secular action network - - centre for study of … action network, november, 2015 1 5 ... poem 9....

Secular Action Network, November, 2015

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N E W S L E T T E R D A T E

SECULAR ACTION NETWORK

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

C O N T E N T S 1. CSSS News Report of Public Lecture by Romila Thapar

2. Concerns India Today: Reasons for Concern - Jairus Banaji 3. Articles

Why I, A Muslim, Hosted a Pork Dinner to counter religious extremism - N.P. Ashley India, Pakistan: Same to Same - Javed Anand Why doesn’t the violence against Dalits incite liberal fury, as does violence against Muslim? - Ajaz Ashraf 4. Condemning the attack on Sudeendra Kulkarni 5. Appeal for upholding values of Indian Constitution 6. Scale of Social Violence in escalating 7. From Babri to Dadri – Stop playing with lives and rights of minorities 8. Poem 9. Rejected Film on Beef wins 2 Awards 10. Interview India: Reasoning and rationalism..are Under attack – Interview with P.M. Bhargava Communal forces have hijacked the spirit of our constitution –Interview with Anand Patwardhan 11. Resources

-------------------------------- Ph. 022-26149668, 022-26135098 E-mail: [email protected] Editor: Ram Puniyani, [email protected], www.pluralindia.com Advisory Board: L.S. Hardenia, Irfan Engineer, Dhirendra Panda, Mohammad Arif.

Newsletter of All India Secular Forum

Volume. 10 No.11 November 2015


Postal Address: CSSS, 602 & 603, New Silver Star, Santacruz (E), Mumbai:- 400 055

From the Editor’s Desk

The incidents of intolerance have been going up from last year and a half in particular. Many an artists, writers, scientists have returned their awards. These awardees have been among the best of contributors to social thought and culture. An attempt to vilify them is under progress as to why they did not return their awards when similar events had taken place in the past. The major point being missed deliberately is that these returning awards is not in response to a particular even but to the process of growing intolerance and to the increasing stifling of the liberal democratic space in the present regime. There is a qualitative transformation in the ‘Hate other’ politics, which has gone up during last many months. Already this process of spreading rumors was there, hate propaganda was there but now it’s growing intensity has changed they situation in a qualitative way and so the returning of awards. While we write this; the result of Bihar Assembly elections has come as a big relief. The rout of BJP led NDA has shown that the public has realized that hollow promises of Narendra Modi cannot sell beyond a point. This will certainly arrest the process of growing intolerance and also give boost to the coming together of political forces to oppose the communal politics. .

Ram Puniyani (Editor)

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.pluralindia.com/


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1. CSSS News

Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, activities for the month of October 2015

Report of Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer Memorial Public Lecture

by Romila Thapar 26

th October 2015, K C College, Mumbai

The Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer Memorial

public lecture was organized by the

Centre for Study of Society and

Secularism (CSSS) and delivered by

eminent historian Romila Thapar on 26th

October 2015 at KC College Auditorium

in Mumbai. The lecture was chaired by

prominent academician, Prof. Jairus

Banaji. This lecture on the topic of

“Indian Society and the Secular” was

delivered by Romila Thapar also at

Jamia Milia Islamia University at Delhi

in August 2015. The previous lectures

were delivered by internationally

renowned academicians like Imitiaz

Yusuf, Monirul Hussain, Wajahat

Habbibullah and Faizan Mustafa. These

memorial lectures are organized to

continue discussions and debates on the

questions related to secularism in the

memory of Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer who

dedicated over five decades of his life

for this vexing issue and is celebrated for

his mammoth contribution in this area.

The turnout for the lecture was

overwhelming with the hall being

occupied full to

its capacity of

600 persons and

100 odds people

returning from

the gate of the

venue without

attending the

lecture since the

police denied

them entry

citing security

reasons. The

audience

constituted of

diverse groups.

Some were

students, some

academicians, teachers and professors

working at prestigious universities and

other educational institutions, writers,

prominent film makers, politicians,

cultural activists, political activists

across the range of socialists, left and

liberals working in peoples’ movements.

The audience came from different cities

like Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur, some


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even from other countries. This awe

inspiring response from such cross

sections of society was encouraging. The

audience heard the lecture in a

spellbound manner and asked very

relevant and thought provoking

questions indicating the critical

reflection the lecture ignited in the

audience. The profound scholarship and

sharp wit of the speaker enthralled one

and all. This resonated very strongly in

the feedback given by the audience. The

feedback and response of the audience

was humbling. They found the lecture

very insightful offering a historical

perspective which helps understand the

present socio political scenario in the

country. The audience hoped for more

such lectures on contemporary issues

having ramifications on secularism and

democracy.

The significance of the lecture needs to

be underlined given the attacks on

secular writers- murder of M.M

Kalburgi, Pansare and Dabholkar and

intellectuals and other voices of dissent.

The unconstitutional acts like lynching

of innocent over personal choices like

food or marriage, hate speeches which

aim at spreading hatred and myths

against particular religious communities

and caste atrocities have culminated in

an atmosphere of fear and suppression.

The resounding response and

enthusiastic participation of the audience

was their way of creating democratic

space for a voice of dissent or

independent thinking which wants to

differ than

the political

and social

discourse

encouraged

by the

current

dispensation.

The huge

presence of

audience in

otherwise

commercial

city of

Mumbai was

to reinforce

that cross

sections of

the society

are still unmoved by politics of hate and

authoritarianism and such sane voices

like that of Romila Thapar and Jairus

Banaji must be celebrated and

highlighted. Romila Thapar with her

characteristic witty humor and

formidable knowledge provided that

confidence. She located the history of

India in a liberal narrative replete with

examples of shared culture and

composite culture and dispelled the

colonial perspective of viewing religions

in India as monolithic binaries. She not

only put secularism and the blatant


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attacks on it today in a scholarly

structure but also suggested the way

forth to counter obstacles to secularism.

She urged citizenry to voice up their

disagreements and work in two

important areas of education and civil

laws. The audience demonstrated its

affirmation to the idea of India defined

by secular peaceful space to all its

citizens. By showing up on a working

day in such great strength, they gave a

real tribute to the memory of Dr.

Engineer who always bravely stood up

against entrenched institutions and its

abuse and underscored the intellectual

acumen of a veteran like Romila Thapar.

This for any organizer was very

inspiring and encourages CSSS to

continuously engage with society

through such initiatives.

This report attempts at presenting the

substance of the lecture. Dr. Ram

Puniyani, Chairperson of CSSS and

renowned activist- writer introduced Dr.

Asghar Ali Engineer and pointed out to

the broad four areas of work marked by

significant contribution of Dr Engineer.

These four areas are- Rights of women

in Islam, Bohra reforms, Secularism and

chronicling communal violence in India.

He emphasized that his work and ideas

are all the more relevant and important

in the current social context vitiated with

hatred and intolerance. Adv Irfan

Engineer welcomed everyone to the

lecture and introduced the Speaker and

the Chair. After Dr. Ram Puniyani

presented both with memento as a token

of appreciation, Jairus Banaji, Research

Professor, School of African and

Oriental Studies, said that the BJP’s

victory in the Lok Sabha elections of

2014 had ushered in an unprecedented

attack on India’s democracy and injected

new elements of intolerance and

authoritarianism in the lives of people

living in the country. Behind the mask of

a

developmen

tal regime

promising

rapid

industrial

expansion

and millions

of jobs for

the mass of

unemployed

youth,

we’ve seen

instead a

hideous

explosion of

the cultural

politics of

the Extreme

Right, overt acclamations of a Hindu

rashtra; a wide-ranging takeover of

educational and cultural institutions by

the RSS; a rampant culture of violence

targeting freedom of expression,


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freedom of religion, intellectual

freedoms, even the freedom of the young

to love; a calculated drive to

communalise voters in North India with

hate campaigns that have led to the

horrid lynchings at Dadri and

Udhampur; a shocking subversion of the

judicial system through a concerted

drive to secure the release of elements

indicted on fake encounter and terrorism

charges; fabrication of evidence to crush

a handful of individuals who have

campaigned for justice for the victims of

the Gujarat violence; and of course the

brazen murder of anti-superstition

crusaders. He further said that the fabric

of India’s democracy was today being

torn to shreds.

After his succinct contextualization of

the current threats to secular democracy

in India, he invited Prof. Romila Thapar

to deliver the lecture. Prof. Romila

Thapar stated that a secular society and

polity did not mean abandoning religion.

It meant that the religious identity of the

Indian had to give way to the primary

secular identity of an Indian citizen. She

further said that the State would have to

ensure social justice, provide and protect

human rights that came with the secular

identity of Indian citizen. Such an

identity would be governed by a secular

code of laws applicable to all.

Prof. Thapar further stated that

secularism involved questioning the

control that religious organizations had

over social institutions. Secularism in

her view did not deny the presence of

religion in society but the social

institutions over which religion could or

could not exercise control had to be

demarcated.Some

people opposed

Secularism, Prof.

Thapar said, on

the ground that it

was a western

concept. But

then, she said,

nationhood and

democracy too

were new to post

colonial India,

and the neoliberal

market economy

was a far stronger

imprint of the

west.

Quoting Eric Hobsbawm, Prof Thapar

said that history was to nationalisms

what poppy was to the opium addict –

the source.

Though the anti colonial nationalism

tried to be broad based and inclusive,

bringing in a range of opinion and

drawing from shared history, it did not

question the idea of the monolithic

religious communities. Instead, she said,

it focused more on denying their


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antagonisms, preferred to project just

their co-existence. Prof. Thapar said that

in pre-Islamic times there were no

references to any monolithic type of

Hinduism. There were two broad

categories of sects that propagated their

distinctive ideas; these were referred to

as the Brahmanic and the Shramanic.

Brahmana referred to Brahmanic belief

and rituals. The early phase in Vedic

Bhramanism focused on the ritual of

sacrifice, the yajana, invoking many

deities and especially Indra and Agni

and performed by upper castes. While

Shramana referred to shramanas or

Buddhists, Jainas, monks of other

heterodox orders, the nastika / non

believers and their followers and many

others such as the Charvaka and Ajivika.

The Shramana sects rejected the Vedas,

divine sanctions, the concept of the soul

and were associated with more rational

explanations of the universe and human

society. There was a range of distinct

sects in both these broad categories.

Prof. Thapar further said that

throughout the second millennium AD,

the period described by religious

extremists and politicians as the age

when ‘we were slaves’, there were

scholarly Sanskrit commentaries being

composed on Brahmanical religious

texts from the Vedas onwards from

Kashmir to Kerala. Such scholarship was

not without patronage. The exegesis on

these texts illustrated high levels of

scholarship being widely practiced and

exchanged in many centres of that time.

Sayana’s explanation of the Rig

Veda and Kulluka’s extensive

commentary on the

Manu Dharmashastra are examples of

such learned scholarship.

Prof. Thapar said that the cultural

interaction between what we today call

Hinduism and Islam took the form of

mutual borrowing of various facets of

cultural expressions. Where does one

place the poetry of Sayyad, Mohammed

Jayasi’sPadmavat or the dohas of the

devotee of Krishna, Sayyad Ibrahim Ras

Khan, she asked. Brahmana scholars

who wrote in Sanskrit had close

scholarly relations with the

Mughals. Classical Hindustani and

Carnatic music was patronised by courts

of Maharajas, Sultans and Mughals.

The Sarvadarshana-samgraha of

Madhavacharya written in 14th century

provided a summary of ongoing debates

on schools of philosophy.

The bhajans of Mira and Surdas and of

Tyagaraja and the bandishes of the

Dhrupad ragas were not compositions of

an enslaved people, she opined.

In conclusion, Prof. Thapar said that the

process of secularizing society would

have to address both religion and caste.

She said, a beginning could be made by

ensuring that education and civil laws

were secular. Secular education meant to

her, availability of all branches of

knowledge to all without discrimination

and training young people to use and

understand what was meant by critical

inquiry.

The lecture was followed by opening the

floor for some questions from the

audience. The questions directed at the

speaker sought to understand the role of

media in promoting secularism, the

pitfalls of rewriting NCERT textbooks

and role of education in the sustenance

of a secular polity, the myths propagated

about history especially cultural

aggression of Muslims in Indi and the


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strategies to be adopted by citizenry to a

watch guard of secularism. The

crowning glory of the lecture was the

wide media attention it received and

reportage carried out in different

newspapers- one even from Pakistan!

Below given are some of the links.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/

secularism-begins-with-uniform-civil-

code-romila-thapar/article7806714.ece

http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Artic

le.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=College-

turns-fortress-for-talk-on-secularism-

27102015008019

http://onlineepaper.asianage.com/articled

etailpage.aspx?id=3980618

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-

historian-romila-thapar-says-secularism-

starts-with-uniform-civil-code-2139094

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/foreign/2

7-Oct-2015/social-institutions-sans-

religion-can-make-india-secular

http://www.freepressjournal.in/still-

waiting-for-acche-din-says-thapar/

https://richardrego.wordpress.com/2015/

08/22/full-audio-lecture-by-romila-

thapar-on-indian-society-and-the-

secular/

To access the full lecture delivered by

Romila Thapar please click on the link

below:

http://www.csss-isla.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Roimila-Thapars-Lecture1.pdf

***

2. Concerns

India Today: Reasons for Concern by Jairus Banaji, 27 October

(Full text of the opening remarks statement read out by Jairus Banaji in his capacity as Chair at the public lecture titled "Indian Society and the Secular" by Romila Thapar delivered on 26 October 2015 in Bombay)

The BJP’s victory in the Lok Sabha elections of 2014 has ushered in an unprecedented attack on India’s democracy and injected new elements of intolerance and authoritarianism in the lives of people living in the country. Behind the mask of a developmental regime promising rapid industrial

expansion and millions of jobs for the mass of unemployed youth, we’ve seen instead a hideous explosion of the cultural politics of the Extreme Right, overt acclamations of a Hindu rashtra; a wide-ranging takeover of educational and cultural institutions by the RSS; a rampant culture of violence targeting

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/secularism-begins-with-uniform-civil-code-romila-thapar/article7806714.ece



http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=College-turns-fortress-for-talk-on-secularism-27102015008019




http://onlineepaper.asianage.com/articledetailpage.aspx?id=3980618

http://onlineepaper.asianage.com/articledetailpage.aspx?id=3980618

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-historian-romila-thapar-says-secularism-starts-with-uniform-civil-code-2139094



http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/foreign/27-Oct-2015/social-institutions-sans-religion-can-make-india-secular



http://www.freepressjournal.in/still-waiting-for-acche-din-says-thapar/

http://www.freepressjournal.in/still-waiting-for-acche-din-says-thapar/

https://richardrego.wordpress.com/2015/08/22/full-audio-lecture-by-romila-thapar-on-indian-society-and-the-secular/







http://sacw.net/auteur317.html


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freedom of expression, freedom of religion, intellectual freedoms, even the freedom of the young to love; a calculated drive to communalise voters in North India with hate campaigns that have led to the horrid lynchings at Dadri and Udhampur; a shocking subversion of the judicial system through a concerted drive to secure the release of elements indicted on fake encounter and terrorism charges; fabrication of evidence to crush a handful of individuals who have campaigned for justice for the victims of the Gujarat violence; and of course the brazen murder of anti-superstition crusaders. The fabric of India’s democracy is today being torn to shreds. This is the first government in independent India where the RSS is overtly in command. We are further away from both Nehru and Ambedkar than ever before, from Nehru’s contempt for the RSS as a harbinger of fascism, and Ambedkar’s vision of a casteless India. (It’s worth recalling that in December 1947 Nehru wrote: ‘We have a great deal of evidence to show that the R.S.S. is an organisation which is in the nature of a private army and which is definitely proceeding on the strictest Nazi lines’; and again in December 1948, ‘The R.S.S. is typical…of the type of organisation that grew up in various parts of Europe in support of fascism’) In this brief statement I’d like to draw your attention to three strands of this wide-ranging assault on democracy that merit particular concern.

The most troubling aspect of the state of Indian democracy remains, as always, the appalling culture of impunity that has evolved since the anti-Sikh pogroms for mass crimes that target minorities with the explicit backing of leading political figures. It is appalling that politicians known to be complicit in large-scale communal violence have escaped legal retribution and are not even seen to be seriously threatened by legal sanctions. The fatal omission here in India’s criminal justice system is a clear and robust concept of command responsibility. Even hate speech cannot be combated legally without having to seek the consent of the executive, a preposterous Catch 22. Majoritarian notions of democracy. These sustain the new cultures of intolerance by giving them a seeming legitimacy. ‘You have hurt my sentiments’ is the fiction used to justify both violence and intolerance. The so-called sentiments that are said to be hurt are manipulated, serial devices akin to the Nazi ‘stab in the back’ theory that was used to justify the attacks on German democracy in the 1920s. Majority and minority are not organic realities, they are serial identities, false manipulated constructions that have no existential reality beyond the manipulations themselves. Any minority constructed by majoritarianism will by the nature of its situation be and feel marginal and insecure. What is affirmed here is a fundamental lack of equality, a huge black hole at the heart of our democracy.


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Organised mysticism and cultures of gullibility Dabholkar, Kalburgi and Pansare were active in combating the organised mysticism and cultures of gullibility widespread at the ‘popular’ level. How can any modern democracy flourish if the supposedly ‘popular’ cultural base is one steeped in various forms of promoted mysticism and credulousness? These enterprises have both an ideological and an economic dimension. They are run by religious entrepreneurs who have every stake in keeping the mass of the population in a state of abject subjugation. They exploit the poor and they reinforce a pervasive cultural domination over them. Witness the latest example of this cynicism, Ramdev’s exhortation to the poor and the middle class to stop eating pulses since the prices have gone through the roof. If we have a Prime Minister who, as one distinguished writer says in a recent interview, ‘is not doing anything to stem the rising tide of hatred’, it’s worth asking why. The liberal media hankers

for a liberal Prime Minister, one who will intervene decisively to crush the extremist fringe and refocus the country’s attention where it matters. But the fringe/Centre binary is seriously misleading in one sense at least. The Hindu Right is not a fragmented movement but one deeply unified at the ideological level, even if it speaks in different voices, through different organisations, and works at a multiplicity of levels. What the media are therefore asking for is for the Prime Minister to repudiate the ideology that spawned him. When Gandhi described the RSS as a ‘communal body with a totalitarian outlook’, he nailed a description that remains as valid today as it was in the forties. Of course, Modi is not Bhagwat, he incarnates that wing of Hindu nationalism that seeks to position itself as modernising India without secularism and without constitutional democracy. The vast mass of citizens in this country have to ask themselves whether that is the vision of India they seriously subscribe to.

***

3. Articles

Why I, A Muslim, Hosted A Pork Dinner To Counter Religious Extremism

N. P. Ashley (Assistant Professor of English, St. Stephen's College, Delhi)

Posted: 20/10/2015 08:18 IST Updated: 20/10/2015 11:05 IST http://www.huffingtonpost.in/n-p-ashley/indian-theatre-of-normalc_b_8328812.html?utm_hp_ref=india

The lynching of a middle-aged Muslim man for allegedly consuming beef in

Dadri wasn't a vicious campaign getting out of hand for the Bharatiya Janata

http://www.huffingtonpost.in/n-p-ashley/indian-theatre-of-normalc_b_8328812.html?utm_hp_ref=india


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Party. It was an inevitable outcome of their projects to forge a vote base around a religious community. Now, it is highly preposterous to argue that all those who voted or will vote for the BJP will support 200 Hindus forming a militant mob and killing one unarmed man about to sleep at home. But politics, when done around aestheticised, emotionalised images such as the cow, does have the potential to construct communities as majority and minority. The "spurs of the moment" in the form of mob terror only consolidates these segments. Like in the Mahabharata, once into a war situation, there is no right or wrong. All that there is to it is support, protect and fight for "your people". Hence bringing people into that conflict zone is important for politics that believes in the right of the might. Even daring oppositions and ethically and constitutionally provoked responses run the risk of acting within this frame where meat is used as some kind of a short form for religious consolidation and its political narratives. "Though there were only three or four threats, my fear of repercussions only gave me yet another reason to hold the event... " It was this anguished awareness of the need to reject the current frame of discussion in my own personal ways that made me put up a post on my Facebook page on 5 October, in which I offered a treat of pork to the first five people who expressed an interest in doing so. Despite being a Muslim and a non-pork eater for religious, personal and cultural reasons, my point was to give the militants a lesson in respecting and living with people with different faiths, food habits and cultural practices.

The attention that my FB post got went beyond anything I had imagined. What started off as extraordinary interest among Facebook friends slowly found its way into mass media, starting with the Huffington Post and Doolnews in Malayalam. The story was eventually picked up by as many as 18 English-language media houses, many regional newspapers and some international newspapers and radio channels, including Radio France International. Tens of thousands of likes and thousands of shares from these links and the hundreds of messages and comments I received in support pointed to the possibility that the twist in the story, a Muslim offering pork to protest the lynching for eating beef, did resonate with many people. In addition to exultation, there were three other responses: warnings of danger that could come my way, a certain silence, and dismissals and scathing criticisms that filled the online space. Though there were only three or four threats, my fear of repercussions only gave me yet another reason to hold the event -- for fear has to be addressed, not shied away from. The chosen silence of some was positive to me: pushing people into an uncomfortable domain of political confusion helps the objective of rejecting the available frames. As for the repeated and abundant criticisms, they need to be answered. The first and most repeated allegation against me was that the whole post was a publicity stunt. My counter-question: what kind of a country do we live in where one Facebook post offering lunch could become international news? The news value of this step only proves the shallowness of our Republic's political reality today. It does not provide any


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window to value judge my intentions or benefits! "[W]hat kind of a country do we live in where one Facebook post offering lunch could become international news?" Many argued that I was creating a binary between holy cow (for Hindus) and prohibited pork (for Muslims). Aren't the reasons quite different and hence the step fallacious, I was asked. First of all, there was no attempt to position the event as beef versus pork. The attempt was against political oppositions created using these food choices. The question would have worked had I been advocating that somebody who worships the cow as holy should kill one to serve others. I wasn't saying that (nor was I killing pigs to serve -- I was merely ordering a meat I wouldn't eat for others). The point was about cultural, religious and personal differences and on keeping one's beliefs to oneself, rather than imposing them on others. Moreover, no believer, however strong his or her faith is, wants to kill people who eat meat of the genus of the animal they worship. It is a matter of rule of law getting disrupted in the politics of hatred. My critique was aimed at the impact -- not scriptural intent. I was supporting cruelty towards animals, went another lot. Well, I would respect that argument when such people stop using sugar, medicines, leather, percussion instruments and beauty products that use animal body parts. Till then, I can only wonder about the politics of those who time their talk on animal rights for days in which people are getting killed for eating meat. At a time when fascism is creeping in, aren't such steps through food silly? We are trapped more by lifestyle than by ideologies. Forgetting the concreteness of experience for abstract political ideas

can be dangerously inadequate. To the question if it isn't too soft and benevolent a gesture to violent killing, my response is: well, there are and there must be non-violent ways to counter violence. When the political need of majoritarianism is to polarise and turn discourses entirely arbitrary, communicative actions that build towards an ethical, peaceful platform can be potent. Or so I hoped. "To the question if it isn't too soft and benevolent a gesture to violent killing, my response is: well, there are and there must be non-violent ways to counter violence." Some Islamists thought I was attempting to "look secular" and become a "good Muslim" -- it was not that they didn't notice what the protest was about, but they had to be cynical, for polarisation benefits them equally. Some dyed-in-the-wool progressives were critical I stated my religion as Muslim. My confusion was that, had I been a Christian or Hindu, where is the political point? I don't believe religious identity is the only identity one has. Everyone is Hindu/Muslim/Christian among many other things (be that gender, caste, region, language, race or nationality). The ones prioritised will keep changing as per the context. At this juncture of our discourses and in this particular political step, it became important to state my religious identity. Anyways, in these strange times, the most normal of things to do like taking people with varying food preferences and cultural differences out to lunch, had to be staged. It's a time when deciding to "stay you" and refusing to recognise the unethical and violent compulsions around becomes a political critique. It was performed in its


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everydayness but without losing its crucial political content. As one of us, Benston John, summed it up in his Facebook post after the event: ***We had among us Hindus, Muslims, Christians and a Sikh! We are from the academia, NGOs, IT sector, banking and freelance! We ate beef, pork, lamb, chicken and vegetables but we did it

together and all the while respecting each other's choices of what to eat and what not to eat! And we also share a lot more in common even with all the differences. We share concern, anguish and frustration over the fascism that is taking over this beautiful land of ours. But we did not let anything spoil our meal!***

***

India, Pakistan: Same to same Javed Anand

Laws banning beef are not new to India, but new beef-ban laws are to India what the obnoxious blasphemy law is to Pakistan. Human beings are killed in Pakistan in the name of the holy Prophet. In India, they are lynched in the name of the holy cow.

Nearly a quarter century ago, when the Babri Masjid was demolished, Fahmida Riaz, a well- known Urdu writer, poet and feminist of Pakistan who had spent many years in exile in India with her husband and taught at the Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, had greeted the militant saffron brigade with her inimitable, soaked-in-sarcasm verse, Naya Bharat:

Tum bilkul hum jaisey nikley Ab tak kahan chupe the bhai Voh moorakhta, voh ghaamarpan jis mein hum ne sadi ganwai Aakhir pahunchi dwaar tumharey Arre badhai, bahut badhai

Pret dharam ka naach raha hai Qayam Hindu raaj karoge? Saarey ultey kaaj karoge Apna chaman taraaj karoge… Kaun hai Hindu, kaun naheen hai

Tum bhi karoge fatwe jaari… Hoga kathin yahan bhi jeena… Yahan bhi sabki saans ghutegi Kal dukh se socha karti thi Soch ke bohot hansi aaj aee, Tum bilkul hum jaise nikle... Hum do qaum nahin the bhai! (You turned out to be just like us Similarly stupid, wallowing in the past You’ve reached the same doorstep at last. Congratulations, many congratulations. Your demon (of) religion dances like a clown/ Whatever you do will be upside down/You too will sit deep in thought and ponder/Who is Hindu, who is not/You too will issue Fatwas/Here too it’ll be difficult to live/Here too people will feel suffocated This is what I used to think yesterday and get depressed/But today I can’t stop giggling For you’ve turned out to be just like us We are not two different nations/We are the same)

The “bhagwa bhais” are out in the open again, and they are ruling the roost. From Dadri to Delhi, the “Naya Bharat” she alluded to is in evidence everywhere.

http://wwv.asianage.com/javed-anand-183


13

Earlier, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, a Union minister in the Narendra Modi-led government, announced that India is made up of just two kinds: “Ramzadas and Haramzadas”. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh supremo Mohan Bhagwat proclaimed that the century-old Savarkarite/RSS maxim (“India belongs only to Hindus”) is now a reality. “This is our nation, this is our Hindu Rashtra,”

Mr Bhagwat has often thundered, often. On “haramzadas”, however, he seemingly takes a benign view. After all they are “apna maal” (Mr Bhagwat’s words) to be brought back into the Hindu fold via the “ghar wapsi” abhiyan.

Rajeshwar Singh, RSS man in charge of Braj region, western Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and leader of the Dharam Jagran Manch, is ecstatic: “Just wait and watch. December 31, 2021, is the last day for Christianity and Islam in this country. We will finish Christianity and Islam in this country by December 31, 2021”.

Not content with the role of benign spectator, the state too is doing its bit to hasten the march forward of Hindutva. Laws banning beef are not new to India, but new beef-ban laws are to India what the obnoxious blasphemy law is to Pakistan. Human beings are killed in Pakistan in the name of the holy Prophet. In India, they are lynched in the name of the holy cow. In matters of fabricated faith, facts are irrelevant. Mere accusation is now sufficient for the lynch mobs on both sides of the border.

If insults, real or imagined, to the Prophet are unpardonable in Pakistan, so are insults to the holy cow in “Naya Bharat”. BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj said it best: “If someone insults our mother, we would rather die than tolerate it… for us

it is Bharat Mata, our biological mother and gau mata”.

“Those opposed to yoga have no right to live in India,” proclaimed BJP MP Yogi Adityanath. “Those who can’t live without beef should go to Pakistan,” advised Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. He’s Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs. “Muslims seeking reservations should go to Pakistan,” warns the Shiv Sena.

And what can one say about the two-pronged “Bahu lao, beti bachao” abhiyan, exhorting Hindu youth to lure Muslim girls into marrying them to combat the alleged “love jihad” of Muslims marrying Hindu girls.

Dinanath Batra is now our guru for all that’s worth knowing. Mr Batra’s worldview is clearly shared by none less than the Prime Minister of India as was apparent from his speech at a function in Mumbai in December 2014: “We can feel proud of what our country achieved in medical science at one point of time. We all read about Karna in Mahabharat. If we think a little more, we realise that Mahabharat says Karna was not born from his mother’s womb. This means that genetic science was present at that time. That is why Karna could be born outside his mother’s womb”.

The commitment of India’s culture minister, Mr Mahesh Sharma, to bring back “gaya zamana” is total. “We will cleanse every area of public discourse that has been Westernised and where Indian culture and civilisation need to be restored — be it the history we read, our cultural heritage or our institutes that have been polluted over years,”

Mr Sharma pledges at an RSS meet to launch a countrywide movement to rid


14

the nation of “sanskritik pradushan” (cultural pollution).

What’s part of our culture and what’s not? Easy: the Ramayana and Gita (unlike the Bible and Quran) are part of our culture, and will be made part of the school curriculum; no night out for girls as that’s not part of our culture. Most important.

After all, Union culture minister Mahesh Sharma has said so: “In our culture, women of three generations cook food in the same kitchen... in Europe, a 16-year-old leaves home.” And, “I respect Bible and Quran but they are not central to soul of India in the way as Gita and Ramayana are.”

And if ignoramus rationalists, atheists and communists such as Dhabolkar, Pansare and Kalburgi create hurdles in our reconnecting with our glorious past, culture and history, they just have to be

swept out of the way.As we march to our distant past, the Prime Communicator of India, who has much to say about “Make in India”, has finally broken his silence. Taking a cue from the President of India, he has asked us not to pay attention to “some small-time politicians” who are making “irresponsible statements for political interests...” But aren’t they are his own politicians, and isn’t it a shared political interest?

Sitting inside this paradise knitted by the Prime Minister’s words, and gazing across at Dadri and the saffron brigade, why does it feel like I’m in Pakistan, why do I feel like calling Fahmida Riaz and saying, “Haan! Hum bilkul tum jaisey nikley”?

The writer is co-editor of Communalism Combat and general secretary, Muslims for Secular Democracy

***

Why doesn't the violence against Dalits incite liberal

fury, as does violence against Muslims?

Could it have something to do with the fact that it does not affect our urban lives

and 'rural India is like that only'?

Ajaz Ashraf Photo Credit: IANS

It seems our liberalism is impervious to

issues arising from rural India. That

might be another country, its people

deemed to live by another order of

values. It is almost certain that the

immolation of the two Dalit children,

Vaibhav and Divya, in Sunpedh village

of Haryana will not constitute the

nation’s memory, as will the lynching of

Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri. Why is it

that the violence against Dalits does not

incite our fury, as does violence against

Muslims?

Rural India is often the site of

unspeakable atrocities against Dalits.

The violence there doesn’t imperil the

urban sprawls where we live – the

political class, journalists, policy people,

http://scroll.in/authors/576


15

opinion-makers included. Communal

riots, barring a few exceptions, are an

urban phenomenon. They threaten to

upturn our ordered lives.

Then again, caste violence stems from a

dominant social group’s quest to retain

its socio-economic superiority, whether

through payment of low wages, or

competition for resources, or through

imposition of the social code affirming

the Hindu caste hierarchy. We in urban

India can comprehend caste violence in

rational terms. What we can explain is

also easy to reconcile with, particularly

when it doesn’t menace our urban space.

Atrocity upon atrocity

Take some of the major incidents of

violence against Dalits –

the Kilvenmani massacre in Tamil Nadu

in 1968 (44 Dalits killed), the gang-rape

of Phoolan Devi and her own vengeance

against 22 Rajputs in Behmai in 1981,

the 1996 killing at Bathani Tola in Bihar

(21, including three infants, died),

the Laxman Bathe bloodbath in Bihar

(58 died) in 1997… You could go on

and on. Last year,

in Dangawas, Rajasthan, a tractor was

driven over three Dalits, crushing them

to death. The names of places marked in

bold are all villages.

Yet, in the wake of the burning alive of

two children in Haryana last week, most

media commentaries referred to the

September 2006 incident at Khairlanji.

This too is a village, near Nagpur, in

Maharashtra. A land dispute resulted in a

caste mob stripping naked a Dalit

woman and her 17-year-old daughter,

and marching them through the village

before they were raped, in front of an

assembly of people, and killed. The

woman’s two sons were also murdered.

Why is it that we remember Khairlanji

so vividly? Because of the shocking

nature of the crime, you’d say. But

perhaps a more compelling reason is that

Khairlanji intruded upon the urban

space. The resentment brewing among

the Dalits over Khairlanji spilled out at


16

the desecration of an Ambedkar statue in

faraway Kanpur, UP. Nanded, Nashik,

Aurangabad, Pune and Mumbai and its

neighbouring areas began to burn. The

urbane equipoise was ruffled, indelibly

etching Khairlanji on our consciousness.

Threat to urban life

By contrast, Hindu-Muslim riots

represent a perpetual threat to urban life.

No doubt, these have an ideological

framework, but the immediate goad for

the periodic eruptions is petty, even

irrational. They fight over the route a

religious procession should take, the

singing of kirtans and the recitation

of azaans in temples and mosques

simultaneously, the discovery of pork or

beef at places of worship, and, now

increasingly, over gender relationships.

The causes for riots don’t have an

economic underpin, and in cases where

it is indeed present, it is not visible to us.

Communal riots, therefore, seem like an

outburst of atavistic passion, anathema

to the organising of urban space. This is

because life in a city can’t be lived in

isolation. Regardless of the emergence

of fenced neighbourhoods, we are

required to attend offices or schools or

colleges or shop around for our

necessities. The atavistic passion can

swamp us all, as the densely populated

urban sprawls help spread it rapidly.

Villages, in contrast, are relatively

isolated and self-sufficient to a degree, at

least enough to create a firewall to stem

caste violence. It affects only a few; a

village or two brought to a standstill

can’t insinuate into the national

consciousness. We remember violence

because of the severity of its impact, its

ability to impinge on urban life.

Terribly one-sided

Caste violence in India is terribly one-

sided. Barring a few exceptions, it

follows a typical course – members of a

family or a couple of friends are killed

for defying the dominant caste; at times,

the dwelling units of the community are

set ablaze. Dalits protest, pelting stones

or blocking traffic on an obscure

highway, police make arrests, and

politicians issue statements. Life slips

into its familiar pattern of exploitation.

The Dalits are too disempowered to

retaliate against their tormentors, whose

social group is often of the urban

privileged. We know a circle of violence

will not be created to suck us into it.

This is why Maoist violence shocks, for

it targets the representatives of the state.

Its growth is potentially a threat to our

future.

Riot after riot

We prioritise what we want to remember

on the basis of our past experiences.

Communal riots have a distinct echo in

the collective memory because of the

price already paid. There were stray

incidents of rioting in the beginning of

the 19th

century, such as the one Banaras

witnessed in 1809.


17

But riots became alarmingly frequent in

the 1880s and 1890s, particularly in UP,

over issues such as, yes, cow-slaughter.

Then there were those horrific Partition

riots: millions were killed. Every riot, or

the communal ambience, as it exists

today, whispers a warning of the bloody

past visiting us again.

This is ostensibly paradoxical. Though

the large-scale Hindu-Muslim violence

witnessed between the 1960s and the

1980s has faded away, barring the riots

in Gujarat (2002) and Muzaffarnagar

(2013), yet we recall our bloody past

more frequently now.

This is because the riots now serve

ideological purposes. The concept of a

Hindu rashtra is to us today what

separatism and the demand for Pakistan

was to the people before Independence.

A minor communal incident acquires

menacing overtones because of the

growing strength of the Hindu Right,

mimicking, in some ways, the rise of the

Muslim League in the years before the

Partition.

The politics of caste

The politics of caste doesn’t have as

violent a legacy as the politics of

religion, though Tirunelveli witnessed

riots in 1899 because of the Nadars’

insistence on entering temples. Caste

riots stained Kerala in 1905.

However, the dominant legacy of caste

is reservations. It evokes in us urban

Indians the fear that the idea of building

a meritorious society has been

compromised. They took a percentage of

government jobs and seats in educational

institutes that could well have been our

children’s, we argue. This conjured

sense of deprivation has perhaps made

us insensitive to the barbarity against

Dalits.

Another cause could be that violence is

built into the caste system. The violation

of caste codes traditionally invited

sanctions. It legitimised violence. Since

the caste system persists even today, so

does the justification for the violence

implicit in it. We are wedded to the

equality of all as enshrined in the

Constitution. But then we add: “Rural

India is like that only.”

Through caste is exercised social

control. It has loosened, no doubt. But a

good many Dalits wonder what their fate

would have been had Gandhi not

undertaken a fast unto death and

compelled Ambedkar to relinquish the

demand for a separate Dalit electorate.

In return, seats were reserved for the

Dalits in a joint Hindu electorate. It is

because of the system of reserved

constituencies that there are 84 Dalits in

the Lok Sabha today, 85 MLAs in Uttar

Pradesh, 29 in Maharashtra, 38 in Bihar,

and 17 in Haryana.

Why don’t the elected representatives of

Dalits protest against the atrocities

committed against their community with

a monotonous frequency? This is

because the system of reserved


18

constituencies means every political

party must field a Dalit candidate. The

votes of Dalits are therefore split. The

winner in these constituencies is one

who polls the maximum votes of non-

Dalit communities.

In other words, a Dalit MP or MLA has

to be dependent on the goodwill of even

the oppressing castes. He or she can’t

alienate them through their rhetoric or

action. He or she must not also stray

away from the line of the party to which

he or she belongs. This is particularly

true of those parties dependent on the

votes of the oppressive groups, whether

upper or intermediary castes. The famed

middle path full of ambiguity and lip

service to the Dalit cause becomes the

party line.

Perhaps the only exception to the above

rule is Tamil Nadu’s Pattali Makkal

Katchi, whose leader Anbumani

Ramadoss has been vitriolic in his

attacks against Dalits. But urban India

mostly knows there are methods of

social control subtler than invoking fear.

I often turn to Dr Satish Prakash, a Dalit

activist and associate professor in

Meerut College, for issues pertaining to

the community, as I did for this piece.

He said, “Let me be very frank – the

presence of Muslims in India is the

greatest protection for Dalits.”

Indian democracy, Dr Prakash argues,

relies on mobilisation through the

politics of identity. The Hindu Right

seeks to control Dalits – that is

Scheduled Castes and lower OBCs – by

turning them against Muslims, by

making them feel a part of the Hindu

monolith. Had the Muslims not been

around, the Dalits would have been

targeted directly.

Urban India understands this, doesn’t it?

We all know the atrocities against Dalits

will be episodic, will remain confined to

rural India, and not spiral out of control

to enmesh us in cities as well. We trust

the Hindu Right on this count at least.

Ajaz Ashraf is a journalist in Delhi. His

novel, The Hour Before Dawn, has as its

backdrop the demolition of the Babri

Masjid. It is available in bookstores.

***

4. Condemning the attack on Sudeendra Kulkarni

Indialogue Foundation.

We Indialogue foundation strongly

condemn the Shiv Sena paint attack on

Mr. Sudheendra Kulkarni which

happened on the book launch "Neither a

hawk nor a dove" by former Pakistani

foreign minister Khurshid Mahmood

Kasuri. This act was a pure symbol of

shame for the whole nation.It is another

black day in Indian history. We stand

united in the support of Mr. Kulkarni

against any person who act as a hurdle

and a rival to the advocates of peace.


19

Such shameful and disrespectful incident

by Shiv Sena had put the whole nation in

shock. The incident urges us to think

about the cruelty of Shiv Sena and

because of such parties peace cannot be

brought between the two countries.

We appreciate his work and even after

the incident how bravely he took a stand

to continue the event peacefully. We will

support in all his future work and we

want him to continue such great work in

the future.

Suat Canan, Regional Director Indialogue Foundation

*** 5. Appeal for Upholding values of Indian Constitution

If we do not stem the rot now – it might be too late”: Admiral Ramdas’ open letter to PM Modi

Honourable President and Honourable Prime Minister,

It is with a heavy heart, that I write this open letter to you at a time when our beloved country and people are facing severe challenges and threats to our shared heritage.

I have served in the Armed Forces of India – joining soon after Independence as a 14 year old, to end up 45 years later Chief] of the Indian Navy [1990 to 1993] I have witnessed many transitions in India – from the horrors of partition in 1947 to the very different world of digital connectivity that we see today.

I also write to you as one who was brought up in the Hindu faith. However, the Hinduism I knew and experienced was gentle, inclusive, and filled with extraordinary diversity. My religion taught me values of love and respect for all beings. My brand of Hinduism was not filled with the kind of violence, intolerance represented by the current brand of “Hindutva” that seems to be fanning the flames of division and fear across the country.

Today, as a veteran in my eighties, I am forced to hang my head in shame as I witness a series of incidents and assaults on our fellow citizens, especially minorities and dalits. Our armed forces which I have had the honour to serve for 45 years, have been an exemplar of India’s secular ethos. Be it in ships and submarines, or in planes and battle formations, we do not discriminate on the basis of caste or religion – we train, we fight, we live, we eat and we die together.

So why are we bearing witness to increasing attacks on minorities across the country, ever since the present government came to power in May 2014? It appears that certain communities are being singled out for special attention – for instance Muslims. Today a Muslim has to prove his or her loyalty, and they are being repeatedly put in a situation where their places of worship are under attack, as indeed their eating habits, and other basic freedoms. The instances of completely unacceptable and unilateral mob behaviour leading to many deaths as

http://www.indiaresists.com/if-we-do-not-stem-the-rot-now-it-might-be-too-late-admiral-ramdas-open-letter-to-pm-modi/

http://www.indiaresists.com/if-we-do-not-stem-the-rot-now-it-might-be-too-late-admiral-ramdas-open-letter-to-pm-modi/


20

well as direct insinuations being made by senior leaders, are too numerous and well known to be repeated.

There seems to be a systematic and well orchestrated attempt to impose a majoritarian single point agenda of creating a Hindu Rashtra in India – led by the RSS and their network of groups, which is disturbing to say the least. This in turn has resulted in a dangerous pattern of mob behaviour including intimidating and lynching people merely on the basis of rumours – in total disregard for the established rule of law. In many cases those responsible for implementing the law, have themselves displayed blatant partisan tendencies and behaviour.

Most shocking of all is the fact there has been no unambiguous condemnation of such actions and behaviour by those at the helm of affairs in the country. Sadly, time and time again, the response of the government seems to indicate an almost studied, but certainly not benign, indifference . The co-ordinated response of those in government seems to be to downplay the serious and vicious nature of these allegations and attacks – by terming them ‘sad’ and ‘unfortunate’ – whereas there should be outrage and a demonstrated will to ensure that this society will not tolerate such behaviour. That there are MPs, Cabinet ministers and elected Chief Ministers who are in the forefront of these comments and actions, leads one to believe that the ruling party and its satellite organisations are working to a plan.

I do not need to point out to the top leadership today, that this is playing with fire in a nation where minorities – especially Muslims and Christians, as also dalits and adivasis, are already feeling discriminated and marginalised. Instead of treating this amazing diversity as our strength, today we are being seen by the international community as

increasingly insular, parochial, intolerant, racist and even fascist. The violence visited upon vulnerable sections reinforces the image of India as an imperfect democracy where all forms of dissent are discouraged and human rights trampled upon with impunity.

The Prime Minister and his ministers in the government are sworn in by the President of India, and they take an oath pledging to uphold the Indian Constitution. Their failure to do so, as evidenced in the foregoing, is a serious matter and does not augur well either for national security or national integrity. The Central and State Governments must act swiftly, unequivocally condemn all such incidents and ensure that justice will be done and the guilty are punished. Such action alone will have a salutary deterrent effect on all those, be they fringe or mainstream, who are speaking and acting in many voices that are totally against and inimical to, our traditional ethos and the syncretic culture of our country and its people.

India represents a unique blend of peoples and cultures which have evolved over 5000 plus years in a constantly changing and dynamic process. This diversity and unique nature of our society and people can probably never be replicated anywhere on this earth – and for this reason alone, the concept of a single religious identity or mono culture represents an insult to this ancient civilisational heritage.

Honourable Mr President, Honourable Mr Prime Minister, you have both sworn to honour the right of every single citizen to freedom of speech, worship, association as brilliantly articulated in the Indian Constitution. As a former serviceman and a veteran, like you, I too have promised to uphold the same constitution. It is our bounden duty that the elected Government of this nation must honour the rights of every citizen


21

of this land as amply spelled out in the Preamble of the Constitution and further elaborated in the Directive Principles of state policy. As Supreme Commander and the Chief Executive – this is what you must ensure and implement by all the powers vested in you by the people of India.

If we do not stem the rot now – it might be too late. Indeed we the people of India look to you to take all steps necessary to restore faith in our democracy and in the promise of bringing dignity, fraternity and equality to each of our citizens.

Admiral L. Ramdas

***

6.Scale of social violence in escalating

'Scale of social violence is escalating': 300 artists express alarm about attacks on

minorities

'A government that does not tolerate difference, that does not safeguard the lives

and interests of its marginalised and vulnerable citizens, loses its legitimacy in a

democratic polity.' Scroll Staff ·

hoto Credit: www.aaa.org.hk

More than 300 of India's most high-

profile visual artists, including Vivan

Sundaram, Anjolie Ela Menon, Sudhir

Patwardhan and Nilima Sheikh, have

expressed their support for writers who

have returned their state awards and

criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi

for his failure to categorically condemn

recent attacks by right-wing groups on

minorities.

"The scale of social

violence and fatal

assaults on ordinary

citizens (as in Dadri,

Uttar Pradesh;

Udhampur, Jammu and

Kashmir; Faridabad,

Harayana) is

escalating," they said

in a statement released

on Tuesday by

SAHMAT. "The

contemptuous

comments about the

religious minorities and Dalits made by

those within the government confirm

that there is little difference between the

RSS-BJP mainstream and supposed

‘fringe’ elements."

Here is the full text of their statement.

http://scroll.in/authors/8


22

The artist community of India stands in

firm solidarity with the actions of our

writers who have relinquished awards

and positions, and spoken up in protest

against the alarming rise of intolerance

in the country. We condemn and mourn

the murders of MM Kalburgi, Narendra

Dabholkar and Govind Pansare,

rationalists and free thinkers whose

voices have been silenced by rightwing

dogmatists but whose ‘presence’ must

ignite our resistance to the conditions of

hate being generated around us.

We will never forget the battle we

fought for our pre-eminent artist M.F.

Husain who was hounded out of the

country and died in exile. We remember

the rightwing invasion and dismantling

of freedoms in one of the country’s best

known art schools in Baroda. We

witness the present government’s

appointment of grossly unqualified

persons to the FTII Society and its

disregard of the ongoing strike by the

students of this leading Institute. We see

a writer like Perumal Murugan being

intimidated into declaring his death as a

writer, a matter of dire shame in any

society.

While the Prime Minister of the country

has been conspicuously reticent in his

response to the recent events, the

reactions of BJP ministers in his

government reveal their ignorance and

prejudice. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of

State for Culture, has made abhorrent

comments about mob lynching and

murder. His remarks suggesting that

writers should stop writing to prove their

point are alarming – empowered as he is

to take policy decisions in the domain of

culture. Arun Jaitley, Minister of

Finance, Information & Broadcasting,

has mocked the actions of our respected

writers as a manufactured ‘paper

rebellion’. He asks for scrutiny of the

political and ideological affiliations of

those who are protesting.

To these and other such provocations

there is a clear answer: while the actual

affiliations of the protesting writers and

artists, scholars and journalists may be

many and varied, their individual and

collective voices are gaining cumulative

strength. It is this that the ruling party

will have to reckon with: the protestors’

declared disaffiliation from a

government that encourages marauding

outfits to enforce a series of regressive

commands in this culturally diverse

country.

The scale of social violence and fatal

assaults on ordinary citizens (as in

Dadri, Uttar Pradesh; Udhampur, Jammu

and Kashmir; Faridabad, Harayana) is

escalating. The contemptuous comments

about the religious minorities and Dalits

made by those within the government

confirm that there is little difference

between the RSS-BJP mainstream and

supposed ‘fringe’ elements. The

perfunctory warnings and regrets issued

by ruling party ideologues – to defend

the agendas of ‘development’ and

‘governance’ advanced by Mr Narendra

Modi – are merely expedient. The Sangh

Parivar and its Hindutva forces operating

through their goon brigades form the

support base of this government; they

are all complicit in the attempts to

impose conformity of thought, belief and

practice.

The ideology of the ruling party has

revealed its contempt for creative and

intellectual work; bigotry and censorship


23

will only grow. As in the past, we must

challenge the divisive forces through

varied forms of appeal and protest,

articulation and refusal. Our demand can

be nothing less than that the entire range

of constitutional rights and freedoms of

the citizens of this country – freedom of

expression and speech, right to dissent

and exert difference in life choices

including culture and religion – be

ensured.

A government that does not tolerate

difference, that does not safeguard the

lives and interests of its marginalized

and vulnerable citizens, loses its

legitimacy in a democratic polity. We

are facing this situation now, already.

Aastha Chauhan, artist, Delhi

Aban Raza, artist, Delhi

Abdul Mabood, Delhi

Abhilasha Kumari, media professor,

Delhi

Abhimanue V.G., artist, Delhi

Abhishek Hazra, artist, Bangalore

Ahmar Raza, scientist, Delhi

Aishwaryan K, artist, Bengaluru.

Ajay Desai, artist, Delhi

Aji V.N., artist, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Akansha Rastogi, WALA collective,

Delhi

Akshaya Tankha, art historian,

University of Toronto, Canada

Alnoor Mitha, artist, curator,

Manchester, UK

Amar Kanwar, artist and filmmaker,

Delhi

Amrita Gupta Singh, art historian,

Mumbai

Anamika Haksar, theatre director,

Mumbai

Ananya Vajpeyi, CSDS, Delhi

***

7. From Babri to Dadri – Stop Playing with lives and rights of minorities

Bharatiya Muslim MahilaAndolan [BMMA] along with Bharat Bachao Andolan, Police Reforms Watch, VidyarthiBharti, Phule-AmbedkarManch and JagrutKamgaarManch is organizing a press conference to protest against the increasing low scale harassment of Muslim youth in Mumbai and the increasing intolerance towards the Muslim community. Given below are a

few instances that have happened in the last one week.

1. Danish Shaikh and AsifShaikh were picked up by the Bandra west station and thrashed and were told to go to Pakistan

2. Two Muslim youth were picked up from their from their karkhana at Indira Nagar


24

pipeline, Bandra east for ‘verification’ with no reason given for taking them to Nirmalnagar police station.

3. The Mohalla Committee Movement Trust in its last meeting refused to take any complaints against the police saying that anyone wanting to complain must not come for the meeting at all.

In addition there are instances of growing intolerance towards the Muslim community and towards minorities

1. One Muslim woman was not allowed to enter the Navratri celebration at the Kherwadi Housing Board.

2. 6000 names from Behrampada and 370 names from Bharatnagar voters list has been removed.

3. Small children were denied entry into the Oberoi Mall in Goregoan east and Phoenix Mall in Kurla west on the occasion of Eid-uz-Zuha citing discomfort from other customers.

These and many more instances of intolerance and hatred towards the community is being seen.

To condemn the rising hatred and animosity, Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan [BMMA] along with Bharat BachaoAndolan, Police Reforms Watch, Vidyarthi Bharti, Phule-Ambedkar Manch and Jagrut Kamgaar Manch

organized a press conference at the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh on 21th October 2015.

We as members of the minority community and as concerned citizens of this wonderfully diverse country are appalled at the state complicity in inciting and supporting violence against minorities. The seeds of hatred sown by right wing groups has reached a stage where innocents are lynched, writers are intimidated and killed, artists hounded and rights of women trampled upon. No community and no country can progress in an environment of intimidation and state terror.

There is a attempt in demonizing and therefore deliberately profiling the Muslims because it is easy later on to make out they were doing something suspicious or its okay to profile them as terrorists and criminals because the public will believe it.

Muslims and other minorities are as much part of the national life as any other citizens. Muslims particularly have no affinity to Pakistan as is made out to be. It is a country like any other country. The right wing groups appear to be more in awe of Pakistan than the Muslims. It is time that all citizens demand equality, freedom and democracy and the right to dissent and to criticize the state. The fundamental freedoms ensured in the Constitution are there for all citizens and they have to be guarded by all. The state cannot tamper with them and trample on the rights of its people.


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The state is increasingly encroaching in the private lives of the citizens. Whom do we live with, whom do we marry, what do we eat, what do we wear, how do we celebrate – these are personal decisions left for each person to decide. State should be the last body to interfere in this personal space. Instead of focusing on getting rid of poverty and destitution, getting for citizens good quality and cheap food, shelter,

education, livelihood and medical care,

the state is completely misplaced in its priority.

We demand that state and its various organs ensure that nobody is discriminated, trashed, intimidated and

killed. We want rule of law, safety and security and a state machinery whom we can trust.

In Solidarity,

Dr. Noorjehan Safia Niaz Co-Founder, Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan Founder and Managing Trustee, Ashana Trust Ashoka Fellow BMMA Blog: bmmaindia.blogspot.in Self Blog: noorjehansafianiaz.blogspot.in Skype ID: noorsn2 Cell: 09833072690

***

8. Poem

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http://bmmaindia.blogspot.in/

http://noorjehansafianiaz.blogspot.in/


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*** 9. Rejected Film on Beef wins 2 Awards

Mumbai: ***A student film on caste politics and beef, pulled out of a Films Division festival at the last minute, has bagged two awards at the same festival.*** [Emphasis added.] 'Caste on the Menu', by students of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, was to be screened on Saturday at the Jeevika Asia Livelihood Film Festival 2015. The festival organizers were informed by the information and broadcasting ministry that the film had not been cleared on Thursday. This was the only one of 35 films not cleared. In an embarrassment to the ministry, the film has won an award for best student documentary, which it shared with another film. It also won the Jeevika Freedom Award, one that has been awarded twice in 12 years.

"The jury members had decided on the awards before we could imagine that the I&B ministry would withhold screening of the film. They were given the freedom award due to the manner in which they highlighted serious policy issues and the way caste plays out in food habits. The last Freedom Award was given in 2009. The award is given to films that can help effect policy change. Documentaries are meant to generate debate. The film explores the disastrous repercussions of Maharashtra's law on beef and its impact on livelihoods," festival director Manoj Mathew said. Mathew had requested ministry officials to watch the film before drawing conclusions when they did not screen the film based on its synopsis. He did not receive a response.

***


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10. Interview

India: ‘Reasoning and rationalism ... are under attack' - interview with scientist P M Bhargava

O c t o b e r 2 9 , 2 0 1 5

The Times of India

Arun Ram, TNN | Oct 29, 2015, 03.49 AM IST

Top scientist Bhargava to return Padma Bhushan against ‘govt attack on reasoning’'Prime Minister should make a strong statement'Now, artists, scientists decry spread of ‘hate’12 filmmakers decide to return their national awardsFull text of the letter from filmmakers to the Prez, PM Late one night in 1986, when P M Bhargava's wife received a call from the Union home secretary asking for the scientist, she was worried. "Has he done something wrong," she asked. The caller said Bhargava had indeed done many things, for which the government wanted to award him the Padma Bhushan. The founder of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and a former vice-chairman of National Knowledge Commission told TOI that he would return the award as a mark of protest against "the government's intolerance and the attack on reasoning and science". Excerpts from an exclusive interview: Q: Writers returned their Akademi awards against attacks on freedom of expression. Why you? A: Reasoning and rationalism, which are the bedrocks of science, are under

attack. This government has no respect for science. But for space and atomic energy, allocations for science have been cut. People with rationalistic views are being killed. The Padma Bhushan had a special place in my collection of 100 awards, but now I feel no sentimental attachment to it. Q: Will more scientists follow suit? A: I don't know. It is a personal decision. I have not discussed it with other scientists. Q: The statement accuses the government of promoting irrational and sectarian thought by functionaries of the government. Can you elaborate? A: The attack on beef-eaters is an example. How can a government decide on what people should eat? Charaka (principal contributor to ancient Ayurveda) has spelled out the benefits of eating beef, and had prescribed it for people with several disorders. Functionaries of the government include a lot of people, including the minister for science and technology. Q: Is the scientific community united in this fight?

http://communalism.blogspot.in/2015/10/india-reasoning-and-rationalism-are.html


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Reasoning-and-rationalism-are-under-attack/articleshow/49574866.cms


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A: A large majority of scientists feel that this government is stymieing reasoning and scientific temper, but many may not come out to mark their protest. I, however, hope that young scientists and people from other sections voice their convictions and concerns. If they do, there will be a cultural revolution. I can see sporadic and spontaneous protest, just like in the making of any revolution. But then, it may all fizzle out. In the second case, our society will be a deeply unhappy one, and that could have

adverse effects on the nation in the long run. Q: What will be your advice to the government to prevent such a situation? A: Don't mix religion with politics. Keep your beliefs personal; never ever try to institutionalise them. Don't tell me what to eat, what to wear and whom to love. POSTED BY C-INFO AT THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2015

--O c t o b e r 2 9 , 2 0 1 5

***

'Communal forces have hijacked the spirit of our constitution' - Catch News Interview with Anand Patwardhan

Interview: Communal forces have hijacked the spirit of our constitution, says Anand

Patwardhan

Vishal Manve

@VishalManve12| 29 October 2015 After acclaimed writers returned their Sahitya Akademi awards creating furore and drawing international support, renowned filmmakers too have protested against rising intolerance in India. On 28 October, 10 filmmakers including the likes of Dibakar Banerjee, Anand Patwardhan and Rakesh Sharma joined the fray and returned their national awards to the government as the FTII strike between students and the government over appointment of Gajendra Singh crossed 140 days. While Finance Minister Arun Jaitley called the protests as 'paper protests' and 'manufactured', academicians have

written open letters to the Modi government seeking answers to attack on free speech, lynching, bans etc. Catch spoke to Anand Patwardhan about the protests, rising level of intolerance in India and the FTII tussle. Vishal Manve: After eminent writers and scientists, now the filmmakers have complained against rising intolerance in India. What message do you think this move will send to the current government? Anand Patwardhan: I don't have any hope that the current government will change its mindset because of the protests. But, they may take action



http://communalism.blogspot.in/2015/10/communal-forces-have-hijacked-spirit-of.html



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because people are waking up. Artists, scientists and filmmakers are speaking out; that ought to worry them and prod them to initiate action. They will definitely not change their ideology but they will change the modus operandi. It's not only about the government but about the public too. The masses will realise that the time to speak out for a change in the system is now. Communal forces have hijacked the spirit of our constitution. VM: Do you think, there is a direct rise in number of intolerance-related incidents after the Modi government came to power? AP: No, this has been happening before the Modi government came into power. This has been happening for decades as the right-wingers attempted to grab power. I think the rising intolerance in India is directly proportional to who was engineering these attacks and emboldening the Hindutva groups. This polarisation has been taking place for decades and BJP and NDA managed to come to power twice. So, we need not label any government at the Centre for these incidents but find forces that are engineering this polarisation. Don't look at who is in power; observe the forces that are unleashed and how right-wingers are emboldened under any rule. Beef killing has a direct BJP hand as it was reported that a BJP leader's son had fabricated the story of beef consumption and asked the local priest to announce it. This deliberate lie

led to a riot-like situation. Investigations are on, so let's see if the truth comes out. VM: Jaitley and other NDA leaders have dismissed all the protests as manufactured. Do you think this is a worrisome trend? AP: Why should we worry about what those in power have to say? We will do what is necessary. They (the government) will not give us medals for our actions but only complain and dismiss our actions. It is the ordinary public that has to think about the current chain of events. VM: How difficult was it returning the awards? AP: There is a quite a bit of emotional attachment to it and the award means a lot. It was difficult for me to return my first award that I received for 'Bombay Our City' that spoke about human rights violations, urban poverty etc. The award symbolised that the government in power back then had decided to notice our work and uphold the spirit of the constitution, which our current Modi government is completely against. They don't understand the pain that we artists, activists and creative people feel while returning the awards. VM: Do you think mainstream actors will join the protests? AP: Many people will join the protests including mainstream actors. The conscience of the society has been awakened after the recent incidents. A group of people with a conscience will definitely raise their voice.


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VM: There had been instances of communal clashes and intolerance even during the UPA tenure and for the past one year as well. So, why did all the writers including you decide to return the award now? AP: The current government has the same ideology as the right-wingers. We were thinking of protesting ever since the FTII strike began. The government was refusing to negotiate for a long time. Then, suddenly, it showed signs of negotiating and reaching a solution, which hasn't happened anyways.

After 140 days of strike, the students were tired and went back to their academics. But, they also appealed to filmmakers to keep the momentum going. They don't want any professor to lead them just because of his affiliation to the saffron group. They just want someone with proper qualifications and hence have put their foot down against the appointment. They have fought a very heroic battle and showed way to India for protesting when everyone else was intimidated. POSTED BY C-INFO AT THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2015

****

11. Resources

India: Video of Romila Thapar's intervention at Pratirodh - "Decline in governance:

fear, violence and disharmony rule society" (1 Nov 2015)

http://communalism.blogspot.in/2015/11/romila-thapar-decline-in-governance.html

India: Video recording of Author Krishna Sobti On 'Growing Intolerance In The

Country' [in Hindi]

http://communalism.blogspot.in/2015/11/india-video-recording-of-author-krishna.html

Video: "The Kind Of Intolerance We Have Witnessed In Last 1 Year Has Been

Unprecedented" - Sharmila Tagore, the celebrated actress

http://communalism.blogspot.in/2015/11/video-kind-of-intolerance-we-have.html

Building the idea of India, Lecture by Irfan Habib

http://awaam.net/building-the-idea-of-india-irfan-habib/












http://awaam.net/building-the-idea-of-india-irfan-habib/


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`Documentary on RSS-Al Jazeera

http://communalism.blogspot.in/2015/10/video-indias-hindu-fundamentalists.html

New Book

A New Book Edited by Ram Puniyani http://www.csss-isla.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Ghar-Wapsi-Ram-Puniyani.pdf

Ghar Wapsi, Conversions and Freedom of Religion

An illuminating and compelling collection of essays by leading secular scholars, who forensically analyse the Hindu nationalist campaign of alleged ‘home-coming’ to reconvert persons of disadvantages castes and tribes, whose

ancestors had abandoned the Hindu faith in search of elusive social equality.

Contents Acknowledgements Contributors Introduction Section (A) Islam and Christianity in India:- Ghar Wapsi, Christianity and Freedom of Religion; Conversion to Islam; Anti-Muslim Violence; Islam, Freedom of Religion & Conversion; Section (B) Agenda behind Conversion:- Towards a Hindu Nation Section (C) Sociology of Conversions; Ghar Wapsi: Political Agenda, Religious Garb, Ghar Wapsi: Welcome to the Hellhole of Hinduism, Return to which home?; The Failure of Christianity in India, Love Jihad: From Illusory Slogan to Potent Weapon Section (D) Legal Tangle: Freedom of

Religion:- How freedom of religion laws restricts religious freedom in India?, Conversion and Freedom of Religion. Book Reviews; Post Script; Appendix

Contributors K.N. Panikkar, Faizan Mustafa, Ram Puniyani, D.Gnaniah, Rudolf C. Heredia, Anand Teltumbde, Gopal Guru, Tony Joseph, Tehmina Arora, Suhrith Parthasarathy, Asghar Ali Engineer, Arul Louis.

http://communalism.blogspot.in/2015/10/video-indias-hindu-fundamentalists.html


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ISBN 978-93-7495-599-4 Total Pages: 220 Price Rs. 450/- Us $ 20/- Published by Media House, Delhi For Copies Contact: Media House 375-A, Pocket -2, Mayur Vihar Phase 1, Delhi: - 110 091 E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Ph: 011-43042096, 09555642600, 07042752030

http://www.csss-isla.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Ghar-Wapsi-Ram-Puniyani.pdf

***

A New Book Edited by Prof. Ram Puniyani.

Holy Cow INDIAN POLITICAL CHESSBOARD The cow has taken communal colours. Under a government of the Hindu Right, beef is no more one of the items on the dining table. It is part of religious mobilization of Hindutva politics. The ‘holiness’ of the cow has been stained by Human blood. The lynching of a Muslim by a frenzied mob at a village in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh in the name of ‘holy cow’ is a symptom of the revival of Hindu orthodoxy and return to medieval Brahminical values. In this context, the book ‘Holy Cow: Indian Political Chessboard’ edited by writer and activist Prof. Ram Puniyani takes a close look at various issues surrounding the ‘cow controversy’. It puts together the true picture of the status of cow and its political use. 13 Eminent writers, each one an authority on his/her filed, who have contributed to this






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work of pre-eminence, have thrown light on facts hitherto unknown to ordinary mortals. Just one quote of Swami Vivekananda, regarded as a mentor and philosopher of Hindutva by the RSS, clears the cobwebs surrounding the whole issue. Speaking to a large gathering in USA, he had said: “You will be astonished if I tell you that, according to old ceremonials, he is not a good Hindu who does not eat beef. On certain occasions he must sacrifice a bull and eat it.” As the cow makes a comeback in the religious and political discourse of the country, the book makes an interesting and thought-provoking reading.

Contents Will of Babur, Freedom of food, Introduction, Overview: Cow Beef and Indian Politics Scenario, Cow-beef: From Dietary Practices to Religious Symbol, Dalit Muslims and Holy Cow, Economic and Contemporary Aspects, Interviews, Dialogues, Index Authors: B.R. Ambedkar, Javed Anand, S.Anand, Ram Puniyani, Praful Bidwai, Pradeep Deshpande, Mohammad Yunusddin Farooqui, Irfan Engineer, D.N. Jha, Anupama Katakam, Anshul Kumar Pandey, A.J. Philip, Divya Rajagopal, Dinesh C. Sharma. ISBN 978-93-7495-600-7

Price Rs.450/- US $ 20/- Published by Media House, Delhi For Copies Contact: Media House 375-A, Pocket -2, Mayur Vihar Phase 1, Delhi: - 110 091 E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Ph: 011-43042096, 09555642600, 07042752030 http://www.csss-isla.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Holy-Cow-by-Ram-Puniyani.pdf

***

======================================================================== Published by All India Secular Forum C/o. Centre for Study of Society and Secularism 602 & 603 New Silver Star, Prabhat Colony Rd., Behind BEST Bus Depot, Santacruz (E),

Mumbai: - 400 055. E-mail: [email protected]




http://www.csss-isla.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Holy-Cow-by-Ram-Puniyani.pdf

http://www.csss-isla.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Holy-Cow-by-Ram-Puniyani.pdf


secular action network - - centre for study of … action network, november, 2015 1 5 ... poem 9....

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