editor: rekha saraswat

THE RADICAL HUMANIST(Since April 1949)

Formerly : INDEPENDENT INDIA

(April 1937- March 1949)

538

FOUNDER EDITOR:

M. N. ROY

JANUARY 2015 RS. 20/MONTHVol. 78 No. 10

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THE RADICAL HUMANIST JANUARY 2015

The Radical Humanist

Monthly journal of the

Indian Renaissance InstituteDevoted to the development of the RenaissanceMovement; and for promotion of human rights,scientific-temper, rational thinking and ahumanist view of life.

Founder Editor:

M.N. Roy

Editor:

Dr. Rekha Saraswat

Contributory Editors:

Dr. R.M. Pal

Professor Rama Kundu

Publisher and Printer:

Mr. N.D. Pancholi

Send articles to: Dr. Rekha Saraswat, C-8,Defence Colony, Meerut, 250001, U.P., India,

Ph. 91-121-2620690, 09719333011

E-mail articles at: [email protected]

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Please Note: Authors will bear sole

accountability for corroborating the facts that

they give in their write-ups. Neither IRI / the

Publisher nor the Editor of this journal will be

responsible for testing the validity and

authenticity of statements & information cited by

the authors. Also, sometimes some articles

published in this journal may carry opinions not

similar to the Radical Humanist philosophy; but

they would be entertained here if the need is felt

to debate and discuss upon them.

—Rekha Saraswat

Vol. 78 Number 10 January 2015

www.theradicalhumanist.com

1. From the Editor’s Desk:

The Allegory of the Cave

—Rekha Saraswat 3

2. From the Writings of M.N. Roy:

Historical Role of Islam: Islamic Philosophy 4

3. Guests’ Section:

Citizens and State Conduct

—M. Hamid Ansari 6

Which Gita? Hon’ble Minister Sushama Swaraj

—Bhagwat Prasad Rath 12

Hidden Persuaders

—Uday Dandavate 15

From Cold War to the War on Terror

—Nandita Haksar 16

4. Current Affairs’ Section:

Tragedy & Conciliation; Aftermath of Kashmir

Polls

—Kuldip Nayar 20

Govt. Forming In J&K Demands Statesmanship

—Rajindar Sachar 23

5. IRI / IRHA Members’ Section:

Fascist War Against Humanity

—Vidya Bhushan Rawat 25

The Controversy over Religious Conversions

—K.P. Reddy 29

The Last Crusade?

—Ajit Bhattacharyya 31

Chunikaka – A Source Of Inspiration!

—Gautam Thaker 32

Mrs. Ellen Roy

—Jawaharlal Jasthi 34

6. Academicians' Section:

Astrology

—Chandrahas 37

7. Book Review Section:

A Look at What We Are: —Dipavali Sen 41

Contents

From The Editor's Desk:

The Allegory of the Cave—Rekha Saraswat

There is a cave. It is dark inside but for asmall ray of light coming from without.

There are shadows on the walls of the cave.

These are reflections of some statues keptinside the cave projected through the ray of

light.

And there are people inside too who have never

stepped out of the cave. They do not move, nor

even turn their heads. They only see the

shadows on the walls and ponder. They try to

understand their meaning. They try to analyze

the shadows. They are not aware of the statues

behind them. They do not know that theshadows are the reflections of the statues. (Theyare believers who have faith in their destiny andare happy where they are and as they are

because they are not able to know more.)

Then there are some more people in the cave.

They are able to turn their heads but are not able

to move their bodies. They can see the shadows

and the statues as well. They compare both andrealize that the shadows are the exact replicas of

the statues. They also realize that the shadowsdo not appear on the walls when the ray of light

disappears for some time.

They arrive at the conclusion that the shadowsare actually the reflections of the statues visiblein light. (They are the agnostics, using theircommon sense and trying to correlate what they

see and believe in only what they can prove.)

But they are unable to convince those peopleabout this truth who cannot see the statues

because they cannot turn their heads.

There are still some more people inside the cave who not only can turn their heads but can also

move their bodies. They are curious to know why the ray of light, coming from without, appears,disappears and then reappears. They run out ofthe cave the moment the ray disappears to catch

it but can find nothing as there is equal darkness outside too. They come back confused. (Theyare the discontented intellectual-predators whowant to use their reason but do not have access

to truth to satisfy their curiosity.)

A fourth set of people emerges out of the lastone which dares to follow the ray when itreappears and steps out of the cave in broaddaylight to find, to its bewilderment, the liveforms of the statues kept inside the cave. (Theyare the men of enlightenment who areintroduced to reality for the first time and theyrush back inside the cave to share theirknowledge with the other three groups of people and try to motivate and attract them to the world

outside. Renaissance begins.)

Once out of the cave they come to know that thedarkness of the cave comes back every fewhours but the outside world calls it night withoutthe light. So, they conclude that there is noperpetual light outside the cave just as there isno perpetual darkness inside the cave. (They are the utopians who begin building theories basedon their growing newer experiences in the

outside world.)

They learn to use their experiences toexperiment upon the chain of cause and effectand gradually derive set formulae to solve life’sriddles. (The science of being and becoming

evolves.)

The cave becomes the past but does not vanish.It remains in the minds of people. Theycompare, they share, they evaluate, theyreminisce upon their life that was then inside the cave and that is now outside it. (Philosophy

begins.)

Yes, I am remembering today Plato’s ‘four levelsof understanding and knowledge from his‘Divided Line’ approach to analyze where weactually stand in defining life on this first day of2015.

Happy New Year to all my readers wishing lots ofphilosophy and science in your lives with pots of love

and happiness too!!

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From the Writings of M.N. Roy:

BOOK: Historical Role ofIslam

Chapter VI

Islamic Philosophy

The age of Arabian learning lastedabout five hundred years, and

coincided with the darkest period of Europeanhistory. During the same period, India also waslying prostrate, underneath the triumphantBrahminical reaction which had subverted orcorrupted Buddhism. Eventually, it was thanksto the inglorious success of having overcomethe Buddhist revolution, that India fell such aneasy prey to Muslim invaders.

Under the enlightened reign of the Abbassides,the Fatemites, and the Omminades rulers,learning and culture prospered respectively inAsia, North Africa and Spain. From Samarkandand Bokhara to Fez and Cordova, numerousscholars studied and taught astronomy,mathematics, physics, chemistry, medicine andmusic. The invaluable treasure of Greekphilosophy and learning had been buried underthe intolerance and superstition of the ChristianChurch. Had it not been for the Arabs, it wouldhave been irretrievably lost, and the direconsequence of such a mishap can be easilyimagined.

Vain piety and hypocritical holiness induced theChristians to spurn the science of antiquity asprofane. In consequence of that vanity ofignorance, the peoples of Europe were plungedinto the medieval darkness which threatened tobe bottomless and interminable. The happyresurrection of the divine light of knowledge, litby the sages of ancient Greece, at long lastdissipated the depressing darkness ofignorance and superstition, prejudice andintolerance, and showed the European peoplesthe way to material prosperity, intellectualprogress and spiritual liberation. It was through

the Arabian philosophers and scientists that therich patrimony of Greek learning reached thefather of modern rationalism and the pioneer ofscientific research, Roger Bacon, who was adisciple of the Arabs. In the opinion ofHumboldt, the Arabians are to be considered“the proper founders of the physical sciences, inthe signification of the term which we are nowaccustomed to give it.”

Al Kandi, Al Hassan, Al Farabi, Avicena, Al Gazali,Abu Bakr, Avempace, Al Phetragius, (the Arabian names are so contracted in historical workswritten in European languages) – these arenames memorable in the annals of humanculture; and the fame of the great Averroes hasbeen immortalised as that of the man who made the forerunners of modern civilisationacquainted with the genius of Aristotle, therebygiving an inestimable impetus to the struggle ofEuropean humanity to liberate itself from theparalysing influence of theological bigotry andsterile scholasticism. The epoch-making role ofthe great Arab rationalist, who flourished in thefirst half of the twelfth century under theenlightened patronage of the Sultan ofAndalusia, is eloquently depicted by the wellknown saying of Roger Bacon: “Nature wasinterpreted by Averroes.”

The standard of spiritual revolt against theauthority of the Christian Church and thedomination of theology was hoisted in thethirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Therationalist rebels drew their inspiration from thescientific teachings of the great philosophers ofancient Greece, and these they learned from theArabian scholars, particularly Averroes.

The bigotry of the pious Justinian, in thebeginning of the sixth century, finally purged the holy world of the Christian superstition of theremaining vestiges of pagan learning. The lastGreek scholars were forced to leave the ancientseats of learning. They emigrated from theRoman Empire, and sought refuge in Persia; butthere also sacerdotal intolerance proved equallyhostile to profane learning. Eventually, the

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derelict science of Athenian culture found ahospitable home in the court of the AbbassidesKhalifs of Bagdad, who were so impressed bythe wisdom of those foreign infidels that neitherKoran nor sword was offered to them. On thecontrary, all the remaining votaries of ancientknowledge, whose knowledge ridiculed faithand indulgently smiled at all religion, wereinvited to accept the liberal hospitality of theCommander of the Faithful.

The Khalifs not only took the exiled Greekscholars under their protection. They dispatched competent men to different parts of the RomanEmpire with the instruction and the means tocollect all the available works of the sages ofancient Greece. The precious works of Aristotle,Hipparchus, Hyppocrates, Galen and otherscientists were translated into the Arabianlanguage, and the Khalifs gave everyencouragement to the propagation of thoseirreligious teachings throughout the Muslimworld. Schools established at State expensedisseminated scientific knowledge to thousandsof students belonging to all classes of society, -“from the son of the noble to that of themechanic.” Poor students received educationfree, and teachers were handsomelyremunerated for their services which were heldin the highest esteem. The Arab historian, AbulFaragius, records the following views of Khalif AlManon regarding the men of learning: “They arethe elect of God, his best and most usefulservants, whose lives are devoted to theimprovement of their rational faculties…….Theteachers of wisdom are the true luminaries andlegislators of a world which without their aidwould again sink into ignorance and barbarism.”

The current notion of the bigotry and fanaticismof Islam loses all historical authenticity when it is known that the men of learning were so highlyappreciated by the successors of the Prophet,were mostly devoid of any religious fervour, nota few of them holding views frankly heretical;and the general burden of their teachings wasthe assertion of the reason of man as the only

standard of truth. History does not provide thecritical student with many instances of the headof a religious order encouraging “theimprovement of rational faculties”, as Khalif AlManon did. For, the cultivation of rationalfaculties is entirely incompatible with faith. Yet,Al Manon was but one of the industrious line ofAbbassides Khalifs who not only encouraged the propagation of scientific knowledge, butthemselves participated in it. Nor were theenlightened Abbassides an exception.

The Fatemites of Africa and the Omminades ofSpain rivaled them in political power, materialprosperity as well as in the patronage andpropagation of knowledge. The library of Cairocontained over one hundred thousand volumes; whereas Cordova boasted of six times as many.This fact gives the lie to another calumny whichdepicts the rise of Islam as an eruption of savage fanaticism, namely, the tale of the destruction ofthe famous library of Alexandria. One must havea pious mind or credulous disposition to believethat those who took delight in founding andsupporting such noble seats of learning, wouldhave callously set fire to the library of Alexandria; that those who command the gratitude ofmankind for having saved its most preciouspatrimony, could have possibly begun bycontributing to the destruction of that treasure.When dispassionate and scientific study ofhistory dissipated legends and discreditedmalicious tales, the rise of Islam stands out notas a scourge but as a blessing for mankind.

While books written in the eleventh and twelfthcenturies indignantly detail the shocking tale ofthe burning of the library of Alexandria, thehistorians Eustichius and Elmacin, bothEgyptian Christians, who wrote soon after theSaracen conquest of their country, aresignificantly silent about the savage act. Theformer, a patriarch of Alexandria, could behardly suspected of partiality to the enemies of

Christianity. Contd. ................

Reference:

1. Alexander von Humboldt, Cosmos, Vol. II.

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Guests' Section:

Citizens & State Conduct—Shri M. Hamid Ansari

[Following is the text of the eighth V.M.

Tarkunde Memorial Lecture delivered by

Hon’ble Shri M. Hamid Ansari, Vice

President of India on November 21, 2014 atIndia International Centre, New Delhi on thetopic ‘Citizens and State Conduct’]

It is a great privilege to be invited todeliver the 8th Tarkunde Memorial

Lecture today. I did not have the good fortune ofknowing Justice Tarkunde personally, but hearda good deal about him and his work from my late friend, Dr. Iqbal Ansari, who rendered YeomanService to the cause of human rights after heretired from teaching at the Aligarh MuslimUniversity. Vithal Mahadeo Tarkunde was aversatile man. An eminent judge whose calibrewas acknowledged by the Supreme Court ofIndia in a Full Court Reference, an ardentadvocate of civil liberties and human rights, asupporter of cause of fighting against injustice, a founder-member of the Committee on JudicialAccountability, and the founder of the Centre forPublic Interest Litigation. He kept alive, as he put it, ‘the hope of the dawn of a new day” with therecognition of the inherent dignity and of theequal and unalterable rights of all the membersof the human family as the foundation offreedom, justice and peace in the world.’ He willbe long remembered for his advocacy ofsecularism, for his propagation of thephilosophy of radical humanism, and above allfor his persistent efforts to highlight the fragilityof individual liberty in the modern state as wellas specific cases of injustice. He was apassionate believer in the core values of theConstitution of India.

It has been said over and over again that eternalvigilance is the price of liberty, that power is ever being stolen from the many by the few, and thatthe hand entrusted with power stands in danger

of becoming the enemy of the people; hence the need for continual oversight to ensure that apeople must be kept sufficiently awake to theprinciple of not letting liberty be smothered inmaterial prosperity.

In a widely reported judgment In July, 2011 theSupreme Court of India’ highlighted theimperative of ensuring ‘conditions of humandignity within the ambit of fraternity.’ Thus theoperative concepts are dignity and equal andunalterable rights to all. With this in mind, Ipropose today to explore the state of play withregard to the civil liberties and human rights inthe context of what WE, the PEOPLE of INDIAgave to themselves in the Constitution. Theconstitution-makers were aware thatsovereignty to be commensurate with justicehad to be embedded in democracy and, as aneminent jurist has observed, the Rule of Lawcannot coexist with traditional conceptions ofabsolute sovereignty. This, in fact, was the trendof informed opinion throughout the past century and as early as 1914, Earnest Barker hadpenned an essay ‘The Discredited State’ in which he depicted sovereignty in internal matters as‘Poison – not to be taken internally’ since it leadsto a false view of the law.” It is generally accepted that a pre-requisite of participatory governanceis a commitment of the State to its own laws andto their uniform application. The term Rule ofLaw is a part of our daily vocabulary and impliessupremacy of law, equality before the law, andfair and equal access to justice. As one jurist hasput it, ‘the Indian constitutional conception ofthe Rule of Law links its four core notions; right,development, governance and justice.’ Thisapproach has been upheld in judicialpronouncements with the Supreme Courtdescribing the Rule of Law as ‘a potentinstrument of social justice to bring aboutequality in results.’

The debate over the core principles of theConstitution has stretched over six decades.Social philosophers, political scientists, jurists,courts of law, public personalities, political

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activists and informed citizens have been activeparticipants. The explicit provisions are evidentenough; the text also has, secreted in itsinterstices, many values that have been dilatedupon and amplified in judicial pronouncements. These have been reinforced by internationalcovenants to which India is a signatory andwhich have become a part of the law of the land.

The Constitution of India did not emerge in avacuum. It was a product of the freedomstruggle and of the values and principlesenunciated and honed over decades. Issues ofrights and liberties were of practical concern tothe freedom fighters. Apart from individual actsof assertion of rights, perhaps the first initiativeto form a civil liberties organization was taken by Jawaharlal Nehru in November 1936 when hefounded the Indian Civil Liberties Union (ICLU)with Rabindranath Tagore as its president,Precision to the task on hand, and its pitfalls,was forthcoming from Dr. Lohia. ‘The concept ofcivil liberties,’ he said, ‘defines State-authoritywithin clear limits. It assigns well-definedliberties to the people. The task of the State is toprotect these liberties. But the States usually donot like the task and act contrarily. Armed withthe concept of civil liberties, the people developan agitation to force the State to keep withinclear and well-defined limits.”

The quest for civil liberties did not cease withend of colonial rule. The march of events afterIndependence brought into sharper focus theimperatives of sovereignty and nationalism andtheir implications for civil rights. Some of thesebecame evident after June 26, 1975; in thewords of a close observer, ‘these eventschanged the basic relationship between thecitizen and the State’. It propelled the formationlater that year of the People’s Union for CivilRights (PUCL), later to be named People’s Unionfor Civil Liberties (PUCL). The purpose was tomobilise, not to stand outside the State, but tomake the State more responsive and torecognise its constitutional obligations towardsits citizens.

The comprehension and advocacy of civil rightshas undergone quantitative and qualitativechanges in the past four decades. Debates over‘civil rights’ have progressed into wider realms of ‘democratic rights’ and then to ‘human rights.’Alongside, new dimensions have emerged associal movements focusing on women, Dalits,regional, minority and environmental issuescame into focus. Each of these developedprincipally in relation to the State since the Statewas the only conduit through which all segments of society related to each other.

In the final analysis therefore the focus is on theconduct of the State in relation to its owncitizens keeping in mind Rousseau’s dictum that ‘there will always be a great difference betweensubduing a multitude and ruling a society.”

A primary function of the State, in its mostproductive form, is to dispense justice to itscitizens, since justice, as John Rawls rightlypointed out, ‘is the first virtue of institutions’ and‘in a just society the liberties of equal citizenshipare taken as settled and the rights secured byjustice are not subject to political bargaining orto the calculus of social interests.’

Two broad categories seem to emerge inconsidering the failure of the State to deliver. Inthe first place, act of omission of those matterswhere the State qua state should have acted interms of its laws or constitution. Indications ofthis are readily available in various socialdevelopment indices. Secondly, act ofcommission or those acts that were plainlyillegal or exceeded the legal or public moralitylimits prescribed by the law. These can beassessed in terms of the human rights normspresent in our laws or subscribed to. Credibledocumentation with regards to both categoriesis available nationally and internationally.

The obligations of the Republic of India towardsits citizens have been stated in the Constitution,particularly in the sections on FundamentalRights and Directive Principles of State Policy. Aseparate section delineates the FundamentalDuties of Citizens. Together, they amplify the

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vision and the principles enunciated in thePreamble namely, to secure to all citizens social, economic and political Justice, Liberty ofthought, expression, belief, faith and worship,and equality of status and opportunity andfurthermore to promote among them Fraternityassuring the dignity of the individual and theunity and integrity of the Nation. A broadcategorization of State responsibility in terms ofconstitutional obligations would relate in thefirst place to those matters that concerneconomic, social and cultural rights and therights to development. A second set ofresponsibilities would pertain to provision ofsecurity and its achievement through the use oflegitimately sanctioned force within statedparameters. In the third set, the State is required to ensure access to justice through appropriatemechanisms to redress grievances.

A set of questions seem to emerge:

Has State responsibility been institutionalizedfor each of the above? What is its extent andefficacy? To what degree does the Indian Statepractice in conformation to global standardindicated in international instruments to whichwe have subscribed?

The answer to the first question is in theaffirmative. The Constitution and the variousrights-centric statutes prescribe the policy andinstitutional framework for human rightsprotection; they also enjoin the concerned Stateinstitutions in discharging their responsibilities.The institutional safeguards for the rightsenshrined in the Constitution include anindependent judiciary and the separation ofjudicial and executive functions. Legislation andexercise of executive power is subject to judicialreview with regards to its constitutionality. In the event of infringement of an individual’sfundamental rights, the highest court in the land can be moved.

Our development objectives have been carefullyspelt out in the 12th Five Year Plan. It is to seek ‘abroad-based improvement in living standards of all sections of the people through a growth

process that is faster than the past, moreinclusive and also more environmentallysustainable.’ This requires a carefully craftedstrategy for management of resources,demographics, inclusiveness, rural-urbanbalance, energy security, environmentalsustainability and a sustained period of socialpeace internally and absence of conflict abroad,particularly in the neighbourhood.

Much has been done to move towards thedevelopment targets for the country. Innovativelegislation pertaining to right to food, education, information and rural employment has been putin place. A critical analysis of the results however would show imbalance in implementation andinsufficient attention to some other areas. Werank 134 out of 187 in UNDP’s HumanDevelopment Index and while the poverty ratehas shown a decline from 45.3 to 37.2 percent in the decade ending 2004, the debate aboutnutrition levels and poverty line continuesunabated. The average growth rate in2007-2011 was 8.2 percent but the decline ofpoverty in the same period was 0.8 percent.

A poet may well say: Roshan kahin bahar keimkaan huai to hain; Gulshan main chaakchand garibaan huai to hain; Ab bhi khizan karaj hai lekin kahin kahin; Goshe rahe-chamanmain ghazal khwan huai to hain; (Thoughautumn remains dominant, prospects of springhave brightened and flowers have started tobloom).

At the international level, India is a signatory tothe six core human rights covenants. It iscommitted to the rights proclaimed in theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948.We have signed and ratified Human RightsConventions which inter-alia include theInternational Covenant on Civil and PoliticalRights, International Covenant on Economic,Social and Cultural Rights, Convention on theElimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination,Convention on the Elimination of all forms ofDiscrimination against Women, and theConvention on the Rights of the Child. In 2005,

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we ratified the two Optional Protocols to theConvention on the Rights of the child andthereafter the Convention on the Rights ofPersons with Disability.

We have signed, but not yet ratified, theConvention against Torture, and Other Cruel,Inhuman or Degrading Treatment orPunishment. The same holds for the Convention on Enforced Disappearances.

It is relevant to recall that section 2(d) of theProtection of Human Rights Act, 1993 defines“human rights” as the rights relating to life,liberty, equality and dignity of the individualguaranteed by the Constitution or embodied inthe International Covenants and enforceable bycourts in India. This definition is in conformitywith the accepted interpretation of humanrights. The Supreme Court has, in its concern for human rights, also developed a highly advanced public interest litigation regime.

It is thus clear that the requisite intellectual,legal and institutional framework for protectionand promotion of human rights is in place.Questions however do arise in regard to theirefficacy in actual implementation as cases ofdiscrimination based on religion, caste,language, ethnicity, work and economic statuscontinue to be reported. These relate both toviolation or denial of rights by state agenciesand to violation or denial of rights by individualsand groups to individuals and groups. The weak– individual or group – is invariably the victim.

In the context of today’s subject, what concernsus most is State conduct resulting in violation ordenial of rights of citizens. It has been observedthat there is a ‘profound disenchantment withthe State at the popular level where ‘the linesbetween legality and illegality, order anddisorder, State and criminality have come to be(viewed) as increasingly porous.’

The most serious human rights violations by theState vis-à-vis its citizens pertain to Article 21.Some of these are abuses by the police andsecurity forces, including extrajudicial killings,

custodial deaths, torture, arbitrary arrest anddetention, enforced disappearances; poorprison conditions that are frequently lifethreatening; lengthy pre-trial detention; andwidespread corruption at all levels ofgovernment, leading to denial of justice. This isparticularly acute in areas of internal conflict,such as Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast, and the Naxal belt where serious complaints aboutthe misuse of laws like Armed Forces SpecialPowers Act (AFSPA), the Disturbed Areas Act(DAA) or the Public Safety Act (PSA) continue tobe made. Much of this is credible, has beencarefully documented, and reflects poorly on the State and its agents.”

According to the latest Annual Report of theMinistry of Home Affairs, during the periodJanuary 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014, the NHRCconducted investigation of 6,834 cases,including 4,450 cases of death in judicialcustody, 448 cases of death in Police custodyand 186 cases of police encounter deaths.These figures speak for themselves. Thesituation is exacerbated by the fact that thejudiciary is overburdened and court backlogscause lengthy delays or the denial of justice.

Despite the constitutional and legal guarantees,religious minorities continue to be target ofviolence and discrimination from time to time.Patterns of systematic mobilization of hate anddivisive politics are discernable; in many casesthese have been pursued with impunity. Thesame holds for other weaker sections of societyincluding SCs and STs, women, children andpersons with disabilities. Credible data on theseis available in government, academic and civilsociety reports. These cut at the root of theconstitutional principle of equality ofopportunity and equal access to justice andhighlight the failure of the State to actappropriately. As we embark on the path of rapid economic growth and development, the issue offinding a balance between traditional rights ofcitizens, with environmental imperatives andeconomic objectives will have to be addressed

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by State; else, social tensions will undermine the development agenda.

A particular area of concern is the inadequacy ofState action in relation to women. The UNSpecial Rapporteur on violence against Womenhas reported that it is systematic and occurs inthe public and private spheres. It is underpinned by the persistence of patriarchal social normsand inter-and intra-gender hierarchies. Womenare discriminated against and subordinated notonly on the basis of sex, but on other grounds,such as case, class, ability, sexual orientation,tradition and other realities. The manifestationsof violence against women are a reflection of thestructural and institutional inequality that is areality. An eminent former judge has recentlyobserved that ‘even today, most women in Indianeither have freedom nor liberty to takedecisions.’ The need for greater socialawareness, and correctives at all levels ofsociety, is imperative.

Records show that a number of progressive legal and policy initiatives have been taken by theGovernment. Equally true is the fact thatimplementation is tardy, that ‘mind-set’obstacles and social prejudices are formidable,that allocation of resources is inadequate, andthat contradictions persist between economicpolicies, ‘development priorities’ and nationaland international human rights commitments.

I would like to conclude by drawing attention totwo sets of impulses. The first suggests doggeddefense of the status quo; the second a measure of introspection. A plural society, and a maturesystem of governance, would opt for the latter,more so because we stand committed toconstitutional and global norms. Pursuant tothis, India is a party to, and has participated in,the Universal Periodic Review of Human Rightsheld by the Human Rights Council in May 2012.The Status Report prepared by the WorkingGroup on Human Rights after the second reviewsummed up its assessment, inter alia, with thefollowing observation:

‘Despite a number of progressive and policy

initiatives taken by the Indian Government, thecontinued prevalence of human rightsviolations across the country poses manifoldchallenges. The claim of rapid economicdevelopment does not hold any value when itfails to include the excluded lack of properimplementation of government policies due tothe bureaucratic lethargy, inadequateallocation of resources, contradiction betweendifferent policies, other development prioritiesand the so called national and internationalinterests continue to hinder to the fullrealization of human rights for India’s mostvulnerable. The ever-growing trend of atrocities against religious minorities, women , children,SCs & STs, apathy towards the disabled andother disadvantaged people, constitute a scar on the face of Indian democracy…’

In a foreword to the Report, the convenorsuggested that ‘India must meet the humanrights accountability challenge defined by thecontents of its Constitution, the internationalhuman rights instruments it has ratified, andthe recommendations that have emanatedfrom the UPR I and UPR II processes at the UN aswell as from other UN treaty bodies and specialprocedures. To meet this enormous challenge,nothing but a radical shift in economic, socialand security policies is needed – both at thecentral and state levels.’

We as a people need to awaken our collectiveconscience, strive for fulfillment of nationalnorms and global standards, and induce fulleraccountability into the system of governance atall levels so that the culture of impunity ends,and the State and its functionaries are heldaccountable for every act of omission orcommission.

References:

Nandini Sunder & Ors V State of Chhattisgarh(2011) 7 SCC 547: ’18 Such misguided policies,albeit vehemently and muscularly asserted bysome policy makers, are necessarily contraryto the vision and imperatives of ourconstitution which demands that the power

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vested in the State, by the people, be only usedfor the welfare of the people – all the people,both rich and the poor, thereby assuringconditions of human dignity within the ambit of fraternity amongst groups of them. NeitherArticle 14, nor Article 21, can even remotely beconceived as being so bereft of substance as tobe immune from such policies. They arenecessarily tarnished, and violated in aprimordial sense by such policies.’

Roy, Anupama, ‘Ideas and Vision; Introduction’in Human Rights and Peace; Ideas, Laws,Institutions and Movement (Edited by UjjwalKumar Singh, New Delhi 2009) p xvi

Bingham, Tom. The Rule of Law (London 2010)p 161, citing Professor Sir Francis Jacobs.

‘Barker, Ernest, Church, State and Education(Michigan 1957) p 169

‘Lohia, Ram Manohar. ‘The Concept of CivilLiberties’ in Ujjwal Kumar Singh, op cit p 210

‘Dhar, P.N. Indira Gandhi, the ‘Emergency’, andIndian Democracy (New Delhi 2000) p. 222

‘Gudavarthy Ajay: Ujjwal Kumar Singh op cit p255

‘Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice (1999) pp 3-4

The Prevention of Torture bill 2010 wasintroduced in the Lok Sabha and passed by it onApril 26, 2010. The Rajya Sabha referred it to a

Select Committee on August 31. Its Report waspresented on December 7, 2010. No furtheraction was taken by the Government and the Billlapsed with the dissolution of the 15th LokSabha.

Mehta, Pratap Bhanu, The Burden of Democracy(New Delhi 2003) pp 113-115

A.G. Noorani & South Asia Human RightsDocumentation Centre: Challenges to CivilRights Guarantees in India (New Delhi 2012).This publication analyses in particular the role of the criminal justice system in India in theerosion of civil rights and focuses on PreventiveDetention, Extra-Judicial Killings,Counter-terrorism and Human Rights, the Death Penalty, Narco-analysis, Under-trials and Video-conferencing, anti-conversion Law,Impunity, and AFSPA. Also, for an overallassessment, Ashis Nandy ‘From the Age ofAnxiety to the Age of Fear’ in Rajesh ChakrabartiThe Other India: Realities of an EmergingPower (New Delhi 2009) pp 94-100.

Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of IndiaAnnual Report 2013-14, p 83 – paragraph 6

Seth, Leila. Talking of Justice: People’s Rights in Modern India (New Delhi 2014) p 69

Human Rights in India Status Report 2012(Working Group on Human Rights in India andthe UN, New Delhi, December 2012) pp 178 & IV

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G.B.M. & Board of Trustees Meeting of I.R.I. on 23rd & 24th January, 2015

Venue: Seminar Hall, Indian Institute of Engineers, Jadavpur University Campus, Kolkata, (W.B.).

Registration Forms (see page 15) should be sent by ordinary postal mail to Indian RadicalHumanist Association, 15 Bankim Chatterjee Street, Kolkata 700 073. Cash payment could bemade only personally to the office secretary Sri Arun Bose at the office premises of Indian RadicalHumanist Association, West Bengal Unit, Monday to Thursday, and Saturday (4-30-7-30 p.m.).

Registration Fee: For outstation and local participants Rs 100/-. This includes tea/snacks duringthe session & seminar material. For persons willing to attend only the Seminar Registration Fee isoptional. Local participants are requested to contribute Rs 250 for lunch for two days. On priorintimation if they want they will be provided with dinner, snacks & tea outside the Meeting time onpayment of approximately Rs 125 for lunch/dinner, Rs 40 for snacks & Rs 10 for tea.

Organisers' E-mail ids: Subhankar Ray: [email protected]; Subhendu

Bhattacharyya: [email protected]; Ajoy k. Chanda: [email protected]

.

Which Gita? Hon’bleMinister Sushama Swaraj

—Bhagwat Prasad Rath

The hon’ble minister Sushama Swarajsuggests the present Gita to be made

the national book of India. This essay is inresponse to that suggestion.

The great historian D.D. Kosambi tells about two Gitas: one Gita speaks about non-violence; theother lays stress on violence. This information ispresent in Hsiuen Tsang’s memoirs. To quoteKosambi, ‘The earliest dated mention ofanything that could possibly represent the Gitais by Hsiuen Tsang early in the seventh century,who refers to a Brahmin having forged at hisking’s order such a text, (supposedly ofantiquity) which was then ‘discovered’, in orderto foment war.

M.K.Gandhi says that the Gita preachesnon-violence, but Gandhi’s grandson RajmohanGandhi says that Gita is a book of justice- basedviolence. Both are correct because there areportions of Gita where non-violence is greatlyemphasized and there are other portions whereviolence is justified. This type of phenomenamade Iravati Karve, the writer of the famous

book Yuganta, declare that Hindu cultureadvanced through accretions (the juxtapositionof different or even contradictory view points).

The present Gita became popular after the 7thcentury A.D. Kosambi says ‘We may similarlytrace other—unlabelled-schools of thought such as Samkhya and Mimamsa down to earlyVedanta (G.15.15 supported by the reference tothe Brahma sutra in G.13.4). This helps date thework as somewhere between 150-350 AD,nearer the later than the earlier date.’ The otherGita was written probably in the 9th century B.C.or earlier. One Gita (the earlier one) is from the

book Jaya which contained 8800 Slokas, theother is from the present Mahabharatacontaining one lakh Slokas. The first Gitaembodies the philosophy of the non-Aryans of

pre-Vedic India, Yoga, Samkhya and Lokayat (allthe three are Godless philosophies). It is the true Yoga Sastra, where non-violence is the primaryvalue of life. The other Gita extols wars where the primary emotions are hatred and violence. Inthe later Gita Krishna is called Yogeswara. Heurges his disciple and friend or Sakha, the greatfighter Arjuna, to become a Yogi and also kill theKurus in the same breath. This is sheerhypocrisy. Kosambi points out that there are somany inconsistencies in the present Gita.

‘To put it bluntly, the utility of the Gita derivesfrom its peculiar fundamental defect, namelydexterity in seeming to reconcile theirreconcilable. The high god repeatedlyemphasizes the great virtue of non-killing(ahimsa), yet the entire discourse is an incentiveto war. So, G.2.19 says that it is impossible to kill or be killed. The soul merely puts off an old body as a man his old clothes, in exchange for new; itcannot be cut by weapons, nor suffer from fire or the storm. In g.11 the terrified Arjuna sees allthe warriors of both sides rush into a giganticVisnu-Krishna’s innumerable voracious mouths, to be swallowed up or crushed. There moral ispointed by the demoniac good himself(G.11.33): that all the warriors on the field hadreally been destroyed by him; Arjuna’s killingthem would be a purely formal affair whereby hecould win the opulent kingdom. Again, throughthe yajna sacrifice is played down or derided, it is admitted in G.3.14 to be the generator of rain,without which food and life would be impossible. This slippery opportunism characterizes thewhole book. Naturally, it is not surprising to findso many Gita lovers imbued therewith. Once it isadmitted that material reality is gross illusion,the rest follows quite simply; the world of“doublethink” is the only one that matters.’

D.D. Kosambi: Myth and Reality: Social andEconomic aspects of the Bhagavad-Gita.

The first or the original Gita is mentioned in theChhandogyo Upanishad.

According to this Upanishad, this Gita does not

contain any information about Atma or Brahma.

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The second Gita contains a lot of verses (Slokas)which deal with the topics of the Upanishads,

Atma and Brahma. Similarly Bhakti or devotionhas no role in the first Gita because it embodiesthe three Godless philosophies of Yoga,Samkhya and Lokayat. The verses referring toGod were not present in the original Gita.

Kosambi writes, ‘Bhakti or devotion becameprominent in the age of the Guptas’…….‘theideas are older, not original, except perhaps the

novel use of Bhakti’………

‘However, the Gita did contain one innovationwhich precisely fitted the needs of a later period:

Bhakti, personal devotion. To whoevercomposed that document, Bhakti was thejustification, the one way of deriving all viewsfrom a single divine source.’

The older Gita was of small size. It contained less than 130 Slokas. The present Gita containsmore than 700 Slokas. Atma, Brahma, Bhakti,Karmavad and the theory of rebirth were notpresent in the early Gita. It did not support thecaste system. Men and women were havingequal sexual rights in Lokayat philosophy.

Kautilya writes in Arthasastra that Aanwikshiki(Yoga, Samkhya and Lokayat) is the light of allknowledge, the best method of doing all types of work and the essence of all religions.Mohenjodaro Harappa civilization was guided by Aanwikshiki. There were no kings, no Gods, nopriests and no warriors in that civilization. Thesociety was perfectly egalitarian.

The early Gita contains the ideals and beliefs ofthe society of this wonderful civilization.

Geographically this society was Indian, but inculture and social thinking this society belonged

to the whole world of living beings. From theMahabharata we know that women enjoyedsexual freedom in this society. Rishi Uddalaka’swife, Rishi Bhrigu’s wife, Rishi Uttanga’sGuruwife, Javala, Sulabha and many othersfreely chose their sexual partners. Aanwikshikiwas a product of the female brain. No male brain could have discovered ‘non-violence’ as the

supreme value of life. The Gita criticizes theVedic Yaggna in Canto two. In Canto four it iswritten that Yoga was first practiced by theRajarshees. From the Mahabharata we know thatthe Rajarshees were Vritra, Namuchi, Vali andothers of that ilk. These Rajarshees acceptednon-violence as the supreme value. No divinedeity guided them.

Lokayatikas were the leaders of Aanwikshikiansociety in pre-Vedic India. They were the stiffestresisters of Vedic culture. Charvak, a Lokayatika, was murdered. Lokayatika Brishaspati wasseduced by making him the Guru of the deitiesincluding Indra.

Nationalism is anathema to the early Gita

because Sarva -Jiva-Maitri is its ideal.

This Gita can be accepted by any religiouscommunity. To claim it as a Hindu Sastra doesviolence to its ideals. Our present world, thoughrich in science, is poor in ethical universal-ideals guided by love extended to all living creatures.

The early Gita is centered on Yoga. Now-a-daysIndia is full of fake Yogis. The true Yoga mustpass the test of science. The Yogi’s mind mustbe tested in a laboratory to find out if it is freefrom destructive emotions like hatred, angerjealousy and greed.

Early Gita does not approve miracles ormysticism. It is absurd to claim that thediscoveries of modern science were madeearlier by Vedic sages. The Vedic age was an age of decadence because not rationality but blindbelief guided its seers. The Vedic priests put anend to the advances in the field of science madeby the Sindhu civilization. Gita gives a vividpicture of how Yoga was lost in the Vedic age.Jainism and Buddhism milked the legacies ofthe past Aanwikshikian ideas and beliefs.

The present Gita is not acceptable because itsupports the caste system, makes derogatoryremarks about the Sudras and women. Bysupporting Karmavad and rebirth, it legitimizesthe social inequalities of our society, eulogizes

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violence. We can only accept the earlier Gitabased on Arthasastra –praised Aanwikshiki.

Mohenjodara Harappa Aanwikshikian societywas an egalitarian society. No social classesexisted in the Indus Valley. Thus writes R.Rajagopalan in his book 'Indus Valley' ‘If socialclasses had existed, then some people wouldhave bad better food and hence better growth.This would be shown in their teeth and bones.Now 350 skeletons from five major sites do notshow any significant difference! There are alsono royal tombs. It is possible that the IndusCivilization was maintained at an advanced levelwithout social classes, central authority andwarfare! If we can prove this, the IndusCivilization would be shown to have been a trulyexceptional one –unmatched even by today’sdemocracies and republics!’ The Mahabharatagives ample proof that this civilization was aunique one and reached a higher level than what

was dreamt of by all the utopian philosophers ofthe world. Leading scientists simulatingevolution in the computer have discovered thatnature has evolved its own unknown methods togo ahead of all the plans and endeavors directed by our knowledge of social sciences. Only theearlier Gita provides a road map for reaching the dream land of Aanwikshikian society anddeserves full acceptance by all the democraticsocialists of the world.

[Bhagwat Prasad Rath, 3rd Line, RoithColony, At/PO/Dist. – Rayagada –2 PIN- 765002,Odisha. Ph. 06856-235092; Mob.08895860598;

[email protected]

[email protected]

www.samalochanal.blogspot.com

www.samalochana.blogsome.com]

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Hidden Persuaders—Uday Dandavate

During the last Lok Sabha elections MrNarendra Modi adopted state of art

methods of communication. A successful 12year long campaign in Gujarat hasdemonstrated that he has keen interestin human psychology and deep trust in thepower of advertising. Mr. Modi was able to offerhis media team an opportunity to expand theirimagination and creativity with abundantfreedom and limitless resources. A targetaudience craving for the sight of a knight inshining armor provided a perfect opportunity for creative story telling. The promise ofdevelopment to an audience appalled by thecorruption under the congress government wascompelling. A decisive persona was projected as a more attractive option than a meek spectatorMr. Manmohan Singh was perceived as or afumbling and confused person Rahul proved tobe. A man who wielded power in Gujarat waspositioned as a better option than the man whosacrificed power in Delhi.The team was able to harness religiousmetaphors in Indian psychology throughbranding Mr. Modi as NAMO, making a ritual outof the slogan Har Har Modi and projecting otheraudio visual animations on the stage to turn aModi meeting into an occasion for assertion of

Hindu identity.An innovation introduced into the electioncampaign was ‘holographic meetings’ it isreported that Mr. Modi was able to address 45meetings simultaneously through use ofholographic imaging technology. A 3dimensional video image of Mr. Modi wouldappear on the stage at 45 different places andhe would address them with magicaleffect-almost as if a deity appeared on thescene.While Mr. Modi’s supporters revere him for hisinnate talent in hidden persuasion, hisdetractors find in his approach more style thansubstance, more hype than meaning, moreillusion than reality.Media hype can work for a while but there mustbe clear evidence of ground level changes in thelives of ordinary people. Mr. Ambani and Adanihave already begun to experience better days.Ordinary citizens cannot be expected to remainmesmerized with techniques in illusion.Holographic images, however enticing, will notsatisfy the hunger pangs of starving people.

[Uday Dandavate heads a design researchconsulting firm, SonicRim in U.S.A. He writesand speaks on topics related to peoplecentered design and innovation in international

journals and conferences.

[email protected]]

Indian Renaissance Institute Board of Trustees Meeting & G.B.M. - 2015

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From Cold War to the Waron Terror

—Nandita Haksar

The Second World War has been calledthe deadliest conflict in history in

which an estimated sixty million people died; athird of the human population in 1939. Thesedeaths include the five million prisoners of warwho perished in the gas chambers, camps anddetention centres; the figure includes 11,000Indian prisoners of war taken at the Fall ofSingapore, who died in captivity. These statistics do not tell the stories of the millions of individual tragedies and the sufferings of the survivors. It was the hor ror and bru tal i ties that pushed theworld’s in de pend ent states to draft a Uni ver salDec la ra tion on Hu man Rights. The idea was toin clude a vi sion of a world which would be free of fear and want. It took two years to draft aDec la ra tion ac cept able to the ma jor ity ofpeo ple.

De cem ber 10, 1948: The Gen eral As sem blypassed the Uni ver sal Dec la ra tion of Hu manRights. But it was by no means a doc u mentac cept able to ev ery one; al though no coun tryvoted against it. Forty-eight sov er eign statesvoted for the Dec la ra tion; there were eightab sten tions.

Saudi Arabia objected to equality of women;South Africa objected to the idea of equality ofraces; and the Soviet Bloc objected to thedeclaration on the ground it encapsulated acapitalist vision in which the individual wassupreme.

The Declaration could become law only if it waselaborated into a Covenant and it would takenearly twenty years for the world to agree on thecontents of the Covenant.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights isthe most celebrated document in the world; andthe Guinness Book of World Records says it isthe most translated document; more than 400translations from Abkhaz to Zulu.

It took nearly three decades more for theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights tobecome enforceable law.

Jan u ary 7, 1976: There were sharpdis agree ments be tween the West ern cap i tal istcoun tries and the So viet Un ion which had thesup port of the grow ing num ber of Third Worldstates.

The dispute was whether human rights shouldinclude socio-economic, cultural rights ofpeople such as the right to work, the right tosocial welfare and the right to development; oras the West argued, human rights weredesigned to protect individuals from Stateviolence.

Finally, in order to accommodate the sharppolitical differences there were two Covenantspassed which together are called the Bill ofHuman Rights. The Covenants are the basis ofinternational human rights law: the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and CulturalRights and the Covenant on Civil and PoliticalRights.

United States of America did not ratify theCovenants or any major human rights treaties all though the Cold War.

War and Mil i tary In ter ven tions: 1948 to1988: The USA in ter ven tions through out thefif ties to eight ies were made in the name ofcurb ing and cur tail ing Com mu nism which itclaimed to be a threat to the “free world”.

U.S. troops used a substance known as napalmfrom about 1965 to 1972 in the Vietnam War;napalm is a mixture of plastic polystyrene,hydrocarbon benzene, and gasoline. Thismixture creates a jelly-like substance that, whenignited, sticks to practically anything and burnsup to ten minutes. The effects of napalm on thehuman body are unbearably painful and almostalways cause death among its victims.

Throughout the duration of the war, 1965 –1973, eight million tons of bombs were dropped over Vietnam; this was more than three timesthe amount used in the Second World War.

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In addition to dropping napalm bombs the USAused Agent Orange, a deadly defoliant, todestroy fields and forests in Vietnam. AgentOrange not only had devastating effects onagriculture but also on people and animals. TheVietnam Red Cross recorded over 4.8 milliondeaths and 400,000 children born with birthdefects due to exposure to Agent Orange.

At home the USA launched thecounter-insurgency programme, COINTELPROby the FBI. FBI agents destroyed Black Panthermovement, resistance by Native Americans andeven organizations fighting to end the war. Oneof the most famous prisoners of the time wasAngela Davis. A student of Sorbonne Universitywho was released after a worldwide campaignwas launched told the FBI undercover agent: Yes I am a communist. And I will not take the FifthAmendment against self-incrimination, because my political beliefs do not incriminate me; theyincriminate the Nixons, Agnews and Reagans.”

Burn ing Naga Vil lages, Bomb ing Mizoram:It was dur ing the 1950s and 1960s that In diawaged her own wars in the North East re gion ofthe coun try in a des per ate bid to put down thein sur gency by the Nagas and later the Mizos.

Villages were burnt to cinders by the Indianarmy, women were raped and men tortured formonths. Later the Indian Air Force bombedAizwal in a bid to stop the Mizo National Frontfrom declaring their independence from India.

This was the time the Indian Parliament passedthe notorious Armed Forces (Special Powers)Act, 1958. The Com mu nists and the rest of the coun trywere si lent on the hor ren dous hu man rightsvi o la tions of In dian cit i zens. They said that thein sur gen cies had been in sti gated by the CIA;even if that were true can comb ing of one’s owncit i zens be jus ti fied?

In 1975 the Congress Government declared anational Emergency. During that periodhundreds of people across the country were

arrested and jailed; this included oppositionparty leaders, students, activists and journalists.

In the aftermath of the National Emergencyhuman rights movement in India was born.

Hu man Rights Dis course: Tool ofIm pe ri al ism: Af ter the USA lost their war inViet nam they tried to re cover their lost pres tigeby be com ing cham pi ons of Hu man Rights. Thiswas the time when the USA for eign pol icy linkedhu man rights to for eign aid. The 1974 For eignAs sis tance Act was used by the USA to acquiremoral high ground by ap pear ing to becham pi ons of hu man rights while sup port ing

the most bru tal and vi cious gov ern ments; The Rea gan Ad min is tra tion sup plied theSalvadoran mil i tary with bil lions of dol lars worthof se cu rity as sis tance in its at tempt to sup pressa left-wing in sur gency that threat ened the bru tal mil i tary-con trolled dic ta tor ship. The re sult wasthe deaths of over 80,000 Salvadorans. Theim pre cise phrase “gross vi o la tions” of hu manrights also al lowed the United States ex ec u tivethe op por tu nity to cir cum vent U.S. law.Amer i can Pres i dents, when they want to pro videaid to gov ern ments that vi o late hu man rights,sim ply de ter mine that the vi o la tions do notcon sti tute gross vi o la tions. The leg is la tionman dates that the vi o la tions must be sig nif i cantin their im pact with out de ter min ing the level ofsig nif i cance. Ar bi trary im pris on ment is listed asa gross vi o la tion but de ten tion without charges for weeks, months or even years are notcon sid ered gross be cause of the rel a tively briefpe riod of confinement.

Another major limitation of the legislation is“consistent pattern.” Presidents simply fail tofind patterns or declare the patterns of humanrights violations inconsistent, and, thereby, aidcan be granted to abusing countries. Forexample, Carter found that in the case ofIndonesia in 1979 there was not a consistentpattern of human rights violations because there was a plan to someday release the politicalprisoners. So, in spite of the fact thatapproximately 100,000 people were murdered

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30,000 were still incarcerated, Indonesia wasnot denied U.S. security assistance. Thesehuman rights violations could all be justified inthe name of containing communists and

communism. Struc tural Ad just ment Programmes:Through out the 1980s the West tried toman u fac ture con sent among the hu man rightscom mu nity that the main cause of hu man rightsvi o la tions were the eth nic con flicts within thethird world coun tries. One ex pert stated: “Thefact that nearly all wars af ter World War II tookplace in the Third World” but he for got tomen tion that these re gimes were sup ported and

propped up by the West. Also a large scale hu man rights vi o la tions weredue to the struc tural ad just ment programmesim posed on poor coun tries by the In ter na tionalMon e tary Fund.

According to UNICEF, over 500,000 childrenunder the age of five died each year in Africa andLatin America in the late 1980s as a direct resultof the debt crisis and its management under theInternational Monetary Fund’s structuraladjustment programs. These programsrequired the abolition of price supports onessential food-stuffs, steep reductions inspending on health, education, and other socialservices, and increases in taxes. In 1994 manyactivists formed a coalition against the policiesof the World Bank and the IMF on the fiftiethanniversary saying “50 years is enough”.

Ter ror ism: An Out side Enemy: The Waragainst ter ror ism did not be gin af ter the at tackon the Twin Tow ers. The USA needed to in ventan other en emy to re place the com mu nist as themain en emy of free dom and lib erty; an otherthreat to de moc racy, hu man rights andfree dom. That en emy was go ing to be Is lamicter ror ist. The in ven tion of this en emy be ganright from the 1970s. Right back in 1972 theGen eral As sem bly of the United Na tions set upan Ad Hoc Com mit tee to de fine ter ror ism. Therewas a sharp di vi sion be tween the US and thethird world coun tries on who was a ter ror ist. The

third world lead ers re fused to call po lit i calac tiv ists en gaged in na tional lib er a tion wars

against for eign oc cu pa tion as ter ror ists. Even though many anti-ter ror ist law werepassed in the USA in the 1990s they did notar rive at a sat is fac tory def i ni tion of ter ror ism.

The problem was to define who was a terroristand what is terrorism? After a survey of leadingacademics the International Institute ofTerrorism (founded in 1996, long before theattack on the Twin Towers) discovered there

were 109 different definitions of terrorism. In dia And The War Against Ter ror: In diaalso had its own war against ter ror ism. In 1985 it passed the Ter ror ism and Dis rup tive Ac tiv i tiesAct. Large scale hu man rights vi o la tions werecom mit ted by the po lice and fi nally the Act wasal lowed to lapse in 1995.

On August 24, 1994 Union Minister of State forHome, Rajesh Pilot, told the Parliament: “Of theapproximately 67,000 individuals detainedsince TADA came into force, 8,000 were triedand only 725 persons were convicted. Some59,509 people had been detained with no casebeing brought against them. The TADA ReviewCommittees found that except in 5,000 casesthe application of TADA was wrong and asked for the withdrawal of cases. Despite theadmissibility of the confessions made to thepolice as evidence – which were invariably madeunder torture – the conviction rate was less than1 per cent. Yet, thousands of people underwentprolonged detention without ever beingconvicted. The maximum numbers of arrestsunder TADA were not made in Punjab, Jammuand Kashmir or North-east India but in Gujarat,which had no record of terrorism. The majority

of the victims belonged to religious minorities.”

The War Against Ter ror: Hu man rights com mu nity has been alarmed by the low er ing ofin ter na tional hu man rights stan dards in thename of se cu rity leg is la ture in the United Statesand all over the world. Dur ing the two terms ofUS Pres i dent Ron ald Rea gan CIA gave aid worth

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five bil lion worth of dol lars to fund the Afghan war inor der to de feat the Rus sians. In their de sire to fightcom mu nism they made rad i cal Is lam a force which theycan not con trol.

In the name of democracy and human rights theUSA has invaded. A large-scale survey of Iraqihouseholds by UNICEF, published in 2012,estimated that between 800,000 and a millionIraqi children under 18 – or about five percent ofIraqi children – have lost one or both of their

parents. As of 2007 more Iraqis had lost theirhomes and be come ref u gees than thepop u la tion of any other coun try. Over 3.9 mil lion peo ple, close to 16 per cent of the Iraqipop u la tion, have be come up rooted. Of these,around 2 mil lion have fled Iraq and floodedother coun tries, and 1.9 mil lion are es ti mated to be ref u gees in side Iraq.

The American soldiers who have been in this war are suffering from mental and physicaldisabilities; including PTSD and amputations.

The full truth of the horrors of the war againstterror would never have been exposed had it notbeen for a few very brave individuals, journalistsand whistle-blowers. For instance, it wasWikiLeaks which first exposed in November2007 how the US had tried its best to control and restrict access of the International Committeefor the Red Cross to prisoners, especially thoseheld in solitary confinement. The US militarydenied that there were certain prisoners whowere off-limits to the Red Cross; WikiLeaksexposed the lie. WikiLeaks also exposed the factthat dogs were used to intimidate prisoners.

For the founder of WikiLeaks, Julius Assangehimself has been under threat of arrest forrevealing government secrets. Like Assange,Edward Snowden risked his life to expose theextent of surveillance being carried out by theUSA. He has had to leave his home and countryand seek political asylum in another country.

For Edward Snowden and Julius Assange human rights do not offer adequate protection but theright to free speech and the right to privacy aretheir only legal defence and the basis for a

worldwide campaign for their right to publish.Human rights law can offer legal protection toindividuals but only if they can afford expensivelawyers who are trained to use human rights lawin courts which are biased in favour of thegovernment, the rich and the powerful.

Hu man Rights Today: There are nine mil lionmen, women and chil dren lan guish ing in thepris ons all over the world. The high est rate ofin car cer a tion is in the USA. It is es ti mated thatone of every four Black men in the USA will be inprison at this rate.

Eighty per cent of humanity does not haveadequate food to eat. It is estimated there are 30 million slaves in the world and many of theseinclude girls and women who are trafficked.

In India between 1980 and 2010 twelve milliongirls were aborted. This gender-cide hasresulted in 37 million more men in India thanwomen.

The world is not getting any safer; it is still racistand patriarchal; and it is unjust and increasinglyconservative and authoritarian.

For these millions of people who go hungryevery day, watch their children die of curablediseases because they cannot afford medicalexpenses; for those who sleep out in the coldHuman Rights Day is meaningless. For themillions of men, women and children who arevictims of human rights violations the Bill ofRights offers very little solace. They must findother means to resist the occupation of theircountry by foreign troops, the denial of humanrights by their governments and the fight in theunfair international order.

[Nandita Haksar, a human rights lawyer ofrepute, traces the background to analyse thecurrent violations of human rights under thewar on terror being waged by governments of

the world.] Article URL:

http://thecitizen.in/NewsDetail.aspx?Id=1661&From/The/Cold/War/to/War/on/Terror

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Current Affairs Section:

Tragedy and Conciliation

—Kuldip Nayar

There was a genuine pain in India over themindless killing of schoolchildren at

Peshawar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi askedall Indian schoolchildren to maintain atwo-minute silence in memory of the lives lost inPakistan. He readily offered any assistance thatIndia could render to Prime Minister NawazSharif. Such gestures transcend the borders. Iwish this atmosphere could sustain between thetwo countries.

Unfortunately, the civil society in India andPakistan don’t feel concerned over their youthnourishing enmity towards each other. They,including those from Bangladesh, are the bestof friends outside the shores of thesubcontinent. But, in their own country, they arealways in the midst of schemes to hit the otherhard without realizing that hostilities maybecome inevitable. The Pakistanis often say thatonce the Kashmir problem is solved both sideswill live as friends. I have my doubts. Kashmir,according to me, is a symptom, not the disease.The disease is their mistrust in each other. Evenby some miracle if the Kashmir issue is solved,some other problem will crop up because of thesuspicion.

The Indians and the Pakistanis are carrying ontheir enmity to everywhere they come intocontact. It is sad that even cultural events sufferfrom the same thinking. The Quwals fromPakistan could not sing at the Delhi Press Club,supposed to be liberal. On the other hand, Indiawas ridiculed with obscene gestures by thePakistani players after defeating India in ahockey match.

The visiting Pakistani MPs not meeting the LokSabha Speaker, although the Indian MP whoarranged the meeting with the Speaker did notcheck whether she was free at that time. TheIndian MPs should have made amends in some

other manner but there was no such effort evenfor the courtesy sake. Such incidents indicatethat even after 70 years of partition, the twocountries have not settled down to normalcourtesies, much less friendship. The future toodoes not look bright when enmity seemsrevealing the Hindu identity.

Yesterday it was Sanskrit, the language of Hinduscriptures. Today, it is conversion. Theconversion of some Muslims has onlydowngraded India in the eyes of the world,particularly Pakistan. When the ‘converted’ saythat they were coerced into and promised rationcard or the BPL card that gives the poor theessentials at a subsided price things seem to bemurkier than one would imagine. Thatfundamentalism is spreading in Pakistan doesnot surprise me. A state having suchblasphemous laws as can kill a liberal Punjabgovernor with no action against the murderers is lengthening the shadows. It is unfortunate butwhen even the liberal voices are mute becauseof consequences, the fanatics are bound to grow in number and in impudence.

The real point of worry is what is happening toIndia. The country represents a democratic,secular polity and it is respected for this all overthe world. Unfortunately, New Delhi is rapidlybecoming a goalpost of Hindutva, to thedisappointment of the world and to the horror ofminorities. What the Rashtriya SwayamsevakSangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat haslamented without any serious challenge that theHindu raj has returned to India after 800 years isbound to question our secular credentials. I amnot surprised that the BJP has enrolled four lakhmembers in Delhi itself. The Congress which can stall the tide is too embroiled in dynastic politics. But in the past, the party’s ideology ofegalitarianism and pluralism was very much inthe forefront, whether Jawaharlal Nehrugroomed Indira Gandhi and she, in turn, RajivGandhi. But today even Congress presidentSonia Gandhi is seen as the right of the centre,not even the centre.

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India’s politics is too engrossed in personalities.Today, it is Narendra Modi but not what hestands for. Development is too vague to meanany direction. India should have taken theinitiative to develop the region on the whole. But when the ideology is sought to be based onparochialism, it is neither pervasive noregalitarian in content. The common man feelsas much isolated and marginalized as he hasbeen all these years since independence.

The ruling party may have changed at the Centre but the political culture has not. We continue tobe feudal in our outlook. This trait transcendsother considerations. It does not go well with the democratic temperament. But it is there and has not undergone any perceptible change in thepast. Those who come to power becomedictators in action. Even when they profess thatpower is with the people they are using itfiguratively and not realistically because they, avery few, serve the country.

Modi has, in the process, buried Nehru’s idea ofnon-alignment deep. True, the movement haslost its raison d’être, the confrontation betweenthe Communists and the democratic bloc. Afterthe collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, theCommunists lost the cold war. Still themovement had come to represent an idea thatsmall nations should not fear the big onesbecause of their size or power. Modi is a productof the capitalist world. He has neither the pull ofthe Nehru era of socialism, nor that of MahatmaGandhi’s self-sufficiency. Modi, it appears, wants the country to develop, whatever be the meansand how big the economy may create a distancebetween haves and the have-nots.

Aftermath Of Kashmir Polls

It was not plebiscite, as the outgoing Jammuand Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah

had cautioned before the polling. Yet theJammu and Kashmir election very much tiltedtowards the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)which reminded the Valley of autonomy, thekernel of the plebiscite demand.

The PDP, which has emerged the largest partywith 28 seats, said during the election campaign that it would refurbish the state’s identity which,according to it, had been diluted by the rulingNational Conference. Perhaps this paiddividends.

Unfortunately, the State which has been anexample of secularism for the rest of the countryhas been somewhat polarized. The PDP won inthe Muslim- majority Valley. However, the mostblame is that of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).It has tried its best to polarise the society. It’shush-hush campaign that the State’s integration meant little when the Hindus had no say in theaffairs of governance. So electrifying has beenthe result that the party has jumped from 11seats in the last election in 2008 to 25 seats.

It is obvious that the polarization in the State has changed the complexion. Jammu has become abase of Hindus and the Valley that of Muslims.Incidentally, the BJP did not get a single seat aspredicted by Omar Abdullah, although it hasincreased the vote.

The problem is not new. By electing the Muslimsfrom the Valley, the Kashmiris enjoy a vicarioussatisfaction of being separate from the rest ofIndia. The candidates who sustain this illusionget the support. However, this is nothing new.

The National Conference (NC), founded bySheikh Abdullah, a popular leader in Kashmireven when it was a princely state, disseminatedthis idea when the state integrated with Indiaafter the lapse of British paramountcy in 1947. Maharaja Hari Singh, the Hindu ruler had theopinion to stay independent or join either Indiaor Pakistan. He preferred to stay independent.

I have no doubt that Jammu and Kashmir, aMuslim majority state, would have come toPakistan if it had been patient. The Maharajadeclared independence and entered into astandstill agreement with Pakistan. Indiarefused to follow suit because it appeared toharbour some other ideas.

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Impatient Pakistan sent troops followed by theregular forces to take over the Valley by force.The Maharaja sought India’s military support toward off the Pakistan onslaught. The then PrimeMinister Jawaharlal Nehru refused to extend anyhelp until the State acceded to India.

The Maharaja had no alternative except tosigning the instrument of accession. The Indianforces flew to Srinagar at the nick of timebecause the Pakistani troops were almost in theprecinct of airport. Had the Pakistani forces notindulged in looting and delayed their departurefrom Baramula so as to arrive in Srinagar beforethe Indian forces, the history of Kashmir wouldhave been different.

Since the integration of Kashmir with India wasin the hurried circumstances, although, SheikhAbdullah was fully behind it. Nehru promisedthat the wishes of the people would beascertained after the things had settled down.That eventuality never came because of changes in the global picture. Pakistan which wasclaiming Kashmir joined military pacts of theWest and accepted weapons from it. Those werethe days of the Cold War. The Pakistan’s actionwas taken as a step towards joining the westernbloc.

Nehru said at that time that his promise toascertain the wishes of the people of Kashmirdid not hold good because of the induction ofweapons by the West. The Pakistan’sgovernment blames Nehru for going back on his promise but its acceptance of weapons by theWestern bloc changed the situation and dilutedthe Pakistan’s claim.

The choice to join either India or Pakistan heldthe ground for decades. For some time theKashmiris have raised the standard ofindependence (Azadi) a sovereign country oftheir own. How a land-locked state would keepits freedom intact without reaching anunderstanding either with India or Pakistan for apassage with the outside world is beyond

comprehension. Yet azadi is what has swept theKashmiris off their feet. Pakistan, which wasonce unequivocally opposed to the proposal,has now shed its objection. Its expectation isthat the Azad Kashmir would ultimately join their co-religionist, the Muslims, in Pakistan.

Whatever the twist of history, the fact is that India cannot hand over Kashmir to Pakistan, nor canPakistan take Kashmir forcibly from India. Thetwo have to reach a peaceful settlement for thebetterment of the people and for normalizationin the region. They have fought three wars and a mini one at Kargil. Both countries are alsonuclear powers. But there is no end of hatred.No doubt, several futile attempts have beenmade to sort out the problem. The reason is that Pakistan considers Kashmir an unfinished taskof partition while the state has integrated withIndia legally.

All the formulas and proposals have failed toproduce a solution because the partiesconcerned are not really for an agreement butfor the prevalence of their ideas.

The two countries have wasted some sixty sevenyears in finding a solution to the dispute overKashmir. Both can waste another 67 years if they do not come down from the pedestal of rigidityon which they continue to sit.

Pakistan has brought in the factor of religion and has made the problem more intractable. Theproposal that the Hindu majority Jammu joinsIndia and the Muslim majority Valley Pakistanmay reopen the wounds of partition.

There cannot be a one sided solution. There willhave to be consensus. There can be a solutionon the basis of British Cabinet Mission Planwhich envisaged the retention of basic ofpartition and still kept the India together.

[Kuldip Nayar is a veteran syndicatedcolumnist catering to around 80 newspapersand journals in 14 languages in India & abroad.

[email protected]]

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Government Forming InJammu & Kashmir

Demands Statesmanship —Rajindar Sachar

The exercise of forming the government in J&K is posing a delicate situation as

no single party can form the government on itsown. B.J.P. for all its broad developmentalpropaganda totally failed to make any dentexcept in Jammu where it got 93% of votespolled as against Kashmir where it got amiserable 4% and Ladakh even where Buddhists are in large numbers its share is only 2.39%.B.J.P. has got out of total 87 seats 25 seats inJammu region but nil in Kashmir region. Sohere is the unfortunate situation where no partyhas not only got a majority but the two regions of J & K have voted sharply differently. P.D.P. with28 seats has to have coalition with other partieslike National Conference (15) and Congress (12). But there is too much personality clashesamongst the leaders of these parties to obtainworkable solution. That apart, they will be falling over with each other to retain their support inKashmir valley with the resultant absence ofparticipation from Jammu, the majority Hinduarea.

Historically J & K represents the enviablecivilization and culture of both Hinduism andIslam for centuries. Which place is so holy andfortunate enough to have the holy strand of Hairof Prophet of Islam and at the same time of ShivLinga of Hindus which is an occasion for AmarNath yatra every year, temple dedicated toShankracharya the greatest exponent ofHinduism. With all this complex situation aworkable solution can only be coalition of PDPand B.J.P. (however distasteful for people likeme who believe the B.J.P. policy ofdevelopmental propaganda is a chimera and itsinability to openly condemn the ugly Communalactivities of Mohan Bhagwat and his discipleswho are bent on spreading communal poison).

But notwithstanding my personal views, thepeculiar circumstances of Kashmir require aspecial strategy. It is for this purpose that theodd suggestion of B.J.P. / P.D.P coalition inJammu & Kashmir may be the better solutionfor avoiding Governors role. In this thepersonality of PDP leader Mufti MohammedSayyad is very important as he has worked withB.J.P. in N.D.A. Government in 1990.

I believe talks are going on between NationalConference and B.J.P. with efforts to rope insome independents. But this combination willhurt the sentiments of Kashmir, who havethrown out National Conference. Of courseB.J.P. is trying its best at this solution because ithopes that it will get its Chief Minister fromJammu Region, who will inevitably be a Hindu. Ibelieve this scenario is the most dangerous for J& K and will make any permanent solution of J & K impossible. I have no hesitation in saying thatboth on principle and practical politics ChiefMinister of J & K has to be from Kashmir regionand a Muslim. This is not communalism butappreciation of ground reality of the historicalpeculiar situation of J & K. (In similar situation in pre-independence in Punjab General elections1946, Congress had the largest number incoalition but the Prime Minister (as he was thencalled in States) was the Muslim Unionist Partyleader Khizar Hayhat Khan.) B.J.P. / P.D.P.combine will bring a representative characterand will be a source for removingmisunderstanding between the two regions. Ofcourse before P.D.P. and B.J.P. can enter into apact some absolute pre-conditions will have tobe accepted by B.J.P. which uptill now with itssmall partisan politics has made B.J.P. adoptpolicies which are not permissible under ourConstitution, namely abrogation of Article 370.The result has been its total alienation in thevalley. The results clearly show that sentimentstill prevails – notwithstanding Modi's repetitivevisits to the valley with his trumpet ofdevelopment programme and the skillfulavoiding of mention of Article 370 it still brought

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a zero result in the valley. B.J.P. mustunderstand that the dignity and self respect ofthe people of valley of Kashmir is tied to thenon-abrogation of Article 370. It is not as ifArticle 370 is the only exception. Article 371provides for special responsibility of theGovernor for establishment of a separatedevelopment for Saurashtra and Kutch (inGujarat) and Vidharba in Maharashtra forequitable allocation of funds for development ofthe area. No objection by BJP was ever raisedeven when Modi was the Chief Minister. Article371G introduced by Constitution (55th

Amendment Act 1986) provides that no Act ofparliament in respect of ownership and transferof land shall apply to the State of Mizoram unless the legislative Assembly of State of Mizoram by aresolution so decides. This provision is identicalto Article 370 of the constitution regarding J &K. B.J.P. was a party to above amendment. Whydoes BJP apply double Standard in the case ofMuslim majority State of Jammu & Kashmir? Itneeds to be appreciated that retention of Article370 is a matter of self respect and honour andassertion of its distinct identity for people ofJ&K. Can not BJP, even when most Parties inJ&K are desirous of finding a lasting solution, be

statesman enough to give up its opposition toArticle 370 – which no Kashmiri can possiblyagree to abrogate.

It is true that if the communal activity of RSS andallied bodies going ahead with their impetuousactivities of Ghar Vapas, the silent collusion withHindu Maha Sabha of praise of Godse, themurderer of Gandhiji are not strictly suppressed, Modi's efforts at coalition with PDP will be animpossibility. BJ.P. must considerconsequences of J & K not getting genuineelected majority of valley in the Jammu andKashmir Government. This will spread furtherdisillusionment. Notwithstanding that Armyunder electoral pressure on B.J.P. was quickenough to admit and take action against itsarmy officers for false encounters. But B.J.P.Central government alone can give confidenceto the people of J & K especially of the Kashmirvalley that human Right violations by the State or the army will be severely dealt with. This can only be done by the Coalition Government of B.J.P. /P.D.P. Is BJP especially Modi willing to show thatstatesmanship.

[Justice Rajindar Sachar was Chief Justice,High Court of Delhi and President, PUCL, India.

[email protected];[email protected]]

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Indian Renaissance Institute Board of Trustees Meeting & G.B.M. - 2015

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IRI / IRHA Members' Section:

Fascist War AgainstHumanity

—Vidya Bhushan Rawat

The slaughtering of over 140 children by the Pakistani Taliban is a grim

reminder of how religious rights have no faith indemocracy and its order. That they can killanyone at their own will and the authorities areleft to react once they have done their ‘duty’shows how powerful have they become so far.Further, this reflects that the war on terror hasfailed on all account. Just a day before thisincident, we saw the infamous Sydney showwhere a gunman kept hostage so many visitorsof the café keeping the authorities guessing hismotives and resulting in killings of a few of thehostages. The killing spree of the gangs andthugs in the name of religion continuesworld-over and it is a matter of great concern asat the end of the day it is the common personwho is becoming the victim of their hatemission.

Pakistan’s incident is a sad reminder of theexisting situation there and the biggest crisis the nation faces after its birth in 1947. It is true thatidea of Pakistan was conceived by those whowanted a political space for Muslims in which amajority including Mohammad Ali Jinnah weresecular to their core belief but immediately afterthe death of the first generational leadership inPakistan we have witnessed military rule, martial law and anarchy in the street. Still till 1980s,Pakistan had a better economy than India and inmany things it was ahead including both ourtraditional sports of Hockey and Cricket. Itproduced some of the finest teams. In Hockey itactually replaced India since independencewhile it was a far better team till 1980s than theIndian cricket team.

The point I want to mention here is that there isno point in discussing whether Pakistan wascreated rightly or wrongly as we can produce

argument to prove both the points. As an Indianpassport holder, I cannot preach all the time that it was a wrong decision. When you are amidst apolitical movement, you need to take a decisionbut which has to discussed years later. For anydecision there is no one single situationresponsible but a series of events. How can thecondition of Muslims, their poverty andmarginalization, communal riots not justifypartition? Contrary to it, the creation ofBangladesh and continuous killings of innocentMuslims and minorities in Pakistan clearlyindicate that as a national state it failedmiserably probably because Jinnah neverwanted a theocratic Pakistan. He was dreamingfor a Pakistan of modern ideas which couldprovide leadership to Islamic countries likeTurkey.

Pakistan today is not of the dreams of Jinnah.The military dictators killed the constitution andvision of Jinnah and handed it over to Islamicfundamentalists. When the people rose upagainst the martial law regime the militaryleaders got legitimacy through Islamisationprocess in the country. The long presence ofSoviet forces in Afghanistan gave a reason toPakistan’s military regime to extract maximumin terms of money and arms from United Statesand other Western countries as each one ofthem was pitched against Soviet supportedBabarak Karamal and Nazibullah governmentsthere. It is ironical how the ‘biggest’ and ‘best’‘democracies’ in the world use religious rights to fight against communists, Americans needed‘religious rights’ and hence creation of Talibanto counter. The dictator Zia ul Haq found itabsolutely useful to fulfill his agenda of rulingPakistan through Islamisation process whichagain provided his regime a legitimacy.Pakistan, meanwhile, kept contesting upon thebest form of Constitution that should be used torun the government. In less than sixty years of its independence, it reflected pathetically on thepolitical leadership how they virtually createdextra-constitutional forces to counter the

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opponents and legitimize themselves. Ziaruthlessly went ahead ignoring internationalprotest by hanging his opponent Zulfikar AliBhutto. Pakistan slowly slipped into Islamicanarchy. Apostasy became the biggest weaponin the hands of the Islamic fanatics to threatenall those who tried to reason with peoplepolitically. Minorities were hounded andthreatened for speaking their voices andbelieving in their faith. Zia’s Islamic assailantswere up in the street to threaten them most ofthe time. Blasphemy law was the best way totarget them, grab their properties and convertthem to Islam.

Zia’s death resulted in forces of democracygaining ground with Benazir Bhutto becomingthe prime minister. Internal fight for poweramong the political parties always strengthenedthe army which continues to use Taliban andKashmiri militants as the trump card against theopponents. It is a well-known secret that theentire Kargil operation was done by GeneralParvez Musharraf without even providing anyinformation to his Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.Though Musharraf was a ‘forward looking’general yet he did play different games tocompete with political parties. He was forced toretire from Pakistan and political processbrought Nawaz Sharif back to the country fromhis long exile in Saudi Arabia. Asif Ali Zardariwho was the president now has to pave the wayfor new Muslim League government which gavelots of hope but soon the entire hopesevaporated. Pakistan is in deep turmoil now andif things are not brought under control now thedirt might spill beyond its boundaries.

Those who justified Islamisation process ofPakistan did not understand that it would turnthe tables on them. That initially the entireprocess actually eliminated the religiousminorities and their politics. Later, it claimedAhmedis who the Islamists said were notMuslims at all and had no right to read Quranand enter into the mosques. The number ofHazaras or Shias killed in terrorist violence in

Pakistan is exorbitantly high. Pakistan today isfacing the biggest crisis and it is the creation ofits state apparatus which suffered from the‘power’ of a ‘Hindustan’. We did not call itHindustan as officially India is called Bharat butPakistani Muslim leadership in their attempt tojustify the creation of a Islamic state alwaystermed India as ‘Hindustan’, a term which is nowbeing used by the Sangh Parivar and itspropagated media in high decibel. They alsonarrate similar stories of victimization inpartition and claim that since Muslims gotPakistan, Hindustan must be for Hindus.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah was the champion of asecular society, for whom the problem of Hindus and Muslims was not cultural but political innature and therefore immediately afterindependence he talked of a Pakistan whichcould be owned by everyone irrespective of theirfaiths but then when you promote to a wrongidea, it will only create a wrong precedence.Pakistan’s successive regimes used the religious thugs for their political purposes and the resulttoday is that the state is feeling helpless in frontof them. Whether it is Hafiz Sayeed or anyoneelse, Pakistan cannot watch helplessly and allowthem to spew venom against India but then wehave our own Hafiz Sayeds. In democracy, theysay, the ultimate judge is the people and henceif people have elected them, hence we will haveto listen to them and consider their ‘opinion’ asimportant.

It is good that Indian Prime Minister offered hiscondolences to victims of Peshawar massacre ofchildren. The gesture of schools mourning wasgreat along with showing of solidarity by IndianParliament but it is time we need to ponder. After the slaughtering of these innocent children inLahore, Indians are in ‘preaching’ mood. Everychannel is ‘guiding’ Pakistan to adopt ‘waragainst terror’. Unfortunately all of them keepquiet when similar things happen in India.Pakistan’s extra-constitutional apparatus is afodder for right-wingers here in India who arealso bulldozing our constitution and threatening

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peace. There is no difference between a Muzahid leader speaking in Pakistan and spewing venomand the Shiv Sena leader on a Hindutvaloudspeaker speaking the same way. After thisgovernment came to power these loudspeakersare roaring and have become louder.

Pakistan is paying the price of the flirtations of its leaders and military regimes with the religiousrights. India, on the other hand, was fortunateenough that immediately after independence itsleadership understood this and opted for asecular India. Democracy may have lots of follies and we complain about them still people havegot that small window to use their right whichthe theocracies and military regimes do notoffer. Theocracies result in fascist tendencies.India and Pakistan opted for political democratic models but without challenging the existingsocial norms. It would not be possible forpolitical democracy to succeed in environmentand culture of theocracy that push towardsmajoritarian tendencies and consider everyminority as a ‘dissent’ and every dissent as a‘threat’ to the country. While we grew as apolitical democracy we did not really mature into it as our political parties did not have power tosideline the religious rights. We too startedappeasing the religious rights and ignoring thedangers of majoritarian communalism.World-over, minorities suffer from identity crisisbut in our societies the majorities alwaysbelieved that minorities are gaining at their cost. South Asia is suffering from that and eachcommunity has to act responsibly because amajority community in Pakistan may be aminority in India or elsewhere and similarly amajority community in India is a minorityelsewhere. Whatever we do to our minorities itlays its impact upon their psyche elsewhereresulting in deep-rooted prejudices as well asthreats of intimidations.

South Asia has to grow and develop its seculardemocratic process. The imposition of religiousvalues and religion by state is dangerous. Canwe imagine a South Asia with common text

books, common history books and commonbooks on social studies? Is it possible? It shouldbe made possible if we want to make ourchildren better human beings and not throughreligious agendas of our particular sects. Yes, acommon thread could be the humanistprinciples which promote reason and call aspade a spade. We all know that although allreligions in the world talk of commonbrotherhood (obviously none talk of sisterhood)and despite the ‘greatness’ of all the religions we could not save ourselves from holocausts andkillings of innocents. How can we justify anIslamic nation if we oppose a Hindu Rastra? If we oppose a Buddhist nation, we cannot support aChristian theocracy. For every theocracy theminorities are the biggest obstacles in their long term agenda. Theocratic ideas are nothing butfascist ideas and that is why these days it is notjust the state but its tame surrendering to extraconstitutional forces which is giving rise tofascist elements in our countries.

If Pakistan is feeling helpless about Hafiz Sayedthen we too do not have a great record. All thosewho are roaring and crying to finish Christianityand Islam from India are roaming free in thecountry. It is this tendency of majoritarianismthat gives rise to intimidation and threat tominorities and their dissent. Such tendenciesoften hijack the democratic processes and putthe society into the hands of religious norms and traditions which aren't compatible with modernideas. Thus, they will speak against girls’education. They will speak against lovemarriages. And, they will hate everything that ismodern which they will term as ‘westernization’while simultaneously, enjoying everything thatthe western societies have produced (theirtechnologies and goods). Culture becomes ahandle for them to beat the opponents. If wecompare these fascists in India and Pakistan, wecan find much commonality among them. Theythreaten the minorities with dire consequences.They justify violence against women and theymisuse the vulnerability of the state apparatus.

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India and Pakistan can learn a lot from theirmiserable failures. It is not a time for preaching.It is time to act. Promote secular liberal values inyour lives. Promote that kind of polity andencourage people to people contact. As long aswe support violence in the name of religion, wewill not succeed. Pakistan and India shouldfocus on their poor, on their women and worktowards removing those hurdles which are thebane for our society. We must work for a secularPakistan in the very similar way as I say; we muststrengthen a secular India. How great would itbe when the polities in both the countries aresecular and children learn common history and

culture. Weakening of secular forces in ourcountries has already harmed our societies a lotand if we wish our children should peacefullygrow, it is time, we must work upon secularhumanist societies otherwise the religiousfascists are ready to kill you anytime withouthaving any remorse and remember they alwayshave a book to justify their mindless violence.

[Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social activist,human rights activist, anti-caste worker, &works against manual scavenging. He is thefounder of Social Development Foundation.

www.manukhsi.blogspot.com;

www.thesdf.org]

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An Appeal to the Readers Indian Renaissance Institute has been receiving regular requests from readers, research scholars, Rationalists and Radical Humanists for complete sets of books written by M.N. Roy. It was notpossible to fulfil their demands as most of Roy's writings are out of print. IRI has now decided topublish them but will need financial assistance from friends and well-wishers as the expenses willbe enormous running into lakhs. IRI being a non-profit organization will not be able to meet theentire expenses on its own. Initially, following 15 books have been ordered for print: NewHumanism; Beyond Communism; Politics, Power and Parties; Historical Role of Islam; India’sMessage; Men I Met; New Orientation; Materialism; Science & Philosophy; Revolution andCounter-revolution in China; India in Transition; Reason, Romanticism and Revolution; RussianRevolution; Selected Works-Four Volumes; Memoirs (Covers period1915-1923).

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The Controversy overReligious Conversions

—Katangoori Pratap Reddy

It is unfortunate that new set ofcontroversies on religious conversions

are emerging in various parts of the country. Itis a matter of shame that, while the whole worldis advancing towards intellectual, scientific andtechnological growth taking human evolution tocelestial levels, some sections of our society and more particularly those belonging to themajority, are indulging in such controversiestending to lead the society and the country intomedieval period which would adversely affectour constitutional goal of integrity of our nation. I am sure this malady is really being felt by theintellectuals of our civil society, and they arealready thinking of some remedy to eradicatethis problem.

It cannot be denied that in all efforts of finding asolution to a trouble, it is always necessary to gointo the origin, or cause of the adversity. In such process of tracing the origin or causes of thepresent predicament, we inevitably come downto the deplorably inhuman caste systemreaching the lowest level of the mal-practice of‘untouchability’ existing in the Hindu Religion. We all know the horrible past conditions of ouruntouchable (also known as Panchamas)brethren. They were driven to live in separatehabitats and deprived of all civic rights. Theywere forced to live on the carcasses of deadanimals. Even if they came to the main village of upper castes to attend to menial work of thelatter, they were forced to come with a Jhadu(sweep stick) tied to their back in order to satisfythe inhumanly whimsical belief that the pathtrodden by these untouchables (panchamas)was cleansed while walking by them by means of the Jhadus tied to their backs. This is but one ofthe many inhumanly uncivilized treatments thatour panchamas (untouchable) brothers weresubjected to by the upper class (Brahminical)members of the Hindu Religion.

Now, let us have a glimpse into the historicaladvent of Christianity and Islam into our country. While the Portuguese, Dutch and EnglishTradesmen came into India in the 17th century,the Christian missionary led by Saint Thomas,bringing the message of equality andbrotherhood of Jesus Christ had come into India in 52 AD itself. Likewise, while the so-calledIslamic rule was established in the 13th century,Arab traders came into India in the 6th & 7th

centuries bringing the message of equality,justice and compassion of Prophet Mohammed.Jawaharlal Nehru in his celebrated book “TheDiscovery of India” in Chapter VI, Page No.244referring to the growth of Hindu-Muslim cultureand Indo-Arab relationships wrote as follows: Iquote:

“There were no invasions, contacts betweenIndia and Arab world grew, by travel to and fro,embassies were exchanged…

“These trade and cultural relations were notconfined to North India. The southern states ofIndia also participated in them, especially theRashtrakutas, on the west coast of India….

“This frequent intercourse inevitably led toIndians getting to know the new Religion, Islam. Missionaries also came to spread this new faithand they were welcomed, mosques werebuilt…………………

“There was no objection raised either by theState or by the people, nor were there anyreligions conflicts. It was the old tradition ofIndia to be tolerant to all faiths and forms ofworship. Thus Islam came as a religion to Indiaseveral centuries before it came as a politicalforce”.

It must be understood that our oppresseduntouchable (panchama) brothers wereattracted to the preaching of message ofequality and humanity spread by Christian andIslamic missionaries and adopted the religionswhere they were given equal treatment; either by Christians or Muslims, as the case might be. Itmight be true that the Christian missionaries

29


have given to our erstwhile untouchables(panchama brethren) free education, shelter but it is no true to say that the conversion was by use of force. This is a totally ignorant assertion byour “Sangh Pariwar” groups. As stated above,while the Islamic state or Islamic rule, as thecase maybe, came into India in the 13th century,the English rule came into India through theEast India Company in the 18th century anddirectly in the middle of the 19th century. It mustbe realized by our Sangh Pariwar brethren thatthe conversions of our erstwhile untouchable(panchama) brethren into either Christianity orIslam were much earlier to the establishment ofeither Islamic rule or the British rule.

One other aspect, our Sangh Pariwar brethren,who are involving in this present controversy ofreconversion, must realize that the conversionsof Hinduism into either Christianity or Islamwere only from the oppressed members ofHindu religion who were subjected to inhumanand humiliating treatment by the upper class(Brahminical) members of Hindu religion. It issometimes claimed that some Muslim kings also converted some Brahmans by force but at thesame time the very same Brahmans and otherupper class Hindus claimed that they gotthemselves converted by the process ofShuddhi.

One other aspect of this process of“reconversion” (being called “ghar vapasi”) is towhat caste these “ghar vapasi” people will beadded. Will they once again be added to thesame “pancham” community or will they begiven a higher status as Brahmins, Kshatriyas orVaishyas, in as much as the caste system is not

only continuing but taking stronger roots in thecountry in the socio-political context of thereservation of seats in Parliament, assemblies,panchayat raj, employment and educationalfields.

It was in this context, the great saints like Swamy Dayananda Saraswati and Guru Nanak in thewest and north, Ramakrishna Paramahansa inthe East and social reformers like Narayan guru,Sane guru, Basaveshwar, Subramanya Bharatiand Gurujada Appa Rao, Unnava LakshmiNarayan, in the south struggled all their lives forthe abolition of castes.

The Father of the Nation “Mahatma Gandhi”along with his struggle for independence ofIndia from foreign rule campaigned for abolition of untouchability many times undertaking “Fastunto Death”. In spite of such movements thecaste system and the ill-practice ofuntouchability 9recognised now by the name of“Schedule Castes” is still existing. Evenconstitutional mandate against them has notmuch helped.

My humble request to our “Sangh Pariwar”brothers is first to undertake a campaign with amissionary zeal to abolish the abominable castesystem still prevailing in the Hindu society andnot to indulge in politicization of thisheterogeneous caste system in the majoritycommunity of the Indian polity.

[K. Prathap Reddy is senior advocate at HighCourt of Andhra Pradesh. He is the Chairman ofA.V. Education Society, Andhra MahilaAbyudaya Samiti and the President of Vigil India

Movement; [email protected]

91-9848055502]

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"The difference between reason and romanticism is that one perceives what is necessary andtherefore possible, whereas the other declares impetuously what is desirable, what should bedone. Is the idea of revolution, then, irrational?Is there no room for reason in the scheme ofrevolutionary practice? There must be, if revolutions take place of necessity. Romanticismtempered with reason, and rationalism enlivened by the romantic spirit of adventure, pave the

road to successful revolutions"

—M.N. Roy Reason, Romanticism and Revolution, Vol. I, pp. 14-15

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The Last Crusade?—Ajit Bhattacharyya

To quote M.N. Roy, “The scientific modeof thought having driven religion from

pillar to post, over a period of several centuriesis meeting the final assault of the vanquishedadversary”

But how comes the final assault? It got the startafter long hibernation through the clumsypartitions of India and the Palestine.

We must look into the recent reported news thatpolitical parties, Govt. agencies, the insurgentsand the business interest groups are keepinginsurgency alive in the North East and the Maoist affected areas as it ensures easy Govt. funds,private taxes and kidnap extractions. It is to beremembered that there are so many privatearms dealers who have no scruples in sellingsmall and heavy weapons to the insurgents.Govts world over do the same free of cost, not so infrequently.

The alleged policy of the British rulers to keepthe Durand Line as a living firing range for thepractice of its armies seems to be inherited.Finally there is the alleged U.S. policy to updatetheir non nuclear weaponry by experimenting on far off countries. All these have becomecommon practices with many countries. But who are the cannon fodders? It is the commonpeople from the 1st Crusade launched in 1095AD. Poor people from both sides trying toescape from hardship both in medieval andpresent day life in an armed pilgrimage leadingfor the first time to Apotheosis at Jerusalem andnow to heaven becoming a “shaheed” forreligion or for the country.

Religious hinterland is ever present in allcountries, hidden though in some areas.Secularism is the real antidote. But exploiting itfor political purpose is counter productive.

[Ajit Bhattacharyya is a veteran RadicalHumanist from West Bengal

[email protected]]

Chunikaka – A Source OfInspiration In The Fight

Against Injustice!—Gautam Thaker

A towering personality of constructive activitiesand conflict resolution!

[Chunibhai Vaidya was a leading Gandhianand Sarvodaya Leader of Gujarat. He passed

away on 19-12-2014 at Ahmadabad.]

With the passing away of Chunibhai

Vaidhya who constantly foughtagainst injustice, public life of Gujarat will feel asense of vacuum. Public well being and issuesfacing the common men remained his primeand constant concerns all through his life. Henever feared any one in his resistance againstinjustice.

Issues like prohibition, farmers’ agitation, 1975emergency days, Narmada Movement etc. werethe camping ground for his lifelong battles. Heplayed a leading role in all the fights concerningthe issues of water, lands and forests. After thecarnage of the year 2002, he had played animportant role in bringing back communalharmony and tranquility. He fearlessly foughtlegal battle against press censorship of 1975

through the channel and medium ofBhumiputra. (Fortnightly magazine)

But, passing away of a person such asChunikaka who used to stake or risk his life forthe issues concerning interests of public atlarge, is not going to discourage, our ideologyand activism in any way. The stature of thisperson was so hugely resourceful that wewondered in which major movements or issuesnot to associate him. Chunikaka was intimatelyassociated with all different groups battlingagainst injustice and for the cause of public wellbeing. Having had the opportunity of closelyworking with him during last five decades, it hasbecome possible to know about his nature andideology from close quarter.

In the first place, before our eyes, emerges thescene of emergency days of 1975. Against thepress censorship, Chunikaka waged fearlessbattle against unilateralism or authoritarianismthrough the means and medium of“Bhumiputra”. When the censorship officerissued notice against the news being publishedin the “Bhumiputra”, then as a young worker, Iplayed the role of a postman for the advocateChandrakant Daru and Chunikaka. During thatspell of emergency “Bhumiputra’s” role wasunique. The High Court of Gujarat issuednecessary orders against the censorship butdeclared it ultra vires. As a result, advocateChandrakant Daru and Chunikaka, as an editorof “Bhumiputra”, were sentenced to jail. In thatperiod even during the conversation he did notexpress a word of any kind of fear or danger.Similarly, after the crisis of emergency, when Ihad an opportunity to closely work with himduring Narmada Movement his view point wasvery clear that arrangements for irrigation anddrinking water must be ensured for the peopleof North Gujarat, Saurashtra and Kutch.Simultaneously, he was equally vocal andsupporting for rehabilitation of affected Adivasipopulation. During the Ferkuva agitation,Chunikaka had very politely tried to convinceBaba Amte about needs of drinking and

32


(1918-2014)

irrigation waters. Now-a-days, when the GujaratGovernment started allocating Narmada watersfor industrial use, it caused grievous pain in hismind. We are the eye witness of both thesemovements spearheaded by Chunikaka, withmassive public involvement.

He had raised public furor all over Gujarat, onthe issue of peoples or collective ownership ofwaters, lands and forests. He firmly and clearlybelieved that waters, lands and forests rightfullybelong to the people and Government cannothave any say or stake in that. Due to this,obviously, involvement of Chunikaka hadbecome indispensable in the farmers’ agitation.He firmly convinced his above view point, to thefarmers, during his tours and meetings in mostof the villages of Gujarat. Even at the age of 95he had provided guidance, like a young man, inthe matters of Nirma Movement or agitationagainst Bahucharaji SIR (Special IndustrialRegion). Attracted or inspired by Chunikaka,farm labourers and the farmers immediatelyresponded to his call. He provided effectiveguidance to the farmers of Gujarat by minglingwith their life style and living conditions. ‘Watersand Lands are ours and not owned by theGovernment.’ Surplus lands should be allocatedamong the poor. He raised voice against thegrazing land being wrongfully grabbed by theSpecial Economic Zone. All through his life he

made attempts to see to it that natural resources are conserved and that local population shouldmaintain the forests while subsisting on it fortheir livelihood.

Lately, when I happened to meet kaka, at hishospital bed (He was 97 Years), I uttered ‘Kaka,you have to beat a century’, upon which, like astalwart, Chunikaka quickly retorted “if we makea sum total of our relationship then it willdefinitely work out to a ‘century”. Even at hishospital bed, he insisted on us to share a cup oftea, as though posing for his last photograph.

It is indeed very difficult whether to callChunikaka a farmers’ leader or a leaderspearheading movements for prohibition orNarmada, or as a person dedicated to the causeof waters, lands and forests. Whenever theagitationists felt that they were ‘hurt’, theyimmediately rushed to Chunikaka for ‘dressing’.After his passing away, where shall we turn to for‘dressing’? Whom would we approach forguidance?

By recalling the memory of his direct help andco-operation till his last breath, in our fivedecade long public life, we pay our heartfelthomage to Chunnikaka!

[Gautam Thaker is Gen. Secretary, PUCL, IRHA, Gujarat, Mob. 09825382556,

[email protected]]

33


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Mrs. Ellen Roy —Jawaharlal Jasthi

Continued from the last issue.....

The Impossible Happened:

The father of Ellen was a German bybirth. But he acquired American

citizenship and settled in America. Her motherwas a German. She herself was born in Pariswhile her father was working there. She had herelementary education there. Because of thetransfer of her father, her subsequent educationwas in Germany. According to law and according to her passport, she was an American. But shenever stepped on to that continent, except oncein 1955 after the death of her Indian husbandRoy. Wherever she went she was considered aforeigner. In her view all the countries were hercountries equally.

When she was studying in Germany, there wereGermans and Americans among her friends.Naturally the German culture was more obvious.She noticed some difference in the valuesprevailing there from what she observedthrough her experiences. When America entered the First World War all the American citizenswere herded to Switzerland. She felt offendedthat they were not treated with dignity. (But laterat the time of Second World War, America alsodid the same with the Japanese). She never hadto face any adversity in her school by virtue ofbeing an American. In spite of her specialtalents, her friends never treated her differently.

There were competitions conducted in theschool during the war time. The competitionswere intended to train the students to showrespect to the soldiers and offer them gifts.Songs were written to that effect. Ellen too wrotesome songs that earned prizes. Her drawingsmerited a special show. That was amazing tosome of her friends since the war was againstAmerica to which she belonged. By that timeEllen was not aware of what the war was. Hermother was a German. She too detested war not

because it was against France or America. Forher war itself was an undesirable venture. Ellentoo used to feel something bad about it.

Germany introduced some reforms in theeducation system after the First World War.Student associations were formed in classes.Ellen used to participate actively in it. She usedto argue that science must be given prominentplace in the syllabus as against religiousmatters. People with such ideas were derided ascommunists and called “commus”. Ellen knewthat the derisive word refers to communists, butshe did not know what communism was. Whenshe was herself blamed as a communist, shedecided to know what it meant. She made adeep study of it. Instead of repulsion she gotattracted to it. The ideas of international outlook ignoring the borders of countries impressed hervery much. In addition, she also fell for thedemand for equality and antireligious teachingsof communism. It had become her ideal.

Later when she left the safety of her home ondifferences with her father, she felt the need toerase the borders between countries at everystep. At every stage police asked her for herpassport and visa to stay in Germany which werenot required when she stayed with her family.When she approached the American Consulatefor extension of her passport they asked her whyshe was staying in Germany and why she did notgo back to her native America. When she askedthe German authorities for a visa to stay inGermany, they asked her why she wants to stayin Germany. She had to give answers as theyrequired. Strictly speaking, she had no workanywhere and had no country of her own. It wasenough for her if she was allowed to stay whereshe was and allowed to have her own way of life.She spent her time in self-education, in odd jobs and with friends. If anybody asked her to whichcountry she belonged, she had to think about it.Is it necessary that everybody should belong tosome country? One of the developments inGermany was gradual decline in internationaloutlook and preponderance of nationalism. A

34


sort of antagonism developed againstforeigners. An international conference was held on behalf of Green International Peasants. It was permitted by the government. Even then, thepolice invaded the premises when theconference was going on and snatched thepassports of all those who were present there.Ellen too lost her passport then. She found aman sitting in a corner. She expected him to bein the same condition as herself. She justenquired whether the police took his passportalso. He immediately took out his passport, toreit to pieces and tried to chew it. It was hispassport of Poland which was an enemy countryfor Germany. It might have been trouble for himif he was caught with it. Somehow he escaped.But when she enquired about it, he felt that shemight be an agent of the government and triedto destroy the evidence against himself. (Itreminds one about the joke on Stalin regime.When a group of persons were chatting, a manappeared and asked whether they liked Stalin.One of them took him aside and whispered inhis ears that he loved Stalin very much. Whatdoes it indicate?)

After some time police returned the passport ofEllen. But she could not get a visa to stay inGermany. Even without that she stayed there forabout three years. After Hitler came to powerthere was further deterioration in the situation.Instead of asking ‘why you are here?’ they wereasking ‘why don’t you go away?’ When she madean application for visa, it attracted vigil over herand her residence. The other people residing inthe complex also suffered. It had become aghost house. Ellen felt confident that no onewould dare to enter the house and herbelongings would be safe there.

It took a long time for her to get the passportextended. Meanwhile it had become a problemto escape from the German police. She decidedto go to France. There was a French Consulatein Berlin. If one wanted to get a visa to enterFrance, one had to give her passport there. Itwould take time – a long time – to know the fate

of the request. Meanwhile one had to staywithout a passport and could even be arrested. If you wanted a visa for a short period, it could beeasy. But Ellen needed it for a long stay. So ittakes a long time to be processed. A fee also was payable on the application. But she was anxiousto leave Germany at the earliest. If she justentered into France, she would think of theconsequences later, she thought. After all, it wasthe country that she was born in. Thus after thepassport was extended, she entered France andwent to Paris. She tried to regularize her staythere and settle in some job. When sheapproached the police department, she found ita hell. It was crowded with Jews who leftGermany and anxious to get permission to stayin France. Nobody was sure whether he wouldget it or not and if he got it when it would be. She noticed that there were unusually frequentshake hands and realized there was somesignificance in each of them. Immediately afterthe shake hand the person was getting the visa.Nobody was willing to leave France. She stayedin Paris for two years without residence permit.Then she received a notice demanding she leave the country. She pocketed the notice and spentanother two years. Meanwhile there was anagreement between France and Russia. Theconcerned Russian officers knew her while shewas in Berlin. They felt it better to have herservices to strengthen the relations between thetwo countries. Official arrangements were madefor her stay in France.

All this experience left an indelible impressionon Ellen. Why are these borders between thecountries? What is this drama of passports andvisas? Why should anybody give permission toanybody to stay anywhere? She recalled of whatshe knew about the communist philosophy. Itbrought her nearer to that party. Sheremembered many of her friends did not have apassport or visa. She decided to help them. Itwas just in her nature. Even when she wasstaying against law, she was able to get her foodsomehow and she never starved for want of

35


food. It was because of her friends and she could not afford to ignore them now. While doing herodd jobs she was helpful to Prof. Rudolf Older infinalizing his books “Brown Book AgainstNazism” and “White Book of Pogroms inGermany” These books were published later bythe League of Nations. A ship carrying childrenwas drowned by the Germans. Prof. Older alsowas drowned along with the children.

She used to cook in the old age homes. Many ofher friends used to gather in her room every day. They consisted of workers, poets and writers, allanti-Nazis. The food she had she shared with allof them. Some people were jealous as she hadan American passport as it carried someprivileges with it. But she did not have any use ofthose privileges as she never availed them.When she approached the American Consul forextension of passport, the officer there askedher “Why don’t you go to America?” “Is there adearth of unemployed people there?” she askedher “Here I am filling my belly somehow. Whatshall I do going there?” Her passport wasextended.

Before coming to India she went to the American Consulate for extension of passport. The ladyofficer there asked her why she wants it. Shereplied “I want to go to India and get marriedthere”. The officer then told her that she willnever get her passport extended on that groundbecause American citizens are not allowed tomarry Hindus. She advised Ellen to give someother cause. Then Ellen told her that she wantsextension of visa as she wants to visit Easterncountries before settling in America. Extensionwas granted. After coming to India and getting

married, she came to live an the fourth countrywhich she could claim as her own. There was nomore need for passports and visas. Even if shelooked a foreigner, she believed India was hercountry. “I am just like you. If I am imprisoned,no consul would come to my rescue. I am notthinking of any other home for me” shedeclared. After that somebody stole her handbag containing her passport. With that she losther umbilical cord with America. Even thenAmerica considered her an American citizen tillher death.

A police officer in India approached her tellingher to get registered as a foreigner. She told him she had no papers proving that she was aforeigner. If at all she had to be considered aforeigner she would be an American and as itwas a friendly country, it would not be necessaryto get registered. The officer felt satisfied andleft. That was how she loved India. In return,what did India give her?

By December, 1944 France was free fromGerman occupation. Both were her countries inone sense. That is, for her, one native countrygot relieved from another native country. If thenative country Germany had to get freedom, ithad to be defeated in the war by another nativecountry. Then what was the meaning ofcountries and borders? Ellen had a wish thatsomeday she would have an opportunity to visitall her native countries and renew heracquaintances. It was one of her unfulfilled

ambitions. ............to be continued.

[J.L. Jawahar is a veteran Radical Humanistand Rationalist, writer and author from

Hyderabad, A.P. [email protected]]

36


Dear Friends,

Your article for the RH should be emailed at: [email protected]

or posted at: C-8, Defence Colony, Meerut, 250001, U.P.

Please send a passport size photograph and your brief resume if it is being sent for the first timeto the RH.

A note whether it has also been published elsewhere or is being sent exclusively for the RH

should also be attached with it. — Rekha Saraswat

Research Scholars' & Academicians'Section:

Astrology—Chandrahas

[Following is the English version of Prof J. L

Reddy's Purana Pralapam. Mr.

Chandrahas, Retd. Commissioner of IncomeTax has translated a major portion of Purana

Pralapam into English. The original book by

the name of Khattar Kaka was written by late

Hari Mohan Jha of Patna University and itwas received well in Hindi world. It was also

translated in Telugu by Prof Lakshmi Reddi.

Sent by N. Innaiah]

That day the astrologer was studying the almanac. Then Uncle suddenly came

there. When the astrologer saw him, he was intrepidation and began to pack up the almanacand his other belongings. Uncle accosted him,“What are you studying, my dear astrologer?”

“The newly-wed bride is still at her mother’splace. Looking for the auspicious day for her tocome here,” the astrologer said. “She can comehere whenever she wishes. Why do you take somuch trouble to fix it?” “She has to commenceher journey on an auspicious day, shouldn’tshe?” “True. She should not commence herjourney on a bad day such as when there is acyclone. Isn’t that all that’s there to it?”

“There isn’t a single good day this month,” theastrologer said.“Why not? This month has all thethirty days.” “But the time is moving in theeasterly direction, isn’t it?” “Don’t tell me thosedevious things. Is time a bull left to roam freelyin the village to say that it has gone to graze inthe open field in the east? Time always stayswhere it ought to be.” “You don’t believe inscience. Now the sun travels from the west to the east.”

“So what? What’s the bride’s mistake in that thatyou don’t permit her to come to her in-law’shome?” “What do you want me to do? There’s no

auspicious time for the next three months.”“Why?” “Look. She can’t come here in the monthof Pushya.” “Why?” “This month is notauspicious.” “What sin has Pushya monthcommitted?” “How can anyone argue with you?In Magha and Falguna months time reverses itspath. In Chaitra, moon will not be beneficial.”“God himself is against these people. That’s whythey are asking you to fix a good day. O! Master,what do you mean when you say time isreversing in Falguna and the moon is notfavourably disposed of in Chaitra?” “Then,Bhadra month (astrologically not auspicious)will arrive,” said the astrologer.

“You are the most inauspicious Bhadra, I say.Ask me instead. I’ll fix today as the auspiciousday,” Uncle said. “How’s that possible? Today isMonday. And it is prescribed that you have togive up travelling in the easterly direction onMonday,” the astrologer said. “Why? Are thereany nails in the path or what?” Uncle said. “Youspeak like an atheist. ‘Travel to the east isproscribed on Saturday and Monday.’” “Why?Tell me then how would the train from Delhi toHowrah run today? In fact, the whole earth itselfrotates from the west to the east. How?”

“Wise people travel when the celestialconstellation is beneficial to them,” theastrologer said. “If travelling in the direction ofstrength causes rain of laddus (sweet balls),then I’ll travel everyday in that direction. I traveleveryday in every direction. Where there is aproscription, nails didn’t hurt me. Nor did it rainflowers when there was no problem with theday.”

“Do you mean to say the directional problem isall humbug?” “The problem that you are talkingabout is nothing but the thorn in your eye.”“What about the problem with the particulardays? Is that also humbug?” “Yes. Why is thatthere no such problem in other countries? Weare the worst fools, aren’t we?” “If you ignorescience, what can be said? But take a look at‘Muhurta Chintamani’…” Uncle snapped at him.“Not Muhurta Chintamani’ but ‘Dhurta

37


Chintamani’. Self serving people like you havetrapped everyone in the great vicious circle ofauspicious moments. Muhurtam for every damnthing. Time for the king to perform abhishekam, for the army, horses and the elephants to march, soldier to wear the armoury, merchant forpurchase and sale, money-lender to grant loans, washerman to wash clothes, dancer to start thedance. What is this but sheer humbug? Thefarmers have been caught in the web ofmuhurtam for everything - for ploughing,seeding, transplantation and harvest.

You have a geater grip on the women’s hair.When should they tie the hair into a bun? Whenshould the fire be lit? When should they bathe?When should the children be breast-fed?”

Uncle observed the expression of surprise on my face and said, “I’m not saying this for fun. Theastrologers have attained great control over thewomen’s breast-feeding also. Even the childwho suckles is not spared by the astrologers. Ifyou don’t trust me, listen to this – ‘…’ (DaivajnaVallabha) ‘It is good to breast-feed the child onall days except Chaturthi and Tuesday.’ “Arey!What’s this madness? Why should Mangalaplanet be annoyed and cause harm if a womanfeeds her new born child on Tuesday? Whyshould it have enmity with her feeding herchild?” “Uncle, probably the planets and thestars do have an effect and that’s the reason forsuch discussion on time.”

“Arey! Time is the cause of our ruin. Time athome and outside. Time for the field. Birth time.Time for death. Time for marriage. Surely noemperor or king would have had more fuss andpomp than the emperor of time. ‘He will destroyif annoyed.’ This fear has made cowards ofpeople. Muhurth for marriage, muhurth fornuptials and muhurth for house warming. This is not all. There’s muhurth for conception too.What is this if not extreme foolishness?”

“Uncle! I’m sure you are saying this for fun. Howcould anyone consult the almanac forconceiving?” “Arey! You don’t seem to believethis! You are innocent. What do you know?

Listen to this relating to the time for conceiving – ‘…’ ‘There’s no permit for conception on shasti,ashtamai, full moon day, no moon day, chavithiand chaturdasi. There’s permit for this activityonly on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.’ Answerthis: Will the moon be eclipsed or will the skybreak up if the bride and bride groom cometogether on the pleasant full moon night? And ifthe couple do so on Sunday, will the horses ofthe Sun’s chariot be frightened or the wheel bebroken?

Why should the astrologers, like the self existentbeings, like the flies in the ointment, poke theirnoses in everything as if it is their personalmatter? Why do they interfere like the scorpionsin the affair of the couple? Why should theycome like this, uninvited?”

“Uncle, don’t you have faith in astrology?” “Arey!If astrology was true, I should have died twothousand times by now.” “How, Uncle?” “This iswhat is said in astrology- ‘Trouble is round thecorner if oil is applied on Sunday. Monday it’llenure brightness; Tuesday, death; Wednesday,money; Thursday, penury and Saturday,comfort. In these, only the astrologer should tellwhat the relationship between the cause and the effect is. For the last fifty years I have beenapplying oil everyday. In these years, there musthave been more than two thousand five hundred Tuesdays. Yet I’m alive. Now tell me. Do you want me to believe in astrology?”

“Uncle! Only an astrologer can give a reply tothis.” “What would he say? He’ll fix you tightly inhis net. Look at the hubbub created inRuthuprakaran, where at one place, it is said –‘…’ ‘If a woman menstruates on Sunday, she willbecome a widow.’ “At another place, it is said –‘…’ ‘If if a woman menstruates on Panchami, shewould never be a widow.’ “Now I’ll ask theastrologer this. What will happen to the womanwho menstruates on panchami Sunday?”

The astrologer remained mum. Then Unclecontinued. “At one place it is said – ‘…’ ‘If awoman attains puberty in Magha month, shewould give birth to children.’ “At another place,

38


it’s like this- ‘…’ ‘If a woman attains puberty inKrithika star, she would be childless.’ “Now askthe astrologer whether she would give birth toan impotent person if she attains puberty inMagha month and Krithika star?” Noticing thatthe astrologer was in no position to reply, Unclesaid, “See this funny thing. It’s said at one place-‘…’ ‘If puberty is attained in Dhanu rasi, she willbe woman of virtue.’ “At another place – ‘…’ ‘Ifpuberty is attained on Saturday, she will be aprostitute.’ “Now you decide this yourself. Whatwould happen if puberty is attained on Saturdayin Dhanu rasi?

“Arey! What all should I have to recount? Somuch of deceit, fraud, trickery, cunningness. If Idescribe everything, it’ll be a big purana. Yet,people here go on following the astrologer.”

As Uncle was speaking, Buddhinath Choudharycame running and said, “O! Astrologer master!Just now a boy is born in my home. That’s whyI’ve come rushing to you. Please cast hishoroscope and advise me.” “How long ago wasthe child born?” asked the astrologer. “Tenminutes ago,” Badrinath replied. The astrologerconsulted the almanac and started. He shouted,“My goodness!” Uncle asked, “What’s the matter? Have you been bitten by a hornet or what?”

The astrologer put his hand on his head andsaid, “No. If it were that I wouldn’t have beenbothered. But I see wholesale destruction.”Buddhinath Choudhry’s face turned pale. Heshivered and said, “Please tell me at once,master. What’s there in the horoscope?” “What’sthere in the horoscope to say? Mud and dust. His birth star is moola first padam and in gandayoga. He’ll be the cause of his father’s death.”

Buddhinath Choudhry felt as though he wasstruck by thunder. His eyes brimmed with tears.The astrologer gravely said, “This child has been born to cause trouble to you. There are only twooptions. Cast away the child. Or else, send thechild and his mother to his grandfather’s house.You can’t see his face for eight years. And fromnow on you have to donate cows, gold, performnavagraha puja, et al.”

Uncle couldn’t take it any more. “Whoever haswritten this is a big scoundrel, a conceited fellowand a cheat. You are the evil planets in reality. Inthe name of stars, you make good of your ownstar. Through your needless conspiracy, why doyou torture the poor man?” “Does it mean thatyou don’t believe in horoscope?” the astrologerasked.

“As far as I know, there’s one benefit out of thehoroscope. Your child will get ear rings. In myview horoscope is nothing but trickery.Thousands of children would have been born atthis time. Will their destiny and life be the samebecause of that? Twins will be born at the sametime. One will survive and the other won’t. Thehoroscope of both must be the same. Then whyare the results are so contrasting?”

The astrologer was somewhat confused andsaid, “Bhrigu and Parasara and others havedilated so much on the horoscopes. Do youimply that that was all humbug (mithya, amirage)?” “For thousands of years, you havebeen in this cunning business, peddling thesenames, aren’t you? Whatever occurs to you,make a sloka and attribute it to Parasara.

O! Man. I have also read books on astrology.Only rogues could have written those things.Putting blinkers on the eyes of thehouseholders, they have said obscene thingsabout their women too.”

The astrologer started, “Where? For example?”“Not one or two. Many. Look at this – ‘…’“Looking at the horoscope of the house owner,they (astrologers) would doubtless know that the man’s wife would be stout, like a sack of puffedrice.

I was surprised. Uncle noticed this and said,“Don’t gape at me like this. This is nothing. Listen further – ‘…’ ‘The wife of the person whohas this yoga doubtless would become aprostitute or would satisfy the desire of manypersons.’” “Uncle! Married life would be ruinedcompletely because of such words, wouldn’t it?”I asked. Uncle said, “The persons who make the

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sloka have no worry. Hear this – ‘…’ ‘If the child’shoroscope has this yoga, the child without doubt is a bastard.’” I said, “This sloka can cut thethroat of a woman.” Such ruffians in this countryare called the ocean of learning of astrology.”“You have mentioned so many things. Are theyall in the treatises on astrology?” I asked. “Whatdo you mean? I’ve quoted from the texts. Theastrologer is right in front of you. Ask him if allthese are there in the texts or not? And what textis it? ‘Parasara horasarah’.”

The astrologer scratched his head and said,“True. These are there in the text. ‘Parasarahorasarah’ is a standard text on astrology. Butwhy do you call it untrue?” “Not only untrue butobscene. The kind of abuses written in that can’tbe heard anywhere except in brothel houses.Look at this – ‘If a person has the influence ofthis planet, he would covet other women. Hiswife will become a prostitute. His mother will bea bitch.’ “Such abuses about wife and mother will be heard only in cultureless families. Is this alanguage of the scholars?”

“Uncle! I never knew that the texts on astrologywould contain such words.” “You don’t knowbecause you never read astrology. You wouldknow if you read ‘Brihajjatakam’ and ‘Parasarahorasarah’.”

The astrologer couldn’t contain himself anymore. “Where’s the evidence to say that all this is false?” he asked, as if he was throwing achallenge. Uncle replied: “I’m the evidence. Myhoroscope predicted that I’d be a king. Forgetkingdom. I don’t even have four acres of land.Instead of rajayoga, everyday I’m forced topractise hatayoga.

Then about jaraja yoga. Apply some logic. Doesanyone get into adultery after consulting thealmanac? Thereafter, would the child come ofthe womb after checking the lagna? Forgetabout others. You can’t detect even your ownchild’s jaraja yoga.

Keeping in view people like you, it has been said– ‘…’ ‘You would be watching the time of union of

the moon with Visakha but wouldn’t know ofyour wife’s activities, who is rollicking in theembrace of many people.’ “That being the case,how could you catch that someone is a bastard?”

The astrologer was angry. “What you have said is abusive. Do you mean to say that the wife of anastrologer would be a prostitute?” Uncle smiledand said, “The feminine gender for ganaka(astrologer) is ganika (prostitute). Isn’t that so?Besides, ganaka also more or less does thesame work as ganika. Look at how well it hasbeen explained – ‘…’ “Ganaka and ganika areequal. The Creator intended both to earn money by enticing people through their five parts of thebody. Ganaka opens the almanac and shows tothe people. And Ganika does the same butphysically’”

The astrologer was as good as dead. Yet, heproudly said, “Whatever has been mentioned inthe science of astrology is proven and true.Bhrigu and Parasara had vision of the past,present and future.”

“Do you have faith in astrology?” askedUncle.“Of course,” replied the astrologer. “Thenlet me look at your horoscope.” The astrologerhesitantly picked up the horoscope and handedit over to Uncle.

Uncle examined the horoscope and said, “Doyou want me to tell you the result? You’ll not runaway, would you?” “Why would I run away?” saidthe astrologer. “Then hear this. Parasara sayslike this – ‘If Sukra enters planet Mangala or isseen in conjunction with Mangala, the personwill have the pleasure of bhaga kiss.’

“Then look at where Sukra is in your chart. Tellme if the result applies to you or not. Do youwant me to explain the meaning of this in crudelanguage to everyone?” The moment he heardthis, the astrologer packed his books and left the place in a huff.

Uncle kept calling him from behind. “O! Master,o astrologer! Take at least some nut powder andgo.”

But why would the astrologer return?

40


Book Review Section:

A Look at What We Are —Dipavali Sen[Nilima Jha, Yahin To Hun Main (Hindi),illustrations by Suvidha Mistry, published byVrishti Books Café, Noida, 2014, paperback,pp 102, price Rs 135]

This is a collection of ten short storiesfocused on young readers, especially

girls. But, after a reading, I feel that adults toowill benefit from this most humanist documentwith its radical insights. As its title says, the bookprovides an honest look at what humans beingsare, individually and in the wider social context.

Nilima Jha is a dedicated writer for children withseveral publications. She is a prominentmember of the Association of Writers andIllustrators (AWIC) and an enthusiast of itsstory-telling project Katha-vachan. Thiscollection of stories displays her acuteobservation of human nature, her economy ofwords and her awareness of environmental,economic and social issues. ‘Aparajita Devi’, thefirst story, centers round a disfigured anddisagreeable music teacher who is unduly harshupon a pupil named Prohibit is from Prachi’spoint of view that the story is told. She learnsthrough circumstances that Aparajita Devi,beneath her rough exterior, is vulnerable andlonely, deserted by her husband for herpock-marked face soon after giving birth to herbaby – who is none other than Prachi.Misunderstandings are cleared. Young Prachiunderstands that Aparajita Devi, instead ofdisliking Prachi (as she had inferred from herharshness), loves her so much that she hastaken up her job as a music teacher in thelocality only to be near her, yet never disclosedthe truth to her for fear of rejection. In the nextstory, the theme is difficult but the author hastreated it sensitively without making it a mushymelodrama. Despite a speech handicap, Anjali is a carefree fourteen-year-old when a visitorsuddenly drops a bombshell: Anjali is an

adopted child, her parentage unknown as shewas found forsaken at a church threshold. Anjalifeels her world shattering all around her. Shefeels alienated from the family she had till nowknown as her own. She feels unloved and turnsunloving. Especially as she cannot express herfeelings in spoken words, they pile up within heras a brick wall against her family. Then a baby isfound in the neighbourhood, abandoned. Anjalifinds love welling up within her and realizes thatthis is what her adoptive family must have felt on seeing her fourteen years ago.The wall ofresentment crumbles and Anjali is once againunited with her family. She utters no words butkisses her mother again and again. The nextstory takes us to sand dunes and coal mines ofcentral India, with pits occasionally emittingnoxious gases. Radhiya, the orphaned daughterof a miner, has lost her father to those gasemissions and is scared to let her pet bird beused to test for gas. But she realizes how crucialsuch a test is for saving coal miners and allows it. With this gesture comes liberation of herthoughts and spirits. Radhiya set her pet Bulbulfree. Lal Sari Wali (The Woman in Red) depictsthe process of adjustment between Sumi andher stepmother, Sumi and her kid brother Pavan react differently to the new entrant into thefamily, the woman who drapes herself in red and is their father’s new wife. Pavan carries nobaggage and soon accepts her as Mummy. ButSumi resents her and her Bua (her father’ssister) mischievously encourages her inregarding the stepmother as an intruder, a rivalclaimant to her father’s affection. This is acommon scenario witnessed by many of usdirectly or indirectly. Here Sumi’s gradualacceptance of her stepmother is handled withsubtlety and grace. The next story takes us to the forested slopes of northeastern India of Jhum(shifting, slash-and-burn) cultivation. Jhum hastraditionally involved clearing of forests on theslopes of hills. This felling of trees has loosenedthe earth on the slopes of hills and precipitatedlandslides. Tribal kid Divang finds how terrifying

41


this can be. Uncle Boken urges the tribalcommunity to give up their traditionaloccupation of Jhum cultivation. But there is noconsensus. Divang and his friend Khumji feelconfused till Uncle Boken himself suggests away out of the dilemma: plant a sapling for everytree that is cut down. The story provides aglimpse into tribal community meets feasts andfestivals as impacted by ecological issues.

The next one takes up a woman’s issue. Adyahas not only been married off early but widowedas well. The fifteen-year-old has been withdrawnfrom school but has other interests and talentssuch as in art. However her parents are mostconcerned about her in-laws refusing to take her into their household. What use is a widoweddaughter-in-law, they say. Perhaps there is achance that they will relent, says Adya’s family, ifAdya falls at the feet of her father-in-law. No, Ishall not do that, says the spirited Adya. It sohappens that her drawings catch the eye ofNiranjana Devi, an elderly widow well-known forher artwork of the Madhubani style. She offers to take Adya in as a trainee, Adya gets a chance toprove her own essential worth and lead a life ofself-respect and economic independence.Kunti, the next story, is not about themythological mother-figure but a contemporarygirl-child who earns a living by carrying theshopping of fine ladies on her head. She standswith her basket on the footpath beside a busymarket place and pleads the ‘mem sahibs’ to use her services. She follows them around, hopingfor a chance. But as soon as an item is lost, or apurse misplaced, she becomes the primesuspect. Then when the matter is cleared up and her innocence is established, the ‘mem sahibs’casually offer her the compensation of charity.But Kunti has her pride and says: ‘As I am not athief, so I am not a beggar.’ Richa is rathercasual about everything and generally always ina rush. Whenever her mother rebukes her aboutcrumpled bed-sheets and other such instancesof untidiness, she answers back: `whatdifference does it make?’ But this should not

lead us to misjudge the teenagers of today. They are not callous or uncaring. Within, they havereserves of strength and, yes, social concern.Richa risks her life to save that of an unknownyouth being beaten up unjustly by the police in aroad riot. Later, the youth’s grateful father says:But you could have lost your life in saving myson!’ Richa answers in her casual way: Whatdifference does it make?’ The next story is, onthe surface, a detective one. The thief useshypnotism to make young Binu hand over herchain and later, the key to the household safe.And the thief is not the member of the workingclass upon which suspicion had, as usual, fallen.It is not the proud and outspoken maid but thenew neighbour whom Binu addresses as ‘aunty’and whose sari she admires. Under the garb ofan unusual detective story is a reminder of social hypocrisy. The last story is a rendering of thefamous incident of a mere Bhikshuni takingupon herself, upon Buddha’s appeal, the task offamine relief in Shravastipur. She ventureswhere rich merchants hesitate. For they think interms of individual strength whereas theBhikshuni thinks of building up a social fundthrough the contributions of rich and poor alike.The author has created the atmosphere of thosetimes through various details of those times(e.g., the dress - the uttariya, the mukut, thetilak, and the Mandar flowers on one’s hair). Thestory reminded me of Rabindranath Tagore’sfamous poem ‘Nagarlakshmi’ which is based onthe same incident. Thus Nilima Jha’s assortment has variety, ranging from contemporary times to the past, central to north-east India, genderissues, personal issues, socio-economic andecological issues. There is one critical commentthat I must make, though. There should havebeen more of these stories. Why did the bookhave to end with only ten?

[Dipavali Sen, from DSE & GIPE (Pune), VisvaBharati University, Santiniketan teaches at SriGGSCC, Delhi University. She is a prolific writerand has written creative pieces and articles both

in English and Bengali. [email protected]]

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