The Forum Gazette Vol. 3 No. 19 October 5-19, 1988 by Sikh Digital Library

Vol'" No 19

5-19 Oct 1988 (Fortnightly)

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.Rajiv's Visit

Punjab Remains Punjab By K.S. Khosla

either the announce ment about the clearance of the Pepsico project nor the release of 137 detenus from Jodhpur jail on the eve of the Prime Minister's visit to Punjab nor his announcement of holding panchayat elections and nis plan to call an all-party meeting to end the stalemate have raised hopes of early settlement of the Punjab problem . Except his own party, from which loyalty is to be expected, no other political party is convinced of the Prime Minister's sincerity and purpose. Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, Akali leader and former Chief Minister, has said that the Jodhpur detenus should not be treated as hostages to be used as and when 'necessary to create goodwill among the Sikhs. Mr Barnala stated that the Prime Minister failed to measne up to high hopes

generated by the media among the people . The Prim ~ Minister also failed to announce the strategy, much trumpeted by thE' Gov- Âˇ ernor, Mr S.S. Rny, to so"'e the problem. Mr Barnala regretted that the Prime Minister also failed to announce any healing touch to the wounds of the Sikh psyche or taking action against the culprits of the Delhi killings in 1984. As regards the Prime Minister's remarks that after the death of Sant Harchand Singh Longowal there was no one among the Akalis of his stature to whom they could talk to, Mr Barnala said that only a few months before his dismissal, he was praised ' by the Prime Minister as well as the Parliament for his secularism and courage in fighting terrorism but then suddenly he beCame persona

he Sessions Court of Delhi and the three judge bench of the . Delhi High Court had sentenced Satwant Singh, Kehar Singh and Balbir Singh to be hanged in the Indira Gandhi, assasination case on August 3rd. The three judges of the Supreme Court, G.L. Ojah, B.C. Rai and K.J. Shetty gave unanimous verdict and acquitted Balbir Singh after declaring him not guilty. The question is not of

In This Issue Page

LIving Together For Greater Harmony a Bhaga. Singh Was A Movement a In Search Of Secularism J:f Marriages And Families J:f What Does ~alestlne Mean To India J:f

5 6

10 11

Continued on page 10

"I Was Innocent" Balbir Singh Tells Sandeep acquittal of an accused. The sharp edged comment by the Supreme Court about the Sessions and High Court judgement raises many questions about the understanding and the work process of our judiciary. The three judges of the Supreme Court unanimously reversed the conviction of Balbir Singh; The judges were convinced that the police failed miserably to prove their contention that Balbir Singh was a part of the assasination conspiracy. He was arrested on 3rd December 1984 at Najafgarh in Delhi. The crucial evidence-a paper supposedly found in his pocket-was found totally fabricated.

Justice Ujah while commenting on the intelligence of the High COurt judges said that this is very unfortunate that these judges have arrived at the conclusian that Balbir Singh knew Beant Singh and Satwant Singh but had failed to produce a single proof to confirm this conclusion. He also said ~hat eve'1

Additional Solicitor General or for the descreation of the the Municipal Corporation who Golden Temple during ÂˇOperawere the public prosecutors, tion Blue Star" earlier that year failed to produce any proof to and that people will take confirm the conclusions arrived revenge does not mean that he at by the High Court. wanted, to conspire along with . Justice Ojah also said that Beant Singh and take revenge. one argument offered in the Justice Ojah has, in his judgement of the High Court is judgement written, that if the that Balbir Singh is a Sikh. But expression of anger or protest the fact that Balbir Singh is a against Operation Blue Star by Sikh cannot be held as a proof the accused (Balbir Singh) is that he was a part of the assas- ,used as a proof then all those ination conspiracy, or that he who were excited or angry knew Beant Singh-Satwant about the Operation Blue Star Singh. A large number of Sikh should be considered coofficials worked at the residence conspirators. of the Prime Minister. The fact Supreme Court's judgement that Balbir Singh had become has created confidence among excitable and used to say that the people in the remains of the hp. held Mrs Grlndhi responsible Continued on page 4

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Religious To Be Political

r. Satyapal Dang's contelk democratic principles of ·sangat· The second Sikh institution of tion that the Akalis' walkout and ·pangat", langar, Sarbat 'Guru ka Langar':ree community from Parliament on August 10 in Khalsa and Sant Sipatti and the ' kitchen, cements the above conprotest against the Religiou~ Insti- institution of Akal Takht. This Bil.l cept as it is open to all and served tutions (Prevention of Misuse) Bill, runs counter to the total Sikh way to all irrespective of caste, creed, was illogical is itselt" an illogical of life. It needs to be noted that all religion, region or social status. statement. The Bill does not affect political, religious, social, cultural, This institution was started by anyone except the Sikhs. The educational and economic matters Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru, sympathetic walkout could only be are discussed in detail and delib- and continued by his successors. expected from those who have erated at the sangat (daily Sikh It has been a powerful means for faith in Sikhism or have basic congregation in gurdwaras) and the uplift of the downtrodden who knowledge of its working. The only then resolutions are passed had been groaning under the yoke main point to be noted is that the or decisions taken which become of socio-economic-cum-political acceptance of the Bill by a Sikh general guidelines for the local inequalities and religious discrimwould be against the dictates of Sikh community. inations prevalent in a society . It the Gurus who kept religion and But under this Bill all those conhas also been a crusade against politics together to make a base stituting the sangat could be char- the social injustice, oppression for the Sikh way of life. gesheeted and proceeded and tyranny of the caste system. Those who keep in view this against. The. guiding rule should These two Sikh instiMions have basic difference between the Sikh be that any person taking part in attracted attention of everybody in way of life and that of other com- anti-national matters or activities the world and they are said to be munities would not misunderstand will be or could be arrested irre- the biggest contribution of Sikhism ~he Sikh or Akali point of view . . spective of place, whether a public towards integration of Indian $ociHowever, frorr . Communist one park, Parliament, club house or a, ety. Most Sikh -Gurdwarastiesides cannot expect ·. y cooperation, as religious institution. The Govern- ruinning 'Iangar' also provide free his ideologic. approach to life is dif- ment endeavour should be to edu- accommodation to anyone and a ferent from lat of a Sikh. The cate the people about the values management of a Gurdwara Sikhs accept he authority of only of democracy and secularism, and cannot refuse these services to Akalpurakh (God) and not of any mould their minds against antiStalin. .1"' national activities. Separating reli- .anyone. It has no means to screen There is no doubt th~~11 Sikhs gion from politics is a futile and anyone but under the newly introwould agree to any action which dangerous exercise. duced Religious Institutions ' Bill, would uproot terrorism and preFinally, it must be noted with 1988, it can be held guilty if any vent the entry of illegal arms/am- concern QY all who are determin· anti-national or anti-social person munition/explosives, etc., and ing the destiny of the country thaI happens to be accommodated in harbouring of accused persons, in this Bill, if made operative, would a Gurudwara or partakes of any religious institution. But; how mean closing of the institution 01 'Iangar' there. can this requirement demand that Sri Akal Takht Sahib. The rise and growth of Sikhism, religion and politics must be septo a great extent, has been a meaarated? Should the writ of today's Lt·Col Manohar Singh (Retd) sure of a sharp reaction against IJoliticians who can compromise New Delhi the water tight division of Indian on any principle and sacrifice the society. All Sikh Gurus have not ·national interest for petty gains, only been "revolutionary religious run in both the domains of the citleaders" but they were also great izens' lives and faith? It must be Bill, 1988 social reformers and they had remembered that in Indian society served a great social need of the religion plays a major role to he Religious Institutions (Pre- time. To them the social aspect of ensure for everyone a clean and vention of Misuse) Bill, 1988, Indian life called for urgent attencontented life. which has been passed by the tion because it was most unsatisThe Bill is both mischievous and Indian Parliament gravely runs factory. partisan. The most dangerous counter to the Sikh way of life. The All Sikhs fee~ that the passage clause is 2(d) pertaining to "polit- Sikh institution of 'sadh-sangat' of Religious Instit'utions Bill, 1988, ical activities". The Sikh way of life which means that all devotees is unjustified and it is an unwaris based on very firm secular and unite under a bond and form a ranted blow to Sikh way of life pure, pious and an integrated which has been based on full secsocial congregation under one roof ular and democratic principles. Managing Editor has been a revolutionary instituThe Indian gov~rnment, by its Amrlk Singh tion. It establishes one of the fun- new legislative measure, as such, damentals of the social milieu as is cutting at the roots of the way General Manager it removes all the distinctions of of life of a Sikh. Lt. Col.•' Manohar Singh caste, creed, race and sex. As (Retd.) Dr Arvinder Singh such it truly establishes the con- New Delhi cept of a common brotherhood of Editors all mankind. A.S. Narang Glan Singh Sandhu

The Religious Institutions

Sound And Fury The Congress freed the country from colonial rule and now the time has come to free the country from Congress (I) misrule. - Mr N. T. Rama Rao. I don't know who has formed the SClmajvadi Janata Dal. S.ID does not exist for me. - Mr Chandra Shekhar. I don't kr,ow why God should punish us like this. - President Ershad Bang!adesh is being destroyed by its neighbours. - Mr B.N. Abbas, former Bangladesh Minister for Flood Control. I do not think we arp Going towards the 21 st century - Mr Devi La/. He (Mr Devi Lal) hails journalists in Delhi as champions of democr<.cy and denounces them as blackmailers in Haryana - Mr D.R. Chaudhry, editor of Peeng. The issue of defamation remains. - Mr Rajiv Gandhi, after announcing th3.t the Defamation Bill would be . dropped. (The Prime Minister) takes a very long time to make up his mind - Mr Somnath Chatterjee in Aajkaal. On the procedure'to murdering democracy, whether by rope or by electric chair or by cyanide? - Mr V.P. Singh on why the Government wants a dialogue on the Defamation Bill. Can any person of distinction deny that he or she was not defamed or blackmailed at one or the other time in his life not by the Press, but .. .by

a section of the Press ... yellow journalists. - Mr S. Krishna Kumar, Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting. Rajiv Gandhi gives big speeches on apartheid, statements that Graham Gooch will not be allowed into :Indi.'i . but neither he nor other MPs have taken action on the Harijan issue. - Swami Agnivesh. I want to go with the flow of the nation - Mr Bi}oy Hrang Khawl I have to become an outlaw once again with a price on my head - Mr Laldenga. If a Central Minister has to lay down his life to prove that law and order had ceased to exist in the State, I will not hesitate to do so. - Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi. Communists never flee from the battlefield, they fight with all their might till the last. - Mr Jyoti Basu If religion is properly u'1der'stood, no country will need to separate it from politics. - Mr Darshan Singh Ragi in The Sunday Observer. Jesus loves democracy. - Placard carried by Burmese nuns.

Assistant Editor KH Nazeer (Balju) Layout

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II 1.1

II .11 II

Living Together For Harmony

Minority Rights Civil Liberties Equality For Women Democratic Values Environmental Protection

Bidar: Venue For 1"aking Politic,al Advantages he dc:cision of th e. I>t~e Minister to send a high-powered.party tearn to Bldar to enqulte ullO the sequence and causes of nots and to restore confidence in !lIe minority community would have been considere,d a welcome and necessary action had it come from a meaningful government with clean intentions. Unfortunately, it is not so in this case. The only reason for sending such a delegation seems to be that Karnat aka ·is a non-Congress party ruling state. All indications are that the socalled high-powered delegation will come out with reports pointing out failure of Janata government in preventing the ev'!11ts. Our purpose here is not to defend the Janata or any other government. Any . administration that fails to perform iL~ basic duty of preventing the life and property of citizens either by its acts of ommission or commission must be I taken to task. Our contention here i~ the. credibility and legitimacy of the party · delegation which itself has to clear so many allegations. Why no Congress delegation has been appointed or sent to enquire into fill.incidents in Delhi and elsewhcre particularly in Congress ruled states in 1984 ( '-.:'and afterwards? If non-governmental bodies are competent enough to con:duct meaningful enquiries, which we feel are, then why government has not taken any cognizance of enquiries conducted by PUCL-PUDP, Citizen's Justice Committee and other independent bodies that conducted quite objective 'and fair enquiries into the November 1984 riots? And if government feels that non-governmental bodies are not competent to conduct such enquiries then what is the purpose of sending a Congress-party delegation? Most important question is how serious government is in punis hing guilty in general and guilty with a particular party colour in particular. It is no secret that after November 1984 riots the government did not even appoint a comenquire. Only after a lapse of about an year the Mishra Commission ;russion was appointed that, too, half-heartedly and with so many riders. Furthermore, after the report of the Mishra Commission, which itself was considered a white-washing task by all fair minded people, government's aui.tude has been either lukewarm or negative on whatever little recommendations the commission made. Its dealing with the Jain-Banerjee Committee is a pohner in this direction. . Jain-Banerjee Committee directed the registration of a case against one of the party functionaries, ex-MP, Mr Sajjan Kumar. Not only these directions on fUrlher were not complied with but a stay obtained from High Court functioning of the conunittee lest it may raise its fingers against more par'IY r:fiU'~ functionaries. Till today the government has shown no serious or meaningful ~ intention to punish the guilty of 1984 riots.

With such a record what purpose or intentions the PMty can nave in sending a delegation to Bidar? Isn't it a case of mere politicisation? A government which has been insensitive to the point of callousness about deaths in Delhi, in Punjab and elsewhere, about the massacres in Bihar and Meerut has suddenly woken up to the political opporunity that the killings in Bidar present for scoring a debating point or two against 1m opposition government. Needless to say that working and fum:tioning of new Bommai led Janata government m' Kamataka has to be watched. There can be no two opinions about the fact that the local 'lciministration in Bidar reacted all too slowly to the tension and actual events. While the bl;lme for the riot must wait until the Judicial enquiry ordered by the State goverrunent is completed the State Government must do all to win.the eonf'idence of the minority. First and most important step for lhat is creation of conditions in which classes at the engineering college commence thereby preventing the threatened loss of year f0r students. The government must get the college building repaired on its own and provide suitable and safe accommodation for students. Morc.i;TI portantis political initi ative. TIIC J;m~ta government must mak~ effeetive use of admini strative and party machinery to recreate conditions of mutual trust and comradeship in which Hindus and Sikhs have lived in Bidar for centuries: •

Thought For Fortnight Why is it that we rejoice of a birth and grieve at a funeral? Is it because we are not the person concerned? . Mark Twain

By Bhagwant Singh Dalawari. n devotion to my Guru, Guru Since we have not been able to after God had decided to let me Granth Sahib, I wonder what imbibe the true meaning of the dic- leave my job, I used to go to the exactly living together means tates of OLOr owr. Masters, we have college Church and the hymns for my Master, i.e. my perpet- been hiding our own failures by sung there reflected the same ual Guru, is the very embodiment attacking other religions and meanings as in the hymns in Guru of living together. I wonder parading our own religion as Granth Sahib. Once a Father sent whether most of you know that superior, sometimes even know- to me the New Testament and as Muslims, Hindus, the so -called ing, that we are men of straw. I I browsed through it, I came untouchable saints, cry out louldly cannot even conceive that we, all across innumerable passages from one platform in equality with human beings, can be different saying the things I had learnt from Sikh Guru from Guru Granth Sahib -from one another. No Chri~tian Guru Granth Sahib. about the purity and righteousness would feel less hurt by the cut of But, let me make it clear, the as the main ingredients of any a knife than a Sikh and no Muslim spiritual experience. If the Chris- will feel less harmed by the ons- gatherings to make living together ttans say "Kingdom of God is laught of a dacoit - even if the pos,sible, paper-readings and Within You", the Sikh is proud of assaulter or daco;t is of the same .pelne inter-religious talks can contribute only partially to the attainremembering Sab Kuch Ghar religion . ment of peace within of out. Tha Mein Bahar Nahin (t3verything is Relig ion is certainly a unifying real problem is about dealing with within, nothing outside). In any . case, when I adhere to the instruc- factor but those of us who have no the mighty onslaughts that we tions contained in my Scripture- respect for our own religion have in terms of greed, hatred, instead of understanding its mes- backbiting, jealousy, sexual monGuru, I marvel at the majesty Wi: !1 sage have undertaken to parade strosity, anger, attachment and which people of difterent religions its external symbols with a sense vanity. These monsters do not let openly advocat ing their methods of superiority and have been con- us in peace even with our own of prayers like Namaz, Puja, etc. sidering people of vther religions family members like wife, husinstill in my heart equality of all as less eqL.;al or other prophets as band, brother, sister, son and religions , equality of all prophets, less equal than ours. Why is this daughter. The real need is to learn equality of all human beings and foolishness still prevalent I do not one's own religious dictates and oneness of God. . know, but I believe that our refu- live th em in day -to-day life vis-aI wonder - and I wonder most sal to live our own religion contrivis oth ers . Indeed they can be curiously - why we are not able to butes to this. lived only with God's grace, But if consider all human beings as our that becomes possible ,living Whether Il 1<> '1e holy Quran or brothers and sisters, why we are would be automatic. together not able to promote peace , love, the holy Bible or Guru Granth unity national integration and uni- Sahib, Ramayana or Gita, : am I have lived in different Christian versal brotherhood. Why don't we quite clear that the ir message is countries, a Muslim country, an uRderstand that the diversity of dif- the same as that of lifting the African country, in China and I ferent religiQus traditions is the humanity from its degradation into have vis ited a number of other beauty of religious purity. The true a position of diving symbol. What countries. Never, neyer in my life religious person cannot have but difference does it make whether have I felt a stranger although my respect for all religious traditions one beco'mes a divine symbol outer appe~rance as a Sikh brings and will neve~ consider any tradi- through t·Jiohammed or Christ or me out. The simplest reason is tion lower than his own. Gandhiji, I Nanak? What matters is that that God has, through His infinite with whom I agree, used to say human beings genuinely rejoice in mercy, kept close to me the that one cannot respect one's own their common heritage. I am proud instruction of Guru Granth Sahib: religion without respecting other of believing that I. am not only a religions. Indeed if the spirit is one Sikh, I belong to all religions and - I have no enemies ; nor am I and comes from the same God, anyone who lives in the presence opposed to anyone. God is within this very spirit must have been- of the Lord, believes in Truth and me with the light of my Guru. I working in the form of Jesus Purity, is my co-religionist. I, there- have made everyone my friend Christ, Mohammed, Rama, fore, insist that I do not represent and have become the friend of Krishna, Nanak and other pro- Sikh religion alone. Like Guru everyone. phets. Anyone who be!ieves oth- Granth Sahib having galaxy of - All created the light and all erwise cannot let the light of one saints, I as the disciplo, am supGod enter his own psyche. Indeed posed to contain the purity of all human beings came out of that religion which has no humanity, no Gurus, all Pirs, Sab Gur Pir light. How can then one be good Love, no Truth and no Service of hamare, says Guru Granth Sahib. and other bad. Fellow-man is an empty religious Meaning "all Gurus and Pirs are - Do good to the bad. Ihose label. On the other hand, if all reli- mine". who give you blows, do not retalgions have these essential attriBy way of full · unclMstanding, butes, where is the argument to once I played with nly prayer- iate. Go and touch lhe feet of such understand whether one believe., companions with the writings of a people. in karmas, re-incarnation and so Muslim saint as in Guru Gra:1th on. In my view livi:1g in actual day With such clear instructions and Sahib a~d intentional ly I askecfrnx to-day life the furityof one's master companions to te !1me which Guru· my need and urge to live these with the presenre of god as one's or which saint in Guru Granth instructions to the fullest extent ideal, automati-c.;ally leads to unity Sahib had said that, while I read possible, I yearn for the perpetual of mankind. Those who cannot to them from the Weekly. Invari- grace to treat everyone as my kith experience th is or cannot conceive ably the answers were the names and kin and that is how the 1500 this, I am quite certain , do not of one Guru or saint. After an people in my Leprosy Centre leok know their own religion. exercise of about 15 minutes, I to me, although none of them is a I would not sai that promotion said, "My brothers and sisters, Sikh or a Punjabi. of peace and love are the need of they are from a present Muslim the time Today alone ; they are and saint." have been the need of all times but When I was studying leprosy in we have been foolish at all times. Christian Medbil College, Vellore,

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I Was Innocent Contined from page 1

Judiciary of this country. It has also proved that the decisions given by Session Courts and High Courts are under pressure from powers that be or are given after giving due consideration to the tempting offers. It does not speak very highly of their understanding of the law. From this point of view Balbir Singh's C2se is of historical importance. Here we present an interview with Balbir Singhsente·nced to be hanged by Session and High court but acquitted by. Supreme Court who found him completely innocent. Talking to him is Sanchetna's representative San deep. Why did they try to Implicate you In the Indira Gandhi assaslnation case? Madam was murdered on .31 st October 1984. I was at home that day because I had been on night duty. I was on duty on 30th October at Madam's residence, Number One, Akhbar Road, from seven in the evening to 12.45 a.m. and went out to buy miik and vegetables. That day the radio .. was broadcasting a commen" tary on the One-day Cricket ;. ;'~" Match between India and Paki,':' .stan While I was listening to the commentary at around eleven, I heard that Indira Gandhi has been attacked and her security guards were " .responsible for the shooting. Till that moment I had no knowledge of this. You must have lelt shocked, because you were on duty the previous night, and you knew Beant and Satwant? Yes, I was shocked. But they did not say who the guards were. In fact I did not know Satwant at all because he was from the Delhi Armoured Police. I knew Beant Singh because he was from the security unit. When were you arrested? I was on night duty at the Prime Minister's residence for one we,ek. Therefore on 31 st October I went to Number One Safdarjung Lane at 5 p.m. I had to pick up my pay packet and also make enquiries about my duty. We were informed that pay is not being disbursed. Besides, all Sikh officers had been asked to report to the security lines at Copernicus Marg. Sub Inspector Surjit Singh and myself scootered down to the Security Lines. We stayed'there till eight O'clock. We were asked to come back in the morning. I returned to my goveroment quarter. At 4.30 in the morning A.S.P ..Tekchand of the Delhi crime branch, and a posse of police along with Sub Inspector Mahipal Singh caMe to my house. By this time the whole world knew that Indira Gandhi had been assasinated by her two Sikh guards. The police searched my house. Coincidently, I had bought a

book by Jarnail Singh Bhindrenwale a few days back, out o(curiosity. The police confiscated the book and asked me to accompany them. The police took me to the Yamuna Vellodrome. The officials of the Secret Service department questioned me. Repeatedly they asked me about my relationship with Beant and Satwant. Also, what I kne'l-{ about the assasination. I was taken to the Red fort a few days later. I was kept in the interrogation chamber till 3rd December. They continued questioning me. This means that the story of catching you at a bus stop Is a lie? Yes, that was a bogus, and a fabricated story-a lie. What happened after the police forced you to name Simranjeet Singh Maan, Jagjit Singh Chauhan and Harlnder Singh? When I agreed to name them these people were elated. On 6th December I was taken to Vigyan Bhawan where they made me write a confessional statement, a leave application from 1st November to 5th December. This is where they went wrong. On 5th December I was shown on leave and I was supposed to have been arrested on 3rd December. What happened after they thought they can depend on you? This was a baUie between two. snakes, I was also a pelic!,! officer. I knew everything. They were pl8¥ing their game and I was saving myself. The police said that when you were arrested on 3rd December they found a paper In your pocket. What wa$ that? I was forced into writing this note in the Red Fort. I knew that they were trying to implicate me, but I was heiple' s. I had lost everything. I could not see the sky, I was deprive9 of fresh air. Alii had was a prison cell. There was no difference between life and death. It was meaningless to think or not to think. The jOdgement of Sessions Judge, Mahesh Chandra, came on 22nd January. What were the pressures put on you during these thirteen months? I was kept in a cell where light and fresh air became a dream. You are a graduate. Were you given the 'B grade' facilities? We did not even get 'C·grade' facilities. I would say that wild animals are given much better facilities. After the Supreme Court Judgement don't you feel that the Judgements of the two earlier Courts were malaflde? Not only were they malafide and unfair, I would say that the Judges did not behave like Judges. A Judge is a represen~ative of God Almighty. He is not an ordinary man. Justice is truth. Judges

should behave like God. The funny part of the story is that after the Sessions Court Judgement Ses~ion's Judge Mahesh C~andra was appointed a Judge in'the High C~urt. After being released from thQ. Jail your first comment was "Justice Is still alive In this Country:. Is It true? Justice, Law, Truth was dying in India. But the Supreme Court Bench has granted a new lease of life to these elements. Everyday the police prepares false cases. People are killed in false erico~nt ers. I have seen people dying in poiice custody. I have seen my colleagues inflicting such tortures. You have gone through pain, torture, Insults for four years. What Is the compensation you expect for this? Will you fight for It? The stigma has been washed away, this, to my mind, is my compensation. I can never get these four years back, during this period my family has been tormented by the society, they went through a lot of difficulties, face many problems. What do you think about tt)e role of the Press? . The attitude of all the newspapers was not correct yet I have nothing against the press, because they are fed by the government. One newspaper went so far as to say that Beant Singh and

Balbir Singh are well known terrorists of Punjab. The fact is that I have not gone to Punjab for the past ten years. You have spent four years in jail. Do you find any change In yourself?

There Is a lot of talk about opposition alliance. What do you think about them? Some of the opposition leaders truly want unity. They'want to overthrow the corrupt congress. I feel that the common man also want~ to do the same.

Yes. I have changed . I read What do you think about your Guruvani, Geeta and the Bible in future? the prison. After reading these I I haye given no thought to this. came to the conclusion that a May be I will take a decision after clean, honest, selfless lifestyle is a month or two. I took one deci· the ideal way to live. . sion in my life and joined the Will you accept to rejoin your police. I became a'Sub-lnspector. service il the government offers But I have wasted eighteen years your job to you? of my life in this service. No. Now I cannot serve the Now you have been acquitted. Police. In India you have to be a slave if you are serving the Police. What is the behaviour ·of your The general public might be over- neighbours? Nothing succeeds like success. awed by the police but the gov·ernment does not respect its A large number of people came to police force. Todays government my house to congratulate me. is using the police for its .selfish Some of these people had purposes not for the good of the attacked my home during the public. Today political leaders use November '84 riots. Some of my the police to save their chairs, just friends and relatives have yet to as the British government did it to visit me, they are so scared of the government. Till a few days ago I run ~s show. Are you angry with the gov- was considered a murderer today I am a free citizen. ernment? Yes, I have my complaints. The Will you write about your priCongress rule i:; not beneficial for son days and your experiences? this couniry. All the Congressmen I read a lot and did a lot of think- , are power hungry. No one joins ing. If I get an opportunity I will the Congress to serve the nation. write about my experince . Only Mahatma Gandhi was differ- . ent.

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He Was A Movement K.K. Khullar on Shahced Bhagat Singh on the occasion of the birth anniversary (September 27) of the greatest son of India.

'May I be reborn and serve my Motherland again'

·students. Bhagat Singh gained admission in the college in the first •year Arts. It is from this college he passed his FA examination in 1922 but had to give up stu dies in BA over his marriage iss ue. At this college he had the privilege of teachers such as Prof. Vidyalankar whose teaching of history thrilled him . Hera he aiso met Prof. Tirath Ram , Sukh Dev, Bhagvati Charan and ot her great revolution aries. The Hindi writer ,and freedom fighter Yashpa:. who provided va luable i,l fcrmation about Bhagat Sing h's col lege life also came into his contact at th is college. Prof. Vidyalankar, however, became Bh agat Singh's polit ical Guru and it was he wh o introduced him to revolutionaries in Aligarh, Agra and Kanpur, It is often said that if Bhagat Sing h had not taken to revolutionary activities he would have been a great scholar. Service To W')ther!and

hat was Bhagat Singh's political . ideology and his socio-economic plan of action included the establishment of a sovereiqn republic of Indian proletariat and. peasantry, to inculcate the spirit of patriotism among the youth and to encourage secular fore. <; in the cOuntry. "Bhagat Singh did not become popular because ot-his act of terrorism, but because he seemed to ! vindicate for the moment, the honour of Lala Lajpat Rai and , . l .through him of the nation. He 1.' became a symbol, the act was for': ' gotten, the symbol remained", said Jawaharlal Nehru. Bhagat Singh was born at village Banga in Tahsil Jaranwala, district Lyallpur (now in Pakistan) on September 27, 1907. At that time, his father, Kishen Singh and his uncle, Swaran Singh, were lodged in Central Jail, Lahore on the charge of revolutionary activities. Another uncle, Ajit Singh, 'was under oing a sentence in Mandalay Jail, in Burma. Known . ~ . fQr its revolutionary activities Bha'gat Singh's family was intimately associated with freedom fighters such as Lala Lajpat Rai, . Bhai Parmanar'ld, Suii Amba ::'arshad and Hans Raj. Punjab was seething with discontent at that time and there were strikes, agitations, and revolutionary meetings everywhere. During his school days Bhagat Sinph was deeply lJloved and influenced by two ,events the Chadar Movement and . 1'-'

e: ~

5-19 October 1~88

the massacre of Jallianwalla Bagh at Amritsar. The stories of Indian revolutionaries abroad fascinated him but when he actually came into contact with Kartar Singh Sarabha and Rash Bihari Boss he was thrilled. Sarabha was hanged in 1916 but Bhagat Singh always kept his photograph in his pocket for inspiration. The bloodbath at Amritsar, however, roused his anger. General Dyer, the arc.hitect of the tragedy had boasted that he had fired 1650 rounds and not a single bullet was wasted. Not con,tent with this massacre Dyer had issued the notorious 'Crawling Order' by which a large number of Amritsar citizens were made to crawl on their bellies along the streets of Amritsar. A heavy colleclive fine was imposed on the town for not cooperating with the British administration. One morning instead of going to school Bhagat Singh boarded the train and went to Amritsar. There he visited the spot where the blood of the innocents was shed. He picked up soil from the earth rubbed it on his forehead . He was just 12 at that time. In 1921 , he left the school while in class IX in response to the clarion call given by Mahatma Gandhi to boycott all educational institutions. The movement was, however, withdrawn by Gandhiji but it created a problem for the admission of students. Consequently a new college called National College was started t;>y Lala Lajpat Rai and Bhai Parmanand for such

hagat Singh was fo rced to leave his college on the que stion of his proposed marriage. But before leaving the hom e and the college he wrote to his father, "I dedicate my life to the lofi y goal of service to the Motherland. Hence there is no attraction in me for home and fulfilment of world ly desires", Before parting with his friends at Lahore he said: "Friends, I tell you today that if , my marriage takes place in the slave India; my bride shall bEl only death. The Bharat will take th~ form of funeral procession and the Bharatis will be tne martyrs of the country·. This was a turning point in his life. Bhagat Singh had entered the 15th year of his life. After leaving Lahore, he went to Kanpur. At Kanpur he stayed in the Boarding House under the name of Balwant Singh, learnt Bengali from Natileshwar Dutta, another revolutionary inmate of the hostel. During his stay here he devoted himself to the study of Karl Marx. There were riots in Delhi and it was decided to send Bhagat Singh as correspondent of Hindi 'Partap'to get the first hand information, a job which Bhagat Singh did with marvellous alacrity and precision. During his stay at Kanpur, Bhagat Singh had become a member of Hindustan Republican Association formed by the revolutionaries of UP whose objective was to establish a united state of India by an organised and armed revolution. The basic principle of the Republic was the universal sufferage and the abolition of all systems which make any kind of exploitation of man by man possible. Through this Association he had come in contact with revolutionaries like Batukeshwar Butt,

Chandras hekhar Azad and Bejoy Kumar Singh. At Lahore he rem ained in constant touch with UP comrades but also established contacts with Kirti Kisan Party founde d by Sohan Singh Josh. This org ~H1 isa t:on had an organ called 'Kirit' an Urdu magazine to which Bhagat Singh co ntributed a number of anicles. In March 1926, he started a new organisation called 'Naujawan Bh ara! Sabha' which stood for pcpularising swadeshi goads, ph ysical fitness and deve iopme .... i of Indian lallg uages and culture, In no tim e th e Sabha at establis hf11 ent oi independent Republic of laboure rs and peasants of the wholo of oi1dia: It also stood for irfusing a spirit of patriotism in the heai1s of the youths of the country in order to establish a united Indian nation. It is evident that Bh agat Singh had an economic vision based on social justice. The Sabha had links with Kirt i Kisan Party and the Hindustan Republican Association. In 1927, Bhagat Singh was falsely implicated in what is called the Dussehra Bomb Case and was arrested. Actually the bomb was thrown by a miscreant on the festival procession of the Hindus and Bhagat Singh had nothing to do with it. Besides, the revolutionaries did not be lieve in this kind of work . The police wanted a riot to nab some of the ~evolutionaries . The trick, however, failed and Bhagat Singh had to be released, A meeting of the Hindustan Republic Association was,held at Delhi in September, 1928,-where representatives from UP, 'Rajasthan , Punjab and West Bengal attended. In all 60 revolutionaries and five women attended the meeting. It was here that the new programme (lj the party was adopted. It W3 S here that it was decided to r..::ve socialism as the goal of India and that the government in independent India will be modelled on socialistic principles.

It was here that a new cell called the Hindustan Republican Army was created and Chandrashekhar was appointed its Azad commander-in-chief. It was here that it was decided to boycott the Simon Commission.

Boycott Of Simon Commission

hagat Singh now entered i:I new phase of his life by open ly boycotting the Simon Commission and arranged agitation s and meetings against its recommendations . The British Government had appointed a seven member comm ission-all white-to visit India and make recommendations in respect of constitutional reform . Sincl) there was not a single Indian included in the Commission all part~es decided to greet it with black flags with the banners 'Go ' Back, Simon'. The Lahore revolutionaries had a pubncwing in the Naujawan Bharat Sabha. They decided , to participate in the demonstration against the Commission on October 30, 1928. In fact at Lahore the demonstration and the strike was mostly arranged by-the Sabha. According to eye witness accounts the entire Lahore wore black on that day. Even women and children joined in great numbers. The . entire movement thai day was led by Lala Lajpat Rai popularly known as the Lion of Punjab. It was a large trowd and police was unable to control it. It was the thickest where the members of the Commission were scheduled to pass. There was commotion everywhere. The police resorted to a mild lathi-charge first in order to disperse the crowd. It had no effect on the youths who stood in their positions like rocks. JA Scott, the Superintendent of the Police, J.P. COnlinued on page 8

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In hile the word secularism does not occur anywhere in the Indian Constitution, barring in the Preamble, more or less from the day the Constitution was drafted, this word has been flung about without much thought being given to its true

Catholics and the Protestants accompanied by bloodshed and mutual killings. The Thirty Years War is a case in point. Put another way, the idea of co-existence amongst the various denominations took several hundred years to evolve. One cannot go into detail but the point to be

meaning. As an ideal, no one can noted is that the process of coming quarrel with it. As a reality, it is far to terms with each other was a from being realised. long-drawn out one. It was in this While the word secularism has context that religion came to be a different connotation in Europe, looked upon as an individual's priwe in India have chosen to inter- vate concern. Whatever he pret it differently. In Europe the believed in and whatever denomCatholic Church wielded a good ination he subscribed to were his deal of political power at one time . personal affairs and were not to be With the rise of other forces, par- allowed to intrude into his role as ticularly towards the end of thE a citizen. Middle Ages, the power of the This is also the ideal towards ÂˇChurch began to decline. It was in which we in our country have tried that context that the phrase to move. But we cannot succeed "Render unto Caesar what is due unless we understand our history to Caesar and render unto God. during the last several hundred what is due to God" became cur- years and the way the two leading rent. The idea was to draw a dis- religions in the country have been, tinction between the religious sometimes in a state of confront asohere and the secular spher$. _tion and sometimes in a state of Even after this ideal had Âˇbeen co-existence. Nor have we undermore or less accepted, tension stood the meaning of the partition between various Christian den()m- of the country in 1947. inations did not disappear. On the As is often and cogently argued, contrary, for a couple of hundred had India accepted the two nation years, there were intense and pro- theory, all Muslims would have longed conflicts between the migrated to Pakistan. That was not

Searc~

intended, nor did it happen except happening. It is distressing enough in a marginal kind of way. It fol- and even the chances of things lowed from th is that India was to getting worse are not all that be a land where both Hindus and remote. In plain words the comMuslims were to live together. munal situation can get worse . If Co-existence has thus been the it does, that would be tragic indeed accepted policy and secularis m is and would mean a real setback the term that ca rne to be used for both for the polity and the country . such an approach . On the practi- But, as I see it, the current situ-

cal plane, however, there have been difficulties, conflicts, even rioting and so on . One has to refer only to two recent developments to see that these are the outcomes not of the manner in which the polity has evolved but a consequence of the crisis in which the country is caught. The reference here is to the Punjab situation since the early 80's and the Ram Janam Bhoomi ~Babri Masjid sitution in U.P Without going into further details, I would like to submit that in both cases, the crisis is a manufactured one and not a real one. Which is 10 say that there was a problem in each case but the situations need not have taken the explosive form that they have done. Another way of looking at it would be that the polity today is more charged with communalism than it has been at any such stage since 1947. Speaking for myself, I do not take too grim a view of what is

ation requires te be seen as i:i rranifestation of the current political crisis ramer than an indication of a diseased polity. What I am more worried about is what is usually referred to as Hindu resurqence. The majority

cates a certain state of mind wh may be described as obsessivE not neurotic. This is a cause disquiet. That disquiet arises from t facts. One is the feeling of inti sified consciousness of bein~ Hindu or a Muslim or a Sikh a Christian . The issue of ~ belongs to which commur arises when the basis of disc sian and argument becomes-; religious identity of the concerr individual. In a relaxed at m phere, such an issue is not pos, Whether one belongs to t commun ity or that is not at alii evant. But once a set of indil uals become conscious of the f that they belong to this or that p ticular community , it leads to a uation where other' Iso s1 th inking in the same'",anner. The - basic change that h come about in the 80's, and thi~ the second aspect of the feeling disquiet, is that all this time t majority community did not fl self-conscious or insecure in a way. It took it for granted thai was in the majority and theref( there was nothing to feel anxio about. But what happened in t 80's was that the majority co munity began to feel threaten! This had something to do with t rise of fundamentalism and tern ism in Punjab but that, in my op ion, is only a part of t explanation. The greater part the explanation is the fe eling insecurity that has begun to p vade the majority COil\. "'lity. W so? ' - . This feeling is the outco, partly of past history and partly current developments. In , widely-discussed piece "The Cri of Hinduism", I have called atl! tion to the fact that not ma people seem to have realised t significance of August 15, 19' On that day not only did the B ish transfer power to India, on 11 day, for the first time, almost ir thousand years, power got tra, ferred to the majority, in terms a new mode of reckoning .

Whether one belongs to this community or t But once a set of individuals become cons.cil belong to this or that particular communitJ where others also start thinking in U

community which had a somewhat relaxed view of things all these decades feels threatened by the minorities. One can understand the minorities feeling threatened. But nthe majority feels threatened, it is not only unnatural. it also indi-

During the pre-British days, t: concept of majority or mino~ity w notional. The character of a regi~ was determined by the denomin tion to which the ruler belonglld the ruler was a Hindu, it was Hindu kingdom. If the ruler wa~

5-19

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Of Secu larism By Amrik Singh

Muslim, it was a Muslim kingdom and so on. The concept of 'one man, one vote' was introduced by the 'British into India and now it is here to stay. This single fact has transformed the situation in a qualitative way.

doubt and the caste factor today is not as powerlul as it W3 S at one time. Untouchability is a legal offence and there is not as much of discrimination against those of the lower castes as there used to be at one time . In political terms, however, the In our situation, it should have caste is a much stronger real ity y been clear beycnd doubt that today . This too is a part of the tsince the Hirdus constituted the social and political process at work Ie .- majority,_ and indeed an over- in the country. Not only has th e ~ wnel"ming majority (more than communal consciousness got _ three-fourth of the total popula- intensified, even caste consciou . tion), the political power had got ness has got Intensified . Once the Is transferred to them, so to speak. political cris is in which the country This was the 'meaning of August is caught is resolved to some 15, 1947. But owing to th,e circum - extent, both types of conscious~ stances of the departure of the ness would become weaker and - British, the estabti,shment of Pak- that would bl) a step in the right - i;.tan, c~ntin.uing' tensio.n and con- direction . What we have to do rt t~~s r with ert and .varlous other therefore isto try to get out of the e..b s, th majority community political cns ls In which we find ourhas become mo~e . an? more ' selves. If that comes to pass, as II unsure ~f Itself. This I~ reinforced it shoulrl one of these days, while b~ th~ history of confll~t between the other factors would not disapH~ndulsm and Islam dUring the .Iast pear they would certainly become I, thousand .years or so. In partlcu- less urgent and le~s troublesome ~ lar, the Hindu psyche cannot live on that account. down the shame and humiliation The second weakness which :s ~ of havin~ been ruled by the Muslim in the natu re of a challenge is the ~ rulers for several hundred years in challenge of development. The . large parts of .the country. fact of the ;natter is that the stratBut the question to raise now 'is egy of development evolved over if that history is relevant. Has the the decades is in need of a drassituation not undergone a basic tic change. While the co untry has charge since August 15, 1947? made some progress withou t Furtherlore, now that the mode of question, almost half the popul a_ reckoning is not the religious label tion still lives below the poverty of the ruler but the system of line. What is important is tha t t'l' S democr.atic governance, why ugly feature of our econo mic a" .! .should there be any cause for anx- social life is fully and decisivHiy . ~ or insecurity? As if that was overcome . That Sian happen on ly , .e'anough the majority commun- if the strategy of developme nt is ity has such overwhelm ing re-designed. This again is a part strength of numbers that were it to of the political crisis in which the think of itself only in the denomi- country is caught . Wh ile i ~ is recnational sense, India may be leg- ognised that we should remc del . ~imately des~ribed as a Hindu the strategy of development, tl losa country. But such a proposition crucial decisions which are a conhas not bep.n mooted seriously .at dition precedent are not being . any stage and therein lies bofh the ' taken . problem and the cha~ renge to the Once those decisions are taken, Indian po lity. the focus sho uld be on deve lopIn my opinion there are two ment and development has Its basic weaknesses whi ch need to own logic. Development is possibe confronted. Perhaps it wou ld bo ble, amongst other things, in cel) .more appropriate to say that one ditions of ~ocial and pol i ti' : ~ ! stability and involvement of those -I who are today below the poverty line. Then the attention would get transferred to those issues wh ich need to be reinstated on th') t is not at all relevant, agenda of the country. In pl,,:.l ~ , of the fact that U1ey words the frame of argum er! needs to be changed from tl: o;: t leads to a situatit)n commun al to the econom ic plane same manner. This is not crude Marx ~ srn as ,r, sQme people might mgue. Tension and conflict are unavoid ble in any society. The question to ask j .: is a weakness and the other is a what is the tenson about? i t · ~ challenge. The weakness lies in when the issues of equity anc! fd:r the structure of the Hindu society distrlbutiorl are given a "'" and ·the damage caused by the that other issues including ':,e one continuing hold , of the caste of communal identity is come to system. Some of its more odious the fore. Without atte mpt ir.g to aspects have been overcome no argue too much about it, thi s much if

needs to be u!lderscored that the strategy of de ...·elopment needs to be remodell. d. That would not t ~ ke autom ' lIcally care of other p ioblems be it would be the startin') point of :ne remodelling of the polity. One tinal point maybe made clearly und emphatically. What i~ known as secul arism can succeed

1\'ot . many people seem to have realised the significance of August 15, 1947, On that day not only did the Uritish transfer power to India, on th<1t day, for the first time, almust ill a thousand y~ars, power got transferred to the majority, in terms uf a new moclc of reckonin 6, In Ind ia only to th e ext8nt that tbe majJrity commu nity bel :eves in it. The min orit ies ta kin] in its 1a,,0\.; r or insisting UpOf1 it has no meaning. To put it C' Jdely, it wou ld arnoun t to SO in e kind of a defensive reaction c!o their part. Indeed they t<llk of it on,y whe n they are un (;a~ pressuw . The pressure can

uation. In other words, there has to be a greater feeling of selfconfidence on the part of the Hindu majority. This feel i:g will come only when the country is growing econom ically and no one is made to feel that he or 5he is being discriminated against. Th is feeling of self-confidence on the

part of the majority can in turn impart a fee ling of Eecuri ;y to thA minorit ies. What is ci overrrdlrrg il1portancb today, ,her,,'c re, is to InvestiQate t~ ose variol;s factors which hav,brej the p 5'jchology of feelin q th r eatene1 in the ma;ority CO Ii'm jf1ity. This feel ing is not entir,,'y c;)'ltined 1) what .is culled he Hin d i·speuk. i rl'~ he!!. It IS to f: i1 , : ..~ "j e -ll,> ; , in tne nel ~: hboufl 'lg 5tates of Gujar;'!t and Maharash,'a and 10 some extent in se me of :r.e rrore remote p arts oi tile cou ' try 1S wt?!i. Its rocts . however , and its .13sic strength come from the Hindi- speakin,=! belt. Is it a ccinci d t3n~e that it is tr'e se very parts of the country-which ar ~ the ,..,ost unde r-developed? Tbe I n~ bet Neen under-d,welo r11Ant and the fee ling of insec:urit y, 'tr ,u3, ·s neithe r illog ical nor so diff ie'J lt b ur,dersta nd.

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Bhagat Singh Contined from page 5

Saunders implemented the orders most vindictively, pounced upon the crowd like a hungry wolf. His first blow feil upon the umbrella of Lala Lajpat Rai the second on his shoulders and the third on his head. Scott himself took the lathi and started beating Lala Lajpat Rai mercilessly. Bhagat Singh saw all this and was about to react when Lalaji told him to remain non-violent. In the mammoth meeting convened to protest against the visit of Simon Commission, Lala Lajpat Rai roared; 'I declare that the blows hurled at me would be the last nails in the coffin of the British rule in India'. Immediately after the meeting Lalaji was removed to the hosphal where he died 18 days later on November 17, 1928. For Bhagat Singh it was a national insult to be avenged in the best traditions of blood for blood. In reply to Parliament question in the House of Commons tabled by Col. Wedgewood the Government disown.ed any responsibility whatsoever for the death of Lalaji and 'replied: 'No evidence had been produced to show that the death of Lajpat Rai was due to the blows received on that occasion' . Demands for public apology to the relations of Lalaji were also rejected. - On the night of December 10, 1928 the workers of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association held a meeting at Lahore. It was attended, amongst others, by Chandrashekhar Azad, Rajguru, Sukhdev, Durga Devi, Jai Gopal.

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Bhagat Singh spoke with feelings and announced his programme of action. On Durga Bhabi's proposal to select the man to finish Scott, Bhagat Singh was the first to volunteer: "The task was entrusted to Bhagat Singh while Rajguru, Sukhdev, Azad and Jai Gopal were named to assist them. December 17, 1928 was fixed as the day to bundle him off. For one week Scott's movements were watched in and around his office situated in the Punjab Civil Sectt. On the appointed day they all went there and preached themselves outside the Secretariat. An Englishman came out.Jai Gopal mistook, hiin as Scott and gave a singal. Rajguru fired at him while he had started his motor cycle, Saunders fell down without a shriek. Bhagat Singh rushed to him and fired four or five more bullets in Saunders' head to complete the task. A police constable saw all thi:; but was to scared to intervene. It is only after they had left that he raised alarm. The revolutionaries escaped through the back door of the DAV Ccllege. The following day a red leaflet was circulated along with the morning Qewspapers announcing that the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association has avenged the murder of Lala Lajpat Rai and has washed away the stigma of the national insult. From DAV college Bhagat Singh went straight to a friend, got himself shaved, borrowed a woolen suit and a felt-hat and rushed to Durga nevi's house from where the thrge viz. Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Durga Bhabhi with her three-year-old son, Sachi, went to Lahore railway station in a tonga, purchased first class tickets for Calcutta and left Lahore after throwing dust in the eyes of hundreds of policemen who had thronged the platform. In this attire of an Indian Sahib nobody could even distantly suspect him. It was at Calcutta that Bhagat got himself photographed in the felt-hat, the famous photograph by which he is so popu larly known . He also attended the Congress Session here. Again it was in Calcutta that he decic ed to throw-bomb in fhe Central Assembly in Delhi to make the deaf hear. 'He chose April 8, 1929 when the Public Safety Bill and the Trades Disputes Bill would be introduced. He had already discussed his plan with some top Bengal revolutionaries and set up a bomb factory at Agra, the headquarters of the Hindustan Republican Army . Between January and March 1929, Bhagat Singh journeyed between Agra and De!hi many times and fully acquainted himself with the environment from where the bombs were to be thrown . On the morning of April 8, Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt got themselves photographed by Ram Nath of Kashmiri Gate. It is this photograph which appeareq in the Hindustan Times dated 18th April, 1928. Two days before the occur·,

ence Bhagat Singh managed his entry in the Central Assembly to see the seating arrangement. The Government had decided to introduce the two Bills although the majority of the members were opposed to it. Visitors passes had been arranged for them through the recommendation of an Indian member. According to the statement of inspector Terry who arrested them after their voluntary surrender both of them were wearing khaki shirts and khaki shorts. So when Sir George Schuster informed the House that the Viceroy, by dint of special powers vested in him, had okayed the bills turned down by the House, Bhagat Singh and Dutt stood up, took a step forward the second bomb. 'L~ng Live Revolution' slogans werE! then raised. George Schuster was scared and took shelter under his desk. Bhagat Singh fired two bullets at This desk to further frighten him. After the explosion they surrendered and got themselves arrested peacefully. Dutt was sent to Kotwali Thana while Bhagat Singh was deta:ned at the Parliament Street police station. The hearing of the case started inside Delhi jail in the court of Poole. Here they started a hunger strike demanding their right be treated as prisioners of war and not as ordinary criminals. Their fast produced such a moral impact on the

crown witnesses that many of statements were issued from the them refus€ i :. ' give evidence court itself which, in effect resulted against Bhagat Singh and Dutt. in their revolutionary propaganda On June 12, 1929 both of them at Government cost. This new were sentenced to transportation technique considerably annoyed of life. the police and the judges. The Tribunal gave its judgement on October 7, 1930. Bhagat Singh Revolution For Justice and his two associates, Sukhdev ince the crown witness and Shiv R?.m Rajguru were senrefused to give witnesses tenced to death. The execution against the revolutionaries most of took place on March 23, 1931. whom were already on hunger Sukhdev and Rajguru were also strike having won the hearts of executed along with him. His last even their opponents by their wish was: 'May I be reborn and social work and noble conduct serve my Motherland again': inside the jails, the Government Manmath Nath Gupta, in his biopromulgated an ordinance giving graphy of Bhagat Singh writes: "All summary powers to a Special the martyrs before and since Tribunal to try the prisoners in the Bhagat Singh have been hanged Lahore conspiracy case 'unhamp- in the morning, but in the case of ered by any rule or legal procedure these three an exception was and undisturbed by any fear of made and they were hanged at 7.15 p.m. in the evening of March appeal against the sentence'. Asked by the court to define 23. This was done to maintain see'revolution' by the British magi- racy, but the ordinary prisoners of strate who tried Bhagat Singh in the Jail came to know of it and the Lahore Conspiracy Case. they raised slogans. Fearing that ,Bhagat Singh replied: 'My revolu- some lurking scout of the revolution does not mean the cult of tionaries might notice if the bodies · bomb or the pistol: By revolution were taken out of the jail gate, the we mean that the present order of high wall was breached at the things, which is based on m8nif- back of the jail and the bodies est injustice must change. By r 3V- were taken out for summary disolution we rtlean ultimate posal to Ferozepur. There, under' establishment of an order of soci - the cover of darkness a collective ' ety in which the sovereignty of the pyre was prepared and put to proletariat is recongnised' . Bhag at petrol. The English tommies who· Singh used the court as a media Continued on page 10 of his ideological pUblicity. Several

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Meditating On Jap Sahib

the supreme commander. His discipline is compu lsion. His command is demand . The vast oceans, the heavenly bodies, the canopy of sky, the powerful sun, the mighty time, the air and fire, the rains and rivers, the earth and mountains, the kings and mighty emperors, all kneel before His mandate.

prehension yet He is the realNistence of ' the very personr"who cannot understand Him.

, The first word, decorated on the sacred throne is Akale-the timesilence. They comm :.Jnicate the tation. less. Human mind, buman percepdivine message. They are The theme of Jap Bani is cer.tion, and human knowledge is invested with the key of the inval- ' tainly the Divine Lord . The Great familiar with the word Kal-Time, ap is the name of the Holy uable treasure of div ine- God has no form, no figure, no ,the mighty Time and its reign on Bani, recited and recorded experiences of the great Guru. shape, no colour, no caste, no the entire creation. The human by the tenth master, Guru They apprize the seeker with creed, no mother, no father, no Gobind Singh. It is a rare 'divine insight, with self-confidence sister, no brother, no relations of The treasure of words used in mind has seldom peeped or trapiece of Poetry, a wonderous and reliance. When the words are any kind . He wears no garments. the Jap Bani, is indeed great in versed beyond the dimension of creation esoteric in nature. The uttered with love and devotion, the His place of resid ence is no magnitude. Guru Gobind Singh Time . Transcendit'g the limits of source of Jap is the supreme spir- sound vibrations, carry the human palace, no hut, no nest, no den. has left no divine dimension, which Time is the Creator, the Creator of itual self. of the great Guru. In deep spirit in the Holy Presence. The He needs no form of transportation he has not verified. The Infinite the mighty Time. Time is so powmoditation, when the spirit of the human soul experiences, the Infi- for His Divine performances. He lord has been described in differ- erful and mighty, how powerful great Guru was one with the nite Power, the unlimited resour- belongs to no religion, not Hindu, ent cantoes in different lilt and in and mighty would be the Akalecosmic spirit, the holy poetry was. ces and divine effulgence of tnEf- nOt Muslim, not Sikh, not Chrirtian. different word s. He has decorated the creator of the Time dimension? c::lused and perceived in the spir- Lord . In extreme humility and Lord is a unity, a whole, a tOdlity , Jap with innumerable words to Guru Gobind Singh is hailing the itual vision . It flowed down like a reverance, the human soul bows a completeness . He is the Alpha glorify the Lord. He has embel- All powerful, All mighty, Creator ' mighty river, through the mysteri- before the Greatness of the All and Omega. He is the be-all and lished the Bani with extraordinary the lord, who i~ beyond Time. ous floacf-gate of consciousness. Powerful. The experience thus end-all. He is manifested in the words to en logize the Great One. Guru Goblno Singh has used It is an esoteric award full of bliss- gained, thrills the human self. The entire creation . He is the wonder- At many places he has opposite words from different languages. At ful knowledge of the supreme sensations are so deep and over ful eternal existence. None know words to sharpen the distinction of one place he has selected a effulgence. It is an extraord inary powering that the human self , His beginning, or His end. He is the divine operat ion s. The Lord is Sanskrit word, immediately he has homage paid to the Almighty Lord consciousness, mental abilities ever and ever present in the entire formless, absolute, eternal, infinite, chosen a Persian or Arabic word, in wonderful words, and divine knowledge app&ars to expanse of manifestation. It is the yet he is revealed in the entire again he has opted for a Punjabi ' Jap is Holy Bani, sacred Poetry. be insignificant before the great- truth, undoubtful truth , entire truth creation. He is timeless, the word ' and then 'agai'n embraces To understand and recapitulate ness of the Lord. The devotee's and nothing but truth . He neither mighty time is ruthless, brutal and Hindi or Sanskrifword. Indeed, he the running spring of thoughts, one head bows before the exa~ed Lord takes birth , nor is subj ect to anni- cruel in causing death to dear has broken limits of alrlanguages. needs to get familiar with the in great veneration and admiration. hilation. He is beyond the law of ones, yet he is generous, benevo- The language or word he thought mental, intellectual and spirituai At every divine vision, the head , time and space. The cOflstitution lent, magnanimous and merciful. was a vehicle of expression and 1s,self of the great Guru. Guru remains in solutation to hail the of time and space'tioes not apply He is Ab solute creator of the not a barrier. Moreover, for him, tflfTGobind Singh was a born poet, a Supreme Lord. to Him. He is th~ divine authority mighty time, yet His benevolent word was not only a veh icle of The verses of the Jap Sahib Himself. He is the creator of the nature is revealed in His manifes- thought and expression butit was writer of great insight. An extraordinary biographer. A well known have uniquelitt. They have match- time dimension. He is the creator tation . He is transcendent, yet He a representative of divine perforwarrior. A religious leader of unus- less rhyme and rhythm. Every of limitless and universes. He is is immanent. He is beyond com- mances and divine a'uthority. Il I , ual spiritual powers. A leader with' verse olters a fresh lilt. The words rare vision. A leader with great march forth in dignity of being repphysical, practical and spiritual resentatives of the Supreme Lord., strength. A soldier with unusual They display the excellence, nob ilendowments. A holy Saint A ity and the magnituQe of the status leader of indomitable w~1. A leader ,they hold. The manner in which of great moral values. A saint, who the words clasp each other is believed in the unity of humanitY'. extremely novel and original. The A saint, who recognised only the metrical current in the singleLord and none else. A great man word-verse is so fast; that it of unusual humility and affection sounds as if ,the words are for his devotees. A guru who was engrossed in the divine-Ioveloved and admired by friends and dance. The cuplets with two or For: Scandinavian foes . A man, entirely selfless, who three words, pace up in ecstasy For : Designing of-Offices, and Chesterfield sacrifi"ced everything at the altar of and lilt and transport the hum~n Residences, Hotels, Furniture righteousness. spirit in blissful exaltation and vehShowroom etc. His spirit was in union with the eration. \t~ cosmic spirit. He did not recognise The verses are full of zeal, spirit any limit, of ca, 'e, creed, colour, and action,,,From the holy temple birth, language, time or space. His of Jap, they create holy vibratipns spir~ was absorbed in the limitless of trust and faith.' With the Holy Lord. He was vested with supreme powerful missiles of trust in God, valour and indomitable courage. they blow the sphere of doubt, He was endowed with extraordi- indecision and illusion. They carry nary enthusiasm. He held absolute the spirit to the chamber of truth, faith in the Almighty Lord . ~ He awak~n the sleeping faith, b~li,eved . in t~e performances of QI'llighten the consciousness and DIVine will. HIS complete self as )nvigOfat.e: - tha human self to overwhelmed with the spirit of s~- , 'b9tJd14-;' great n es~ 01 the Lord . rifice : holiness and unit~ AII his .~ ,- , On-th~.wlngs-'Elf1olbly-words, the phYSical, me,n.tal, moral, Intellec- hll,m~Hl rrind i~ taken to great elet~al and spl.rltual powers were vated heights. Here the human directed to hiS goal. mind visualise's the supremacy of The words with which the Jap the great Lord as the fountain White Cidar Bani has been adorned are pious, head of all the capabilities, potenExperts in and Teak wood holy, spiritual and full of faith . The tialities and treasure house of Turnkey Oriental and mode r ., words with great dignity and grace, divine bliss, eternal peace and Projects furniture. made customdesignet:l. appear from the castle invisible. source of revelation of all knowCarved flo. niture They cross the portal of the eth- ledge. in.' antique finish. ereal experience. They assume When the Holy words of Jap Carved doors etc. the semblance of word-form when carry the human emotions to deep are SpeCialities they come out of the spiritual depths. The human consciousflood-gate of consciousness. They ness realises the k>ving nature of are transmitted thr,oklgh petal-like the Lord. Most fearlessly he lips of the great Guru. The glorified administers justice to the whole (A Dr. Bhagat Singh Rekhi Enterprises) words are offered h'onourable spir- mankind, most dauntlessly he per136 Begam Pur, Near Malviya Nagar, New DelhiÂˇ 1l 0017. Ph: 6444814. 6415263 itual throwns. They are represen- forms His divine actions. Most tatives, of the Almighty Lord, benevolent' is His nature . Ref.: A.S. Rekhi holding divine mandate for wor- Extremely great is His spirit. , MIller ship. Extremely splendid is His beauty. These words have not pledged Most magnificent is His manifes-

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crimes like the killing of innocent persons at Sirhind are committed by the terrorists. The law and order · situation had, in fact deteriorated, . he alleged. Describing the Prime Minister's visit as "one day show· Contined from page 1 Mr Virender said that the people non grata. Akali leaders are intri-, ,to think that economic incentive ~ , of the country were wrong in think· Qued by this remark of the Prime: however desirable, are not a solLl- ing that the Punjab problerl1 is a Minister. Does it mean that ne willtion to the problem which is mainly Sikh problem only. The Centre not talk to any Akali leader and released Jodhpur detenus on the thus. foreclosed the issue? Can eve of the P{ime Minister'S visit to there be any peaCe in Punjab please the Sikh and the Akalis. without active support and particThe detenus could have bee n ipation of the Akalis? released two years earler also , Mr The Opposition parties Mr Avtar Singh Malhotra, CPI Virender added. The editoria l pre· and the people in leader, has demanded that all dicted that nothing would com e out innocent detenus in Jodhpur general have come to of the all-party meeting to be called should be . released. He was by the Prime Minister as the Govthink that economic against their release by instalernor has called such meetings incentives, however ments. Mr Malhotra has suggested several times without any result. desirable, are not a that the proposed all-party meetThe reason was the growing difing shOUld be held at the State solution to the problem ferences between the Hindus and level as will as the national level which is mainly (Jolitical the Sikhs of Punjab and the and after panchayat elections, Hindus' oppos ition to the Anand and emotional. municipal elections should be pur Sah ib Resolution. held. The CPIv' is of the view that Sut what Mr Virender forgot to economic incer les alone will not mention w?s that it is not only the solve the pro' ;b,n unless political Hindus who have migrated from initiative is tal n. While welcoming political and emotional. Taking the · the border districts of Punjab. the Prime ~ lister's call for all,Lately, many Sikh fami lies have party meetin~ , the CPM has said political side first, the Prime Minis-

uation there. According to, these reports, it is the writ of the terrorists which prevails there who are killing people and extorting ransom money from them . The 'Iatest modus op erandi of the terrorists is to kidnap members of well-to "do families and demand ransom money. The famil ies pay the money and do not report the matter to the police out of fear of reprisal. Even government officials and ssecurity personnel are not be ing spared . All these incidents are taking place despite th e success of Operation Slack Thunder. During the 1g months of the Akali rule, the number of innocent persons killed was 687 wh ich rose to 1,820 in almost the same number of days during the President's rule. Simi · larly, the number of terrorists killed rose from 138 to 470 and that of terrorists arre sted from 2,800 to 4,080. The government claims that this is because of the determined and aggressive policy being pursued by it and yet the situation is not improving. Next to terrorism , corruption in the police and the c.dministration that it should not be a repetition of ter has himself "sabotaged" the :~~rm~T~~~:~ f~~;;~:s~o%~:; ~~ is the major problem being faced such meetings earlier with Oppo- political process by saying that from Amritsar and Gurdaspur dis- by the government. Corruption has sition parties which did not yield there is no one of Sant Longowai's stature among the Akalis with tricts paint a grim picture of the sit- become so rampant that the Chief any result.

Punjab Renlains Punjab

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The Punjab Janta party's general secretary, Mr Gian Chand, and the Vice-president, Mr Shiv Kanwar Sandhu, who were among the 14 activists of the party rounded up on the eve of the visit, described the visit as "purposeless and direction less". Mr Harbhajan Singh, former president of the Janta party in Punjab said that nothing concrete would come out of the visit as the Prime Minister addressed "captive audiences" from bullet proof boxes. The reaction of the Opposition parties should be taken seriously as it is with these parties the Centre is going to enter into a dia- . Iogue. The Opposition parties and the people in general have come

Bhagat Singh Conrined from page 8

brought the bodies from Lahor_ drank and danced whiie the flames of the fire rent the sky with the silent slogans of the revolution that was born on the ashes of the revolutionaries. After some time, the half burnt bodies were thrown in th1:rriver Sutlej. When the police party: left, the vill age rs came to, know about dead bodies. They salvaged the bodies from the river, made a pyre and cremated them properly according to their own rites". A big procession was taken 'o.ut in Lahore that day. Every year on March 23 a Shaheedi Divas is observed and martyrs remembered. 8hagat Singh was not a man he was a movement.

Secretary had to issue a circular detaining dos and donts for government officials. The Gcvernur holds periodic meetings with college students at Raj Shavan and they have told him how the police harasses them by first arresting them under the National Security Act and later demand "release" m;)ney from their parents. All this and other factors aggravate the emotional problem. In this connection, the Sikhs in general have noted the Prime Minister's silence aboutthe Sidar incident during his three speeches in Punjab. The Prime Minister announced on September 28 that he was sending the Home Minister and other Congress leaders to Bidar but this announcement came 14 days after tha bloody incidents in which six Sikh students were killed and many injured rem inding Sikhs of the carnage in Delhi in 1984. For a change,willy nilly Doordarshan made a better job than the print media. TV viewers could hear an old Sikh farmer telling the PrirT"e Minister near Jaito:"Gandhi Sahib the people are hungry for love. You give them love and they will keep you as Prime Minister fo life".That probably sums up t~. situation in Punjab.

w~mth~cou~~~. Theme. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I

sage is'clear that talking to lesser Akalis is not going to help. The Akalis may be badly fragmented but they cannot be ignored in any dialogue with the Centre. At the time of signing the accord with Sant Longowal, both Mr Sarnala? Observers ask how can any settlement be reached by ignoring these three AkaliJeaders and add that the Prime Minister by delaying the implementation of the accord has added the militants as: a party by holding secret parleys with them throuqh his minions. Further, can theaceord · tie implemented by ignoring ' the claims of Haryana as regards water and territorial distribution particularly when Mr Devi Lal is the Chief Minister of that State. The critics of the Prime Minister say that nothing is going to come out of the proposed all-party meeting as he is not sincere in solving the problem and the delay is making it more complicated . Further, the Prime Minister will not dare to take any big initiative to cut tho Gordian knot on the eve of the general elections in the country. Independent obs~rvers belieVE that the problem is beyond economic and political concessions. The problem has now become psychological and emotional in the sense that alienation against the security forces in the State is growing, particularly in the rural areas and there is loss of fa ith in the credibility of the Centre. This loss of faith is not confined to the Sikhs only. In an editorial after the visit of the Prime Minister, Mr Virender, editer of Partap an Urdu daily of Punjab, which has come to be regarded as the spokesman of the Hindus, has appealed to the Governor to stop repeating that the law and order situation has improved because the day after he makes such assertions, heinous

I The Add Test L.andhlJi said: "Whenever you are in doubt... Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him, Will he gain anything bv It? Will it restore him to a- ,c ontrol over his own life . and destiny?" That test alone, he felt. can make our plans and programmes meaningful.

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5-19 October 1988

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Marriages And Families By Bibhu Prasad Mohapatra

urning brides, burnt widows, harassed wives and so many socio-familial problems make big headlines in daily newspapers. We have to know a litile about marriages and families that exist in our widely' divergent social ct.fstoms to understand and explore ways to put a stop to these human atrocities. 'Family is defined by a social assigriment of rights of ,privileges and a social determination of the rolls of spouses, parents, child, and siblings'. (Hunter and Whitten). Public recognisation and acceptance of the relationship between men and women constitutes marriage. Family and marriage may take one of the number of forms that have evolved in response to basic biO~Oical needs and challenger pos . ' y the socia-cultural environm t. Writing on the types of marri: ages that prevailed in ancient India, Dr. Romila Thaper writes that eight forms of marriage were acknowledged in the Dharmasatras, four for high castes and four f~x low , castes.

Baigas use a novel method to meet the price. They offer their services to the would be father-inlaw as a suitor-servant and after a stipulated period I marry the girl of his choice. (6) Marri;ge by exchange also is widely practised. It serves the purpose of avoiding high bride price. (7) Marriage by mutual consent and alopement is an universal phenomenon. (8) Marriage by inheritance found among Sema Nagas-a son marries all his father's widows other than his mother. The reason may be that property is not sub-divided. In northern middle India often brother inherits his' deceased brother's widow. The bonds of marriages and the common interest and affection ·created by children of the marriage provide channels for emotional, social, political . and economic cooperation that help to organise a larger communities.

Various Forms

xogamy requires people to marry outside their own group, to establish ties with other groups, and to extend rights and responsibility to them. Endogamy requires people to Eight Types marry within a defineo group and hen a father gifts his reinforce rgactiviate and continue daughter to learned man of group ties. good character, it is called Cross cousin marriages: main'brahma' marriage. If it is a priest tain the relationship between two to whom the daughter is gifted it . groups through time and can keep is caHed 'daiva' marriage. When a economic, social and political privprospective son-in-law makes the ileges within the control of two gift of a bull and a cow to the girls' inter marrying families. Examplefather before receiving her as gift Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, . it is called 'arsha' marriage. MarKerala. riage b purchase is called 'gandPolygamy: It refers to the form harv When a father gifts his of marriage where there are prodaugll r to a monk aHer duly vision for one person to have more ,honouing him it is called 'prajathan one spouse. In case of patya'. Marriage by abduction is Polygamy-a man can have sevcalled 'rakshasa' and by seduction eral wives. This arrangement often or intoxication is called 'paisacha'. gives economic advantage, adds to the family prestige and is highly Among the tribes of India, officient for procreation, where is according to the ethography colPolyandry is better designed for lected to date, we may list eight different types of marriages. (1) certain other areas. Sororat~ is the Probationary marriage (found arrangement where a wO'ffi~n has among Kuki tribe when a young to marry one's deceased sister's man is allowed to stay with the girl husband. Lebirate' is the practice of his choice in her father's house of marrying one deceased brothlor weeks together. Later, if they er's wife. Monogamy: is the most iind each other 'compatiable they accepted form of marriage. Mono;narry. Otherwise he pays comgamous marriages serve the lensation to the girls's father and group by making more marriages ~alks out (No stigma attached). possible. Family grouping formed '2) Marriage by capture found by various kinds of marriages are lmong Nagas and Bhil tribes of influenced where the marriage :antral India. (3) Marriag~ by trial partners reside after the event. Bhills), it is recognition of personal When the young couple move into ~)Urage bravery as highly desirthe residence of the groom's Ible traits in human beings. (4) father, they take Virilocal resiarriage by purchases or bride dence. In case of Patrilocal resi-

is pracllseo a.1I over tribal

Idia, especially among "Ho·. I~ment

of bride price is suppsed to be a symbolic gesture of 18 utility of women in the society. ) Marriage by service-due to ~ demand of very hiph bride iIce some tribes like Gonds and

19 October 1988

case of Neelocal residence couples are expected to establish their own new independent residences.

dation he will have.

The actual human nature in child-his language, food habits; prejudices and other attitudes, marriage in family behaviour, Family Types occupation and other social patterns are the result of cultural conhere can be basically two ditioning within the framework of kinds of families. Nuclear and the above four factors. Composite. Nuclear family is The basic concepts which have formed by parents and their chil- . made possible the continuance of dren. A composite family can be family through ages is called famof several types. The family groupilism. The essential elements of ing of two or more married couples familism are (1) Members of the and their children is termed as family work together for the extended family. The horizontal attainment of family goals. (2) The extended family or joint family is a resources of the family are availhousehold of two siblings and their able to any member when and if respective spouses and children, he wants it. (3) The family as a The vertical extended family is one whole comes to the as9istance of in which parents, some of their any member if one is in trouble married children, and some of their with the outsiders. (4) Attention is grandchildren are in residence given in family to newly married together. family units. The importance of the family in Familism is much more prevapersonality development can be lent in agriculture societies than in classified under four categories: urban industrial societies: Histor(1) The first learning (socialisation) ically one could trace the beginis restricted to family. (2) Childning of tpe decline of fammsm to hood experiences of certain the industrial revolution. Thereafter things, so much so that later in life individuals and families had to he is interested in some things and migrate to the source of work, and neglect others. (3) The long period family members had to spend of association within the family much of their time away from the gives necessary time for moulding family group. This restored indithe child according to the family vidualism which is just the oppopattern. (4) The social class and site of familism. Development of other characteristic of child tamily lJ1anufacturing industries led to the will limit the kind of outside assogrowth of cities, .and progressive

dence, the young couple moves in with the groom's father's extended kin group. When the couple moves into residence with the bride's family it is Uxorii09al (if no other member of the mother'S family stay there), Matrilocal if mother's kin group is also in residence. In

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decline in familism. The familv in recent times has been unoergoing radical mOOlllcation and it has been occuring almost every·country. Changes in the economic function of the family 'include the transfer of both prOduc: tion and consumption of goods to outside agencies. Increase in bakeries, commercial c'o rners, restaurants, labour saving appli • ances etc. contribute to the factor. Protection and security is provided to a family today by pOlice. man, fireman, insurance companies etc. and not by the family. Education of children, though it still is a family function is on a much reduced scale. Some people point to TV and 'Radio as a retl,lrri of recreatiOA to the nome, but probably these gadgQts actually decrease the interpersonal communicauon within the familY. In a way commercial recr~ation has invaded into exclusive family teritories. Certain social processes like industrialisation, organisation, secularisation and mobility have undermined the stability of social relationships including family. But in spite of all these families still retain its intrinsic functions, such as emotional security, transmission of cultural tradition and customs to the next generation.

Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India Reg. No. 45763

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Deihl postarReglstration No. D(SE)

15/86

Spotlight

What Does Palestine Mean to India? By Ludwina A. Joseph ! is a pity that in India we have

the sorry spectacle of a right policy being pursued for all the wrong reasons. As far as Pale~llne is corcerned we have been 'm :01'plJlated into a corner so afraid cH fl we of offending Arab , en ~ it:Jities-when it is in fact the lu s tne ~ s of the Palestinian cause lhdt should· be motivating u~. Th~ Palestine Enigma

hat does Palestine actually mean to tile average edu( at~d Indian? Not a lot Particularly r,ot to a you ' r. fe d on a diet of Wastern pulp f,cti0n witness the nevels Of leu'] Uri S carrying as thl"y d,) an Idpalis.:,d and romant;:;l sf d ver:;.u" 0 1 Isra£l. of the , hihWI virtuo? ~, of il::, fi rst Premier [J<lv,d l3en-Gun:>n , ;jt,d of the lofty t:)nets of the ea ~ ly zj.-)nist pioneers .:1"·0 made the desert bloom . '~\lhi<-h young per~o n could remain l. rmol'ed by 'Exodus' or by the l,'hul;!tions o · a much-persecuted ~ ace in po'St ~\ ar Germany : 'Armageddon', and 'he desperation in the Warsaw gl'olloes: 'Mila 18'. In comparison 1ft hat novels do we naVE on Pa'estine to combat such inSid ious propaganda? The problam with the Palestinians is that t;,ey expect the justness of their cause to be self-evident. When <.1sked they refer to what Mahatma Gandhi wrote on the subject as if Gandhi's writings were the staple literary diet of young Indians! I remember as a young teenaga r being infl uenced by 'Exodus', of spo~t i ng a lot of romantic rubt>,sh about ! hl? justice owing to the jews and the u"fairness of the AI abs, and of long and heated arguments with my more enlighter' ed father, and of u:timately realising that, however, sorry one felt for a persecuted people they had no business taking away someone elsa's land and never mind how cher ished that land might be to t h .~ m in memory and prayer. If every people began claiming hlstorieal and legendary right to ancient homelands we would have a R&d Indian America or an Aboriginal Australia, but which court of law would uphold the rights of those races, however legitimate they might be?

are now seen as perpetrators of cruelties on women and children on TV sets by dumbfounded It did not need 11 p.r." or propaganda or an Western audiences who ·Cannot Arab ycrsion of Leon Uris to convince the quite accept the reversal of roles world that wtlUt the IsnH~lis were doing was or reconcile it with what they have been led to believe all their lives. wrong. If it makes the West question and Finally, it did not need "p.r.· or prorethink polic~' or pressure the Israelis, the paganda or an Ar<ib version of Intifadch would have served a purpose. leon Uris tb convince the world Perhaps India had better start pushing. that what the Israelis were doing was wrong. H it makes the West Indian Policy question and rethink policy or pressure the Israelis, the Intifadeh n 19 ~ 7 when the West looked en and mostl! applauded, that glO::>3sed over the: 1982 Sabra armed Israe li soldiers beating and would have served a purpose. Mohaidas Kararnchand Gand'l i and i':: hatila maSSaC'f'5 of Pales- othp.rwise brutalising unarmed Perhaps India had better start -alw<lYs the conscience-keeper 0:1 M ian refugees but are unable now Palestinians. The Israeli image has pu::=hing. the nation - was applied and said to s,omach the harsh (ruth of taken a severe drubbing and they so. He felt strongly for the outragod Palestinians. How wonderful it w()uld be to claim that our Middle !::astern policy derived from Gand hian ideals. In fact it has more to do with currying favour with the Arab lobby .and ensuring their continued goodwill to sateguard Indian strategic and commercial interests in West Asia. But why is India not contributing its mite to Middle Eastern harmony considering our recent maturity to regional .power status and intense busybodiness in sorting out other nation's affairs (eg . Afghanistan, Kampuchea, South Africa : dismantling apartheid, Iran-Iraq, Namibia et al)? In' fact in recent years we have had very little to offer on Palestine except the usual platitudes, barring th~ trivial problem of whether or not India shou ld play tennis with Israel. Have we been intimidated by Jordan and Syria to keep out of it? It is strange that New Delhi, a staunch Arab ally and NAM stalwart, should havana part to play in the proposed Middle East peace conferance. Palestine needs India's support (moral and otherwise) now more than ""tlr. world assistance and sympathy for the discrimination, persecution and selective genocide practised through the ages by both eastern and western Europes and which reached a ghastly crescendo in Hitler's Germany. They did. But not at the expense of others. And steahng someone else's land was hardly an answer.

The Israeli Aggression

he palestinians have shown the world that they can no longer ignored or fobbed off as incapable of being masiers of li:eir own destiny. They ha,ve finally come into their own with the eight month old uprising (Intifadeh) in the Occupied Territories. Brutally repressed b~' the Israelis, the uprising has had the happy effect \)f shaking bot h the West and the Palestine Was Wronged Arabs out of their stupor into doing something COncr.,le. Never before -·The Palestinians were wronged have so many West Asian peace "-ever since the Balfour decla- plans been bandied about or so ra~ i on was issued in 1917. This many Arab leaders been scraminfamous declaration enabled the bling to get in on the action and jews to carve out a country for ' corner some of the g!ory. If only themselves _ in land which the Isrealis would be reasonablf , belonged to t~e Palestinians and about vacating the territories illp- which was being occupied and gaily acquired by them and retu r,.. had for centuries been occupied to the borders chaiked out by the by Arabs. For the Palestinians it United Nations PartiTion Res'Jlu · was shock.ng, immoral, daylight tion of 1947 we might still hale oil robl:.ery but fe, the Jows ( was a Palestine. triumphant cuimine;ti" " of the The most catac'Y::"l1llc effe .. ' ,:i ra.lson d'e l/P 0 : the l' , , ' ~ :.' Zicn ist the IntifaJph ha~ !.it ' ., '1" ., r iU;C.,. f'I)ovement. It was I : ~ ;' ,,~ :r tho l ansformatlon oj i'" ' .:0' 'Jt ri " , iong-su!ferin{; je NS_ .... d,';___ iid Isrea:i5 In West.) .; ._4__"_erit ___ _ _ .___ ... _r"__n" __" _' :1"

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The right choice

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_5:19 October 1988

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