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).
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.
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