Founding Editor: Daya Varma (1929-2015)
Editors: Vinod Mubayi (New York) and Raza Mir (New Jersey).
Editorial Board: Ram Puniyani and Irfan Engineer (Mumbai); Pervez Hoodbhoy (Islamabad); Dolores Chew (Montreal); Vamsi Vakulabharanam (Amherst); Ajay Bhardwaj (Vancouver).
Circulation/website: Feroz Mehdi (On behalf of Alternatives, Montreal).
PAKISTAN: ORGAN DONATION LAW
Countries of the South have become a haven for rich patients of the north and south; organs are bought from the poor to be inserted into the rich. This makes the poor of India and Pakistan more vulnerable to exploitation because technical facilities and expertise for organ transplant exist there. Many attempts have been made to remedy the situation. Will the new Law in Pakistan prove adequate in safeguarding the poor from being exploited?
COMMENT ON PAKISTANI ORGAN DONATION LAW
Amalorpavanathan Joseph
It seems that the Pakistani law is largely based on the Indian Model. The fear is that the infirmities of the Indian model may get reflected in the Pakistan Act too.
SRI LANKA: THOUSANDS OF TAMILS STILL IN DETENTION CAMPS
Subash Somachandran & Kamal Rasenthiran
Tens of thousands of Tamil civilians, who fled the fighting in the final days of the military’s offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), remain in squalid detention camps in northern Sri Lanka. The official total is 106,000, with around 80,000 people still in the Manik Farm camps near the town of Vavuniya.
BANGLADESH: WHOSE EKUSHEY, WHOSE BLOOD?
Naeem Mohaiemen
Land grab is more than corporate deal; it is an act of powerful against powerless. Force substitutes for compensation in Bangladesh.
NEPAL: MAOIST CC FAILS TO PICK NEW MEMBERS
The central committee (CC) meeting of the main opposition party Unified CPN (Maoist) failed to take decision on proposed expansion of the party’s CC, politburo and standing committee (SC) on Tuesday as well.
ANNOUNCEMENT: CELEBRATING DIVERSITY
Anhad is planning to organize a cultural program- ‘Celebrating Diversity’ in Mumbai on March 6, 2010 at the St Andrews College Auditorium, Bandra.
INTERNATIONAL: ISRAEL
Editors, INSAF Bulletin
From time to time, INSAF Bulletin carries articles of political significance dealing with issues in other parts of the world besides South Asia.
ISRAEL: NOT A JEWISH STATE, A ZIONIST STATE [Extracts]
Akiva Orr
The Zionist movement and its State—ISRAEL, do not represent the Jewish people. They never did. They represent a particular trend within the Jewish people, namely—the nationalist trend. To find out whether Israel is a Jewish State or a Zionist State one need only ask any religious Orthodox Jew anywhere. His answer will be unambiguous: a Jewish State must be ruled by Jewish religious law—“Halakha.” Israel is not ruled by “Halakha” laws, but by secular laws. Therefore Israel is not a Jewish State. The fact that it provides refuge to Jews does not make it a Jewish State. Zionism and Judaism are different entities. They have contradictory qualities.
OBITUARY: NIHAR MUKHERJEE (1920-2010)
Gopal Kundu
Comrade Nihar Mukherjee, General Secretary, SUCI (Socialist Unity Center of India)-Communist, a great revolutionary, freedom fighter and comrade-in-arms of Comrade Shibdas Ghosh, Founder General Secretary of the Party, after prolonged illness, breathed his last on 18 February, 2010 at 11 p.m. at the Calcutta Heart Clinic & Hospital. He was suffering from, among other serious ailments, sepsis with multi-organ failure, COPD and Parkinsonism. Comrade Mukherjee was 90.
JYOTI BASU (8 JULY 1914 – 17 JANUARY 2010): A COMMUNIST OF AND FOR THE NEW ERA
Vinod Mubayi and Daya Varma
Jyoti Basu, the most respected leader of the communists in India, passed away recently.
JYOTI BASU: MASTER OF THE POLITICS OF FEASIBILITY
Ashok Mitra
[A younger comrade, pays homage to Jyoti Basu, a leader who died with his faith in the historical process unimpaired.]
Farewell to a comrade by one of the highly respected communists, Ashok Mitra, who had been associated with Jyoti Basu’s party for a long time.
JYOTI BASU: CASKET OF POWER, CASCADE OF PEOPLE
Unceasing flow to pay homage, followed by crack of rifles: The last journey of Jyoti Basu
Manini Chatterjee
A moving account of the final farewell to a great leader of India.
A TRIBUTE TO JYOTI BASU
Javed Akhtar is the foremost lyricist of India and Jagjit Singh is an accomplished musician. Listen to their tribute to Jyoti Basu…
INDIA: WHY ARE SOME LEADERS PLAYING GAMES WITH MUSLIMS?
Kaleem Kawaja
Sixty years after independence one of the ongoing tragedies of the Muslims of India is that some of their own leaders, activists and intelligentsia are continuing to play games with them. It is well known that in today’s Indian Muslim community the record of building institutions, spreading education, developing socioeconomic programs to help the impoverished community climb out of its backwardness is very dismal.
PAKISTAN-INDIA: ANGER SANS REASON
I.A. Rehman
(Photo by Akhtar Soomro of Reuters of protesters burning an effigy of Indian Premier League (IPL) Chairman Lalit Modi in Karachi, not reproduced)
One wonders as to how long it will take India and Pakistan to start regretting their part in the affair of the so-called Indian Premier League’s snub to Pakistani cricketers, for neither party can claim to have reason on its side.
SRI LANKA: THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2010 IN SRI LANKA AND THE PEOPLE
(Statement of the Ceylon Mercantile Industrial and General Workers Union-CMU: From The Sunday Island, January 17, 2010) Abridged
Abolition of Executive Presidency has been a longtime demand in Sri Lanka. The current President Rajapakse has called for new elections without dealing with this matter and without addressing the national question of Tamils and Muslims of his country. [As of January 28, the news is that Mahinda Rajapakse has been re-elected but, as happened in Zimbabwe, there is serious dispute and army is on alert].
BANGLADESH: RELIGION AND POLITICS
Huma Yusuf
Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has affirmed a ban on religion-based parties. While this could be in line with the founding principles of the country, it is feared that this might encourage illegal extremist fundamentalist activities as happened in Pakistan.
AFGHANISTAN: NEW WAVE OF WARLORDS BEDEVILS U.S.
(Submitted by Muhammad Anwar Pasha)
How a person one would never think of entering extremist politics has emerged as the prominent leader of Afghan resistance following the same method as the Taliban.
PAKISTAN: FIRST INTERNATIONAL WORKERS/PEASANTS CONFERENCE
Kiran Omar
Hopeful signs of unity among progressive formations in Pakistan.
NEPAL: NEPAL’S MAJOR PARTIES TO DECLARE HIGH-LEVEL POLITICAL MECHANISM
In what appeared to a major political breakthrough, the big three parties – Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) [CPN-Maoist), Nepali Congress (NC) and Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) [CPN-UML]- announced the much talked about High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM).
THE NEW U.S. COUNTERINSURGENCY STARTEGY IN AFGHANISTAN; THE ROUTE TO SUCCESS OR ALICE IN WONDERLAND?
Sam Noumoff*
Confronted, as it was with the post invasion Iraq insurgency, which the U.S. and its accomplices in the “Coalition of the Willing” were utterly unprepared for, the U.S. military set out to develop a new strategic doctrine of counterinsurgency designed to meet the challenge. The architect of this new approach was General David Petraeus and the result was US Army Field Manual 3-24. As the approach has become the guiding force behind the current NATO strategy in Afghanistan it warrants very careful analysis.
IS AL QAEDA A CONSPIRACY AGAINST MUSLIMS ?
Kaleem Kawaja
Al Qaeda approach goes against the core principles of Islam and the 1400 year old ethos of the Muslim Ummah. The article analyzes how do five million ordinary Muslims of America react to it and how much harm can Al Qaeda inflict on Muslims.
WEARING BURQA WILL NOW BE A CRIME?
Asghar Ali Engineer
Burqa is the choice of the woman and/or the family. Either way, the state has no business legislating the use of a particular garment.
OBITUARY: HOWARD ZINN (1922-2010)
Historian who challenged the status quo
Mark Feeney
Howard Zinn, the Boston University historian and political activist who was an early opponent of US involvement in Vietnam and a leading faculty critic of Boston University president John Silber, died of a heart attack today in Santa Monica, California, where he was traveling, his family said. He was 87.
NEW YEARS GREETINGS!
SHOULD ADIVASIS CONTINUE TO LIVE IN FORESTS?
Daya Varma and Vinod Mubayi
All Indians were Adivasis living in jungles at some time in history; approximately 7 percent still do. Should not the government take appropriate steps to rehabilitate them before proceeding to exploit the mineral wealth of the forests, which should be treated as national property?
L.K.ADVANI AND THE MYTHOLOGY OF “SADNESS”: AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT
Badri Raina
An eye-witness report by Journalist Ruchira Gupta about who did what including LK Advani during the demolition of the Babri does not appear in the Liberhan Report; yet what it reveals about senior leaders of the Bhartiya Janata Party should be an eye-opener.
LISTEN TO THE MUSLIM WOMAN’S VOICE
Zakia Soman
The endless plight of the Muslims of India since 1947 is creating a new category of Dalits.
IS THE CHECK IN THE MAIL? The confessions of a groveling Pakistani native orientalist
Pervez Hoodbhoy
Pervez Hoodbhoy is a fearless opponent of the Jihadi culture in Pakistan; and yet, maybe because of it, he is being maligned.
IN THE NAME OF RELIGION
Ghazi Salahuddin
This insane surge in terror bombings early this week is bound to prey on our minds. Yes, the instinctive response is likely to be that of utter dejection. Still, the situation calls for some soul-searching. This means we need to seriously examine our thoughts and feelings in the context of what is happening.
THE IMPACT OF WAR ON GLOBAL WARMING
Claudia Saba
The Copenhagen parley is ignoring the impact of wars on global warming. How serious it is?
NEPAL: Crisis Continues
Vinod Mubayi and Daya Varma
The Nepal crisis continues. Recent moves indicate a more active and larger role for the military in the politics of the country.
FRIENDS LIKE THESE
CK Lal
With our friends homing in on security, Nepali democracy really will have to be home-grown.
NEPAL: UN HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIAL VOICES CONCERN ABOUT PROMOTION OF ARMY OFFICER
Richard Bennett of the human rights office (OHCHR) in Nepal (From UN News Center]
25 December 2009 – A top United Nations official in Nepal today expressed serious reservations over the controversial promotion of a military General with ties to breaches of human rights to be second- in-command in Nepal’s army.
GETTING OUT OF THE QUAGMIRE
Sukhdev Shah
As things have evolved over the past three years, Nepal has become a fertile ground for a military takeover of the government, independently or under the shadow of a constitutional authority. Such a possibility has been talked about in a limited circle but been forced open by a delegation of some Nepali Congress (NC) leaders who recently urged President Ram Baran Yadav to consider imposing President’s Rule to help restore peace and enable the Constituent Assembly (CA) to complete writing the constitution before the expiry of deadline in five months.
INDIAN MAOISTS ON THE VERGE OF VICTORY – WHO ARE THEY DEFEATING?
Daya Varma
The Adivasis.are neither the poorest of the poor of India nor a significant fraction of the country’s rural poor. By focusing on the Adivasis, the Maoists have garnered widespread support among the liberal left, the social activists and the ex-Naxalites. The sum total of all this does not threaten the Indian state but rather the Indian communist movement.
WHAT IS AT STAKE IN NEPAL?
Daya Varma
Recent protests on the streets of Nepal led by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), ostensibly demanding civilian supremacy are in essence intended to ensure the integration of the cadres of the Peoples Liberation Army into the main Armed Forces of Nepal.
CITIES UNDER SIEGE – REVIVAL OF TERRORIST ATTACKS IN PAKISTAN
Kiran Omar
The Pakistan military’s campaign against the Taliban gave people a much needed respite. However, the Taliban are still considered by a substantial section of the population as fighters against foreign interference. The US drone attacks generate public anger against the US and the Pakistani civilian regime. The government’s inability to win public support has made Pakistan a nation of nebulous and uncertain identity.
PAKISTAN MUST ACCEPT INDIA’S OFFER OF PEACE
I.A. Rehman
Pakistan must give a positive response to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s offer of peace in the larger interest of winning the battle for democracy, tolerance and social justice as well as against terrorism in both countries.
THE SAUDI-ISATION OF PAKISTAN
Pervez Hoodbhoy
Contrary to the common belief in Pakistan that Islamic radicalism is only a regional problem and madrassas are the sole source of breeding jihadis, extremism is being bred at a ferocious rate in public and private schools, which may eventually lead to Pakistan’s demise as a nation state.
WILL THE MINDSET FROM THE PAST CHANGE?
Amit Bhaduri & Romila Thapar
Two eminent academics of India trace the place of Adivasis from ancient times to the present violent conflict involving the Adivasis, Maoists and the government and suggest dialog amongst the three parties as a way out of the present impasse.
INVADING THE SECULAR SPACE
Ram Puniyani
Gurus and Babas (god men) are being welcomed by state institutions in India. The living god Satya Sai Baba of Puthaparthi was recently invited by the Maharashtra Chief Minister designate, Ashok Chavan. This is in total violation of the secular constitution of the country, the consequences of which are grave for the country.
NEPAL: BHATTARAI ASSURES MAOISTS WILL NOT TAKE UP ARMS AGAIN
The Vice-Chairman of the United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Dr. Baburam Bhattarai recently told editors of major media outlets that resumption of armed struggle will only invite foreign intervention and make Nepal another Afghanistan.
SRI LANKA: AUTHORITARIANISM AND THE CONSTITUTION
Shanie / Notebook Of A Nobody
The authoritarianism in Sri Lanka is of recent origin. Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga was the only President with the vision and the courage to abolish the Executive Presidency. Constitutional reforms are needed as was done in India when Dr B R Ambedkar headed the drafting of the Constitution.
LIFE IS CHEAP IN BANGLADESH
Rater Zonaki
The state of emergency and the spate of political persecution ended after the elections in 2008 and yet the Directorate General of the Forces Intelligence, responsible for killing and torture of that period has the clout to threaten journalists against exposure of their sordid past.
DOUSING THE REICHSTAG FIRE
Jawed Naqvi
Poet and wit Asraar ul Haq Majaaz returned home one night to find policemen crawling all over his ancestral house in Lucknow. Family members looked distraught. Cupboards and lofts had been ransacked. A senior police officer, torch in hand, was trying to figure out who might have done it.
Majaaz thoroughly surveyed the situation from all possible angles that a tipsy man could. Then he buttoned his crumpled sherwani, stroked the ringlets in his hair thoughtfully, and proclaimed with an air of finality: ‘Ye to kisi chor ki harkat maaloom hoti hai.’ (This looks like the work of a thief!)
ASSOCIATION OF INDIAN MUSLIMS OF AMERICA HAILS LIEBERHAN REPORT
The Association of Indian Muslims of America (Silver Spring, MD, USA) thanks and congratulates Justice Lieberhan for a very fair and just enquiry and report on the demolition of the Babri mosque in 1992. We admire his courage in listing 68 individuals as directly responsible for this crime against the nation. Indeed some of them are very powerful people.
FIRST ANNIVERSARY IF THE TERRORIST ATTACK IN MUMBAI
The terrorist attack last November in Mumbai that left 163 people dead has evoked different kind of responses from within India and Pakistan as well as abroad. Some have compared it with 9/11 demanding US-type retaliation. Some have been sane asking for restraint. Some are simply shocked. Like the anniversary of the Babri Mosque demolition, the anniversary of the Mumbai terrorist attack has attracted numerous commentaries. Below is one from a Pakistani national living in the US whose emotional link with Mumbai is through daily stories narrated by her parents in Karachi.
BOOK REVIEW
FEMINISM IN ISLAM: SECULAR AND RELIGIOUS CONVERGENCES
by
Margot Badran
(Oneworld Publications, Oxford, 2009, pp.349)
Reviewed by: Yoginder Sikand
OBITUARY: MOHAMMAD BAQIR NAQVI (1928 -2009)
Tapan Kumar Bose
Mohammad Baqir Naqvi, a senior journalist, peace and human rights activist, died at a hospital in Karachi on November 7, 2009, Saturday afternoon. He was 81. He left behind his wife, two sons and a daughter.
OPERATION GREEN HUNT- INDIAN STATE AND MAOISTS: A DISCUSSION
INSAF Bulletin Editors
Operation Green Hunt is the name mentioned in the media to describe the forthcoming measures announced by the Central and State governments to suppress the armed groups belonging to CPI (Maoist) in the forested tribal belt stretching across the states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra, Bihar, West Bengal, and Maharashtra. A section of left intellectuals published a letter to the Indian Prime Minister asking the government to “negotiate” with the Maoists instead of conducting armed actions against them. This call was supported by activist public figures such as the writer Arundhati Roy and also by well-known intellectuals like Prof. Noam Chomsky.
THE ROOTS OF TERRORISM
I.A. Rehman
After a long lapse, Pakistan has waged a decisive war against Jihadi zealots. The author argues that it is life and death struggle for Pakistan. Notwithstanding the successes of Pakistani army in Swat valley and parts of Waziristan, a decisive victory has yet to be won.
COMMUNAL RECIPE
K.N. Panikkar
The turmoil within the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is out of proportion to its electoral setback in the last parliamentary elections. What then is the reason for extraordinary steps being taken by phantom leadership? Professor Panikkar takes a historical look at various steps taken by BJP since its founding and concludes that BJP might be gearing up to becoming the champion of Hindutva fascism rather than accommodating the less committed leaders and members in its ranks. In short, BJP is to be free and frank instrument of implementing RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh) agenda.
ISLAM AND SOCIAL REFORMS
Asghar Ali Engineer
There have been repeated attempts at social reform within Islam and at each juncture traditional Ulama have opposed any reform which naturally threatens their hold on the community. The author, one of the most prominent scholars of Islam and protagonist of radical reforms within Islamic society, exposes the need for reform and challenges practices followed by traditional custodians of Islam.
IS IT A CRIME TO BE BORN A MUSLIM IN INDIA?
Ram Puniyani
The rising tide of communal violence from the decade of 1980 has consolidated the communal politics, politics in the name of religion. The party riding on the chariot of religious nationalism became the second largest party and tasted power at center for six long years and is now entrenched in a few states and knocking at the door of power in a few other states. The hope that its recent defeat in Lok Sabha elections will reduce the impact of communal politics in society or will ensure that all communities can breathe the air of civil rights and equal citizenship rights with ease, seems to be like distant drums!
RASHTRIYA SWAYAMSEWAK SANGH (RSS) AND MINORITIES
Ram Puniyani
The current supreme leader of RSS, Mohan Bhagwat contends that all Indian Muslims and Christians are converts from Hinduism, they should identify their interest in revivalism and strengthening of Hinduism. He conveniently forgets to add that since all Hindus were pagans at one time, they should undo Hinduism. Here the author discusses the implications of this new strategy of RSS.
THE NATIONAL MEET ON THE STATUS OF MUSLIMS IN CONTEMPORARY INDIA
(Released by Shabnam Hashmi on behalf of ANHAD and circulated by Harsh Kapoor)
The successful National gathering concludes that Muslims in contemporary India feel themselves to be second class citizens. The Summary makes meaningful and workable recommendations.
BLAST IN GOA
Ram Puniyani
Former Prime Minister Vajpayee once said that all Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims. His followers are proving him wrong as the bomb blast in Goa reveals.
THE ROAD AHEAD FOR INDIA AND PAKISTAN
Siddharth Varadarajan
In recent years many governments including India and Pakistan trained terrorists as instruments of their hidden plans but they eventually paid the price themselves. Here is how it has worked, explains noted journalist Varadarajan.
BROTHERS (also, sisters, ed.) IN ARMS?
Anand Swaroop Verma
Whether or not Nepalese Maoists apply Marxism in a creative way can be a matter of opinion but what is obvious is that there are fundamental differences in the thinking and practice of Nepalese and Indian Maoists. The author who had followed Nepalese revolution since its beginning explains why and how are two parties carrying the qualifying word Maoists differ; ‘also sisters’ in the title has been added by us.
THE GEO-POLITICS OF THE SRI LANKAN CIVIL WAR
Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya
Contrary to popular perception that the US and India must have helped Sri Lankan government defeat LTTE, this article provides evidence to the contrary. It argues that Sri Lanka army was assisted by Russia, China and Iran while the US and India were either neutral or favourable to the plight of Tamils.
VENKATRAMAN RAMAKRISHNAN AWARDED 2009 NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY
Daya Varma and Vinod Mubayi
INSAF Bulletin hails the award of 2009 Chemistry Nobel Prize to India-born Ramakrishnan and commends him for his sympathies to Gujarat Muslims.
VENKATRAMAN RAMAKRISHNAN’S CONCERN FOR GUJARAT MUSLIMS
Sachin Sharma & Prashant Rupera
Vadodara: Venkatraman Ramakrishnan left Vadodara almost four decades ago. But, it’s a city he could never forget. From helping girls of the minority community affected in the 2002 riots to lecturing at the MS University, where he studied as an undergraduate, Venky has kept the links alive. He even inquires about the old servant at his house whenever he calls friends here.
DEMANDING ENQUIRY INTO BATLA HOUSE ‘ENCOUNTER’
Far too often the police in India arrests, tortures and even kills innocent citizens and pleads that all this happened during an encounter. The Batla House ‘Encounter’ which happened one year ago in Jamia University, New Delhi, is one example of atrocity against innocent Muslims.
THE POPULATION MYTH
George Monbiot
Nearly 200 years ago, a British clergy, Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834) conjectured that population grows geometrically while means of sustenance grow arithmetically; this implied that sooner than later there would be more people than there would be food to feed them. Both aspects of this conjecture have been proven wrong and yet the ghost of Malthus is invoked from time to time, invariably against the demography of developing countries. It has gone beyond sustenance. Now it is environmental disaster supposedly being caused by the growing population in developing countries. This article by Monbiot exposes the fallacy that the over population is the cause of the environmental problem.
“WAR ON TERROR”? NO. WAR IS TERROR
Jooneed Khan
Truth and Treason, the latest play by Rahul Varma, takes a so-called « mistake of war » in official and media parlance – a Canadian girl is shot by a US soldier at a check-point in Baghdad – and turns it into a tight and powerful reconstruction of the “mistake” that has been the “War on Iraq” itself. Ultimately, it suggests, all wars are mistakes.
CONFLICTS EXACT HIGH PRICE FROM SOUTH ASIAN ECONOMIES
Amin Ahmed
ISLAMABAD: South Asia suffers economically and socially because of conflicts between countries and within them, says a report by World Bank economists.
OBITUARY: K. BALAGOPAL (1957-2009)
Gilbert Sebastian
This condolence note for K. Balagopal, the eminent human rights activist expired at 57 from a cardiac arrest on 8 October 2009, is motivated by the feeling that the political man in Balagopal is often given a short shrift.
MAHARAJ KAUL ((1940-2009): SOFT AS A LOTUS, HARD AS A ROCK
Ved Prakash Vatuk
On September 6, 2009 I got a call in the evening from my dearest friend Maharaj Kaul. He apologized to me for not responding to my phone messages left during that week. Finally he said, “I did not want to tell that I have been diagnosed with a liver cancer. I did not want to tell anyone and worry him/her. But now the time has come to transfer the responsibilities of running our organization India Relief and Education Fund. So I have to tell a few friends.”
OBITUARY: IBN-UL HASAN BASRU! (1943-2009)
Comrade Ibn-ul Hasan Basru, Central Committee member of the CPI(ML) and one of the leading lights of our party in Jharkhand. Comrade Basru, died of gall bladder cancer on 29 September 09 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.
DILEMMAS OF DEFEAT: WHITHER BJP?
Ram Puniyani
The poor performance of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 15th Parliamentary elections in India held in May 2009 has triggered a lot of internal skirmishes in the party not the least important of which is the expulsion of its important leaders like Jaswant Singh, Arun Shouri, Yashwant Sinha and Sudheendra Kulkarni. Obviously this cleanup operation is being conducted on the orders of BJP’s ideological boss, the Hindu fascist outfit Rashtriya Swyamsewak Sangh (RSS). If so, should we expect a decline of BJP in the Indian political spectrum in the absence of a major crack in RSS?
MAULANA AZAD AND PARTITION
Asghar Ali Engineer
In the current debate on partition started by Jaswant Singh’s book every one is talking about the role of Jinnah, Nehru and Sardar Patel in partitioning of India but hardly anyone has mentioned what Maulana Azad, an important leader of Indian National Congress and an eminent scholar of Islam who held post of President of the Congress for six long years before partition, had done to avert partition.
JASWANT SINGH’S BOOK – AN EPIPHENOMENAL WORK
C.M. Naim
Any one who can write, can also write a book in history- what you write is a different matter. The aspiring Indian political leaders Jaswant Singh ventured to write a book on the dynamics of India’s partition in 1947; not knowing the complexity he resorted to plagiarism – not a little but a lot… as revealed in the article by Professor Naim.
INDIA’S NUCLEAR FIZZLE – WHAT SHOULD PAKISTAN DO?
Pervez Hoodbhoy
Prime Minister Vajpayee proudly smiled after India’s Pokhram nuclear explosion in 1998. But the exercise was no where close to success it claimed. India’s nuclear hawks want to improve upon it. Why?
CNDP WELCOMES OBAMA STANCE ON MISSILE DEFENSE PROGRAM
The US president announced to scrap that he Ballistic Missile Defense deployment in Eastern Europe. It has been welcomed by Russia and peace activists in India.
ISHRAT JAHAN: MURDER IN COLD BLOOD
Ram Puniyani
Ishrat Jahan’s murder in Gujarat is yet another instance of death during fake encounters of Muslim youth by Narendra Modi’s government.
MARGINALISATION AND DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE MINORITIES: AN INTERVIEW WITH DR CHARLES AMJAD-ALI
Muhammad Badar Alam
The persecution of minority communities in Pakistan is increasing in intensity and vulgarity. It has become a matter of serious concern for the democratic forces in Pakistan. INSAF Bulletin had in the past highlighted this issue. Here we present an analysis of this unfortunate development by Professor Amjad-Ali.
THE SENTENCING J.S TISSAINAYAGAM: NOT IN MY NAME!
Sandun Ratnaweera
The war against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in which the Sinhalese government of Sri Lanka emerged victorious, was coupled with most arbitrary suppression of the freedom of press. Here is an example of how base are the actions of the government.
SWISS BANK ACCOUNTS: NEED TO DO MORE TO GET THE MONEY BACK
Arun Kumar
Switzerland banks are the most secretive and hence safest for the scoundrels of the world including from the USA and India. The US used its long arm to force Swiss banks to reveal the secret bank holdings of a number of Americans but refuses the same privilege to the government of India.
THE STORY OF MY SHOE
Mutadhar al-Zaidi
Mutadhar al-Zaidi is the person who introduced the culture of throwing shoes at filthy political leaders by his daring action when President Bush last visited Iraq. Al-Zaidi was arrested for this patriotic act of throwing his shoes at the US President . He has now been released and here is what he has to say about why he did what he did.
SANDWICHED BETWEEN EXTREME RIGHT AND LEFT, CAN OBAMA SURVIVE?
Daya Varma
Is President Obama being attacked from all sides only because of racism, as Ex-President Carter says, or, also because of his attempt to reverse Bush’s policies?
REFLECTIONS BY COMRADE FIDEL: THE SERIOUS OBAMA
Of all the left political figures, Fidel Castro, perhaps the most important of them all presents a realistic and somewhat positive assessment of President Obama.
OBITUARY: DORIS BRIN WALKER (1919-2009)
Marjorie Cohn
Doris “Dobby” Brin Walker, the first woman president of the National Lawyers Guild, died on August 13 at the age of 90. Doris was a brilliant lawyer and a tenacious defender of human rights. The only woman in her University of California Berkeley law school class, Doris defied the odds throughout her life, achieving significant victories for labor and political activists.
OBITUARY: FRANS MASANGO (1958-2009)
“We dip our revolutionary banner in honour of this distinguished cadre and a selfless combatant who sacrificed immensely to the democratic order we live in today..” The African National Congress (ANC) statement.
MUBAYI AND VARMA’S ARTICLE ON LALGARH EVOKES HARSH CRITICISM
Daya Varma and Vinod Mubayi
The August 2009 issue of INSAF Bulletin (#88) carried an article titled “Lalgarh, Maoist movement, and the left in India” by Vinod Mubayi and Daya Varma. Promptly we received two responses, one by Soumitra Bose and the other by Sivanandam Sivasegaram (reproduced here). We think both have passed judgment without justifying the bases of their views. We stand by what we wrote and we explain why?
THE SHAME THAT WAS GOJRA – UNPROVOKED ATTACKS ON CHRISTIAN MINORITIES
Kiran Omar
“The recent unprovoked attacks on Christian communities living in the Punjabi village of Gojra, have left the country and the international community reeling with shock and horror.” This is the opening sentence of Omar’s article.
ARTICLE IN KASHMIR TIMES BY CHANDER K. AZAD
Chander K. Das
“How Pakistan’s Qaid-e-Azam got Urdu-knowing Jagannath Azad to write the song.
A RESPONSE TO CHANDER K. AZAD’S ARTICLE ON JINNAH
Kaleem Kawaja
“In my opinion Jinnah was an excellent politician. So he played tricks like asking a Hindu to write Pakistan’s national anthem and making a statement that Pakistan will be a secular nation.” This is the first paragraph of Kawaja’s article.
ANOTHER RESPONSE TO CHANDER K. AZAD’S ARTICLE ON JINNAH
Daya Varma
While I fully share the sentiments expressed above by Kaleem Kawaja, I would like to add just two points. Personal convictions of Jinnah do not matter; his actions do.
BJP TAKES THE LEAD FROM CPM: EXPELS JASWANT SINGH
Daya Varma
About a year ago the leadership of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM had expelled veteran communist leader Somnath Chatterjee for not resigning as the Speaker of the Parliament as ordered by its General Secretary Prakash Karat. Not to be shamed for being any less monolithic than CPM, Rajnath Singh, the President of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) expelled its leader Jaswant Singh for writing a book on the role of different leaders for the partition of India.
VICTIM AS THE CULPRIT
Ram Puniyani
Mumbai film actor Emraan Hashmi was not allowed to buy a house of his choice by the Housing Society. To add further insult, a complaint against him has been filed in the court by an activist of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).
SHIBLI NU’MANI AND NATIONAL POLITICS
Asghar Ali Engineer
My friend and noted Hindi writer Kamleshwar wrote an excellent novel Kitne Pakistan (How Many Pakistan?) and in that novel he counts Maulana Shibli No’mani as one of narrow minded Muslim. I told Kamleshwar he has done great injustice to Shibli.” These are the opening lines of Engineer’s article.
EMPEROR’S ISLAMOPHOBIA : Shah Rukh Khan Detained at US airport
Ram Puniyani
The Bollywood film icon Shah Rukh Khan was questioned for two hours at a New York airport. The Former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam was treated like a commoner by the US based Airlines staff in his own country. They are both Indian citizens and Muslims and hence victims of American Islamophobia.
DEMAND FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF PRE-MATRIC SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME FOR MINORITIES
Vipin K. Tripathi
(The text of Tripathi’s letter to Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat)
“The Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme for Minorities was launched by the Central Government on April 1, 2008. For Classes I-V, it provides maintenance allowance of Rs. 100 pm (for 10 months) where as for VI-X it provides admission fees actual up to Rs. 500 pa, tuition fees actual up to Rs. 350 pm (for 10 months) and the maintenance allowance of Rs. 100 pm (for 10 months). More than twenty states have implemented the scheme. Gujarat has not yet accepted it.” This is the opening paragraph of Tripathi’s letter to Modi.
NEPAL’S MAIN PARTIES FORM A TASKFORCE FOR POLITICAL MECHANISM
(August 1, 2009: nepalnews.com)
Top leaders of Nepali Congress (NC), Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) or CPN-UML, and the United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) or UCPN (M) have agreed to constitute a taskforce to finalize formation of political mechanism. The taskforce includes two persons from each party.
DO REVOLUTIONARIES KNOW AS MUCH AS THEY THINK THEY DO? THE CASE OF PRACHANDA
Daya Varma
Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda), the Chairman of the United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) or CPN (Maoist) discloses in London how his party is doing the correct thing and how he has a correct vision of 21st century developments. Does he?
THE CONTINUED SAGA OF TAMILS IN SRI LANKA
(Editorial, New Democracy, Organ of the New Democratic Party of Sri Lanka, August 2009)
President Rajapakse of Sri Lanka had declared more than once that his war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was aimed to safeguard the interest of Tamils. Developments since the victory against LTTE reveal an opposite scenario.
MAKING SENSE OF RAVIDASIS: THE CASTE SYSTEM IN PUNJAB
S. Jodhka
This long, informative and well-researched article analyzes the caste structure among Sikhs in Punjab and attempts by the Sikh Dalits to address caste oppression.
FREEDOM – THROUGH EDUCATION
Jai Birdi
Jai Birdi writes: “If education is the first and prime most ingredient for social transformation and creating opportunities for dignity, advancement, and equality, the Surrey-based organization, Dalit Freedom Network (DFN), has found the right ingredient and has found a mission of creating a “more equal education system” in India.”
INDEPENDENCE DAY BI-LINGUAL POETRY RECITATION IN WASHINGTON
Submitted by Zafar Iqbal (Raabta.india@gmail.com)
“The future of Urdu and Hindi is tied together and both depend upon each other,” said Professor Asghar Wajahat at the third bi-lingual poetry recitation program held Sunday 16th August 2009 at the Montgomery County Executive Office Building in Rockville, Maryland. Professor Wajahat, a noted Hindi fiction writer and chairman of Hindi Department, Jamia Millia Islamia was presiding the bi-lingual “Yaum-e-Azadi” mushaira-kavi sammelan. The program, initiated by the Washington Aligarh Alumni Association (AAA) in 2007 to celebrate the independence of the Indian Subcontinent, this year was joined by the Metropolitan Washington chapter of the Global Organization of the People of Indian Origin (GOPIO).” First paragraph of Zafar’s report.
LALGARH, MAOIST MOVEMENT, AND THE LEFT IN INDIA
Vinod Mubayi and Daya Varma
The Lalgarh episode in West Bengal again brought into prominence the Communist Party of India (Maoist), or CPI (Maoist) which claimed leadership of the widespread insurrection that erupted in the district over the last several months. Different forces including the Maoists and the Trinamool Congress exploited the resentment of local tribal population to launch a bloody attack on the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM; the outcome may be bad for CPM and for India and both need introspection.
DEMILITARIZE AND DEMOCRATIZE: THE WAY FORWARD IN SRI LANKA
Rohini Hensman
The way forward in Sri Lanka requires demilitarization and the restoration of the rule of law; the two are interlinked. However, their fulfillment is tied to the political future and economic survival of Sri Lanka.
NEPAL: ‘WE STILL FIGHT, BUT WITH WORDS, NO LONGER WITH GUNS’
Hisila Yami alias Comrade Parvati, whom INSAF Bulletin had the honor of hosting at a public meeting in Montreal in 2008 frankly speaks to New Delhi-based Tehelka Magazine. She explains why Nepal Maoists launched an armed struggle and why they entered the mainstream politics in keeping with the vibrant left tradition of Nepal. She elaborated on the democratic culture within the Maoist Party somewhat at odds with Lenin’s vision of a monolithic party and expressed optimism about her Party, the status of women and Nepal despite numerous roadblocks.
PAKISTAN’S IDEOLOGICAL BLOWBACK
Shibil Siddiqi
Talibans who controlled the Swat valley, destroyed state institutions and were dreaming of implementing their version of Sharia to all of Pakistan have been defeated at great cost and unprecedented internal displacement. But is the threat of the fundamentalist take over of Pakistan over? The following article discusses in detail what lies ahead in Pakistan and what need be done.
LIBERHAN COMMISSION; PAINFUL WAIT FOR JUSTICE
Ram Puniyani
Babri Mosque was destroyed on December 6, 1992. Enquiry into what led to this shameful act in India was finished in 2004; why did Liberhan commission take 5 years to submit its four volume report to the Government on 30 of June 2009. The zealot Uma Bharati still justifies the demolition but what about Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and other crooks who masterminded the demolition and tasted power as a reward?
RESERVED PAST: DE-RESERVING FUTURE
Ram Puniyani
Important social ills of Indian society have kept a significant section of its population deprived of their legitimate rights; the government policy of reservation for them in educational institutions and jobs has been one step to redress this issue. How far it has helped, who opposes such a policy and what is there for a significant Muslim minority?
HINDURASHTRA IN DELHI
Subhash Gatade
Hindu bigots are violently preventing the construction of a Mosque in Delhi on a legally acquired land for that purpose. Delhi is not ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) but that does not seem to stop it from implementing its agenda of building India into a Hindu kingdom.
INDIA FACES COLONIALISM CLAIMS OVER ‘LAND-GRAB’ IN AFRICA
Dean Nelson in New Delhi India and many other countries like China, Saudi Arabia, South Korea are acquiring huge tracts of farm land in Africa. Is it the beginning of colonization by former colonies?
ANNUAL SADBHAV MISSION CONVENTION ON EDUCATION AND HARMONY
Report of the Convention held in Washington, DC was sent by Zafar Iqbal,
Dr. Vipin Tripathi, Professor at IIT Delhi organized as before a successful Sadbhav Mission Convention in Washington area on June 27, 2009 to promote inter-communal harmony.
STATEMENT ON THE NHRC REPORT ON THE ALLEGED ENCOUNTER AT BATLA HOUSE
Citizens demand independent enquiry to determine the cause of death of two Muslim youth by the police in Batla house, Delhi.
AIMMM CONDEMNS THE ARREST OF FEROZE MITHIBORWALA AND KISHORE JAGTAP
All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat President Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan condemned the overnight arrest in Mumbai of political activists Feroze Mithiborwala and Kishore Jagtap in Mumbai which seemingly took place in the context of the visit of the US Secretary of State to the city.
CONCORD AT SHARM EL-SHEIKH
(Editorial, the Economic and Political Weekly, 25 July 2009)
On the occasion of the recent Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Egypt, Indian and Pakistani Prime Ministers agreed to resume talks which were cancelled after the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack. Indian opposition parties are dead opposed to any talks with Pakistan; how immature is their role is discussed in the Editorial of a prestigious Indian weekly.
PEACE ACTIVISTS WELCOME INDO-PAK JOINT STATEMENT
The joint statement by the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan on the occasion of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt has been welcomed by prominent citizens.
PUCL DEPLORES DEATHS OF POLICEMEN IN MAOIST ATTACK AT RAJNANGAON
The killing of 30 policemen in Chhattisgarh by the Indian Maoists has been deplored by the local unit of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties.
LETTER
CPM VERSUS MAOISTS: HOW TO ASSESS IT? Comments by Ranabir Samaddar and the responses by INSAF Bulletin editors.
OBITUARIES: Gangubai Hangal & Ali Akbar Khan
One of the few achievements of Independent India has been the popularization of India’s great musical traditions within India and abroad. The outward journey of Indian cultural artists started with Pandit Ravi Shankar, which was followed by such stalwarts as Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Gangubai Hangal , Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Pandit Jasraj and others.
Two of these greats, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Gangubai Hangal, passed away in June and July 2009, respectively. INSAF Bulletin pays its homage to these two legendry artists, Khansahib the Sarod maestro and Gangubai, the doyen of Hindustani classical music.
OBITUARY: RAM NARAYAN KUMAR (1953-2009)
Pritam Singh
Ram Narayan Kumar, one of the finest human rights researcher, activist and campaigner in South Asia, passed away on June 28, 2009 at his house in Kathmandu (Nepal). His death at a relatively young age of 56 has sent shock waves among all those struggling for justice and fairness in South Asia.
HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST KUMAR NO MORE
Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal
Srinagar, June 29: Prominent human rights activist Ram Narayan Kumar, well known for his extensive work on custodial torture and disappearances particularly in Punjab, passed away yesterday in Kathmandu due to sudden illness. He was 56.
ON THE POLITICAL VIOLENCE UNLEASHED AGAINST THE LEFT IN WEST BENGAL
Academics and human rights activists from inside and outside India appeal to the democratic minded people in West Bengal and across the country to condemn and expose violence against the members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Left Front Government in West Bengal.
MAOIST VIOLENCE IN LALGARH, WEST BENGAL, MUST BE CONDEMNED
Posted by Aditya Nigam
The setback suffered by the two major communist parties of India in the recent parliamentary elections has given space to Indian Maoists to launch a reign of terror in the Left Front ruled state of West Bengal.
NO LINK BETWEEN NEPAL MAOISTS AND LALGARH: MENON
Indian authorities rule out any link between Nepal and Indian Maoists in recent violence in West Bengal.
PAKISTAN: TURNING THE TIDE OF TERROR
Kiran Omar
The Pakistan Army’s Operation Rah-e-Rast (the Right Path) continues to pound Taliban strongholds and aims to flush them out decisively from Buner, Swat and other areas where they had established their control forcibly through terror and coercion.
SRI LANKA: END ILLEGAL DETENTION OF DISPLACED POPULATION
(Human Rights Watch, June 11, 2009)
The defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has left more than a quarter million Tamils as virtual prisoners of the Sri Lanka’s government. Their human rights must be safeguarded.
NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S STATEMENT TO THE MEDIA
Colombo, June 13, 2009
A Sri Lankan party demands a political solution to the plight of its Tamil population within a United Sri Lanka.
NO SCOPE FOR DITHERING OVER FATWA
(Editorial, New Age, June 17, 2009-supplied by SACW)
Issuing of Fatwa should be made illegal, argue Women’s organizations in Bangladesh.
INDIA: ELECTION VERDICT 2009- WHITHER BJP?
Ram Puniyani
The set back suffered by the Hindutva forces in the May 2009 Parliamentary elections in India has triggered a new debate within the party. Should it or should it not abandon the very reason for its existence- making India a Hindu country?
SHIVAJI’S STATUE IN ARABIAN SEA
Ram Puniyani
During the rule of Moghul Emperor Aurangzeb (1658-1707), Shivaji led a fight for a Maratha (now the state of Maharashtra) kingdom; he did not succeed but has been made into an icon. Attempts are being made to erect a statue something like the American Statue of Liberty in the Arabian sea.
IRANIAN ELECTIONS ARE AN OCCASION FOR BUT NOT THE CAUSE OF MASSIVE PROTESTS
Daya Varma
The recent protests in Iran denote a rebellion against fundamentalism; the election outcome is just an occasion.
NO MATTER WHO IS PRESIDENT OF IRAN, THEY WOULD STONE ME
Lila Ghobady
Why didn’t I vote in the latest elections for the president of the country of my birth, Iran? Because no matter who is the president of Iran, they would stone me!
BRIC SHOULD CREATE CONDITIONS FOR FAIRER WORLD ORDER
Siddharth Varadarajan
Brazil, Russia, India, China stress financial, agricultural and strategic aspect of new grouping.
OVER ONE BILLION PEOPLE HUNGRY
One sixth of humanity undernourished – more than ever before. The faces behind the numbers.
NEPALESE IN CANADA TO HOLD ITS SECOND NATIONAL CONFERENCE IN CALGARY
Monday, June 22 2009, Calgary, Canada: NRN (Non-resident Nepalese)-Canada, the national umbrella organization of the Nepali Diaspora in Canada is holding its annual conference in Calgary, a beautiful city located near picturesque Rocky Mountains, on Saturday, the 27th June 2009.
CPI-MAOIST BANNED IN INDIA
On June 22, 2009, the Government of India extended the ban on the Communist Party of India (Maoist) across the country.
VIENNA SHOOT-OUT: DALIT ASSERTION- A REVOLT AGAINST DISCRIMINATION
S. L. Virdi Advocate
On May 24, Sant Niranjan Dass Ji, Head of Dera Sach Khand Ballan (Jalandhar), his successor Sant Rama Nand and their followers were attacked by some Manuwadi elements in Shri Guru Ravidass Temple at Vienna City of Austria. Dera Head Sant Niranjan Dass was injured, his successor Sant Rama Nand was martyred and many followers were severely injured in the firing. As a reaction Dalits made a ravished show of their anger through violent demonstrations in Jalandhar, Phagwara, Hoshiarpur, Phillaur, Muktsar, Malot, Ludhiana, Amritsar cities of Punjab, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Jagadhari, Kurukshetar, Ladwa and Shahbad of Haryana and Jasur and Nurpur Cities of Himachal Pradesh.
OBITUARY: HABIB TANVIR (1923-2009)
The legendary theatre personality, a poet, an actor and a revolutionary Habib Tanvir died at the National Hospital, Bhopal on June 8, 2009 at 06.30 Indian Standard Time. His daughter Nageen was at the bedside. Habib Tanvir was admitted to the hospital because of respiratory problems; the cause of his death was kidney failure. Almost every one associated with INSAF Bulletin has met Habib Saheb one time or another. On behalf of INSAF Bulletin, we express our deep condolences to his daughter Nageen and to his close relatives, Javed and Neeraj Malik, New Delhi and Abha Sur in Boston (Ed.).
INDIAN ELECTIONS – STABLE GOVERNMENT EMERGES WHILE LEFT IS SCATTERED
Vinod Mubayi
Defying all projections of a hung parliament and a multitude of names as potential Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has become the Prime Minister of India for a second term. Fortunately, BJP and, unfortunately, the Left, especially CPM suffered a decline in their representation. The Third Front floated by the Left really came third, managing to get measly 70-odd seats. The dedicated cadres of the left parties constitute the strongest and most steadfast bulwark against the danger of right-wing Hindu communalism; they have to take some resolute steps to change the course taken by the present leadership of CPM.
WOULD THE END OF THE TRAGIC 26 YEARS BE THE BEGINNING OF SUNSHINE IN SRI LANKA?
Daya Varma
The secessionist movement in Sri Lanka led by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) came to a bitter end on May 17, 2009 with the death of its leader Prabhakaran. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa being deified as a god by Sinhalese Sri Lankans to the horror of Tamils must take steps for immediate rehabilitation of hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians displaced by the conflict and guarantee them equal rights with Sinhalese if he longs for a long-term peace and prosperity in Sri Lanka.
PRACHANDA OUTMANOUVERED – IS HE ALSO OVERPOWERED?
Daya Varma and Vinod Mubayi
Assumption of the office of Prime Minister of Nepal by Prachanda, the leader of United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), [UCPN(M)], was greeted by democratic forces the world over; his resignation following insubordination by the Army Chief and the support to this act by the ceremonial President is, on one hand, a matter of great discontent and surprise, and on the other hand, quite worrisome because in a way it is a coup. What went behind closed doors within and outside Nepal to precipitate this development, which installed Madhav Kumar Nepal of the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) [CPN-UML] as the Prime Minister with the support of the Nepalese Congress, is nothing but dirty politics. Have the Maoists been defeated in the end game? Or will they re-emerge with popular support?
BROKEN DEALS, SHATTERED PEACE AND LOOKING AT AN UNCLEAR FUTURE – EVENTFUL APRIL IN PAKISTAN
Kiran Omar
As was expected the controversial Peace Deal between the Taliban and the government came to an end in Swat valley, which has become a war zone within the boundaries of Pakistan. An estimated 2.5 million people have been displaced, the largest internal displacement since the division of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan in 1947. The plight of these refugees needs urgent help from all quarters. At the same time the government and military must ensure the routing-out of the Taliban if the country has to march on the path of economic growth and prosperity.
THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF PAKISTAN FOR A CRASH PLAN FOR IDPS
Press Release, May 2009
Lahore: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called upon the federal government to immediately set up a special task force to implement a crash plan for extending relief to the large number of people displaced in the ongoing conflict in the country’s northern part. In a statement issued today, the commission said:
THE STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY, JUSTICE AND DEMOCRACY IN SRI LANKA
Rohini Hensman
LTTE established its claim to be the sole voice of Tamils in Sri Lanka by liquidating dissenters and became the mirror image of Sinhala fascist politics. Following the defeat of LTTE, the Rajapaksa regime is sliding into the same totalitarianism which gave rise to the conflict in the first place. At this time, the most urgent priority is to ensure fundamental rights of all the civilians displaced by the war. A credible long-term political solution would need to abolish the Executive Presidency and special place for Buddhism in the Constitution; ensure real parity for Sinhala and Tamil; put in place a Bill of Rights that rules out discrimination in all parts of the island and guarantees fundamental rights to all its citizens.
TALIBAN’S TERROR-JIZYA ON SIKHS
Ram Puniyani
The brutality of Talibans in Swat valley and other parts of Pakistan is no more limited to innocent Muslims belonging to different sub-sect of Islam; it now includes imposition of Jizya, on non Muslims, Sikhs. The failure to pay the full Jizya has caused havoc among the Sikh community. Taliban say they are imposing Jizya as per the tenets of Islam; are they?
INDIAN MUSLIM LEADERS CONDEMN THE MISTREATMENT OF SIKHS IN NWFP/PAKISTAN
Submitted by Kaleem Kawaja
We, religious, political and community leaders of the Indian Muslims, are alarmed at the reports coming out of Pakistan’s tribal areas about the Pakistani Taliban’s kidnapping, extortion of huge amounts of money from their Sikh compatriots as “Jizya” and demolition of the houses and shops of those who fail to pay the demanded sums.
IT’S YET ANOTHER PAKISTANI NUCLEAR ANNIVERSARY TODAY
Pervez Hoodbhoy
Why do countries like Pakistan, North Korea, and India spend a fortune making nuclear bombs? They cannot compete with the US in nuclear arsenal. They key issue in North Korea is its dire poverty and autocratic rule. Pakistan is no better off with the nuclear bomb, which people in Balochistan, where it was tested, resent. Obviously nuclear bombs are exploded to whip up blind nationalism and demand some concessions from the western powers, perhaps monetary aid.
GUJARAT CARNAGE-ROLE OF NARENDRA MODI
Ram Puniyani
In the post Godhra violence, over 2000 innocent Muslims lost their lives. Most of the survivors have been degraded to the status of second class citizens. However, most of the perpetrators of violence have gone scot-free and many have moved upward. The efforts of the victims and human rights activists had yielded very few results. In this context, the direction of Apex court to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the role of Modi, his cabinet colleagues and other top functionaries of state and those involved in violence, has come as a sign of hope.
PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE: The incarnation of Dr. Binayak Sen
Anand Patwardhan
On May 14 this year Dr. Binayak Sen started his third year in Jail in Chhatisgarh state of India. Against this injustice, writers, poets, judges, lawyers, doctors, human rights workers, trade unionists, former Supreme Court justice Krishna Iyer, former US attorney general Ramsey Clark, Noam Chomsky and 22 Nobel laureates and thousands of people raised their voice, which were ignored by the authorities. Finally Dr. Sen has been granted bail and released from jail by the Supreme Court of India. Dr. Sen’s incarceration raises the fundamental question of the rights of citizens in world’s largest democracy. Patwardhan who made a documentary of the same name as the title of this article analyses the forces against and for democratic rights in India.
TWO SIDES TO DEMOCRACY – THE DEMOLITION OF A GANDHIAN ASHRAM
Ramachandra Guha
Not content with imprisonment of Dr. Binayak Sen and other violations of democratic rights of citizens, Chhatisgarh authorities demolished a Gandhi Ashram. What more can one expect?
HOW LONG WILL YOU RULE WITH OUR VOTES, AND WE WILL REMAIN DEPRIVED ?
Kaleem Kawaja
The 140 million strong India’s Muslim voters were wooed by various political parties during the recently concluded Parliamentary election. All parties treated them a little differently. BJP wanted them to consider themselves as “Mohammadiya Hindus”. The Congress party talked of giving equal rights to Muslims but took no steps to redress their injustices leading many commentators to proclaim that the difference between Congress and BJP is only slight.
THE BULLET CANNOT DEFEAT THE BALLOT
Kuldip Nayar
The veteran journalist analyses the fruitlessness of violent methods as opposed to democratic demands on a number of key issues in India.
THE POOR ALSO CRAVE AN ENGLISH EDUCATION
Dipankar Gupta
The author writes that Mulayam Singh Yadav’s animosity towards English is not just hypocritical, but cruel too and eventually would deprive the poor from sharing the fruits of any progress in India.
THE DEFEAT OF DIVISIVE FORCES IN MAY 2009 GENERAL ELECTIONS
All India Secular Forum
All India Secular Forum welcomes the people’s verdict in the 15th Lok Sabha elections.
LOOKING FORWARD TO PEACE AND PROGRESS
Ram Puniyani
The defeat of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recent elections (May 2009) is a matter of great relief and hope for India. Why?
INDIAN MUSLIMS WELCOME THE ELECTION RESULTS
Submitted by Kaleem Kawaja
New Delhi, 16 May 2009: The All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat [umbrella body of Indian Muslim organizations] welcomed the mandate given by the people of India to the UPA in general and the Congress Party in particular.
STATEMENT OF PROGRESSIVE NEPALESE ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Progressive Nepali Forum in Americas (PNEFA) reiterates its previous stand that President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav’s move has not only violated the constitution but also seriously undermined the legitimate mandate of a democratically elected civilian government in Nepal.
KARAT SINKS CPM AND CPI EN PASSE
Daya Varma
While the collapse of Soviet Union in 1989 did not shatter the Indian Communist movement, Prakash Karat, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPIM], has managed to accomplish this feat in just a few months; the burial was the just concluded 15th Parliamentary elections.
IS IT TIME TO HAVE A FRESH LOOK AT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?
Daya Varma
Does the ascendancy of Barrack Obama to the highest office in the US need a fresh look at our attitude towards the US?
RAVIDASSIS TO OBSERVE MAY 24 AS MARTYR’S DAY
(Press release)
Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha, Vancouver will observe may 24 every year as the martyr’s day in the memories of Sant Rama Nand Ji, who was assassinated in Vienna Austria on 24 of may 2009.
INSAF BULLETIN HAILS MAY 1- THE INTERNATIONAL WORKERS DAY!
A FEW FACTS ON INDIA’S 15TH PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
The Editors
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SLAUGHTER OF CIVILIANS IN THE VANNI?
Rohini Hensman
Secessionist conflicts, regardless of their merit, are invariably bloody with noncombatant civilians paying the highest price. With the defeat of LTTE imminent, the plight of civilians caught in the crossfire between the government and LTTE has reached inhuman levels and both parties are at fault for this situation. The constitutional adoption of the APRC (All Parties Representatives Committee) proposal on the basis of the Majority and Minority Reports of the Panel of Experts and terms for an honorable surrender by LTTE is a possible way to end the horror in Sri Lanka.
VIBRANT GUJARAT LIES, HALF-TRUTHS AND ILLUSIONS: “The Gujarat Reality Today”
Fr. Cedric Prakash sj
There is much hype about a vibrant Gujarat but the truth is almost the opposite. Gujarat is what India should not be.
THE OTHER HALF: Memories of violence
Kalpana Sharma
“People do not forget the past wrongs, especially when there has been no attempt to ensure justice.”
BUT NOW IT IS AGAIN ELECTION TIME: TIME TO TALK OF RAM MANDIR AND WAR!
J. Sri Raman
Elections are usually the time when contending political parties promise and promise to deal with whatever is lacking. But not always? Gorge Bush came to power for the second time by promising military havoc. Advani and his BJP are saying that turning India upside down is good for the country.
ORISSA: TRAGEDY CONTINUES
Ram Puniyani
Terror against minorities as happened against Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 and Christians in Orissa in 2007 is not simply an episodic act of violence; rather it is the unveiling of a policy by one of the major political parties in India. There is a reason why such sordid acts are not coming to a halt and there is a compelling need why it must.
ISLAM AND CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
Asghar Ali Engineer
INSAF Bulletin enquired from Asghar Ali what the response to his provocative speech was. The author wrote back: “In the meeting where I spoke there was hushed silence as I was very critical of Islamic countries. But a few persons who heard me appreciated my critical remarks and I got many supporting e-mails after I circulated this article on e-mail network.” Why?
THE RETREAT OF JINNAH’S PAKISTAN
Maleeha Lodhi
The Swat concession to Talibans by the Pakistan government has far reaching and grave consequences for the entire country and has been analyzed by many commentators. Here is one.
A PERILOUS SITUATION IN PAKISTAN: DECONSTRUCTING THE TALIBAN
Fawzia Afzal-Khan
“Although she believes her days are numbered, Joya is not fearful for the future. “I am not frightened because we will all die one day,” she says. “What matters is that we fight despite the risk and we sacrifice despite the cost. Only then can we succeed.” ( From “A Voice of Hope for Afghanistan’s Women,” by Frud Bezhan, April 15, 2009, The Age-Australia).
IMPRISONED DR. BINAYAK SEN CONDEMNS VIOLENCE
Imprisonment of Dr. Binayak Sen for two years has been condemned by Nobel Laureates, Medical establishment, civil rights activists. There is overwhelming evidence that charges against Dr. Sen are cooked up. Much has been written about his case. In an interview in the Raipur Central Jail, Chhattishgrah by Vinay Sitapati, Dr. Binayak Sen says: “I have always condemned violence, whatever the justification”.
CNDP WELCOMES OBAMA’S CALL FOR A WORLD WITHOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Press Release
President Obama is promising to reshape American policy on various issues including on what is the most serious threat to humanity – the overstocked nuclear arsenal. How does the Indian wing of CNDP react to this gesture of Obama?
“THE GREAT REPRICING”
George Yeo looks at China, India and Asia as it is unfolding and is likely to unfold particular in the face of the global economic crisis. He refers to the foresight of Needham and the evolutionary theory of Darwin. Here is a penetrating analysis.
ATTACK SUPPORTERS OF MALLIKA SARABAHI IN GANDHINAGAR CONDEMNED
Ram Puniyani
Hooliganism of Sangh Parivar is a norm and not an exception. It is being displayed against the secular candidature of Mallika Sarabhai who is taking on Hindutva’s Prime Ministerial candidate Advani in Gandhinagar (Gujarat) constituency. Some respected citizens of India are raising their voice against Sangh Parivar violence.
BOOK REVIEW: Scanning P.C. Joshi’s Biography
Daya Varma
[Note for the Editor of Mainstream: “The following review article has been sent to the Mainstream editor on April 6 with a note from the reviewer that reads: ‘I am submitting a review of Gargi Chakravartty’s P.C. Joshi: A Biography for favour of publication in Mainstream weekly. Not living in India, I was able to get the book only a while ago. Nevertheless I feel reviews of this important book reflecting different experiences and perspectives do not get dated. I hope Mainstream will be generous enough to publish it.’ We are publishing it on the occasion of P.C. Joshi’s 102nd birth anniversary on April 14, 2009. Daya Varma stays in Canada and his e-mail is: daya.varma@mcgill.ca]”
OBITUARY: IQBAL BANO (1935-2009)
(From Wikipedia and other sources, prepared by Feroz Mehdi)
What Mirza Ghalib was to Begum Akhtar, Faiz Ahmed Faiz was to Iqbal Bano; Both these Gazal icons are gone but their melodious voices are there and will resound for generations.
OBITUARY: SMITU KOTHARI
Noted scholar, author and activist Smitu Kothari passed away on the early morning of March 23, 2009 after a cardiac surgery at AIIMS in Delhi. He was in Delhi to attend a Delhi Solidarity Group meeting with Himalaya Niti Abhiyan friends and others to discuss strategies and support for the people’s struggles in Himachal Pradesh against displacement, mining and environmental destruction.
OBITUARY: AHILYA RANGNEKAR (1922-2009)
(Press statement by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) – April 19, 2009)
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses profound grief at the passing away of Comrade Ahilya Rangnekar, former member of the Central Committee and veteran leader of the Party. She was aged 87. She died in Mumbai today.
OBITUARY: JANET JAGAN (1921-2009)
Norman Faria (From People’s Voice, April 16-30, 2009, Organ of the Communist Party of Canada)
Janet Jagan, the Chicago-born freedom fighter whom /Time/ magazine once described as the “most controversial woman in South American politics since Eva Peron”, has died in her adopted homeland of Guyana, succumbing to abdominal aneurysm at the age of 88.
SOUTH ASIA AT A CRITICAL JUNCTURE FACING MULTIPLE CRISES
Vinod Mubayi and Daya Varma
South Asia finds itself at a critical juncture facing multiple crises in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka while India goes through a general election, which could bring the rabidly communal BJP to power.
TOWARDS THEOCRACY?
Pervez Amir Ali Hoodbhoy
Physicist Pervez Hoodbhoy traces the evolution of fundamentalist culture in Pakistan and its consequences to the very survival of his country.
PAKISTAN: THE LESSONS OF MARCH 15
I.A. Rehman
The events of March 15 underscored the reality that Pakistan has multiple centres of power and the nominal state is not the strongest of them. The writ of this state will run only to the extent it is not hindered by the parallel centres of power. This is the real drag on the government’s autonomy that no politician should lose sight of.
MOMENTOUS MARCH: NEW BEGINNINGS IN PAKISTANI POLITICS
Kiran Omar
March in much of Pakistan is about Basant (spring festival marked by kite-flying), flowering landscapes and fine weather. This past March in Pakistan, the Spring breezes brought more than flowers and fluttering kites, it was marked by three significant events, that brought Pakistan to a turning point in its turbulent political history.
[PAKISTAN] A SECOND LOOK
Sam Noumoff
The acceptance of Sharia in a region of Pakistan adjoining Afghanistan is likely to usher a new division in Pakistan society. This article analyzes its implications and will be included in the book “Maut ke Saudagar” (Merchants of Death) by “Rashani Publication” Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan, and edited by Khurshid Kaimkhani.
MADHYAMAM: A MUSLIM MEDIA SUCCESS STORY
Yoginder Sikand
Muslims constitute a significant proportion of Kerala’s population and are amongst the most literate Muslim community. Aside from their participation in different political formations, they produce numerous magazines, which unlike the Muslim publications in the North, deal with issues other than religion.
A MATCH ABANDONED OR A BATTLE LOST?
Jawed Naqvi
Referring to the disastrous British campaign against Afghanistan, the author analyzes the implications of the terrorist attack on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore on Pakistan’s civil society as well as the complexity of the crisis facing Pakistan.
THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION IS MUSLIMS’ ARTICLE OF FAITH: DEOBAND SEMINARY CHIEF
Seema Chishti
Refuting implicit and explicit charges of the Hindu fundamentalist organizations that Muslims do not owe loyalty to India, the highest religious authority of Indian Muslims asserts, as others have done, the faith of Indian Muslims in the secular constitution of India.
WHY ‘HATE SPEECH’?
Ram Puniyani
Varun Gandhi is the son of Sanjay and Maneka Gandhi; Late Sanjay Gandhi was the son of Indira and Feroz Gandhi; Indira Gandhi was the only daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru. Birth defects are consistent with Darwinian theory of evolution but many of the magnitude revealed by Varun Gandhi are not in record. A Hindu boy born to a Sikh mother and Parsi father? In the article below, Varun Gandhi utters unutterable but then this most likely is the way members of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Singh (RSS) family think. Some say, other are too clever to openly say it.
PLEASING GODS WITH PUBLIC MONEY
Ram Puniyani
In an unprecedented move in Indian history, the BJP (Bhartiya Janata party ) government of Karnataka has allotted huge sums to Hindu temples in addition to its past acts of forcing pujas by temples.
WOMEN FOR SECULARISM: A FORUM FOR HARMONY, INCLUSION, JUSTICE, PEACE
This article deals with a novel initiative by women of India to defend and promote secularism.
OVER 3,000 STILL IN ORISSA CAMPS: UNWILLING TO BECOME HINDUS
Prafulla Das
Months have passed since Hindu fundamentalists launched their attack on poor Christians of Orissa forcing them to abandon their less than modest homes to seek shelter in camps. Some have returned by many cannot because to do so they have to avow Hinduism.
RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh) APPOINTS A NEW CHIEF
Unlike any other organization in India, RSS chiefs are appointed and not elected. A new chief has been appointed to replace Sudarshan. Given the absolute control that the RSS chief exercises over RSS and all its affiliates, this change of guards of a fascist organization is important.
DOES INDIA NEED A THIRD FRONT OR A DEMOCRATIC PROGRESSIVE FRONT?
Daya Varma and Vinod Mubayi
Both the Communist Party of India (CPI) and CPI (M) have joined hands to launch a Third Front to face the coming Lok Sabha (Parliament) election to be held next month. It is called a Third Front because the First and Second Fronts are, respectively, led by the Congress of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of the Advani-Rajnath Singh-Narendra Modi triumvirate.
MALLIKA SARABHAI TO OPPOSE L.K. ADVANI IN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
Advani is the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate. To the delight of secular forces, he is challenged by Mallika Sarabhai. None could be more suitable an opponent of Advani than Mallika.
DESPERATE CPI(M) DISCOVERS NEW SECULAR ‘HERO’ IN NAVEEN (PATNAIK)
Naveen Patnaik was to Christians of Orissa what Narendra Modi was to Muslims of Gujarat. As is often the case, Indian elections disturb all other ideological and political equations for a seat or two in Indian Parliament. Here is a new development; if true, the glorious history of the Communist movement against communalism makes a drastic shift by including Naveen Patnaik in the conglomerate of secular formation.
LALU, MULAYAM , PASWAN FORM ‘SECULAR ALLIANCE’
The three parties (led by Lalu Yadav, Mulayam Singh and Ram Bilas Paswan) vowed to provide an ‘alternative’ in the fight against ‘communal forces’ in UP and Bihar. Since UP and Bihar provide the bulk of members in the Parliament, this alliance may determine who forms the next government.
TAKE LEGAL ACTION (against Varun Gandhi): NITISH (Kumar)
Nitish Kumar is the Chief Minister of populous Bihar province in alliance with Hindu fundamentalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). Since Varun Gandhi’s vitriolic hate speech against Muslims, Indian Election Commission has requested BJP not to field him as its candidate from Pilibhit (UP)
THE OBAMA PUZZLE
Daya Varma
Obama has been the President of the US only since January 2009. Normally this is too short a time to judge a new leader; yet given the impact of this change on world politics, it seems one has no choice but to judge him. How does the Indian left judge Obama? Immanuel Wallerstein, a leading figure of the US Left offers a clue.
INVESTIGATE THE ISRAELI MISSILE CONTRACT: COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXIST)
(Circulated by Vijay Prashad)
The advent of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) as the ruling party in 1999 shifted India’s policy from being pro- Palestinian to pro-Israel. Although BJP was defeated in 2004 and a coalition led by Congress came to power, this pro-Israel policy has continued. Here is a case of a huge arms deal to purchase missiles, which can be made in India. What is behind this deal?
FREE, FREE BINAYAK SEN!: US SUPPORT FOR RAIPUR SATYAGRAH
Fifty international groups organize support in the USA for the Raipur Satyagraha in India Simultaneous protests held in 3 US cities.
US, CHINA AND THE WAR IN SRI LANKA
Peter Symonds
There are many ways to do the wrong thing. In the troubled world, big powers intervene not so much to address the suffering of the people but to derive advantage to their national strategic interest. In the end game between the government and Tamil Tigers (LTTE) in Sri Lanka, the plight of Tamil civilians is precarious. How do two powers, the US and China respond to this? The US talks about human rights and China defends Sri Lanka’s sovereignty. What a surprise?
SOUTH ASIA ENGULFED BY CONFLICTS!
Vinod Mubayi
South Asia is experiencing an unprecedented degree of ethnic, linguistic, and religious conflict. This is exemplified by the fast growing Talibanization of Pakistan and the violence perpetrated on innocent civilians, the depredations of the Hindutva fundamentalists in India not only against religious minorities but also on all those who do not subscribe to their ideology, but above all by the majority Sinhala – minority Tamil conflict in Sri Lanka now reaching a climax, which threatens a full-scale genocide of the hapless Tamil population, caught between two brutal opposing forces, the LTTE and the Sri Lanka Army.
LIONS, TIGERS, AND THE CULLING OF SRI LANKA’S TAMILS
Neil DeVotta
Sri Lanka’s Lions (Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist government) and Tigers (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) continue their savage war that is now slaughtering thousands of innocent Tamil civilians caught in the crossfire. The government claims to go out of its way to minimize civilian casualties, despite having relied on a strategy of deliberately and indiscriminately bombing areas filled with Tamil civilians; the LTTE, which is branded a terrorist group by over thirty countries, claims it is fighting to liberate Tamils-even as it forcibly recruits civilians, including child soldiers, to fight government forces and uses these trapped Tamils as human shields; and the international community, which claims to care about the plight of innocent civilians, stands impotently on the sidelines as beleaguered Tamils are being murdered.
FUNDAMENTALISM WITHOUT BORDERS
Daya Varma and Vinod Mubayi
While Muslims are the obvious target of Sangh Parivar, no one should feel immune to their pernicious policies- even Hindus?
KITCHEN, CHURCH AND CHILDREN: Shri Ram Sene Beats up Girls in a Pub
Ram Puniyani
Having killed and humiliated thousands of Muslims and Christians, the Hindutva fascists extend their operation to include non-conformist Hindus, starting with women. But that is not where it will end.
HINDU TALIBAN
(Editorial, The Hindu, February 7, 2009)
The California-based late IK Shukla had the foresight to introduce the term “Hindu Talibans” to describe hooligans of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena and other outfits of the Sangh Parivar. Now the mainstream media too is recognizing that the Sangh Parivar is on war path against what people cherish about India.
HOLY GARB: PROFANE AGENDA: Seers Demand Dropping of Word Secular from Indian Constitution!
Ram Puniyani
The self-appointed custodians of Hindu ethos want to take the next jump by transforming Secular India into a formal Hindu India.
DEMOCRACY, ELECTIONS AND MINORITIES IN INDIA
Asghar Ali Engineer
Major political parties recognize the significance of Muslims votes. So in the upcoming federal election they are using a variety of tricks to wooing Muslims – but just for their votes and hardly their well being.
IN THE NAME OF “HONOUR” – EDUCATION OF GIRLS IN FEDERALLY ADMINISTERED TRIBAL AREAS OF PAKISTAN UNDER SIEGE
Kiran Omar
Born to be illiterate – is that the fate of girls in certain parts of Pakistan?
THE SAUDI-ISATION OF PAKISTAN
Pervez Hoodbhoy
A stern, unyielding version of Islam is replacing the kinder, gentler Islam of the Sufis in Pakistan. The vibrant culture of the subcontinent is being crucified in Pakistan.
INDIA IS A SILENT BYSTANDER IN SRI LANKAN TRAGEDY
Tapan Bose
Violating all international norms formulated at the end of the World War II, the government of Sri Lanka will practically imprison the Tamil population as a solution to the present conflict and future issues.
A HUMANITARIAN TRUCE TO SAFEGUARD TRAPPED CIVILIANS IN SRI LANKA
(National Peace Council of Sri Lanka; Press Release; January 29, 2009)
In the battle for final victory and surrender of LTTE, the Sri Lanka government does not care who and how many civilians die and suffer – such is the scale of humanitarian crisis.
JOINT INDIA-PAKISTAN CAMPAIGN FOR PEACE AND HARMONY
(Initiated by COVA (Hyderabad) and Piler (Karachi)
We are happy to inform you that the India-Pakistan Joint Signature Campaign against terrorism, war posturing and to promote cooperation and peace between India and Pakistan is drawing excellent support from the civil societies of India and Pakistan. The following prominent personalities have signed the petition: Read the endorsements…
RALLY FOR PEACE BETWEEN PAKISTAN AND INDIA
(SACW Feb 1, 2009 Dispatch# 2604)
Lahore: A massive turnout at the peace rally organized by the Aman Tehreek from Regal Chowk to Punjab Assembly building in a bid to defuse tension and war-mongering between India and Pakistan was seen on January 31, 2009.
CPI(M) AND CPI DEMAND CANCELLATION OF DEFENCE CONTRACT WITH ISRAEL
(Submitted by Vijay Prashad).
On February 9, 2009, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India sent the following letter to Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India opposing defence contrats with Israel.
THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HONORS KING-GANDHI ASSOCIATION
(Submitted by Zafar Iqbal, February 12, 2009)
The US House of Reps passed a with a 460-0 vote a resolution to “…commemorate the impact that Dr. King’s trip to India and his study of the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi had in shaping the Civil Rights Movement…”
OBSERVATIONS OF A BRIEF TRIP TO SHANGHAI: MODERNITY TROUNCING TRADITION
Arun Kumar
A trip to China is an eye-opener for a curious and informed Indian. How does China compare with India in general wellbeing and infrastructure?
OBITUARY: ILLUSION OF AN EPOCH – Victor Kiernan (1913-2009): Historian and India’s friend
Rudrangshu Mukherjee (The Telegraph, February 22, 2009)
The death of the British Marxist historian Victor Kiernan, deeply connected with India, naturally inspired many columns including from Eric Hobsbawm and Tariq Ali. Here is one from Prof. Mukherjee produced below.
HELPING CAPITALISTS WOULD NOT HELP THE CAPITALIST SYSTEM
Daya Varma
Every one knows that the present economic crisis, which started from the U.S. is now affecting the whole world. Yet capitalism as a system is not about to collapse like did the Soviet-brand of socialism. Yet the solution being devised by leaders of the capitalist world are helping individual capitalists but not the system.
THE ASSAULT ON GAZA
Vinod Mubayi
INSAF Bulletin usually limits itself to South Asian issues. However just as Hitler’s attack on Poland was not simply an European but an international matter so also is the attack of Israel on Gaza Palestinians.
“EXTERMINATE ALL THE BRUTES”: GAZA 2009
Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky is one of the most progressive free thinkers of modern times. He is an encyclopedia of facts and an eyesore to the US government; if it were not for his excellence and fame as a linguist, he would probably have been banished. Professor Chomsky has raised his voice for the oppressed and deprived and here he brilliantly analyzes why Israel resorted to this uncalled for barbarism in Gaza.
OBAMA’S STANCE ON GAZA CRISIS: “APPROXIMATELY THE BUSH POSITION”
Noam Chomsky
Will Obama be or not be another Bush, is the question? Obama’s stand on the middle-east conflict within 3 days of his presidency does not make it fully clear but chances are he will be closer to Bush in this regard than to the spirit of his inaugural address.
THE GAZA INFERNO – CAN WE SILENCE THE GUNS FOREVER? YES WE CAN
Kiran Omar
Israel’s lust for Palestinian blood is so intense and crude that any one with heart and soul and a bit of sense of justice can get deeply traumatized. Here Kiran expresses her anguish and frustration mixed with a candid analysis of what is happening in Gaza and why.
GAZA WAR ENDED IN UTTER FAILURE FOR ISRAEL
Gideon Levy
I once saw a documentary called Palestine represented by a young woman. After all the brutalities of Israelis, she stands with her sling and cannons are fired at her. She stands smiling and with her sling slot demolishes the entire Israeli firing squad. This is a film but it is also real. The days when US could win a war is gone since Vietnam. The days when Israel could win also ended with the 6-day war. In a way their December 27 attack on Gaza was no different from their dismal failure in Lebanon. Sure innocent civilians die but their resistance does not. In this article the Israeli journalists recounts how on all fronts Israel lost the war. Will Israel and U.S. ever learn their days are numbered?
PALESTINIANS MEND TUNNELS DESPITE ISRAELI THREATS
How brave and determined are the Palestinians? Read this.
STATEMENTS AND ACT IONS CONDEMNING ISRAEL
Compiled by Daya Varma
As to be expected the Israeli attack on Gaza has received world wide condemnation. INSAF Bulletin is producing what it was able to get and we are sure there have been dozens and dozens of statements not accounted by us. Read what we have access to.
BANGLADESH ELECTIONS BRING NEW HOPE
Daya Varma
Notwithstanding compromises made by the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League in the past, its impressive victory against Zia Khaleda’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in the December 29 elections in Bangladesh is a refreshing development and a decisive verdict against fundamentalism.
BIRTH OF A NEW BANGLADESH: JOY BANGLA
Biplab Pal
Since 1947 when the present Bangladesh was East Pakistan and a major force behind the division of India into India and Pakistan (West and East) on the basis of two-nation theory, the country has had a tumultuous history. When it broke away from Pakistan, Bangladesh was a secular country; it went through several military coups and was ruled by Islamic fundamentalists for a while. The author Biplab Pal expresses his optimism in the future of Bangladesh and points out that economic reforms are a must to guarantee a secular Bangladesh as was the vision of its founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
INVOKING INDIA’S FUHRER: INDUSTRIALISTS CALL FOR MODI TO BE THE PRIME MINISTER
Ram Puniyani
Capital respects no boundaries and has no morals. It is thus not surprising that Tata, Ambani and Mittal, the three biggest industrialists of India with one (Mittal) with second most assets in the word have chosen Narendra Modi, the indignity of India as their new Prime Minister. The author Ram Puniyani who has dedicated along with many to the cause of secularism and democracy in India exposes the nefarious character of the three blood-suckers.
HINDU TERRORISTS
Based on information from Shabnam Hashmi
In one of his frank moods, the former Prime Minister Vajpayee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the political wing of the Hindutva fascist outfit Rashtria Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) got encouraged to say while he was in Goa that all Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims. Obviously he was very wrong because his own party is deep in to terrorism. Who bombed the Hubli court in Karnataka? The evidence is here, they were not Muslims but Hindus.
PAKISTAN’S CIVIL SOCIETY URGES GOVERNMENT TO COME OUT OF DENIAL
Nirupama Subramanian
The Hindu newspaper’s correspondent reports that civil society groups in Pakistan represented by highly respected citizens call upon Pakistan to take its due responsibility in the Mumbai terror attack of last year.
GUFTAGU BAND NA HO (LET’S KEEP ON TALKING!)
Ali Sardar Jafri
[This poem, in Urdu, was written by Ali Sardar Jafri on the occasion of the 1965 war between India and Pakistan. Jafri was a member of the Progressive Writers Association led by the Communist Party of India while PC Joshi was the General Secretary)
SADHUS OF AYODHYA AND LEGISLATORS OF SINDH ASSEMBLY JOIN FOR PEACE
Sent by COVA, Hyderabad, India
Sadhus (Hindu holy men) of India and legislators from Sindh province of Pakistan embark on a novel initiative to bring peace in the subcontinent. An admirable effort with promising consequences.
GRAPPLING WITH ESCALATING VIOLENCE – PAKISTAN’S GROWING PROBLEM WITH INTERNAL MILITANCY
Kiran Omar
Unable to squarely confront the US and unable to improve economic situation in the country, the Pakistan government is steadily creating conditions favorable to terrorists , which threatens Pakistan as well. Montreal-based Kiran Omar originally from Pakistan and a keen observer of Pakistani politics analyzes who fundamentalists who in the past recruited mainly the marginalized are now able to draw middle class youth in their sphere.
TWO MAOIST PARTIES OF NEPAL UNITE
Since the Sino-Soviet split of the 1960’s, practically every one of the non-ruling communist parties split into two or more. Some small parties united since then but that has been of little political significance. The recent unification of two important communist parties [The CPN (Maoist) and the CPN (Unity Centre-Masal)] might signal a reversal of that trend or it might be that unity comes in the process of solving specific problems.
SRI LANKA: TIME FOR INTERNATIONAL ACTION
Compiled by Daya Varma
The recent offensive by the Sri Lanka government against the Liberation Tiger of Tamil Elam (LTTE) has caused loss of lives and property of Tamil civilians in Tamil Majority; naturally this fight to the finish approach also requires silencing ant criticism and exposure of its deeds. The FOUR articles on Sri Lanka produced below are examples of the havoc caused by the government as well as suggestion for peaceful resolution of the national question in Sri Lanka.
SIMILAR YET DIFFERENT: WHAT DALIT ACTIVISTS THINK ABOUT BARACK OBAMA
Anuja Mirchandaney
The 44th President of America, Barrack Hussein Obama, is a black American with ancestry in Kenya. Only 50 years ago a black man could be thrown out of a running train for entering into a all white coach. Naturally his election to the highest office of the most powerful country in the world evoked unprecedented response both within and outside the US, perhaps more than any event in recent history. It is thus natural that Dalits of India look at this development with unusual expectations about their own status and future. But India is at least 50 years behind the US and threatens to prolong the agony of its millions of Dalits, be they Hindus, Muslims or Christians. This article by Anuja Mirchandaney examines the thinking of Dalit activists in India about the developments in America.
[OBAMA] THE 11TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
Fidel Castro Ruz
Fidel Castro is one of the most well-read and educated political leaders with a knowledge and view on almost everything political, even social and economic. Since his retirement he is writing his reflections on various issues. This one is about Obama – the 44th President with George Washington being the first but 11th since the Cuban revolution.
ON IFTI NASIM’S POEM “HIS MASTER’S VOICE”
Kaleem Kawaja
(Ifti Nasim’s poem “HIS MASTER’S VOICE” on the day Barack Hussein Obama was inaugurated as the President of the United States, criticized him as “hiding from his Muslim name Husain”, and “as being a poodle waiting for his master’s order to bomb Muslim countries”. The poem received many comments. One comment was from Kaleem Kawaja who told the critics to “stop this kind of nonsense which shows the Muslim community in poor light”. Some people criticized Mr Kawaja’s comment as unsympathetic to Muslims. Here Mr Kawaja responds to the criticism on his comments on the poem.
NEW YEAR GREETINGS!
INDO-PAK RELATIONS AFTER MUMBAI MASSACRE: BACK TO SQUARE ONE?
Vinod Mubayi
As the refreshing breeze of normalization of relations between India and Pakistan had started to blow across the two countries, forces hostile to peace and sanity staged the Mumbai terrorist attack to renew hostility; this has placed additional burden on civil society and India-Pakistan friendship organizations to work even more vigorously to foil the designs of hawks on both sides of the border.
A CALL FOR SANITY
(Editorial: Economic & Political Weekly, India, December 6, 2008)
A catastrophe awaits if the government takes military action against Pakistan.
UNITING IN THE FACE OF TERROR
Ram Puniyani
Big tragedies like the Mumbai terrorist attack pose big questions and confusion. While there is a good chance that terrorists came from Pakistan, they came into being because of the US attempt to push Soviet Union-backed regime from Afghanistan. These terrorists are also a headache for Pakistan. Who is responsible and what should be done needs sober mind and not jingoism.
TERROR: THE AFTERMATH
Anand Patwardhan
The attack on Mumbai is over. After the numbing sorrow comes the blame game and the solutions. Loud voices amplified by saturation TV: Why don’t we amend our Constitution to create new anti-terror laws? Why don’t we arm our police with AK 47s? Why don’t we do what Israel did after Munich or the USA did after 9/11 and hot pursue the enemy? Solutions that will lead us further into the abyss. For terror is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It thrives on reaction, polarization, militarization and the thirst for revenge.
MUMBAI FOR PEACE: SAY NO TO TERROR AND WAR! SAY NO TO VIOLENCE!
Dolphy D’souza
Thousands of Mumbaikars hold hands for peace and harmony.
INDIA’S UNLAWFUL ACTIVITIES PREVENTION ACT (UAPA): THE RETURN OF POTA & TADA
Rajeev Dhavan
It seems as if the government of India was waiting for an opportunity like the Mumbai mayhem to come up with laws that could prove more dangerous than acts of terrorism by non-state organizations. The December 2008 INSAF Bulletin warned against this possibility. Now it is here; an expert lawyer provides his analysis. After months in pre-trial detention under brutal investigation, the police will extract even untruths. The Bill casts a shadow on all of us. It is founded on the principle that everyone is suspicious or a suspect, with no fine distinction between the two. We are creating a suspicious state to empower suspicious officials and citizenry to act suspiciously against any supposed suspect. This Bill goes further than TADA or POTA in its creation of a suspicious state. India must fight terrorism, but the last thing India wants to be is a terrorist anti-terrorist state.
HINDUTVA FASCISTS DICTATE CIVIC LIFE NO MATTER WHO IS IN POWER
Daya Varma
There are two parties contending to rule India, the Indian National Congress (Congress) and the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). Democratic forces have reservations about the present Congress-led government and the Congress Party in general; however, most of them would prefer Congress rather than BJP to form the central government in 2009. Perhaps it does matter which is the ruling party but unfortunately only minimally so.
MUMBAI REKINDLES DEBATE ABOUT MUSLIMS, THEIR BEARD AND SO ON
Jawed Naqvi
Beard become a source of suspicion, the name becomes a proof. One of the many ways the prejudice against Muslims with adverse socio-political consequences is almost becoming a norm.
IN INDIA, MUSLIMS MARK A SOMBER EID: CELEBRATIONS SUBDUED AFTER MUMBAI SIEGE
Emily Wax
When I first heard of subdued festivity at Eid, I thought it is worse than Mumbai terror. Over 150 million citizens of India feel threatened and respond to this threat in their own way (Daya Varma).
NEPAL: LAND COMMISSION CHIEF SAYS HE WILL PROVIDE LAND TO LANDLESS
Land to the landless is not the same thing as land to the tiller but it is something in the right direction.
COMMUNIST PARTY OF NEPAL (MAOIST) DECIDES TO FORGE REPUBLICAN FRONT
Kathmandu (Xinhua, December 15, 2008)
Instead of going ahead with a People’s Republic like in China, the Nepal Maoists have opted for some kind of Federal Republic, which would accommodate other parties as well.
HEAR HER OUT – A SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN’S AID (SAWA) EVENT.
Kiran Omar
On December 6, 1989, fourteen women students of the University of Montreal Polytechnic were murdered by a lone gunman. Since then some form of commemoration of this tragic event to highlight violence against women is held every year in Montreal. In the following article Kiran Omar deals with the a panel discussion about the important question of violence against women.
OBAMA PRESIDENCY AND SOME QUESTION MARKS
Aijaz Ahmad
Will he be forced to scrap the trajectory he has been following and re-make himself into a latter-day FDR (Roosevelt), as many are hoping?
SIGN OF SYSTEMIC CRISIS: US COMPANIES TOO BIG TO FAIL BUT FAILING
Arum Kumar
Till early 2008 it was believed that certain economic entities are too big to fail, hence safe. Companies like, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, AIG, Merrill Lynch and Citibank each with assets running into hundreds of billions or trillions of dollars were supposed to be in this category. Their turnover was larger than the GDP of most countries in the world. Each one of them has failed since August 2008 and has been bailed out by the US government or bought over by other companies. General Motors, another giant, has been pleading for help.
DEMANDING RELEASE OF LENIN KUMAR AND ABHAYA SAHOO IN ORISSA
Orissa government supported by Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) not only allowed the massacre of Christians but suppresses dissenting voices including by imprisonment. Here is a story of two men arbitrarily arrested and the struggle to get them released.
IK SHUKLAJI MEMORIAL MEETING IN DELHI
Friends of Professor Indukant Shukla (lovingly called Shuklaji) gathered to remember him at the Gandhi Peace Foundation auditorium on December 20th. Shuklaji was a great rebel thinker, writer and activist who breathed his last on September 17, 2008, in California (USA). Shuklaji was born in 1927.
CONDOLENCE FOR DR. YASHPAL CHHIBBAR
K.G. Kannabiran
I am deeply shocked to hear of the said demise this morning of my dear friend and colleague in the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Dr. Yashpal Chhibbar, after a brief illness.
McGILL UNIVERSITY (CANADA) STATEMENT ON MUMBAI ATTACK
Two members of McGill University, Prof Michael Moss and graduate Elizabeth Russel died in Mumbai terror.
TERROR STRIKES MUMBAI AGAIN
Vinod Mubayi
The recent terrorist attack in Mumbai has affected people of all strata. The killers not only attacked the Taj hotel but also the main railway station and Cama hospital, which is frequented by the poor of Mumbai. The death of Karkare, who was investigating the role of Sangh Parivar in terrorism was a grave loss. The assault must be condemned in the strongest terms not only because of its utterly brutal nature but even more so because of its possible repercussions in the country’s polity.
TERRORISM AND SECURITY
Daya Varma
The Indian Prime Minister is being chastised by all kinds of people from Hindutva leader Advani to leftists for not providing adequate security. Making all of India like the present day Kashmir will stifle civilian life with graver consequences than can be brought about by terrorists.
LAMENT FOR MUMBAI: TEARS AS THE CITY OF JOY BURNS
Natasha Fatah
An outpouring of personal anguish by a young Canadian journalist with historic ties with Mumbai.
EMPATHY, GRIEF IN PAKISTAN AT MUMBAI MAYHEM
Beena Sarwar
Karachi-based Journalist Beena Sarwar recounts the outpouring of sympathy in Pakistan for the victims of the Mumbai terrorist attack and for India as a whole.
MUMBAI BLOODBATH
This Joint Statement was released to the press simultaneously in Pakistan and India on November 30 2008.
STATEMENT BY SADBHAV MISSION
MUMBAI UNDER SIEGE
Yoginder Sikand
“O ye who believe! stand out firmly for God, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety: and fear God. For God is well-acquainted with all that ye do.” (The Quran, Surah Al-Maida:8
Big events give rise to big conspiracy theories. Many have been floated following the recent Mumbai tragedy named 9/11 of India. Yoginder examines the saga of Mumbai and the role of Lashkar-e Tayyeba, one of the many outfits in this tragedy.
MUMBAI TERRORIST ATTACKS REPREHENSIBLE CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
Dr. Fai (Kashmir American Council)
The Kashmir American Council like so many other organizations and individuals condemns the Mumbai terrorist attack.
THE DECEMBER ISSUE SHOULD FOCUS ON MUMBAI TERROR
Kiran Omar
Kiran Omar had submitted an article for the December issue of INSAF Bulletin; she felt the issue should focus on Mumbai episode.
KARKARE’S FAMILY REJECTS NARENDRA MODI’S OFFER
Karkare family shuns Rs. 10 million offer from Narendra Modi, the orchestrator of Gujarat anti-Muslim pogrom.
MUMBAI TERROR ATTACKS: UPDATED LIST OF DEAD, INJURED
Submitted by Mumtaz on 28 November 2008 – 7:03pm.
Mumtaz has compiled a partial list of victims of the Mumbai terrorist attack.
TWO GREAT PARTIES, TWO INCOMPETENT LEADERS: ADVANTAGE HINDUTVA FASCISM
Daya Varma
Historically the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Indian National Congress have played a crucial role in forging Hindu-Muslim unity, which is opposed by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), the political wing of Hindutva fascism. There has been a let down in the role of CPI over years and with its division into CPI and CPI(Marxist), electoral politics had a sway. Against the historic and glorious tradition of the Communist Party, the two General Secretaries led the two parties to opportunistically ally with BJP to topple the present government on the non-issue of Indo-US nuclear deal.
FIGHT THE LIBERAL-LEFT MASKS THAT PROTECT THE FASCISTS
Kunal Chattopadhyay
The most important aids to the Hindutva-fascists are being provided by certain liberal or left wing, or even civil libertarian voices and former leftists. The strategy of the RSS and its extra-parliamentary wings are obvious. Yet people with left and liberal masks and past are mobilized by the fascists. These renegades from progressive battles flaunt their pedigrees all the better to defend the fascists in a roundabout way like not condemning strongly the murder of Hindutva leader Lakshmanand Saraswati or lumping all violence to be the same.
FACING UP TO SANGHI TERROR MODULES AND FASCIST DESIGN
From ML Update
Malegaon episode has revealed that the Sangh Parivar represents a lethal convergence of both communalism and terrorism. Custodial torture and fake encounters are invested by the Sangh Parivar and its political wing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) with a halo of gallantry as long as the victims are Muslim. The same forces, however, begin to cry foul the moment some ‘swami’ or ‘sadhvi’ or some army official comes under the scanner.
ANATOMY OF SANGH PARIVAR
Ram Puniyani
The arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in the context of Malegaon blasts along with the arrest of army officers and the involvement of Bhonsala Military School has unfolded the whole new dimension of terrorism. The Sadhvi has been the member of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad and Durga Vahini, which are the parts of Sangh Parivar. However from the time of the murder of Gandhi by Godse, Sangh Parivar continues to deny its role, notwithstanding the evidence, in terrorism.
NANO IN GUJARAT- MAKE BELIEVE STATURE OF MODI
Ram Puniyani
Shifting of Nano from Singur, West Bengal to Gujarat has been projected as a feather in Narendra Modi’s cap. Modi, the organizer of the Gujarat anti-Muslim pogrom of 2002 is being portrayed as the future of India notwithstanding the dismal economic performance of his government.
AND NOW HINDU TERRORISTS?
Asghar Ali Engineer
Ram Madhav of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) contends that there is no such thing as Hindu terrorism. When asked about Sadhvi Pragnya’s arrest, he tried to distance RSS from her as did Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani. However, there is strong evidence of terrorism by Hindu zealots.
DHULE COMMUNAL VIOLENCE: INDEPENDENT CITIZENS’ INITIATIVE REPORT
Suryavanshi, Medha Patkar, M.B. Shah, J.G. Khairnar, Gopinath Landge, Shyam Patil, Avinash Patil, Vinod, Sandeep Barve
A team of concerned citizens investigated the communal riots in Dhule which erupted 9th October after 16 odd years, the previous one having taken place in 1992. The brutal attacks by outside mobs of communally charged youth equipped with arms have shaken the people of Dhule. The damage both in terms of human life and property is enormous. Most of the survivors are mill workers and daily wage laborers or small traders from poor households. No high ranking Govt. official or political leader visited the area and could promise them of building their future. Shocking revelations of the violence against minorities were witnessed. The team gives horrid details of the violence and makes many recommendations.
A HEALTHY DEBATE WITHIN THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF NEPAL (MAOISTS)
Daya Varma
Two separate documents, one authored by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) Chairman and the other by Mohan Baidya were presented to the National Cadre Conference. Prachanda argued in favour of Federal Republic and Baidya for People’s Republic like in China. The debate appeared healthy and the Conference adopted what is termed People’s Federal Democratic National Republic, which seems to accommodate both views. Such debates, not very characteristic of communist parties, are healthy development.
A NEW POLITICAL FORMATION IN UTTAR PRADESH (UP)
Daya Varma
A new political formation in UP, Jan Sangharsh Morcha (JSM), held a massive rally in Lucknow on November 10 . It aims as a third alternative to the two existing parties, one led by the Chief Minister Mayawati and the other by the ex-Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. JSM will field candidates in the upcoming parliamentary elections in 2009 and explore the possibility of all-India platform.
A PROFILE OF NOVEL PEOPLES’ UNITY CAMPAIGN
Based in a report sent by VK Tripathi
Members of Sadbhav Samiti go door to door enquiring about their hardship and popularizing people centric nationalism as opposed to religious nationalism and persuade for communal harmony.
REBUTTAL OF PRAFUL BIDWAI’S COLUMN “THE ROAD TO GUJARAT”
In my (Daya Varma) opinion, political honesty and personal integrity demands that Medha Patkar, Sumit Sarkar and others in the company mount a fiercer resistance against Tata’s Nano venture in Gujarat than they did in Singur. Will they remain content criticizing Tata? This query is the substance of the following letter in Frontline by Ramakumar. The author of the letter Ramkumar argues that “Praful Bidwai’s column (“The Road to Gujarat”, November 7) is intriguing since he along with Medha Patkar and others opposed tooth and nail Tata’s nano car factory venture in Singur, West Bengal, ruled by the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led left front.
DR. ASGHAR ALI ENGINEER CONFERRED D.LITT BY JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA UNIVERSITY
Another honor for Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer.
INDIA: FASCISM ON THE HORIZON
Daya Varma, Feroz Mehdi and Vinod Mubayi
Though not commonly recognized, India is in the midst of a battle between democracy and fascism. The process started with Advani’s Rath Yatra leading to the demolition of Babri Masjid followed by massacre of Muslims and now Christians. Hindutva hordes dictate the civic life threatening full fledged fascism.
NATIONAL CONVENTION: COUNTERING FASCIST FORCES: DEFENDING THE IDEA OF INDIA
A timely two day Convention against fascism was held in New Delhi on October 25 and 26 with participation of a wide spectrum of representatives of the civil society from almost all parts of India. The political resolution passed at the Convention emphasizes the urgency to fight for democracy, secularism and justice and foil the attempts of Hindutva forces to establish fascism.
TATA LEAVES SINGUR, GOES TO GUJARAT; LEFT INTELLECTUALS CRY ‘FOUL’
Vinod Mubayi
Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress succeeded in harnessing the services of all kinds of allies, from leftists to do-gooder environmentalists, to oppose West Bengal’s attempt to facilitate the Indian industrialists Tata in setting up an auto factory in Singur near Kolkata. The protests led to Tata withdrawing from West Bengal and going to Gujarat of Narendra Modi. Are these leftists going to stop Tata’s Nano auto factory in Gujarat or are they only going to relish the defeat of the Communist Party of India-Marxist?
GLOBAL ECONOMIC MELTDOWN – PAKISTAN, AND ITS UNRAVELING ECONOMY
Kiran Omar
Because of the interdependence of different countries in the era of globalization, the current credit crisis in the US has affected every country but Pakistan has not been able to withstand the meltdown due to specific reasons of its own. An important factor for the Pakistani crisis has been the neglect of key sectors of economy by the outgoing Musharraf government.
INDIA: GROWING BUT HUNGRY
G.S. Mudur
Notwithstanding the generally acclaimed booming economy of India, the country is the home of the largest number of hungry people, worse than Sudan, Nigeria and Cameroon. Within India, Gujarat touted as the most prosperous state is only second to Chhattisgarh in hunger score.
ORISSA UPDATE ON ASSAULT AGAINST CHRISTIANS
John Dayal
There is as yet no end in sight for the terror launched by Hindutva hordes on 50,000 Christians in Kandhamal region of Orissa. Judged by what is happening in Orissa, all the stories about democracy and secularism in India seem utterly false.
JAMIA RESIDENTS FOIL “ENCOUNTER” ATTEMPT
Mumtaz Alam Falahi
Indiscriminate rounding of Muslim youths by the police and then framing the victims by attributing violent encounter, which started in Kashmir valley has now become a common occurrence in Muslim areas. One such episode was to occur in Jamia Nagar Police edict when local residents came to the rescue of Amir, who was by dragged into a car by plainclothes policemen.
PEACE MARCH FROM RED FORT TO OKHLA HEAD HELD
V.K. Tripathi
In one of the many attempts by the civil society to promote communal harmony, Sabdhav mission organized a 15 km long peace march via historic places in Delhi.
HOW SECULAR IS INDIA TODAY?
Asghar Ali Engineer
If India was as secular as its Constitution implores, it would be a wonderful place for religious minorities. The author, a renowned scholar and ardent activists for peace and harmony, presents loopholes – numerous enough to undermine the constitution. He analyzes the root cause of the erosion of secularism in India.
AZAMGARH MUSLIMS SHOULD TURN A NEW PAGE
Kaleem Kawaja
Azamgarh (a city and also the name of a district) in Eastern UP of India has a rich history and a substantial Muslim population. The author traces its history and accomplishments as well as the negligible role of its people in the uplift of Azamgarh as they left the district to homes in Pakistan, middle-east and elsewhere.
SOUTH ASIAN COMMUNITY MARCHES AGAINST WAR
N.S. Singh
Approximately 400 people on Oct. 11 attended a three-hour, peaceful, anti-war rally and march through West Rogers Park, a diverse, largely immigrant-based and working-class neighborhood in Chicago.
UNIQUE CIVIL INITIATIVE CONTRIBUTES TO CONSERVATIVES GETTING A MAJORITY IN CANADA: LESSONS FOR 2009 INDIAN ELECTIONS
Daya Varma
A campaign to elect any one who is most likely to defeat the candidates of Conservative Party in November 14 elections contributed to Harper’s failure to get a majority government. This tactics can have implications in Indian elections.
CRUNCH RESURRECTS MARX
Erik Kirschbaum
It is not surprising that the present economic crisis in the capitalist world was foreseen by Marx more than 150 years ago during his analysis of capital. Naturally his classic book Das Kapital is being studied with renewed interest.
IN MEMORY OF I.K. SHUKLA, WHOSE PEN AGAINST HINDUTVA FASCISM AND OTHER REACTIONARIES WAS SHARPER THAN A SWORD! SHUKLAJI DIED ON SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
NUCLEAR DEAL IN THE MIDST OF THE INDIAN POLITICAL CAULDRON
Vinod Mubayi and Daya Varma
INSAF Bulletin has editorially supported the deal since it was proposed based on a basic, rational, technical judgment; for a number of reasons, many of them having to do with climate change and the environment, nuclear electric generation has a role to play in India’s energy future.
ATROCITIES AGAINST MINORITIES, PRE-ELECTION STRATEGY OF HINDUTVA FORCES
Vinod Mubayi and Daya Varma
Elections for the Indian Parliament are due in less than a year. The Hindutva forces are doing every thing they can, including dangerously destabilizing and polarizing the Indian polity by their attacks on minorities, to get their political front, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), elected to form the next government with Advani of the notorious Babri Mosque episode as the next Prime Minister.
DELHI BLASTS: AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA
New Delhi, September 15, 2008,
Dear Dr. Manmohan Singh,
The blasts in Delhi (September 12, 2008) are another in the series of tragic blasts in which scores of people have been killed. We strongly condemn the blasts and demand a proper, unbiased investigation into the same. We demand that the guilty be punished. At the same time it seems that our investigating agencies are ignoring some thing very crucial in the matters of investigating the acts of terror.
RECONCILIATION MAY BE EASY, ACCEPTING THE TRUTH IS TRICKIER
Jawed Naqvi
Saturday’s (September 13, 2008) blasts in Delhi killed 20 innocent people, terrorised the city of 14 million and threatened to deepen its social fault lines. In fact the terrorists, going by an email apparently sent by the shadowy Indian Mujahideen, are now planning to wreak more havoc in Mumbai.
THEN THEY CAME FOR CHRISTIANS…
Ram Puniyani
Orissa is witnessing unprecedented violence against the tiny Christian minority. On August 23, 2008, Swami Laxmananand along with his four followers was killed, probably by a group of Maoists. Immediately, anti-Christian violence began on big scale.
SECOND LINK IN THE CHAIN
K.N. Panikkar
The incidents of August show that communalisation of Orissa is taking place very fast. Communal violence is not new in Orissa, or for that matter in any part of the country. But the latest incident is different, just as what happened in Gujarat in 2002. It is by far the most violent, brutal and widespread incidence of communal attack in the history of Orissa.
THE GLOVES ARE OFF IN PAKISTAN
Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI – Pakistani authorities have compared Saturday evening’s devastating truck suicide attack on the Marriott Hotel in the capital Islamabad to the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Pakistani security guards and employees at the devastated Marriott Hotel in Islamabad on September 22, 2008. Pakistan’s top leadership was set to dine at Islamabad’s luxury Marriott hotel when it was bombed at the weekend but was saved after changing venue at the last minute.(AFP/Pedro Ugarte)
OF OATHS AND PROMISES – ASIF ZARDARI AS THE NEW PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN
Kiran Omar
On 9th September Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of the deceased leader of the PPP, Benazir Bhutto, was sworn in as the 12th President of Pakistan. The PPP won the February election together with their chief political rivals the PML-(N).