases, from September 17, 2006, as part of
implementing the Chief Minister’s pet scheme of distribution of two
acres of wasteland to families of the landless poor. The government
has also announced that 11,660 house site pattas will be issued during
2009-2010. But Sampath said all these were only on paper and in many
places Dalits found it difficult to take possession of the lands which
were in the hands of dominant communities.
The NCSC’s review in the State has also paved the way for the revival
of the demand for retrieval of several thousands of ‘panchami’ lands
gifted to Dalits during British rule in the 1890s. According to
informed sources, only 1.26 lakh acres of the 12 lakh acres of
panchami lands were available now and most of these were occupied by
non-Dalits and industrial houses.
Significantly, the TNUEF and leaders of some Dalit organisations have
demanded that the Tamil Nadu government give serious consideration to
the Scheduled Castes Sub Plan and other special assistance provided by
the Centre. They say that only by doing so will the government be able
to reduce the gap between Dalits and the rest of society and speed up
the process of integrating them with the mainstream.
The government has been claiming that the allocations are made under
the SCSP as per guidelines. Official data show there has been a steady
rise in the allocations from the earmarked 19 per cent in the last
four financial years. For instance, it was 20.87 per cent in
2008-2009, up from 19.09 per cent in 2005-2006, it says.
However, the TNUEF and the Dalit organisations have been accusing the
government of not allocating funds adequately under the scheme besides
diverting them to other schemes. The Chief Minister time and again has
attempted to allay the apprehensions of the Dalit organisations by
promising them that he would take the responsibility to see that not
even a small portion of the funds allotted for improving the status of
the S.Cs was diverted to other schemes.
But the TNUEF feels that Dalit organisations and political parties
should be vigilant as funds earmarked for Adi Dravidar welfare have
been diverted in the past. They allege that, for example, the
construction of quarters 10 years ago for 44 legislators representing
reserved constituencies was done with funds so earmarked.
http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20100326270603800.htm
Volume 27 - Issue 06 :: Mar. 13-26, 2010
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
COVER STORY
Less for the poor
PRAVEEN JHA
The UPA government seems to have grown complacent about its budgetary
allocations for the social sectors.
WITH clear indications of the economy reviving fast, the Union
government should have taken an expansionary fiscal stance not only to
accelerate growth but also to finance adequately the interventions
that promote social sector development. However, it has chosen to
revert to the path of fiscal conservatism, albeit gradually, with
Budget 2010-11.
A “calibrated exit strategy from the expansionary fiscal stance of
2008-09 and 2009-10”, which the 13th Finance Commission has
recommended strongly, seems to have been given shape to as the
government’s total expenditure is projected to fall from 16.6 per cent
of GDP (gross domestic product) in 2009-10 (Revised Estimates) to 16
per cent of GDP in 2010-11 (Budget Estimates). In tandem with the
compression of public expenditure, the fiscal deficit is projected to
fall from 6.7 per cent of GDP in 2009-10 (R.E.) to 5.5 per cent of GDP
in 2010-11 (B.E.), and the revenue deficit is estimated at 4.0 per
cent of GDP in 2010-11 (B.E.), significantly lower than the 5.3 per
cent figure for 2009-10 (R.E.).
As regards the policy direction suggested by the 13th Finance
Commission, both the Report of the Commission (tabled in Parliament on
February 25) and Budget 2010-11 indicate clearly that the next five
years will witness growing efforts by the government towards
elimination/reduction of deficits through compression of public
expenditure. Consequently, any significant boost to public expenditure
in the social sectors in the last two years of the 11th Five-Year Plan
(2010-11 and 2011-12) seems unlikely.
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government seems to
have grown complacent about its budgetary policies for the social
sectors. While Budget 2010-11 does pay some attention to a few of the
important sectors/issues such as women and child development,
development of minorities, rural housing and technical education, its
overall allocations and proposals for the social sectors (which
include education, health and family welfare and water and sanitation)
seem to fall far short of expectations.
As shown in Table 1, the allocation for social services (which in the
jargon of budgets in our country refers to social sectors such as
education, health and family welfare, water and sanitation, nutrition,
welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward
Classes, and social security and welfare, among others) in the total
expenditure in the Union Budget has been stepped up from 8.9 per cent
in 2007-08 to 10.4 per cent in 2008-09. However, it remains at 10.4
per cent in the B.E. for 2010-11. As a proportion of GDP, the
government’s total expenditure on social services showed a somewhat
noticeable increase from 1.3 per cent in 2007-08 to 1.6 per cent in
2008-09; but it has been stagnant in the last two Budgets.
State governments continue to bear a significant share of the
country’s total public expenditure on social sectors – as per the
Reserve Bank of India’s document ‘State Finances: A Study of Budgets
2009-10’, the total expenditure from Budgets of all States on social
services and rural development stood at 5.4 per cent of GDP in
2007-08, which increased to 5.8 per cent in 2008-09 (R.E.) and 6 per
cent in 2009-10 (B.E.). If we deduct the expenditure on rural
development from these figures and also exclude the double counting of
the Centre’s grants-in-aid to States in social services (which appear
both in the Union Budget and in the Budgets of States), the total
public expenditure in our country on social services could well be
around 6 per cent of GDP even in 2009-10.
Thus, despite the somewhat noticeable increases in the Union
government’s expenditure on social services, mainly during the UPA-1
regime, the country’s overall public expenditure on social services
continues to be very low. Before one jumps to the conclusion that
State governments are primarily responsible for this, one has to keep
in mind that over the past two decades the federal fiscal architecture
has been altered consistently in favour of the Union government.
The analysis of Budget 2010-11 by the Centre for Budget and Governance
Accountability (CBGA), New Delhi, shows that despite the increase in
the States’ share in Central taxes and duties to 32 per cent (from
30.5 per cent) and a number of specific-purpose grants recommended by
the 13th Finance Commission, the Gross Devolutions and Transfers (GDT)
from the Centre to the States would be 5.4 per cent of GDP in 2010-11,
which is almost the same as that in 2007-08 and 2008-09. This is
unlikely to reverse the disturbing trend of a decline in the share of
GDT in aggregate expenditure in State budgets. Hence, the primary
responsibility for the persistence of low public spending on social
sectors lies with the Union government.
The Union Finance Minister has claimed that his government has adopted
a number of budgetary policies to create entitlements for the poor
(over the past six years). However, it may be argued that the National
Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is the only Plan scheme of
the Union government rooted in an entitlements-based approach. In
contrast, most of the social sector Plan schemes of the Union
government continue to follow a welfarist approach and provide low-
cost, ad hoc interventions. An entitlements-based approach towards
public provisioning in the social sectors would require a significant
strengthening of the regular and sustained government interventions in
these sectors, which does not yet seem to be on the government’s
policy agenda.
Spending on education
In 1966 the D.S. Kothari Commission had recommended that the total
public spending on education should be raised to the level of 6 per
cent of GNP (gross national product) by 1986. Subsequently, many
political parties reiterated this as a commitment in their election
manifestos; the UPA, too, promised it in the National Common Minimum
Programme (NCMP) in 2004. However, the overall public spending on
education continues to be way below 6 per cent of GDP; even in 2007-08
(B.E.), it was only 3.67 per cent of GDP (including the spending by
Central and State education departments as well as other departments.
The Union government’s total allocation for education in 2010-11
(B.E.) stands at 0.71 per cent of GDP, which is slightly better than
the 0.64 per cent recorded for 2009-10 (R.E.). However, such gradual
and small increases in the Budget outlays for education cannot result
in any visible increase in overall public spending on education in the
country.
In addition to the 0.71 per cent of GDP allocated in Budget 2010-11
for the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), States will be
given access to Rs.3,675 crore for elementary education under the 13th
Finance Commission grants for 2010-11. There has been a significant
stepping up in the outlay for the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan
from Rs.550 crore in 2009-10 (R.E.) to Rs.1,700 crore in 2010-11.
Other areas showing increased outlays in Budget 2010-11 include the
adult education and skill development scheme, educational loan
interest subsidy in university and higher education, scholarship for
college and university students and the upgradation of existing
polytechnics and setting up of new ones.
In the current discourse on planning and government budgeting in the
country, there are very few benchmarks to assess the adequacy of
public spending on development schemes. In this context, the outlays
recommended by the Planning Commission for the 11th Five-Year Plan
period (2007-08 to 2011-12) could be treated as benchmarks, even
though the quality parameters underlying these benchmarks would hardly
be satisfactory. With just one more Union Budget left in the 11th Plan
period, at least 80 per cent of the outlays recommended by the
Planning Commission should have been made for Plan schemes during
2007-08 to 2010-11. However, the analysis by the CBGA (“Union Budget
2010-11: Which Way Now?”, available at www.cbgaindia.org) shows that
the total provisioning in the four Budgets during 2007-08 to 2010-11
has been only 12 per cent of the recommended outlay for the Rashtriya
Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, 36 per cent for teacher training and 46 per
cent for the UGC; the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and the midday meal
scheme have fared better with 76 per cent and 65 per cent
respectively.
However, in the context of education, what is most disconcerting about
Budget 2010-11 is its complete silence on the financing of the Right
to Education Act, which the Union government is reportedly planning to
notify from April 1. There have been reports in the media about the
Union government’s initiative to modify the norms and unit costs under
the SSA so as to make the provisioning under this flagship programme
in line with the Right to Education Act. However, the allocation for
the SSA has been increased only by 14.5 per cent from Rs.13,100 crore
in 2009-10 (R.E.) to Rs.15,000 crore in 2010-11 (B.E.).
Meagre amount for health
The UPA made a commitment in the National Common Minimum Programme
(NCMP) in 2004 that the total public spending on health would be
raised to the level of 2 to 3 per cent of GDP, which was also
reiterated in the 11th Five-Year Plan. However, the combined budgetary
allocation (that is, the total outlays from both Union Budget and
State budgets) for health stands at a meagre 1.06 per cent of GDP in
2009-10 (B.E.). The Union government’s allocation for health (that is,
the budget for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) shows a
negligible increase from 0.35 per cent of GDP in 2009-10 (R.E.) to
0.36 per cent of GDP in 2010-11 (B.E.). Thus, even after Budget
2010-11, the government is far short of the NCMP target of raising the
total public spending on health to 2 to 3 per cent of GDP.
In his Budget speech, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed
to include in the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana all those NREGS
beneficiaries who have worked (in the scheme) for at least 15 days in
the last fiscal year. While this is a welcome development, there are
several concerns pertaining to the implementation of the RSBY
(relating mainly to the role of private health insurance companies and
the private health care institutions), which need to be addressed. The
Budget allocation for the National Rural Heath Mission (NRHM) has been
increased only by 10.8 per cent, from Rs.14,002 crore in 2009-10
(R.E.) to Rs.15,514 crore in 2010-11 (B.E.). Given the huge
infrastructural gaps and the human resource crunch in the health
sector across the country, the budget for the NRHM should have been
increased significantly.
The allocation for the national disease control programmes has gone
down from Rs.1,063 crore in 2009-10 (B.E.) to Rs.1,050 crore in
2010-11 (B.E.), which is disturbing given that a number of diseases
covered under the scheme have witnessed increased prevalence in the
recent past.
The overall allocation for medical education and training has gone
down from Rs.3,256 crore in 2009-10 (B.E.) to Rs.2,679 crore in
2010-11 (B.E.). Within this, the most evident is the fall in
allocation for the establishment of AIIMS-type super specialty
hospitals, where the allocation has declined to the tune of Rs.700
crore. This is happening at a time when the budget allocation for
postgraduate medical education needs to be stepped up significantly to
fulfil the requirement of specialist doctors in the country. The
Finance Minister’s proposal for an annual health survey to prepare a
district health profile for all districts is a welcome step; but the
government would need to allocate adequate funds for this purpose. It
may be noted here that no allocation towards this has been made in
Budget 2010-11.
The persistence of low public spending in the country on social
sectors is also rooted in the small public resource base of the
country. In this context, it is disconcerting to note that with the
latest Budget the tax-GDP ratio for the Centre shows a small increase
from 10.3 per cent in 2009-10 (R.E.) to 10.8 per cent in 2010-11
(B.E.). Moreover, a liberal estimate of the amount of additional tax
revenue the government could have collected in 2009-10 if all
exemptions/incentives/deductions (both in direct and indirect taxes)
had been eliminated stands at a staggering 8.1 per cent of GDP. It is
ironical that exemptions of this magnitude, in fact, do not fit even
with the neoliberal rhetoric of fiscal consolidation, not to speak of
it being out of sync with the oft-repeated mantra of an “inclusive
growth by a caring and enabling government”.
Praveen Jha is on the faculty of the Centre for Economic Studies and
Planning, JNU. He is also the Honorary Economic Adviser to the Centre
for Budget and Governance Accountability, New Delhi. The article draws
substantially on the CBGA’s analysis of Union Budget 2010-11.
http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20100326270602400.htm
Volume 27 - Issue 06 :: Mar. 13-26, 2010
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
EDITORIAL
Not for ‘aam aadmi’
IN the course of his presentation of the Union Budget for 2010-11 to
Parliament, the Finance Minister made a passing reference to his
having presented the Union Budget way back in 1984. One is indeed
inclined to admire the longevity of Pranab Mukherjee’s occupation of
some Cabinet berth or the other through the last 25-plus years (with
some years in the Opposition and a brief period in political
wilderness). However, the ordinary people of our country are unlikely
to admire the Budget he has presented for 2010-11.
Consider the context in which the Budget has been presented. The
Economic Survey 2009-10, while providing a generally self-
congratulatory assessment of the government’s management of the
economy during 2009-10, reminds us that the agricultural economy has
done very poorly. Agricultural output is estimated to decline by 0.2
per cent over the current financial year in comparison with 2008-09.
This is even as industry in general and manufacturing in particular
are estimated to have done exceptionally well in recovering from the
impact of the global economic slowdown. The other disturbing feature
of the current economic context is, of course, the nearly 20 per cent
rise in food prices over the recent period. In fact, the Finance
Minister, in his Budget speech, said: “Since December 2009, there have
been indications of these high food prices, together with the gradual
hardening of the fuel product prices, getting transmitted to other non-
food items as well. The inflation data for January seems to have
confirmed this trend.”
The response of the Budget to these two key concerns, both of which
receive mention in it, has not merely been extremely inadequate. It is
likely to accelerate inflation and do little for agriculture. This is
evident from a look at the Budget proposals on indirect taxes. The
Budget proposes a partial rollback of the rate reduction in Central
Excise duties from 8 per cent to 10 per cent ad valorem on all non-
petroleum products. It restores the basic duty of 5 per cent on crude
petroleum. It also slaps a 7.5 per cent duty on diesel and petrol and
10 per cent on other refined products. In addition, the Budget
proposes enhancement of the Central Excise duty on petrol and diesel
by one rupee a litre each. This is a massive dose of indirect taxation
that will certainly be both highly inflationary and extremely
regressive in its impact, especially considering that incomes of most
working people in India are completely unprotected against inflation.
Besides stoking inflationary fires further, these moves will impact
negatively on agricultural output. Keeping in mind the likelihood that
the move to a “nutrient-based” regime of fertilizer subsidy that has
been announced by the government will result in significant increases
in the prices of fertilizers, one is appalled by the nonchalance with
which these measures have been proposed and defended vigorously
afterwards in and outside Parliament.
There is a certain asymmetry when it comes to the impact that a change
in indirect taxes has on prices in the Indian economy. When they are
raised, the additional burdens are almost invariably passed on to the
consumer. When they are reduced, there is no guarantee that the
benefits are passed on. Thus, while the reduction in excise and
customs duties last year represented a huge tax giveaway in the name
of a fiscal stimulus to the corporate sector, it is far from obvious
that ordinary people benefited by way of moderation in prices. This,
too, needs to be borne in mind in assessing the justifiability of the
reductions made last year and the increases being proposed now.
The regressive character of the Budget is also evident in the doling
out of tax concessions to the well-to-do. The proposals in respect of
direct taxes include the lowering of rates of personal income tax over
certain income slabs, a reduction in surcharge on corporate income tax
from 10 per cent to 7 per cent, and concessions for corporate business
entities in various forms. All these taken together are estimated by
the Finance Minister to result in a revenue loss of Rs.26,000 crore,
while his indirect tax proposals are estimated to bring in additional
revenues of Rs.46,000 crore in the net, taking into account some
concessions in indirect taxes as well.
What can one say about the expenditure proposals in the Budget? First
of all, the overall expenditure of the Union government proposed for
2010-11 constitutes an increase of 8.6 per cent over the corresponding
figure for 2009-10. Given the rate of inflation, this signifies little
increase in real terms, and may even imply a reduction. The proposed
increase in Plan expenditure is 15 per cent, which again would be a
rather modest increase in real terms. The non-Plan expenditure is
slated to decline in real terms, its increase over Budget Estimates
(B.E.) 2009-10 being only 6 per cent.
In terms of sectoral allocations, the rhetoric about agriculture and
rural development, as also the social sector, in the Budget speech is
not reflected in the allocations. The Central Plan outlay for rural
development in 2010-11 is Rs.55,190 crore as against the B.E. of Rs.
51,769 crore in 2009-10. The outlay for agriculture, irrigation and
flood control taken together has been enhanced from Rs.11,068 crore in
B.E. 2009-10 to Rs.12,834 crore in 2010-11, a modest increase in real
terms. Considering the persistence of an agrarian crisis across the
country for over a decade now (though the intensity varies across
States and regions and different social classes in the agrarian
population), this is a very inadequate response.
As for the much-hyped focus on the social sector, the Plan outlay for
all social services does increase by more than 22 per cent, but this
has to be seen against the present abysmal state of health and
education and the low base from which increases in recent years have
occurred. Moreover, if one takes into account the squeeze on the
finances of State governments, which account for the bulk of social
sector expenditures, the picture that emerges is hardly reassuring. In
fact, in education, the combined expenditures of the Central and State
governments still fall far short of the figure of 6 per cent of GDP
promised in the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) of the UPA
government of 2004-09. The same is the case for the health sector. The
current Budget does not even begin to address these concerns.
After having budgeted for a mere Rs.1,120 crore from “other capital
receipts” (read “disinvestment”) in B.E. 2009-10, the government has
gone ahead and disinvested public sector equity to an amount of Rs.
25,958 crore as per the Revised Estimates (R.E.), exceeding even the
proposal in the Economic Survey of 2008-09 that annually Rs.25,000
crore should be the disinvestment target. The B.E. for receipts from
disinvestment for 2010-11 is Rs.40,000 crore. Considering that market
capitalisation of listed Central public sector undertakings (PSUs) has
taken a beating in the stock market, the Finance Minister’s argument
that disinvestment is all about unlocking the values of PSUs hardly
holds water. The other misleading phraseology about “inviting people
to own shares in PSUs”, is, to say the least, disingenuous. Moreover,
the sale of shares of profitable PSUs contradicts the promise made in
the NCMP of the earlier UPA government.
Overall, Budget 2010-11 reflects two important aspects of the current
political context: Parliamentary elections are four years away and the
present UPA government does not need the support of the Left parties
to stay in power.
http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20100326270600800.htm
Volume 27 - Issue 06 :: Mar. 13-26, 2010
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
COVER STORY
The march of neoliberalism
PRABHAT PATNAIK
Union Budget 2010-11 has given a forward thrust to the neoliberal
agenda in all the crucial sectors where "reforms" had been stalled.
KAMAL NARANG
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee addressing the media after the
Economic Survey 2009-10 was tabled in Parliament on February 25.
THE strategy underlying Budget 2010-11 is eerily reminiscent of that
of Margaret Thatcher. In pushing her “market-fundamentalist” agenda
against the working class and the trade unions, Thatcher had enlisted
the support of the affluent middle class. She had wooed the yuppies
and the city slickers of London’s financial district, and to this end
given direct tax concessions to the middle class, even while jacking
up indirect taxes on the poor and the working people in the midst of a
raging inflation.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has done almost exactly the same.
For pushing the neoliberal agenda, he has enlisted the support of the
affluent middle class by giving it direct tax concessions even as he
has jacked up regressive indirect taxes. Until now, neoliberalism in
India had been covered by a patina of concern for the aam aadmi. With
this Budget it has come of age; the patina is off.
The government claims that this Budget, too, is for the aam aadmi; but
that is unsustainable. The suggestion that persons earning in excess
of three lakhs of rupees a year, who are the beneficiaries of direct
tax concessions, constitute the aam aadmi, while the fisherman who
risks his life daily by venturing out to the sea for an annual income
of less than Rs.20,000, and who will be hit hard by the diesel price
hike, does not, can only be ironical.
There was a time when even as the government increased petrol prices,
it would spare diesel prices, since diesel and kerosene prices were
linked for technical reasons, and raising the former would necessarily
raise the latter, to the detriment of the poor. But such restraint no
longer prevails. Diesel prices have been raised and kerosene prices
will follow. Indeed, a whole lot of petro-product prices are going to
be raised as a consequence of the increase in import duty, that is, a
new round of price increases on top of what Pranab Mukherjee has
announced is in the offing. And if the Kirit Parikh Committee’s
recommendations for linking domestic petro-product prices to world
prices are accepted, which is likely, then these prices will be jacked
up even further in the coming months.
Any such linking of domestic petro-prices to world prices makes little
sense, since it would mean importing speculation-induced world oil
price fluctuations, which can be quite massive, into the domestic
economy, and hence making the domestic price-level as a whole a
plaything in the hands of international speculators. But the
government’s commitment to neoliberalism appears to outweigh any
concern over this.
Specious argument
This lack of concern is manifest even in Mukherjee’s argument for
raising the import duty on petroleum and the Central excise duty on
petrol and diesel, which is quite specious. Since domestic petrol
prices had not been raised adequately even when world crude prices had
crossed $130 a barrel, the government, he argues, has earned the right
to raise prices now, that is, the current price hike is a reward for
the government’s earlier abstinence. This is untenable since it is not
as if petrol prices had been lowered earlier and are now being
restored to pre-lowering levels. Besides, the biggest component of
petrol and diesel prices in the country consists of government taxes;
there is no logical compulsion therefore about raising taxes on this
commodity any further.
The “cascading effect” of the higher taxes on petrol and diesel, which
would raise the prices of these commodities by close to Rs.3 a litre,
has been much discussed. The government’s lack of concern, however, is
not just about the inflationary implications of this move but about
inflation in general. Since the food price rise, by the government’s
own admission, is because of supply shortages (even if these shortages
are artificially compounded by hoarding and speculation), the strategy
must be to throw government-owned surplus foodgrain stocks (that is,
actual stocks minus the minimum buffer stocks), which exceed 27
million tonnes as on January 2010, on the market. These stocks cannot
obviously be thrown on the open market, since speculators would then
buy them up gleefully, as had happened in 1972-73, and blunt their
anti-inflationary impact; they have to be released through the public
distribution system. But, going by the Budget figures, the government
has no intention of doing so.
The fact that the food subsidy is lower than that for 2009-10 by over
Rs.400 crore, suggests that the government does not intend to sell
these stocks through the PDS or merely hold on to them (for either of
these options would have raised the food subsidy, the latter because
of higher interest payments). It intends to do precisely what it
should not do, namely, sell them in the open market, which means that
it is not too concerned about inflation.
In fact, Mukherjee said as much in his post-Budget television
interview. He claimed that his way of combating inflation was by
augmenting supplies in the long run, for which he had taken steps in
the Budget, such as earmarking Rs.300 crore for 60,000 “pulses and
oilseeds villages”, Rs.400 crore for extending the “Green Revolution”
to the eastern region of the country, and Rs.200 crore for sustaining
the gains made in Green Revolution areas through “conservative
farming”. As for short-run measures, these, according to him, were
unnecessary since the inflation rate was coming down anyway.
Self-limiting phenomenon
The fallacy behind the argument about inflation coming down is often
not appreciated. Inflation, precisely when it hurts the people, is a
self-limiting phenomenon. It can be categorised into two kinds: one
caused by excess demand and the other by “cost-push”. Cost-push
inflation arises when some input cost (or excise duty as in the
present case) rises, which is “passed on” in the form of higher
prices; in response to this initial price rise, money wages rise,
which, in turn, is passed on in the form of still higher prices, and
so on. As long as each component of price keeps rising with the rise
in the price, to ensure that its share in total value does not
decline, the price rise continues ad infinitum. But if some cost
element, typically the wage cost, does not rise in tandem with the
price, then inflation eventually comes to a halt. But this also means
that the real wage rate comes down because of a cost-push inflation,
and this coming down is the reason for the end of cost-push inflation.
Much the same can be said of excess-demand-caused inflation. Such
inflation gets eliminated when someone’s demand is curtailed, and
typically the demand curtailed is of that group whose money income
does not go up as prices rise, that is, whose money income is not
indexed to prices. This is typically true of the working people,
especially of the vast mass of unorganised workers. Precisely because
their incomes are not indexed to prices, inflation hurts them, and
eventually comes to an end by squeezing them.
S. THANTHONI
The suggestion that persons earning in excess of Rs.3 lakh a year
constitute the `aam aadmi', while fishermen who risk their lives daily
by venturing out to sea (in the picture, a group of them in Chennai)
for an average annual income of less than Rs.20,000 and who will be
hit hard by the diesel price hike do not, can only be ironical.
In Latin American countries where inflation rates in the past have
quite often been quite phenomenal, the reason lies in the fact that
wages in such cases have been indexed to prices. In India, by
contrast, where wages are not indexed, inflation will necessarily
always come down, but it will do so precisely by hurting the poor. The
whole purpose of government action should be to prevent the
elimination of inflation through this odious mechanism, by attempting
its elimination in some other way, for example, by de-hoarding (which
adds to supply), imports (which do the same), and using the PDS (which
insulates the poor against a squeeze on their demand). But if none of
these things is done, inflation will still come down, but by squeezing
the consumption of the poor.
An example will make this last point clear. Let us start from a
situation where the supply of foodgrains is, say, 100 units and equals
the demand at a price of Re.1 a unit. The wage bill in the economy is
Rs.80, all of which is spent on foodgrains. Now, suppose supply falls
to 95, so that there is an excess demand of 5 units at the old price.
The price will rise, that is, inflation will set in. If all incomes
are indexed to the price-level, then this excess demand will never get
eliminated and hence inflation will continue ad infinitum. But if
wages are not indexed but other incomes are, then inflation will come
to an end when the price has climbed up to Rs.16/15 (or Rs.1.07), for,
at that price, the workers can buy only 75 units of foodgrains from
their total wage bill of Rs.80, which means five units fewer than
before; and this eliminates excess demand. So, inflation is self-
limiting precisely because the poor get squeezed by it.
Hence, when Mukherjee derives satisfaction from the fact that
inflation is coming down, even without the government’s doing anything
about it, that satisfaction is totally misplaced; the inflation coming
down in this way shows precisely that the people are being squeezed by
it. Likewise, when Mukherjee claims that the effect of petrol and
diesel price increases “will get absorbed” over time, he omits to
mention that this absorption can occur only by squeezing the poor (as
in the above example of cost-push inflation). Inflation’s coming down
does not mean that the world returns to its pristine state of
happiness. This coming down itself, far from being a source of
satisfaction, should rather be a cause for concern, because it is
necessarily at the expense of the poor.
Coming to Mukherjee’s “long term measures” for raising food supplies,
what exactly these are becomes an intriguing question. The proposed
expenditures on the “pulses and oilseeds villages” and the extension
of the Green Revolution are too trivial to matter. The reduction in
fertilizer subsidy, which will raise fertilizer prices, will, if
anything, have a negative effect on output. The thing he must be
pinning his hopes on, therefore, is the opening up of retail trade,
which allegedly will help in “bringing down the considerable
difference between farm-gate, wholesale and retail prices”. This view
is attributed to the Prime Minister, who believes that opening up
retail trade will increase competition.
“Opening up” retail trade necessarily means the induction of corporate
capital, including multinational corporations (MNCs), into this
sector, for which they have been clamouring for some time. We are,
therefore, being asked to swallow the argument that bringing in
monopolists to drive out myriad petty traders will increase
competition! Anyone who believes that bringing in monopolies reduces
the gap between farm-gate and retail prices should ask the coffee
producers of Kerala: they get a pittance for their crop even when
retail coffee prices are soaring. If the government genuinely wants
the gap between retail and farm-gate prices to close, it should get
the public sector to take on a larger role in the marketing of crops,
as the various commodity boards used to do before neoliberalism
prevented them from doing so.
Corporate hegemony
SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
Since the food price rise is because of supply shortages, the strategy
must be to throw government-owned surplus foodgrain stocks, which now
exceed 27 million tonnes, on the market through the PDS. But the
Budget figures indicate that the government has no intention of doing
so. Here, at the mandi at Najafgarh, New Delhi, a file picture.
Besides opening up retail business, Budget 2010-11 announced a number
of other steps, such as private participation in storage, setting up
of private cold storage and cold room facility for agricultural and
marine products and meat, and the accessing of external commercial
borrowing for this latter purpose, all of which entail corporate
hegemony over peasant and petty production. And since finance for
setting up godowns and cold storage will be counted as agricultural
credit, and hence come under priority sector lending, much of the
ambitious target for credit support to “farmers” will actually go to
large corporate houses, and even to MNCs.
This Budget gives a thrust to the neoliberal agenda in other ways as
well. Disinvestment is to proceed apace, and is a major contributor to
the so-called “Miscellaneous Capital receipts” of Rs.40,000 crore,
even though there is no valid argument for it. Disinvestment is
theoretically no different from a fiscal deficit: the latter puts
government bonds into non-government hands, while the former puts
government equity into non-government hands; they are only different
forms of raising finance but with identical macroeconomic effects.
A Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission is to be set up to
“rewrite and clean up the financial sector laws to bring them in line
with the requirements of the sector”, a euphemism for “financial
sector liberalisation”. And there is an additional instrument for this
particular purpose: a Financial Stability and Development Council,
which is to be set up “to strengthen and institutionalise the
mechanism for maintaining financial stability”. Add to all this the
allocation of coal blocks for captive mining, and you find that in all
the crucial sectors where the “reforms” had been stalled, that is,
public sector, financial liberalisation and retail trade, this Budget
has given a forward thrust to the neoliberal agenda. But then what
about the increase in social sector and rural development outlays that
the Budget promises? This is a chimera. Central plan outlay on rural
development (all comparisons are Budget Estimate to Budget Estimate)
is slated to increase by a mere 6.6 per cent over 2009-10, which means
a real absolute decline; and the National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme (NREGS) outlay is to rise by only 2.5 per cent.
As for Central Plan outlay on social services, the increase provided
under the Plan is significantly counterbalanced by a decline in non-
Plan expenditure in this sector. If we take the sum of Central Plan
outlay and non-Plan expenditure on social services, then the nominal
increase in 2010-11 over 2009-10 is only 12.5 per cent, which in real
terms means very little.
This is hardly surprising. After all, the total expenditure of the
Central government is expected to rise in nominal terms by a mere 8.6
per cent, which means stagnation in real terms. Within this overall
stagnation, large apparent increases on specific items are more likely
to be results of statistical jugglery or reallocation, rather than
matters of any substance.
The pushing of the neoliberal agenda requires inter alia a
neutralisation of opposition from State governments, and this can be
ensured only if their mendicant status is perpetuated. The 13th
Finance Commission, by keeping States’ share of taxes under Article
270 at 32 per cent (up marginally from the 30.5 per cent under the
previous Commission), compared with the 50 per cent demanded by most
State governments, has not helped matters. And the Central government
can be relied upon to compress its loans and grants to States, to
offset even such increases in revenue transfers that it is statutorily
required to make. In Budget 2010-11, for instance, while its statutory
transfers increase by 26 per cent over the current year, its loans and
advances rise by a mere 8.9 per cent. With such compression, one can
be sure that the States will continue to retain their mendicant
status.
Neoliberalism is clearly resuming its stalled march, adopting a
Thatcherite strategy for doing so. But the United Progressive Alliance
(UPA) government miscalculates by ignoring the fact that, unlike in
Thatcher’s Britain, the affluent middle class it is wooing is a
minuscule segment of our society, while those squeezed by
neoliberalism, the workers, peasants, agricultural labourers, and
petty producers, constitute its overwhelming majority.
http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20100326270600400.htm
Volume 27 - Issue 06 :: Mar. 13-26, 2010
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
COVER STORY
Enabling whom?
JAYATI GHOSH
In keeping with the overall approach of an “enabling” state, the
Economic Survey has proposed to do away with food procurement and
distribution.
R. RAGU
At a fair price shop in Chennai. States with successful public
distribution systems are those that have such large numbers of BPL
households that their lists are close to being universal. But the
Economic Survey seeks to replace this system with food coupons for
targeted households.
THIS year’s Economic Survey contains a new and unusual chapter
entitled “Microfoundations of inclusive growth”. It is unusual because
it is largely theoretical, thereby providing an addition to the
generally descriptive review of the Indian economy over the past year
according to the government’s own perception. It also contains,
possibly for the first time in an Economic Survey, an explicit
statement of what might be described as the present government’s
economic philosophy and its approach to certain crucial questions of
economic policy. The fact that some statements in it found an echo in
the Finance Minister’s Budget speech confirmed that this was indeed
the case.
It is certainly welcome that the basic goal of economic policy is
identified as inclusive growth, recognising that “growth must not be
treated as an end in itself but as an instrument for spreading
prosperity to all” (page 22). Inclusive growth in turn is given a more
precise definition than is usual, as growth that improves the incomes
and other measures of conditions of life of the bottom 20 per cent of
the population.
This inclusive growth is to be delivered by a change in focus to
enabling government, which is seen as “a government that does not try
to directly deliver to its citizens everything that they need. Instead
it (1) creates an enabling ethos for the market so that individual
enterprise can flourish and citizens can, for the most part, provide
for the needs of one another, and (2) steps in to help those who do
not manage to do well for themselves”, for example by “directly
helping the poor by ensuring that they get basic education and health
services and receive adequate nutrition and food” (page 23).
It is immediately clear that this is a vision of the economy in which
it is taken for granted that the market mechanism generally delivers
the economically desired outcomes for most citizens, and the role of
the government is therefore mainly to ensure that such markets
function smoothly and to take care of the stragglers, “for there will
always be individuals, no matter what the system, who need support and
help”. This vision excludes the possibility of the process of market-
driven economic growth itself generating greater material insecurity
and impoverishment for a significant section. Trickle-down is seen to
operate for most of the population; for the bottom fifth, the
government has to step in.
Obviously, in such a framework, public delivery of essential goods and
services will necessarily be targeted to those that are defined as
poor. The chapter contains an eloquent argument in favour of
redefining the nature of public delivery to minimise direct
involvement of the state in favour of market-based mechanisms such as
coupons and vouchers targeted to the poor. This is what allows for the
claim that more can be achieved with less fiscal resources, by
eliminating the administrative costs of running large public schemes.
This would be a major departure from the current practice, with
potentially far-reaching implications in a very wide range of goods
and services that are seen to constitute essential socio-economic
rights. It is impossible to discuss all the different implications
here, so I shall briefly consider only the interventions proposed for
the food economy. The arguments have wide applicability with reference
to other sectors as well.
Managing the food economy
There is an extended discussion on how to manage the food economy,
which is only to be expected given that food price inflation is
clearly the most significant economic problem in the country at
present. Yet the discussion presents several different arguments which
turn out to be mutually inconsistent. In keeping with the overall
approach of an “enabling” state rather than an actively
interventionist one, it is proposed to do away with the existing
system of government food procurement and distribution. It is argued
that this is prone to corruption, adulteration and similar flaws, and
that it is necessary to craft policy that takes into account that
people are the way they are (not always ethically sound) and craft
incentive-compatible policies accordingly. So this is to be replaced
with a system of food coupons (of a certain value of money) given
directly to targeted households and which can be exchanged for wheat
or rice at market prices, giving the freedom of choice to households
about the shop from which to purchase.
This proposal betrays some ignorance about the background of the
current food subsidy and the purposes of the public system of food
procurement and distribution in India. These were (and fundamentally
remain) to provide farmers with a minimum price that covers their
costs, to ensure that basic foodgrain is transported from surplus to
deficit areas of the country, and to build up a system of buffer
stocks that protects the country from international price volatility
and external dependence. It is because the market mechanism was found
wanting in achieving any of these goals that such measures were deemed
necessary – and the persistence of such measures not only in India but
in many countries across the world (including most developed ones)
suggests that this is still the case. Food security within a nation as
large as India is not possible without ensuring the viability of food
production by domestic farmers and the existence of a national
distribution system that tries to reach deficit areas quickly. There
is no way that replacing this with a system of food coupons to
selected households can achieve these basic aims.
There is of course the further question of how to ensure that the
public at large – and the poor in particular - get access to
affordable food. This too is a current function of the public
distribution system (PDS), but it has been less than successful in
meeting it for a variety of reasons. The Economic Survey correctly
recognises the many problems in the existing system but tends to treat
the entire system as homogenous across the country.
There are States in the country (such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and to
a lesser extent Andhra Pradesh) where the PDS is a strong, functioning
and largely non-corrupt system, and there are other States where the
opposite is true. Surely, policymakers need to study and understand
these differences if they actually want to make the system work.
What is clear is that targeting tends to add to the problems, not only
because of the significant administrative costs associated with
identifying the poor and monitoring them but because of well-known
errors such as unfair exclusion from and unjustified inclusion in the
list of poor households. That is why the States with more successful
public distribution systems are those that have such large numbers of
declared below-poverty-line (BPL) households that their lists are
close to being universal. The Survey argues that the Unique
Identification System (UID) will solve that problem, but that is
believing that there can be a technological fix to what is essentially
a socio-economic problem. The UID card only identifies a person; the
description of that person as belonging to a poor or non-poor
household remains as cumbersome, problematic, politically charged and
administratively challenging as ever.
The Survey does provide some useful and interesting proposals with
respect to managing the foodgrain stocks and correctly argues for a
more flexible approach in releasing stocks that not only is responsive
to market pressures but also anticipates them. Indeed, the need to
prevent foodgrain allocation from becoming a political tool in the
hands of the Centre vis-a-vis the State governments is all the more
pressing in the light of recent experience. However, it should be
obvious that such a proactive role of the state in preventing food
price increases will not be possible at all if the entire system is
replaced with a system of food coupons!
There is another comment with direct relevance to the food economy
that deserves to be noted. In keeping with the overall perspective
that markets generally know best, the Survey argues for erring on the
side of less control whenever there is some doubt on the matter. This
is then used to suggest that a ban on futures trading in essential
commodities is unwarranted. “An enabling government takes the view
that if we cannot establish a connection between the existence of
futures trading and inflation in spot prices, we should allow futures
trade” (page 24). Yet there are at least two flaws in this argument.
First, as any econometrician would know, it is generally possible to
question any link between two economic phenomena, and so the argument
about whether future trading has been associated with significant spot
price changes will definitely continue well after all the cows have
come home. Yet globally, the existence of contango in commodity
markets (when prices in the futures markets are higher than the spot
prices, instead of lower as they would be if the market was only for
hedging against risk) has been seen as a sign that speculation has
driven changes even in spot prices. It is next to impossible to
provide a clear and explicit link that will satisfy those determined
not to see it.
Second, and perhaps more significantly, there are important conceptual
reasons to be wary of allowing futures trading in any commodity in
which there is significant public intervention in the form of minimum
support prices and so on because these provide an easy floor for
speculators. So this is not a case of allowing something because we do
not have enough information on either side of the argument, but
preventing speculative activity that can cause great harm even as its
possible benefits are minimal.
Enabling markets and empowering the citizenry
There are several other issues that are discussed for which similar
arguments could be made. But it is the broader perspective underlying
this chapter which deserves more careful consideration. The goal is
clearly benevolent: improving the economic conditions of the bottom
quintile of the population. Yet the means that have been proposed
suggest a lack of awareness of the political economy of both markets
and government in India and the social and economic context within
which policies are implemented. This is somewhat surprising because
within the chapter there is a discussion of the need to recognise
extant social realities even though it is more concerned with culture
and social norms.
The point is essentially this: both markets and government policies do
not function in a socio-political vacuum but within complex social
realities in which power relations are deeply entrenched. So it is not
that there are individuals all operating on level-playing fields, with
some having a few disadvantages such as lower income and assets and
less education. Rather, the processes of striving for power, and
keeping it, unfold through the medium of markets. The impact of
government policies depends upon the extent to which they enable
different sets of actors with different power positions to fight for
their rights or advance their own positions.
That is why “free” market functioning tends to accentuate existing
inequalities, both social and economic. To the extent that government
policies are aware of this and are designed to reduce this effect,
they are more successful. All economic policies therefore have
distributive implications, whether or not these are officially
recognised. A government that is genuinely enabling for the citizenry
as a whole and for the poorest citizens has to act decisively in their
favour, and also has to provide good quality public services that the
poor are not excluded from.
In such a context, it is worth stepping back and examining how much of
the declared goal of inclusive growth in the Economic Survey actually
informs the most recent policy statement of the government, the Union
Budget. Surprisingly, the most important initiatives constitute direct
attacks on the incomes of the bottom quintile of the population: the
hike in fuel prices and indirect taxes, which will definitely increase
the price of necessities; the reduction in food subsidy; the
embarrassingly small increases in funds for agricultural schemes,
especially in the most devastated regions; the paltry amounts
allocated to education and health, which cannot possibly ensure good
quality public provision that reaches the poorest. Conversely, the
enabling aspect of government is very clearly evident with respect to
big business, in the form of tax breaks, subsidies for agribusiness
and the like.
The problem is that enabling markets does not always translate into
empowering people: often the reverse is the case. Clearly, whatever be
the more sensitive statements made in the Economic Survey, the basic
philosophy of the government has not changed from an obsessive focus
on growth at any cost.
http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20100326270603000.htm