The Forum Gazette Vol. 1 No.3 July 1-15, 1986 by The Sikh Forum

Fortnighdy

New DeUli Tuesday 1-15 July 1986

Vol. 1 No.3

Rupees Two

Centre Bungles Over Chandigarh Bid to Circumvent Accord BaljH Malik

!\iter Mathe\,.:, aJ'ler Venkataramia h , after Desai. atter Ow Accord \Vhal? With Ole Chandigarh issue still unresolved heyond yfll another dea(lline IJune 21 ), northern India appears 10 be sel 10 rcceh'c a Ii'csh wave 01 dark douds aecompanied with thunder and Lightningl and not only 0'Ole monsoon kind. Apa,'t Ii'om the senseless (bu t calculatedl wal'e 01' kiUings unJeashed by the terrorists and the resulh1 nt migration of Hindus to sal'er havens within and outside Punjab, the Congress-I gove ... llne nl of Prime Minisler Rajiv Gandhi, has cieUvered its own mindless blow to prospects of peace and tranquility in the troubled state. y hunglillg lJ\'(' r Chandi -

Hindu Maneh Members demonstrating with Trishuls in Delhi on June 20. The BJP joined up with the Vislnva Hindu Parishad and various Hindu Senas to demand Army deployment in Punjab. Slog.·ms agains t the r\c:eord were also heard.

Ilarji Malik

The Politics of Trishul Culture Delhi's Wave of Hindu Communalism Ever since Mrs. Indira Gandhi's assassination and the organised cal'nage OJ Sikhs in November 19841 Dellii has been scarred by provocative Hindu slogans and posters. On June 20 an unruly demonstration was organised by various H_indu communal organisations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad l Shiv Sena l Hindu Manch l etc' l the BJP included. The demonstration marked the culmination of many days of protest meetings l marches anrJ. dharnas against the Punjab Accord. lnder Mohan reports. his is an era of Stmas and of the emergenee of fundamentalism in sections of variolls religions. These sections have become so aggressive and volatile that thev seem to have overshadowed what could be termed as a balanced assessment of human problems and human beings. Not only that l religion as stich is being distorted, and its age-old accepted interpretations of universal peace, brotherhood and

human relationship based on mutual equality are being given the go by. The most dangerou aspect - one wh ich has virtually become a ll-pervasive - is the mixing of religion with politics. This has been done so blatantly by all those politicians who have found it a co nve ni ent method for ei th er th e re te ntion or achievement of power. It would not be an exaggera tion to maintain tbat the surge of Senas is also

due tu Ihis parti c~ lar but grim politi cal rca Ii t.v. Earlier we had t he Hindu Shiv Sena in Bombav. with all it s over' ton es uf comu r;a li sed polit ics and c onsequent drastic aC li ons at the cost of innocent li ves. Todav we have a Hindu Sh iv Sena 'in Punjab, a Hindu Shakti Sena in Delhi, a Hindu Hanul11an Sena in parts of U.P. and tinallv. a Musli m Adam ena being s tar~ted in Delhi in order to mubili z.e th e Muslim vou th behind it. The puhlic, by and large. is aware of the role of Ihe Hindu Shiv Sen a in Bombay and Punjab, but the Shakt( Sena and Adam Sena are a recen t phenomenon. It is a lso a fact Lhat the Shiv Sena. ShakLi Sena and Hanuman Sen a all function in collaboration. In Iheir own way. the ruling Co ngl'e s party and the BJP which has now gone back to its old Jana Sangh days. make full use of all these Senas. as and when it s uits the m faT' their clec10l'al purposes.

garh .rl1(1 appointing it higher judicial authorilv' in the furm oj' .Iusti('r~ DA Des,;i. iwith lerms of r(,I('rence ur the lack of ti will. which !lout th e Accurd l !O cO lllplete w hat Mathew ami Vcnka taram iah 'lad left onlv half don n. the Cen tre ha s cir:cuillve nled . if not ye t brok(~n th e Kaji v-Lo ngowal Accord. The nati o n might sti ll be a lilli e wav away Ii-um th e war declare d on the' Accord bv the editor of Th e TinH!s of India in his colum ns on Jurw 22 and 24 en titled 'Accord is Dead ' and 'Scrap Raji v-Longowa l Acco rd,' but the citizens of thi s countrv are being subjec led to the home truth of being helLl 10 ransom by non-government. 01' a lleas t non perfomling govel'llmen t~ , at the Cen tre and in Punjab. The lates t episodp. in th e Chandigarh story unfolded itself last fortni ght with .Justi ce Venkataramiah rleclaring that Punjab should part with 70.000 acres of Hindi -speaking territory in li eu of Cha ndigarh . He also le t il be knuwn that 45,000 ' Hindi speaking acres ' had been identified thou gh these cou ld also come under purview of clause 7.4 of the Accord concel'lling boundry and ten'iturial questions. The Venkataramiah Award ran into tl'Duble wi th Ihe ink still wet on it. The honourable judge fail ed to ide ntity the additional 25,000 Hincli-s peaki ng acres he wanted tran sferred to Ha ryana ; suggested the appoin tment of another comm ission to undertake th is task and then added for good measure that he be excused to head the new commission. for pel'sonal reasons as he put it.

liaryana's Understanding

Haryana lost no tim e in accepting the Award. ostensiblv The Shakti Sena of Delhi is of with the understandjng that the recent origin. Eight months ago, 45 .000 acres would not form part no one had heard of it. Now its of the deal on Chandi farh but (Continued 011 P.3 ' 01. i ) _wou Ld come to it 1I nder cluu -e

Shakti Sella in Dellii

Justice Mathew 7.4 as a resu lt of the e lTorts uf

th e as yet unappointed seco nd commission on houndIy and territorial mall e r ·. Thus Harvan<l ' unders ta nding wa . t hat the Il ew commi ss ion sugges ted by Justi ce Venkataramiah would need to identifv another 70.000 acres separate ii'om th -IS .OOO already id e ntified as Hindi -sp(~ a"ing terri I or'\!. The' reaction in Punjab IVas predictable as it was reasunable. Though the so-ca ll ed national press c hose to miss thr point. choosing insteacllo h(~a p ricU c ule and abuse on Punjab s s tand .

What Was Punjab's Stand After a certain amount of di thering. ca used nu doubt by (Con tillued on p.i:; Col. / 1

Inside • Viewpoint by Ashish Nandi • White Heat in Black Sou th Africa by Javed Naqvi • Illustrations by Mickey Patel and Ira Roy • Spotlight on WHO by Salam Badal' • Short Story by Saadat Ha san Munlo

F8ru

M __e_m_·a_W __a_W_h__________________ Ga~--------------~-----------

Th_e Press, the Accord and How Many Acres We give below excerpts num the -Indian Express, Th e Statesman and - Th e Times of' India on events' p ertaining to ChandigaJ'h 's scheduled transfer on June 21, now delayed until JlI/V 15. While the Express and Statesman saw the problems of' the past fortnight in a fair-minded nationalist manner; the Times ' declared its own war on the Ra;iv Gandhi- Sant Longowilf Accurd.

INDlAN EXPRESS .ILl/II '

r./ , 1!lXli

What India Expects II

a Iholl sand pitil:S that I·:.S. \ 'lml--ataral11iah 's all ;m l d ocs not ro ll ow ti ll! w isd lllil 0 1 hi s o\\n l!x(;(!lll:nt pos tSITipl ('ailing un tlw nati o l1 to ri ~(' ahuI'I' p( :lt." paroc hiali s m and III' Illdi an In d e t e J'lTIil1in ~ 11 11 ' Iltltlllliari cs of lin g ui s li t· S l ;t ll ' ~ . III lilt' I:V(! llt he h as s ugh l ' ~ I I ' d · th a l PUlljab tJ'a ll srnr ~() . I lill) ,t(Tes to Harvalla illli(!11 or Cllal ltli ga rh . T Ill: C~lI llmi ss ioll ii s(' 11 II as a ble to pid, out o nly :10 villages wi th a land area or45,()()() ac res on "tIH' ha s is of 111<: 1~' 8 1 cens u s ill IIH ' lill)(! ava ilahle to it anci Ilwl'l'lilr(' sOllg hl a co III p romiSI : hOIII (!( !n 11 ll! Iwo pa l'lil!s. Silln' Ihi s Ivas 11 0 1 possi hll !. Mr \' (: 11 I-- a I a r a 111 i a h h as I'l! t: 0 III . 1TI(:nd( :d Ihal Ih (! (;ov(:rnilwil l of Illdia a p poill l ."1'1 ano lhel' COI1l mission Iw hicll IH' ha s hill1 se lf sa id e!S(:WIWI'I' IS a Ilig hlma n' Ihal Plinjah-li arvana s hould he s p;IIl!c1 110 d('II'f'I11ill (' w hi c h Hilldis pl:aiJ ng I illages !! llco l11pa ssing i() ,nOn i.Icn:s s ho liid lJ(' II'an s1(~ I'I'( ' (1. HI' sa vs th e Iwo Sta ll'S s ho liid he g i~'e n lime 10 plac(' Ihe I1L!CeSSaI'V l11al(!lial rd eva 11 I lur ide n tili ca'iion o f Illes(' an!as I.nl l ~ o( ! s 011 10 add Ih a l Ill(' Un iOIl (;ovcrnnwill mig hl I!V(! 1l no\\· lind il p ossi bl e to pe rs uade th (,1ll t o (' o m e 10 a mutual af(rel' I1 WIII Id ihoUI in sis ling o n pl'OlIf of lingui s li c co mposilion . T ill' Hal'vana ca bin e l h as acCt!Pll'tl Ih l' \ fe nka la ram iah Co m ll1is~ i ()II ' s t1nrlint(s bUI Punjab ca n Ill' fo r~ i ve n luI' fee li ng Ihal Mr \ (' Ill--ata ramiail s trilved hl!von d his l!!rnlS o f refere;1C:e a mi 'ha s appt!a le d 10 th e Ce ntre to re vil'll hi s reco mm e ndation s. 1\11'

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FOrum Gazette ~il n(' 1 01 COlisu lt inK F:rlitol',o; Justice V.R_ h.rishna lye I', 10K. Gujral , Madhu Kis hwar, Khus hwant Singh, ,Jaya Jaitiy, Rajni Kothari, A mrik Sing h

Chairman. Board of Editors Lt. (;en _Jagjit Singh Aurora Iretd. 1 j\llanaging Editor Baljit Malik Editors O_S. Sandhu, Iiarji Malik , A.S. Na rang Associate Editor Avtar Singh Judge Circulation Lt_ Col. Manobar Singh Iretd.1 Business Man,lgel' Jitinder Kaur Lal Editorial /Campi Office "Bhagwan Das Road, New Delhi-l 10001. Ph one 385270 . 385042

Te le.1 315220 HBLK FOR GAZETIE

Tuesday 1- 15 July 1986

Till : naliona l inwms l wou ld he bcs i sc rv(:d Il v a fJ'(!s h initiativl:. Tlll'l'!! is n o l i(~I ! d 10 appoinl .v(!1 anollll !r cOl11 mi ssi on . Mr V(!l1kalar;lI11i a il li as idclllilie d 3(J Hindispl:al--i ng 1':ilagl:s 14.'i, 0l!() ac res l lilal cOlild go 10 Ha rya na . I.e t II u:s(: I'illag(!s 1)(: Ira ns l(! rre d 10 H,I/"\';1I1a Oil Jtln t! Z I in lie u of Ch,;ndigal'h . I.(!I IIH!re Ill! 11 0 ills is lc!nCl! iJv Harva na 011 s(~c ur ing OI ddililJl; a l ac'l'eag('! 10 l11akl! up 11ll' s lipposl:d mag ic fi g ure o f 70.II(JO '1l·J'(!S. Mr lIa nsi Lal an d hi s co ll eagut!s in Ihl! ruling parl.v a nd Ihl ! ()pposition s h o liid he big (!llllllg il a lHI Il1dian enoug h nol 10 t\(!llla lld Ihi s pound of llt!s ll. I'I'I :SSlll 'e a nd agita ti o n to Sl!ClIl'! : Ihi s ,11 HI Illort! can on l." lead III SIlITllW. I.e I Ilw ll1 pay h e l:d III Mr \I(!l1kalaramiah 's (!loqlll :1I1 pi ca w hi c h Ill! sO lIn w is()Iv discardl :d in li'all1ing hi s own Awa rd . lit! n !ll1ind(!d Ihe COLII111'1' of I.inco ln ·s wa rning Iha l "a h llllSl ' dil 'id ed agail1 s l itself. ca n nol s iand ." T he re is o nl v one Cili )',()n s l1ip ill Illd ia a ll d n (l lhing lik(! 0111 (!;\(:Iu sivt! hon w la nd li)l' an Indi all il1 s id l' Il1d ia . No h !li gio ll OIl'Il S ;1 lang uage. 111 w hi c hm'I!I' Slat(! Ill e v be. Fazilka, Allo ila r a nd o th(~ ; ' ho rd e r areas w ill 1'!!llla in forever India . II is n o l loa lal(~ 10 ri se 10 s lalesman s hip ami pul India lirs t.

THE STATESMAN JUli e :!.:!., I .'JSli

Tragedy and Farce During hi s undis ting uis he d le nure of oflice a~ Chi e f Mi ni s ter of Punjah, Mr Surj ee t Sing h Barna la ha s dOll!! a l leas l one good Ihing : he ha s preve nt ed the e e n 1m fl'Oll1 pe rpe tra ling a Ii:aud a ll th (~ people and maki ng a mackerv of th e in s tituti o n of ju d icial o r qu as i-judi cia l review _ WllPn O il Fri da v Mr D.A. Desai. areti l'l)d ju'd ge of th e Supreme Co u rt. was appointed to d e te rmine wb ic h are as of Punjab w 're 10 be Ira n s ie rred [ 0 Hal'yana in lie u of Ch a ndiga rh , he was give n less Ihan 24 hours to cOll1ple te a task which two ea rli er Commi ssions, a lso co n s tl -

tut ed by former Supre m e Court judges, h ad fa ile d to acco mpli s h in months. If th e propose d timet ab le h a d b ee n follow e d , Mr Desa i' s exe r cise would h ave been a farce ; equ a lly farci cal would have bee n th e res t of th e formal procedure to comple te Ihe tra n sfe r of le rrilory o n Saturday. Possibly the Govel'llme nt il self had decid ed on the areas th a t Punjab would be aske d to g ive up, and Mr Desai was expec l( )d only to present thi s as hi s _ow n finding , at bes t a·fl e r a c ursorv review of th e official exe rc i;e. If so, it is mos l ex traordinal v Ihat a re tire d judge of Ihe hig h (;sl court in the land and Chairma n o f th e Law Commi ssio n s ho uld have agreed to be a party 10 thi s make- be li eve. Mr Bamala has done a se lv ice 10 a ll by I'ejecling Ih ~: proposa l.

Q .

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Divine Mission Guru Gobind Singh . .. His was a kind of life that is unmatched by anyone anywhere . ..

THE TIMES OF INDIA JUIl O

22, 1986

Accord Is Dead As had bee n anticipated by us more th a n on ce by infere n ce, if n o t ex pli c it s ta te m e nt, th e Rajiv-Longowa l accord h as finally collapse d . Thi s is th e obviou s implication of the Punjab govel'n llle nt 's d ecisi on to rejec i th e D.A. Desa i C ommi ss io n wh ic h MI' Gand hi has appoint e d in a bid to s alvage somethin g o ut o f th e wrec kage . T h e Prime Minist e r h a s gone so far as d e li be ralely 10 co nfu se th e te rms of refere n ce o f Ih e n ew co mmiss ion a l th e in s tance of th e Pun jab c hi e f ministt~ r, Mr S.S. Barnal a . Bu t Ihi s ha s no l h e lpe d him . He is nol just back 10 squa re o n e . He is in a mu c h worse plig hl than h e was in be fore th e accurd las l Jul v. He is compl e te ly s tu c k for a n.v"ldnd o f po li cy 0 11 Punjab .

THE TIMES OF INDIA Jun e 24, 198(i

Scrap Rajiv-wngowaJ Accord Chandigarh No. Por Killing By GIRlLAL JAIN T h e Uni on g o vern m e nl shou ld take advan tage of th e Pun jab governm e n l's re jecti on of Ih e D.A. Desai commi ssio n a nd declare that since it is no lo nger possible to impleme nt the HajivLongowa l acco rd , it s tands scra pped . To be ca ndid, w e are no l recomm e nding su c h a co urse of ac ti on on ly beca u se we are co nvinced Iwh ic h we are) tha t Ihe acco rd co ntain s co ntra di clion s w hi c h ca nn o t be rec onc iled . We a l'e cOlllme nding it primarily, because w e are co n vin ced Ihal Chandigarh must n o t be transfelTed to "Punjab ".

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f dharma has survived in its home land, India. it is because s uc h noble so uls were born h ere from time to time to kee p a live it s flame. Dasam Granth or th e Book of th e Tenth Guru, a monu m e ntal work of inspirational poe try. was written by the Guru at Damdama Sahib where h e got some res pite from the ruthlessly purs uin g Moghul ar m ies of Aura ngzeb. During this period, Aurangzeb wro te a pleading lette r, filled .vith m a ny a hypoc ritica l appeal, to th e Guru but Guru Gobind Singh repli e d with his Zafer Namah , the e pistle of victory. T his le ller penned in hi s darkes t hou r proved to be th e brightes t h our of hi s life! The Guru ex plain e d why h e had tak e n up swo rd agains t th e e mperor. It is an advocacy that h as n o co mpa r ison o n \-lIily peo ple resort to the swo rd and I; se again s t the State. Here is an excerpt : 8ibaaya d tu daanash p ara sti kuni, Ba kaa ray shum aa c h erah dasli kuni, 77 ChilJaa shud ki chao bachgaa kushla/] chaar. Ki bakee bimildas l pechidah milill'. 78. Chi milrdee ki ilkhbilr kham osllila kuni, Ki ila tash dilmilaraa badauraa killl!. 79. Cili khu sh g uft Fil'dosiily kill/sh z ubo, Sililabee bill/il d kaar ilahar milll naa. 80. (1392) Yo u lemperor AurangzebJ u se your wisdom and ac t quickly: Do re ply to thi s le tter as early as poss ible. 77. Wha t did it malleI' if you killed my four s ons? After all. the cobra (me) is stiU living to punish y ou . Wh a t manliness is it to extinguish some burning coal. W h e n th e raging fir e is spreading in aU directions? 79 . How b eautifu lly the poet IFirdausiJ has s ummed it up : "The evil act quickly, thus hastening their doom. " 80 (1392) F.'om his autobiographical poem Vichitra Natak tThe Resplendent DramaJ one understands just how intensely devoted Guru Gobind Singh was to hi s mission of upholding righteousness and punishing evil-doers. He writes: Hum he kaaj jagat rna aay, Dharam het Gurdev pathhaay , laha tahil tum Dharam bithaaro, Dusht dokhian pakar pacchilaro. 42.

Yam kaaj dllaraa hum jan man. Samajh lell sadhu silbh manmiln. Dh aril m c llal aavan sa nt ubaarilfl, Dusht silbhan ko mool Ukhilal'iln. 43. I Have come into this world for thi s purpose _ The supreme Guru has sent m e to protec t Righteous n ess: "Yo u should propagate righte ou sness everywh ere. Seize and destroy th e s inful and the wicke d ." 42 . I h ave taken birth for this purpose. Le t th e holy m e n unders tand this in the ir minds. I h ave come for spreading divin e re ligion and protec ting sai nt s. And for annihilati ng (u prooting) al l the tyrants. 43 (S71. And thi s quo t a ti on , th e Gu ru ' s h y mn , from Chandi Charitra: D eh Si va bar moil iilai, subh karmiln tay kaballOo nil taroo. Nil dilmo ur so jilb jilah Jilmo, NischilY kar ilpnee jeel kama. Ar Sikh h oo il pnily Ili mun ko, th lilil lach hil u g una tau uchroo. Jab ailV kee audh nidhailn banay, Ut hi run rnai tilb Jujh mill'OO. Grand m e Ihi s boon 0 Lord I may n ever be d e t e rre d from doing good d eed s. I s hould have no tear of th e enemy. Whe n I go to battle, le i viclOry turn to my side. Let on e direc tive g uide my mind exclusively. Th a t I m ay ever be zealo u s ly singi ng Thy praises. And w h e n th e time comes, I should di e . Fig htin g h e roi cally on th e field of battle, 199)

Th u s , it is apparent that Guru Gobind Singh was as great a psyc hologist as h e was a poet and a warrior. He gave to the Khalsa the w ar-cry of Sat Sri Akal which epitomises the highest spiritual. knowledge of the land and gave visions of Raj Karega Khalsa which means the Khalsa alone shall rule. This comes very close to the expression : Satyameva Jayate. As leader of men engaged in a mortal combat where odds were as bad as one to one thousand, the Guru emerges without a parallel in Indian history. An excerpt from P.K. Nijhawan's introductjon to his Sri GunI Gobind Geeta.

F_O_r_tni_·_gh_t_F_O_CU_S_ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~~[B

Politics of:/1 Trishul Culture

I C()llliIH/l'n

Chandigarh

from JlI Col

unil~ are "pl't'ad a ll ow'r -th e I tl1(' lIillI:-. ;lIld Ih in lil' Ihal no acsillm ('ol()n i(' ~ of East an d \\fest t ion h a" .I" I pi i)(, P n t a k l' n Dplhi as \\'ell as most ur the agai n s l 111<' JlI 'OI (JCd t!'lIr". ,\t Irans -.Iamllna ('o lon ie!i , \\'hi h PI'f':--('n t 111(' Sha"t i Spnil has no t are pu phC'mistica ll,I' de 'crib!'d as Il':--" than ~:i , lll1ll r<'gll i ar r!'~I ' IIIl'l11l'nl co illni e::. bl' tile JlIl'llliJeJ';' Thi:-. 11\;\1 11(' a ('onSl'r' authorili('~_ ,\" a miltler ()f ract. lalil(, ('!'>tilllal(' , '. \ , (1;1\;' anci thp idpa of a Slwl,.ti Sena \\,ilS \\'Pl'b pa~:-- , II1\' :--O(' n<l ~ Illlllllwr:-. concpil'pel during Ihf. \101 ember l'on linuL' 10 t-.11'l'1I , ~,a l'il nWllllwr 1!J~-l carnag-l' ill Deihl. In th ose IVL'aJ'S 1111' lairsl dpsign trishul. day", Iri ~ hLlb wilh long handles \\'c(''' I,I' nll'P ling" an' Iwld in I al'11'('1'(' a COJlllllo n sight in l11am iOll !' Shil'iI Il~lll pl( 's , <;onl(' or Dt:lhi localities, They wen' Iwing which hall' ('\is tl 'd in p<ll'l !' ul bl'ilndis hed Ill ' de li bera l('''' in 'Old I)plhi fnl ' 11 long tinl!'. II'hilt' ti ga ll' ti and 'ilttensf'l." CO'IllIII u (lt lwrs hal'p Spl'llllg up recl'n tly. Ila li spti plemen ts to Iprroriz e Th(,1 arp l'OIH'Pll tr<lwd in slu m miJlori tl' "Ol11l1lun ilics in Ih e l'o l ~ ni ('s , 1\ host, I'l's idl'n ts (,0 111 ' ca pital.' particlIl al'1v inno[' l'n t prist' basically, th !' I'll ra I poor. Sikhs and Iheil' rilmilies, The T lw!-oe co lonic'l> inc lud (' Illosp Sl' na as such \l'a-s ol'ganizt,ci subatll'c Il'ci cillJ'ing 111(' g ha ;.t l,1 in ~l\qu e ntl." , T lw lirsl ~ t {' p \\'as to c id el1 ts of NOI'Pnll wl' 1 ~)S4 . T lwv plaster public \Valls in congl'ste d arc also Sl!l! n IU l'king in aJ'l'as o f areas of Delhi , in c luding slum Old Up lhi w l1l'J'l' Ihl' Muslim co lonies , pop ulat ed by a nd larg:p popula ti o n is hig h. Why is a ll bv Ihe lower Jlliddle cla~s or thi s be ing permitl ed to take p'oorcr spc h o ns o f th e peoplp, p lace! \\Ihlwe d o th ese e le men ts Thesp \Va ll s Wf!re covered bv ei ge l t h(' ir I a s l I'll nds .) What is th e th er po, tel's bearing prol'oc~lIivf! -ourel' 0 1 a ll s uch I'eso url:(,s ') s loga ns or by s imilar s logans Lasll v, whv is such blatanl s te nc illed directl on to th p \Valls, c om;nunal' propaganda being Mos t pr o min e nt was th e s anctioned ? These are some e mbl em o r th e lri s hul crossed of the ques tions which have w ilh a s harp , pdge d . axe- lik e ,'emained unanswered bv the choppe r, wi th ' Hindu Manc h ' Governmen1. 11 is - be~ause in sc ribe d be n,v ee n th e m , This certain elemen ts within the can be seen all a er De lhi , with Governmenl or the ruling

Jasjit PUl'ewaJ r----------------------------------

In III(? malle/' of Chandif-{a rh 's impending lra nsfc'r 10 Puniab I herf' is lillie \'isilJlc el'iclcnc(' oj' hO\;\1 I he p oli I ical willis going to il Neel th e cily iincl il s SOO,OGO p eop le, r ei Ilu-'m is it consen -

sus ill public opinion. amI iI f]wiorily of Ihe popllhJlioll both Hindu ancl SilJl , i/re /01' Ihe status ([U O, '" I'e are being sold to Ihe p olitica l int eres ts oflhose SIi.Jles •.1Ilcl we I\li/nt 10 belon[-( 10 neith er " says t\vinilsh I\ullwr, a SllOpcuwn er in Ihe prestigious 1/ Srclor, "Once we lose aLII ' Ullion Terril on ' Slatu s \lie will ,1u!omi.Jlical(l lose Olll ' imllluni~1' 10 Ille social ancl politica l chilos e,\ jslin[-( in HilIYana and PlIllia/J," feill's Prelll I\u nJi.J 1'. We cleserve a refer endum at least, and in any case whal is Ihe lo[-(icill ilrgumenl againsl a Union Territoly T asks H,S, Malik a Sikh busin essmiln. \ V~v /l01 indeed :) f

h ere is no s imple answer today to thi s ve ry pe rtin e nt qu es ti on, thoug h ironica lly th e Chandigarh iss ue ha s bee n re prese n te d a t a ll three levels of th e de m ocra ti c process; th e po liti cal, th e judi c ia l an d of co urse th e huma n fa c tor. And ye t a ll ha ve proved bOlh s ingularly and collec tively ine ffec tive in resolv, ing Chandigarh 's dilemma , Let u s brie fly examine th e ro le and effec t or' aU three in con tex t to Chandigarh since its ince ption , In 195 1, e hru e nviso ned thi s new citv not o nl v as a loftv "s,vmbo ( or th e spi ~it of e man cipa te d India " but more important ly in prin ciple 1'oT' an undiv id e d Punjab , Onc e th e boundaries o f Punjab were re-

d e fin e d th e pre lllisl! of Cha ndig arh ' s co n ee pti o n c han ge d imm e diat e lv and vis iblv and wi th it th e s'ocio-political "ramificalions o f it s s tatu s. A unionle rritory was th e most logical de ri va ti ve o r the origina l princi ple, but unfortunatel,v Ihe decis ion was made ne ithe r pe rman e nt nor irrevoca ble , Predictably it became a political platfonn pal' e celle nc() far both Haryana a nd Punjab . Mr s, Gandhi ' s award in t970 , caused )'':! t anoth e r s hift in Chandigill'h 's status and nnall y and irr e vocab ly severe d th e issue from it s originaJ fi'amework, Chandigarh no longer em bodied a principle but was now a political prize but with a price, Acquisition

ordinalY asp!!c t o f Ihi s posW r is th a t 11 0 t 0111.11 has it hee n p uste d all OllJr till' ci I, Ipel'ha ps in ollwl' ci tit's a!-o wl~ 1I 1 hu t iJas bCl!n allOlvpci 10 J'l'IJ1<tin on th e walls until 111l' lime 0 1 "riting, All effo rl s to (' li ci l' a rcac ti on fl'Om till' policl' or 11ll-' CO IH'(' I' IWd a Ul hori ti es with regard 10 these d eve lopmenb , in c luding the formation or th e Shakli S(~na have remained futil e, T he poli ce ollicia ls mai n lain tha t th ev are n o t s upposed to discuss '1> uch mall e I'S wi lh Ih e puhlic or with anvone , Th(~ administra lors p lead that the 'e iS5ue::, are too sens il ive ror di scussion anel th at tl1l' poli l icians s h ould ta c kle s llch problellls_ Thl'! latl's l Hindu , hil Sena postCI' in part ieular and those adopted by the Shakti S('na elc .. es tablish another I~lc l. T here is no djffel'f~nce be tlVeen ,theil' policv and that of th e IliP and RSS, Ail r.iamOLlI' for Ihc deploymen t of armv and tal" in terms or Hindu ' and not of Indian s. At the same tim e, there is harcllv anv lin e to he dralo'm be tween CO~lJllIJl1a l c lement s wi th in th e Congn'ss III, Ihe Governmen t and th e RIP e tc, So far as any effort to con ta in or c u rb conlmuna l c lemen ts is l:oncemed, aU of them haw been found

mi s(!I'a blv, eve n criminallv la c king in 't hi s res pec t. It ' se 'lllS ra tiler u ilvio u s Iha l bo th th e Congress II I and BJP a re vying w ith (!ach o th e r 10 consolidat e Ih l! Hindu voll! in th e ir f(lVO Ur,

oJ.

I~ ,U i !

I! t

the pl'Obable excep lion of a few neighbouriJouds of the rich 01' tl1(' sohpi~tica t Pd , which have COIllC to be kllOIl n a~ ' JlO~lJ ' arras OilH'I' cU 111mun l" spe ll " llIgall !'> ar!' : Sail Ilillllu'rh. hon la ll tlindll s s huuld unitt' l, lIindu l'''td l.indaiJ"d ' Iong Ii\'l' liindu unill 'l Hum :-jah Hindu hain I\IP arf' ',III Hindu" 'ail Hindu Ph 11011 .. 0\\'11!'1l' Cil n Ol$' SpOI pf'opll' Iwing (',\ilortPci 10 u n it f' a" Indian!'>, \ rlwn u np con:-.iderl> pOt>tPI't-. cal'l~1 ing IllOJ'P prOl'oratil'P d(-'tails in Ill{' cont(,,, t 01 happening~ in PUflja$, OJ' .IS a sequ e l to till' :-.urldnn reupening of the Ayorlh,la IPmple and til(' co nt rol PI's." rcgarci i ng th e l3ahari 1\.101>qllc, 011(> is s urpri _' pci that lhl' COIl' 1'J11l1('llt ha:-. permitted !-ouch po"tt'r:-. Iirl> t1,v to be prilll Pd, seconell,l Iu rl'main Oil

party, which were directly involved in the Novem ber 1984 killjngs, are ' upporting s uch e lements e\,{!Il 10da~ ?

Offensive Postel' ne\1 )10I>t OI', pul LIp in tlw name or til!' Hindu Shiv Stma, al'pp,IJ'(' d rlul ing the second II '('('~ 0 1 .Iunp 19S(), Its lang uag(' b huth o lkJlsil' and provoca , till' . \m u n g~ t other things, it cha ll l'ng('~ t ill! Ha ji l C;alldhi (, OI 'P J'Il rIl l' nl 011 gl'Ouncis l hill despitP hill'ing lI'On th e e lec tions on the s trcng th of Ihe Hindu 10 te, it has failed to proteel Hindu~, particularly in Punjab. It thl'eaten~ most dra ~tic con equell ses if th e Governmen t does not deploy thp army in Punjab. The re maining contents or the pos tt'r nl'ed Jlot bE' quoted here as that cou ld con~ titute a liola' tion or Ihl' law , The 1I10st ('xll'a1\

A Solution For Whom?

B.JP Crying tor Army Deployment II ma,v Jl ot be 011 1 of place to men li oll herE' t ha t Ih e B.lP , Ih l'Oug-h il s su t>P lJrt t~rs ha s been cly ing- il self h oarse Ii.lr th e d e-

fever intensified in both s tates but now public opinion wa being coerced a t every Eront, sectarian , religious and co mmunal. Pherull1an , Fa t h Sing h and Indira Gandhi had now become a distinct, iJl\~olabl e, unfortu nate [egac,v, Now th e issue was clea r-! and overw h e lm ingly an e mo'tiona l one, Refuge Wj.15 soug ht in till' judiciary, though rea li s ti cally it I as clea rly a s tage w h e n the judi Ciary was ill -eq uipp e d to hand le il. For, Ihe judicial solu ti o n had to be based o n two ba sic prp-requ is it es:- lal th a t the terms o r reference of th e e ntir-e iss u e be clea rl v defined a nd had not been lost' throug h political a rbi trati on o r se ntime nt and (b l tha t (h e fina l d ecis ion of th e judi ciary wo uld b e impo se d d e ra c to, e ither co nditio n was me t a nd a record of 4 Judicial Co mmi ssion s co ntributed o nl y co nt ra di c ti ons in eso te ri c ja rgon , Th e ultimat e and mo s t imp orlant c omponent o f th e de m ocra ti c process is obviously lilt-' human fa c tor. It is pre ci e ly th (' people u.t: Chandiga rh who s tand to lose in Ihi s arbitrage, Ironi call y Ihe ma sses of Harvana and PLinjab s tand t o ga in no thi ng in Ihis exchange exce pt e mutiona l sa ti s fac tion a nd narrow politi ca l divid e nd . Signi ti can tly th e dangerou s developme nt s in th e soc ia l fabrics or Harvana and Punjab will, after th e' tran s fe r , become part of Chandigarh 's reality They s tand to gain nothing but feel, in the words of a ve te ran Ch andigarh amlV officer, "Our c ultu re and opti'ons of s urvival are actually unde r th reat, and frankly we fe e l s hort 'changed by this s ituation in w hich we have no say," What about the people of Chandiga rh ? How will th e d e mocratic process in c orporate th e ir rights ? Th e s trugg le b e tw ee n Punjab a nd Har:vana has some how manage d to overlook th e m e ntirely. • ploylll c ni or a rilly in Punjab, Th e party has bee n o lTering satya , gra ha in DI·~ lhi 10 thi s e llecl. The B.lP has conv€m ie llli v ove rl ooked Ihe lac t th at w h en th e army had to tak over in Punjab for a fairlv lo ng fJe l'i o d , il I~til (!d to solvp an:v pl'ohle m s wha lsoever an d in slead cr-ea led Illore com pl ica li o n s and a g J'(~ a l dea l o r an tagon ism . Nor ha: Ihe army been ab le to bring abou l any solulion in th e Norlh Eas te rn he lt during the la ,t two d cca c/C's or so. T h e BJP, in s pit e o f ils commu na li sed poli lics a lso p roresses 10 a bidl~ by Gandh ian ,ocia lis rn Iwhatel'er it migh t mea n l, If this wcre !'ea ll,v so, th en Ihe fl iP and ils fo ll owers ~ hould hal'P sp!'!:'ad Ihem , selvE's in Ihe very areas of Pun jab where Ihey de,,;and deploymcnl of Ihe army The'.\' s hou ld haves trive n to preach a nd promotP cOllllllu na l harmony and a mil y through prac lica l ac ti on , Camlhiji wou ld ce rtainly have donI ' tha I. By resortill g 10 a sa lyagl'aha s tu nt in D Ihi and nOI be ing with Ih e peo pl e or Punja b, lile BJP is p laying a d irly ga me or powe l' politi cs an d adding 10 communa l an tagonism . H f! J' 1' again , Ihe c.o n g l'l~ss m('n an d other poli tica l parties have lilil e d 10 stan d by Ih ppople o t Punjab in their tim!' of ordea l. • Tuesday 1-15 July 191;6

:The

FOrunn

_O_u_r_Tim_e_s_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Gazettc-------______

White Heat in Black South Africa Jawed Naqvi n 26 .Iune the people of Sou th Africa commemora ted the de lara ti a n of the ir Freedom Charter against the tyrrany of Apartheid . Th e White regim e on its pa l't has bee n anning .it self wi th belligere nt Emercgencypowers to ward otf the threat to it s existence which the Charter has co me to s ign ify for over 30 YHars. The regillies recurren t nervousness is unders tandable fur the I"erv kevnute of thi s hat ed chart l~r fs Eq ua li ty . Th i ~ i~ sounded in the prea m · bl e 's ca ll for the bui ld.ing of a democra tic sta tl' "\Vi thout disti nc ti on of colour, race, sex or belier " An id e ntical not e is s t ruck in t he c1i:111Sl'~ on gove rn · nW1l1. pl'Ociaiming equality of righ ts for a ll perso ns" regal'd les,", of race co lo u r or se.\ ," The prin · cip lp is exte llded to national gl'O UpS, In the libe rat ed Sou th Africa : • All peo ple sha ll ha\'e equ a l light s to use thei r own language and to develop the ir own fo lk

' UltUi

• All laws whic h discliminat e on gro und s of race co lour or belie f shaJl be repeale d ; while • The prearh ing a nd prac ti cc of national. race or colour discriminati o n and contemp t shall be a puni shable crime. In its affirmation or Equality the Charte r is con sist'e nt wi th the mainstream of wo rld opin -

THEGEOGRAPHY OF THE SOUTH AFRI CAN UPRI SING 19i6

Tuesday l-J 5 July 1986

ion refl ected in the Chartel' of Human Right s, a nd the co nven tion s and resoluti o ns of the' United Na ti on: that re jec t d iscri-, mina tion , World ' opinion has taken a gl'ea t lea p forward si n r.e the e nd o f World War Two " ",oards an accep ted doc trin e of equa lity of righ t ~ a nd fi-eed oms, 'Contribu torv fa c tors include the d e fea t of th t; Nazi-f ascist Axis, dc('oloni sa ti on , tile s treng thening of tlw social ist sector and the emerge ncp of till' newly inde pc ndrmt African and sian states, formcr \'ict illl s of colonia l rulp There' has heen a shift in tile ba lanG!' 01 power, one that favOllrs till' struggit' agaillst social nvi ls 01 whi c h raci s t Sou th Africa is the sLipreme embo d iment. Alth ough till' Sou th Amcan liberation 1ll0Vp.I11(' nt has single d ou t ra c ism , l'o lonia lislll and Aparthei d as its main enPIll V" it s cOlllple me nt is a positive ~I e t el' mina ti o n to unite So uth Afric'lI1s of a ll national gro ups in a common ca us!' for a single cu ltU I'(!. T hi s al so was th e vis io n o f th e fOLinders of the AIi'iea n National Co ngress in W t 2 anti it has gained ra the r than lost credillil · it v in th ' vea l's tha t folh)wl!d. 'The closer So uth Afrka adva nces toward s a unifie d socie tv, the great er w ill be th e resis lan c:c fl'Om d.ivis ive f(wces re presente d bv ' tribali s m ' an d 'ra c is m '. As .J ;Ict., Simon s an acknowledgfld anti -A parth e id ac ti vis t pu t it " Ra c ism an d triba li sm occur in a class socie tv in w hich diffe rences o f language and cu lture and la nguage become an adjun c t to the primal!, cleavage be tween the own ers of prope rty and the property less worke rs. " Thu s, the ex p loi ti ng cla sses, trad in g in Sou th Afri ca as a na tional or racia l ca tegory, pe rpetuat e the ir su premacy b.v djvicl.ing Ihe dis· possessed inlo compe ting groups , fightin g on e ano the r for land, jobs and power ins tead of

co mbining the ir forces for uni ted action against the oppressor. The founde rs were radica l liberals rather than sociali st egaJ it al1; an~. In spite of the transition to rcvo lutio nary armed struggle aft e r t!l6 1, the A C has a dhered. to th e original programme of ulliting : "all tlibes a nd clans of variou s tribes or races and by . means of comb in ed effort an d un il ed politi cal orga nisa ti on to d efend their li-eedom, rights and privil('gl~s, " Trilw li sill all d racialism, are t1wretor(!, " YO sides of lilt' sa me coin. Domin<.lnt class!'s manipulall' til(! difl(> l l' nc('~ to suil their in tl'I'l'sts , The historv (II South Africa i~ sa lul'at('ci \Vi t h the 'divid e rull" stra lnf{\ ' used by colonia lisls, se ttle rs and the ir govprllllwnts tll con qu cr and s llbdu!' . l:lantll s tans, th tri call1p l'al parliament. an cmel'ging Black bourgcosie are prod uc ts of thi s divisiv(, s trategy. The "!'eecton l Charter threa l ' ns tl1l's(' axiom~ of in!!(jualit.v, Testimonv to Ill(' a('hie\'cment of the tibc'ra tion movemen t js provided by the ta c t Ihal nobody tod a,v dares c h a ll t~ n g(1 11 )(' c red e nt ia ls 01' CO il te nt of the Freed o m Chart er, Eve n Ihe r<.l cist Pres id e nt Bo th a a tt e mpt s 10 dl'(~ s ' the hid po us carcass of his Apart hie ct Dilspring in the clothi ng of the Chart el'. Ad dressing tlw Cap' Na tion a li s t Party Congress in Port Eli za be th las t Se ptember he sai d : " I advocate o n behalf o f the governme nt re form beca use it is the ph iloso phy o f the (ruLin gl Na tional Part v s inc() it s found ing, We arc the party of ref01111. We are th(~ part.v of free dom, We <.Ire the party o f li bel·l.v, We al-e th e ).l<.lrty o f hope in Sout h Anica." Ti me wa w he n the Na tionalist Party o pe nly asked 1'01' support for th e poli c_ of Apartheid and came to po\Ve r in t!l48 o n the pl'Omise tha t it \,v ou ld pre-

Nelso n Mandela - s till in prison; still strengthening the s truggle agai nst Apal,theid.

serve w hile domination for ever. ot anv mo re. The verY word Aparthe id is today d.i so~ned by its prac titi oners, and Mr Botha 's claim tha i he is working for reform is in itself an a dmi ssio n that the sysle m over whi ch he presides is immoral. The li st of changes for w hic h h e cla imed eredi l is not verv Ion ' : - J. The new co nstitution establi shing sepa ra te chambers for Whites, Colo ured s. and Ind.ians (but exc ludin g th e Afr ican major;lv l 2. nie repea l of the Mixed Mariages Ac t a nd section 16 of til e Immorality Ac t, Hepeal of the Ac t bannin g mi xe d poli ti ca l parlies. 3. The scra pping of the provin cial sYs tem and the estabLi shmen t o fi 'Cgiona l selvice counci ls. 4 , Cha nges in labou r leg is la tion , 5, The right of property ownership plus the establi shmen t of a Sou th ern African Deve lopmen t Bank a nd the support o f th e Sma ll Bu siness Development Corporation , 6. T he establish men I of a common c itizenship for aU So uth An-ica ns. Th e lac t tha i w hat President Bo th a ca lls " UIlI'CSt " 01' "terror· is m " ha s ri sen to a peak pre· cisplv since thes so-call ed reform's were introduced is proof e no ugh tha t hi s offerings are una ccep tab le to Ihe people. II is a ll verv wpll for Mr 1\otha to trumpe t: ·" M.v party and my goveml11ent are cOlllmit ted to Ihe principle of a united Sou th A(j-ica wi th one ci tize nship and with u niversa l franch.ise ," whe n the words wh.ich follow show that he is cOl11milled to nothing of the sort - ' but wi thi n th structurE'S chosE'n bv Soulh Africans ... Na turally, the principle of a united south Africa includes

Whi tewashing Apal,theid

the reaJity and the desirability of tellitoriaJ a nd border d.ivision s wi thin Sou th Africa, suc h as for example p rovi ncial borders for purposes of provi ncial governme n t. and territorv for each of th e se lf-governi ng s ta tes, an d jurisd.i ction areas for svstem s of loca l and regional authOlitie , also in urban areas," atllrall , Apa r theid i d ead . Long li ~e "structures " a nd "d ivisions", III other worch:. the essential elements of discrinun ation wi ll remai.n the Popu la tion Registrati on a nd Group Areas Acts, the Bantustans, the segl'Cga lion and op p ression which makes life a hell for blacks. The latest news n'ol11 Pretoria co llat ed in 'pite of Ihe ce ll sors hip und er the c urrent ;.pate o f Emergency indica tes it liberation moveme nt is building into \-\'hil e heat. Major govemme nt in slaUations have bee n bloWll up in and ilround Durban and other c ities, Nineteen eigh ty six after all has been d eclared as the veal' 0 1 the Peoples' Army, •

F8rum

O_ur_Tim_-_e_s_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Gazettc - - - - - - - - - - - - -

WHO IS CREATING KHALISTAN? his happened in Jodhpur in March. WeU known photogra pher and wild life filmmaker Tejbir Singh travelling with a foreign co lleague on a professional assignment. arrived at the Ajit iwas, a s mall, private hotel in Jodhpur at about 10 p.m . When the Austrian colleague went to register for them both - Tejbir was occupied wi th their equipme nt - the manager, on seeing Tejbir's name, asked to see him. Tejbir has a flowing, greying beard, and wh en the two film makers were passing by the Reception on their way to runne r, the manager ca lled to him and asked him for hi s iden tifi ca tion . Surprise d at thi s query , and annoyed , Tejbir said he was not in the hahit of carrving arou nd ident ification in liis own country. The manager the n as ke d him to note down the name of his fath er. Tejbi r asked w hy he was req ui red to do this, 10 w hic h the ma nager rep lied tha t it wa the law. Tejbir, sta ting that h e had never run into thi s require me nl in a ny hote l in India before, leafed through the regis ter and told the manager tha t he saw no men tion of "Fathe r's name" again s t any other e ntry. IThi s is a hot e l ca tering large ly to foreign touri sts but also to Indian s.1

Aren't Sikhs Indians? The manager in sisted that this was the law , and the n added that these were poli ce orders. Tejbir asked "Do yo u ask every gu est for ide ntifica ti on and for the tather's name'? ". The manager rep li ed in the nega tive, but adde d that he had orders to ask every SIKH for this information . "Do you ask. this of every INOlAN '! " as ked Tejbir. " Of co urse thev are" said the man .ger "But -w e s lilJ have to a k •hem . T hese are the order·s." When asked whose orders, he rep lied " Police orders". Tejbir sai d he \Vou ld like 10 sec the orders in w:r;ting so he could ta ke up Ihe matter vvith the concel'lle d au th ori ties . But th e manager said he ha d only \'erba l inslruction s. Angry \,,'ord s were exchanged . The manager sa id

Harji Malik

Terrorist kilJings of innocent people are condemned by el'ery rational human being. The communal divide being deliberate~v created and widened by those who want the destabiliza tion of this country threatens the fabric afoul' societv. But at the same time we must not forget that Sikh alienation, which serves the interests oi'our enemies, is being intensified by many incidents provoked by a mistrust of the en/ire community, genera ted initially , cy nicaJ~v and delibera t e~\' for electoral purposes by oflicial-cum-part), propaganda since 1982. This propaga nda portrc~ved all Sikhs as potential secessionists and terwrists. Such in cidents- sometimes a result of'officia), guidelin es not admitted open~v-, no nw/ter how trivial they may seem, are in danger of alienating Sikhs "vho have nel/(::I' considered themsell 'es anything butindiall. As always in such an environment, rumours are rile ilnd people are ultlClsensitive and it is impossible 10 check on every incident or scotch el'e0 ' rumour. To give just one example. The Forum Gaze tte W<lS told that in a certain residential area in Delhi notices regarding hOllses for rent had been put up in the Commulli~\ ' Centre, specifYing that Sikh applications would not be considered! On personal in vestiga tion this was found to be a Hi/se bit of information . HO'vvever we giFe below two in cidents which are known to us through first hand information. Our aim in publicising such incidents is to make the public realize thell happenings such as these, if not stopped, will ultimately make every Sikh question whether he/ she is in actual fa ct an equal citizen ill his/ her own country . We also publish on page 53 Ll poem sent qv <I non-Sikh poet which is the kind of 'healing louch ' I\'e hear so much of Te jbir would no t be welcome all hi s re turn journey, and an angry Te jbir told him tha t he had no in tention of staying a mome nt lo nge r in the hotel and walke d out. On the re tul'l1 to De Uli , not wa nting to face any furth e r ill SUItS of thi s kind, the two film makers rud not stop in Jodhpur. Contac te d in the office of the Commi ssion er for Ra jasthan, the Uaison Officer told the Forum Gazelle tha t no orders had bee n issued by the State au thorities requiring Sikhs registe ring a t hote ls to show iden tificati on or give a ny informati o n other than w hat is askeq of aU Inruans. But told that Lhi s incide nt had ac t.ually take n p lace he a dmitted that perhaps local police had issue d suc h orders on the ir' own . He promi sed that the matt er wo uld be inves tigated if brought to the notice of th e au th o riti es. Bu t the haml has been done .

Himachal Incident In anotber inc iden t reporte d in Ihe 'talPsman IDclhi tli Ju ne 1!J8GI two Sikhs f,tm il ics re late d how they had ru n into unpleasan tness in Barog Tourist .o mp le.\ o n Iheir way back fro m Shimla to Delhi . i\lr. J.P. Sing h a nd 1\fr. J.S. Sethi, the latter a

Our Roving Ear and Eye Inlornls Us R('ce nlly Ih ero wa s a dillrU'r meeting or eco nomi c e dito!'~ with gm'ernrnen t ollicia ls at the A -h ob. Hotel. Sea ted a t one of the tables \Vas a seni o r e di lor of a Bomba v a nd De lhi based dai ly vv t'lic h cla.ims to keep time fa !' India . Th is parti c u la r worthy is reporte d to have made a re m ark spiced wi th ta nd oori c hi cken a nd w hi skey that th e re could be no so l ~ ti on in Punjab with o ut bumping off about a lakh or so m e mbers of a p ar ti c ul ar co mmunit y

kn own fa!' its beards a nd turhans. Unfo rtu nately for the 'timekeeping' e ditor, a lady from th e same community , a n offi ce r of a governme nt informa ti o n depart m e nt , hap p e n e d to be at the sa m e tabl e. She weIl l re d in the ra e and the re fo ll owed a due l o f wordy fi s tic uffs. Th e spa rrin g ' partne rs ' w e re even tu ally separa te d by a one- m an pe a ce-keep ing force in th e form of a se ni or e ditor la c hri stian ) shortly due for re tire m e nt.

Tejbir Singh: Known film-maker, photographer and IJroduction editor of the cerebral journal, 'Semina r' s ingled out for discriminatory treatme nt in a .Jodhpur hotel. Only because be is a Sikh and s ports a long open beard.

retire d Air force officer told Ihe Sta tesman that a lth ough book-

ings fu r the ir fa mily a l Barog ha d been confimled in Sh im la , when Ihey arrived at the To uri st Complex a lld asked for Iheir room s, they were infornlHd thai Ih ere were no booki ngs. Whe n thev in sisl e d on seeing the reser"~ lion s bouk and ~GW Iha t Mr. J.P. ingh 's name had heen writ te n

and the n se mi -oblitera ted , a nd pointed thi s Qut, the manage r, Mr Madhu sudhan is a lleged to have lost his tempe r an d shouted that he ha d instruClio ns not to allot room s to Sikhs. Whe n Mr Sethi booke d a call to Shimla to co nfirm Ih e bookings, Mr Madhusudhan is said to have snatched Ihe tele phone out of hi s hands when the call ca rne through and pu lle d ou t the wire.' He th e n ordered the famili es out of the complex. Thev have writt e n a le tte r of protest- to the Chief Minister of Himac hal. Co ntac te d by th e Forum Gazette the Himac hal Commissioner's office ' in the capita.l said that there had bee n a misunderstanding, that no such orders exist - "Our to uri st complexes are full of Sal'dars" we were assured a nd Mr Madhusudhan ," one uf o ur fin est offi cers" wo uld neve r behave li ke thi s. T he reserva ti o ns had bee n for the previous day, he nce the lack of acco l1 lOdation . He adm itled that there had been an 'a lt erca tion ' but tha t in fite t "Ihe rece ptionist was manhand le rl " b on of th e visilors. A ('on lracii ctio n had bee n i' suecI by the Govel'll me nt

following an enquiry the office stated. However on further enqu iries by the Forum Gazette, both Mr J.S. Sethi and Mr Jaspal Singh confirm wha t the Statesman had publi shed . The bookings were made in the Shimla Office of H.imachal Tourist by Mr Suri and the call from Barog was' booked to him a nd did in fac t- come th ro ugh while the two Sikh tourist s were the re. Thev confirm tha t the man ager pulle d out the te le pho ne wire. When they regis tered the compla int in the Com plaint Book, IComplaint No. 152 on June 101 the ma nager snat c hed the book from the m . They repeat Ihat Mr Madhu sudhan la Id the m t.hat the Tourist Comp lex wa s no t m ea nt for Sikhs a nd p reference wo uld be given to non-Sikhs. In Cha ndigar'h they co ns ulted a lawyer, Mr Te jwan t Singh Doadia , and it is he who has wri lle n it le tter un their behalf to Chief Mini s ter of Himac hal Pradesh po inting ou t Lh e "communal and a nti -national attitude" of the manage r. Copies ha ve been sen t to the Prime Mini ster, the Home Min is ter, the Direc tor of Touri m, Himac hal Pradesh and the Chief Ministe r, Punjab. Sin ce nu re ply has been received from Ihe Chief Min ister, Mr Tejwant Singh, on hi s clients' behalf, has iss ued a notice to the Secre tary, Dept. of To uri sm , HP., under Section 80 of the Civil Proce dure Code, s tating that unl ess the clie nt s receive a wri tt e n apology they wi ll be fi ling a suiL for damages. In a le tter to the Statesman !June 25 E l861 the m anager of Himac ha l Bhawan has sta ted tha t an e nquiry has ' bee n he ld and has given Mr Madusudha n 's version of the even t. Mr Sethi and Mr Sing h wandel' how suc h an e nquiry was he ld wilhoul their knowle dge. They had specifi cally stat ed in th e le tter to the CM that if an e nquiry was he ld th ey wo ule! be availa ble to give evide ncB. They have not been a pproac hed by the HP Governme nt a t any time.

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This Is It! A sma ll Afric an nation recentl announced tha t it urge nliy needed the services of a one-hande d economis t. "One-handed eco nomist?" peo p le as ke d, a trifle surpr'ise d . "Yes " th ey in s isted "because in lhe past all econo-

rni s ts who have co me to u s as advisors have reco mmenrle d in the ir re port s - "On the one ha nd ". bu t on the other." So we are now p Ul'Iing our' foo t down and inde nting on ly for one-ha nde d economis ls. Conllibuted by Kamla Bhasin

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Tuesdav 1-15 Juiv 1986 _

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R __ ew_路_ew __s_a_n_d_R_e_fl_e_c_n_o_n_s_________ G~~~----------------___________

The Many Worlds of Ameena Ahmed Ahuja Kauser Khan

IlH'l' 11 a Ah lll l'd l\huja Kashmiri carpet s cheek-by-jowl alllal.('S 01H' illitiall\' - ,I 011 111<' 11 001': Hu ss i<11l elys tal ness ilve r blond e with ,; si ll'( ~1' tlin g against It alian glass-wan' : a tongul', not ju s t onp tongu e hut big i\lul'ildabadi lam]> lig hls lip a lll,vriiJd , all Ilowing and taking Chinl !. covel'ml anliqul! rumi tul'U s hap0, s tl'ang0 shapt!s uf iJil'd s from pl'ill cc ly Indian estates : and animals, abs tra c te d exag, gl'lllline China plates adom th e gera tp.d , re pl'Ose ntational fi g ul"l:Os wa ll s. "Arl. fOI ' mG, is a unive rsal a lm osl. This visua l int e rpre ta - plwnolll c non ," says AnH:(!na , tion becomes 10 1' Ailleena , a h.illd holding lip a h o rs(~ 'La vien or ' ju s tujoo ', or s truggle. Faripos(" . " L.ang uagp m onlality intel'dudclin Att ar's "Conlc l'cmcp. of fen-),; sO llwtiml! s, but cannol th(~ Bird s " co mes as a natural mask thp. Salllt!ll eSS of idea s " o bj ec ti ve cOITl!iativ(! tu thi s Zil uq 's "Jayc hava-e-shoq Ille in qu esl. The allegory of Sufism hain iss c haman sc zauq Aplli bala Sl! IJaal -l:-saua, phil' kabhi and blami c mys ti cism \ul.)(!n s with a ll th e birds of th e world c hal('." combines with Ese nin , gatherillg together to begin a bliJck on whit e tou c h e d with search 101' an ideal king Iseapink. the colour of life . ml!l'gh l. The th e m e and im agel~1 " Bul I am Indian". co ntinu es is ju s t righ t-a nd Ameena 's "con- Anwen<l: so niJtuf'ally Illy primte re nce o f th e birds" seems tu be a l~' inspiration co mos from th e set to Handl e 's ., Messiah ", ec ho- - colour, sound, e motions, smells, ing praises of c reation , whether philosophy and animals of "Alalluia " of ".lal -al-Jallal a Hoo", India ". Anima ls becollle expresThis is her mos t recent work, sive of aspects of hUlllan pe ra nd a s u~stan ce of it s ha s bee n sonalit v and hllillall vvisdom, as grabbed by Ka thl ee n Rain e, to be u se d in Aesop 's 01' Knillof's used Ie',/' Pt!tel' Bmok's producfabl es, 01' as in th e Panchantan tion of Attar's poe m . Ira. Within th e highly abslracted The same int erna tionali s m o r a nd representational forms, \low ~ Jliril pe lvad e ' everything about verses of Mirza Ghalib, Zauq, Anwena-born of mixe d pare nt - Anees, Rumi , Faiz, Iqbal. co m agl', Bussian, Engli s h iJnc! Indi an bin e d wi th Pus hkin , AJe:\<lnder hlr)nc! Ilows th rough her ve in s. Blok, Mavakuvskv Ii'om Russia, Il t'l IIlH I"1' in Dplhi beco m es a Cel'l',lIllPS from Spain, La Foun<.1111( ' 1) 101' h er- Pel' !'> i;11l and I.tilll' ,Inc! Rimbaud Ii'om Fran('(~ .

7~~~,,) lJ NT ,'41 N The pioneers of Himalayan treks, jungle lodges and wildlife camps

TIGI:I~ TOI'S UN TI~ 1N T I~ I~"I: I.

1N I) I/~

1/1 Rani Jhansi Road NEW DELHI 110055 Phones: 771055, 731075, 777483, 523057, 521932 Telex: 31-63016 TREK IN

Tuesday I-I::> JuI~1 1986

TRUTH TALES Contemporary writing by Indian Women i\lan., of u ~ , C'dul'al('ll. living and lI'orkillg in ilig (' il it's . It..:LlcI inf! cOIllI()rwh lp ('\'en-tpnUl'cd li\'( '~ , t('IHI to fOl'l'et how tlrp ma jul'it \' ul Ilidiall \, on1(' 11 liv(' in pur ro'un lr, lod<l\ . On('l' ill a wiJilt> \ \ l' I'~ '"d LI 1')()igllal1l !> Iuly or ~(! l' a Illodng lilm . Ollce in a ",Ilil(' abo ('on1('" <I (!ulll~('lion of ,.. Iurie:> lih.!' I'lw-r H T,\L ES, sm n Sllll 'H':> \\Tiltt.'11 Il\' \vOIlH~n in S('\ '('11 Ill" jill' Il ldi;,n lal1 gu<lg(~!->, l'l'l)/'l'''l'nlillg "p\'!!n distincI Sl'n !oiiliJill's. TiJl' localinn s III tlws(' storie" arc s ]ll'pad aero, ~ tlw Illdidil SU\)-(,lll1li ll('111. ,II HI f'(' cogllisa JJlp a . rura l. uriJan , sma ll I()\\ n , and C()~l1lllpolil'.IIl . T Il(' und e rlying powerful Ihtnw is \~OlTl en. Indian \\lumen . Theil' ulH'lllling ballI! ' for s urvi va l amidsl tht' sllcia lm ul'es of toeJay on w hil'h " I'HUCHESS " ha s madl ! \ 'c r~' Iinlc denl.

Al11e(~ n a ' s I'l~ pel'toil'l'

is amazing, as is her abili lv to iind idt1ntit v o f ideas tran scen din g tim e ' In~i space. I-Iu man concerns, accord ing to h e r, kn ow no geographic borders, amI have remained th e sa me down tlH' ages, Ameena 's pl'Ocess of c rea tion is esse ntially cere bral. where Ihe mind is first activated bv [In e mbodied idea from which emanates th e exIwC'ssive figure . To illu s trate her point. Arneena sho"vs m e a tro ubled deer, with h ead thrown back and hooves in the ail'. A closer look reveals Cyri li c and Shikaste in collision, echoing the 10ve-lol'l1 tOlTllt,nt of Gha Ub and TlItchev. A Carnbelwell and Slade Arts bac kground gives Ameena maste rv over her tools, while thL fe licity of language is an ou tco m e of mix e d parentage and a liIe lived a round th e wadel. Al h e r father 's knee s he lea rnt Arabic, Pe rsian and Urdu. Wri ting with 'qalam ' and 'takhti ' gave he r the traditional ba lance and con tro l ovel' ancient scripts li ke th e fourt ee nth century Nastaliq, th e twisted fauna -li ke khat -eRe hani th e c ubi c Kuli c scrip!, Khat -e-S ulu s , th e patho s of Shikaste-a " " broken ", \l owin g sc ripl rem ini scen t of bird forma tion s in th e sky. "The le tt e rs of th e alphabet " SdYS AllleeniJ , "give me th e 1110st perfect lin e, and after a ll , ",hat e lse does an arti s t need , lor co mposition , for d esign, 101' p ers pective, for anatomy. Handling a brush is also, in a way, doing lines in co lo ur", "besides", .he con ti n u es " I have a range of syn,ho ls to play abo ul wi th . vVhen I comb in e PlIshkin in Cyrlli c with an aden tal script. it tCo ntinlled 011 p , 13 Col. ~ J

TH I': \\,ET I LIHSE loriginal in !\0ngali l ily Mahasv(~ la Dcvi, tran s lalr.'d bv Ell a Ilutla, de 'cribes the lilE> 1;1' a wuman who is a pmICls,.;iun,t1 1ll0 tl wl'. T lwre a 1'(' million s o f \volllp.n ewn toeJa\', in Ihe rural areas, 01' with rura l uach.p;l'l)un d s living in c it i(~ s , who fulfil thi s vita l role, and who di e as .lashocla du es, un s un g , UI1\W'PI. unknown. The e terna l reli'ain of Hindu Ihinking, FATE is I'espon , ihle 1'01' every1h ing that happl'll s, I '(~, 'er'be rat es throughou t thi s s torv. The trans la ti o n is s tiltnd in pl~lces uut th e power of the th eille remains unaffec ted by il. SMOKE IOI'igina l in Gujarati J is a short story of a modern widowed doc tol'-daught e r-in -law, li ving with a tl'acJ.ition -bound widowed mothe r-in-law. Packed into one brief e pisode is a gamu t of e motions and adjustments mad e by th e yo unger woman ror th e ::lake of th e elder. THE DOLLS loriginal in Marathil by Sunit i Apaie is easily th e uest of the translations Idon e bv Dhvaneshwal' adkarni J. The t1; e me , the woman being th e s tronger and bread-winne r for th e family, th e compulsions that make h er go on des pite her own failin g health, and how des pite bei ng economjcally inde pendent s h e is s usp ec tibl e to maJe flatlery, come throu g h very well indeed.

IS MAT CHLIGTAI'S T INY 'S GR. NNV lorigin al in Urdu l, desc ribes iI Mu slim woman . She is n ever known bv Iwr name. She WilS first somcon(1 's daugh ter, th e n someone s V\ile, th en someone's moth el' and finally a grandmoth er. The tate or a woman who ha s no one to look after her is broughl out vcry vividly in this s torv. This is ve t another beau lifu(tran s lation -leaving with you the Ilavouf of the ' JllU halla' scene. Th , la s t s t Ol'\I, MIDN IGHTS SOLDIERS by Viswapl'iya Iyengar in Engli s h , like a surgeon 's scapel c uts open and dissects th e condj tion . in w hi ch fi s her folk live, and describes how Matilda fights a losing battl e ugainst tTemenclous odds. There are it few print er's d evils in the book which co uld have bee n avoided bv a more carefu l pmof reading. Neverthe less, it is a m emorabh~ trip into th e li ves of some Indian women, tha t we have all at some point of tim e seen , h ea rd of or knoV\o11 . It is a sober reminder to every educaled woman in India today of the reality of the c urre nt. continuing Indian scene. .IN )(ALI! More power to your e lbow!

Teji Viswam

Truth Tales Kali for Women, 1986 N-84-Panchshila Park New Delhi-ll0017

TRA(;WY IN A MINOR KEY by Mrinal Pancle loriginal in Hindi ), is seeing a t.vpical middle class urban family, th ro ugh the eyes of a yo ung woman . The eve nt s pOl'tl'ayed are a little jerh.y, or it is th e voun~ woma n herself who thinks lih.e th at. MUNIAKKi\ - b\' Lakshmi Kannan lol'iginal in' Tamil) is again a short slory, describing the lite of a wom:lIl servant in Tamil Nadu/ Karnataka . It is a brilliant cameo outlining the several aspe ts of her dai ly life and routine, and pointing out the futiJity of it aU .

F8rum _R_e_"_e_W_S_3_D_d_R_e_fl_ec_ti_·o_D_S_ _ _ _ _ Gazette "And So Many More Will Die"

YOU SAID IT! R.K. Laxman is one of Indi~ ' s best known cartoonists, As far back as one can remember the Times of India. one remembers Laxman 's column "You Said It", His amusing drawings have rega led readers with their satirical force and vivid potrait of Indian society, Laxma n 's sa tire on politics h as been directed. one supposes. again st those villains in socie ty who h e be li eves ca n b e la ug h e d o ut of e ,x istence, He has depended upon wi t and reaso n to score points agai n s t their vices a nd follies which today include genocide, Only th e velY Utera l minp ed wou ld b e e nt ertain ed by s u c h an un eq u al confronta tion : "Yo u said it', Yo u sai d it ~ or accep t th e e ffi cacy of verbal int elVe ntion s, te llinl5 hit s, in roday s prevaiUng mayhem and monstro u s inhumanity, T hat is why th e pen of Ravi Shanker o f Indian Express has grown aci d and manic. Tha t is a lso w h y Ma l'io Miranda's lin e c url s all the more in lyrical escapi m . Wh e n e ditors or leading newspapers h ave aggrandised the lampoon 1'01' t heir co lumn ', rohbed th e caricaturist of virLllencf' and scullilitv. those of Laxman 's ilk "viII be rendered fatuou s , Laxman 's safeguard aga in s t a \'ocaLio n a l lav -ofr h a been his crea ti on - the Common Man , Th is bespec tacled , dhoti -c lad. bu lbous-nosed Everyma n appears in every cartoon but n ever utters a word. though he is often

R.K. LAXMAN TItAvnOGUIS ••• USAYS ,.0" .,0","

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addressed . An ubiquit o us ove rh earer , so m et im es eaves dropper, h e has an engaging, a lbei t p eripheral. prese n c(' in the world of Laxman 's ca rt oons , In a c ollection or short stories, travelo g ues , essays and anecdo tes calle d Idle Hours ( 19821, Laxman w lite' : " Fo r a long tim e I believed that I was giving readers a IlJief momen t or jov. making th e m la ugh at their ravour it e advers ari es in Ill!' govemmen t. in politics , , " Laxman 's Comlllon Man , h oweve r, n ever la ughs. He h as n ever eve n s mil e d . Wha t dis tance s him furth er from t h e Common Rea d er o f Times of In di a is th e fact that appears also to br unimpressed by th e caption s, p e rhaps from a lack of ad equat e knowledge of th e Engli s h lan -

Ben Barka's Soweto

g u age. and for th e same reason wou ld never exclaim: " Laxman. you said it!", In the same article in Id le Ho urs, Laxman te lls us more about ourse lves. He continues: ". _ , But I was surprised to discove r that for a whole lot of people my services as a cartoonist were of a dillerent kind altogether and no t just that of merely making th e m laugh ! I rea lise d that they look upon a ca rtoon is t variously as a profound thinker. a socia l criti c, a political sc ien ti s t. a public conscie n ce-kee p e r and eve n as so m e so rl of a Illode rn vers io n of a cOllrt j es ( er~ I gathered thi s impression th rough so m e of the le tt e rs I ge t. " No wonder LaxllIan 's Co m mon Man ha s a br w il dered look. but mos t o ft e n , a lo ok of inc ompre h e n s ion. Hi s ves tig ial pre' ence in Laxman 's ca rtoon s function s a s a se lf-reflexive c l'i ti c is m o r t IWIll , It is a sign s howing th e accommoda ti un or probable. unexprcssed , maylJe un th o u g ht or eve n uncomprrh!mdml. points or view of th at majori tv in India who h ali(> no voice , ' Laxlllan ' s rt~ d p. llIpti ve Co mm on Mall is a signat urc il1di ating that majorit,v whose chi ldren \ViII he, like them. mcre survivors in the fu Ilire . n o t th e inhflritors of a free and jll s t nation,

Surjij P. Singh Idl(~ Hours by R.K. LcU:IJl.1JJ Indi" Boo/':' House Pvt. Ltd., 1982.

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he Chi ldren surge forward, p lacards borne aloft, in the s tands frenzied c rowds s hout th e ir defian ce, the words incomprehen s ible, the people's po wer unmi s takab le, On th e other side th e gl'im fa ced s torm troope rs of th e Sou th African police. weapons in hand, imp erso nal. ex pressionless. in batt le ca moutlage , b e hind th e m ma sse d armour e d c ars and trucks, li g ht ~ l1ashing. w ait for thl' word to c h arge . T h e boys and gi rls c ome rl(~are r and n ear c r At a given s igna l Ihe Ii'ont Line o r th e s lornHJ'Oope rs d on th e ga~ masks IVhi c h d e pri ve the m or ,tny ves tige or human qual ity , ancl as th e c hildre n s te p over

till' ill vis ibl(' Iwnti!'r, the dchu l1lani.wd m llu ts ~h!)ot their cit' adI,v \\(~ ; Ip ()n!'> . Firs t til(' tl'a r gas, and \\ 11I'n tlll' blinding {' Io u ds do n 't !'> tllP thl' su rgl'. ti ll' g un s. not 0 \'('1' Il l(' Iwads Dr I hc YO llngs l('s. hut ai m ed to kill. Bod ies f~1l 1 ('\'plywherc. The1'c ar(' unforf.(l· tt a bll: SC(~IWS pani cstf'ic"cn , s{,I'l~ aJ1lill g I eopl ' ru s h ing b li ndly in a ll direc ti o ll s, th e s taggering yo ung ['u upl e , th e ir s llatt fll'P. d 1m ill th eir arms. th e men and women lit e mlly 1~llling h'oJ11 t h(-: s tand s to ru s h to save thuir c hildn'n , The s Illall c hild , tears s tre aming d own a lears tlicke n f~I CC, ru nnin g away fi'om th e horror it d oc ~ not und er· s land , Th i s is Soweto , th e Soweto recrea te d \ ith c hilling power by Alge Jian film maker Bcn Barka _ An ee ri e e ' pcri e n cewa tc hing th e Him o n til e 10th ann ivcrsa rv o t Soweto_ Be n 13a'l'ka 's mast erpipce is a d Ol'lIlll(' nl al'v o r aparth ri d . the lll il1lllcssn l'ss, till' hol'l'l1l'. the {Tllc lty , till' cOllI'af.(t'. th e d egra dation or "h it l' Lind hl ack, tl1P iIlIJllenS!: l!lllllan II 'agedy . I': I'CI' f-lres nnt. til!-' l' Ol1t l'a ~t o r Joil,lJl n e). lwl'g . its ~paciou s. (I an strCl' ls, its g litt rring f1('I)Jl Jj gh t ~ wit h ill(' mi s!'ry alld hup c l l'~s nes:-. or th e IJlal'k !'>l' lt 1l'Jl1en ts se ts th e sce np. :\parllw id hr(' (' tl ~ inhuma nit v, n o t .troll1 whitt' to 1)lach. oniv, bllt Iliac" 10 bla c k, a Iru th \\h1c l1 has IJI'C0Jl1 1~ onlv tuo rvident ill tllf' pas t 1I1011t h s , Be n Barka show s u:; a g limp:;e of tlw to tal agony of tl IP black pf'oplr of oU lh t\fdcil , \\ H canno t ,~ h al'e it. hut hr n l "kl:'~ us sec it ill ruth Ic~:-. te l1l1S so we canno t CSC'lJ.lC it. Por lhis is a r uthless r..Im. Thel'!:' aJl' cllarat'lcr~ who al'!:'

a lmost unbelievable until you read about South Africa, There is the man in charge of the morgue, who sells corpses to an export firm , He teUs the So u th African white journalis t in searc h of the truth th a t white corpses are seldom if ever exported beca use th ey are a lways claimed, "And w hat about th e blacks?" th e jourmLii s t asks , "They are never c la im e d " i s th e a n swe r. For w h e n a bla c k co m es from the Bantu s tan s to .lohannesb e rg h e is lost to hi s familv. Another a lmos t un beli evab le c haracte r is the Sccurity Forces Ca ptain who is lolcl by t h e morgu e man when hp co mes to d ispose 01T c orpses th a t what h e has to sell now are no t saleabl e brcause th ey are too I11lltilat rcl , Otl1('1' t'harac tprs, all lin ' lv portra,wel, art' vibran t \ ith Iif;', 1\.1;lItlww, \\' h osl~ srarc h for his ~tln , h i). l)I'o tl1('r, illld hi !> : is ter all Qillislwd il1t u th e gaping ho le o r .Iui1anlH'she /'g rrom the 13antu s lall , c l1an gl:s r!'(J1ll the innocent. ~illlpip l11an he was int o a bC\\'ildC'rl'd . Iwlt(,I'l~ d , angly J1wn who ha:. los t hi~ laith ill Cod. His lJl'l> tl1 {'1' 1ll'liu s. a min e\\ ()rh.l ~ r . rt'arll 's ~ , a burn I!:'a d er of nll ' ll , I' Dmllli t led t u rreedom , dil 's ill all l'\('t' ution ce ll. a long I\'i th I\.tatt h cw 's SU Il . th p bov \\ 110 C<1I11(, to nlah.l' good , b~ t fo und onl\- c rimI' ill th o se ttl enW1l1 :o.IU;l1S, became a hired ki ll l'/' liJl' the St'l'urit v rorces 10 Illurder til(' vv hill' jULlrna li s t w h o cou ld not "1 ~('P qu ie t abollt th e inhuJ1liJnit v and iniu s ti ce h e saw aroulld hi;ll , Ma tt ew's dau gh te r. \V ll o co m es to Juhannesberg to loo k rur h er hu sban d w h om s h e nevpr find s. has b(!come a w h ore to earn Iwr li \'ing and care 1'01' Ihe on ly thin g ill life tl tat ha s any moaning, h er litll e son_ We las t see h e r r unnin g w ildl y th f'O ug h th e ruin s o f Sowe to ca ll ing hi s name, h e l' sanit,v left behi nd in Ihe uead . T h e man w h o has ca ll ed 1atthew to .lohan n es be rg 10 I'eSCll e his grandson and take hjll1 back to Bantu s tan is J.lerhaps th e mus t unforg tt.1ble charactur ur a ll, L1lE' little bent OVl ~ r plies!. \!vi tll his 1l10nh.eylife 1;\(;1'. hi ,; unique J.lhilo!:>ophy. hi s cOlllpassion and hi s irn n1l'n ~l' to leran cr of humanit y. He tuo di es in th e c .\c{'ution I'u'll , b eC;lll~('. ,\ft f'r SOW(HO, th ruwn into jai l \\ith til[' hUJl(h' ~d s or 0 1111'1':-' he will n o t s to p leadi ng tlw f-ll'isuncl 's in a nc\er-t'llding c hant ur prllt est. w h ich d l'i\ pS tlw blac" gua rd s in to un('olltrol I"hl(' anl:\l'I '_ \\.{> :-out' I\.lalthv\\ . eyf's ril1l1l1l'd 1'(> cI wi til gripl <lI1 rl ~ lInl' l ing, w hi~ p {' I 'ill g, in \\ord s th a t an' draggl cl tlul or lli nl painru ll_\ , tl w lo ll -ca ll ur thl' dead , saying "And so many mort' will din" a llrl lillall v, a llJ1o~1 \\ itll disl'l'li('f ta "illg till' na m e 01 hi" 1j-·i('11(1. the pri,,';!.

H,lIji Malik

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Tuesday ) - I5.July 1986

Viewpoint

The Fate of Secularism-I

:The

FOrum

Gazette

A Bad Example The ugly incidents in the Punjab Assembly during the debate on the Venka taramiah Commission Report are a sad commen ta ry on Ihe rapid d eteriora tion of political behaviour in our imperi lled democracy. Parliament and the State Assembli es have witnessed unfortuna te unruliness a nd rowdiness before and many persons, in and out of th e legislatures, have publicly co ndemned such violation s of parliamentary norms by certai n members since Ihose first .veal's when Nehru , Pa lel, Azad and Shastri se t the high standards of Parl iamen tal:v di sciplin e e>. pec ted of the elec led represen tatives of the peop le. But not until now have we witnessed such deplorable co ndu c t on th e part of emjnen t legislators. Mr Parkash Singh Badal, leader of th e Akal i Dal for many years, erstwhile Chi ef Minisl er, a man respec ted the country over for his stateillanship and maturity, clelibp.rately cas t asid e all norms of parliamentary conduct to lead a physica l assaull on th e Speaker in the House and, allegedly, even occupied th e exalted Chair, exalted not because of anyone individual. but becau se of its symbolic emi nence in Ollr accept ed system. Some of Mr Badal's followers in the 'di 'sident ' Akal i Partv are new to parliamentary procedures. One would have expec ted Mr Badal and Captain Amarinder Singh, a Member of Parliament for some years, to have stopped th eir colleagues from indulging in violent behaviour, nol worthy of their responsihilities. Inste'a d Mr Badal actually spearheaded the assault. Captain Amarinder Singh 's subsequent apology for hi s gro up 's behaviour in no way excuses him from his fai lure to have con trolled his follower. On e of the legislators, Mr Lalpura, is alleged to have used obscene language during these unsavoury proceedings, which are a disgrace for the whole country. No provocation justifies such behaviour. If the dissidents had any comp laint about the Speaker's rulings, they should have resorted to the means provided to express their disapproval. Instead they have introduced the same elemen ts of rowdj ness and goondaism unfortunately connected with some elemen ts in Akali politics, into parliamentary procedures. By floutin g all conve ntions they have don e iIresperable harm to the Akali Party in the eyes of others. Equally pernkious is their behaviour to the larger Sikh community. For let us be frank. The Sikh community today is undergoing a crisis of major dimensions, a dual crisis, both internal and internal. Sikh youth particularly is passing through times of travail and trial, is in an incredible_ state of confusion, looking desparately for anchors to hang on to, for a basic infrastructure on which to build their future. With violence in the air, both inside and outside Punjab, with the' edifice of law and order threatened by senseless, amoral terrorism, is this the example Mr Badal and his followers expect the youth, whose interests they are supposed to represent, to follow? By flouting convention and taking the law into their own hands they are setting a dangerous example. As Sikhs they should know that .t he Speaker's fallen turban is the symbol of the insult inflicted on the Sikh co~unity by the Chandigarh happenings. _ 8,

Tuesday 1-15 July 1986 .

Ashis Nandy FeUow at the Centre tor Developing Societies, the writer draws attention to the various nuances of secularism in India and why the old ideology of secularism is not working. must makc it dear at the beginning that I am not a secula rist. In fact, I can be t:aUed an a n ti-secularist. I say this w ith s Olli e tr epidalion , for , in the company in w h kh I move, this is not a fashionable position to take. Fortunately, slich is the pull of the ideology of sec:ularism in India today that recf~ntly, w h en I wrote an anti-secularist manifest(), many interpreted the article to bf! a hidden homage to secuJarism. Pm'haps, I shall esc:apl~ this timc tno. I call mvself an ti-secularist becau se I fe;' 1 that the ideoloKv of seculari sm has mo m or tess ex hau sted its possibiliti es_ We ma v now have 10 work wilh a differe nl ideoloKv which is already vaguely visible al th (~ borden; of Ind ian polili cs. When I say that the presenl ideology and polilics of secu larism have ex hau sled themselves, I hitv!:' in minci Ihe standard Engtish mea ning of the word 'seculari sm' . As we know, Ih ere are two meanings of seculalism curre nt in modern an d semim odei'll India. Onl' of Ihe two mea nings you can easily find out if vo u "onsull anv sta ndard dictiOl; arv. But vou wi ll nol find the olher"meaning in any propel' dictionalY, however hard you may try For it is Iypically and cli stin ctive lv India . Th e tirs t meaning becomes clear when people talk of secular Irends in hi storv 01' eco nomics 01' when they speak of sec ularisa lion of th e slal e. Th e word secu larism has been in this sense in the Wesl fo r at leasl-the tast three hundred years.

Thi s secu larism marks out an area in p ubl ic life where religion is 11 01 admilt ed . On e ca n have re ligion in one 's privat e life, one can be a good Hindu or a good Musli m vvithin one 's house or one 's p lace of wors hip. But wh en one enters public life, one is expecled 10 leave one 's faith behind. This ideologv of secularism is associat ed with slogans like 'we are Indian s first. Hindus secon d ' or 'we are Indian s first. Ihen Sikhs'. Indian Meaning

As di . tin ct from the firsl meaning, th e Indian mean ing of secularism urges one to equally \'alu e all re ligions. II says thai the publi C life mayor may nol be ke pi free of religion bUI one mu st Irea l all religions \vith equal res pect. We in India have, sometimes withoul even admitting ii , fol lowed th e Indian meaning of 'secularism ', Ihough Ihe coun路 try 's westel'lli sed intellectuals have always been uncomfortable aboul it. "Thev have seen such secularism a~ an adulterated one and as a compromise with Irue seculari sm. Even Ihe ultimate symbol of religious tolerance in India, Gandhi , on the few occasions when he said 'I am a secu lari st" , had Ihis Indian mea ning in mind . This is obvious from his famou s saying th at Ihose who thought that religion and polilics could be kept se paral e, understood nei ther religion nor politics. Yet, il is the first meaning of secularism which ha s donii nated our middJ e class public ideology. Despite our practice of depencling on the second mea ning in practice, it is the firsl mea ning whi ch i endorsed by the process of moderni sation in Inclia. And the declared ideology of the modern Indian sta te, too, supports thi s first meaning. Vic tims of a 'Secular' Society: Gandhi and TriIokpuri, which has become Delhi 's KhaJi (e mpty) Sthan (place).

Politics of Secularism. Associated with thi s first. more west e rn , m ea nin g o f secularism, there is a hidden poli tica l hi erarchy or ladder. Thi s hierarchy makes a four-fold classification of those in politics. On the top of the hierarchv are those who believe neit her iil public, nor in Plivate. They are supposed to be scientifi c ilnd rational. and they are supposed to ultimately not onJy r ule thi s society路 but also dominate its cultu;e. An obviou s example is lawaharlal ehru . Though we are now lold that he believed in astrology and Tantra, Nehru al ways made us a little ashamed of our faith s a nd he convinced us. the westernised Inclian s, that he neither believed in private nor in publi and we should model ourselves on him . On the secon d pung of Ihe ladder are those who do not IColl linupci on

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believe in public but are very devout believers in plivate, a nd our be t example of the type probably is someone like Indira Gan dhi. She was a tru e nonbeli ever publi c life (she after all died in the hands of h er own Sikh guard s, rather than accept the advice o f her security officers to change the guards i but in pliva te she was a d evo ut Hindu w h o had to go to he r seven tyo n e - or was it s ixtynjne " - pilgJimages. Both Inmra Gandhi s were gen uine a nd together they represent ed th e a ttitud e of a sizable portion of the In man middle classes. On th e third ru ng are those w h o believe in public and do n ot beli eve in p riva te . Thi s may a t first seem an odd category, bu t if I give you some examples yo u will unders ta nd w h at I mean a nd guess why th is ca tegor:v includes dangerou s me n and wo men . The mos t obviou exa mples from our part of the world are Mohammed Ali .Iin nah who was no t much of a Muslim in plivate life, bu t ye t took up th e cause of Is lam su ccessfull v in public, and OV. Savarkar w ho was an a theist in plivale life but believed in Hinduism as a political ideolol{V. Such persons are dan gel'O us b eca use to them re ligion is a political tool , not a matter of piety. Their private non -be lief only puts th e secularists offguard w ho ne er come to know how se!iouslv th Jinnahs and the Savarkars take religion as a political instrumen t. On the other hand, their public faith puts th e faithfull off-guard because they never suspect th e con tempt in which their h eroes hold the common run of th e faithful. Often these heroes invoke the classical versions of their failh s to d amn th e existi ng way ' of li fe associated with their fait h s. \.' At th e bottom of the hierarchy are those who beli eve in private as we)) as in public. The best and most notorious examp le is that of Gandhj, for h e op en ly beJieved both in plivate as we)) as in public. The category has its strengths and weaknesses. You can say tha t exactly as it has its strength in som eo ne like Ga ndhi, it has its weaknesses in someone Like Ava tollah Khomeini or .J arna il - Singh Bhindranwale. At the momen t J shall no t go into that. AliI sh all a dd is that in Inma, we have been always slightly embal'assed about thi s mode rn classification in o ur politics, for we know that th e Fa ther of the n a ti on does not fare very well w h en the classification is applied to him.

The Crisis of Secularism Fortunately for Gandhi 's latherbood, this classification is not working well today. It is not working well because it has led neither to the elimination of religion from politics nor to greater religious tolerance. This is not the case only with us, this is the case with every SOCiety which has been put up to us, some time or other, as an ideal secular society. For instance; for 150 y ears we have heard that one of reasons Britain dominated Inma an-d one of the reasons why we were colonjsed was that we were not secular, whereas Britain was.

Dear Si r,

bl£~ I \· th e leg.s tium under m e and se llt m e pa ckinf.{ to iJase h osp ital while my 'buddies ' were d ecol'iIIed ful' su ch acts ofga llill1tl:'> ·. IIl·iI" cout't-martial/ed ,Ind found g ui/ty of{;oinf( 'douille ', for wa s J not iI Sikll :'

Protect Gurudwaras from Anti-Social Activities

oll'n side

It is alanning to n o te the a ttitude or the 'non-Sikh ' communit v lo f whic h I a m a memberl tm~'ards the Sikh . I happened to ue flying h ere from Ca lcutta a nd n oticed a Si kh fe llow-passe nger being unduly ha rasse d a t th e secur;t v check. Th is m oved m e d ee p ly' e nough to \-vrite a poe m a bout it. a copy of w hich I a tt ach to th is. Wi th dee p rega rd, Sanjay Shal' ma C/ o Sacred Heart Sc h oo l P.O. Chandma ri Guwahatj 78 1 00:.1

II 'h ()fl Opera tion : Blues till' II 'a s laun ched : [ IVilS une of th e fi rs t r:hosen. T hel' wanted proJessionais and they wa nted th em 101la l. Theil wil nted m en avom ail prejudice and 11'11:11 bett er choice than I, tor Ivas [ no t a Sikh? When w e st()l'm ed th e te1l1iJle. [ was am()ng the tin;/. The blast that bleil' th e gu ts out of the saffiurl turban ed tel7'Urist had me runn i ng to his aid. Th e offense of'gilling a dying miln a drink was unpardona ble and my illligiilnce was priflle su spoct. (01' was I no t a Sikh ? Seeing 111.1' alleged 'cosmopolitan ' sympathi es my

AI .4irporl-temJinab and o ther public pla ces. ti WI' subject me to morc derailed /i"isks and things mor e d em /iiltoIY. lor ilm I not a Sikh :)

No p erson sh ould accep t the use o f re ligio u s p la ces for a ntisocial purposes , If a ny religious place is used for anti-socia l purposes in any fOlm, it is the duty o f the State to interve n e a n d sto p it. The position sh o uld be viewe d in the following m a nner: during the p eriod o I' Guru Na nak De\'ji to Gu ru Gobind Singhji , re ligio-politi cal ac tivities of th e Sikh s w ere guide d by th e Gur·u s. Wherever the Gu ru s were was oh\'i o us lv the Gu rudwara. After Guru Gobind Singh 's d ea th , th e Guruship passed on to the Guru Gran th Sa hib, so w h erever th e Guru Gran th Sa hib was ke p t, th a t p lace obviou sly was ca lled th e Gurudwara.

Today, at parties il n d at su ch 'suciai' liilthcrin/is J illll /l o t inti equ en t(1' m mindcd uf th e turb,lll that l'Cs t" lI n e a";I ' on m.I' pa tf!. My ('riends inefll/{;n in jo(:ular vantf'r amll d / mf' : .. . th e all {v g()oci Sikh. is il de,ld one . . , I alll supposed t(1 tak e i t n il in IlI I ' stride. 1'01' a'lll I nol a Si kh :)

T h\! prac tise o r usi llg these places for I'eligio us ,HId po litjca l ac tidties there fore contin u ed . But it was more foJ' co nve ni ence thall l'or allV o ther reason . As Ihe Sikh Raj w~s es tabl ished , th e use o f Gurudwa ras for poli tica l pu rposes a ut omatica lly s to pped because auth orit \' e manat e d ti'om th e Rajahs: Gove rnm en t machin e l)'. Th e public was not

On v uses :1I1d in pal'ks. th ey eyed my amp u tated stump wilh suspicion ; May be it's som e nPlv-fang Jed·suicide-!Jomv-bi d and childnm steer elea /' of m e. /01' ,1m J 110 t a Sikll :'

jI,I~\ ' c /:ild prefer .', p :lI'tinf.{ Il'it l1 his hair mlher than his head. /-Ie n() lonlier wew's a t uriJa n. What i hI' c/oesn 't ,~ [ 11 ', Lllt him to live Sikh or n o t for alll I lIot human :,

San jay Shallna

Co nt,.ibutiolJ.'; fo,. opml F O,./Jill ;"'/ ' welt:oluc in tilt: 1'01'111 of /( : Ile,..<; or comme nl. Owing to ..pace CO liS t,..,;"t.'; , til e. Ic n g tll should 1101 (:xcf'e.d onf~

c olumn ("'Of) worl/..; ).

"... Otherwise the border of Pakistan would have been near Delhi with J &K sliced off," Sir,

sen te nce, 2147 01' 80 pel' cent were Sikhs. Out of 127 In dian s who were sent to gallows, 92 or 80 per cent were Sikhs. In Subha s Bose's army o r 20000. t2000 w ere Sikhs and Sikhs were just 2 per cen t o f the tota l popu la ti on. A capaci ty to a bsorb scientific technology i's th e hallmark of a Sikh farmer. While the food grain yield in rest of Inma is just 1.5 ton nes per h ectare, th ere are mstricts in Punjab where the farm er s h ave reach e d world s tandards of five tonnes per h ectare a nd more. Punjab lead s the co untry in irriga te d a rea, fertili ser c on sumption, elec tricity used and motor vehicles. It also leads in pI' capita bank d e posit at Rs. 1657 against an all Inma average of Rs . 763. It is second to none in schools, n ewspapers, hos pital beds, which are social necessities. Per capita assets in Punjab That is why we reportedly md . are Rs. 31,827 while for Inma it is . not know how to live together, Rs.1 1,311. whereas Britain was a world All this has given birth to the power, perfectly integrated and most prosperou s state of the fi.r ed by the spirit of nationalism. Indian Union. Below the poverty Now we find that after nearly line population in Punjab as a three hundred years the lJish, percentage of tot.a l population is the Scots and the Welsh are 15.1 perc_ent while it is 48.1 percreating as much problems for Gent for the country as a whole. Britain as some of the religions Per capita national income for or 'regions are creating for 'u s in , Punjab for 1978- 79 was Rs. 2101 Inma. while it was Rs. 1267 for the To be concluded. country. Availability of cereals If we eat well in 1985- 86, some cred it has to go to the Sikh farmers of Punjab. Ou t o f th e 11.45 million tonnes of rice procured tor public m stributi on in 1984, as muc h as 9.85 million tonnes or 86.2 per cent has come from Pun jab. out of the 9.28 million tonne of w h ea t procured in 1984 , five million tonnes 0 1' 50 p er cent has come from Punjab. Sikhs, more than any body, have b een respo n sible for the surplus food in our granaries. As a miniori ty man, I strong'ly fee l that Sikhs represent w hat is militan t and dynamic in Inma. Sikhs have relatively sh e d more blood for lnma than any other community. Out of the 2125 martyrs for freedom. 1557 or 75 per cent were Sikhs. Out of 2646 sent to Andamans for life

pel' day ill Punjab was 2052 gms. while it was 384 grams in th e country. Milk ava ilabili ty per year w a s HI] kgs. pe r head in Punjab, w hil e it was on ly 45 kgs. tal' In dia as a w hole. Sikhs need more wa ter fo r t h e iI' agricu It ure , w hi ch th ey deserve. Th ey wan t a se parate capital whic h is th eir right. They wan t som e adj u stme nt in Punjabi s p eaking d istri cts which can be looked into . These are the ba ic demands and immediate action will defuse the situation, clear the atmosphere for a settlement. It is far th e present lead ership to grasp the opportunity.

The Sikh is the militant child of Hindu religion, born of necessity, shaped and tempered by history, to fight oppression. The Sikhs threw in their lot with India in 1947. Otherwise, the border of Pakistan would have been near Delhi with Jammu and Kashmir sliced off. The Sikh has taught us how to pull oneself out of poverty by self-help. At the same time Sikhs in Punjab have seen more devastation, disturbances through wars, since 1947 than any other community. Despite the threat of war, they have stood like a rock and made the border state the most prosperous. What can

required to use Gurudwaras for these purposes. But during th e Briti h regim e p olitical ac tivities again started from th e Gurudwara s for th e reaso n s m e ntion e d ea r li er, beca use it was n ot possible to call}' our an ti-Bliti s h activities in o ther places. The use of Gurudwa l'as far politi ca l purposes should be viewe d in this hi stori ca l perspec tive in s tead of it being made a m a jor issu e. In th e p rese nt contex t, whe n political ac tivi ti es are allowed in the op e n, lhe re should be no ques ti on of u sing th e Gurudwara 1'01' thi s purpose, Gurudwaras are "Gu ru ke Ghar", a nd shou ld be used on ly for re ligious purposes parti c ul a rly whe n an equal number of non-Sikh s vis it Guru dwaras. I repea t th a t th e use o f Gurudwaras for an ti social and anti-nationa l purposes mu st no t be allowed . Nor should any re ligious place o f worship be used (or politi cal p u rposes

Col. H.N. Singh, 98 Hau z Kllas SFF New Delhi.

PLEA FO R AKALI UN ITY Uea rSil'. If' Upl~ r<lti on Blu et; ta f' was u n d ertake n to cru s h tl1P s pirit of tlw Sikh COlllfflun itv. til e li mit e cl ac ti on of ti l!! Bar;la la Govern men l was to rc-es tablish th (~ lega l co ntrol o r th e Sikh COI11 munitv over its ho li est or hol v pla cc~. Tile "NO ac ti on s were qui te uiffercnt in th eir inte n t as we ll as th e ir ou tco m e . Yil t Sardars To hra and Badal LI S ~ d th e la tter to bring th e Barnala gOVCl'flfll('ut into di srep ut p and di vidf' th e Aka li Part v. The il 'on v of it was th a t th ey ke pi dec laring Ihat th (~ ir policy was neilher in lavour of Kha li sta n no r encoll raging tcrrorism . which o nly sh ov\'eu th a t as suc h they had no policy dincre nl'l~s w ith the main Akali Dal. lJes pite tha t, on June 4, 1 ~186 , on th e p re tex t of cO l11llle morating Ihe 2nd anni ve rs ary o f Upe ra ti on Blues tar thev flout ed th e a uth ori tv of thp S.G:P.C an d d e rnal\de u ou s te r of th e li ve heat! pri es ts right ly rein · sta ted bv Sardar Bal'lla la. It i ' cl ear th~ t Sarclars Tohra and Badal arc o n ly fi g htin g t o advance th e ir own po lit ica l int erests. We appea l to th e m n o t to fool th eir own peop le. It is ye t lime for th e m to s hun th e pa th of crea ting di su nity in th e Panth at thi s criti ca l jun c tu re a nd appeal to the m o nce again to re jo in t.he main strea m.

Isbar Singh J-11/76, Rajo uri Garde n New De lhi- llO027 . be more patriotic than that ? All minorities w h e ther Sikh s, Muslims, Christians, lains, Buddhists, arose out of Hindu s . Hindu is the mother, minorities are the children and a mother has to be more kind, understanmng, loving than the children ; even a prodigal son s hould be dear to her. An unkind, unwise mother d estroys herself and her children too.

Gilbert Lobo Bombay

9 ,~--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~~----~~------Tuesday 1-15 July 1986

F8'rum A __M_a_ti_e_r_o_i_~e_o_p_le_____________ Gazet~

A Champion of the Oppressed Mahashweta.Devi

• •

Sumantha Banerji h e gove rnm e nt which awarded the Pa drnashree to th e Be n ga li nove li s t Mahashwe ta Devi thi s ye ar, cou ld h ave paid a be ller tribute to h e r if it had m ade se ri o u s etforts to put an en d to til(! s ul~ fe rings uf t ho p e o}Jle a mon g w hom Ma ha shwe ta is work ing anel abou t wh om s h e is \,w iting - tlw down trodd e n tribal PC !o' p ie, th o d e pressml cas tes, th c! bo nrh!d lab o lln~ l's, th e 1'1I1'a i pour,

Alth u ugh Im;l lV o f Iw l' n()\'(!f s ha w b ee n tran s lal<'d in to Hindi an d u th er la ng ua ges, \'(' IY I(!w o ut si d ' Wes t Bl!ngal o r l '\ 'l~ n w ithin thi s s tat (! a re awar(' o f a ll1agazilw whi (' h s h l! I'un s ca ll · pd ' Barti ka ' IC' lIll.! I(! 1 w h ich ('al'· rips art icll'~, s tol'ic!s, puem;, ' no t on ly a bout IIll' variu u s segllll'n is ul' til<' rUI',iI POO l', h UI by th(,111 Bv let ting tl1(' d (J\Vn l£'()t1 d l' n :51)('ah. oul in IIH'il' o\\.' n 1:lllglJilgl' and idiolll~ , 'llal'lika' has SI'I a p£'(~ c('(hnll in 1\(!l lg;t\i li lcra tll l'c', As Ma hashwp ta p u ts il. 1'\'1'1:\" tili ng a llOul i"ulh. t'u lt ul'l' ('all hI' leal'llt in ' B;lrti h.a "s traig h l I'rolll till' IlOrse 's lll uUlh ,

Expel'ime ni In \'iP\\' 0 1 Il l(' rp l(!\,ilnt:C' II I such a ho ld an d int f! l'cSlillg (!,\ Ill" ri llln nt 1'0 1' th e Indi a n c ul l lll'a l s('e llC in ge n cra l to day, \\' Ill'n I nl e l Ma ha s hwe la lJovi in h c l' Ilat in Ba llygun ge Sia l io n Hoa d o n!) Sun d av, I w a n tnd 10 kn ()w a bo ut 111'1' e~ pp ri e n c(' in running Ill{' m agaz ine a ll th ese yeLl/'S, " ' Ba rtih.a ' wa s s larl etl in 1 ~I .'iJ Ii'om Bah arall1pur in Ih e 1\lu r· s hid a ba d di s iric i u r Wc!SI Bpn· gal. " s h e ~aitl .' T Ill! ndit o r al IIla t lim !' \\'a ~ h ur 1;lt h er, Ihe \1 '(' 11 · kn()\.\'ll p oC I I'vi an ish l; h a lah. lh. no\ \11 as '.I uhan a s hw'l' in Ren· gal i li wrarv circ lesl, dc/ PI' 1)1'0 111('1' of I1Im·maker Hhilw ih. Gha ta k, In I ho~p tl avs, it was a lil C'l'al'v qual'tel'l,": " A n (,1' Illy l;ll l1('l';s c/C'alll in IJt'c('lll iJcr 1!J7H, I 100h. on'I' Ih e Illaga z illP, a ll tl W(' ca ll say from till' .J u ly Spptelll lwl' iSSUI', ' l\al'lih.a ' ('nl(,I'e~tI a ncw phasl' We carriml instruc li ons allout hm\' to \Vri le , mainl\' ainwd at thosl' who WI~ ll' ~light (I' educaled and cu u ld cxpn'ss or !JUI !lml'll ~OILll'ho\\' Ilwir \iC'I\ ~ ill II riling, \\ 'C' pospd qu('st illll, 10 agricultural labuul /'l;, licbha\\ . PUIl ('I''', IJundl'd labourer::., mar· gin;iI Ill'!lsanh , Irihal le;lI'lll'rs, ord JlI ,': :" \ i Ililt-WI'" in such a \\ a,l' ils In hl' lp tlwlll P'xPI'l!SS ill the ir (1\\ 11 '\,J." all au thenti c pi('ILII Y' ul Ih l' ""lial <lnd pconOlllic l'I'alil\', ' Ba lllk .t~ ' aim \\'as 10 eSlabli s h ;] di n': I , u lltact betwee n the grass· I"OlIl- people' and lilt" IHinl ed p a,~I' ,ln d \\'c certainly ha vl' !>uc,

Ki s ku and Gomostapl'asad Soren from among the Santhals; the faetory worker Subal Dutta; and the cyclericks haw pullers Ajit Bairi and Madan Dut1a.

Other Minorties

ce(! dc ~ cI

i,l,l d o ing il ill a Id l'ge IllC!aSUI'(!, rvt al ws lnVl' la assl!rte'ti :" ' Bal" ih.a p lav!'> a V()IY 1'l !ll'\'al ll a nd ()ssP llli al 1'011 ' in lu d al"s l'l di liral wo l'id , Tribal p('()p l (~: \lo ll,trillal I'lIl'a l PUOI', n£( ~ llIh( ~ I'~ or 11 11' dl! p l'l'~s('d l : ;t~ l l'~ IllC'\' all \\!'i lt' ;t/)(J 1I1 Ih eil' c lIl llIl'a'l li li' s l,vl('!'>, YOli ,\I' t tu kllO\\ ahOU I fo lh. n Lllll l'(' fmlll Ill(' J1('() pl c ~ Ilwn 1~('I\'l! s, l\;ll'l ih.a ill 11li:, n'· gal'd i~ eiO('L lltl ('lll ing :tlld inll'll' clu('i llg illlpo rl al'lt 1!1('IlH' nl s o f 1<11h. ("( LIlLII'(' no l thru lI gh acadC !lll ic a l ' til ' iL~s 1'l lll l(' lI ishrr/ wi th I(JOI Il OiCS hv Ilw()I'(' li eians, hut th l'Olig l l tll (! 1;lIlg ll agl' or lil o:,c ' 1 )(~(Jp l (' (; 1' wl lL)sn li l'es, c ultul'e ilSl' lf is :t il illlll' I'l!11 1 parI. i{i tu a ls l"ui1 lwc te d wilh 1(1l'l !s IS a n ei agl'i· cu llul'l!, SUllgS, I ~til's a nd les tivals are all inse pa ra bly lillh.e d " ilh Ih ei r daily li ve'S, II is Illey w h o \Vril e, Abo ul Ihe ir s ty l() o f ex pres· s io n, the ir language , Ma llas hwe w said : "T h e Illajo l'it v of India 's co mm on peo ple n~; l.v bl! lI nl p. l· IeI' ' ri or s ligh t Iy l~ du ca l (~ d , Bul th ey d o no t lach. in inlm ;c1 suph is· t iL~ a li o n , c ivilizpd an d p o liti ca l a lt it u des and a rC' Il'e nl l' ndOll s lv p o le nt. For th em, to go Iwynn J Ill ' prima ry sc h uo l I('ve l is a l· mus l it d rea m , BUI si n cn h(~ Il' in Be n ga l l'illages, t hese pt'op le know Benga li a n d can rpa ci a Ii i· lie, and nut being highly edu· cated II1(>v are no l C!x posed to ui llel' langll'lge thoughts, Iheir Benga li is in sen:'(' pUl'e Iknga li, They have it pO\\lCl'titi ab ility 10 e,\prcss tilelllse lvp:" Their's is Ihe authenlic Be llgali , tile Ben· gali of tlw grassrools, ur Ihe c:trth, And \\'(' gI'l 11ll' litl'l';lI:1' Ilavo ul'," 'Bartika' has indeed int.roduced to Bengali l'Cadel'~ some vel'\, talented writer~ I'l'om the~c sections of the popUlation. Among them an: the late Gunadhar' Singh Muncla; Prahlad Bhukta and Jugal Kotal of the J.odha Iribul community; Sal'daprasad

H.industan Refrigeration Stores .for K irl os k ar Hermetic Comp r essors Danfoss Contro ls etc, 2B.J I e taji Subhash Nlarg ndr~' il Gnnj, Nt'\\' Dfllhi-l 10002

Tuesday 1-15 July ~986

Sinc e Ma ha shwe ta Devi had bee n working among and wri l· ing ahoul minority groups li ke Iribab, deprc!sseti ca s te:., (~ t c , I wond e re d h uw s h e le ll a bou t o th e r min o rily g l'Oups in oLhe l' pari s o f India likl ! th e Si kh s for in s tan ce' _ "Sin ce> I h ave n o direc i eXpel'il! 11 CP a bo ul th e pi'll' b l (' m ~ o f Ilw Sikh s, I s h o ul d no l sa,v L£Jl,v lh ing a ho ut it, " sll(' sai d , a d d ing : "T h en! s h o u ld Il l' a hea llh v, ci e ll lOcra li c sulut ion 10 th(' Plilljail Jll'rJh ll'lll. II s hou ld nol 1)(' kl!p t unso l l'l~ tI a ny longw', " vVhile ci isclI:-.:-.ing PUlljah , Mahashwp la sIJugh l to p ial'!' it ill the gl!npra l pt'rspc~C l i\'l' or Ill(' present " poli lical map of Ind ia , prick ly w il h nu m erous proh· lems," i{C' fe rring 10 lilt' iJas iC' p roblem o f po\'(!r IV, s h l' said tha t a ll the pu li tica l pal'l i (~s frUIll A to Z , ins tead or Ir:ving lu so lve Ih is ba~i(" pro hl nm, we i ' speking 10 cap tlll"<' pONer a n d ma h.i ng the polilical scene murky, 'T h e cond iti o n o r th e lribal s in p a rli c ul ar," s hl' sai d , "is the mus l n eglec ted ." "Wh a teve r Ihey had 1'01' th e ir living - IOI'p.s ts, rearing a nimal s, hunting, agl'i · c u ll ul oe - all had bee n ta ke n a w ay by thi s ' in d e p e nd e n ce', In spit e o f laws to pl'Otec t Ihem , beca u se of Ih e m ac hinati o n s o f th e ' mai n s trea m ', the ir land s are ill the ha n d s o f o th ers: th ev a re dep rived o f drinking w a ter, "th e ir ow n h omes, T h a nk s 10 t h e p o lil ' ics of \,o les, lac ti onal co nOi c ts are being encouraged wi thin th e triba l cOllllllu llili es, "

Keep the m HWlgry Summing u p th e govern· m e n l's }Jo liey towards tri b a ls, Mahashwe ta sa id : "Declare an area 10 be Sch ed ul ed Tribes domin a ted and undeveloped , Only then, crores of r u pees can be chanlleliscd I'hrough diflere n l projects, pundits can he in vited tu make sclll'[lH!s, bUI it must be snt'n Ihilt llo thing readws Ihe lJencfieiiu~I' , Keep theIn hungl:\ Fol', as lung a" Ihev :i laIY(', Ih('\ \\ ill h<l\ '(' to sUPPOI;1 thi::. pa r l.\ e;r thill. r\nc!, if th ey protest. lin· lea 'h the police 011 them .' I'v lailashwC'la thell ilddl'd: ''Th e Iribal s arc n o IOllger w illing In rC'llIaill uhjl'c ls 1)1' research Ill' acalielllil' a lltllropologi tl ts anrl s() ('iulogi.t~ , They w;lIl l In live like human bei llg's 011 thpir own l'ighlS,"

(BOJ'1l on Janual'y 14, 1926, Mahashweta Devi published her first book 'Jhanshir Rani' in 195 6. The next thirty years saw the p u blication of more than 100 books, inclu ding her firs t novel 'Na ti' (1957); 'i\ranye r Adhikar' w h ich received a Sahitya Akadami awa rd in 1979; 'Agnigarva'; 'Sidu Kanur Dakey'; a nd 'Akian taK.;l w·av' to mention a lew. ) •

A REMEMBRANCE Gurbachan Singh Talib n 1936 I joined Khalsa College, Amritsar as a student. It took me almost a year however b e for e I got to know Prof. Gurbachan Singh Talib, Once I go t to know him, h e ca me to matter more in my life than a ny other p erso n , During my two to three yea rs at Amritsar I was a frequent visitor to hi s hou se and co uld, prope rly speaking, d es· cribe myself as almost a member of th e fa mily , One of th e uni qu e things about th e tea c h er· student re la ti onshi p is prec isely th at one gets to know a teac h e r as a see ke r o f knowl e d ge, In th e process o n e a lso ge ts to know him as a p e rson , Some tim es o n e knows him from a di s tan ce but som e tim es, a s happe n e d in m )' case, Ihe teac h er a lso beco m es a liiend,

For my mas ter's degree .1 moved to Lahore , Prof. Talib mea nw hile ha d a ls u moved to Lah ore, D uring Ih ose two years I saw a good dea l of h im and received c:onside ra hl e guidance fro m him in I'oegard to Illy s tudy, By virt ue of hi s w ide kn ow le d ge and in tellec tual gra sp h e loom ed

very large o n m y m e nta l h o ri zon , 1\ was o n e o f t h u se uni q u e s il uat ion s w h ere hi s wor d cou n ted more w ilh me th an tha t of anyone e lse, If h e app roved o r somethi ng, I a lso approved of it. But when he disapproved of so m ething, my views were no t too d issimilar, Every s tuden l in th e process of groWing up goes through these vario u s stages of d evelopment. To start with, one learns from one's teacher, In cOllrse of time as one grows up, onp. begins to Ihink 1'01' one elf. Eve n afte r I s tarled teach ing, I lllaint<'1ined 11lP. sallw c lose contac t \;,'ith Prof. Talib, He \ as Ill V Illoci pl as a tt!ClCher and a 8("'110Iar, He' pl'Ovided a point o f re fe rencE' ror' so many things that I thought and did in my life , III course uf time, however, our \ 'ie'\Vs in certain mailers begin to diverge, But thai nevp. I' carl1l~ in th e way of the -regard and allee·

tion that I have had for him a ll my life, Looking at his career, one could say that the first quarter ce ntury of hi s professional life , whil e satisfyi n g in many ways, was a lso a difficult p eriod for him , He had abi lity but it was not give n it s due and a dequate r'ecognition , In those d ays in partic ular, recognition was n o t in te rms of academi c standing but in terms of th e p ower th at one e xercised, To ~vish to b e· come a c ollege principal se emed the obvio u s c hoi ce for anv lecturoer who had any a mbition , Profe s so r T a lib 's c areer as a princ ipa l was marke d b v variou s up s and d own s , p art of w h ich c ould have bee n th e I'oesuli of th e kind of person tha t h e was, Bu t th e larger pari, I am quite su re, was because he ha d to work wit h priva te manageme n ts wh in Ih eir functioning and o utl ook, did no t conduc l th e ir affairs w ith th e detachme nt and objectivity expected of such managements, More ofte n than no l, Ihey were fac tional and petty in Iheir approach, So muc h of the dis· tress, tha t was cau sed to hi m during those early years was d irectly connec te d w ith the circ um s tances o f aca d em ic li fe w hi c h ob ta ine d a l th e time, Per h a p s th ose h ave no t c h a nged ver:v m arke dly lod ay. But his fortun e too k a t u rn for the be t tet' whe n h moved to Kurukshe tra a nd s ubsequ e ntly to Chandigarh and the n to Patio ala. If his outpul in te rm s o f writin g is to b e as s esse d , it would b e see n th a t th e b es t p art of hi s work was don e in th e last one quart er o f his life, Now h e h a d more le isu re a nd m o r e o pportuniti es , Thi s in turn e nabl e d him to co n ce ntrat e o n c hola rly w o rk. Whil e hi s tTaining was in En gli s h li tera t ure, h e c h ose to c on ce ntmt e on th e areas of Pun· jabi literatu re an d Sikh s tu dies. Wh e n h e decided to tra n s late th e Adi Granth in to English, it was a lmos t a logical cu lmination of w h a t h is car-eer had been leading up 10, I have no do u b t in my m in d tha t, more than a ny· th ing e lse t h a t he has done, it is this monumenta l achievement of his which would be I'emp.lll· bered b est or all. In lenns of quality, authenticily or int erpre· lation and sensitivity of render· ing and all such re lated matlp[,s, he- has es tablished a norm of performancp which il would be diflkulL for many ot her people to surpass_

A man 10 he rell1elllbel'f~d a nd admired' Amrik Sing.,

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Sikhs in India: A Vision for the Future Are \'O U look.ing for' Llnh 'ersal BJ'Otiwrhood '! What dol'S the Guru (;I'anth Sahib sa y'?

"E!.. pita p!..as k(' ham bara!.. ", Thcll again 'Nail koi bairi Ililhin lJeg/liIl/a ,.,;,.,;;a/ Silll~ /lilm ko iJan

di, TIll' Ih r:s ur OUI' C;Ul'lI~ are of tailh , CO lll'ag(', o,l'lf-sacl'ifil'P S('J'\ in' ul hUlll anit,\ ' tl'ut h pi('I." JIId dc\'oti on <lIld al \\i1 \~ in l'lIlp hati c I'l'pudla tion or ,ill h\ POl'ris." and fals!' \'alu(>s rlll'ir ~pil'ituLlI s tl 'l'ngth ~hoIl( ' out in ;111 Ihat th p\, ('Iltllll'pd ;liltl ;lI'hi('\'('d and ill ;; 1/ that thl'\' lIa\,(' le n to liS 1'01' our in~pil'ati~n , .-'1,1'( ' _\ flU IU Dkillg 101' i nspir;lt ion , I( ' ad l ~l'~hi p, fIJ I' till' illdol1li tabll' s piri I Ihat laug h !> a t odds, that kJl\\()s nol \\'hat d e l( ~i11 is. Ihal \\ill sill'l'itic(' ;111 1i)I ' tl1<' s,lkl' of a p r ilH'ipll', tlH'1l stud\ tile life ul that 1I'1I1v <llllaLing 'man . Curu (;obimi ' illgh , :-.ailll. scholar. poel. warrior, ll'ad('I ': refoI'llH 'I'. tl'll('l\' a I'ernarkalli e per::.on , II' .vOl; \\ant to la st( ' sOIlll'thing uf his Illatchl('~s fai lh , couragt: and hllrnani ly tltcn read till' account of tilt' siege o f Charnkillll' Sahih ami lI lt' /(~ tt ('r hi ! addl'('ssl'd t o tltl' Emperol' at it linl(' \ Iwn all sl'pnll'ci losi. II' VOU ('\'Cl' Ii.!!' I dcprl~sse d thl'1I r;' 1Ici ju~t a few 'sa\'avia ' 01' til l' -I l'nth GUl'lI , You \\'ill ' lind a Ill'\\ liff' runlling thl'ullgh your \'t:iIlS, So I'icll i!> our hl'ritage. So sadl,vwe see lll to I>l' unawa l'(! or il to day: ~hinillg (,:\i1lllpl('~

The late Sardar l-fardit Singh Malik's add.'ess to the All India Sikh Students' Fed t~ration - 195S, s I undel'stand it the aim of tlw Al l - I ll rl i 11 Sikh Students' r(~clel'ation is to promote the interests of our comillun ity generall,v and parti c ulal'll' to ensure that the ikh I tigiol; , Sikh culluT'P and Sikh traditions are preserved in II1('il' purest form so that th e Sikh communitv mav atta in unitv and stl'ength a;ld ab le, while co n linuing to be a separa te en tity, to p laya part worthy of it~ grea t traditions in th e political. social and econo mi c deve lopmen t of india , I ca n think of no cause n ob ler th an this as I feel that OUT' comm unit y \," i th its g rea t lraditi ons and ' its g lorious h eri tage h as a mos t important ro le to play in th e future of OUI' co untry, Ind eed I ve ntul'e to th.ink that th e main tenance o f a powerful and united Sikh co mmuni tv tru e to i l~ grea t tra d.itions, is of i ~lpor tancfl no t on ly to th e com mun itv itself an d ' to India bu t in a s rnaJi wav. to the world it selC for the Sikh ~'e l igion , th e gl'ea t teac h ings of th e Sikh Gurus and o ur t radi ti on~ al'u s u ch th a t they have a specia l significance not onlv 1'01' ourselves but for humanit~' as a who le ,

India's Spiritual Tradition We in I ndia are today co ncentrating on bui lding up' th e tan dard of living of our people by m ea ns of a comprehensiv(> economic and soc ial dcvelopment. Ob\10uslv th is is a most co mmendalJ lc undertaking, and indeed esse ntial. if India is tu hold it posititilHl of importance a::. s ill? should among the grea t nation s of th world , The achievf'mf'nt s 01' this task will mean a gl'Pat rl eal to Ineiia, hut only if India s ucceeds in (J1'eserving. whi le attaining greater material prosperi t.v. h er own gl'eat Iradition and wav of life There are many cou ntries in the world toda~' that have achieved VC IY' high-standards of materia l lhing ' uch as those at whic h we are

Sardar I~,S, Malik , as High Commissionc.' of Ind ia in Callada .'t'('dV(l~ me .. wom of honour pres(1I1ted to th e MaharattJl Hcgimcnf ill Ca ll'(aryin 1941i, Tht, Indians and Canadian s ~'ough( together in ttal~' and ' ~f'o"sed tilt' Hapidu r;, 'cl' with heavy casualties, Only Ihc Indian troup" ('ould c:rus~ with (he Ca nadians, Otlwr allied troops had fail ed,

aiming, \\ 'hat du \\'e lind in those coun t l'il's ') The almo~t miraculous (Jrogl'!'ss that has been ach ie\'ed bv scinnce has brought with it ,ilany fears and appmhensions. and grea t uncertainties abou t what will happe-n to th e \Vorld if tile e lemen tal fill'ces that have now been placed ill the hand s of man am u sed 1'01' destruction rath e r tban pro gress. The~e uncl'rta inli es and fears have bre d a certain cvn ic i 'm. a sort o f despair. and 'thi s in its tu rn has led to a loosening of m o ra l va lu es. it tend e ncy to live for th e da,v and to ignore th e co n seq u e n ces of one's ac ti on~ . since one d oes n o t know w hat lomorrow mav bring, T h is de teri ora ti on o f the Illoral tibre is crea ting a great dea l of anxie ly amo ng th e thi nking m en and wo m e n in th esc gre al advanced coun tries, and Ihol'e is a lready eviden t in mos t of the m a recognition o f Ihe tac t th a t materia l progress itself is n ot e nou g h and that if hu ma nit v is to su r\~vc, th e sp iritual. side of' Man must a lso be attended to and those qualities deve loped which are so essen tial 1'01' his tTue we ll being. failh s tabil ity of c hara c ter. selLl ess n ess a nd sacri fice, ser vice, ilnd d ed ica ti on,

Rich Cultural Diversity We in India arc f'o rtulla te in that i rre~p ec ti\'e of what l'eligion WI' p rofess. what communi ty we belong to , wha t part of th fl countlV w e co me frolll we do have all ofd and n obh' tradition of what you mighl call spiri t ual as aga nist purely mat e rialistic va lu es. With the manv regligions and sec ts that we have. "vith our reg ional and linguislic area::., th ere i~ always a daJ1g I' of what is rath er vaguely called cOlllmuna li sm and st'c tarianism , Certain lv co mmuJ1ali s m and sec tarian(sm which I wo uld define as the aiIlI of anv one com munitv or seet to be'lletit itse lf at Ih" expe nse of others or to dOlmnate others. must be rought

\VherCH'r it rears its lIgly Iwad . COllllll un,t\islll ilnd s('ctaIianisll1 if all(J\\'l'd to Il ourish \,\~ ll sllid and certain lv e nd in tht' brea~ i ng up of OU'I' c ounll:v and pl'Obab lv in tht: re turn sometimp 01' allier 0 1 SOIl IC a lien pm,,'!'1' to 1'1I 1!' over us as ha s so fl'equl'n tly happened in the pasl. As I have said this is a co untl:" of many races, man,\ ' religious, man v c ultures a nd manv lan guages. The diliere nt co nimuni ti es h ave th e ir own tradit ions wh ic h are precio u s to th e m , Le t t hem bv a ll mean s c h e ri s h Ih osn trad it io"ns 1'01' th e cOI11mun iti p.s can gmw only if th ey have thi er roo ts in th eir own cu ltu J'e and their own traditio n s , Th is is not 'o ll1I11una lisIl1 if th e re is a lo ng wi th thi s e fl'ort t h e co nsc iousness th a t Ihey are truly an in tegral part of this grea t unity th at is India and that by pmserving th e ir trad.itions, s trengthe ning ~h e mselves. th ey are re nd ering themselv s fitt er to serve th eir coun tIv and to p laya worthy part in t h e building up o f India. This th en is the general backgro u nd again s t whic h I wo uld see the e fforts of , any p a rli cu la r co m m uni ty in order to judge w h e ther th e e flort that il is mak.ing is purely co m munal or national. And I woul d appeal tha t non e of' us s hould have any thin g to do wi th e flort. that are pure ly commun al a nd , therefore, of dissel'\~ce ,

What Sikhism Is Le t li S foJ' a momcnt consider what Sikhi sm is an how it tits in wi th th e so called )llOd , J'I1 scheme of things, The entire ikh philosophy and teac h.ings are co ntained in the lives of our len Gurus and eI11bowf'd in th e Guru Granth Sahib, r\J'f' vou lookillg far a sociaiisl ide'a l') GlII'U Nanak preached il and Iiwd it when he preferred 10 pat Ihe dry bread of th e poor' but hon es t worker to th e banquet offered to him by th e wealth, Illan who mad e 'his money 'dishones tly,

Importance of 'Keshas' Let 1111' a t t his poin t I'efer to a qu es ti on which is al prl'sent tl'OlIh ling a grea t m aIlY of OUI' e ducal e d young IlICn - 111t' 'l u es ti on of 'kesh as', Some o f th em sav " How ca n we !Jl'Ogress un less ' \VI' " modernise ' hy d o ing away w ith o u r kes h as and beards'} Mv a ll swe r wou ld be " if VO II think' that thi s cons titut es pl:ogn.!s ' and modernisation Ihen yo u a l'f' m a k.ing a very grea t mi ~ take, Progress is n o t so e a sil v a hi eved ". Othe rs say th a ( we'ge t on milch bett er in O UI' various pl'Orc5sio n s alld sel'\rices if we ' mod e rni se' in thi s wav, I do Ilot know if thi s is tru e - ' far I know th a t ge n eral ly s peaking tho se who c ut o ff th e il' hair tind all k.inds of excu ses 1'01' it. My own faith a nd feelings on th is qu eslion are very clear an cl ca n be put in a tew words - and 1 speak w ith cons iderable ex p eri e n ce for I h ave fre qu e ntly fo und m yse lf living in co mmuni ti es where I was th e onlv Sikh at ~choo l in England' serving w ith th e French and British armie~ during th e Fil's t World War, e t c , people who were worlh whi le respec ted me for' h o lding on to my way of Life, Thcre was sometimes unpleasantness bu t always rrom

unworthy peopl e , And why s hOUld one attach any importan ce to opinion s of s lich people? I bfl lieve th at th re are many Sehjd hari Sikhs who are very good Sikhs ,mel ma.v remarks do Ilut a ppl,\' to Ihern, I refer here- to those of u ~ whu hm'e taken th e Pahul and have therebv been adillitll'd into till' glorious raJllil,\' or (;urll (;o!Jind ' ingh , Anyone of tl1l'lll \\'ho does awav wilh hi s 'kl'!>has is to 111,\ milid df'n,\ ing Guru Cohind ~iIlgh and a ll thai Ill' stood 1'01' and achieved. For our kl'~ha~ ' are in \'f'r:\' tru th our link wilh Iht' Guru , T h ey arf' part of Ill!' unilol'lll 111' g;l\ e u" , Surd,' \\ l' can nut dis(,ard thai ullifol1l1 all d !-o til/ c1ailll that we all' part 01 t ha t WOlldl~lfu l "hal sa Ihat Guru (;olJilld Singh t:l'ea tl'd ,

The Meaning of 'Sawa Lakh I

Wt' Sik h s take pride in our hi:.IOI'\', What was thai but I11n(~ till g and conquering ditrlcu lti es'~ Al our best we laughed at difficul · ties, We Ihri\'('d o n dilticulties, w(' 1J(·~ca /lw , wha t we did , and \\'ha l we ar('. 10 some e.\ tent eve n to d a\'. lJl:citusc \\It' never (' hus!' till: na:-;ier \\'av. What is ti lt' !-oigniill'alll'l' of "Sil\va Lakh ''') Surel" IlO Olll' is l'oo lish l'llOligh 10 b(;Ii(~\'l' that one Sikh so ldiel' cou ld light success fully agains t 11/ -1 lakh soldi ers. II was just a way of s,l\~ng t hat a tl'll!' Sikh is /lo t afra id uf ojds , of obs tacl es ai' difliculti('s, That has be('n our s tr(,ng th ill tlw pa s t, Our sUl'\1va i in fa e l is du e to th at. Anyone of LIS \\'ho c h oosl'S th e easier way - and I maintain that I ho~e \Vhu d o away wi th their ' ke ' has ' are in thi s ca tegOl:" - ceas's to be t rUl~ Sikh I wo ul d like it 1() make il cle ar that in saying \\hat I ha ve sa id I do not w isl' IU con d e mn o rhl ame anVOnl:, Those o f us who take t h~ ques ti on o f ' kes has ' so m e\\ ha t ligh tly arl' o I beli eve e ithe r uIlinl'omled OJ ' \'ery badl v informed a bout th e Sikh ra ith- and trad it ions, For this lhe res p onsibility mu s t lie wi th th e com munitv as a w h o le, The work tha t lies dhea d of vou w h ich i~ nothing morc or less th an bringing to our peop le ge nerally a tru e kno"vl e d ge an d a COIl scio u sn ess of w h a t th e Sikh ('eli g ion is a nd wha t o u r trad.itions are in th erefol'e noble work, A gre at d ea l h as to be dOll e far th ere is 110 doubt that among many of o u r people th ere is no real knowl e d ge of a ll th esc thin gs, The work of Gur m a t Prac h ar is o f th e lirst imparlance, and I wou ld li ke to see es tablished an Institu te for th e tra ining or people who are reall,v co mpe tent to do th.i s \\'ork" I look upon t his, therefore. as till' foundation on which other iIllPOI'tallt work can be built. •

cI~~~Vm1iiL The Spirit of Excellence

Tuesday 1-15 JuJy 19~

:The

T ___. hi_·_s_F_Or_tni~·gh_t's_St_o--"rY_ _ _ _ _ ~lB

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THREE ANNAS AND TWO PICE Saada t Hasan Munto Trans lation: Avta r Singh Judge

!\nother mastel'JJiece by Saadat Hasan Munto , one Ol' Pakistan and the s ubeontinent's greatest expone nts of the short stOl'Y. I\n 1I1'du and Punjabi write r, this s tory by him is a superb exposition 01" the pe l'enn ial theme 01" Crime and Punishment.

'" WhV

I co mm itt ed thi s murder .. . w h v I d ved Ill V ha nd s ,.vith hu nlan blood ... is a lo ng stOI:V. Onl,v a lonp; ex plana ti o n would e nable vo u to unuers ta nd it. Since th e ~ uhi ec t of valli' d i cussio n is Crim e a nu · Puni s hm ent. Man a nd Priso n, I th in k my opi ni on o n the m ca nn o t be far \O\lfong. I have been to p riso n myse lf. I agree wi th Mr. Mu n to tha t jail is the las t place for reform ing a crimina l. What I say abou t priso n, has been sa id so o ft n that it so und s ho llow : it is like te lling a verv stal e joke. Indeed, i it no t a cr~e l joke that in th ese d avs of e nli gh te nm ent. th o u sa n ds o f pri son s should stilJ exist 'J .• Tha t iro ns a nd ha nd cu ffs shou ld s till be there ? .. I sav thi s. becau s I ha ve had th e ho no u r of wcaling these orna me nts of law. '" Havi ng said this Razvi looked a t me a nd smjle d. Hi s thi ck negro id lips tvvitched qu aintly . His small drunke n eyes-the eyes of a murdere r brig h te ned . We had been startled w he n he broke in on o ur conve rsation . He was sitting o n the nex t table, sipping cream coffee. Whe n he intro du ced himself, <ill the in cid e nt s co nn ec t e d w ith h is murde r-ca se ca mc fres h in o ur me mo lY. We sudde nl v re mell1 be r-ed liow c1everl v he h a d saved Ius own neck a~d hi s friends' lives by turn ing an approver! He had been re leased on the vCly morn i ng o f a LI I' conversatio n \·vi th him . Ht hope you don 't mind my jumping into this conversa ti on , Mr. Mun to '" Hl' said in a verv respectful manlier. You see, I (l In not a wri te r, but all tht' sa me I hal'e' somethin~ to say a n th' subjec t- o f cuurse in mv own inadequate languagC'. MY' name is Sadiq HaL i. I wa~ con lwcted with th l' L;lI1ua Bazar murder case. I had ma d on lv d i, intPl'Cstedl v about th e mu rcier, bu t now wh'e n Razl'i in troduced himself. a ll the h ra d lines ca me hack to nl\" mind . T he suhjec t 01 UlI l' di'scu::;sioll wa s whether ja.iI ca n re form 11 criminal or not. Wh ile ta lking ,thOll t it , I too ha d felt that th e su b ject had bel'n ruscussed th readbare. Razd 's opinion o nl v con fi rmed mown a pprehensions. . Raz\i fixe d hi s gaze o n me a n d s ta rt ed lidkj ng in a serioll s to ne. "We ll , Mr. Mu n to, w ha t is it that drives a man to Clime'? .. . Wha t i cri m e ') ... Wha t is I.HIIl is hme n t ? . .. I have pondered lo ng ove r th ese qu estio ns. I feel tha t eve ry c rime has its own hi story. It s prings fro m the crin'llna l"s own life, a n d is a com p lex, tang led , in exp li ca bl e p h e n o m e n o n . I a m no m as t er o f human psycho logv, but I can sav thi s m uch. that a ma n would neit co mmit a Cli m e if he were not lit erally drive n to it by social c ircu msta nce s. " (Cont in ued on P. t 3 Co l. Ii

Tuesday 1-15 July 1986

·:fhe

---------------~---------------" Yo u a re p l'e fec tly rig ht ," assel' interposed . Razvi ordered a nother cup of cl'eam-offee a nd tu r nin g to Nasser said , "I do nol know exact h'. but w ha t 1 ha ve to ld vo u i bas;~ d o n my own ex pe ri e;l ce. I th in l-. it was ic tQr H.ugo - of France. or mav be of some o th er cou n tl v . . \Ve U, tha t vo u know better' - has wri ll e 'l a lo t on th is the me, 1 reme mber it few wo rds fro m hi s book. If I do I~O t forget. it · was yo ur tra n sla tio n Mr. Munt o. It wen t like th is : Pull do\Vn the la dde r w hi, h lea d s m.en to cr im e an d ' to misel:v. Bu t 1 often wo n der w ha t tha t ladder is likp; How ma ny s tPps does it hilve? Whatever it is, the ladder cprtain lv exists. a nd it has step too. -but they a re innume rable: to co u n t them is no t an ea y lask. Mr Man to, govel'll me nts coun t Illen and vo tes and lOIS of o ther 1hi ngs. Why don 't Ihey eoun t these sleps ? Is n't this. too. their du tv ? I commi tted ,1 murder. HO\~' many s tel S of this ladder d id t climb to do so ') Governmen t made Ille' Lin approver for the simp le reason that it had no evide nce. Bu t lhe quetion is. whom sha ll 1 ask for forgiveness'! T he circums tn nccs tha t force d my ha nd havf' simply etisap peared! Be tween the n and now there has bee n a n int erva l of one yea r. Do I invo ke thi s interva l. ' or those circum. tances that grin from a di stancE' a t my he lpl essness ~'"

,r,

Razvi 's talk had kept us s pe ll bound . He s poke lik a well in fo rm ed ma n though he did no t look like one. He knew how to put across hi s point effecti ve ly. I woul d h a ve co mpli · m e nt e d him b ut r es tl'ain e d myself fo r fear of inten-upting him . " I a m proba bly talking no nsense," he said a pologe ti cally, as he sipped his co ffee. "I tell you, I am co nstanllv ha unted bv o ne man, a swee per w ho was in jail, serving a year' ternl for stealing th ree annas a nd two pice. " "For such a pe tty amount "" Nasser asked in s urpl'i se. "Yes Sir. onlv three a nnas a nd two pi ce ... · was Razv i's impassive reply. "And even those he ne\'e r utili sed - the a m o unt is nov" secure in the govern me nt 's treasury. Only Phagu. the swee per, is insecu re ... He mav again lind the pa ngs of hun ge~: un beara ble, a nd s teal .. . And he may again be caught. Perha ps the people w ho li se him as a me nial do not give him hi s pay. for thev the mselves mav no t be gettini their·s. II is a "' strange maze of may-bes. To tell yo u the trut h, Mr. Munto. every th ing is possible in thi s wo rld ". . even a m urder fro m a Razvi. " Havi ng said thi s he sto p ped tal king, a n(1 seem ed los t in tho ug ht "Yo u were te lli ng-us abo ut Phagu ," asser tried to draw h im ou t. Raz\ i wiped th e coffee o lf his bushv mous tac he wi th a handkerc llier. "Well. Pha[-{u. inspite of being a thief acco rd ing to the law, he \'\'a~ all hones t mall, By God . I hav(' not seen such a;1 hon('~t man all IllV lite! That he -tole thre al1nas "anu two pice wa~ corrf'cl. HE' confessed it in thl' court and mfused to pu t up anv de fellce for him self. All he ~aid was, '1 had to tcal because I had not touched a mor: c1 lor "'\10 davs. I had to llll'ust mv hand into Karim 's pocket. H~~

owed me five r u pees. t wo mon th s pay. I do no t bla me h im . for even Ill" ha d not rea li zed till" frui ts of his labo ur (i-Olll hi s c us to mers. Phagu el'en told th e co url: T h is is no t th l! fi n·;! time I have do ne s uch a thing. On cE' I sto le te n I'upees fro m a madam 's pu rse. T hen I sto le a silve r tov fro m th E' Depu t.v·s hou se. I wa's despera te: my , hild was down Wit.l1 pne umo nia and the d oc to r de ma nde d a fee. Sir, I .te \l you tlTa t 1 a m no t a th ief. Cil'c:um stances made me ~ t pal . a nd c il" CUTllsta nces go t nlt' ca ught. W rp it. no t for circum sta nces. sho uld, so n~a n.v crimina \:;, mu c:h bigger and m ore dang<' ro us Iha n I a m. bE' s till at la rgp" Sir. my wifE' ari d child are dea d. o nly. my hu nger lives on . If somehow this could be e limi na te d ... a ll the s trugglp wo uld \)e over. Sir. lorgh'c Ill( ' . I pray tor mercy' . Fl ut till" .judge awarded hi m a year's rigorous imprisonmen t for being a ('on r; r med and a 51' 1f-con r('~s('(1 th ief. " Razvi s po ke' \Vithoulemolion .· T he now of h is words was 'na tll ra l alld ellol'tless. I sa t qui l~ tl.v lis t(, Il ing. smoking one cig.II'C1l after ano ther. Nasse r coa .\ ("d him agai n , "What \Va. it tha t vo u were te lling us abo ut PhagLi 's ho nesty'? " Hu .. . ." Hazvi lig ht ed a bidi , " I d OIl 't know wh at hones tv is in th p eves of law. I an i kll0\~' th is. tha t '1 was ho ne t ~h e n I COIll mitt ed mUJ'(]e r. I think Phagu was hon est w he n he sto le those three anna s and two pi ce. Wha t I cann OI unders ta nd is. w hv peo pl e associat e honesty with o nly the good things. I have come to be li eve') that goodn ess and badness <\1'8 re lative lel111 S. On e man 's m ea t is ano the l" s po iso n. What is he ld good in o ne soc ie ty is stigmali sed in o th er ... With the Mu slims. to allow ha ir to grow under the a rmpit s is a s in : wi th the Sikhs it is ju st the (' ontral~V. If grow ing hair under th e almpits is a sin , the n God wo uld cerla inly punish th e Sikh s. If he does rea lly exis!' it is my em-nes t praye r to him that he abolis h all manmad e laws and des troy all the pri.-ons tha t me n have ra ised. a nd from his ow n establi shme nt in th e Heavens dis lIibut e evenhand ed jus ti ce, so tha t we mav have at leas l the sa tis taction th~ t it is God tha l judges us." I was mo ve d b v Ra z i ' l) word s. Evefl t hough add ressing us'. he seeme d to be talki ng to himself Hi s bidi had gone all'. He tri ed to lig ht it ma ny times but c ouldn ·t. Di sca rdin g it h e a ddressed me, "Mr. Munto, I w ill reme mber Phagu a ll my life. I knOl.v vo u will call me a sen ti me ntai foo l when I tell vou a ll a bo ul him . But sentim Em ta litv has no thing to do w ith it , for he \Va ' no t a frie nd . And ve l. h ' was <l mend lor he sure ly' provml to 11f' o ne." Razvi pu ll ed OUI ano ther bid i out of his poc ke!' it was ,til cr u mp le d . I offpred hi m a cigal'e tt e. "Mr. Manto, 1 shouldn t have talked all lhis nonsense knowing that vou are 'uc h a ... " I'd id not allow him to linisil, "For the tim bcinf( I am Saadat Hasan , and no t 1\1unto, th e grea t wri ter. a you w e re pel'h aps going to sa•. Please continu e MI'. Razvi . I am a ll ears." Hazvi smi led, "This is velv IJncl of you ," and turning to

The Many Worlds of Ameena Ahmed Ahuja

Nasser said "Wha t was I saying'?" " H m . . . " He li g ht c d a of tools from th e old fashioned cigare tt e and said . Mr. Manto, (Con tin lled hu m /J.6 Col. 31 read -pe ns of Jamma Masjid to Phagu was a con lirmed th ier in is as if the symbols and spaces the sophis ticate d conglo meratlw pves or law. Once he had in between, become like mus ical tion in the Esenin sel'ies, Ameena s tole li e ig ht a nnas [or bi cli s, a nd no les w hich together for m ·a says "Your intuition guides you ". ha d hro ke n an ankle try ing to co ncel'to or a symph ony. " To refus ipg to ex pa nd .further. An d sca le a ~vall. to .escape. He vvas illu stra te thi s beautiful similie w ho are we to question the uncl eI' trea tm e nt for o ne \'ea r. she ho lds up a power· packed . intuition of the a n artistic tem But whe n m v frie nn Jarji. ;1 co- ga ll o ping horse in Kh a t-(,-Re ha n i perament'! acc u sed wOl;ld sf'nci IlW a bu n- a nd Shikas te, ex pre. sion of the T h e same intuition lead s die of twc nt. bi eli s th ro ugh him , se ntiment. he wo uld hri ng the m sa fe ly to "Tile h or~e of life i ' running · Am ee n a . to s om €il.tim es u se me, using all ca uti o n Jo esca pe · . un eoL1tl'O l\,ibl e, I have ne ith er ' hum a n fi g ures, lls in th e Dancers. or Hafiz 's cl'uc ifi xa li on . be in g d e t ec l e d . You . kn ow stirrups nOl' vcin-s." Iqbal's ra mo us lines: a pprovers a re ke pt . under str ic t On being ques tio rw d abo u t " Bag h -e -Bs hi s ht se mujh e vigila fl c.e. Jarji ha d hefri('nd ed the predomina nt use Of blac k hukum ·e-sa fa r diva tha kvon Phagu to do a l\ sort s of jobs for . a nd wh it!', Anwe na evokes Ahul Kare jahan da naz' hm·. ab n;era me. h.e was a me nia l hut had a f aza l. w ho sa vs ill Ain-e-Akbavriint eza r kar." are e mboeti ed in vCly d ean hea rt. In the begin - "at a s uperfi cial gla nce. tlie lE'it E'r the figu res of Aad u m Aur Hava ning when I1£' hl'() ug ht bid is (i"om of ca ll igraphy might look likp a IAdam an d eve !. Again. who are Jar ji. I th ou"h t til e rasca l Illu s t sooty figure. h ut it ha~ all til(' have sto len some. Howl'ver. I grada li olls of ligh t a nd !>had(', ('n- w(' to q ueslion the creative pro· cess:' I, as gl'()ssly mi s taken . Hp was hann'd IJ v th(·~ w hi wncss of t h ( ~ Ca.lligrap hy an d religio n have ho ncs t to tlw ti ps of hi s I'i Ilgprs: back-gl'Ou'Il(L " Almos l till' sanH' a l w; l y~ grown in co njugat io n, for hid i. Ill" ha d Iractun'd hi s tl wol:\, tha t you might lind ill till' nurturing each o th er. Bu t 3nk.I!'. hut in jail. wlwre tohacoo Chi nes£' and Jap:lIl!'s(' approa('h Alllee na has modified it to the was ran'. IH' ha nded tlwlll a ll tll , a l\ igrapil. ! To hl'ing til(> in ter· rendering of ::lPcu lar poet ry-a O\' ( ~ r tu \In' . as if it \Va s a sacred na ti ona lisl11 round a full ('vd l'. ma jor poin t of de part ul'C indeed trust. I rUIIlt'lllher he wo ul d r\m(,I' na quo t('s a Sanskl'it slil oka fro m c on te mp orary ca lli gra sO I11(' li ll1PS Iwg 1'0 1' jus t onp hidi , " ()\,<Ina lll rashc!. ({a ngallr Sh u ph is ts li ke Sad qu in. Evely arti s t' s a nd that too. hesita ting l.I'. i\ nd naYLI Tam " tSou nd mus t be seen . life, accord ing to hl~ r is a ques t call ~ 'nu imagine how Il wa ll a a ne! colou r heal'd !. lor the perfect med ium of exmall C'1I1 be') I \Vo uld g il '( ~ him pressio n-thesE' figures seethi ng on lv 011('." wit h lite a nd so un d seem to be '({azvi ~~190 k h is Iwad as if he her·s. She took u p thi s lorm was c u rs ing him~ e l r "I vva~ I-.e pt becau se "it see me d right a nd it unLi pl' s tl'i ·t vig il anl·p. 'rhi s has n 't bee n done before. " T he gt' llPl'a lly i:; til l' ase wi th all universa lity of it s appeal ca n be IIpprnvcl's . .I ar ji. as eo mpal'Cd to ju dged by the acclaim s he has m(~ , (~ nj ll.vcd m uc h grea t 'I' fl'eefound abroad-in Moscow, Lo nd a m . He had bribed hi s w ay to don , Tokyo, ew York and Cara · many am e niti es. He could ge t ca her work has been wide ly d o thes. soap-cakes and bidis. appreciate d . One of he r mos t and eve n mo nev to ofte r bribes memorabl e mom e nt s if; of he r in the jail. Thos(~ were th e las t exhibition of some 80 works at days of Phagu 's te l'm in the pri the Mu seum of Oriental Art s, son . I co ngratulat e d him 1'01' hi s Moscow. The la te Faiz Ahme d fo rth c oming re le a se w h e n h e Faiz came to the opening a nd ca me to me w ith the las t bundle sponte neously ve rsified : of bid is. He was not happy at the "Cham be dil, Shukr be lab, pros pec t of leaving the jail. If I Maslo Ch azaJ [(h em ch aJie don ' t forget, hi s last wOI'd s we re. A troubled deer, with head AuT' jab lalak saarh lere, . Ba buji, I am s ure I wi ll come thrown back and hooves ill the Um(J e g hunIJ'ezan chaJie, " bac k to thi s p lace, For a hunglY air, on closer looks reveals (With a song on your lips, man . the ac t of stea li ng is as cyrillic and s hikas te ill coUision. wa lk non-cha la ntly on/ normal as that of eating. 'He was (Ghalib and Tutchevl Even whe n there is sadness in o bvio us lv moved , a nd a dd e d, Touc hes of bro nze, gold and the heart , Keep up the pace as 'vo u have been so kind to me long as !.ife keeps up with you}. Babuji , you gave m(~ bidi s to silver do sometimes re li eve the This deetication wa s especial s moke. It is my earnest prayer oth e r~'vise s tark blac k a nd white ly impol' tant to her becau se sh e that aJI your fri e nd s are aquitled, paintings. Othe r co lours, too, has always lound a kinship with Jarji Bahu has great rega rd for find echoes hel'C and the re, as the pink in the Esenin and Zauq Fai z- hi s int e l'llationali s m of voU ·. .' "And he was imprisoned for horse. Shiraz blu e has a parti cu - spirit, and world view. The time seem s to be ri ght to stealing th ree a nnas and two la r connot a tion, ju st as the take leave of Ameena Ahm e d pice! "1 asser re peated, if on ly to Khurja-blue, or the Esenin blue to the Ru ssian s. Tha t is perhaps Ahuja, as s he stands in her confirm the fac t. salon , almost oblivious of my Razvi had anoth er sip of c of~ why her Ese nin Seri es, de picting pl'Cse nce now. ree. and said cold lv, "Yes, for hi s Persian cvde, we re 0 wide lv Immersed in thought she comthrce a nnas and tWo pi ce ; a nd appre ciated in Russia. "Esenin (s plem e nt s her exotic surroundeven those a re safe in the U'Cas- aLi hlu e in thi s pe riod " says ings a colourfu l figure covered LlIy . 1- wonder w hose hunger Ameena, pointing towards the walls of the room whe l'e the with turqpoi ses as lal'ge a s they will sati sfY." pigeon 's eggs. The warmth of He had ano ther sip, a nd thi s paintings depic ting hi s "Persian her personality combines with tim e a ddressing me said, "Mr. Motives", are displayed . Working typi cal Muslim 'adab' to make Manto, the re was only a day left on c an vas-c o ve r e d b oa rd , her an irres is tably c harming 10 1' hi s re lease. I wa . in des per- Am eena u ses a va ri ety of e lep e rs on . T h e m os t pow erful a te need of ten rupees. To cut a me nt s li ke cailigra pliy, minilo ng sto lY short I want ed to atures worke d in oi\' collages of image that 1 ca n-y away \-vith me is of th e deep hu sky voice re ite rbribe a se ntry. So me how I pro- porcela in a nd ceJ'amics, glass. a ting the same verses that are cure d a pe n a nd a paper a nd za ndo zi-ail combining to to rnl embodi e d in th e pai ntings she ma naged to sen d a chi t to Ja rji com positi o n s of breath-taki ng holds LIp one by o ne. It was th l'o u <fh Pha<fu. Phag u, inciden- bea uty a nd sen sual a ppeal . Talking aboul this variati on indeed a n a uetio-vis ua l tr'Ca t! • taJly was illiterate. In th e evening he handecl me a chit f)-o m Jarji . Enclosed ill it was a tell -ru pee currencv not e, the chit read : 'Dea;' Razvi , 1 am seneting yo u ten rupees thro ugh a confirmed thief. I on ly pray tha t they reach you : for the man is leaving jai l tomorrow. ·A::. 1 went through the chit, a sm ile broke on my lips. For stealing three a nnas and two pice he had erved one li ngel'ing year in the pl'ison .. ." Abl'uplly Razvi stood up and 10 Regal Buildtllg ..\lew Oelhi-110001, INDIA left u . wi tho u t a word . •

SHOP AT

9lite 51.0,

Tuesday 1-15 July 1986

:J1\tV-

:R:ium T_h_e_G_oo_d_E_ar_th _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Gazette - - - - - - - - - - - - -

World Environment Day and Chipko Rilu Men on u ' k in th e Gal'hwa l Hima laya set tleu s lm Iy, like a :>oft b lu s hadow on the' 13 odd vi llages o r akJana vallev . 50 kIll S. n ort h-e ast or Mus;oorip.. and sourc(! of tlw ri\'f'1' Song. Gradually, the pa lette change d colour, the li quid gn!f)n and gold of la tc af1ernoon awash now wi th mi s ty blu es and p u rp les, the occasio n a l snow cappe d peak lik!' a whi tn Oan! aga in st the deepening sky. As Wf! wou n d d own th e hi ll s ide , the

has d esertifie d the best Baslllati growing lalld in th e ('olln t,y th!' r'l' roresred hi lls or Saklana aI'(' a I'cminder of huw t h ' (jptnl'm ina tion ur individuals and gl'ou p ~ call I'everse th e imminen t f!co logica l Cl' is(!s o f thr. Hima laya . Il ert', in~pil't' d by Su n d er l a l Hahllguna a n d ViSlVt'swal' LJat t Saklani , ill partic u lal', vi llage'rs hav!' rup lantcd fUr(!Sb wit ll l'egelH!ra t i\'(' oak trl!es, in ('h~ar n !cugnition uf thn ecological va lue of broa d-Ieav(!d,

practical wisdolll knl'\\' I his scientific truth .

Resista nce Movem ents Villagt'rs' destinies - had . in facl. heen uc(' ide d muc h earlier. in t!)27, when thc Bri ti sh passed til(' Forest Ac t, declaring rore~ t s as n-'served aJ'(~ a s, d e nyi nt:( vii· law'l's their tradi ti onal right s to fores t pro u uce. and a p propl'ia t· illg bo th the managcment and exp lo ita t ion of fores ts . rShip· buil ding 1'01' thn Brit ish Roya l :-.Javy an cI s leepers 1'0 I' th e ex pa n d ing ra ilway ne twork in India crea ted a n ex traord ina l}1 fo rc(~ 101' d estru c ti o n .1 r: hi pko's true hi story begins w it h th e n !sis tan ce move m e nts of that tim e , rE's p o ndin g to Gandhi 's ca ll for nun-viole nt sillyagrilhil, and it was the sus tained resis ta n ce by th ese v illa ge r s to ex pl oita ti ve lorest ma nagem e nt th a t led to th e passing of th e Fores t Pro tectiun Ac t in t980, w ith it s t5-yea r ba n un comme rcial gree n l-elling in th e Hima laya. Sud es h a iJ pvi, a m o n g th e mo re militant o f th e wo m e n say:; su cc in tly: "Tum chi/he padyaIra kilro, cilahe po liti cal Yl/ lr a ka/'O. M ain

/'02

iJojh va lra kar ti

hUIIl. "

Vis weswar Dati Saklani , from whom the 1I.1'. Forest Deptt. has extrac ted ilnes 1'01' replanting on " their" land! " My slogan ", h e says , is '~Iant a Iree al bi"th, marriage and death ", bri lliant red s a nd ve llows a nd g r ee n s o f th e vvorn e n 's s a r is absorbed th e la st o f th e light, just as in o n e 's ea l's th e dying s tra ins o r Sh a ila ni ji's songs and slogan s ec hoe d s till : Aaj Himal a.va jage ga o /.;r·oo r kuJ/1CI /'a iJhagega / Aaj Himalaya ki lalka/', ball pa/' gao ll ka adhikar ... Ju ne 5 . Wo rl d Enviro nmen t

Dav, was celeb ra ted in Sakl a n<l t h i s Y' a I' , ina s i g n i fi (' a nt departure from the rit ua l plan t· ing of sap lings by asso rt ed VIPs, schoo lc hjl dl'Cn a n d po liti cians that norma II \! mar k th e riav. Organis e d 11Y the Ga r hw :1I c hap ter of INT CH Ithe In d ian Nationa l Trust ror Ar t and Cul t ural He ritagf' 1 it was the' cu lmjna tion of a :1 day Illeeting of rough ly 60 Ch ipko ac tivists, prim mo\'ers in t he ca mpaign to save the Hilllala. a through affores tation and th f' staiJilisation of its hydrologica l cyelf' : th e Hima lava. it is to he 11'111('111 bered. -a re tlw source of watnr for one·thircl the co untl\,.

Chipko Participants Under the shaue of an agl'd. leafv tree in thf' courtvard of a n('\~' l v-l'onstru 'ted t >c1illical col· legl' . in Saklana. gathered tl1(> di\'crsc part ic ipants of th e Chipko alldalan : Su nd er lal Bahuglll1i1 OhOOl11 Singh Negi. Gha n ~ hval11 . Haturi IShailan il the Bard 01' Chipko. Visvve~-war Datt SalJani, Sude ha Devi. Illen and women who walked Ii'om neigh· bouring l iltarakashi and Te hri . in a rninor re play of the many padyatra:; th ey had undertaken during Chipko 's histo'ry. The choin'! uf Sal·dana couldn't have beE' n more appropria te. In th e heavily dl'nud d and degraded mountain s iue s of Doon and Tphri Garhwa l - sustained limes t OIW quarr,v in ' . ror examp le ,

humll s- pru du c ing and w at e r ge ne rating s pecies. Forty · y(~al's agu Mira be hn. al1 cl' to u ri ng th e hill cat c hme nt of th e Bhag ira thi , ha d dra\o'oII1 th e co untl y's_.att e nti o n to th e utility o f oa k for'sts and urged th eir pro tecti on in ord er to save th e CO Ullt ly fro m d eva stating fl ood s. SIlf' obselved tha t th eir m a in ca ll Sl' vvas n o t merelv d e fo res ta · ti on but the conversion of oak loresls into pine I'ores ls 1'01' commercial be nefit. Ba huguna savs : "Conifers h ave d isa strous el1'('ct · on so il a ne! water. Mira beh n 's ti me ly warn ing \Vas d is· missed as Ilwclness hv thosl' dnc iding th e ciest inil's 0'1' peupll' fru m t h(' air 'c ol1c1i t iol1pd chamllPrs of Lucknow anu New Delhi, hut thl~ \illagel's with th eir

Indeed . th e impac t of eco · logica ll.v u nsuund d evelo pm e nt h as been great est o n wo m e n. a nd th ey are, in large m easure, res po n sibl e 1'0 1' the shih in the

d.vnal1l ics of th e Ch ipko moveme n t to a n ecu logically sustainabl!' us!' or 1'('S UlII'Ce s. The Hima laya 's p rimary prod uc t is wa ter: the meeting at Sa kJa n a ce ntr(,d around the integrated wa te r crisis in th is region . lo nt' jerrv-can of water h ere, 100 n. alrov!' th t' wat er· bet! , sells 1'01' Hs 30 !1 a lit! the recognit ion that tht: ('co logica l (/eveluf)me n t of the Hillla lava lip ~ in th e co nsc lva · tion 0;' its water. Fores t man· agc nwnt is thu s LTucial and rel~ ol'Cs tation Imist gu hand in hand with so lving th e w at er cri sis. an d pursuing an e nligh tened agricu ltural polie.\'. .\s \\'(, climbed up thE' hill to the lon'st rr plant ed by the \'il lagers I 100 ht c tal's in Saklana an~ no\\' I't'gcncl'ilt c'd r til(' \alle_ r!'~ounclt'(1 \,vitll theil' slogan!>: .Ianga l he llilin ~l'iI IIpkil/ ; AJitl i. pani dUl ' bay"r ,'vlilti, pani alII' bal'ar I'C' haill jil'illl ke adhal'.

Ea'ch o ut ider plantl'd vvi le! apricot on thi s hill. a mO\~ng and s:'rn IJO lic gest u re on Wor ld F.m·i 1'0 11 ll1t>n t Dav. in s i ncere appre c iation of,thl' fact that planning for the Himalaya mu st come from th e grass-roots up, and th at Sukh ' C agil/, jeena clliI!JO, hal' II'<lql chi/he 'per lagao.

•

Fear and Migration Syndrome in the Punjabi Press The tru t h is tha t the exod us of Hindu s from some areas of Am l'it sar a nd GUl'dasp u r distlic ts ha s ass ume d d angerous proporti ons. U' som e solid steps are no t take n to preve nt m ore migra ti on o ut of these areas, we m ay h ave a situa tio n on ou r h an d w hi c h could be very mu c h like th e partiti on d ays. So fa r a ll s te ps ta ke n in thi s di rectio n have proved futil e. Most of the po lice force either he lps th e ex tremi sts or is scar e d of them . An exodu s of Sikh s fro m other sta tes to Punja b has also started . Th ere is s till time to ch eck thi s phe nome non. In stead of paper w ork. the po li ce force should be c ompl e te ly re organi se d and patriotic e lem e nts be trajned in th e use of arm s. (June 18; mnd Samachar) (Courtesy Naya Zamana).

Talking a t a press conferen ce in Ch andigarh . Shri Chandra She kh ar , President of the Janata Party. said that the exodu s of Hindu s from Punjab is causing g rave a n x ie ty. T h e Barnala government ha d completely fail e d to cont ro l th e situation . Both the Cent re and the state w ere re spon sible for thj s cri sis a nd th eir co ntribution to ta ckle it was not more tha n zero. (June 13; Hind Samachar) A fo ur- membe l' inves ti gati on Co mmitt ee a p poin ted by the Pu n jab Prau esh Congress-I to go into th e reasons o f a sudd en s pur t in te rror i t ac t i it ies around Tarn Taran a n d the co nsequ en t exodu s of the m inority communitv ha s come to th e con lusioli th at th e ext re mi st want to clear th is area of a ll those opposing their designs and make it safe fO l' pro Kh alistan c lemen ts. (,June 13; Hind Samacharl POLICE HEPRESSION The peop le of Dhari\Va l llJist. Gurdaspurl had ·ta rted migrating ou t or Punjab becaLis ' of th e fea r or cx trcmist and harassnwnt ilv th e loca l police, sa id Sri B.:. l\zaci, th e Secrf't,II,' of th e Bharat Lalit Ka la Socic t\' of Punjab. He s tated th a t \~hi l e th e poli('e was scared to go after the rcal culprit s. innoct>nt peo pll' wel'f' to rtul'pd bv it for no lilu lt of th ei r·s. Rf'veali'ng that he belonger! tu th e schedul e caste, h e recoun ted a r 'cen t episodn. The police picked up a memiJer of th ei r ramily . When p op lc gatherpd and protes te d , th e police they relea ed him . but not before hea ting him merci · lessl, . Now people are leaving the place hecau e of the s are created by the police, (June 10; Daily jit)

UNH ELPFUL OFFI CIALS

The depu ty leader of th e Co ngress-I Vidyarthi Party , Sh ri Mo han laL w h o also happened to be the preside nt of the Sa nata n Dharam Sabha, reveale d after a tour of Dis t. Gu rdaspur tha t one thi rd o f th e mj n ority popula tion in Fa te h Garh Churi a n ha d al ready migra te d . The res t wel'e tryi ng to arr'ange fOl' tru cks to load the ir hou seh o ld goods. but the local offi cials wel'e no t allow ing th em to move out. Ma ny p eople had been kille d a nd many o thers we re rece iving threate ning le tters. Sri Moha nlal expressed surprise at the can cella tion of th e proposed vi sit of police c hie f Rebeil'O to thi s aJ'ea. Such action creat e d a sen se of insecurity in the local populace. Tha t was why p eople there w ere eager to move to th e big cities or areas outside Punjab . (.'wle 17; Daily AjitJ VlLLAGE SECURJTY COMMI'ITEES

Plans w ere afoot to form vii· lage security committees in all th e 1200 village s of Di st. Arnrits a l'. Thi s w as reveal e d by Ramesh Inder Singh. Deputy Comntissioner. Amritsar . Th ese com mittees w ould keep a wat ch over the movem e nt of intruders a nd undesirable e lem e nt s in the area and form a securi ty task force of 5- 7 peo ple aft er th orough scru tinv. Th e sec tal' Commander wi ll b~ th eir overa ll inc h arge. Alo ng wi th thi s the policy of granting arms licenses wou ld be Uberali sed S0 tha t law-ab icling cilizen s wel'e prepared for self-defence. (Ju n e 20; Ajit Weekly) Addressing a party con terence at village Sidhwan /12 K.M . from Gurdaspur), Ch ief Minister S.S. Barnala said that th e numb er of people migra ting from Punjab was not b ig. Moreover the Government was not s paring any effort s to bring back the people \,v ho h ave a lready mjgra ted. He said that the exod u s of people from Punjab could be dangerous not only fol' Punjab but also for the whole countT\,. (, Iune 1-1; PUlljaiJi Trib~e) Tlw u e puty leader of the legi sla tive ",ri ng of the Congress I. hli MohanlaI. said that if the situation in Punjab v\'as not brough t und er' co ntl'O) soon, the problem of th e pxodus of the mino l' it v commun it v would a:;sume dLngerous proportions. He ~aid that th e ongress-I :>up port to the Bamala Government was ex tended on the conclition lJ1at it should provide security to th e minority community and stop killings of innocent people. tJune 17; Punjabi Tribune)

F8rum ----------:-----:-------- Gazette - - - - - - - - - - - Centre Bu.ngles.Over Chandigarh

Health for All ...

ICon tilwed lium p .l Col. 51

ICOl1lil1l1f'd limll p .16 Col. 31

the Barnala faction 'S need to . look over its shoulder at the Badal-Tohra combina tion . the Punjab Government agreed to transfer 45.000 acres of Hindis p e akin g territory and also acceded in principle to transfer an additional 25.000 acres to Harvana las awarded bv th e Ve n'kataramiah Commis·sio nl . Punjab maintained that Chandigarh shou ld be tran sferred to it by June 21 and Ha rya na be persuaded in the national interest to accept a delayed dat e for receivi ng the contentious 25,000 acres.

in collusion with some WHO bureaucra ts succeeded in sabotaging any move in that direction. Its stakes are high : a $100 billion IRs. 120,000 croresl a veal' world market, about a fifth 'Of it landed in the Third World .

Government, Opposition, Press Pressure Punjab's selective acceptance of th e Ve nkataramiah Award however attracted a barrage of criticism. accompanied by intimidation. and pressure to force it to transfer all 70,000 acres right away 'in the national interest' even though time was required to identity the extra 25,000 Hindispeaking acres. The reaction in Punjab to this pressure was marked by exasperation that the burden of the national interest inevitably fa.ll s on its shoulders. Reports

Justice Venkataramiah

from Punjab a ls o suggested widespread apprehension that the Ce ntre itself was more concerned about the Congress-III 's futur e in Harya na than th e national interest. What is more, the opposition and much of the press appeared to follow their 'Master's Voice'.

The Desai Fiasco. On top of all thi s camp the De~ ; ai fias co . Appointed as a ': . :~·h e r judicial authority', the pre ~2 nt Chairman of the Law Comission , .Ju sti ce D.A. Desai, was asked to take over the task l e ft half-don e by Ju s ti ces Mathew and ve nkataramiah. He was asked to perfoml a twel vehour miracle if not a central government rope trick to identity the 70,000 acres which could be transferred to Haryana on

Add to that the h'eedom that exists for it in most Third World countries to make wild claims about the efficacy of drugs - till recentlv, a British MNC shame~ lessly advertised vitamin C as a Justice Desai

June 21. His appointment announced on Iv on Fridav 20 Jun e. It is not dear what kirid of a 'higher judicial' process the De sa i Authoritv c ould hav e initiated in the ti'me available to it without arousing suspic.ion that the Centre's intentions were less than trustworthy.

Suspicions Confirmed The suspicions were con firmed when it came to be known that Justice Desai was not to be guided by the triple principles of linguistiC affinity. village as a unit and con tiguity while formulating his rec ommendation. In other words he was empowered to transfer even Punjabi -s peakin g villages to Haryana-much agai nst the int ent and letter of the Accord. To make matt ers worse, the Desai Au tho ritv wa s asked to devi se it s own procedures. Sardar Barnala rightly protested aga inst the travesty of tail' dealing. The Centre th en amended (on Friday 20 Jun e l Desai's term , of rererence to allow him to kee p in view the terms mention ed in para 7.2 of the Memorandum of Settlement. By adding this perplexing para and thu s seeking to reopen the term s of the Accord, the Cenlre was hardly making amends : it was in fa ct allowing itselr to become a party to a back-door conspiracy to re-open the Abohar-Fazi lka question, which it was believed had been put to rest bv Justice Mathew. Or so Punjab believed. And so it was that Punjab rejected the Desai panel. The curtain has thu s still not corne down on the Chandigarh drama . Eve n th ough mu c h of th e nation 's public opinion outlets chose not to see it that wav, the past fortnight 's event s m~de it clear that along with the terrorist facto r, ther'e is also the factor of the credibilitv of the Government of India" that tends to come in the way of brea king through the impasse in Punjab.

F8ru Gaz~ Stands For • • • • •

Minority Rights Civil Liberties Equality for Women Democratic Values Environmental Protection

cure for smoking in some African countries suppress information on ' the adverse reactions, side-effects and contraindications in respect of its products, and, above all, bribe the medical community with free samples. gifts and junkets so as to secure its compliance in the industry 's high-pressure and unethical marketing practices. And .yo u have the picture of a multi -billion-dollar business . prospering at the cost of the health of the people, unfettered . by international restrictions and under no pressure to conform to

the rational frameworks of drug therapy that are becoming increasingly current in some First World countries and even in a few Third World ones, such as Bangladesh, Mozambique and lran.

Essential Drugsj Bangladesh Example Such frameworks are, typically speaking, premised upon the establishment of a list of essential drugs and in.elude a regime of tight social contro l on th e production , quality as~urance and promotion of drugs.

Bangladesh - Drug Policy Consist ent wi th the declared guidelines of Government to provide basic needs of life to the majority of the people through austerity. and to improve the economy of the country and prevent wastage of foreign exchance, the pI'Oduction and/ or importation of unnecessary drugs 01' drugs of mar'ginal va lue have to be stopped. Almost any drug may produce unwanted or adverse reactions. The combina tion of two 01' more acti ve ingredients not only makes the product costlier, it also increast's the possibility of adverse reac tion without in creasing the efficacy over a sing le in g redi e nt product. He n ce , as a genera l rul e , co mbination s of similar or di similar dru gs wi ll be prohibit ed. One of the greatest sources of drainage of the coun try's finan cial resources is the irTes ponsibls prescribing and marketing and inapPl'Opriat e self-use of vitamins. Another grea t wastage of meagre resource is cough mixtures, gripe water', alkali preparation s, and digestive enzymes which are of little or no therapeutic value. It is unanimously decided that the following criteria will serve as the guideli nes in evaluating all the registered/ li censed pharmaceutical produ cts manufactUl'ed and/ or imported in Bangladesh . • The combination of an antibiotic with another anti biotic or antibiotics with corti costeroids 01' other active substances w ill be prohibited. Antibio ti cs harmful to chi ldren leg Tetracycline) will not be allowed to be manufactured in liquid form. • The combination of analgesics in any fom1 is not allowed as there is no therapeuti c advantage and it only increases toxicity, especially in the case of kidney damage. The combination of analgesics with iron , vi tamins or alcohol is also not allowed. • The use of codeine in any combination form is not alowed as it causes addiction. iv. In general, no combination drugs wilJ be used unless there is absolutely no alternative single drug available for treatment or if no alternative single drug is Gost effective for the purpose. • Vitamins should be prepared as single ingredient products with the exception of B complex. Members of vitamin B complex with the

exception of B 12 may be combined into one product. B 12. always has to be produced as a s.ingle ingredi ent injec table produc t. Oth er members of B complex may also be produced as single ingredient products leg B1, B2, 86 etc.!. Vitamins will not be allowed to be combined with any other ingre dient such ilS minerals, glycerophosphate, etc. It will be allowed to produce vitamins in tablets, capsules and injectable form only. No liquid forms will be permitted because of wastage of financial resources and the tremendous misuse involved. • No cough mixture s, throat lOzenges, gripe water, alkalis, etc. will be alowed to be manufactUl'ed or imported as these are of little therapeutic vall) e and amount to great wastage of our meagre I'esOUl'ces. • The sale of toni cs , e nzy me mixtures/ pre para tion s and socalled restorative products flourish on consumer ignomnce. Most am habitfom1ing and with the exception of pancreatin and lactase these are of no therapeutic value. Henceforth local manufacture of importaHon of such products will be discontinued. However, pancreatin and lactase will be allowed to be manufactured and/ or imported as single ingredient products. • Some drugs are being manufactured with only a slight difference in composition from another product but having similar act ion. This on ly confuses both paHent s and doctors. This wi ll not be allowed. • Products of doubtful. little or· no therapeutic value and ra ther sometimes ham1ful. are subject to misuse and will be banned. • All pr~escription chemicals and galenical preparations not included in the latest edi tion of British Pharmacopeia or British Pharmaceutical Codex will be prohibited. • Certain drugs, in spite of known serious side-effects and possibility of misuse, having favourabvle risk-benefit ratio may be allowed to be produced in limited quantity for restricted use. These will be prescribed by specialists only. • The same or close substitutes of a drug which is being produced in the country will not be allowed to be

imported, as a measUl'e of prot ection for the local industr:v. However, if local production is far short of needs. this condi tion mav be relaxed. • • 'A basic pharmaceuti ca l raw material which is localtv manufactured will be given - protection by disallowing it or its substitute to be imported if sufficien t quantity is a' 'ailable in the coun trv. • The rol e of multinational s in providing medicines for thi s country is acknowledged with appreciation . In view of the calibre of ma c hin e ry and tec hni cal know-ho~ which lies in their hands for producing important and innovative drugs ror the country, the task of producing antacids and vitamin s will li e saleh, with the Na ti onal Companies, leaving the Multinationals Iree to concentrat e their ellort:; and reso urces on those items not so easily produ ced by smaller National Companies. Multinationals wi ll . however, be allowed to produce injectable vitamins as single ingredient products. • No foreign brands will allowed to be manufactured under license in any factory in Bangladesh as this leads to unnecessary high prices and payment of royalties. In the light of thi s policv, a ll existing lice nsing agreement s shou ld be reviewed. • No Multinational Company without their own fa ctory in Bangladesh will be allowed to market their produ c ts aft e r manufacturing them in another factory in Bangladesh on toll ba sis.

Your travel

orga~isation

SInce 1948

MERCIJIIY TRAWlS (lIIDIA) UllnEII Jeevan Tara Building. Parliament Street, New Delhi -110001 Phone: 310602.3 12008.

Tuesday 1- 15 July 19!'!6

F8rum_______________________

Spotlight

Gazel~

"Health For All" in Reagan's Shadow

DANGEROUS? NONSUJSE -

WHATEVER (,AVE 'IOU SUCH AN IDEA ,.

-./

MNC Victory at WHO Meeting

.,.<~ . , , "

By Salam Murad Our special correspondent in Geneva f you reaJly want to see an At th e thirt yn inth World int e rnati ona lly bully, a Super Health Assembly held in Geneva Rambo, in ac ti on , come to b e twee n Ma y 5 and lfi, th e Geneva ." a vc ry senior official of attack was mul ti -p ronged, First. GATT IGenera l Agreement o n c ut the LIS con tribution to WHO Trade and Tariffsl told m e, - i.e. put it on noti ce. Seco nd Hr was referring 10 the U.S. circu late a I'enomous report by roll' in s pec ia lis ed Uni t e d Reagan 's iJmin s tTu s t, th e ult ra Nalions agencies such as GAlT, l'ig htwing He ritage Foundatiun , U I CTAD IU. N, CO llf >re n cp nil on WHO ju:,1 be fore Ih e assem Trade and Uevdopmcnt), 11.0 bl\' and. through it. deliver tlw {Int ernatiunal I.a bou r Organba- threa l to wa lk uut of the orga ni tion l a nd WHO IWnl'ld 'I-ll'a lth s ati o n J la UNeSCO , Third , Organisation !. That mit' und pr atteillp t III blod, and sabo tage Ronald Hcagan 's sP(:oll d l!'rlll is, all \'('so luti ons that spe k Iu to put it sim pl,\'. that of thn p:>.tC'nd a pro-Third World , anti oiJslrUI.'IOI' , Ih (' 1'11'('('],,('1' . tllP 1\.1\1<: . anti -cumm erc ia l ur irn drstrOl( 'r tatilln Ull healt h and drllg:> pul Reaga n s .\n]('ri ca, COllllncp.d icl', F(!ur/h . I'ais{~ cn nt pntiolls that th psc' L'. :\J. agclH'i('s hu\'(' i:-:: UP!> such as Libya s credpll turned into hotlJ!'ds of sulll'cr- tiab so as 10 detra ct atten ti on siv(' poli tical at'tid t." dil't'(:tl'd Ii'olll ti ll' ("I'i tical questions on against ti ll' 1-1'('(' Ilodt! , IS uut to ti l(' a~(1llda i-'ilih. [(JITUlise 11ll' IVcakc'n, pal'alys(' and dr s tr u,l' \\ 'HO hun~ilucral'v and !Jrowill'a t Ih rm . In Ip ~~ thall Ih'c veal's it it inlu lOning dO~'1l till' ("uillent has succppcil'd III undoing a of il,; mort' illlpurtant rcsolu good dea l Ihill \va~ ac hil'I'rd tiuns, t\nd , lilla lll ', launch a fwn th rough painstaking errort " tal atlacl; un tllP {hrust or til!' made ol erwhol e drcadm;, main argumell ts for ratiuna l Thb is nO\·vJ1Pr~~ truP I' Ih,ul ul Iwalth policirs, , oeial ca nt I'll I or vVHO. w h ich tlw Ameri cans drllf.(s iln d th e ir stricter regula and tl1(' pharma c c' ut ic,rls . tion lor Sa rf'ty , for han ning tlw tobat'('o and baby food Illllltintl - acivl'rtisi ll l-\' ;lIld promotion of (i o nal" - regard as a dallgf'I'OUS lInn ecessarl' a n d irr ati o nal org(lnis<ltion o ut 10 restricl thp l'}l'pa s lllli lk subS litutl's and of " ti'ee play ur market forces ". and toba cco s moking. t o promo t e such c au ses dS TIll' unfol' tunatl:' Ihin g . o f COll rse, is th a t tl1£' co mbin ed " Health for All hI' 2000 t\D ", "rational u se of dl'llgS" imel the Ameri can -multinational attack intemational code 0 11 the mar- did. succeed e\'en if to a limit e d ke ting of breastllLilk s ubsti tutes ex t e nt. And thi s il did on l.v and babv foods. because th e WHO bureau c ra cv From a Third World viewand several Third Wor l ~l point. these are some of th e best govel'llmenls, including India 's things that have happened leven crumb l ed und er the jo int if they often remain mere paper ofie nsive. programmes and slogans l after Thus , a ll hopes th a i the th e WHO campaigns of the fifti es World Health Assemblv would aga in s t TB and sma ll-pox, move forward . on th e vital issue . For the Reaganites and th e of rational drug thera py were MNCs, they are totally negative shatt e red , developments, eve n act s of war Revised Drug Strategy waged by "Mad Dogs" agai ns l S u c h hop es w e re n o t sacred co mm erc ia l interes ts, unfound ed . Man y of th em and h ence approp riate targets of d el'ived 11'001 the Assembly sesattack.

sion of 1984 and a co nference 01 experts he ld in Na irobi la s t year at the recommendation of th e A sse mbl y . The principal recom endatiuns of th e Naimbi nwc ting we re ton ed down, d is· tort ed or simply ignore d in th e officia l r e port that was prese nt ed ill Ge neva in May, The r e port has b ee n d rs!'Ii bed as an awkward com pro mi sl' ile l\vpen th e pe rspecti n' for th e rational use of dru gs put forward by vo lu ntar:v health action and cons um er g ro up s anri in ci epC'n d ent pharma cologists and duc tors, on th e Ulll' hand, and th e i[)t {'rp~ t ~ of tlw drug cOlll panies and (' un.~er I'atil'!' gO\,(~l'I1menls, un tl1£' otlll'r OJ ('ompl'O lIli sl' reacill'd ilt Ihe rXI)('n~(' of til(' I(wnwr, ,\t al1\ I'al(' ti l(' I'('POl't PI'l'pan 'd till' ground II)!' til(' a"Sf 'lll' hl.1 If) adupt lI'I1at WiI" tpl'lll('d till' . 1'1'1 bl'd drug :;trat(';.(I ' \\itll (lut dil l llleililingl ul df'.hatp 11'1 Iii I S ()(,I'(, I:, II i" s ignificant that tl1i~ I'( '\' i:-.(!d ' 1l'a tegy ha-;ica lly sl1irt~ the I'l's po n:-:ibility f()r Ihr ra tional W, l' uf' drugs tu I\'l'ak or inrlllc if'n t nation.1i drug IvgulalUl'l aut h orities and re t l'eats fl'Oin thc·! d e rJar'Ptl goal 1191itll of wo rking toward s (I ('udr of e thi cs lor th e pl'Oll1otion a nd ma rke ting o f drugs, Such a cude. alo ng th e lin es of th t, i>reastmilk substitutes and babvfuod code, co uld at least hav;' had th e effec t of setling definite e thi c a l mark e ting norms, pu tti ng pressure on th e big dru~ companies n o t to promote harmful or iJTational products, and of making it diffi c ult for na tiona l regu lat ory au th oriti es to tu rn a blind eye to malpractices in the drug trade and the floodin g of up to 70 per ce nt of Ih eir m arke ts with dangerous or u seless drugs. However, th e MNC lobbv working wi th .5, s uppm·t ancl IColl tillued filml

p, t5 Col, .11

Third World Consultant Pushing MNC Line

Protest by Third World Network - a grouping of organisations and individuals involved in development issues Third World Network Dr Ha lfdall 1\lahlpr Director (;clwral I'\,HO 12 I I CPI)t'I'<! 27 5wi tl.p rlan d

W:" . Cantunml'nJ Boad , "Ponan,l(. \1.\J ,·\\ SI ·t

29 April IBRt1

[ka l IJr :'vlah lel' It l1a~ co mr to Olll' knuwledge Ihat Mr 0 C Ja.vasuriya , a Sri Lanka n Iml Pr has wrillen a book en litl cd The Public HPillth '~flcJ C('on~mi(' Dimensiulls uf th e ell' Drug Poli c:.1 01 Bangladesh which is ' ponsored by the lilt pl national F(~dera ti on of Pharmace u tical Manufactul' 'rs .\ s 'ocia tion , basf'd in Gt'nHl'a, This report as you maybe aware is all at ta ck on the l3allgladesh Na tion a l Drug Po li cy. T h e Bangaladesh lJrug Pol il' is basrcJ on WHO 's Model List of Esse nt ial Drugs w hi ch h as up-en recomnwncled for all d f've loped and d eve loping cOll ntrie ~, As such , the re p o rt appear\ also to be an ac t of sabo I.age on th e \>\fHO 's Poli cy on E, se nt ial Drugs, More disturbing. Jayasuriyi:t is using hi s former WHO 's co nsultan cy s ta tu s to give hi s 'evalua ti on ' of th e Banglade sh Drug Po li cy so m e measure of leg itimacy. This do c um e nt i now be ing pa sse d a bout as a 'WHO documen t on th e Banglad es h Drug Poli cy'. Th e Third World Ne twork is vel~V perturbe d by thi s a nd views it w ith deep conce rn , We appeal to your goodse lf as Direc tor General of the WHO to in s titut e th e following measures: 111 Th e WHO s h o uld officially distance itself [rom th e Jayasuriya study, The Public Health and Economic Dimension s of the New Drug PoJicy of Bangladesh.

121 The WHO itself should make an of th e Bangladesh drug policy, a onlv in it s own interest, but also rattona l drug policy ben efitting world .

independent evalu ation move that wou ld be not in th e interest of a more con s um ers a ll over th e

131 The WHO

sho uld take care to see that in future is not hired as a con s ultant in th e organi s ation, for the role h e ha s played in und erminin ( a poli cy [llrthel'ing WHO policy.

o C Jayasuriya

WHO - Essential Drugs The selection of essential

drugs, Technical Re lJOf't Series 615, WHO, 1977 . Excerpt. " While d r u gs alon e are nOI suffi c ien t 10 provid e health care, they do play an important ro le in protec ti ng, maintaining and restoring the health of peo ple. In recent vears, th e re has bee n a tl'ernendous numbe r of phannaceutica l produc ts marketed ; howeve r, th ere has not been a pro ortionate improveme nt in he;llth, Many phannaceutkal products are marketed with tittl e co nc ern for the differin g health needs and priori.ties of individual countries. Promoti onal activities of th e manu facturers have created a d emand grea te r than ac tu al need s. Since up to 40 % of the total health care budget in developing co untries may be s pent on drugs. the resu lt has bee n an increase in the cost of health care or a reduction in fund s availahle for other

health services. T h e cost has aftected even th e affiuent nati ons. and their governments arc in c rea s in g l~' worried by th e rising ex penditure on phannaceutical produc ts. In dev e loping co untri es, th e proble m is magnified by limited eco nomic l'esou rces, shortage of trained health p e rsonn L and lack of organised drug policies, In the leas l developed countries. where communicable diseases and lack of elemen tarv health care are the major medical concerns, large segmen ts of th e population are in urge nt need of essential drugs, It is clear that for the optiman use of limited financial resources the available drugs must be restrictedto those proven to be therapeutically effective, to have acceptable safety and to satisfy the health needs of the population. The selected drugs are

here called 'esse ntial ' drugs, indicating that they are or the utmost importance , and are ba s ic. indispe nsable and necessary for the health needs of the popwation.

We wou ld great ly appreciate that th e WHO takes the above measures as soon as possibl e. This is because WHO 's m a jor con trib ution to health in the area of drugs will be seriously undennined should D C Jayas uriya 's report have th e e ffec t it so d esires.

The notion that th e number of necessary drugs is relatively small is supported by ex perie nce . Several developing cou ntr ies thai have adopted limited drugs li sts report good acceptance, as w ell as favourab le medical and economic resu lts. Lists and formularies wi th a limited number of drugs are also successfully used in many developed countries. A limited lis t may not provide for the needs of every person but certainly should meet those of the vast m ajority. Whether or not drugs or pharmace uti cal products outside th e list are avai lable in the private sector should be a local decision.

The Third World Network lends its wholehearted s upport to th e WHO for it s ex cellen t work and we wish yo u all th e best in .vour e ndeavo urs. Best I,v is hes.

We se rio u s ly hope that you will co nside r Olll' reques t as it comes from th e p eoples of the Thir'd World ,

Sin cere ly S M Mohd Idris, J.P. Coordi na tor Third World Ne l\,vork

You do not have a bette. choice

Tuesday 1-15 .July 1986

Prinl ed and pu'blished by A,S. Narang for Ih e Si kh Forum . 3 Masiir! Road. !lhoga l, !oJew De lhi-I 1fI1l14 d l lilli lCd India Press, Bahadur Shah lar., M,'rg,

I." Deihl.