The Forum Gazette Vol. 4 Nos. 14 & 15 August 1-31, 1989 by Sikh Digital Library

The

Vol IV Nos. 14 & 15 1-31 August 1989 (Fortnightly) Rupees Two

Dialogue On Punjab

In This Issue Page

VIEWPOINT

3 • 42 Years Of Independence: Withering Nationalism? HUMAN RIGHTS

• Ex-Jodhpur Detenues 'Disappear' WOMEN

• A Boost To ~omen

nterprises SPOTLIGHT

______~ Gazette.

erroded. The local administration bution to national food reserves is not responsive to the people's but at the cost of the Kissan;procomplaints and problems and curement prices were markedly he Third Oialogue on the there is no accountability. Pakistan below market prices prevailing in P'unjab, convened by the intervention continues though, ' other states and an unofficial b~n 'Punjab Group' was held while it should be understandable, was placed on grain movement on July 21 . It was Chaired ' may taper off in the next few out 01 the State. Consequently the iointly by Air Chief Marshal Arjanp1~nths on account of their ?om es.- indebtedness of tho farmers had Singh (Retd) and me and was ' attended by about fifty- persons. including representatives of the The situation in Punjab has become more political parties, .social activists, complex despite an extended period of journalists and concerned citizens . Views, al times Incongruous President's rule. More sophisticated Here expressed frankly and at weapons are being used now; killings of length by several participants. The Punjab situation has become more innocents _p':~ve ·increased markedly; police complex and difficult of solution atrocities have virtually dOUbled" despite an extended period of , ' President's rule. More sophisticated weapons are being . used and killings of innocents and atroc- tic problems. In any case it IS a increased. Some political parties ities have increased markedly as consequence of the problem and speak in different voices at the have police repression and atroc- not its cause. Economic progress national level and at the state ities. Corruption has become all in the state is, in keeping with the level. Elections were generally pervasive. Bitterness and frustra- national trend though, on a com- favoured, if Punjab might have tion amongst the people have parable basis, Punjab has not Parliamentary elections, as indiincreased. The credibility of the done as well as many other states. cated by the Home Minister, why Union Government is ba~ly punjab has made a record contri- not Assembly elections!

10K.

Gujral

• Patriotic Or Unpatriotic? CENTRESPREAD

• Muharrum: 8&9 Tragedy Of Karbala

The Anandpur Sahib REJ~oji.itlOri ' was discus~l ed at some length. It was generally agreed that while the portions demanding devolution or powers to all states as well as . ,those dealing with economic mat-· ·ters are broadly acceptable, certain phrases give cause for misunderstanding and apprehen- . sions. It was/therefore/suggested that as it was a political and not a religious resolution, the Akalis should be willing to discuss and consider clarification that would remove doubts and make it widely · acceptable, particularly when it is claimed that it is not secessionist nor disruptive of national unity. Inspite of the unsatisfactory sit-. uation in the state, on which there was general. agreement, the brightest aspect was that tradi- . tional amity between Hindus and Sikhs is abiding. A striking example of this was the aftermath of the . . recent tragedy at Moga. The follOwing Broad Consensus Emerged: Continued on·page -" .

'MUSLIM INDIANS' CONVENTION

RELIGION

• Janmashtami: 11 Avtar Of bounding Love 12 • Edul Zuha: The Ordealv Of Fire CHILDREN ,

• Five Facts About 'Ice Cream

LITERARY

• . Pearls Of Wisdom

SPORTS

• On The Road 16 To Recovery .· PLUS:

Many More With OUr Regular Features "

Organizing The Oppressed By Baiju ,

F o r changing the face oflndia~ by creating an ~anti status quoist force of irresistible power", Mr Syed Shahabuddin made an impassioned plea last month. He was addressing the inaugural meeting of the two-day convention of the 'Muslim Indians' organized by him. .However, many a criticism fiil!t arisen from his competitors elsewhere in the lan.d.ofreligions and castes. Mr Shahabuddin is criticised as the trying-to-be Sole Spokesman of the Muslims in . India. And -someone has even equalled him with the Jinnah of the pre-partioned India. Inspite- of.$11 these criticisms, the convention has thrown a queringly serious ray of light into the state of affair of the persecuted religious and linguistic minorities in the country. But one .would have been happy if Mr Shahabuddin called the convention by ,some other name barring 'M~lim

Indians'-probably, this has been auditorium in Delhi passed two the sole reason for even the lib- resolutions dealing with the shorterals leaving him in the lurch of term and long-term political strat·criticism. egies. While the 700-word long- ' 'Throw a piece of meat to the term strategy aimed at the ultimate . dog, and beat the poor animal if it "emergence of a national party" · .tries to bite it' is our politico- committed to the principles of religious tradition. So Mr Shaha- democracy, secularism and social . . "-

.... .

There are only nine Muslims among the 790 lAS o~!icers and their number is still less in. the IPi. If the condition of the minority representation in senior decision-making machines is like this, how Will the final . products be consumable to the thrown-aways? , bUddin could have combined the petition page of Muslims with that of the other stoics'. He should not. earn bad reputation for his com- ' munity which has already been ' labelled with 'extra-territorial loyalties'. . The convention at' Mavalankar

welfare, the 600-word shorf-term electoral strategy asked the Muslim electorate ~not to scatter . their votes at' the constituency ievel~ and vote those alone to power who have a good record and reputation. In the last four decades of Inde:

pendence, the Muslim vote has eventuated as a powerful factor in the country's electoral history, and most political parties have beer, drawing plans to court, woo and, if possible,to buy it. Touts appear during election periodlP to negotiate the Muslim votes-'"!pich have .a tendency to vota. in 'bulk. The Muslim voting perce.ntage is the highest. According to the demographic data prepared by a Jewaharlal Nehru University professor, the Muslim vote will be considerably significant in the next general elections. Muslims, the study says, can make or mar the fortunes of any political party in 100 Parliamentary and 600 Assembly con: ;stituencies. 70 of these Parliamentary seats have been identified in UP and Bihar alone-,wo important ' states in the socalled Hindi belt. The study acquires utmost importance in the light of intelligence report that the Muslim voter has so far not made. up his mind on the electoral pattern he Is likely to follow. : Ccnt/nuMJ on page -4

:F 0 RUM"·'

---------------·O·P·EN·F·O·RU.M Ii........................................................................

GazeH· . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.LETTERS Fight

.- - -_ _ .fS21

Terrorism Unifed'l y

. their caste or community. That would be a more effective method of fighting against the anti-people policies of the government.

his refers to the ghastly masInder Mohan sacre of innocents at Mega :New Deihl and subsequent call for bandhs. The more the government claims that terrorists are on the run, the India And Sri Lanka greater the ferocity w~h which the latter strike. Innocent Hindus and ~ikhs of 'Punjab are being physit is a fact that the LTIE and Mr. · cally andeconomically crushed by , Premadasa have worked into a 'state and individual terrorism. new honeymoon. The LTTE has Our human rights organizations become wary of the continuing whlc1i miss opportunity to prospect of fighting in the jungles denounce state terrorism, and and staying away from power as rightly so, sometimes prefer to long as the IPKF is in battle gear ignore the dastardly . annihilation in addition to the equally dreaded caused by group terrorism. In fact, prospect of the rival Tamil organeach brand of terrorism contri- izations enjoying power and conbutes to the growth of the other. solidating the gains of power. It is Further, individual terrorism gives guided by political and military exithe state the pretext to continue gencies rather than by any rethinkwith its mindless policies in ing on the democratic process. · Punjab. It is high time the human rights organisations earnestly Mr. Premadasa y!ants the IPKF mobilised the Hindus and Sikhs of to go because he feels it gives him' Punjab to fight unitedly against all immediate relief from the JVP forms of terrorism. pressure. He is not worried over .As for bandhs, the BJP has ' the would be effects of his miscal,been' resorting to them frequently culation. Our problem is to live w~h without achieving the desired his miscalculation without allowing results. It ' hardly reacted when ~ to spill over into the future. Muslims were butchered in MalOur responsibil~ies have nar· iana, Hashimpur and elsewhere. It rowed'down, therefore, to the sim- ' seldom reacts when Sikhs are plest question of protecting the shot dead in Punjab. It is also Tamils from future JVP onslaughts unconcerned when landless and the NE Council government ,labourers and deprived migrants and ~s various party functionaries ,i are silenced by the bullets of the from the LTTE. This is our moral •police which is in collusion with responsibility. But the politics of ,upper caste elements. Is this Mr. Prertladasa and the LTTE because of its narrow electoral. does not want the IPKF to stay.. interests of ' garnering Hindu . After two years of sacrifice, we votes? are slipping back to the same Bandhs disrupt the socio- unpleas~nt status quo ante. economic fabric. A resourceful The Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement party like the BJP can certainly ' was signed in an atmosphere of make adequate arrangements to ·international goodwill and consen·look after the tormented families of sus. This first round of consensus, ·all . such victims , irrespective of w.hich is still in vogue, is no longer ' ' . .- .... .:-- . . · wholly valid in the present fluid s~ uation. It is becoming prematurely Managing Editor old. Amrlk Singh

General Manager

Lt. Col. Manohar Singh (Retd.)

Editors A.S. Narang Glan Singh Sandhu Assistant Editor KH Nazeer (Balju)

Now we have to go in for a second round of consensus. Mr. Rajiv Gandhi is aiming at this consensus with Sri Lanka while Mr.i Premadasa is rather tardy in coming out of his political shell and out into the broader spectrum of statesmanship taking into his firm ·grasp the higher meanings of the process of history in Sri ' Lanka. Os!ensibly C!n ethnic problem, this

Sound And Furv

is in fact the general weakness of· many Of the Third World nations to wean themselves away from the old grooves of thinking and to apply the meani,ng of modern polit, ical science to their masse~ ,

CAG report kahta hai ki Rajiv Gandhi Chor hai.-Opposition slogan in the Lok Sabha. I have never felt that I have power. -Mr Rajiv Gandhi.

.We have to encourage Mr. Premadasa to work jointly for a 'The Prime Minister does not know. He is very ignorant. -Mr Jyoti Basu. 'second round of consensus though ~ may not yield any better In a country like ours, Mr Jyoti Basu is a myth but we'will break ~ . results than the first one embedded in the Agreement. The second, -Mr AB.A Ghani Khan Chowdhury. consensus or the second act wnt The Communists have always stabbed the Opposition in the back also be on probation for some time in the past, but this time they will do so with a vengeance. to come as indeed the first has so -,Jay Dubashi in Organiser. far been. Hyderabad Anybody who denigrates the Prime Minister is doing a great disPrudhvl Sambaslva Raq e",:,ice to the nation. -Mr H.K.L. Bhagat.

Withdrawal ,Means

This Government has already been privatized. -Mr. VP. Singh.

Beir.ayal

How can anyone afford to ignore a well-known phoney like V.P. Singh? -Mr KK Tewari.

. The lPKF, drawn from an army which is one of theJinest fight~ ing forces in the world; has been operating in Sri Lanka under constraints and odds but has done a . splendid job in implementing some. of the major cond~ions of the Indo-Sri Lankan agreement and in giving a sense of security to the Tamil Population. This has been .achieved at great sacrifice . . India cannot escape her responsibilities towards Tamils at Mr Premadasa's orders. That would be a betrayal. Any pullout of Indian forces at this stage may put the hands of the clock back for, w~h its track record, the LTIE cannot be trusted.

Calcutta

It is India's moral responsibil~y to restore the arms we surrendered and also give us more . -Mr K Padmanabha, secretary-general of the EPRLF. :The LTTE may be India's tactical enemy. But it is India's natural ally. -Mr Rajee Shankar of the EROS. In both Ireland and Punjab, there is a lot of free floating ange aggression. -Mr. J.F. Ribeiro. Terrorism ·will be finished the day it ceases getting respectabil~y. -Mr Buta Singh. . I feel a Muslim party cannot serve the Muslim community. -Syed Shahabuddin, MP. It will be an insult to the Indian if someone says that votes can be bought by spending money. -Mr Rajiv Gandhi.

A. Gupta

A badly run democracy is preferable to a smoothly functioning autocracy. -Mr AP. Venkateswaran. I think perhaps we manage our revolution much mo~e quietly in this . -Mrs Margaret Thatcher.

Readers are requested to send in their letters to the Editor, Forum Gazette, 3 Masjid Road, Jangpura, Bhogal, New Delhi 110 014. Letters may be edited for clarity.

co~~

She (Mrs Thatcher) is going a b~ funny. -Alan Watkins in The Observer. If we push the button for a nuclear programme, of course we can produce a nuclear weapon. -Mr Rajiv Gandhi.

It is not possible to win a khaki election in the land of GandhH mean the other Gandhi. _-N. C. in Mainstream.

Design

, PH Cllex Business Manager ~~ar Singh GuJral .

Publishers Ekta Trust 2126, Serva Prlya Vlhar New Oelhl110 016 Ph. 860738 Editorial, Business and Circulation Offices 3, MasJld Road~ Jangpura New Deihl 110 014.

· Ph. 61i284

By Rap

NEWSHOUND'. H~, AMlNl~nR ~UT I

.PO.· ."

C,A1I'f Ri~~NJ::Z£ HIM.'ANY -.....:

.~""",--<'

'1D.EAWHO H~

I~?

. · ·RSCC6HI~e

:M1Nl;1~11? '.•

,.7 r

HIM

XNOW He 1$ \~

- - . . , -. . .

.. 1-31 August 1989 ,

~jiiiiijii~liii.i!iiiiiiiliiiiiliiiiiiliiiiiiiiiil----~_--:FO RUM' o~.".

42 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

' FORUM ' rite-

Minority Rights - " ,Civil liberties • Equality For Women 'Gazetf,: • Democratic Values - • EnvlronmentalProtection

/////'

. .

" .

/////

On The Offensive y resigning en-mass their Lok Sabha seats the opposition in India,perhaps for the first time, shown not only a sign of much needed unity"but also its ability to be . on the offensive. So far in general facing the ruling party's attack in branding the opposition as"anti-national it has more or less been on the defensive. This along with characterstic disunity in its ranks has not only been a boon for the ruling party to behave irresponsibily but also an apprehension about the successful and meaningful continuation of the parliamentary democracy in India _ Unf9J1lll1ately, inspite of electorates expressed show of maturity, politiCal parties in general have not paid any attention to its intelligence and have believed only in caste, communal and I sectarian calculations. R.esult is that as yet in India no definit party system has emerged. Even an all India paUern of electoral alliance has not emerged in about 40 years of democratic process. Neither the left nor right has shown willingness or capacity to unite:!n fact nearly all parties have been beset with internal dissensions. None · has resolved reliable mechariismand workable procedures for managing internal conflicts. On the other hand universal .fraqchise has not only meant moving from elite to mass politics in terms of numbers. It is by now clear that frequent and regular elections have served as school of political education, steadily raising the level of politlcai conSciousness. The successful overthrow of entrenched regime in seventl states and even at the centre had the effect of accelerating the process of politicisation. Masses have proved that they do not lack the spirit of rebellion. Infact they are thrown into struggle by the very logic of their social and economic conditions. But their struggle is a [ragnented one. It is thus possible for the rulers to get different sections of the masses to be isolated and defeated. Thus the task of the democratic minded is overcome this fragmen~tion and . to sc:ek to unity of all the struggleS of the oppressed masses. Forthcomjog elections orice again provide opportwlity for the democratic~d secular forces to articulate people's awareness and discontent Questions of Comptroller and Auditor GenerI. . _al' s report and ruling party's behaviour towards it is not merely "COnnected lO.Bofors ~y offs. It has wider ~cations. It shows ' . government's complete disregard for statutory independent It has already shown th~ intentions with regard to judic· 'iary and judicial and other Commissions, be it Misra Commission or Jain Banerjee Committee . . "

· ¥meso

Whatever lImited rights people have are nowa~: stak~.

Aild

if in the coming eleCtions beCause of opposition disUnity or lack of arti.c~tion ·the Congress (I) comes back to power then it will amount to legitimisation of authoritarianism, corruption.and all that for it stands. After electoral victory such statistics do not inatter that the winning party had not got the majority share of

and a political system based on a elebr"ating · the 42nd broad consensus. anniversary of our , ByA.S.Narang But what instead is visible. From ' . independence while the seventies, particularly, there we pay our homage to the merr,Q.JY of the martyrs of the CiisreQarding the !>tatutory inde- h9ve been emerging a highly cenlong years of freedom struggle and pendent bodies, be it judiciary tralised and narrowly Confined elite of the past independence year,we .or' ComptrOITer and AuditofGe'n- that has ' established itself in power, lost touch with the people have also to think that for what t3ral. The framers of the Indian Con- and became insensitive and non-. those gave their lives, youth or. comforts and what our values stitution who were the leaders of productive. This elite has placed a narrow interpretation of the word today are. 'democracy'that is people's Later this y~ar, about fifty crores exercising right to vote. of adult population in India will go This right to vote, pooularly to polls. It is safe to presume that known as the Universal AdLolt Sufthe parliamentary elections of . frage, could not really bring to Deal 1989 are surely going to review a proportionate pressure from these conditions and take into below, in the government or the account a host· of burning issues ; ruli.f1g Class to implement effecthat have been challenging the tively the social reforms. It has only capabilities of the system. led to the political system adopting Seen in this context Indian tactics of.maneouvers, in orde·r.to nationalism identified with antiretain the mass base. The elec- . colonialism during the British rule, toral Politics have brought forth after independence had to dedislogans and tobenism a, galore, to cate itself to the quite different task engineer the consent of the elec" of nation building. Therefore, partor ate for the continuation of the liamentary democracy was not just' system withou~ giving in any way to manage the affairs of an estab· to the people an effective ~wer or lished system but it was to transprovision for their implementation .. form -and develop a semifeudal Therefore, the actual conditions . society. Democracy, therefore, either of women or of the schehas to be seen beyond just con· duled castes and tribes have not . . ducting of the elections. in any way been transformed. In In this context if one looks at the · fact, quite often, the very exercise ever increasing defiance of rules of the right to vote is in danger due of democratic process by angry to their poverty and oppression .and frustrated people at all levels born out of their social pos~ion. of political life, it seems that though . Purchasing of their votes, threatthe superstructure seem to have ening them for non-compliance in strengthened, IKe foundations of voting and positive action for free the Indian demqcracy have provoting have often endangered not gressively undermined. merely the suffrage but very liveThere are several disturbing and lives of many a poor in lihood signs in the polity. The pace of the village. events is not set by those at the On the other hand the vast helm of national affairs but by a extent of pamllel economy (b1ack determined band of terrorists, I money) patronised by the rulers has been emerging a highly centralized themselves has, apart 'from twistitic:;ians, petty operators andman- " ing and ruining the direction of ipulators. We have a set of leaders economic development and at variou's levels who have taken breeding social crisis, has harmed to politics not to serve the people the political process too tremenand the"country but as an investdously. ment like any other business proIs it for this thousands of young position. and old gave their evefyttiing There has been emerging a during struggle for independence? nexus between politicians, crimiCan that hard '.'/on freedom be nals and bureaucracy. Bereft of sustained in these conditions? participation in their own govern,These are the questions which ment, the people have, increas,~people~f India are raising today. ingly been expressing their If independence means 'some· discontent with the system by '1111" :thing and if that independence has restoring to protest demonstration or violence in the streets. It is not movement fof ' independence" to be consolidated then is required new model of society, . a society merely that political violence has :opted for a participatory democ; :a I based on full respect for human .alarmingly increased. It is that racy'" to ensure ~he allegiance ~f_~if organized bOdies of political opin- terenl gtou'ps tothasystem. They! 'liberties, on pluralism on a better ion, right, left and centre, no longer . visualized it as an effective toollo :social deal for all. There has to be a new relationship between accept the constitution as impos- bring about coalition of disparafe ing on them rules which ought to .political forces, viable leadership, Idemocracy and the social·trans.. be obeyed in the interest of ord- . continuity in publiC policy, unity ; formation of . society in ' which early govemment and peaceful change. and integrity of countly, reSpons- . democracy will find its most oom- · responsiv,t adminl$tratiOn . ;plete expression. ' !he government itself has started •Ible and • • • , ' . " , 4100. '

Oppositio~

vote.

Withering Nationalism? .

It is, therefore, imperative for the opposition to sustain its · ~ensive attitude and m~e all out efforts to achieve maXimum .. UQity among itself. Democratic·process evokes complex patterns · o{.acfions and seemingly unrelated currents of responses towards the political system, but "its overall impOrt lies in ttieghtening " the political consciousness of the people. It is hoped that the act Qfcollective reSignations by opposition M.P.s will be an important catalyst for this. But it needs to be sustained, strengthene4 and cOnsistent

From the seventies there has·been emerging a highly centralized and narrowly , confined elite class that has established itself in power, lost touch with the people and became insensitive and non-productive. This elite has placed .a narrow interpretation of the word democracy', i.e. exercising right to vote. In fact a nuxus between these elites, criminals and bureaucracy has been emerging

FORUM" z· Gazette ·I lIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIi..IIIIIIIIII....II..IIII................... <

' . .I Punjab Dialogue- Organizing' ·Opp·r essed Continued from 'page 1

CotrIinusd from paoe

1. Though highly desirable and urgendy required it seemed that no serious effort was being made to resolve the vexed problems that continue to fester. On the contrary there w.as a serious apprehensi.on that this may be us~d as a ·Card" for the partisan purposes during the polls. Such a mO'le on the part of any party would be highly dangerous and would certainly add immensely to agony ,and sufferings of the Punjabis. This mus.t be . avoided at all cost. 2. The Punjab crisis is not a ·Sikh Problem". Both the Hindus and the Sikhs are viCtims of the callous killers and criminals. The shared suffering of both communities has, in a way, strengthened ·the fraternal bonds. Compatriots in other parts of the country need to be ~equately informed about it in order to seek their understanding and· to strengthen the n"ltion's unity. '. - 3. The issues arising out of the 'agonising crisis have now reached a stage and assumed a form wherein a general cpnsensus amongst all Punjabis is well within reach. For this not only concerted efforts are required but the major pollical parties must try to remove such impediments and irritants that come in the way of evolving a unified response to the crisis. 4. The country had hoped for more than a year now that the Government was about to convene an all party meeting at the ,national level to evolve a consensus. The Prime Minister had publicly re-affirmed this in September last but there has been no move in this direction. Meeting .of the Cabinet Committee at Chandigarh was infractus that ended in a whimper. The participants felt that such a meeting, though delayed, :would go a long way to end .the imbragilo. In this context it was suggested that a non-official all party conference should in any case be 'covened by the 'Punjab Group'. 5. Political detenues, particularly]l\e leading personalities and the innocent young men should be

released forthwith to induce a suitAs th~ convention has tabled able cljmate for dialogue and the econom.ic backwardness of search for a durable resoluiion of · the community for vO'te-selling ·the crisis. negotiations, the Muslim vote is S. Recent killings of the news- ' likely to he very detir during this Ipaper hawkers and journalists was election season. It was evident severely condemned. These from the anguish expressed by a ,attacks.on a vital democratic insti ~ number of young delegates,. who tulion should be seriously viewed attended the confere(lce, about by the Government and the lead- the deteriorating Q,conomic condi~ ers of the public lifG. Thwarting of tion of their community. It·is walthe freedom of expression and lowing in poverty and is passing. dissent would do immense harm through a phase of depression. :to polity and the minority causes, .Muslims in rural areas have not The day Icng meeting was .had any benefits-of fhe concessi- ' attended by Shre e Yash, Former. ,ons 'and other welfare measures Minister; G.S. Dhillon, M.P.; R.L. by the financial institutions mainly Bhatia, M.P; La !a Jagan Nath because they are too backward to (Mog?), and Trilochan Singh of the avail of them. The number of the Congress (I) ; S.S. Barnala, Man- educated Muslim youth in gov- ' jeet Singh Khaira, Bakshi Jagdev . ernment services is deplorably Singh and Capt. Kanwaljeet low. There are only nine Muslims Singh, Dr. Sukh Dev, Ex-MLA of among the 790 lAS officers and Akali Dal (L) ; Joginder Singh their number is stiU less in the IPS .. At this juncture one c~n only Mann , Akali Dal (Mann); Prof. Ajaib Singh, D'r. Jaspal Singh appreciate Mt Shahatud<jin's (UAD); Jathedar Jeeva ~ngh asking fer more creative and genUmranagal (Akali Dal) ; Th~JP uine measures, inc1uding a parity was represented by K.L. Sharma; in representation. If th'e 'condition Dr. Baldev Prakash , and Jaswant of the minority representati'on in Singh, M.P; Kripal Singh (Amrit- the. senior .decision-making sar) ; Krishan Kant, Yunus Salim r:nachines is like this, how the final and Nasib Singh Gill of the Janata . products bE1 consllmable to the Dal; Mr. M.. Farooqi and J.S. Anand of the CPI; G.S. Babbar of all India Sikh Conference; Dr. Mahip Singh. Prof. A.S. Narang. · Rajinder Singh. Prof. Amrik Singh. .Harjinder Singh of ihe .Sikh Forum; Canarasi Oass Goel of the Punjab Sarvodya Mandai; S.P. Baghi. Journalist, Ferozpur: Justice Rajinder .Sachar (PUCL); _ Inder Mohan, V.N. Narayanan, Editor, Tribune: Ashwani Kumar, Editor; Kuldip Nayar Journalist~ Prem Bhatia, Journalist; Rajinder ~ Sareen, Journalist; Harji Mullick, B.G . Ve rgheese , journalist; Ambassador Gurbachan Singh; Paaam Rosha (iPS), Brig. Sukh- ' jeet Singh (Kapurta!a), GianChand ,.Ferozpur, Nirmal Mukherjee (Former Cabinet Secretary); Shiela Gujral (Author); Balwani. Singh Khaira, Hoshiarpur; V~A. Pai Panandikar (Director CPR);-Sstyapal, Social Activist: Teja Singh : Tiwana (Patiala), Jatinder Singh Dhillon (Jullundur).

ADVERTISE IN

THE FORUM GAZETTE ' And Reach Wider Cross-Section Of Consumers

Wrlte 'T9: Advertisement Manager The Forum Gazette, M~sjld Road, Jangpura, Oelhl-110014 Phone - 619284

thrown-aways? Of course •. Muslims ~and against lower caste ~roups; form only a,very small part of the the state machinery, the electronic ' neaten-to-a-frazzle 85 percent· media and the educational system populace in the country. One has have been exploited, consciously to treae a long way through the or unconsciously, to propagate the Shahabuddin way to analyse the Hindu rather than the composite 40 years of Independence: Equal- Indian culture and, what is worse, . ity before law, equality of oppor- .'to promote the reUgious ethos 'of tunity and universal welfare have the majority community; most politremained distant dr.~rlf'ls; and ical parties have supported the inter-group, inter-corhmunity, status quo or served as the inter-caste and' inter-regional dis- .instrument fot the dominance of parities have widened. The sec- some s.ocia~ groups, or acquired ular order is today under s.ieQ.e by an elitist orientation; or' aligned the challvinist, revivalist arid fun- . them~lves with vested interests, damentalist forces which consti- or even at times entered into allitute, in their totality, a serious ance with the anti,secular forces. Mr Shahabuddin is fight when threat to the future .of the nation; the widening gap between percept he says that the secular elements and practice, between constitu- in all political parties have to be tional safeguards and their imple- mobilized in defence 9f the Secmentation which has resulted in a ular Order and in prottldion of the state "_of psychic insecurit.y- religious and linguistic minorities. physical, cultur<;ll and econqmic- But even he' should understand .in the minorities as weli as 'in the that an avowedly secular organiweaker sections ,!"ith all tl'le{r psy- zation should fight for the rights, it chologicalconsequences; the "should Dot be organized on- the administrative machinery has basis of caste or religion. If such been largely infiltrated by commu- an organization comes into being, nal elements and monopolized by _ the present political parties, of a few cast,e groups., resulting in a 'high caste oq!litist people', driven persistent pattern of discrimination by selfish electoral calculations will in publie employment against the be well aware of the threat poised ..,y.) , ~eligi~us and linguistic minorities by the 85 percent.

Manufacturers of:

MAANSROVER MatORS [FHP Single Phase & Three Phase 'Motors] (Bush & Bearing Type) D- J9/6. Okhla Industrial Area Phase-II. New Delhi-l 10 020 " Phone: Fact: 683:'.l89 . Resi: 6431138 PN Cilex

1-31 August 1989

{ FO RUM 1l1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1i1l............................IIIIII..1II _ Gaz.~\

HUMAN RIGHTS

Ex-Jodhpur Detenues ,D 1-s·ap pear' ~~~h~C~~:~~~~:~i~~h~~~~:,~~~:

was transferred by the police on that day to another CIA Interrogation Centre, located at Mal Mandi, Amritsar,

By Our Own Correspondent

The communicate appealed the encounters or making them 'dis Governor of Punjab, Mr S.S. Ray appeared'. "Police deny they ever took to do his utmost to rehabilitate the "To be specific, we wou ld like to Kinda away from his village, erstwhile Jodhpur detenues, "by draw your kind attention to the Kinda's family has no information providing them with jobs, loans, recent case of 'dis appearance' of about his whereabouts, For' all houses and other necessities. In Mr Kulwinder Singh 'Kinda', a 27 practical purposes, Kinda has 'disfact, they should have been hand year old, innocent and non-political appeared'. But, according to a somely compensated by the gov poor peasant from village Dhaul. policeman, who would not like to ernment for their four-and -a-half Mr Kinda, an erstwhile Jodhpur be named or identified, Kinda was years of incarceration without trial. detenue, had gone to the Golden killed by the Punjab Police in a Little seems to have been done Temple, Amrit sar, as a pilgrim for so-called 'encounter' at Majitha reqarding . their rehabilitation, the Gurupurab in June 1984, and Road, Amritsar, on the night of except that the gove rnment has was apprehend ed by the Indian 23rd June, and then cremated by given some of them a paltry sum Army after the Operation Bluestar. them on the same night. "As a sequel to the above case, of Rs. 3000, and no other com"On 20 June 1989, the police pe nsation has ever been thought came to Kinda's village at midnight some more of the erstwhile Jodhof. On the contrary, according to and took him away illegally, with- pur detenues were arrested and reliable information received by us out an arrest warrent or any other interrogated by the police without (PRO), the government in some proper documents to the CIA Inter- · any shred of evidence against cases is persecuting some of the rogation Centre, located at the them . The police is meanwhile detenues, harrassing, torturing or B.R . Model School, Amritsar. looking for another ex-Jodhpur intimidating them and even, as Kinda was kept there lIpto 23 detenue Mr. Bhagwan Singh, a 26 alieged, killing them in so-called June, interrogated and tortured, year old non-political middle class II!!!!!!!!!!!!~~~~~~~~!!~!!!!!!~~~~~~~~~~!!!!!!~~~~~~~!!!!~~~~~!!!!!!!!~~~~!!~~~!! peasant from Kinda's neighbouririg village Manawala, who had become Kinda's friend while being together at Jodhpur Central Thakur Singh and Federajjjn's Jail-and there is a definite apprepresident Bhai Manjit Sing~ the hension that Bhagwan Singh may interrogations by different intelli- . Amrik Singh have . disappeared, existing circumstances only Fed'- also 'disappear' any day or be in another staged gence agencies. We were treated yet their memory and spirit are eration can provide political gui- killed fresh in our minds. We are proud dance to old people. All the young 'encounter'." as slaves. . In the statement issued by Dr of Bhai Manjit Singh's firmness men are requested by the Fede"~ I narrate the tales of atrocities Aurobindo Ghose, General Secreration that they should out aside . perpetrated on us in Jodhpur jail, RR/J ~; traight forwardness. We are their differences and grievances : tary, PRO, Delhi, expressed hope it Y:a.lild take a long time. In short, still prepared to render any sacri· and help Bhai Manjit Singh in his that the Governor would give due it may be explained that the inhufice if required to do so by the efforts for the unity and strength' of 'attention to his organization's con ~ !'lan treatment accorded to us and cern. chiefs of Damdami Taxal Baba the Federation". -the torture inflicted upon us by the All the riGht-thinking people and he government released organizations concerned of human · most of the Jodhpur . rights and dignity of human life are ' detenues because of the much agitated over th is ruthless unprecedented pressures and barbaric act of the governexerted on it by public opinion ment. In a press relea se issued by mobilized by various human rights the Peoples' Rights Organization as well as Civil liberties organiza- (PRO), which is known for its tions throughout the world. How- human rights activities, expre ssed ever, the fate of the released its deep concern over the disapdetenues continues to be sore. pearance of ex-Jodhpur detenue Police and intelligence agencies 'Mr Ku!winder Singh 'I<inda' of vil watch them day and night like the lage Dhaul of Amritsar in Punjab. Big Brother. Privacy of life is no The press release said the PRO longer a matter of concern for along with other hum an rights these ex-detenues. What they organizations have taken initiative atleast require is freedom f(Qm on the matter of the "unjust and unnecessary torture. Police hatch unlawful detention without trial of fake encounters with those deten- the 365 Jodhpur detenues, who ues whom they want to kill, and have since,been released, exceptdeclare the innocents as terrorists. ing four or five persons including This is a fact that even Mr Ribeir~:- the chief accused Mr Harminder the Punjab Police Chief,admits. Singh Sandhu."

"Five Years Of Detention Strengthened ==== . Our' Determ t·nat t ·0 n "

·On the 4th June 1984 · the Jawans of Indian Army had attacked the Darbar Sahib With tanks and guns. On the morning'

Indian government in that jail had made us to feel how we were 'treated as slaves in a free coun·try. In the same jail we were governed by two different laws. We ' cou'ld not meet each other. Only our blood relations could meet us in the jail, whereas in the cases of _other prisoners anybody could meet them. Formerly, we used to hear about diplomatic policies of the government, but in the Jodhpur jail, we saw with our own eyes that the government could stoop down 10 a contemptible and deplorable extent to humiliate and repress the Sikhs. Sikhs brought

of the 6th June, we were arrested froin the /angarof late Master Tara Singh. The Army jawans had recognized Bhai ManjitSingh, president, Slkh Students Federation, .and separat~d him from others. Then they had . ~aten us and taken to Army camps..i n btJses. 't here in room ' No_ 22 we; 35 Singhs. were locked up_ On ~he 5th of July 's4'i was sent to LUdluana Model Jail along with my other colleagues, where interrogation was conducted by djfferent , vernment agencies_This continu8d till 6th October, then I was detained under N.S.A. and send to Nabha jail. In the Nabha jail and Ladha Kothi we were put under

'from Punjab 3re 'admonished and confined to barracks. "Our five years' detention ' had further more strengthened our determinations. We have ' no desire for government service or . any compensation. We had faced 1he government punishment with a motive to serve the Panth and the sake of the government. We will not back out from .further remaining in jail, if there arises any necessity in future. "Formerly also for the sake of the success and progress of the Federation with which I was aSSOCiated, I had made a contri.bution according to my capacity. AII.hough, personalities like Bhai

r. Manjit Singh Bhama, a released detanue, has stated that he used to serve the Panth under the guidance of Sant Bhinderanwale, Chief ofthe Damdami Taxal and the p sident of the Federation B.hai Amrik Singh and he was staying in the Harmandir , Sahib premises according to their ~ . 't~s. He further stated as

l~r.

Tal~S of Jodhpur Jail

-31 August 1989

Witn 'Best Compfr'ment.>' ~rom

Satkar Financial Corporation

2651 Kucha Chelan Darya Ganj, New Delbi-l10002 Tele. Nos. 275595, 267628

~()It1J~.................................WO.M.EN

A Boost ,. To Women Enterprises

omen have always played a, vital role in , our national life. In fact, in few countries do Women hold higher positions in public life than in India. Women's role in our independence struggle is well known. We have had an outstanding woman as Prime Minister and some women as Chief Ministers. Over the last few years, women have made significant strides in the field of education and public services. Women top the lists of school and university results. We have today given' significant assistance to women administrators, women voluntary agencies working for police officials and women pilots. women in the decentralised sector. More and more public c:ector banks are introducing spe-

Women Working At Disadvantage

Improvement In Women's Condition

ByPramod S. Bhatnagar ing training 10r skill-upgradation, exposure to new product-designs and technologies arid support in the vital areas of marketing and overall pro ject management. A

Assistance Necessary

hese women require a total assistance package compris-

'.',IIIA. ~

Infrastructure support is needed for women entrepreneurs both in organized and unorganized sectors. Industrial estates are effective instruments for generating growth. There should be special industrial estates for women entrepreneurs in large towns and cities as also tailor-made industrial estates exclusively for- women engaged in cottage industries in smaller towns and villages

hese, however, are exceptions. The percentage of women in the total workforce is much lower than their percentage in the total population. Further, 90 per cent of the women workforce is in the decentralized sector. They continue to slog under poor working conditions and on a wage which hardly is sufficient to meet Âˇ bare necessities. While the women in urban areas have access to the organized sector, the ' large majority of them get employment only as temporary workers. Their terms of employment are not always on par with male workers, in spite of legislative provisions.

'HIIIIIII'.

cial schemes for them . A unique feature of such schemes is the provision of a total package to women entrepreneurs, comprising not only financial assistance but also counselling and escort services. These schemes have. received encouraging response from women entrepreneurs and several ,enterprises have started operating.

o Âˇ

number of voluntary agencIes haye succeede,d in improving the lot of this target group by adopting comprehensive approach. These agencies have also an in-built flex-

ibility to respond quickly to the special needs of women in this sector. Banks can therefore work out suitable ' assistance programmes in consultation with and

active collaboration with such voluntary agencies. Banks can also obtain a group guarantee in such cases instead of individual ; guarantees as group guarantee provides-a better safety cover for banks. Women 'entrepreneurs in the decentralised sector generally require very strong support in terms of market net-work and live communication channels with ' market trends and preferences. TheÂˇ importance of these aspects cannot be under-estimated ' in areas like lood-processing, garment-making, handicrafts and other home-based industrial activities. The success achieved by an organisation like Lijjat Papad in this regard is worthy of emulation. Financial institutions and banks can assist and encourage the , creation of such market support , agencies, for improving viability of their assisted units. Infrastructure support is another need of women entrepreneurs ,both in organised and unorganised sectors. Industrial estates are effective instruments for generating growth. There should be special industrial estates for women entrepreneurs in large towns and cities as also tailor-made industrial estates exclusively for women engaged in cottage industries in smaller towns and villages. .

s a positive step for improving Traqitional Prejudices the economic status of women, it is proposed to give 30 s per traditional notions there , 'per cent representation to them in are certain things that women Panchayati Raj institutions. Then can do and several things they again specific allocations have cannot do, at least as well as men. been made for women under the 'One such notion is that women Jawahar Rozgar Yojana. A should take up only certain tradiNational Advisory Committee on tional enterprises like food pro;;esWomen has also been set up sing, cosmetics, fashion garments under the chairmanship of the ' and beauty parlburs. However, Prime Minister. women have defied that and have A national perspective plan for ,ventured into all areas of human. women has been drawn up. The activity. Women have entered the plan is a comprehensive docu- area of selected products in elecment covering various aspects tronics like printed circuit boards, incltl~ing employment and train- floppy discs, engineering, plastics, ing, support services, education, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, elcparticipation in decision-making as tricals, etc. and have established also action by voluntary agencies. that there is rractically no differThe Government of India has set ence between men and women up in 1986, a Standing Committee entrepreneurs. Women possess' at the national level, to make rec- some special attributes like patiommendations to the Government ence, perseverance, imagination, on various policies and pro- design sense and skill in money grammes required for supporting management. They have also a lot women entrepreneurs and tapping of business acumen. ;,their talents for the 'growth of the ecooomy. Many of the state Governments have set up Women Women In Traditional Jobs Development Corporations to help poor women working in the cotlarge number of women in tage, village and hOl,lsehold indusrural and semi-urban areas . tries. are engaged in a variety of traditional activities like making handiWomen Upllftment crafts. Even in large metropolitan he Industrial Development areas it significant percentage of Bank of India (lOBI) and women is engaged in handicrafts. nationalised banks have recently These women are hard working launched special schemes for and skilled and their handiw-orks women entrepreneurs. 'IDBI has are in great demand.

Smiling Gangaram is proud of his profession, A profession that feeds the nation. A profession that gets him a good income, Gone are the days when agriculture,was a stagnant avocation, 'a losing proposition, Free India saw to it that the farmers get their due. Better seeds, irrigation facilities, power, fertilizer, pesticides - all at subsidised rates. Timely credit and good price for the produce \Nere ensured. Farmers fully made use of the facilities.

Toil and technology combined to usher in the Green Revolution. Today India's foodgrain production is touching the 170 million tonne mark - 120 million tonnes more than in

1947.,

Progress that Makes Us. Proud -davp 89/170

1-31 August 1_

·CU·R·R·EN·T·D·E·V·EL·O·PM·_E·N·T·S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .;~()ltlJ~ .

Gazett.-

Patriotic Or Unpatriotic? or staying in power the government of India is knowingly, but . spontaneously, doing the crime of propagating the ideology of Khalistanism. So far no Sikh organization (not even the banned ones) in India came out publicly with the Khalistan doxy. The governm$nt's mishandling of the situation and thQ careless use of the word 'Khalistan' would prove fatal to the national integrity. The government's psychological war through propaganda and. human . rights violations through state terrorism and discriminatory treatment of minority communities may help it sojourn in carte blanche, but would be murdering Indian nationove rthrow the gov.ernment calling Mr Jethinalani a 'Khalistan agent'. He is beyond the understanding of most of the congressmen. A man thinking above the religious circumvallation . Meeting 'bashers of India' in Washington is, of course, not a patrioti~ act. But digging out what made them 'bashers' cannot ~ Iway s be unpatriotic. As far as the -\.o'1:"loverment of India is concerned , Senator' Wally Herges is considered as the most inimical human be ing in the United States. One may wonder if he comes to know about the crimes that Mr Herges did against India. The latest in the series is proposing an amendment calling for an end to all US development assistance to India unless Pres ident George Bush could guarantee to Congress that India had taken action against every Indian police ' officer involved in rape and other atrocities against Sikh women. The Indian government's stand, it seems, suggests that to Indian standards punishing police officer for raol'! and killing is

By Our Own Correspondent absurd as if they are ordinary happenings. Another 'basher' that Mr Jethmalani contacted during his tour was Mr Dan Burton from Indiana. Mr Burton did a 'very serious crime' against India by introducing a resolution in the US Congress last year attacking India for alleged human rights violation in Punjab. Again, human rights violation s are the main stay that help the government swim. Of cou rse, alleging India for human rights violations is nothing less than attem pt ing to throwiAg-away the governmenta very serious crime! Besides meeting the 'India bas hers' in the US, Mr Jethmalani also made an 'anti-India' speech at one of the gurdwaras in London. Excerpts from the speech, which are labelled as most unpatriotic, made in the Southall gurdwara and published in the June 9 issue of Des Pardez is reproduced here for our readers to analyse and judge whether it is really 'antiIndia' or not: . "Sikhs should unite to avenge the bloodshed of minority Sikhs by defeating the corrupt government of Rajiv Gandhi in the forthcoming elections. The present Congress government of Rajiv Gandhi, in disregard to all sacred norms of law and justice, had staged an anti-Sikh wave just to secure the Hindu vote in the forthcoming elections. For the second time in these elections, Rajiv Gandhi wants to take advantage of his mother'S death". Referrring to his action of defending Kehar Singh and Balbir

Singh in the Indira Gandhi murder court cases and fak e polir..e case, he said, "I have not done _a encounters perpet rated by the favour to anyone, but only my duty . government against the Sikhs. "If my party comes to power in to~rds the Sikh cause. I will contin\Je to serve the Sikh panth till my the general elections, then all the culprits responsible for the 1984 last breath. \ "As long as Rajiv Gandhi riots will be exposed and brought remains in power, the bloodshed to justice,and the families of the in Punjab will not come to an end. victims will be given proper justice. . "To discre dit the Sikhs in The flames will rise higher. I will also continue to exposEi! the false Punjab, gangs of government-

With Best Complilnents f r01n

Dissolve The Lok Sabha • To AscertaIn People's View

GOllY

dltyclEANERS

•

DYERS & DRYCLEANERS

t a seminar organized by the among themselves. The Sikh Sikh Forum, participants Forum also urges upon all formaexpressed their deep concern of tions including the various Akali the continuous deterioration of Oal factions to make necessary d~mocratic nQ[ms and disregard amendments in their regulations to of statutory independent institu- confrom to these ideals and exert ·tions like judiciary, Comptroller political pressure through demoand Auditor General's office, etc. cratic channels. A secular demoby the ruling partY. In this situation cratic India is in the interest of all it feels that the opposition parties . including minorities. were left with no choice but to The Sikh Forum calls uporflor resign from Lok Sabha to prick the Immediate dissolution of the Lok conscience of the ruling party and $abha and holding of fresh elecbring the issue before the people. tions to ascertain the people's The Sikh Forum also welcomes view. It calls upon all democratic the different Akali groups joining minded people and organizations the opposition stand. It hopes that to actively intervene 'and work for they will make use of this oppor- rejuvenation of democratic institutunity to lorge a long term unity tions and values.

1-31 August 1989

backed anti-social 'eleme'nts massacre innocent people under the cover of darkness and blacken the name of the Sikhs. The. wave of excesses darken and blacken the name of the Sikhs. This wave 0 ' excesses against the Sikhs will not stop until the present government is ousted from power. "Disunity among the Sikhs is responsible for th is present wave of excesses and as long as the different factions of Sikhs remain disunited, they will continue to get lhis beating".

M-21 , Greater Kailash Main Market, New Delhi 110 048, Tel. 6416492

ADDITIONAL FEATURES

* Invisible Darning * Steanl Pressing -u Z

* Clothes Received By 11 A.M. Ready By 6.P.M. """""" . 7

FORUM'

CENTRES

Gazette

By Asgnar Ali Engineer hat happened in Karbala in 64 A.H. was not merely an ordinary event. It Nas also not a struggle for power .as some historians try to see it. It was a fight for revolutionary prinCiples of Islam, to say the least., The' battle of Karbala should not be seen merely as a chance ()ccurence in the year 64 A.H. It. has to be seen as a struggle which was continuing since the beginning of Islam, i.e. the strugglG between good and evil to employ ' .8 theological idiom and a struggle between status-quoist and revolutionary forces, to employ a political idiom. In order to understand the real nature of tragedy of Karoala; we will have to understand the rea! 'nature of teachings of Islam and its praxis in its early years. Islam should not be seen merely as a reTigious movement in theological sense. it did not merely preach spiritual practices and relationship betWeen humans and God but much more than that. It in fact preached revolutionary concept of .quality of whole of mankind, equality of sexes and principle of social justice. It strongly urged all to fight against zulm oppression . and wrong-doing . Its whole thrust was revolutionary overthrow of a social set up based on zulm, i.e. on exploitation and injustice. Its very fundamental call was AI/ahu Akbar, i.e. the God is greatest. . This should not be seen merelY as a theological doctrine Of supremacy of God but also as a revolutionary principle that no human being can claim such a position of supremacy over other. ttuman beings. The suprer;. 'power rests with God, not with · humans. No human being can dominate other human being. No .human being can bow before another human being. They are all equal. Thus when Bilal, an emancipated negro slave, called the faithfuls for prayer with the shout of Allahu Akbar, he in fact was .proclaiming no human being, white or back, Arab or non-Arab, Jew or Christian, can claim supremacy' over the other. They are all equ~1 before Allan. .

~imilarly

the Islam's basic concept of tawhid (unity of God) was ' also not merely a metaphysical doctrine; it is also the revolution- . ary principle of unity of all people created by Allah. All human beings are equal before Allah and among themselves. Unity of Allah urge~ them all to develop unity of man· kind. All are His creatures. If at all they are divided, they are divided on the basis of nationality, tribe and race not to fight among them., selves and destroy peace and harmony, but such a division facilitates recognition and identity, Thus when Bilal said AI/shu Akbar, he called upon all human beings to stand united and do away with their mutual fights. Allah is the greatest who has created human

;IIf.:

beings. All of them have to stand before him united,if ·they effectively believe in His unity. Quran, through Prophet Muhammad proclai~ed the universal principle of economic, social and religious justice. Allah,. (\\\"~ through the Prophet who was his chosen creature (mustafa) ordained all to do justice as it was closest to piety. Thus Allah pro.claimed that no one can be pious unless one does justice. Allah called Himself as Just (Adil). How can then His creatures, that is what the humans are, can be unjust and yet claim to worship Him? Thus when Bilal called out AI/ahu Akbar what he was proclaiming was that ·creatures of . Allah, be just to each other; do not expl9it eaeh other; do not take away what rightfully belongs. to I others; do not expropriate others of thei~ labour: hard work". For how can you be unjust to each . other and yet congregate to wor. ship Him? Allah also proclaimed through His Prophet that fight against injus- : lice, against zulm. He even said . you are not permitted to fight but when wronged, when exploited, when oppressed and when deprived of your rights, why should you not fight. Allah says when all this i.s happening around you, in . your own town, in your own country or in your own world how can you put up with an oppressive social and political structure and yet claim to be my faithful servants? If you are my good servants, you must fight against oppression. I promise to make the weaker and the oppressed (mustad'ifin) the inheritors of this ~arth and, its leaders. Thus when Bilal, the black slavE . emancipated by the Prophet. called out AI/ahu Akbar, he proclaimed to the humanity to stand. up, get united and fight against all forms of oppression, at home or abroad. How can you remain aloof when people are being oppressed or be part of it and still claim to worship Allah. If you really want to ' worship Him, if you really accept His greatness, if you really are faithful to Him, you will have to abide by His injunction to fight against oppression, against exploitation and against deprivation of the weaker sections of the society. Islamic revolution not only tried to overthrow the unjust status quo, it also elevated status of women. They were proclaimed equal to man in humanity and were given dignified status as full individuals, masters of theiF own destiny, exercising full rights on their property, claimant in inheritance from parents as well as husbands and full participants in the social, economic and political processes. Sex was treated -as creative and purposive and not permitted to be I :reduced to mere lust. When :reduced to mere lust it was sought to be severely punished. This 'further elevated the status of

their

women who have 'been traditio), ' ally treated as objects of mere lust. However, Islam did' not treat sex as sin; not only this it recognised

Tragedy

Islam should not be seen merely as a religious movement in the thelogical sense. It did not merely preach spiritual practices and relationship between humans and God but much more than that. It, in fact, preached revol utiomiry concept of equality of whole of mankind, equality of sexes and principle of social justice. It strongly urged all to fight against iulm and . wrong-doing. Its whole thrusr was revol utionary overthrow of a social set up based on zulm. All human beings are equal before Allah and among themselves, Unity of Allah urges them all to develop unity of mankind. All are His creatures.

"'"

active sexuality of women too and gave them the right to claim divorce, if their husbands did not · posses~" - ' ,<ual potency. Thus when Bilal called the faithfuls for prayer from the minaret, he called out Allahu Akbar and proclaimed if you are believer in His : greatness, you should also believe in greatness of His creature even if it be a woman. Man and woman are two sides of His creative act; one cannot be separated from the other, much less made unequal. Respect woman as much as man. Give her equal status to man and while obliging her to p~rform cer-, tain duties, give her what is her due. Her rights are equal to her obligations. Woman should, in no way, be treated as lesser creature. Thus we see that while Islamic' theology proclaimed unity of Allah, Islamic polity sought to establish unity of mankind. While Allah was ::alled Just by the holy Quran, the Prophet and his companions' sought to create a just and exploitationless society. While the Quran proclaimed war (Jihad) against oppressors, the Prophet and his companions engaged themselves in battles against all those who oppressed the weak and the exploited. Thus revolutionary Islamic theology developed an equally revolutionary polity in Mecca, Medina and other parts of Arabia whose societies were sought to be transformed from decadent, stagnant societies to dynamic, change-oriented and progressive societies. Slaves, toil~ ing people and other lower sections of society who were treated as scum of the society; were given equal and dignified status with others. All those who believed in Allah and His messenger acquired equal status. Those who were pious were nearest to Allah and piety lay, as pointed out before, in following all the revolutionary doctrines, religious as well as social, theological as well as political,. which were proclaimed by Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah.

ike any other reVOlution, Islamic revolution also met with stiff resistance from vested interests both religious as well as economic and political. Muhammad met with fierce opposition not only from the leaders of old religious order in Mecca like priests or kahins (oracles) but also from rich merchants of Mecca who dominated both economic and political scene in that town. Muhammad and his companions, many of whom came .from weaker sections like his 1 emancipated slave Bilal, had to face great deal of inhuman persecutiOn from these vested interests. Ultimately many of Prophet's companions had to migrate from Mecca and then the Prophet himself left and went to Medina There too he w~s not left in J8ace by the

, .

intrigues of powerful vested interests. Such interests in Medina" chiefly represented by Jewish: leaders who controlled Medinese economy (both agricultural and 'urban), conspired with their counterparts in Mecca and the Prophet and his companions, who were great revolutionary activists of their time, had to fight for defence of their revolution. Thus it was in Medina that the Prophet was permitted by Allah to wage war against the enemies of Islamic revolution who were conspiring :with all their might to destroy it. They were permitted not by way of aggressive intentions, but only in defence of revolutionary Islamic doctrines. The case OT Abudhar Ghifari is much well known in this respect. Abudhar Ghifari was one of the most trusted companions of the Prophet who was trained under him. He was highly committed to Islamic principle and was against accumulation of wealth. He often recited the Quranic verse which strongly denounces accumulation

r-------;i7-On 10th of Maham followers died, but 11 all Islam 'was more in than lew lives. ThE physically dead, are s are known as shu1 witnesses. Are they today what they diec principles not eternal , of gold and silver and tho" . who do have been warned of7\.-.~nful punishment. Abudhar recited this verse before anyone who was after accumulation of wealth and even refused to embrace them or shake hand with them. He wanted people in general and the Prophet's companion in particular to spend their ~urplus wealth in the way of Allah as laid down in the holy Quran. He himself neither accumulated wealth nor did he accept any office in the powerful Islamic establishment. He was particularly against Amir Mu'awiyah ""' : 10 was emerging as a parallel power centre in Damascus in the west. He took to the ways of Roman emperors which were in direct conflict wfth the sim. plicity and equality emphasised by Islam. The Prophet himself did not allow his companions to imitate the ways of the Byzantines or the Sassanids. He strictly forbade his companions to prostrate before him as people used to before the. Byzantine and Sassanid emperors. No human being can claim

FiREAO 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111......11111111..

Karbala ;uch t'azim (reverenc;e) except, opponents on the right. These ' \lIah . He alone i"s' greatest., forces were very powerful and 'Ali too met with a tra,9ic end. He was ~uman beings, whatever their, assassinated by one of the Khar,ocial and'economic status, are all 3qual. No one should bow before' , jites. His son Imam Hasan suc:he other. Abudharr wanted to' enforce this revolutionary principle: ceeded him . But where 'Ali failed Hasan could not hav~ succeeded. very strictly. However, he' saw that' Also, Amir Mu'awiyah had by now ~ was being flouted in the court of , grown into a formidable force and Amir Mu'awiyah. even 'Ali found it difficult to meet his challenge, He tried to dismiss t . is in this serious digression from the revolutionary principle ' him from the governorship of Syria but did not succeed. Instead, ,of Islam that there lay the seeds Mu'awiyah collected forces and lof tragedy of Karbala. That great tragedy cann',)t be understood if ' challenged 'Ali to war which , we po not take into account this ' thanks to Mu'awi~ah's clever tacerosion of Islamic values which , tics, resulted in no-victory no- ' began in Syria at the hands of the . defeat situation for 'AIL Imam Hasan was not given to strife and dy~ asty of Umayyads (Umawis). conflict. Moreover, people of Kufa, .which was the Islamic cap~al since Abudhar could challenge it only 'Ali's ,time, would not listen to him. t nsuccessfully. Some people held They were now deeply divided and Hazrat Uthman, the third Caliph, many secretely owing allegiance. s responsible for this erosion of to Amir Mu'awiyah who richly Islamic values and there was rewarded them for their loyalties. massive uprising a~lnst him Imam Hasan at last had to which ultimately result,d in his vio,lent death. It was the first most . agree to abdicate in favour of unfortunate Avent of early history , Mu'awiyah. Mu'awiyah agreed to _ ' . fulfill one of the very vital conditions that he would not nominate his. son Yazid to Caliphate and leave that matter for Muslims to decide. For Imam Hasan it was very vital conditions as he considered Caliphate an affair of Muslims in true repUblican spirit. However, for Amir Mu'awiyahit was not matter of principle but only yet another ·successful" tactical move. Imam Hasan did not iive long and he was poisoned by his wife J'adah allegedly at the ' instance of Amir Mu'awiyah. For Mu 'awiyah way was apparently ,clear to nominate his son Yazid which soon he did. The Muslim 'Ulama, Prophet's ' companions and historians are unanimous that Yazid was far from 'of I,n . 'Uthman was followeq by an exemplary Muslim character. Most of them describe him as 'Ali\.J2he fourth Caliph. 'Ali tried debauch who got used to luxurihis best to enforce Islamic norms 'rigorously but could not make . ous way of life and freely indulged in . drinking, dancing and music. He ' much headway as powel;ful vested interests, both econoi'nic as well abhored Islamic commitment. He , as political, had successfully conwas really inclined to pre-Islam ic solidated their position. Hazrat 'Ali ways. In fact installation of Yazid had to face a virtual situation of as a Caliph was a critical turn in the early history of Islam. Yazid, in civil war in which thousands died. Hazrat 'Ali faced hostility on two a way symbolised pre-Islamic past 'opposite extremes. On one and his coming to the helm of affairs was nothing short of extreme he faced the rightists who opposed his strict enforcement of counter-revolution . Moreover, revolutionary principles of Islam, Amir Mu 'awiyah had, by nominating him, negated the republican specially his attempt to equitably spirit of Islam. In other words, he distribute wealth in the Bait ai-Mal (Le. State Treasury). Many who changed caliphate into kingdom which' Islam had never approved had accumulated rich~s desired' of. .privileged stat us which 'Ali refused to acknowledge. The det"l:ued Most of the companions of the .. open war again'st film. 'On the Prophet including his wife A'isha. opposed Yazid's nomination '-by other extreme tliere were KharijMu'awiyah. All of them thought ites (seceders and deserters) who him (Yazid) to be a counterwere mainly Bedouins from the revolutionary in character.·He was desert. They were sort of represimply given to pleasures of flesh. sented extreme left who were not How could he become the caliph prepared to take complexity of the situation into account and would of the Muslims and amir alM'umini~ (i.e. commander of the not permit 'Ali to grapple with his

,Husain and his am remained. After , ortant for humanity e martyrs, though iritually alive. They da which means ot witnessing until for? Are the Islamic ter all?

1989

faithfuls) . The very idea was abhorring to them . And it was much more so as far as Imam Husain was concerned . Imam Husain's was an exemplary Islam ic character to be envied by anyone. He had spent his childhood with the Prophet himself and thus he had imbibed best of the Islamic traditions. His comm~ment ·to Islamic revolution was second to none.

While Islamic theology proclaimed unity of Allah, . IsI~mi~ polity sought to establish unity of mankind. While Allah was called Just by the holy Quran, the Prophet and his companions sought to create a just and ' exploitationless , society. While the 'Quran proclaimed 'war (Jihad) against oppressors, the Prophet an~ his compani9ns engaged themselves in battles against all those who oppressed the weak and the exploited. Thus revol utionary Islamic theology developed an equally revolutionary polity in. Mecca, Medina and other parts of Arabia whose societies were sought to be transformed from decadent, stagnant condition to dynamic, changeoriented and progressive societies.

rJ/III.

'F ORIJM '

How can he then accept Yazid as the commander of the faithfuls ,or in other words commander of the Islamic revolutionaries , He was very negation of Islamic revolution. , Moreover, Yazid was nominated in flagrant violation of the treaty which Husain's elder barther had signed with Mu 'awiyah. It was not only that his brother was treacherously killed so that Yazid may be installed.Husain certainly could not compromise on Islamic principle and accept the concept of mulukiyat (kingship) as opposed to the ,Islamic concept of khilafat (Le. succession to the Prophet in keeping with the revolutionary principles of Islam). Accepting Yazid would amount to' accepting counter-revolutl')n which Husain could never do. He did not want Islamic society to go back to preIslamic period of jahiliyah (ignorance). Whatever revolutionary changes Islam had brought would be totally negated. Human equality would be replaced by narrow tribal loyalties, human being will be enslaved by another human being, ' 'principle of social justice would be negated, the voice of Allahu Akbar , would be replaced by malik Akbar (king is great), a human being will be compelled to pay obesaince to . another human being, women would be degraded to be object of lust once again and principle of 1awh,:rf (unity of God and unity of his creatures) would be negated for ever. Bait aI-Mal (State Treasury) would no longer be the prop·erty of people held in trust by the State but will be reduced to the personal property of the king. So Husain's decision was clear and firm : He would not surrender to Yazid . • Imam Husain was in Medina · when Yazid was installed as a caliph on death ' of his father Mu 'awiyah. Yazid immediately instructed his governor in Medina to secure Husain's oath of allegiance (bay'ah) as he knew without Husain's endorsement of his cal- ' iphate pious Muslims would not accept him as caliph and hence he would have no legitimacy. Imam Husain, as pointed out, could not endorse counter-revolution by endorsing Yazid's regime. He refused governor's invitation for pledging loyalty to Yazid and instead left, with some of his family members and faithful followers, for Mecca. For the time being he thought it to ' be safe haven as, according to Islamic principles, no one could be kiiled in that holy city. Husain had other plans too. He had recieved scores of letters from Kufa, the erstwhile capital of his ' father'S time. The people of Kufah had invited him to lead revolution-

G~~e«.

ary struggle against Yazid as there was none else more em inently suited to do so. Husain knew about the treachery of the people of Kufa with "Ali and Hasan yet he had no other place to turn to. He sent his emissary Ibn Muslim to Kula while he waited in Mecca for his emissary to return and inform' him about the situation there. However, Yazid's forces were ' keeping a watch over his movement and Husain sensed they might reach him in Mecca itself. He, therefore , left Mecca beforE performing hajj and without waiting for his emissary to return. He learnt on his way to Kufa thai his emissary and his two children had been killed . The people of Kufa did not behave unexpectedly While their leaders were either bought over or killed and their followers, out of fear, turned their faces away from Husain. Many of Husain's followers left him at this critical juncture. He was left with only handful of companions who had committed thems" lves to die ' . fighting for keeping Islamic revolution alive, apart from his family , members. Husain was determined to march towards Kufa rather than turn back. For a revolutionary there is no turning back anyway, He was well aware of dangers but. dangers do not deter revolutionaries like him. His sole concern, now was to keep the banner o( Islam aloft, to prevent Islamic' society from regressing back into ·jahiliyah. Personal and his dear and near ones' safety was no consideration anymore. It was in danger anyway wherever he went. Why care for it then? He was surrounded by the forces of Obaidullah bin Ziyad, the new governor of Kufa, and not permitted to proceed to Kufa. The' place he was stopped in was known as Karbala and was in Iraq. 'Umar ibn S'ad led Yazid's forces. , Husain was not persuaded to go to Kufa and pledge oath of allegiance to Yazid's governor Ibn Ziyad. On 7th of Muharram, food and water was also stopped. He, his family members and his followers who in all were 1)0 more than 72 now, were starved and deprived of water. These 72 for whom Islam was ' much dearer than life, were vying with each other to be martyred in the cause of Islam. On 10th of Muharram, hungry and thirsty, they were set upon by the forces of Yazid and each one of Husain's followers fought heroically until death. They embraced death most cheerfully ratherti.an surrender to Yazid and his counter-revolutict. Husain too met this most tragic end. However, these martyrs' blood gave new lease of life to Islamic revolution. Jusain and his followers died but Islam remained. After ' all Islam was more important for humanity than few lives. These martyrs, though physically dead, are spiritually alive. They are known 9,S shuhada which means witnesses. Are they not wi'Lnessing , until today what they died for? Are , the Islamic prinCiples not eternal " after all?

.n..

FORIJM,

RELIGION FOR HUMANITY

Oaz.e tte;

HINDUISM

CHRISTIANITY

SIKHISM

Refraining from sinful

Tit For Tat

Conception Of Bir Ras

deeds

horr.endous and detailed esus said, "You have heard that description of the infern::!1 ~ has been said: an eye for an region has been given in the eye, anda tooth for a tooth . But I Bhagavatham listing various sins tell you not to resist evil; but if that a man may indulge in and the anyone strikes you on the right consequences he has to face. This chesk, turn the other to him also; is not intended to create fear in and if anyone wishes to obtain men's mind but only to make them judgement against you for your desistfrom committing misdeeds. tunic, give him your cloak also." God, through scriptural texts, has (Mathew 5, 38) commanded us not to do certain Few passages of the New Tesacts. He warns us of the punish- tament have more of the essence ment to be meted out in case there of the Christian ethic in them than is a violation of the code of con- this one. Jesus beg ins by citing the duct. oldest law in the world-an eye for But a doubt is raised whether an eye, and a tooth for a tooth . there is no way for men to get Thai law is known as the 'Lax Talthemselves excused for their mis- ionis", and it may be described as .deeds, by adopting propitiatory th e law of tit for tat. It appears in methods. There are and they can the earliest known code of laws, be resorted to but what is the ' the code of Hammurabi who guarantee that people will not · reigned in Babylon from 2285 to repeat them since it will be diffi- 2242 B.C. The law of tit for tat, far cult for them to resist temptations from being a savage and blood or yialding to wordly lures? . thirsty law, is in fact the beg inning The example given in this of mercy. Its original aim was def.instance is that of the elephant initely the limitation of vengeance. which after a fine bath in a river, Earlier if a man of one tribe injured coming out and smearing its entire a man of another tribe, then all the body w~h sand sucked by its trunk, members of the tribe of the injured from the shores. The best way is man were out to take vengeance to refrain from doing sinful deeds. on ail the members of the tribe of Appropriating another man 's the man who committed the injury. property or stealing his money, This primitive savage law is still deceiving a man, coveting other operative in OlH country as . have women, showing hostility towards been evidenced by the p~riodic parents, eating whatever comes to communal disturbances. 'Lex Talionis' limits vengeance. It lays one without sharing it.with others, failure to perform religious duties, down that only the man who committing arson or robbery, committed the injury must be puntendering false evidence in courts, ished and that the punishment -,!oing extravagant and ostenta- must be n6 more than the equivatious exercises only to display tent of the injury. or:'le's might or proud of their opulence, looking askance at others, are sins. To them, the treatment in different segments of the hell varies. Some will be thrown into boiling oil, some asked to embrace a hot sheet of iron and some made to pass through a s.mall pathway on e~her side of which are trees full 01 leaves which have razorsharp edges.

.,IIIJ.

If a person is not able to give ~P . de~ire he ShOUld, attempt to fix his thoughts on God

',1'. ....,..

Reapzing the torture a person has to undergo, he should totally avoid sins or should make amend~ immediately in thought, words and deeds. He can do so by practising self-discipline, concentration, continence, control of external o'tgans and conduct of prayers. But if he is r:lot able to give up desire and continues to harbour vicious thoughts, he should attempt to fix his thoughts on God, never getting dissociated from Him, chant God's names' and move closely with pious men.

.iFor Bir Ras one has to discard anger and any desire of revenge and to be active, cheerful and brave-to attain these, aNi has to surrender oneself-need for self-sacrifice which in turn means to be brave and Chiva/rous".

-Bhai Vir Singh Life of Guru Hargobind Singh

.,1111. "Internally a herndt and externally a prince. Arms mean protection to the poor and destruction to the tyrant

Only a person of great self-mastery can remain unruffled in the face of calculated insult.

Jesus abolishes this law of limited vegeance and introduces the new spirit of non-resentment and of non-retaliation. He says that if anyone smites us on the right cheek we must turn to him the ·othercheekalso. There is far morE here than meets the eye. Suppose a right-handed man slaps you on your right cheek, he can do so only with the back of his hand. That is, to add insultto injury. The insult is more injurious than the slap. So, then, what Jesus is saying l!l this: "Even if a man should direct at you the most deadly and calculated insult; you must on nG.- account retaliate, and you must on no account resent it." Only a person of great selfmastery can remain unruffled in the face of calculated insult. If he . retaliates he gives victory to his enemy.

he martyrdom of Guru Arjan was the first and foremost turning point in Sikh history. The persecution at the hands of the Moghuls had begun. So Guru Hargobind wore two swords-Miri and Piri. He sanctioned the use of sword (steel) in the defence of Dharma It is recorded that a Maratha . saint, Ram Dass, who later had the.':listinction of being tutor to Shivaji, met the 6th Nanak at Srinagar about 1634, who had just returned from a hunting excursion. jThs saint remarked to Guru ji, "Guru : Nanak was a tyagi Sadhu-a saint ' who had renounced the world. You are wearing arms and keeping an army and horses. You allow yourself to be addressed as a .sacha Padshah-a true kingwhat sort of a sadhu are you?" Guru ji replied, "Internally a hermit and externally a prince. Arms mean protection to the poor and destruction to the tyrant. Baba Nanak had not renoLinced the world but had renounced maya, ~i.e. sEilf and ego."

.Akbar the great was rea·lly great but his policy of tolerance of non'Muslims was not liked by Muslim religious heads who later forced Jahangir to reverse this policy. So the suppression of the Sikhs had started and this was to continue for hundered and fifty years. This was unacceptable to the Sikhs and, therefore, Guru Hargobind' and Gvru Gobind Singh desired to ::cnvert Sikhs into an or,ganiZation o~ saint-soldiers. Another change for which also · credit goes to the 6th Nanak is that in 1609, hardly four years after the martyrdom, laid the foundation of Akal Takht, in front of Harmandir Sahib as a seat to supervise the pol~ical welfare of his followers. A look at the present condition of politics in India which has been degraded and eroded the foundation of the soci~tyin general,

IsLAM "Abu Huraira razl AI/aho anho reported Allah's Messenger (SAW) as saying: while a person was going along the path, he , found a thorny branch UpolJ it. He pushed It to a side and Allah approved (This action) of his and (as a mark of appreCiation) granted him pardon. " (Muslim)

slam is the way of Allah . It is the way to achieve welfare in lifein the world and in the Hereafter. That is why its commandments open vistas of welfare into the individual as well as collective life .of the people. Even a cursory glance at the commandments and at the do's or don'ts of Islam would make it too obvious that everything harmful to the individual or to the society-whatever be the parameters is prohibited. The hadis quoted above deals the very basis · of Islam. The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said that a person who pushed aside a thorny branch which might harm a thoroughfarer was appreciated by Allah . He approved his act as noble and showered Hisfavour by endowing forgiveness on him. The (~ is makes two things clear en~h . Firstly, all those acts which help man escape trouble is a noble deed and it shall be rewarded . Secondly, all those acts which emperil people is ignoble and Allah dislikes them. A believer must be too much eager to extend welfare in the world and too much cautious not to harm others or to be a cause of harm to others. should open the eye of our responsible people that the only way of salvation is that politics shoul(j. not be divorced of moral · and spiritual values for which all religions stand. Mirf-temporal worldly or pol~icallife-should be hand-made of Piri-spiritual path, .and not the other way. No re~ion sanctions greed and grab; c tion and crime; and no natiorr6n hope to rise and shine in full glory

c'i-::m-

The only way of salvation is that politics should not be divorced of moral and spiritual values

'111111

·f(it is shorn of all moral sanctions. Spirituality is eVen of a higher stuff but our people, whom sages and sints have guided for centuries, are forgetting the noble teachings anp for any lapse of these on our pat\s, we are bound to suffer - in fact"we are .already suffering. How trulY Guru Nank had said "Ja Ko Aap Khuai Karta; Khus Lai Changai" (Whosoever God wants to destroy, He takes away goodness from him). f~ '

- Tan)1t Sln'gh (Retd. Prlnelpar

1-31 August 1989

·RE.-L.~.ION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ._.. . . . . . ~()ltlJ~ .Janrnashtarni

,jAvtar Of Abounding Love =

he Indian calendar is a long procession of countless festivals. These festiva!s enliven the social life of the country and unite the people by bringing them together in joyfuL celebrations of significant moments. Festivals' are a means through which the people express their zest for living, delight in nature and love of pageantry. These festivals either have their origin in religion, myths and legends of popular faith or commemorate the birthdays of national heroes 'or an occasion to felicitate the 'cOntingency of change in the eternal cycle of seasons. Janmashtami is celebrated all -over India as the birthday of Lord Krishna, one of the incarnations of Vishnu-the preserver in the great Hindu Trinity, Brahma being the Creator and Shiva the Destroyer. Mahabnarata and Ramayana ar~ the two epics which have greatly influenced the Hindu life. The main q" pcter in Mahabharata is ~na . The Bhagavat Gita which is the quintessence of the Hindu view of life is contained in the Mahabharata. Bhagavad Gita is the written version of the speech delivered by Lord Krishna to Arjuna, rathei the Panda'vas, on the bettlefield when they were hes· itant to fight with their opponents who happened to be their broth'ers also.

T .'

insight into the human psyche. He was articulate enought to argue in a logical and convincing manner. His words are lik~ sermons which will guide humanity eternally. The epic Mahabharata which is a record of his sermons abounds in meaning. It contains answers to all the plausible questions that could be raised regarding the very existence of mankind. Even Mahatma Gandhi, writing in Young India said, 'When disappointment stares at me, I go back to the Bhagavadgita. I find a verse here and a verse there and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming tragedies'. Krishna gave rise to a cult which is known as the 'Krishna Cult'. For he attracted, fascinated and inspired the maximum number of poets, musicians, dancers, painters, sculptors, ideologists, artists, historians, scholars and devotees the world over. The Krishna Leelas, the divine pastimes of the Lord and the Gopis, are spiritual realrties , an undying pledge of love between the lover and the beloved or the God and the devotees.

By Neera Swaroop

progenitor, Vishnu. He is always associated with a peacock feather, symbolic of his abounding love for all humanity, a flute and a bowl of butter which symbolize the Universe. An inevitable part of Janmashtami ceiebrations at many places is an exciting contest reminiscent of the Butter-stealing prank in the Krishna legend. A pot containing butter, curds Of cash is hung at a height of 20 to 30 feet in the fair ground and offered as prize to 'anyone who can reach it without using a ladder. A captivati'1g folk dance, Dandiya Ras, and singing of bhajans mark the occasion.

Janmashtami, which is celebrated with great pomp and show especially in Mathura and Vrindavan, the birth place of Krishna, ushers in the festive season. The exact time of celebration is mid(light for the Lord was born at this hour. The devotees keep fast on V'<- day which is broken only after L ·birthtime. According to the Hindu mythology the god Vishnu was to take ten avtars; Matsya (Fish), Kurma (1:ortoise), Varaha The spiritual reality of (Boar), Narsimha (Man-lion), Krishna Leela .is an Vamana, Parasurama, Sri Ram, undying pledge of Love Balram, Sri ' Krishna and K~lki between the lover and Whioh.... is .expected in the present ' the beloved-the God Kali Yug. Whenever sins multiply, Vishnu had to descend on earth to and the devotees destroy calamities. In the Dvapara Yug when the world was in a state of turmoil Krishna appeared to Although Rama and Krishna are r\deem mankind. the avtars of the same god Vishnu, According to the scriptures the their personalities differ altogether. seventh incarnation of Vishnu, The difference in personalities is .Rama had chari'ti"ed the world to a reflection of the different ages in such an extent then even the small which they were born. The time of living creatures like the birds, their birth and the season in which insects, and plants Ionged,to be they were born is also mirrors in near him. The Lord addressed their personality. Rama wa.§ more them saying that it was impossi- 'of an ideal man who obeyed his ble for him to fulfil ttieir wishes as elders listened to his counterparts he was married and. therefore and those who were younger to commanded faithf~l~ess from his him and--generally is associated ' ~pouse. He promised to recipro- with calmness, love, right thought 'cate their feelings when he takes and right action. Whereas Krishna ' birth as a cow-herdess. Krishna's is more of a manipulator and a :compJexion is blue/symbolic of his shrewd diplomat Who had a deep

.',1111.

'1//1/111

1-31 August 1989.

Sunny. A shampoo IJaI brings.)IOU nature's unique

Xift fOT IJetJutijui hair. Am.·... An important berlJ hi 1xJmtJftJpatb). iha! II('/S as •

I0Il.. CorrJrols flll/i"!l hair lind dtmdnJff-~.

nahtmlly.

And kJ , . It ii/J, SlInn,Y's CO#III/llotwr smOOlbens ouf ~ "'-'''ll.rour bah li/IWr, ",OW _ltIJgaMJW. YOt! WIot~ .~,,".,·s specltJl frncb ~ too.'

no.

for bet mulls mas..'iIjIIl! IlICNY MNIfA IWIl 01.. ~ hJ-21lC1111S Apply aJNN¥'AINICA SHAMPOO 10 . . hair. Wen ilk. lather. Rin9r.

~~ . . . . . . . . . . """'--' Prt..a: .....

m ,.... ",..",. ..... ,."..,

'*" DI6I , fotUO

Discover

SUNNY Arnica Shampoo and rediscover the

beauty of vour hair.

SUNNY ArnIca Shampoo with CondItioner. Gentle naturaJ-

oniy bvmO«JfXllbk berlJs can tnaJte it

• 11

.,F ,ORUM'.•............ ........ .... .. .. .... . _______- ...- . - - _...___ ~

~~~~~

R.E.LIG.IO. "N

Gazette'

Idul Zuha

he Eid-ul-AZha is meant to commemorate the final sacrificies of Hazrat Ismail by Hazrat Ibrahim (Peace upon both the Prophets) at the instance of God, as understood and attempted by the "Father of Prophets", though it did not actually take place. But, initially, Hazrat Ibrahim had to undergo the ordeal of fire, for his faith in only one God. The tyrant of the d'ay had prescribed this ordeal for the Prophet of God. This historic event has become sym· bolic, for centuries. The trials and tribulations the faithfuls have had to undergo, all over the world, down the ages, are their ordeals of fire, at the· hands of their oppressors.

Test And Trial

he faithfuls have to pass this test and trial, at every critical juncture of history, and prove to the worid the truth and strangth of . their belief. So that they .•nay live in honour ihreafter and work as an eHective sccial fc~.o::e f~r the improvement cf the society to which they belong. Tn 1s test is particularly held, when the' social condition deteriorates in any age and country. As a result, the land, at a given time, stands on the brink of annihilation~ Then only very staunch and dedicated characters, inspired with a mission in life, may come forward, braving all dangers and taking all the risk, to rescue the beleaguered country and give it a fresh lease of life. This is a universal fact of history, rescuing frequently. and warning man against his elU;esses. . The Muslims are faced with this test of fire in modern times for many decades. Iqbal sensed this situation, in his own time, and declared that the progeny of 'iazrat Ibrahim was confronting the ordeal of fire, once more in hist(l)ry. So, he questioned, "If someone intends to test someone, again"? He meant that God was, again putting the faithfuls on test Consequently, the Muslims had to pass the test, true spirit of their faith and in the best tradition of their community. The problem was how to succeed in the trial. Iqbal answered in the following lines: "Even today, if the belief of Ibrahim shown, The fire may be turned into a garden. Thus, both the problem and the solution have been, very aptly and meaningfully, stated for the Muslims of modern times, all over the world. From Labanon to Afghanistan and from Palestine t9 Bulgaria, the tyrants of the lands have '. put the progeny of Hazrat Ibrahim to"the ordeal of fire. Ail the countries and the, societies concerned are on the brink of utter destruction and the Mu~ Iims therein are passing the test of fire. Generalizing the analogy, one can say, the wholeworld has been set on fire, in oLlr days, as all the mundane ideoloQ!es have failed to save mankind from the fatal consequences of it~ own sins of denying' God and violating the code of

'The Ordeal Of 'Fire mora.! conduct prescribed by Him . Be it class conflict, or caste tension, or communal strife, all , the destructive diseases have been unleashed bv unbelief and immorality. Thl3 materialistic politics of power have produced. parties, which are struggling with onE! another only for supremacy and monopoly. So that they may come into a position to exploit all the . resources of economy and polity', simply for the vindication of their selfish interests and the enjoyment of their personal desires. A luxurious standard of life has become the sole ideal of life for all classes, castes, communities, and parties. The immense resources of science and technology are being employed by all the nations, without any exception, merely for piling up the mostlethai weapons. . . Every nation, in this international age, is afraid oj annthft''TQ1ion. None trusts none. There is a crisis of COritl<'H~nce 11'1 Ina Age 01 Reason and Enlightenment. COIl-. sequent/y, the worst kind of obscuranti~m is prevailing, spreading .and'increaslng. M" the 'UIIl;t:ll-'tS of iiberty, equality, and fraternity have been distorted perverted, and subyerted.

There is not a single state working for social justice. Nor is there . any leader to whom modern man ·may look up for . guidance. Whether capitalist or Socialist, the democratic or despotic,

By Dr.."_Abdul Moghni .

IllIIlt

Only an exemplary conduct of the Muslims is ' expected to extricate the modern world from the morass 'into which it has , bogged down and is sinking deeper and ' deeper. The Indian Muslims have to come forward ,and prepare to lead the country along ·the right path and to its real destination '1/111111

engendered conflicts, like in othel societies. There is no unity of purpose among the Muslim States. The Islamic Iran making friendship agreement with CC ommunist Russia, over the corpses of Afghan Mujahideen, just like Syria butchering or getting butchered the Palestinians, are cases in poin of betrayal of the Islamic cause in the present aga. The Indian Muslims apart from bickering among themselves, have shirked their ideological responsibility to protect the downtrodden and depressed people of this land. Equality and fraternity had been once, in the mediaeval periOd, introduced into feudal india by the Muslims. But now, in spite of all the official welfare schemes, caste riots have broken out in alarming pro portions: Even the ba~ward castas, gaining affluence and power, economically and politically, have turned into tyrants against their poor and weaker compatriots called Harijans. · The communal riots against the Muslims themselves may well be taken as a kind of warning against: their failure to fulfil their historic mission in aland assigned to them centuries back. Hence, the ordeal of fire for Muslims and the whole 6f mankind in the present-day world. Belief in God and His cosmic scheme of things; as shown by Prophet Ibrahim, thousands of years back, it first and most urgently required to

face this ordeal. The Islamic ideology and system of life, finally propagated by the last Prophet of God (peace upon him) is tfien to be adhered to, totally and practiCally. The tenents of the faith are to be reasonably interpreted and pro- ' perly applied, for this purpose, to, all the diverse problems pestering hum~n beings, in all walks of life.

Exemplary Conduct

his Islamic community, throughout the world, whatever the ' material condition of its members, has to emerge as a moral force for social justice in the society to which it belongs, what'ever the country in which the members of the community are living. Only an exemplary conduct of the Muslims is expected to extricate the modern world from the mOrass into which it has bogged down .and is sinking deeper and deeper, faster and fast· r. The Indian Muslims, by virtue of their history, geography and demography, have to come forward and prepare to lead the country along the right path and to its real destination. This would be a tryst with destiny, for which the hour of truth has come. Any attempt at a communal projection of Muslims, at this juncture, would not bs ·helpfllg ' -\ the causQ _of Islam, at the gii.:: . ( time and place, as it has not been at any lime and place. And the fate of Muslims is, has been, and will be bound with Islam, as their only and whots W~y of life

all

' nauonsa~chau~n~tand~ng~~· ' r~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The weaker sections of humanity is being suppressed in all the ' countries. Those professing non- . , violence are the most violent. Those parading as tolerant are the most intolerant. In this scenario, the Muslims are on the front, as they are th.e last community commissioned with th€ message of God to justify Hi~ :ways to men and lead them to the right path. Whatever is happening in the modern world is due to the fact that the Muslims have not · been able to discharge their cosmic duty. They have not only neglected' the universal mission entrusted to ' them. Their own behaviour is not up to the mark. Their character has ,weakened, as a result of which they are not fighting the widespread injustice against themselves as well as the whole mankind. Strljggls in the way of God ("Jihad fi Sabililah") is the ideal of life, according to Islam, for both the ·individual and the community. The ·Muslims have certainly failed 'to live up to this ideal. They are, instead, competing with others in just raising their standard of living. They also, like others, are hankering a~er luxuries, rather than being contented with facilities. This materialistic competition in the Muslim society has naturally

Best Compliments from

LUTVENS ESTATE AG·ENCY Sale,

Purchase~

Renting Properties

M-71, Greater Kailash Mkt-I New Delhi-ll0 048 Phone: 6412337 Proprietor: Balbir 'Singh

1-31 August 1989

...............................................................

FORUM

GU__ .

Morale: A No-Compromise Aspect rmy life has always been thrilling . . e:i<dtement paraded through the rough and sn1.ooth layers of the mind during all my hay-days in the Defence Service . . Now I am surprised that many a . criticism has been levelled against the performance of the Army in Sri Lanka and elsewhere recently . Its senior officers are commented upon by some columnists of newspaPeA in such a manner that it WOlJld never touch reality . The IPKFsuffered in the island nation of Sri Lanka was j10t because of the army officers' Rve-Star style of living, but-the highhandedness of the Politicians. One should alw?~1C3 realize the fact that it is quite natural to have such a high casualty' while troops are in far-off lands. It will take time to seize the initiative. The standard of living in · the army has never been miserable. It has been rather wonderfully soothing and enjoyable and commensurate with the army's overall ~ff ·9ncy,. discipline and

s§;~.

~@~.A

NATIONAL FORTNIGHTlY ( ..fOCUSSING ON • Minority Rights • Civil Uberties . • Equality For ' Women • Democratic Values • Environmental · Protection .. SUBSCRIP110N

RATES Life Donor Subscription Rs:'1 000.00 Five Year StJbscription Rs.200:00 One ,-Year SubScription RS.50.00

Please Write

TBE FORUM GAZETTE

3, Masjld Road

Jangpura New De1hl-l 10 014

1-31 August 1989

•

.By Lt. Col. Manohar Singh (Retd.) .

•. Army should be judged from Gen- . . eral lia's talk (Operation Topac) to : his people that Paksitan cannot afford to have a straight fight with India. He said, "finally, I wish to . caution you once again that it will be disastrous to believe that we can take on India in a straight contest". This is the shape in which ·the Indian ' A.rmy continues to be. Considering the recent critidsms on the Annual Confidential Report, I have some suggestions to offer. The system oi Annaul Confidential Report cannot be eliminated as it is required to apprise the officers their weak points to rectify and also it is used . before one is promoted. Therefore, supersession cannot be avoided,

morale-a motivation for people to join the force . About the senior officers' integrity, it has always been , above ordinary imagination. Regardin'g the behaviour o! co!'f)manding officers, I have per· sQnal experience of commanding a battalion in Nathula and Bomb~ dila and have had the honour to be AA&QMG (dealing with . administration - ACRs, diSCipline and moral.,)) of a mountain division, 33 corps and western comma~(:! from 1964 to 1971. By virtue of these, I could say with pride that · no commanding officer lacked in . character and stooped themselves . low to earn favourable ACRs: There is a general belief that the troops of the Indian Army pay fOL

but it should not be out of proportion, which it seems to be so. This causes a drag on the Army by the disgruntled officers, which must be removed to ensure the fighting efficiency of the Army. Therefore, the government should give :non. etary insentive for such officers to take premature retirement to be compensated for losing serVice benefits, and could rehabilitate themselves. It must be appreciated that the army personnel give up ·their certain civil rights and accept the strict discipline of their service, hoping that their rights will be safe in the hahdsof thier Chief of Army Staff. The government must act in a manner that it enables the Chief of Army Staff to 100kafter the welfare of serving as well as retired Army personnel, as such accept his recommendations, enhancing the status of lea- . dership.

~~~n~~cl~~~~r:Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~~~~~~ii~iiiii~ii:l

·icers. In fact, the money is not spent from the regimental funds. The source of income to the officers' mess is the subscription paid by the officers and the authorized portion 'Of unit canteen profits, which are laid in army orders 15% for the officers' mess and 75% for their regimental funds to be spent on Jawans' welfare and unit functions. One of the most important point is that every unit commander gives out the details of expenditure of r: regimental funds in his monthly 'darbar'. And if any officer, JCO or Jawan has any observation, it is recorded and answered. No doubt that the reQimental funds are not auditcible by the Gontroller of Defence Accounts (CDA), but these are regularly audited by the · unit bOards of officers and every formation commander ~hecks these regularly. There is no chance of any fraud or misuse of ·funds by the commanding officers since the funds are raised from unit resources for the benefits of the units. Therefore, commanding officers ate equipped with this discretionary power. As central government does not allot any budget to this fund. the CDA naturally has no role to play here.

Regarding the welfare of the Jawans, especially their messing, . leave,living conditions and health, from the commanding officers to senior formation commander at every le~el, special attention is paid as. it has direct bearing on morale, discipline and fighting efficiency of the units. ILwould-flotbe wrong to say that only a few in the civil life can afford the quality of ' food that a Jawan is provided witll. The interest of Jawan is never undermined while he is in service. .What happens to him after his retirement is a concern of civil administratioa. The state of Indian

HI'NDUSTAN REF'RIGERATION STORES 2 & 4, Netaji Subhash Marg, Darya Ganj, New Delhi-11 0002 Cable:

Off.

CORKMAN

S.Stn. Res.

271152, 271898 (Pbx.) 277725, 277735 521273 522858 (Director)

Service Station: 23, Park Area, Karol 8agh, New Delhi-110005, Phs: 521273, 522852

Works: A-21 & 30, Sector 2, NOIDA (U.P.) Phone From Delhi (805)-3132, 4110, 4111

Authorised Dealers:

Stockists & Mfrs. of:

• Kirloskar Hermetic Compressors • American Universal Electric Motors Monoblock Pumps • Danfoss Controls • Ranutrol Controls & Relays • Maffron Refrigerants • -lhnus Water Heaters .• "Tutlu Water Pumps • Cuttler Hammer Thermostats & Switchgear • Acmevac Vaccuum Pumps • Kim BraSs, Steel Fitings & Valves • Freezeking Compressors

• Dry Ice & Liquid CO;z • Liquid Ammonia • Ammonia Valves & Compressors • Copper Tubing • Deep Freezers • Combination Coolers • Ice Lolly & Cream Plants • Water & Brine Chillers • Dehumidifiers • Igloo Chumers • Soft Ice Cream Dispensors .Sulphurdioxide .

...

,. .

:F ORU~i .__________iiIIIII_ _ _ _.C.HI.LD.R.E.N/.ST.U.D.EN.·T.S A;~f;,'_ _ J.. . . .. .

1.. _ . . .

Cons.nsus ·

Consensus

0' .

Five Facts About Ice Cream

Martyr-Victim

Oplnlon-

. Every - All

Every is often misused for all, as '"Every human being has. this in ,common ." Say "All human beings have this in common."

nie'phrase consensus of opinion-

Martyr is etten misused to mean • ' common .enough, but it . is . victim, as "This accident adds redundant. ConsensiJs alone ,another to the long list of martyrs lmeans agreement of opinion. "The t6 the automobile." A martyr is one COtIiensus of politicians is that the >who voluntarily sacrifices himself National candidate will win." "The for C'\ cause. A victim is one who consensus of the meeting was in is injured or killed by another. :tavourot modification." Materialize - Take Place EuIer-Mor. Easily The adjective easier is often mis- Materialize is often misused for used for the adverbial phrase, apear, come, happen, or take more easily. Correct uses are: place, as "The paper didn't mater"You work is easier than mine"; ialize this morning"; "Your party didn't materialize, did it?" Materi"You learn more easily than I." alize is properly a philosophycal and spiritualistic term meaning to RKoJl8Ct-Re-coll.ct invest thought or spirit with objecI Recollect means recall to mind fOrm. c:=" . and re-coIectm~ c;;onect ~in.

:r_~Iliave lQ:.tj~!f.~·_mY~s~J:. _ 0001\ uefore I can tto ..",lIect

tive

Evidence - Testimony .Evidence is often confused with , testimony. Testimony is the affirmation or declaration of a person, or of a thing personified. The one who gives testimony is usually either a witness of a particular fact or an authority on the subejct concerned. Evidence is direct or ' immediate groun'Bs' for belief. Thus the facts themselves constitute evidence, while some persons'. statements about those facts constitute testimony.

Meet - Meeting Every Place - Everywhere

the-source of that passage." Meet is properly a verb meaning to come into connection, contact, I stoW U~1ow Down Both expre!S~ons ,,-e used in . or proximity. Meeting is a noun signs. Slow down is now gener- meaning a gathering or an ally preferred because ,it is more assembly. The use of meet as a jloglcal' ~ contrasts better with noun is sports jargon, as "a meet (Le. 'tor hunting) and "a race meet." ~ apeed up. .

Every place is vulgar for everywhere. Say "I hunted everywhere for a pencil"; "He seems to have been everywhere."

Memoranda - Memorandum The plural form memoranda is more familiar than the singular memorandum and is often errone,(lusly used in its stead, as '~ I'" make a memoranda of that". Memorandums is a correct but less-used plural.

'Bookttsh People Blblloclast-80meone who destroys bOqKS. Blblloklept-80meone who steals books. Blbllomanlao--&meone who has an exaggerated love of books. Blbllop.glst-Someone who binds books; a bookbinder_ Blbllophag.......someone who reads a lot of books. ·Blbllophll........someone who loves books. Blbllophob........someone who doesn't like books. Blbllopol........someone who sells rare books. 91b1lotaph-Someone who hoards books.

4. Ice cream Cones wer.'lnvented at the St.Louis World's Fair In 1904. A vendor seiling Ice cream ran out of dishes. A' pastry-seller rolled up on. of his wafers and asked the ~enCior to put Ice cream·In IL Together, they sold the first Ice cream cones. 5. The ImlY.lgrants who' arrived on ElIIslsland, New York, In the early 20th century were served Ice cream at their first American meal. Some of them were confused by the·new. . food sndspread It on their bread.

B'L UNDER Wrestler Who Beat .

Himsel~ \ ~IS .

----.- ...-

.~ -=---

Please· Will You Please? The imperative or optative please is noW :usually taken as short for ' "if you pl9ase,~ "will you please," "if it please you," or "may it please you." This use of please is informal and familiar. Beforo an infinitive please is equivalent to be pleased, as "Please (to) come early" means "Be pleased .to come early."

' -_ _ _..."..._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _-JL-_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _--1

Boiling Water

The ancient Chinese were the first people acid flavoring: to snow and eat thl,s Icy concoction. Macro Polo returned to Europe from China In the 13th century with a recipe for Ice milk• Thomas Jefferson popularized Ice cream, his favourite dessert, In the US _duringhl!; .Inesldency (1801-1809).

""-- -

-- ~

American wrestler, Stanley Pinto, 19ot tangled up in the ropes during one of his bouts. In his attempts to get out he put his shoulders on the

mat for three seconds-and was declared the loser. His opponent was n_~where near him at the t r) '

STILL IN MYSTERY Headles Cyclist A6J,1JIIIII!!!~

As he walked towards the Fox and · cyclist must have ~en hit, and he Hounds Inn near .Northampton ran over to help. But the cyclist be seen! one winter'S day in 1940,<3eorge was nowhere When he arrived at ·the inn, 'Dobbs saw a car comiC19 along the. point of water will vary from daylO. required to '_cook -foou .can be" snow·bound road : Approaching Dobbs told his friends about ;,is' day. Water' boils at 1000 Centi-: greatly reduced if thebQiUng point the car, from the opposite direc- strange experienc~, Th!Oln one of grade onlywhen the atmospheric of the ' water is. raised. The tion, was a man on a bicycle. The' his friends, the local gravedigger, pressure oUtside is. al the ·sland- i p'ressure-cookerdoes this, since i1 . man appeared to have.no head. said, 'There was an accident at ard~ value. .is .an aluminium container fitted The car driver did not ~eem to that spot 25 ·years ago. A cyclist' At Quito In Ecuador, which Is :with a sealing ring but with a .see the cyclist, but continued to' . was knockid off his bike in .deep abo~ 2,700 metres (or 8,800 feet) loaded pin-valve which allows heaqstraight towards him. Within snow-the accident severed his ·above sea level, water bolts at .steam to escape. The valve can be seconQ§ tb.e Gar had passed. head: 900 Centigrade. set at varying pressures, enabling George was convinced that tlie People who explore in mountai- the food to .be cooked at a tern· .. . .. .. . . ~ompiled by nQus regions find a pressure- pera:ture of about 1200 Centi cooker' very useful. The time grade .

v ~

W ature.

ater will boir anywhere, but

it bbils at different temper- ' ·In different places. For

,-.anple, it will boil at a. I~wer tern· ~r. up a mountai" than at '...·level. 1'-. Tbia boiling point of water is the . lIMtiperatur. at whiCh its vapour~ ,....,... become5 equal to the' ~ almo.spheric "pressure. M the atmOSpherIC pressure is alWays' changing so the boiling .

". ' .

ACRazi4F

·LlT·E·RA·R·Y. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .~. . . . . . . .·~()It1J~

na.....

rancis Bacon is considered as father of English 1issays. He was born in 1561'and he died in 1626. He lived in the age of Renais·sance. The age in which the great - revolution of learning, which started in Italy in the 13th century and came to England in the second half the 14th century, reached full blooming. The Renaissance spirit means asceticism and an increasing beauty of life. The age of Bacon was, therefore, an age of materialism and enjoyment of life to the brim. The people believed in the mqto eat, drink and be merry. ' Bacon's essays are full of counsel for worldly progress and they are equally filled with wisdom, learning, shrewdness and they are of

FRANCIS BACON'S ESSAYS

Pearls of Wisdom By Parminder Singh Gujral

' life, personality and as Bacon himself said, they come home to our • . business and blossom. These essays serve as torch-bearers to young men of today and provide useful guidelines to them as to . . how they shpuld start their lives . and how they can make their lives purposeful and fruitful and how they can avoid errors and achieve immense importance to a young- success and fame in life. Even the man who seeks success and procritics have showered a rainfall of gress in his life. praises on Bacon. Matthieson Bacon was as wise as Solomon. . says, "The essays have won him He had microscopic eyes to watch a place apart, and are the source the world minutely and shrewdly of his fame with the world at larQe". and no one could look with an eye Legouis ' opines, "the essenof suspicion regarding his wisdom tial good of his essays lies, 'in the .and he shows tremendous insight density of thought and expression, in understanding the problems of 'the frequent brilliancy of the poetic men in the day-to-day affairs of images inserted never as 'orna'life. Legouis is right when he says, ments but always to emphasize an "It is the art of success among ' idea, and the impressive loftiness man which is the subject of his of the oracular tone". Macaulay 'essays, he points man to the part say, "It is by the essays that Bacon ~ho~ld play on th~ stage of is best known to the multitude...... ~al life" these saYings have they have moved the world". become household proverbs. H-udson says, "Extraordinary Hudson says, "Beyond any other insight and sagacity are their salbooks of the same size in any ient qualities, beyond perhaps any literature they are loaded with the other book of the same size in any .ripest wisdom of experience". The literature they are loaded with the . wisdom these essays contain is of ripest wisdom of experience". This great im~rtance in practical I~..:. shows that even the critics of Bacon's essays are great. They Bacon had no doubt about his are the result of his personal genious and intellect. experiences. His own image What Bacon has said is not dis·· reflects in his essays, -they are not covered in books. We can prove from any book but from his.own this with few examples.of his pop-

.ular essays. In Essay on friendship, he says, "For there is no man that imparteth his joys to his friend, but he joyeth the more, and no man that imparteth his griefs of his friend but he grievth the less". He also say~ that a friend is one to whom yori

can open your heart-"A friend is anothAr himself".

In Essay on marnage and single life, he says, unmarried men are best friends, best master§.. btIst servants, but not always ~st~sub. jects, for they are light to run away, and _almost all fugitives are of that

condition. In Essay on truth, he says, "Certainly it is heaven upon to have a man's mind move in charity, rest in providence, and turn upon the poles of truth". And he says that falsehood adds spice to like and shows usefulness at several occasions, therefore, "A mixture of alie oth ever add pleasure". Bacon compares truth with a pearl which is a symbol of daylight and falsehood to a diamond. He says, "Truth can come to the price of a .pearl that sheweth best in daylight but it shall never rise to the price of a diamond or, carbuncle that sheweth best in varied lights. Indeed Francis Bacon is a genious and has been truelly caned I Fat~er of English .,''',ay"..

AN APPEAL HELP THE EDUCATION OF ClllLDREN OF NOVEMBER 1984 WIDOWS The Sikh Forum is providing financial assistance for education of orphan children of the violence since early 1984. Since January 1988, this hilS been transfered to a Trust named "Citizens' Relief Rehabilitation & Education Fund". This trust. is duly registered and have obtained IT exemption under section 80G of IT Act 1961 at present valid till 30 Nov 1990. The sponsoring member/family/organisation who wish to sponsor one or more children will be provided with full particulars of the child i.e., name, age, sex, present address, grade, school and photograph of the child. Minimum monthly stipend required for education a child is Rs. 75/- or Rs . 900/- ($75) annually. The number of children who need this assistance is approximately 1200. We have been able to arrange donors for 910 children as well as for those who may withdraw at the end of the year. We are approaching you with an appeal to enrol yourself as a donor to sponsor as many children's education as you can for five years, if possible. The draft/cheque should be made in favou r of "Citizen Rehabilitation & Education Fund" and sent to 3, Masjid Road, Jangpura, New Delhi-llOOI4.

Camp Is For __ ...". Camping Y III the ihternatiOnai circuit against those who are 21 or far superior in terms of technique and " court craft. The experience gained at international level is more useful than the tips of the national coach . Besides, Vimal has had to suffer .a lot o'n accountof these coaching camps. About more than six months in a year, he has to play ' .badminton in European circuit and

than a blessing. Perhaps, BAI (Badminton Association of India) will counter it with another logic. Where is the money to send the players for participation in international tournaments? All the decisions of BAI depend heavily on the funds provided by the government. .And the Government releases funds only for the conduct of the nationals or for the

About more than six months in a year Virnal has to play badminton in European circuit and the rest of the period is to be spent in the camps here. So where is the tirne to rest and think over the latest trends in the game the . rest of the period is being spent in these camps. So where is the time to rest and think 'over the latest trends in the game. A player becomes stale during the Iong-period camps and by the time • the main competition starts, he .Ioses his interest. In other words, such camps prove more of a curse

1-31 August 1989

. coaching camps before the start of an important internationa1 com-petition. Hence, to raise the standard of badminton in the country, BAI has •no other option but to announce one camp after the other. And this is what irritates Vimal Kumar, the national champion. Do you get it?

Pu"jabi Academy Delhi DO YOU KNO'1lV' Punjabi Academy is engage.d in th.e development of Punjabi literature and Culture as a part of linguistic Culture ..of the Union Territory of Delhi. It is hereby brought to the notice of all concerned: 1. That under the Punjabi Language Teach·ing and Developmel1,t plan, Part Time Punjabi Language Teach~rs are provided to the Schools under M.C.D./N.D.M .C./ Delhi Cantonment Board/Government/Aided/Recognised Schools for Teaching Punjabi language to the students desirous of learning this language. Besides paying fixed remuneration to the part time Punjabi language teachers in these schools, the Academyals.o provides free Punjabi books upto Primary Syllabus to the students of those insfitutions ' where the Part-time teachers have been provided by it. For further detmis please contact or write to the Assft. Secretary (PLT) Punjabi Academy.

2. Punjabi Academy provides a grand opportunity for young DOYS and girls who are willing to participate in Punjabi folk/cultural . Programme under its Youth Programme "UBHARDE KALAKAR". For more details write or contact Youth Programme Organisor, Punjabi Academy;

3 Punjabi Academy has now extended its SponsoredProgramme on Vividh Bharti to 3t hcurs in a week whiCh is brosdcast daily from 6-30 p.m. to 7-00 p.m. For any suggestion for improvement in its contents etc. write to Programme Advisor, Punjabi Academy. . Joint Secretary Punjabi Academy Delhi Administration D.D.A. Community Hall, Motia Khan, Sadar Thana Road J Pahar Ganj, New Delhi - 110055. Phone No . 511675,516243

~aglsteredwlth the Registrar of N'ewspapers of India Reg. No. 45763

Deihl Postal Registration No. D(SE) 15186

·t ORUM·

SP08"(S

GazeH·~'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII''IIII''''''II''''''''..I I

Inter-Continental Hockey Tournament

On The Road to Recovery By Navin Chand ne of the most striking lessons :that India learnt during the fourth inter continental hockey tournament played at Madison (USA) was not to underestimate any opponent. India blundered in taking the Canada team lightly in the semi-final and paid the penalty by losing the match 2-3 and resultantly finishing third. Netherlands were the champions and Canada runners-up. India had begun well by thrashing France 4-1 in the opening match followed with 6-0 annihilation to Chile anrl 2-0 victory over Poland. Scoring twelve goals in first three matches (while conceding only one) gave a good account 01 Indian hockey players, especially the forward line, for once,

- - ---

seemed to work like a well-oiled outing against New Zealand, India machine. Jagbir Singh as centre .' managed to down the Kiwis 2-0 forward and Thoiba Singh as left- and top the pool-B. Both India and out seemed to be at their pea~ New Zealand are former Olympic form. champions. The victory over Kiwis ensured But the Indian victory streak was too good to last for long. An air of India to qualify for the next world complacency crept into the Indian cup scheduled for next February players. Resultantly, India had to in Lahore. Just after the enriching struQolA tl"l Aven draw the match experience in Holland earlier this

to be tiring by the halftime and are exhausted by the full time of the -rriaich . could the tired Indian players perform during the extra time? Indians piled up the pressure on..!>' to be caught by a swift counter attack which resulted into a penalty corner and a goal for Canada that sealed the fate of Indian hockey.

In the semi-final against' Canada, who had finished number two in pool A, Indian team dominated the mid-field play but the ter-· ritorial advantage could not be.' converted into figurative ascendancy. Amazingly, India were down 1-2 till the last five minutes of the game. India could ill afford such a complacencv . As the

How-

Even in the playoff for the third place, India had to come from behind to snatch a 3-2 victory over France. One can be happy that atleast . India got qualified for the world cup, but is it going to impress the majority opinion, which goes by the end resu~? It is true that Indian hockey is on the road to recovery. but the distance ahead is long and arduous. The' task undoubtedly calls for careful planning, imaginative and dynamic approach to consolidate the gains, however modest they may be.

It is true that Indian hockey

is on the road to recovery but the . distance. ahead is long and arduous. T~e task undoubtedly calls for careful planning! imaginative and dynamic approach to consolidate. the gains, however mode.st they may be against lowly ranked Egypt (who finished nineth in the final placings of the tournamentl-the ' face saviJq~ equalizer (2-2) comin~ virtually in the last seconds of the game off a penalty corner by Jagbir Singh. The draw against Egypt jolted the Indian camp and in the crucial

year, the national coach M.P. Ganesh had been quoted assaying, "Our immediate aim is to earn a berth in the next world cup in Pakistan". Having achieved this short-ranged target, our players preferred to relax rather than prepare for the more hectic fixtures to follow .

out

excitement mounted, India achieved the much needed equalIzer and went into extra time. A point that has been stressed time and again for the, last few decades is that Indian players are lacking in stamina as compared to well-built European players. As a result of this, Indian players seems

Coaching Camps .

Camp Is For Camping, Not For Coaching By Navin Chand

•• t is not the tendency in India to encourage the players to $peak their minds ..out) albeit one should be caught as a victim of the push and pulls of politics that plays a vital role in Indian sports. During the playing days, one keeps mum regarding his bitter experiences and it. is only after the playing days are over that he opens his mouth, much to the displeasure of the authorities in power. : . But Vimal Kumar, the national badminton champion, has decided to express his views openly in the larger interest of the development of the shuttle-game in the country. It is to be seen whether the authorities take it kindly and listen to ·his . suggestions with open ears or decide to turn deaf ears or take measures to silence him?

Vimal's first and foremost sug-

gestion is regarding to the usefulness of coaching camps. 'According to the badminton champion, the camps are hardly of any use to a player who has already achieved national level. It is merely a wastage of time and energy and national resources. Hence the top-ranked players of the country should not be forced to attend the so-called eye-wash co?ching camps. One must see Vim ai's point of view in the right perspective. Why \. has Vimal chosen to challenge the usefulness of coaching camps (which have also become a must . f under the Government guidelines)? Is he against the national chief coach, T.P.S. Puri? Or, he intends to advocate the idea of foreign coaches? No, there is nothing like that. Vim ai's point is that instead of practising in the camps against those who do not measure up to the standard of the champion, it would be more ad!antageous to Continued on page 15

Sleek

On or off. Texl. Colour TVs are a pleasure to watCh The p&rfect

Pai!lS'.alungly r'l.!t togethef tl) bring yOU pm sharp picture R,;:,. nalural c.lIOuR And sirikingly steet

match be!.~'fI/l State-ol· the-In colour t~hnology

~tI1et : cally

and appeal:ng

extenors l All at a priCe th2: .1" please yOU . ~ve~ "lOre.I

de51gn

~. .-4.~~~'\ ..OO~

.cr' O· , ,-:- :~~~-, · ~

:0 "

. . .

' ~eii:iI ~

COL

TEL

1ittd The right choice

Printed and published by A.S. Narang for Ekta Trust! 2126 Sarav Priy~ Vihar, New Delhi 110 016, at Men::ury Printers, Chooriwalan; Delhi . Compo!':Ad at DTP ~ervices & Consultancy (P) .ltd., A 86/3 Majlis Park, Azadpur, Delhi 110 '033.

1-31 August 1989