Vol. 74 No 6
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THE RADICAL HUMANIST (Since April 1949)
SEPTEMBER 2010 Formerly : Independent India (April 1937- March 1949)
486 The Market Economy & Contemporary Crisis Amlan Datta Spiritual MaterialismA case for Atheism Laxmanshastri Joshi Faith versus Rationalism: Who Are These Non-Believers? Source: Kwaku ba Peace in Kashmir; Lok Pal Bill-Promises to Redeem Rajindar Sachar Seeds Bill; Babli Issue; Foreign Legal Services; Oil Spill N.K. Acharya Justice and Freedom II Swarajbrata Sengupta Relevance of Gandhi Vinod Jain The Creation Of Man Tarun Patnaik
M.N. Roy Founder Editor:
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SEPTEMBER 2010
The Radical Humanist
Download and read the journal at www.theradicalhumanist.com
Vol. 74 Number 6 September 2010
—Contents—
Monthly journal of the Indian Renaissance Institute Devoted to the development of the Renaissance Movement; and for promotion of human rights, scientific-temper, rational thinking and a humanist view of life. Founder Editor: M.N. Roy Contributory Editors: Professor A.F. Salahuddin Ahmed Justice R.A. Jahagirdar (Retd.) Dr. R.M. Pal Professor Rama Kundu Editor: Dr. Rekha Saraswat Publisher: Mr. N.D. Pancholi Printer: Mr. N.D. Pancholi Send articles to: Dr. Rekha Saraswat C-8, Defence Colony Meerut, 250001, U.P., India Ph. 91-121-2620690, 09719333011 E-mail articles at: rheditor@gmail.com Send Subscription / Donation Cheques to: Mr. Narottam Vyas (Advocate), Chamber Number 111 (Near Post Office) Supreme Court of India, New Delhi, 110001, India n.vyas@snr.net.in Ph. 91-11-22712434, 91-11-23782836, 09811944600 In favour of: ‘The Radical Humanist’ Sometimes some articles published in this journal may carry opinions not similar to the Radical Humanist philosophy; but they would be entertained here if the need is felt to debate and discuss upon them. —Rekha Saraswat
1. From the Editor’s Desk: The Utopia of Radical Humanism —Rekha Saraswat 1 2. From the Writings of Amlan Datta: The Market Economy & Contemporary Crisis 2 3. From the Writings of Laxmanshastri Joshi: Spiritual Materialism–A case for Atheism 5 4. Guests’ Section: Faith Versus Rationalism: Who Are These Non-Believers?
—Source: Kwaku ba 9 The Creation Of Man —Tarun Patnaik 12 4. Current Affairs: Peace in Kashmir, LokPal Bill-Promises to Redeem — Rajindar Sachar 16 Seeds Bill, Babli Issue, Foreign Legal Services, Oil Spill
— N.K. Acharya 20 5. IRI / IRHA Members’ Section: Justice and Freedom (Contd.) 22 —Swarajbrata Sengupta Relevance of Gandhi —Vinod Jain 24 6. Student’s & Research Scholar’s Section: Democracy fails yet again in Kashmir (1990-2010) —Nitish Suri 28 “Dis-Aster” Management: more Scientific —Tanu Anand, Jugal Kishore 30 7. Book Review Section: Girls and Girlhoods—Sakshi Goyal, Rachna Amarnani, Guruvaishnav 33 8. Humanist News Section: 37 9. Letter to the Editor:
— R.V. Korde
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From the Editor’s Desk:
The Utopia of Radical Humanism! had left my last editorial with the open Iquestion that why many religious people continue to remain members of the Radical Humanist movement when they know that its philosophy supports reason and has no place for faith in it! A person is born to a set of parents without his prior consent. By the time he begins to understand things his family’s values and beliefs have already seeped into his thought process. He follows them because he has not yet begun to doubt or judge the correctness and integrity of his progenitors’ viewpoints. Later, when he is introduced and attracted to other kinds of ideals and perspectives of life he does not muster courage to divert from his set pattern of thinking because he is afraid of losing his dear and near ones’ appreciation and commendation and wants to avoid their disapproval. Gradually, he learns to apply these principles more as a habit than as a conscious decision. Ultimately, these ideologies become an inseparable part of his external personality. Even if and when, he realizes eventually, that his reason does not support his earlier formed opinions he continues to live with this turmoil of carrying on a farce from without of something that he has stopped relying upon from within. Such is the pressure and dictate of his surroundings. I have always tried to justify the stand of those loyal followers who with all their limitations have stood with the movement without doubting the tenets of
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its philosophy even if they have not been able to follow it ad verbatim. I have already canvassed for them in quite a number of my earlier editorials trying to explain the subtle difference between a leader and the led. It is not easy for all to take new initiatives but most can follow suit. It is not a simple task for many to break old barriers of customs and traditions but they can be sincere in emulating those who could do so. Such staunch supporters of the Radical Humanist movement are those early starters who had accepted the vision of a modern untraditional India by standing by the side of Roy and Ellen in the early forties, when most people considered them both as alien in their living and thinking; although, as an exception, the ethnic scholar of the Indian scriptures, Laxman Shastri Joshi found his peace in the company of Roy and Ellen because like them, he also believed in a rational interpretation of our ancient and modern history to derive logical inferences out of them for applying them to the contemporary world. In fact, Roy’s Scientific Humanism is such a commonsensical philosophy that it appeals to all sane minds. Out of its several basic principles, the concept of keeping the individual at the pinnacle of all judgments convinces the most. Believer or non-believer, rich or poor, black or white, man or woman, ‘general’ or ‘reserved’, from the minority or the majority, intellectual or commoner – each one needs his security, his welfare and his place in the society intact. New Humanism of Roy does not talk of any particular class, caste, sect or nation to reap the benefits of scientific progress and economic development. He is bothered about the individual, in general, and thus, dreams of building such a socio-cultural and eco-political structure in this world which gives complete freedom to each and every living being to unfold his potentials to the utmost. Who will not agree to such an ideal which remains a Utopia only as long as we ourselves do not come forward to realize it? —Rekha Saraswat
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From the Writings of Amlan Datta:
Amlan Datta
The Market Economy and the Contemporary Crisis— A discussion on the future of public economics, markets, individual freedom and democratic values...... [The RH was serializing the following Lecture since April 2010 delivered by Prof. Amlan Datta on invitation by Rajaji Foundation in 1991. It concludes in this issue. It was originally published, with copyright to Rajaji Foundation, in December 1991 by the Project for Economic Education (a non-political non-partisan programme established with the objective of enlightening the intelligent layman on economic issues) and the Friedrich Neumann Foundation, FDR (a non-profit private institution primarily engaged in the strengthening of democratic and pluralist institutions in the underdeveloped world).] Environmental Degradation: While the problem of rural unemployment, in one form or another has been a matter of concern for a long time, certain other consequences of the explosion of population have attracted attention only more recently. Chief among these are its effects on the human environment, the ecological consequences of the growing density of human habitation on the globe taken along with high industrialism. As the pressure on land increases,
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forests are cut down and human settlements spread relentlessly at the expense of a great variety of flora and fauna. This has been happening all over the world for a long time, but the process has assumed more menacing dimensions in recent years. In India, even the high Himalayas have not been spared. The story is much the same elsewhere. As forests attract and help retain moisture, the cutting down of trees, without a compensating programme of reforestation, may spell the extension of dry land and even desertification. Not less serious is the growing incidence of environmental pollution. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the atmosphere. Men and smoking chimneys exhale carbon dioxide. With decreasing number of trees and increasing number of men, there is a serious long-term threat of the atmosphere getting too polluted for safe human habitation. We need not further elaborate on that theme, but it needs to be taken in all seriousness. Equally pressing is the related question of the exhaustion of those non-renewable resources, including the productive powers of the soil, on which industrialism and the maintenance of human society vitally depend. The world’s limited stock of petroleum, for instance, is getting fast depleted. The recent emphasis on energy conservation is, indeed welcome. But, on a long view, the prospects for the future are still truly alarming. A simple way to explain the nature of the contemporary crisis is to state it in the form of a dilemma. If the way of life which is now common in the industrially developed countries is to be made nearly available all over the world, the number of cars in the poorer countries, for instance, will have to be increased, say, ten times, with consequences which may be imagined. If, on the other hand, that way of life remains the preserve of one-third of the world, constantly demonstrated before but denied to the other two-thirds, the world community will suffer a psychological pollution which may be no less killing. With “demonstration effects” of conspicuous consumption carried by electronic media to every 2
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nook and corner of the world, the prevailing consumerist culture has intensified psychological distress all around. This is a disease which central planning, spawning a consumerist bureaucracy, has been unable to prevent and the market economy has only aggravated. In fact, it appears to be inseparable from modern industrialization in the form it is conquering the world. We desperately need a new technological revolution based on “clean” energy. The Swedish scientist, Bert Bohlin, recently declared: “In order to avoid an ecocide, mankind needs a solar revolution – a strong and radical effort for replacing conventional energies with renewable energies.” “But such a fundamental change in technology is bound to have far-reaching effects on man’s entire way of life and social organisation.” Need to go beyond Capitalism: This, then, is a global problem. A radical reconstruction of the world economic order is necessary for poverty-alleviation of the global economy and human civilization. The spectre of communism of which Marx spoke has been laid and vanquished. The threat to freedom from communist totalitarianism is no longer a major threat. But we still need a new world economic order. The transition can not be achieved at a stroke. The new order has to develop within the large frontiers of our society, co-existing with the ruling system for which it is an alternative. This is duality we have to accept and live with for a long time to come. However, it has to be not a frozen duality but a flux and we have to gain a clear idea of the direction of the movement. A distinction has been made between two phases of capitalism, an earlier one dominated by the doctrine of laissez-faire and a later one, strongly influenced by the idea of the welfare state. In India, we are yet to reach this higher phase of capitalism. But capitalism with a humane face is not the end of history. We have to go beyond that. A widening of the range of individual freedom and a strengthening of the foundations of representative government
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were a principal contribution of the first phase of development of the new commercial and industrial civilization. In the next phase, provision of social security and the minimum needs of education and health of the weaker sections of society came to receive increasing attention and to influence our concept of justice. But imperialism and war continued to plague human society and to distort its priorities in this otherwise more advanced stage. Passing beyond imperialism and threats to peace is a major objective today. Towards a Decentralized & Sustainable Economy: With the waning of imperialism, we have to seek a principle of political union that does not depend on force. It is already evident that a loose federation or a confederate polity provides that alternative principle of union. One other lesson of history deserves to be carefully noted. In each stage of evolution, the major aim should be to retain the essential gains of the earlier stage and to combine them with the new requirements of mankind. Recent experience provides eloquent testimony to this truth. An attempt to make a leap to a higher stage without due attention to consolidating earlier gains is apt to be tragically expensive in terms of both material and moral resources. The protection of the dignity of the individual, removal of poverty and social insecurity, the search for peace and the imperative need to overcome ecological imbalance combine to set new social and economic objectives for the future. It is in this context that concepts of freedom and welfare will have to be reviewed and widened. Perhaps even more basic is a deepening of the concept of peace. To live in harmony with man and with nature it must become an essential part of our post-modern conception of a sustainable society and economy. Thus, as the twentieth century draws to a close, the new perspectives for a crisis-free transition become increasingly clear. The world has to move in the direction of confederal polity, a decentralized and sustainable economy and an ethics of non-violence. There are those who dismiss this approach as utopian. But is
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there, in fact, any other way to avoid a complete breakdown of society? To create a culture and climate of public opinion and institutions consistent with these new horizons of social evolution is a task of the highest importance today. Gandhi’s ideas are of special value in this context. More profoundly than any protestant movement of the past, Gandhiji showed how constructive work and a movement of protest complement and correct each other. His was a positive approach, based on satyagraha, capable of continual self-correction and renewal. One of his seminal concepts is notably relevant to our theme. Gandhiji spoke of trusteeship, an idea which intellectuals of the “left” never stopped ridiculing. They ask, can the leopard change its spots? But that is an unfair poser. Leopards are not known to change their culture, but humans do. The industrialist of the age of Dickens cannot be a model for industrialists today and tomorrow. Ideas of social responsibility change and as they influence people’s expectations, they become a force to reckon with. Even tyrants change, partly as a result of pressure and partly by absorbing the spirit of the age. This is how despotism was tamed and a democratic tradition developed. Trusteeship
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is nothing but a soaking of the concept of power with an enlightened ethics of social responsibility. The new culture that we need must permeate both politics and economics. It may well be born outside the market place. But as it grows, its message will hopefully spread everywhere, to all human institutions, and influence human conduct even in the ordinary business of life. One has to live with that hope; the alternative is a path to disaster paved with violence. People like Rajaji reiterated the need for combining dharma with the pursuit of artha and kama. Some will find that language old-fashioned as people’s views of dharma are liable to become too exclusive and immobile. Yet one idea is becoming clearer day by day. There is no way of overcoming the contemporary crisis except with the aid of a higher ethics and an “economy of permanence”. The historical sequence of stages of economic evolution will now be seen to run not from capitalism to socialism, a schema that is both ambiguous and strongly discordant with facts, but from primitive capitalism to a social democratic market economy and from there to a non-violent economy of permanence as a distant yet compelling ideal.
Letter to the Editor carrying a Sad News:
Dr. TajulHossain has passed away! Dear Dr. Rekha Saraswat, My husband Dr. Tajul Hossain was a long-time member of the Radical Humanist group. This is only to let you, and his friends in India, know of his peaceful passage on August 4, at the age of 90. He was buried where he was born, in Sonapur, Comilla, with numerous friends and relatives paying their last respect. Everyone knew him to be a committed individual and RH member. I hope his commitments will continue through RH. With kind regards, Azmat Ara Parveen Hossain Ramna Estate Complex, A/6, Maghbazar, Dhaka—1217, Bangladesh
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social harmony is examined and rejected. Without the dubious benefit of religion various secular worldly values have been developed and they have — by Tarkateertha Laxmanshastri Joshi benefited mankind more than the vaunted religious values. With no sops of religion men have laboured Translated by — Arundhati Khandkar hard and the finest admirable qualities of men’s spirit have been developed inspite of religious influence – the scientists and the reformers are [The book Spiritual Materialism – A case for examples. The humility that should force itself in Atheism, A New Interpretation of the the presence of the infinite and the unknown is Philosophy of Materialism written by more to be seen with the scientist, the philosopher Tarkateertha Laxmanshastri Joshi has been than the religious leaders and often this drives them translated by his daughter, Arundhati to fathom the depths of thought in the quest for Khandkar, who was formerly Professor of truth. Rarely does religion explain the how and Philosophy at S.I.E.S. College, University of why. These have become the preoccupations of Mumbai, India. He passed away many decades people in secular fields. With a sense of ago but his contribution in building up the self-reliance and self-confidence guiding him, man philosophical base of Radical Humanism has has dropped the earlier props of religion. In India been no less. Roy acknowledged it in his life time too, the social order was seen as embodying moral and the followers of the philosophy continue to do values.” so. I had requested Ms. Khandkar to translate her father’s major works from to Marathi to English Introduction for the benefit of the contemporary readers of RH. (Continued from the last issue......) And to our pleasant surprise she informed that there is already the above mentioned book in English done by her. It is being serialised in The any of them trained some of the greatest Radical Humanist June 2010 onwards. She has scholars in the different fields of Hindu also promised to send us in English, gradually, religion and philosophy. While some tended to go more of his Marathi literature. deep into specialised areas and allied subjects only Laxmanshastri wrote this essay with the title a very few interested themselves in modern Materialism or Atheism in 1941. How subjects. meaningful and necessary it is, even now, 70 Compared to some of the pathshalas in other parts years later, can be understood by the following of the country which had a respectable ancestry, the paragraph given on the cover page of the book. one at Wai started by Narayan Shastri Marathe was —Rekha Saraswat] recent (1901, the very year of the birth of Laxman “That religion more often than not tends to Shastri). Yet Marathe was different from the usual perpetuate the existing social structure rather than run of gurus who ran the gurukulas. Though he did being reformist and that it benefits the upper not know English, he was sensitive to social classes. They perpetrate the illusions and are used developments taking place in the country and was for impressing the weaker sections of the society. convinced that the old ways would not do in the Many taboos which might have had some coming decades. The impact of intellectuals such as beneficial effects are given a permanent sanction Bal Shastri Jambhekar, Lokahitawadi and Agarkar and these put a fetter on further progress. The had obviously spread to the Marathi reading public. argument that religion promotes social stability and It is interesting that he had read whatever was
Spiritual Materialism – A case for Atheism
M
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available in Marathi of Mill, Spencer and Sidgwick and saw the great potentialities of Western ideas to leaver the culture of the land. Even more significantly he knew that one could not brook these challenges but had to gird up to them. Instead of turning away from reform, he was prepared to grapple with them. Shastriji was unique among Sanskritists and among traditional pandits. These were distinct stages in the evolution of his personality. Helping his father in the traditional pujas and ceremonies. (His father was a ritual specialist) he was to be trained in a Vedic pathashala. He had aspiration to join the gurukula at Kangri had he gone perhaps there, he would have developed into a totally different personality from what he was to flower into. His father sent him instead to Wai the renowned centre for Sanskrit and traditional learning. This was to be a turning point in his life and he was fortunate in being a disciple of the famous Kevalanand Saraswati (Narayan Shastri Marathe before he entered the Sannyasashram). He was put through the initial paces and soon became familiar with the classics. It was to this Pradnya pathashala that Vinoba Bhave came as a student and spent a few months. While sharing a room with Vinoba, Shastriji had the opportunity to learn English under the tutelage of Vinoba and study the western thinkers. He continued after Vinoba left, but felt the lack of something in traditional studies. Soon without informing his Guru he went away to Baroda where Vinoba was and had prolonged interaction with him for months, explored new intellectual areas and when it was suggested that he should go and join Gandhi at Sabarmati Ashram, he returned to his Guru at Wai and apologised for his conduct and resumed his studies. The master sent him to Banaras for further exposure to a different environment of traditional learning where he spent a few years. He could not have continued in that great centre, but preferred to go to Calcutta, joined the Government Sanskrit College where Vidyasagar had studied more than six decades earlier. Shastriji therefore had exposure not only to
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traditional Sanskrit learning but also modern methods of pursuing the subject. Returning to Wai, his Guru put him onto new responsibilities, very different from the traditional preoccupation of pandits and scholars. Disputations among different schools of philosophy is common among Sanskrit scholars. His guru was not to engage in this. His reading of Western Philosophy had made him a traditional pandit of a different plumage. He saw the need to confront two different systems of scholarly traditions and bring about change in Hindu social customs. He took Shastriji along with him and encouraged him to participate in the open disputes with other pandits who tended to represent the traditionalism at its most stubborn form. The guru could have himself entered into debate, but he had complete confidence in his chief discipline to carry on these. And many of these were not on points of arid abstruse darshanas or rituals but on issues relating to social reform. His expectations from his pupil were amply fulfilled. The record of traditional pandits with regard to social reform has had been that of obstruction, hindrance and retardation. Many a conclave of the pandits were witnesses to this and half a century’s experience was uniform throughout the country. The Dharma Raksha Sabha were the greatest of opponents at any measure that would have ushered in reform. Laxman Shastri’s record in this direction was refreshingly different. He propagated social reform and was able to rout the opponents effortlessly. Later, the Mahatma was to find him an able and formidable ally in his efforts in Harijan upliftment. He interacted deeply with him and clarified for the leaders many points in the traditional shastras which would aid reforms. Besides this, he was not able to keep aloof from the national movement led by the congress and participated in the civil-disobedience demonstrations suffering imprisonment. Though he was closely associated with Mahatma his restless soul could not be satisfied with the
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prescriptions or the nostrums of the leader and was to gradually find himself isolated from the Congress mainstream. It was at this stage that the younger group in the congress was seeking alternative ideologies. During his prison days Shastriji had been introduced to Marxist literature and philosophy. The situation in the country, the questions relating to a colonial economy and the general backwardness were resolved to the satisfaction of many who had an exposure to Marxism. It had nearly convincing explanations on colonial matters. More, it was forward looking progressive and summed upon ideals of social order informed by a spirit of optimism. At this stage M.N. Roy entered into the fringes of the congress and he attracted committed followers, many of them from Maharashtra. Laxman Shastri was one of them congenial, seriously concerned with contemporary issues and all fired by a lofty idealism and burnished by sacrifices of no small dimensions. It was refreshing for the followers of Roy to turn from precepts and social philosophy of the Mahatma which appeared to them backward looking with his inner voice sounding anti-rational and obscurantist. Shastriji became one of the close associates of Roy participating in the heady debates and an enthusiastic member of the study camps, discussion groups etc. His firm grasp of traditional Hindu religion, philosophy and social conventions was to undergo a trial in the intellectual jousts and he began to examine traditional inheritance with a critical eye and saw the need to jettison many of them and develop a critique. This was to do in a number of his writings. Two of his books are particularly significant- Materialism and Critique of Hinduism. When Roy wrote his book on Materialism, it was Shastriji who provided him with the key sutras in Indian philosophy explicating the materialist philosophy. The nationalist movement analysed by Roy and his group modified many of the positives he had
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adopted during his apprentice years in the Congress and with the Mahatma. When Roy decided to dissolve the Radical Democratic Party and turned to social regeneration through promotion of voluntary agencies furthering education, both political and academic, through decentralisation, Shastriji was an enthusiastic supporter of all of them. He became active in public education lecturing in distant rural areas, spreading the message of new opportunities opening up to the people and the corresponding of obligations. With his fame gradually spreading among elite Maharashtrian circles, he was in demand in all functions and had to preside, participate and address public gatherings and meetings. He became a famous public intellectual and was widely respected. His views on society, politics, culture and literature were heard with attention. He also provoked people into expressing their differences in public, something he was used to for decades. With the formation of the state of Maharashtra, his responsibilities increased and he was made to direct and guide The State Board of Culture and Literature. Numerous books, translations, reprints of classics, commissioned works kept him active. All the while he was still acting as the chief editor of Dharma-kosh which had started decades earlier by his guru. The role of Pradnya Pathashala of imparting education in classical Hindu texts gradually had come to an end. One more responsibility descended on his shoulders. His discourses on Indian Culture, Jyotiba Phule were printed and read with critical attention. Besides he presided over literary gatherings delivering keynote and presidential addresses. Apart from engaging elite audiences, he was tireless in party meetings, election rallies and would travel miles and miles in an old battered car. All the activities would have drained off the spirit of anyone, but Shastriji thrived on these. However these did take their toll. He was remorseful that he could not complete the monumental compilationthe Dharma-kosh which his guru had begun and which he edited. This was the most exhaustive
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compendium of Dharma Shastras and commentaries since the 15th Century. However, he completed a lengthy majesterial survey of Indian culture from the Vedic times to modern periods. This seminary at Wai, was a centre for people, Indian and foreign, to stay and consult him and get his guidance on esoteric matters relating to things traditionally Indian. He helped in the completion of many commentaries and books and these have been gratefully acknowledged. The regret of others is that he was not able to train a band of scholars nurtured in the guru-shishya tradition. But Shastriji had so many interests and could not resist participating in the larger question of a regional intellectual awakening. One of the monuments to his commitment to public enlightenment is the almost completed encyclopaedia in Marathi in several volumes. The state helped financially in compilations of this and with the help of several scholars he was able to publish these. His articles for the Encyclopaedia total upto 150. Some of them are practically full length booklets e.g. Marathi literature. Though Materialism and Critique of Hinduism were not the earliest of the books of Shastriji yet they made a mark in Maharashtrian orthodox circles for they were publicly burnt eloquently proclaiming that they had struck a blow on Hinduism. The ‘Critique’ was translated by Prof. G.D. Parikh and it is penetrating enquiry in a sense summarising the antireligious philosophies that were prevalent from mid 19th Century in Europe. Both should be read together, for Shastriji himself argued that atheism and materialism are the two sides of the same coin and that one cannot be discussed without the other. He had by now fully won over to the Marxist perspective and he himself
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was to state later that the book represented a period when he was under the influence of Marx. Almost like Freud, he regarded religion to be an illusion. He had no difficulty in exposing the arguments put forward in defence of religion. Firstly, that religion more often than not tends to perpetuate the existing social structure rather than being reformist and that it benefits the upper classes. They perpetrate the illusions and are used for impressionable weaker sections of the society. many taboos which might have had some beneficial effects are given a permanent sanction and these put a fetter on further progress. The argument that religion promotes social stability and social harmony is examined and rejected. Without the dubious benefit of religion various secular worldly values have been developed and they have benefited mankind more than the vaunted religious values. With no sops of religious consolation men have laboured hard and the finest admirable qualities of men’s spirit have been developed inspite of religious influence- the scientists and the reformers are examples. The humility that should force itself in the presence of the infinite and the unknown is more to be seen with the scientist, the philosopher than with religious leaders and often this drives them to fathom the depths of thought in the quest for truth. Rarely does religion explain the how and why. These have become the preoccupation of people in secular fields. With a sense of self reliance and self confidence guiding him, man had dropped the earlier props of religion. In India too, the social order was seen as embodying moral values. We need to create a new self-awareness. Lastly, the belief that spiritualism is moral and materialism is immoral is not borne by experience. Materialism is as much spiritual as is intellectual development. .........Continued
Interesting definition of Spiritual Materialism Spiritual materialism or spiritual narcissism are terms used to describe mistakes spiritual seekers commit which turn the pursuit of spiritualism into an ego building and confusion creating endeavor. —Jorge Ferrer
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Guests’ Section:
Faith Versus Rationalism: Who Are These Non-Believers? Source: Kwaku ba of this article is to clarify Thesomeobjective of the terminology regarding religious belief as well as groups that do not accept current religious orthodoxy of any kind in any part of the world. Skeptic Skepticism is loosely used to denote any questioning attitude, or some degree of doubt regarding claims that are otherwise taken for granted. For example the six day creation, Noah’s ark or Jonah in the belly of a whale, are all stories of members of the Abrahamic traditions accepted without question, yet contemporary scientific evidence does not support any of these claims. Religious skeptics generally focus on the core tenets of religions, such as the existence of divine beings or claims of miracles. A religious skeptic is not necessarily an atheist or agnostic. The French mathematician Rene Descartes after whom we obtained the Cartesian coordinate system, one of the strongest contributions to modern analytical geometry, was a leading skeptic during his life, but he believed in a supernatural creator being even though he vigorously challenged the Catholic orthodoxy of his day. Rationalist Rationalism is any stance employing reason as a source of knowledge or justification. In technical terms it is a method or a theory in which the standard for the truth is not sensory but intellectual, deductive, or inferred. In other words, rationalism is more a deductive reasoning process employing tools such as logic etc. And this process is emphasized as the highest justification for accepting claims. As with skeptics, rationalists do not belong to any specific religion or group of non-believers. The German mathematician Friedrich Leibnitz who co-invented calculus (with
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Newton), was a leading rationalist of his time and yet he believed in the Christian god Yahweh. Free Thinker Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that opinions should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or any dogma. In general freethinkers strive to build their opinions on the basis of facts, scientific inquiry, and logical principles, independent of any logical fallacies or the intellectually-limiting effects of authority, confirmation bias, cognitive bias, conventional wisdom, popular culture, prejudice, sectarianism, tradition, urban legend, and all other dogmatic or otherwise fallacious principles. In terms of modern religion to religion, freethinkers have generally held that there is insufficient evidence to support the existence of supernatural phenomena. However this view is not a requirement for one to be considered a freethinker and some freethinkers do posit that the supernatural or paranormal may exist. Giordano Bruno of Italy (1601) is credited as the father of modern freethought. He was arrested and executed for his views on orders from the Pope during the inquisition. Many early communities of the US were established by freethinkers from Germany who were fleeing persecution in Europe by the Roman Catholic establishment. Examples include Indianapolis, Indiana; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; St Louis, Missouri, and Jefferson, Wisconsin. The majority of contemporary scientists consider themselves freethinkers according to recent polls. The Unitarian Universalist church in the US was founded by Freethinkers in the pre-US era and remains active to this day. Agnostic Agnosticism is the view that the true value of claims particularly those about the existence or non-existence of deities, and other supernatural claims is unknowable. In other words they claim that there is no way of knowing or proving any god even though it may exist and therefore we do not need to worry about them and may go on with our lives as if god(s) were not there
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at all. The founding of this line of thought is credited to Thomas Huxley, a leading evolutionary biologist and associate of Charles Darwin. One of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century Bertrand Russell of Britain was an agnostic. He made several major contributions in mathematics, logic, philosophy, and nuclear disarmament. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature (1950). He died in 1970 at age 97. It was Russell who demonstrated the refutation of the idea that the burden of proof lies upon the skeptic to disprove the unfalsifiable claims of religions, the so called Russell Teapot argument. Deists Deism is a belief that a supreme being created the universe, and that this can be determined using reason and observation of the natural world alone, without the need for either faith or organized religion. Generally Deists reject the notion that God intervenes in human affairs, for example miracles and revelations. Deists typically hold that The Supreme Architect has a plan for the universe that is not altered either by God intervening in the affairs of human life or by suspending the natural laws of the universe. What organized religions see as divine revelation and holy books, most deists see as interpretations made by other humans. Deists reject the trinity, divinity of Christ, miracles and the inerrancy of the scriptures among others. Deism was the major religion among the elite in the pre-independent US. The founding fathers of the US and the authors of the US Constitution such Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Paine, John Adams, Alexander Pope and others were overwhelmingly deists. Abraham Lincoln was a deist. It is from deism that we got the terms such as ‘The Supreme Being’ ‘The Blind Watchmaker’, ‘Grand Architect of the Universe’. In fact the god referred to in the US constitution is actually the Deists god and not the Hebrew god as many think today. As this religion was associated with the independence struggle of the US, once that independence was achieved deism declined and
later was supplanted by the Christian god. It is interesting to note that forms of deism today are what we call ‘Lodge’. Many of the symbols we see on US currency, for example the Eye of Providence, and the frustum, are all Lodge symbols simply because Lodge being a branch of deism was among the dominant religions when US was fighting for independence. Gnostic Refers to diverse, religious movements in antiquity consisting of various belief systems generally united in the teaching that the material cosmos was created by an imperfect god, this being is frequently identified with the Yahweh. Atheism is probably the most hated and misunderstood term by religious people today. But what does it actually mean? Well it comes from the Greek word theist which means belief in gods or deities. The ‘a’ meaning opposite of theist, just as asymmetrical means not symmetrical or atypical means not typical. So atheist means someone who does not believe in gods, deities or supernatural beings. There may be many reasons for this lack of belief but chief among them is lack of demonstrable evidence. So is atheism itself a religion? Well, atheism has no holy book, no priests, no festivals, no dogma, no saints, no sacraments, no requirements etc. So atheism is not a religion. To say it is like saying non-soccer fans is also a sport, or not listening to music is also a hobby. In recent times particularly due to the internet, atheists are forcefully fending off theists and debunking currently held religious dogma. So as a result atheist has taken additional meanings. One of those is that unlike agnostics, atheists think that the truth of claims of gods is in fact knowable and testable, and since these tests fail to prove any gods, then atheists say they know for sure there are no gods or supernatural beings, and based on that conclusion they can go a step further and claim that all religious books, scriptures texts etc are false. We also hear claims that atheists have faith or need faith to not believe. Very false and idiotic statement. Do Christians need faith NOT to believe in Allah and Mohammed? No, not a shred because
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according to their evidence god and his prophet are legitimate. Same here. Atheists simply reject belief in supernatural beings because they have not seen any evidence for them, so that requires zero faith. Does it require faith to not believe that a soccer ball is made of stone? No, the evidence is that soccer ball is made of something other than stone. So do Christians claim in this case that we need faith to make that conclusion? No not at all. Western atheists have offered several rationales for not believing in any deity. These include the problem of evil, the argument from inconsistent revelations, and the argument from nonbelief. Other arguments for atheism range from the philosophical to the social to the historical. Although some atheists tend toward secular philosophies such as humanism, rationalism, and naturalism, there is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere. The rise and subsequent rejection of Christian fundamentalism in politics in the US, producing the Iraq war, attempts to ban teaching of evolution to high school students, restricting women’s reproductive rights, and intolerance to gays and gay marriage for example has emboldened atheists and several inroads have been made by atheists in the US. Today we have the first openly atheist member of the US congress, something unheard of until recently. Even former president Bush (senior) stated that atheists should not be full citizens. The story in Europe however is very much different. Europe is the least religious region of the world. For example according to a poll by Der Spiegel magazine, only 45% of Germans believe in God, and a quarter in Jesus
Christ and less than 10% attend church services regularly; up to 85% in Sweden, 80% in Denmark, 72% in Britain and Norway, and 60% in Finland say they do not believe in any gods or attend any churches. In Japan, between 64% and 80% describe themselves as atheists, agnostics, or non-believers. Among some of the most visible defenders of atheism today in our dot com world include Sam Harris (author of The End of Faith), Christopher Hitchens (author of God is Not Great), Richard Dawkins (author of The God Delusion), as well as internet bloggers such as PZ Myers, and youtube video bloggers such as Thunderfoot, ZJEpmTV, and Pat Condell. One claim made by religious people as we discuss these issues on the ghanaweb forum is that “well, kwaku ba, everybody has to believe something”. I have explained this before but the statement is false. No we all don’t have to believe something for the sake of it. Why so? Not true. We are not to believe anything until we have seen evidence for it. And based on the polls from Europe it is easy to see that people can live normal productive lives without believing in any phantoms, deities and demons. So at this juncture I would like to open it up for others to make comments and answer any questions the believers may have. In the interim we will once again call on those who have evidence of supernatural beings to come forward and present it so those who may be interested may also join you in signing hallelujah! Peace. Article source: www.ghanaweb.com
M.N. Roy Memorial Essay Writing Competition 2010 Announced. The topic of the Essay is: “International Co-operation - Financial & Cultural”. Word Limit is 2000. The essay may be in either in Hindi or English. 10 marks are exclusively allotted for Bibliography. Please send your biodata on a separate sheet. Also, enclose your passport size photograph. You may email these to rheditor@gmail.com or post them at D-90 A-Krishna Marg, Bapu Nagar, Jaipur, 302015, Raj. The last date for submission is 31.10.2010. Information sent by Mr. Ugamraj Mohnot 11
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Tarun Patnaik is an engineer by qualification passed out in 1993 from IIT Kharagpur, after a short stint in corporate for three odd years, resigned to study social science varying from philosophy and psychology to economics and management. Currently he is a resident in Rayagada, Orissa and engaged in free lance research.]
[Mr. Tarun Patnaik
The Creation Of Man —A sequel to the earlier article Individual and Society published in the August 2010 RH [The society and the individual are such utopian lovers, who having manufactured each other are exactly worthy of each other.] is created through his social Maninduction. His personality is created by the interplay and dynamics of circumstance, genetic inclinations, the choices he makes of free will and Reason he develops as he grows up. The free will whether a product of the chance of movements of neurons or because of the unconscious instinctive tendencies is an important factor in determining the individual’s personality. But Reason throughout the life plays an active role with the knowledge that man keeps on acquiring, in consciously shaping the personality. So man is never completely made. He keeps on learning and changing. During man’s induction to society, the major “nature” that he learns or acquires are his tendencies, his likes and his dislikes.
What to like and what not to like is a question, man spends his life time in subconsciously answering. If to seek happiness, to tend to be pleased, to follow his will is man’s character, what his will is, what pleases him, and what gives him happiness is a major component of his personality, in fact it is the central core of his personality. Society consciously contributes in the making of this personality through the process of education. Thus true education should tell man what his will/desire should be. And true learning should be to internalize an ideal will and desire. Learning continues throughout the life and Reason is the active shaper of this learning. A child initially has only tendencies, no will, through the process of growing up, he moves through the confusion and crowd of options and choices and finally a fully developed personality has a well perceived and known will. Then man knows what gives him happiness. But this state is in a constant and slow flux for Reason acts on personality to make it ever changing and what gives one happiness also changes, as long as man is open to learning. Much that we do not want man to be unhappy, we should teach a man to find his happiness in such a way that he does not make some one else unhappy while striving to attain his own happiness. For collective happiness the above becomes the first principle. So one should not find happiness in another’s displeasure. When two happiness contest or compete, justice and sometimes negotiation should be resorted to, to find a meeting point. Competition the most dear method for man’s progress in modern society creates few successes with many failures. Should not one then want to win or should there not be contests? Well, no, there should be both but one should place one’s happiness not on successes and failures but on self improvement. The competition should always be with one’s own self. And when there are competitions, when one looses and misses the prize, he should react with mild emotion and not
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despair. Since lack of ethics creates much unhappiness, we should seek happiness in a ethical way. There is a good deal of literature on what happiness is, and how man finds it. According to David T. Lyken, 50% of one’s happiness depends on one’s genes. About 10-15% is the result of various measurable life circumstances, such as socio-economic status, marital status, health, income, sex and others. Remaining 40% is result of actions that individuals deliberately engage in to become happier. Extroverts may find happiness in human interaction, while philosophers may find happiness in intellectual contemplation. Stefan Klein in his book The Science Of Happiness links the dynamics of neurobiological systems to the concepts and findings of positive psychology and social psychology. Human relations are consistently found to be the most important correlation with human happiness. It is found that happiness can be contagious i.e. it can spread from one to another like a virus. There are three traditional theories of happiness – hedonism theory, desire theory, and the objective list theory. Hedonism holds that happiness is a matter of raw subjective feeling. This theory has its modern conceptual roots in Bentham’s utilitarianism, its contagion in Hollywood entertainment, its grossest manifestation in American consumerism. Danny Kahneman a Nobel laureate in economics distinguishes between two assessments of life one by the experiencer and second by the retrospective judge of pleasure. If at the end of one’s life one thinks life was great as by Wittgenstein’s last words: “Tell him it (life) was wonderful” uttered even after a life of negative emotion and even downright misery, can we really say such life was good? When the experiencer throughout the life did not feel much pleasure. This takes us to the next theory – the desire theory, which holds that happiness is a matter of getting what one wants, irrespective of what it is that is 13
wanted. A person living a most austere life or a person who sacrifices some of his most dear things, or one who struggles all his life for whatever, can be said to be happy since it is what they wanted to do with their life. Objective list theory lodges happiness outside of feeling and onto a list of “truly valuable” things in the real world. It holds that happiness consists of a human life that achieves certain things from a list of worthwhile pursuits e.g. career accomplishments, freedom from disease and pain, material comforts, friendship, civic spirit, beauty, education, love, knowledge, fame, good conscience etc.. Consider the thousands of abandoned children living on the streets of the Angolan capital of Luanda. As the New York Times tells us, “dressed in rags, they spend nights in the sandy strip along the bay, and their days foraging for food through mounds of garbage.” It seems conceivable that their existence, consumed with meeting momentary needs, adventurous roving in gangs, casual sex, with little thought for tomorrow, might actually be subjectively “happy” from either the Hedonism or Desire theory perspective. But we may be reluctant to classify such an existence as “happy” and the Objective List theory tells us why. These children are deprived of many or most things that would go on anybody’s list of what is worthwhile in life. Although we find Objective List’s shift to the objectively valuable a positive move, our principal objection to this theory is that some big part of how happy we judge a life to be must take feelings and desires (however shortsighted) into account. Happiness is not a singular state of mind, through different processes we find different pleasant emotions or forms of happiness’ which is colorful with different shades of colors. For a rich and high quality of life, man should have enjoyed happiness as per all the three theories described above. Some religions put this life as having significance only upto the extent that it is a preparation for an “After life.” But life is never a preparation for the “After life.” No present is or should be lived only
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for the alluring future. No future’s heaven has a right to make hell of the present. Present should be lived for its own self. No doubt present contributes to the future, but present of its own merit deserves attention. At the same time no present has a right to spoil the future. So we should look for balance, for harmony, for the co-existence of present and the future. If victory promises glory and joy, may the battle too promise sufficient entertainment. And our will and desire has a role to play in this. Because desire determines what should give us pleasure. Thus a harmony between present and future. If the end is glorious and worthy, the path should be no less intoxicating. Is today’s man really happy? With the progress of science man has achieved much material comfort and possession. But has he become more happy? In spite of physical comfort, modern world offers much mental stress and tension. How many people live life purposefully? And how many live because they have not died! Man’s life can be assessed from the view point of two observers. 1.Through his own eyes. 2.Through the eyes of the society. The verdict may coincide, it may also differ. A man posthumously famous for his social contribution may or may not have found happiness in his own life. Can we say he has lived a good life, worthy though it was! While to seek happiness is the character or preference (through seeking self interest) of man, it is not his purpose and reason acts on this tendency to result in a motivation, that gives meaning or purpose to life. Purpose gives life meaning and motivation. A motivated life is also one which man finds much livable. We find there are three main purposes of life worthy of man. 1.To find personal happiness 2.To contribute to the collective wellbeing or
happiness 3.To contribute to the civilizational progress. As we had noted earlier, through the process of education, man learns what to like and the teacher undertakes to educate the man. The first school is of course the home, and mother, the first teacher. The teacher has great responsibilities, he is a representative of the society, manufacturing his pupil, he is also the path maker for his pupil, teaching him the ways of society. He teaches how to succeed, what to aim for and prepares his pupil for the struggle of life. For life is no less than a struggle for existence. The teacher in this dual role may find conflict. If he makes his pupil capable but lacking in virtue, the student may come out to become unworthy of the society. Hitler’s teachers must be having this regret, that they could not teach him enough character for which Hitler made a name but a notorious one in history. That to be free and happy man must internalize the civic virtues inside his character, the process of education while creating the citizen for the country, must make sure that the student learns the civic virtues. If man has not learned the civic virtues, he will be an unhappy citizen in his country. So the state which regulates education, must install such curriculum, faculty and educational institutions, such that man internalizes the requisite civic virtues. But the individual while being manufactured by the society (State) has also the responsibility to manufacture the society through his creative, intellectual, and organizational powers. Thus education has also to make strong and wise individuals, who are capable of changing and reforming the systems for to change and evolve and get reformed is the basic character of any system. The state while ensuring protection of rights of individuals, must also ensure such basic conditions where a man can pursue his happiness. Freedom is a necessary condition but not sufficient for a happy life. One must have minimum living standards and
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the state has a responsibility to ensure that enough opportunities exist for all its citizens. The economic environment and the cultural environment are equally important along with the political environment. Culture where sports, art, music, public celebrations are promoted and encouraged will be more conducive for individual happiness. The economy should have sufficient job opportunities, a well to do wage rate, enough mobility along the income hierarchy and healthy working conditions. There should be freedom of enterprise. With all the difficulties with capitalism, even China and Russia have recognized freedom of enterprise. The recent financial crisis started in the US, spread all over the world shows the risks and dangers of the connected globalized world. No nation in
today’s world is isolated and can have the freedom of determining its economic policies without affecting the other nations. So each has a stake in the other. Thus it is only natural that each will demand a right to have a say in another’s internal economic policy. How to find a balance between national freedom and international obligation is a question for which world’s politicians are searching for answer. The world today has many common and pressing issues which are in need of urgent and immediate solution. The education process should be geared up to create such individuals, who will save humanity from imminent destruction. May the individual find purpose in life that he will ensure shared happiness and eradicate poverty, make the world secure from current and future threats.The Creation Of Man.
Friends, please register yourself on the RH Website http://www.theradicalhumanist.com ¨Please log in to it to give your comments on the articles and humanist news which are uploaded from the world over on the Website almost daily. ¨You may also send in news and write-ups from your part of the land for uploading on the Website. ¨Please send in your views and participate on the topics of debate given in the debate section. You yourself may also begin a debate on any topic of your choice in this section. ¨Please suggest themes for the coming issues of The Radical Humanist, discuss them in the Themes Section of the Website; the content of which may be later published in the RH journal. ¨It is your own inter-active portal formed with a purpose of social interaction amongst all Radical Humanists as well as Rationalists and Humanists from different forums also. ¨Do make it a practice to click on the RH Website http://www.theradicalhumanist.com URL daily, ceremoniously. ¨Please utilise the RH Website to come closer for the common cause of ushering in a renaissance in our country.
—Rekha Saraswat, (Editor & Administrator RH Website) 15
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Rajindar Sachar
[Justice Rajindar Sachar is Retd. Chief Justice of High Court of Delhi, New Delhi. He is UN Special Rapportuer on Housing, Ex. Member, U.N. Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities and Ex-President, Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) India.]
Peace In Kashmir I he reaction to Prime Ministers statement on the question of autonomy is on expected lines - cynics say it is not enough but do not conveniently spell out the details. Concerned with Human Right violations in J & K a team of PUCL including me have been visiting J & K since 1990 and given our reports critical of the government. I again went in 1993. It was a sad experience, and on my return I said publically “I do not know how and in what manner Kashmir question will be solved with its nuances of Azadi, Plebiscite and greater autonomy. But one thing is certain and that is India will remain the loser unless the face that it presents to the people of Kashmir valley is humane, compassionate and understanding. At present that face is ugly and insensitive”. I never thought it could ever become worse. But unfortunately it has - the school children throwing stones are the targets of lethal guns fired by security forces. Even in common idiom “if you hit me with stones, I will return it with bricks”. But the security forces have turned this on head by returning with bullets. There are limits which no
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civilized government can cross – unfortunately Kashmir and central govt. let the security forces do that. The killing of three security guards at Sopore shows the dangerous situation. It is a sad reflection on the working of political parties in J & K that they refuse to sit together to find acceptable solution notwithstanding that all of them have sometime been part of government of J &K But equally the strategy of central government is fudgy. Home Minister Chidambaram comes out with what he thought was a brilliant coup by agreeing to hold talks, and especially mentions Gillani as the pivotal point. Those who advised him seem to be totally impervious to the openly reiterated position of Gillani (that he is asking for plebiscite in the hope that J & K will opt for Pakistan). It has to be recognized that youths throwing stones are expressing their sickness with all parties in valley and demand a permanent answer to the future of valley. Prime Ministers statement on the autonomy has given a opening. But is must be appreciated that this step would necessarily involve all political parties of India and including those of J& K. This requires immediate release of Yasin Malik, Shabir Shah and no restrictions on Maulvi Omar and even Gillani (of house arrests). All these leaders must be asked to come out clean with their concrete solutions instead of taking cover of asking India to sort out Kashmir question with Pakistan. No doubt Indian and Pakistan governments will have to continue talks to arrive at a mutual agreement but prior to that if the government and parties in India arrive at an agreed solution, it is only then that a permanent solution can be worked out. The puerile argument of Mirwaiz and Gillani that solution must be found for “whole of J & K, which existed in Pre 1947 as one unit with option to join Pakistan is a non starter. In that context it is well to repeat the opinion of Jurist Alstair Lamb (obtained by Pakistan) that “it can fairly be said that in
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deciding to accede to India, the Maharaja of Kashmir was well with his rights according to 1947 Act which had nothing to say about communal issues in this respect”. Will these gentlemen now ask Pakistan to vacate the portion of J & K under its occupation. And when they talk of whole of Kashmir, will they also spell out what their plans are to retrieve thousands of square miles in Aks Chin (J & K) having been permanently ceded to China by Pakistan. And while at this they may also explain to their constituents as to how to undo the Baltistan Gilgit package (area of J & K in Pakistan) which has now by legislation been incorporated in its territory and Pakistan’s direct control of Northern areas. So who is befooling whom with the so called nostalgic mention of J & K being continued as a practical solution. I do not believe that Pakistan or leaders like Gillani are so ill advised as not to recognize that the part of J & K on Indian side is sacrosanct and non-negotiable. Nor I believe that all the parties in India can be so dense as not to accept the ground reality that considering the price that J&K has paid in terms of human misery during these 2 decades of militancy and alienation that has been built-up, now it would be illogical for Indian leadership to hope that talks can take place within the parameters of the normal Centre State relationships. In order to give such reassurance, Central Govt. should concede that apart from the subjects acceded in 1947, namely Defence, Foreign Affairs, Communication, currency to the Central Govt., the rest of subjects will vest in J&K State Govt. In order to further reassure the people of J&K Central Govt. should agree unilaterally to withdraw all Central legislations which have been extended upto date to J&K. It will then be upto to the J&K legislature to pass new laws or apply those laws with suitable modifications as they feel necessary. Some well meaning people react adversely to this suggestion on the ground that this would be creating special category unlike the other parts of
the states. But why should it surprise anyone because J&K is a special case and is so recognized in our Constitution by Article 370, which is non derogable. This suggestion of mine is only putting life to the original content of Article 370. But that does not mean water tight separation of two parts of J & K. In fact all efforts have to be made to continue the underlying oneness of the State. Thus so far as the borders between the two parts of J&K are concerned, they can be made as porous and as free as between USA and Canada or even like as at present in the European Union. People belonging to each side should have no problem not only in traveling but in even having trade with each other freely. Of course ordering judicial Enquiry into all these killings is immediate. As an immediate gesture Armed Forces Act must be withdrawn straightway. Even an individual can use appropriate force, if necessary – of course subject to judicial scrutiny –so why keep this legislation alive when it is admittedly an impediment in peace returning to the valley. II
Lok Pal Bill – Promises To Redeem 1. he controversy following resignation of Justice Santosh Hegde, the Lok Ayukat of Karnataka and the subsequent amends purported to have been made by Karnataka Govt. has again highlighted the failure of Lok Pal Legislative history at the Centre and the equally passivity and reluctance of all political parties to pass this legislation, which is most urgently desired, if the attempt to control the rapid drift downward to political corruption which is eating the vitals of our nation is to be stemmed. Gujral Govt. unsuccessful attempt to pass the Lok Pal Bill in 1996 after five attempts since 1968 had been frustrated, was again introduced by Vajpayee
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Govt. in 1998 and 2001, but as expected was talked out. 2. When UPA government came to power at the Centre Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh had in September, 2004 commendably stated that; “UPA Government would lose no time to enact the Lok Pal Bill and that the need for it is more urgent than ever.” That it could not be passed was because of concerted opposition by a small clique within UPA and also helped by quite a few in the opposition by the not so clear move to start a controversy by seeking to include judges in the Lok Pal Bill (which constitutionally was impermissible.) That promise has not still been redeemed. A routine exercise is done by Parliament to appoint select committee to go into the Bill and this process goes on endlessly with predictable in action till Parliaments life comes to an end. Gandhian Brigade consisting of respected Gandhian’s in their eighties and nineties have been in long communication with Prime Minister Office about the desirability of passing the Bill. Many of then regularly observe one day fast – of course for media of soccer hype mentality, it is no news. Law Minister Moilley on paper shows deep concern and has been promising legislation soon. But it is still not on parliaments agenda. 3. A facile excuse for not passing the Bill is deviously put forward by the legislators that there is a strong opinion both among legislators and outside Parliament that Prime Minister should not be included in the purview of Lok Pal Bill. Totally unconvincing because there had been detailed discussion in this aspect since 1996, Vajpayee and Man Mohan Singh have openly said that Prime Minister should be included in the Lok Pal Bill –so who are these worthies who are taking cudgels on Prime Ministers behalf – it is no mystery – these are about 70 tainted members in the present Parliament. Naturally the public is skeptical. Even though I do not find any understandable 18
reason for excluding the Prime Minister still the Lok Pal Bill could have been introduced by excluding the Prime Minister from its purview, so that the legislation could come into existence – the debate on the propriety of inclusion or exclusion of Prime Minister could continue and if approved Prime Minister could be included later on. But why should the enactment of Lok Pal legislation be delayed? 4. It is no secret that the reason for this apathy is the unwillingness of legislators to face scrutiny by Lok Pal. This is brought into sharp focus in the aftermath of Justice Hegdes resignation story. Whereas congress rightly lambastes the shabby treatment of Lok Ayukat by Karnataka Government, it without batting a eye still supports Karnataka Governments disgraceful stand of keeping high officials and legislators from the jurisdiction of Lok Ayukat, on the specious plea that legislators should not be under the Lokayukat – no wonder the members of parliament will not pass the Lak Pal bill lest they are put under the watchful eye of Lok Pal. Does hypocrisy in politics have no limits – is the fear of public wrath even at election times looked upon with contempt by political parties. The argument that legislators can not be put under the cover of a single person, even though he may be a retired Judge of Supreme Court is ridiculous. Legislators forget the basic philosophy of republicanism running through our constitution, namely ‘Be you ever so high – the law is above you’. 5. Hypocrisy is further heightened when Parliament spends extra time to pass National Judicial Bill to enquire into the misconduct of Judges. No, I am not objecting to it – rather I welcome it. Because I firmly believe that it is only the incorruptible judiciary that can maintain the democratic structure. I am all for Parliament to pass even in the next session Judicial Accountability Bill. But legislators need to remember that unless the other
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wings of State namely executive and legislature are equally free from the taint of corruption, society will remain infected and ill. As J.P. the socialist leader sorrowfully put it, “I know politics is not for saints. But politics, at least under a democracy, must know the limits which it may not cross. Otherwise, if there is dishonesty, corruption there can be no government, no public order, no justice, no freedom, no national unity, in short, no nation”. Again as John Adams one of the founding father of US Constitution said, “The people have a right, an inalienable, indisputable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge – I mean of the character and conduct of their Rulers”. The pain felt by Mr. Som Nath Chatterjee, the former Lok Sabha speaker when he said, “Large sections of the people are greatly worried about the
nexus between crime and politics as well as administration in the country. I am saddened to observe that politics in the country has to a large extent, become criminalized and crime has become politicized.” 6. So let not the members of Parliament hide their real motive for opposition under the hypocritical concern for the Prime Ministers Status by stalling the passing of the Lok Pal Bill. Let Lok Pal Bill be passed by even excluding the Prime Minister, this will somewhat satisfy the people at large that the Govt. is serious about meeting the menace of corruption in public life. The question of inclusion of the Prime Minister can be deferred and can be debated independently and decision taken subsequently.
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N.K. Acharya
[Sri N.K. Acharya is an Advocate, Columnist and Author of several books on law. He was formerly Secretary of Indian Rationalist Association and had edited the Indian Rationalist, then published from Hyderabad on behalf of the Association prior to its transfer to Madras.] I Seeds Bill here was already on the statute book, a law called the Seeds Act. That act provides for licensing of individuals, firms and companies dealing in purchase and sale of seeds to cultivators. Apart from licensing, the Government of India has no more functions to regulate the activities of seed firms or provide any adequate remedies to those who purchase the seeds, in case the seeds fail to give the promised results. In view of the wide ranging results of agricultural research by which seeds of different kinds are being distributed to cultivators, such as hybrid seeds, golden rice, BT Carton etc., a law to protect cultivators using seeds is felt as a necessity. Under the new law, the burden of proving that the seeds supplied are genuine is cast on the supplier of seeds so that if any cultivator initially discharges his burden that he followed the normal practices of agriculture, it is for the supplier to prove that the seeds supplied by him are produced and preserved by him under the conditions stipulated. The act further provides for greater control and scrutiny of the activities of the seed companies and also provides for the severe punishments to
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defaulters. Such punishments may provide for payment of compensation to the cultivators using the seeds. The present act enables the cultivators to exchange seeds among themselves and also dispose them off through regulated markets. The act also promotes cooperation among farmers and as a prelude helps cooperative farming as and when introduced. The utility of seeds bill to the cultivators is immense. The cultivator who uses the seeds and fails to achieve the results has a quicker administration remedy instead of the long procedure through consumer court. Under the old procedure requires the cultivators to report the failure of the seed to the appropriate producer of seeds and allow his inspections from the date when the seed is planted till the harvest. This procedure is dispenses with when the burden of proving the genuineness of seed is shifted to the dealer in seeds. II Babli Issue abli issue is certainly not a matter for public agitation. The real facts are that as and by the time when Godavari and Krishna water tribunal was appointed about forty years ago, all the irrigation projects located in the upper riparian states has Maharashtra and Karnataka are in a state of planning which all such projects located in Andhra Pradesh are executed fully or partially. Hence, the tribunal made a compromise award allocating the waters required for projects under planning in Maharashtra and Karnataka to these states and similarly the waters required for projects completed or under completion to Andhra Pradesh. Therefore, the Almatti projects of Karnataka and the Babli project in Maharashtra are accepted by all parties. The complaint of Andhra Pradesh is that the upper riparian states may use more water under the guise of sanctioned quantities. If that be, the real grouse of Andhra Pradesh to the execution and completion of Almatti by Karnataka and Babli by Maharashtra , the solution lies in creating a supervisory institution which overlooks the
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utilization of water. Such institution may be an independent authority or may be setup by the Interstate Water Tribunal. It is therefore not proper for any state to stall the execution of irrigation projects which are intended for the benefit of the people as a whole, irrespective of the region to which they belong. Controlling authorities to monitor the interstate river is not new. III
Foreign Legal Services Prime Minister’s visit to India is British purpose oriented. His visit is not confined to capital city only. He visited Bangalore. He was accompanied by a large delegation comprising of businessmen, professionals and cultural troupes. Since, the Prime Minister in Great Brittan is not the head of the state, he is not invited to address the joint session of the parliament. The British P.M’s visit has proved itself an auspicious occasion for signing several commercial agreement s, intergovernmental and private. One of the significant subjects which were discussed was about permitting the British law firms to practice in Indian Courts. The All India Bar Council and also several Indian Advocate Associations opposed this move. Notwithstanding the same, the Government of India is ready and willing to permit the British law firms practicing in India as consultants as well as practitioners in courts. When several business houses are permitted entry into India through foreign investment FDI channel, it is in conformity with such policy to allow entry of foreign law firms. The points which may be negotiated between the two governments may cover: Fees to be charged. Sealing on dividends to be paid to shareholders. Rate of income tax to be paid. Sloughing back the excess profits.
In a world, where competition is synonymous to success, it is too late in the day to oppose entry of foreign legal firms into India. It is certainly beneficial to Indian practitioners in this act. Legal profession in India is fast becoming a specialized art. New fields like Information Technology , intellectual property, international law in addition to the traditional fields covering civil,criminal,taxation, labor and insurance requires special skills. The possibility of independent practitioners indulging in all the above fields is becoming impossible. The institution of senior advocates holding large establishments for juniors is becoming outdated. Institutionalizing the practice is inevitable. It will become a reality only when foreign legal institutions are permitted entry into India. Institutionalizing practice means that the practice of advocacy becomes a joint effort so that any legal service of any kind can be provided as a single institution. IV Oil Spill il spill means a spill which occurs on account of a mishap at the oil wells or it may occur during a mishap on the high seas between two or more ships carrying oil. One such event occurred recently in Arabian Sea off Bombay. The consequences of oil spill are very grave. It may cause pollution, destroying marine life in the high seas. The oil spilled out from the ships drifts across the seas to the nearby coastal areas causing destruction in the coastal fisheries. There is now no law making anybody responsible for the damage caused by the oil spill. The Government of India now proposes to enact an appropriate legislation making it mandatory for the ships approaching the continental shelf of India to insure their ships to cover the losses that may be suffered by third parties on account of oil spill. The proposed legislation will also cover all ships carrying chemicals of hazardous nature.
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IRI / IRHA Members’ Section:
Swaraj Sengupta [Dr. Swaraj Sengupta is a celebrated author,
editor and linguist from West Bengal. His latest book is— ‘Nationalism, Rabindranath Tagore & Manabendranath Roy’ published by the Renaissance Publishers, Kolkatta]
Justice and Freedom Contd. From the previous issue.......
is defined as the absence of legal Freedom restraint, or the absence of arbitrary coercion, and these are maintained as good things which no society ought to be without. Such an approach has the merit of focussing attention on a few fundamental freedoms, and making sure that, whatever else we say, we never fail to emphasize the pre-eminent importance of these fundamental forms of freedom. But it has the corresponding demerit of imposing a definitional stop where further discussion is needed, and failing to educate all the users of the word, and therefore failing to accommodate all the aspirations which men may legitimately have. There is a danger that the old-time liberal, just because he fails to see what is worrying the modern radical, will fail to communicate with him at all, and so leave him insensitive to the importance of the civil liberties that it was the liberal’s glory chiefly to espouse. Civil liberty is an important form of freedom, perhaps the most important one, but not the only one; and if we are to understand freedom fully, we 22
must consider it in all its forms. Freedom is not a simple quality. When I say that somebody is free, it is not like saying that he is white, or healthy, or weighs fifteen stone. The statement needs to be filled out, indicating either what he is free to do or what he is free from. These two basic senses, freedom to and freedom from, are interrelated; and in particular, if we can elucidate the different meanings of freedom to, we shall have no difficulty in understanding the different sorts of freedom from. Freedom to needs to be filled out by a verb of doing. And often it will depend upon the particular action or activity in question, what sort of freedom is being looked for. Being free to do something is thus somewhat like being able to do it, but with a greater emphasis on the first- personal point of view. If I am free to do something, then I can consider whether or not to do it, and it is upto me whether I actually do or not; and if I am not free to do something, then further discussion is pointless, and deliberation is ruled out from the start. Different proposed courses of action can be ruled out for different reasons. Freedom to needs to be filled out by some definite verb before it becomes definite itself. Whether or not I am free to do something depends on what the something is, so that we know what could constitute conclusive reasons against doing it. Freedom from, by contrast, is less specific. We know that it is to be free from pain, free from financial worry, free from committee work, for these are things which will stop a man from being able to decide to do anything. They are very generalised reasons against doing most of the things a man might want to do, largely because a man will devote most of his efforts to warding off or alleviating these evils, and so will be precluded from embarking on any other enterprises. Only if I am free from certain ills am I free to undertake any of a wide range of activities. This is why we use the same word. Freedom, like justice, needs to be specified. Not only do we need to know what we are free to do, but
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in what way we may do it. I am free to wave my arms about- but not so as to hit you, or confuse the driver of a bus. I am free to go where I please- but not through your front door. I am free to say what I like- but not in front of an angry mob, inciting them to violence. When we confer a freedom we do not normally grant an absolute licence to perform the action irrespective of all other considerations. Rather, we say that there is no prohibition on the action as such, and often supplement this by imposing on other men various duties of not preventing a person from performing the action in any reasonable way. The more important the freedom, the more ways there are of exercising it, and the greater the weight laid on others not to interfere with one’s exercise of it. but always there are some limitations. The same analysis applies to political freedom. We need to know what political action or a person has in mind before we can say whether he possesses the relevant freedom, and there is the same systematic elusiveness, in that as one obstacle is overcome, another, equally insurmountable, is likely to be observed. The fundamental concern of political freedom is with the communal actions of a community, although the means towards influencing communal actions will be individual
actions on the part of those interested, and for the most part it will be these individual actions that may be prohibited if political freedom is absent, or facilitated if it is cherished. In some societies the rulers may not countenance outsiders entertaining any views about what the community should do. ‘It is none of your business’, Stalin might say to a lorry driver from Novogorod. To think well of the Western powers or to criticise my five year plan, and if you presume to think on matters that are too high for you, I shall send you to Siberia for the next fifteen years. oriental despots have often taken the view that theirs alone is the right to hold views about public affairs, but that view is always subject to the erosion of practical necessity. Public affairs are necessarily concerned with what members of the public are to do, and what members of the public are to do depends essentially on what they can do and what they have done. Hitler and Stalin did not like being gainsaid and therefore their subjects feared to inform them of unpalatable facts, and their plans, based on false information, ultimately went awry. No government can impose a complete blanket of unconcern about public affairs on its subjects, for its very raison- d’être is that it should make their concerns its concerns, so that they must be concerned with some of the things it does.
About Radical Humanist Philosophy: ‘‘When enlightened independent thinkers converge together to contribute to a given topic, they can examine, challenge or recreate ideas and beliefs. This is what the Radicals call ‘free union and cooperation of the spiritually liberated brotherhood’. Such a union is based not upon obligation or coercion but voluntary cooperation. It was upon such a basis the Radical Humanist Society developed in the Subcontinent over the third decade of twentieth century under the stewardship of late Comrade MN Roy... ’’ ‘‘The development of the Radical philosophy is the most significant step towards the progress of humanity just as the Marx’s Communist Manifesto proved to be a galvanizing force of the mid-nineteenth century. Indeed, if 1848 is the landmark for the development of the Communist Manifesto, 1948 is a definite landmark for the development of Humanist Manifesto...’’ —Tajul Hossain
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Vinod Jain
Relevance of Gandhi: Inherent Contradictions and the Way Out twentieth Century saw the rise of Earlier two great Indians who were giants in their respective fields. One hailed from the Western state of Gujarat, the other from the Eastern state of Bengal. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi or M.K. Gandhi was from Gujarat. Manabendra Nath Roy or M.N. Roy was from Bengal. Gandhi came to become a mass leader as India had not seen before. Roy established himself as an intellectual giant as India had not witnessed for a long time. After spending some formative years in South Africa, Gandhi returned to India in 1915 and was in the Congress as a leader. His rise was such that by 1920 he was dominating the Indian National Congress. At the time of his Dandi March against the Salt Law of the British in 1930, he was at the peak of his leadership. Young Roy (then Naren) before 1915 was working as a terrorist under the leadership of Jatin Mukherjee. In that year he left for Java in search of German arms to help insurgency against the British. Subsequently he moved on to Mexico where he gave up his ardent nationalism of younger days and adopted Communism. Establishing the first communist party outside the Soviet Union, he was invited by Lenin to Moscow to attend the Comintern meeting. Here he impressed Lenin and other delegates. By 1929 his achievements in the Soviet Union were spectacular. But by the end of that year, as a result of various factors, he was out 24
of favour with Moscow and was expelled from the Comintern. He decided to come to India, where by the end of 1930 he was arrested. In 1931 he was jailed for six years by the British rulers. In jail both Gandhi and Roy read a lot and wrote voluminously. By November 1936 when Roy was released he had already written 6000 pages of “Philosophical Consequences of Modern Science.” Both in their own ways were working for India’s liberation from the British Rule. But their approaches were fundamentally different from each other’s. When I was young, somebody close to me said that when Gandhi came to India from South Africa, he said, ‘India needs a Mahatma. I have decided to be one.’ I When Gandhi came to India he must have realised that the people of India were poor, illiterate, orthodox, lacking in confidence, scared of the powerful British and of the mighty empire. Obviously the first and foremost task would be to awaken them and restore their confidence so that they are enabled to participate in a struggle for independence. Trying to awaken these masses would require communicating with them. The only way to effectively communicate with the poor, illiterate and downtrodden people would be to stoop to their level. And Gandhi did just that. Giving up his attire and putting on the loin cloth of the average poor man was one step. Giving the public meetings a touch of the prayer meeting was another. The overall impression given was of an orthodox believer. This suited the people well. They started flocking to Gandhi’s meetings. This was a master-stroke. Tradition of non-violence came to Gandhi through his mother who was a devout Jain. He practiced it in South Africa against Apartheid. He realized its potential there. Another thing he practiced in South Africa was what he called Satyagraha- insistence. He knew it would unnerve the British as well.
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The Indian people were not expected to take up arm against the mighty British. It suited the downtrodden people well. An organizer has to keep his flock together and busy. They should feel that they are participating in an independence struggle. For this Gandhi devised a few things. He asked the people to use spinning wheel (Charkha). This in order to produce hand-spun and hand-woven cloth (Khadi) and stop wearing clothes made of British cloth. This gave the people a sense of participation, a sense of sacrifice, a sense of achievement. He asked the congressmen to take to early-morning rounds in their localities (Prabhat-Pheris) whenever they were required to convey something to the people in general. This was so easy to do. Whenever there were activities like the Dandi Salt March, participating people were required to remain non-violent, not run away in the face of show of force, and to calmly suffer lathi blows whenever lathi-charged. This was the maximum sacrifice they were to suffer. This was well-designed to shame the British in the eyes of the Indian public, as well as in the eyes of the world at large. Another one of the simple programmes Gandhi devised was to first tell and convince the people that going to British jails, in order to fight for independence, is a good thing instead of bad. That this should not be treated as a stigma. So it was all so very convenient for the Congressmen fighters for independence. And it was all so very convenient for the people who flocked to Congress meetings or to Gandhi’s prayer meetings. Devising such unbelievably simple things for the people to do was another master-stroke of the Mahatma. This is how the process of awakening the backward and the downtrodden got on to a steady start. It is obvious that these few things were the basics, but not the content, of the Gandhian independence
movement. For the content, two different kinds of things were required to be looked into. The first was: what shall we do with our independence and the polity once the Britishers are gone? The second was: what we do with the poor, illiterate, orthodox and downtrodden people of a backward society? But before touching upon these questions, let us take a look at Gandhi’s concerns. Gandhi was acutely aware of the Hindu-Muslim question. He knew that the British ever since 1857 have been trying to tear the two communities apart, because they wanted to divide and rule. He wanted friendliness, co-operation, and solidarity among the communities. Even in his prayer meetings, he would use Ishwar and Allah (God) together. Gandhi for the first time persuaded the women to come out of the confines of their households and participate in the independence struggle. Women did come out in good numbers and participated. This had not happened before. Another pressing question was that of the caste system: particularly the question of untouchability. He did go out of his way to mix with the Harijans (untouchables). He even went to stay in their huts and dine with them. As we had seen at the outset, when Gandhi came to India and took stock of Indian social scene and found poverty, illiteracy, lack of confidence and orthodoxy, he decided to stoop to the level of the average Indian and started talking in the poor man’s idiom. Gandhi was a believer and his belief in God went well with orthodox Indians. This on the one hand made Indians flock to him. But it had other consequences as well. It was one thing to ask women to come out to participate in the struggle for Independence, but quite another to bring about social change. Orthodoxy could never prompt social change. So it stopped at that. The prayer meetings that attracted Hindus to Gandhi in large numbers, did not click with the Muslims. It could not have. If an orthodox Muslim
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leader had attracted orthodox Muslims to his meetings, would orthodox Hindus be similarly attracted to it? When Gandhi sided with the existing Hindu social system, the upper caste Hindus identified themselves with him. But the Harijans were disappointed. They saw no way out of the clutches of the oppressive social system. No social change was called for and none happened. Whatever Gandhi wrote and said and did for the upliftment of Harijans was just ignored by the upper caste people including Gandhians. At that time, there was among the people a sentiment against the British Rule. Gandhi identified with their sentiment and the people were with Gandhi. Many a thing other than this, the people ignored. We may now take a look at one of the two questions we posed: the question of social change. The above discussion shows how the Gandhian movement failed to make a lasting impact on the Indian society. It could not have. An orthodox approach could not have released an orthodox society from its age-old orthodoxy and superstitions. This was one of the major inherent contradictions of the Gandhian movement and thought. Let us take a look at the second question raised above: what shall we do with our independence and polity once the Britishers are gone? The fact is no thought was given to it. No preparation was made. This was another inherent contradiction of the movement. It was a monumental lack of foresight and forethought on the part of the Gandhian leadership. India paid dearly for this and continues to pay. Another significant factor Gandhi introduced in the movement was non-violence. Apart from the impacts mentioned above, there was a moral aspect to it. It was introduced to cleanse politics. It showed the importance of the age-old moral dictum that the end does not justify the means. It suggests Gandhi sincerely wanted politics to be governed by moral considerations. 26
On 16 August 1946 the Muslim League’s ‘Direct Action Day’ in Calcutta resulted in unprecedented communal riots. 4000 Hindus and Muslims were slaughtered in four days. Gandhi resorted to Satyagraha and fast unto death in Calcutta and later on in Delhi. When violence spread to Noakhali and Bihar, Ganshi moved fast and effectively. He was able to restore peace and trust. These steps by Gandhi stunned everyone as well as moved everyone- the British, the Hindus, and the Muslims. But these last acts of the Mahatma’s greatness could not reconcile the Hindus and the Muslims, could not avoid partition, and could not avoid the holocaust of the massacres of partition. II Within three years of M.N. Roy’s release from jail, the Second World War broke out. Once the nature of the war became clear to him he said it is not an imperialist war. Roy said it is a war between fascism on one side and Democracies on the other. He said the defeat of the Fascist powers in the war would bring the defeat of the Fascist elements in each country. He also said that with the defeat of the Fascist powers, imperialism would wither away. His prophecy came true when with the end of the war British, French and Dutch imperialisms got liquidated. Soon after the war started Roy had predicted that India would become independent within ten years. He also said that instead of wasting this time period, it should be utilized to prepare ourselves for independence. By the end of 1942, it became clear that the war would end in the defeat of Fascist powers. Thereupon, Roy started thinking in terms of post-war developments in India. He started thinking about the economic and political structure of free India. He and his colleagues, in 1944, prepared a people’s plan for economic development. With an investment of Rs. 15,000 crores over a period of ten years it was to improve agriculture and social
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services. He believed the question of food, clothing and shelter of the poor people is to be tackled first. After a year Roy prepared an outline for India’s political structure. It came in the shape of a draft constitution of free India. He put forth the idea of a Constituent Assembly as well as of economic planning. Things as they happened in the Soviet Union during the war upset Roy. He moved away from Communism/Marxism towards Radical Humanism. Roy was aware of the defects of parliamentary democracy in Europe as well as of the laissez faire dominated economy there. He wanted the people of India to steer clear of these. In 1946 he released the manifesto of New Humanism. “Radical Humanism brought Roy nearer to Gandhi and his school of thought. There were now many similarities among the two. Both accepted the individual as the central point of all social thought and action. Both stood for decentralisation of political and economic power, and both suggested partyless politics for purifying politics. There were, of course, some fundamental differences. Roy was a materialist and nationalist; while Gandhi was a spiritualist and relied more on his “inner voice”. That did not, however, come in the way of working together for some practical ends. Common work of that type developed in later years between the Radical Humanists and the Sarvodaya followers if Gandhiji.” (V.B. Karnik) III Gandhi was pragmatic leader of the movement. He saw the ground realities, saw what needed to be done, realised what leadership was required. He shaped himself just to do that. When he left, India was changed fundamentally but gently. Social system did not change, but women were out. Untouchability was not removed but dalits can publicly abuse Gandhi. Muslims in India are safe and growing in numbers; Hindu minorities in Pakistan are a different story though.
But that could not be the relevance of Gandhi today. Roy was not a man of the masses, nor could he stoop to the level of average Indian. He was not fighting just the British Rule. He was fighting countless centuries or orthodoxy, ignorance, superstition and inertia. He was aiming not just at independence. He was aiming at freedom of the lay Indian. He wanted every Indian to be free politically, economically, socially, culturally and spiritually. He worked and wrote extensively to show how it can be done. Gandhi’s relevance lies in the fact that he brought India to a stage from where it could proceed further. Roy’s relevance lies in showing how and on what lines it could be done. Our relevance lies in understanding this, appreciating this and implementing this. If Roy’s model of economic development is properly implemented today, the 77% of Indians who live below 20 rupees a day level will be able to breathe in comparative prosperity. This need not be done either by removing Capitalist industry, or by doing away with the state enterprises. This can be done in addition to the existing models. If NREGS can co-exist, so can this. Roy’s model of political democracy can check the alienation of the common man. It can apply a break on Maoism, Naxalism, and insurgency. Gandhi’s real life has inspired so many world leaders that he still comes alive whenever issues of discrimination, injustice and exploitation come to the fore. Giants like Gandhi and Roy do not happen everyday. If we, like them, rise above petty considerations and play our part, coming generations will be thankful to us. [Mr. Vinod Jain is President, IRHA. This article,
by him, was first published in World Focus, June 2010, pg. 221-224]
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Teacher’s & Research Scholar’s Section:
Nitish Suri
1990 to 2010 - Democracy fails yet again in Kashmir? January 1990, mass exodus of Kashmiri Inpundits began from Kashmir after there was violent uprising supported by militants from across the border. There were strong anti-India agitations followed by taking up of arms by locals to show their anger against Indian State. Hundreds of Kashmiri pundits were killed. Lakhs fled their homes. It was the biggest failure of Indian democracy. India had also failed to provide adequate security to non-Kashmiris, who were once part of the social fabric of Kashmir. Governor’s rule followed and the bloody uprising didn’t yield any result but deaths and more violence continued. Democracy failed badly in J&K back then. Fed up with no let up in violence, in 2002 elections, people of Kashmir came out of their homes under the fear of guns to cast their votes. This was a good sign of democracy returning to the valley. India got a chance to integrate the common Kashmiri within the mainstream. People kept their faith in governance and Indian democracy. A common kashmiri was fed up of poor governance by previous governments. He came out, defied anti-India voices and with a hope to see a change after the elections, he voted. But unfortunately, the politicians in Kashmir and the centre have failed miserably to deliver ever since. I am ashamed of my faith in Indian democratic setup as far as Kashmir is concerned. Twenty years after that popular violent uprising that changed the political landscape of Kashmir, India still hasn’t learnt the lessons. India has failed on every front. Governance is more important than just elected government. Mistakes done in the past can be undone
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provided you step forward to do it. Politics in Kashmir has not been able to undo the damage caused by years of isolation and alienation of that part of the country. The ongoing unrest in Kashmir is the result of a failure of politics, political courage, conviction and empathy. If Kashmir burns time and again, it is because of politicians in New Delhi and Srinagar who have failed to extend a powerful and convincing political argument to the Kashmiris. Gone are the days when a nation state could demand the undiluted loyalty of its citizens by force and coercion; today, a modern state such as India can command the legitimacy of its citizens only by winning their hearts politically and socially. Today’s agitations are different from 1990’s. The difference is, in 1990 it was the gun which had fascinated people and the popular belief was that azadi was round the corner, whereas this time youth, mostly born in turmoil, are leading the struggle and guns have been replaced by stones. Stones are talking in Kashmir. What common Kashmiri is seeking, is answers from the elected government which seems to be in a chaotic state of affairs today. It’s a déjà vu 1990. Sixty one percent voting in 2008 gave a hope to a common man like me to think that we have overcome the worst phase in Kashmir polity. The moral authority that the state government was yearning for long was finally here. But all that the government could do was continue the scale of rampant corruption, rising unemployment levels in the state, poor governance, poor human rights record. Nothing changed on the ground even after elections. The promises made to the tired common Kashmiri who voted were never filled. Who is to be blamed for this? Undoubtedly, India has failed to deliver. We have failed to consolidate the gains of the successful elections held in Kashmir. Frequent visits by PM and announcing hefty economic packages won’t win hearts. Let us understand that Kashmir’s failure is a failure of politics. No battles are won by the army or the police. They are won in the hearts of people. No battles are won by money. Battles can be won by listening to the hearts and sentiments of the alienated people of Kashmir and working towards providing the kind of governance they want. The irony is that the world is totally different across
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the Pir Panjal. Even people in Jammu are not aware of the real situation in Kashmir leave aside the rest of the country. Various media analysts and commentators look at the present situation from Pakistan’s angle or separatist’s angle. I don’t rule out their involvement in this but we must understand that such huge agitations are impossible without anger in the hearts of common man. How far will we keep on blaming Pakistan or Hurriyat for our failures to deliver good governance in the state? Today the protesters on the streets, apart from the teenagers, are educated doctors and MBAs, frustrated at the lack of employment and economic opportunities. It is not hard to see where the frustration of the educated Kashmiri youth comes from. On the one hand, they are told that they are Indian citizens but they see themselves left behind by the real growing economic power. The agitation has today reached Facebook and social networking sites. It is no longer restricted to the streets of Kashmir. The youth, who has grown up in the sounds of bullets is asking for them to be heard. Central government can no more turn blind eye to the alienation of the common Kashmiri. Though I do consider the role of some anti-national elements in instigating the violence but I am more than convinced that the real problem is not them but the long standing policies of government of India towards the region. Kashmir has failed politics. It has bad quality politicians be it separatists or mainstream, who have failed to sense the heart of Kashmir. Each of these parties is indulging in petty politics.
India unfortunately has become the biggest example of a country that boasts itself of being the biggest democracy but has failed to provide the same in a state called by many as the crown of India. The crown is simmering today. Children who should be in schools are living under the fear of curfews and news of killings every single day. The anger is rising with each passing moment. It gives a scary picture of Kashmir. Indian government has to act with compassion not gun. A political solution has to be arrived at but at the same time, listen to the common man. He doesn’t want azadi or self-determination. What he wants is a good living. He wants good life for the generation who has only seen violence. Once the youth who is pelting stones today gets the job that he deserves, the situation will start improving. Woodrow Wilson once said “The seed of revolution is repression”. It’s the hearts that have to be healed and won. Coercion isn’t the right way...Negotiation is!
Mr.Nitish Suri is an Engineer by profession and is part of the corporate sector for the last three years. He is presently dedicating his full time to study social sciences including Sociology and Public governance. He is a voice from Jammu. He is presently based out of Delhi for sometime. He keeps a close watch on the social and political issues concerning the country and gives a critical perspective and analysis. He is more vocal on the foreign policy affairs and J&K affairs. He is a freelance writer and a researcher. (nitish.suri@gmail.com)
Dear Friends, Please do not send articles beyond 1500-2000 words. Also, inform me whether they have been published elsewhere. And, please try to email them at rheditor@gmail.com instead of sending them by post. You may post them (only if email is not possible) at C-8 Defence Colony, Meerut, 250001, U.P., India. Do also email your passport size photographs as separate attachments (in JPG format) as well as your small introduction, if you are contributing for the first time. Please feel free to contact me at 91-9719333011 for any other querry. —Rekha Saraswat
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JugalKishore
“Dis-Aster” Management Should Be More Scientific “If sufficient number of management layers are superimposed on top of each, it can be assured that disaster is not left to chance" —Norman R Augustine he word “Disaster” has its origin from French word “Desastre” or Italian ‘disastro’ which is a combination of two words ‘des’ meaning bad and ‘aster’ meaning star. Originally it has come from Latin dis+astrum or Greek ‘astron’ means star. Thus, the term refers to ‘bad star’ or an ‘evil star’. It comes from astrological theme in which ancients used to refer destruction of star as disaster. They used to believe that a catastrophe occurred due to “evil influence of a star or planet”. Disasters were seen by Romans as manifestations of Divine disapproval. Even today in most parts of the world, disasters are often linked with multitude of irrational explanations. A recent instance has been Haiti earthquake that struck in January 2010. It was viewed as an invisible man in the sky who wants to punish Haiti for an alleged pact made with an invisible red satyr over 200 years ago. Why there was an earthquake in Haiti is a question for geologists and not astrologists. Interesting thing is that in scientific world when we know most of the reasoning of such natural and un-natural events, people are happy to call them as disasters. Scientifically speaking disaster is not at all related to any stars’ influence. It is defined as “an occurrence that causes damage, ecological disruption, loss of human life, deterioration of
T
health and health services on a scale sufficient to warrant an extraordinary response from outside the affected community or area.” Then why should we call it disaster. It gives the impression to the public that scientific world still believe in supernatural things. It is more scientific to term it as catastrophe or calamity and there is natural catastrophe and human-made catastrophe. From the definition of disaster we are indicating that it is the event which has produced serious injuries and damage to the human being and environment. A catastrophe is a result from the combination of hazard, vulnerability and insufficient capacity or measures to reduce the potential chances of risk. It occurs when a hazard lays its impact on the vulnerable population and causes damage, casualties and disruption. Disasters are older than human civilization but the impact of disaster has been on the rise the world over. Population explosion, rapid urbanization and industrialization across the world has led to people living in habitats that are hazardous and vulnerable to natural disasters, and on the other hand, they have led to unsustainable pressures on resources causing the erosion of natural ecological balance, both of which have intensified the frequency of occurrence as well as damage caused by natural disasters. Considering the rampant increase in occurrence of disasters, it has become a concern of national and international importance. India is particularly prone to both natural and human-made catastrophes due to its vulnerability to hazards. 59% of total land area is prone to earthquakes of moderate to high intensity while 12% of total landmass is exposed to floods every year. 68% of cultivable area is prone to drought. Hilly regions are also vulnerable to avalanches/landslides/hailstorms/cloudbursts. India has a very long coastline. Out of which approximately 5700 Km is prone to cyclones and Tsunamis. Different types of human-made hazards keep occurring due to lack of adequate catastrophe preparedness and low level of awareness about them.
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Due to growing impact of natural catastrophe, UN adopted the Yokohama Strategy in 1994 which laid guidelines for Natural Disaster Prevention, Preparedness and Mitigation and its Plan in order to establish a safer world. India has also become a signatory to “Hyogo Framework 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nation and Communities to Disasters”. In an attempt to build safe and disaster resilient India, Disaster Management Act was passed in 2005. There has been paradigm shift in thinking and focus from ‘reactive disaster response and relief centric approach’ to ‘holistic approach towards prevention, preparedness, mitigation, for an effective and prompt response.’ The shift stresses on an ‘all hazard’ disaster management multi-sectoral/multidisciplinary approach—all aspects of Disaster Management cycle. Various disaster mitigation and preparedness initiatives have been taken by Government of India, with this approach in mind, namely: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has been set up. It is the apex body that lays down policies and guidelines for prevention, mitigation and preparedness. A disaster management authority at state and district level. National Institute of Disaster Management came into existence on 16th Oct, 2003 which is working for human resource development in the area of disaster mitigation and management. A community based, UNDP supported Disaster Risk Management Program has been initiated since 2002, in 169 multi-hazard risk prone districts of 17 states including Delhi. Urban Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction Project has been started which is aimed at strengthening capacities of communities, urban local bodies and the administration in mitigation, preparedness and response in 38 cities located in Seismic Zones 3, 4 or 5, with more than half a million population. National Cyclone risk mitigation Project (2004-2010) with World Bank assistance is
covering all 13 cyclone prone coastal & island States/ UTs. National Programmes for Capacity Building of Engineers and Architects in Earthquake Risk Management have been started in 2004 by Ministry of Home Affairs to ensure seismically safe construction by training of 10,000 practicing engineers & 10,000 practicing architects in all states. Disaster management has been included in curriculum of middle and secondary school education, MBBS curriculum & Engineering Curriculum. A national disaster mitigation fund has been made. Revision of Bureau of Indian Standards codes relevant for multi-hazard resistant design and construction. Retrofitting & detailed evaluation of lifeline buildings located in seismically vulnerable zones, is being done. Mitigation is being mainstreamed into Rural Development Schemes such as Indira Awas Yojna etc. Nationwide flood forecasting and warning system has been developed by Central Water Commission. Ministry of Forests has started review of sites, programmes for mangrove plantation, wide awareness generation campaigns regarding hazards. Toll free number 1070 has also begun for information on disasters. A nationwide electronic inventory has been developed by Ministry of Home Affairs, which is called as India Disaster Response Network. IDRN lists the equipment - by type and by its functions and gives the contact details of the controlling officer in-charge. Various guidelines pertaining to different natural and man made disasters have been released including CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiation and Nuclear) disasters.
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These and many more initiatives notwithstanding, India still remains one of the most severely and seriously affected countries in the world due to natural and man made disasters. This fact alone calls for serious rethinking and revaluation of our disaster management policies and approaches, most of which are ‘only documented but never practiced’. At most levels, focus of the Government machinery in India has been on rescue and relief operations only. This is mainly due to lack of planning and preparedness. There is general perception that disaster is a God’s act, an unforeseen event and we can do nothing about it. It is imperative for the administration and governing authorities to provide for setting up of a comprehensive and effective catastrophe (disaster) management apparatus. Willingness to channelize substantial financial resources and ability to learn
from the experiences of the past natural events (disasters) is very important in current scenario. People are the ones who are going to face the catastrophe and they should be the ones to be empowered by correct knowledge so that fear or hopelessness is not created. When it is the act of God then believers will not do something concrete to prevent it. They will restore to worship or prayer everyday to the GOD asking not to curse or show his/her anger over them. Whole event should be put forward in more scientific perspective so that people understand their role in prevention and control of natural and self made catastrophes. [Dr. Tanu Anand, Resident and Dr. Jugal Kishore, Professor, are both in the Dept. of Comm. Medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi. Dr. Jugal Kishore is also the executive director of Center for Inquiry, India.]
Important Announcement
Encyclopedia of the Radical Humanists To be loaded on the RH Website (http://www.theradicalhumanist.com) Dear Friends, This is to request you to send in your personal details, contact numbers etc. (along with your passport size photographs) as well as a brief account of how you got associated with M.N. Roy/Radical Democratic Party/Radical Humanist Movement directly or indirectly through the philosophy of New Humanism. This is also a request to all those friends, whose deceased parent/parents were involved in or were sympathetic with Radical Humanism and its Movement, to send in accounts of their parent’s/parents’ association (as much as they can recollect and recount). This will be a loving and emotional tribute to their memories from your side. All this effort is being made to form an encyclopedia of the Radical Humanists right from the days of the beginning of M.N. Roy’s social and political activities in India and abroad. All this information will be uploaded and permanently stored on the RH Website in the Profile section for everyone to read and come in contact with one another. This will a historical check-list to connect with all the crusaders who worked or are still working for the human cause on the humanist lines.
—Rekha Saraswat
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Book Review Section: [BOOK: Girls and Girlhoods at Threshold of Youth and Gender-A Vacha Initiative Editor: Vibhuti Patel, The Women Press, Delhi, pp/ xxv 480, Price: 1595. Reviewed by Ms. Sakshi Goyal, Rachna Amarnani and Guruvaishnavi] contribution, the editor Inandthisthevoluminous contributors have so succinctly brought out the different aspects of Girlhood. It is so nicely articulated in the foreword of the book that “Girlhood is seldom considered as an important phase in itself in India”. Chapter 1 on “The adolescent Girl in India” by Sonal Shukla and Pradnya Swargaonkar reflects why a girl always stays behind in comparison to a boy further leading to the disadvantaged position of the women in all institutes of national life. The chapter starts with a historical background of the adolescent girl in India showing her marked absence. It emphasises on Phulmani Dasi case that resulted into a national level controversy in the pre-independence period regarding ‘age of consent’ and led to the raising of marriageable age of girls This chapter is a journey which takes us through the reasons of disadvantaged position of a girl in the society like female infanticide, child Marriage, ill health, malnutrition, myths about menstruations, nutritional deficiencies, and low levels of education, perceived notions and violence against women as a result of which girls face a systematic disadvantage over a long range of human development indicators including health, nutrition, labour force participation, and the burden of household tasks. It brings out an important cause i.e. no consensus on “who is an adolescent girl” that result into absence of specific policies and invisibility of girls in statistics and indicators. Girls are bracketed with women, children and youth. Under myths about menstruation, the authors aver “Women employed in pickles business do not stop
working during menstruation but belief about pollution survives.” It so shows on one side according to the myth pickles will get spoilt even if her shadow falls on it and on the other side just because you want cheap labour, you are making her work during menstruations also. Then don’t the marketed pickles get spoilt? The chapter brings out the importance of girls’ education and how lack of education deprives girls and then consequently women of self confidence, self esteem and choices to live meaningful life. There is a need beyond primary education and simple facilities like clean toilets, potable drinking water and quality of teaching in order to avoid dropout rates of girls. There is a need for affirmative action by not only by the state but also by voluntary organisations, NGOs and the society at large. Special programmes like Masum in Pune district, Bal Kishori of Vacha in Mumbai, Jagori in Delhi and Sidhbari and Shaishav in Bhavnagar are replicable. Chapter 2 by Ms. Prabha Tirmare has emphasised the need to introspect factors responsible in upbringing of girl child to ascertain her identity and status in society. It shows how from early childhood itself girl children are taught behaviour pattern which leads to gender stereotyping. A girl child has not only to sit, stand, walk, talk, eat and sleep in a certain way but has also to express her feelings of joy and happiness, sadness, frustration and anger in a typical way. By following this typical process of socialization, that conveys that boys are supreme, girls are made into subordinate beings. The chapter throws light on the torments a girl child faces in form of sexual abuse, foeticide, infanticide, selling them for prostitution, devdasi system, dowry deaths, etc. It reasons the existence of such practices that these are accepted by the masses with questioning their origin and purpose. It sarcastically captions child marriage as “Little wives little mother.” It brings out hard hitting statistics that every 6th death is due to gender discrimination. In a country like India where girl is considered an embodiment of Goddess Lakshmi, there are practices like selling of girls to foreign
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buyers. If this continues the day is not far when India will be a poor country. If our country cannot respect women, you think any nation will respect us.The chapter reinstates the fact that the work of girls is usually invisible because it is located in the domestic sphere. It makes a beautiful compilation of factors in the process of Socialization of girl child as 10 Fs, Formative Factors: Feudal Societies, Families and Shelter, Foods, Formal Educations, Fashion, Clothing and ornaments, Fairies and other tales, Folk songs, Festivals, Fun Games and Films. It brings out the micro and macro level reforms made to improve the status of the girl child. It concludes by stating that in the modern world, there is a need to develop youth as equal human beings without any discrimination and for this the recipe needed is “ without finding the sex, dress them in pink and blue, give them doll and mecheno, teach them humanity, teach them to protect themselves from the oddity, boost their confidence.” Chapter 3 by Ms. Cynthia Stephen talks about the commitment of the government to the girl child. It starts the chapter with an important outcome from the census showing that the girl children in India show a tendency to become endangered species. It shows girl child in macro level policy like Beijing Platform for Action (PFA), CEDAW, United Nations declaration on Rights of the Child, etc. It covers the constitutional provisions for girl child in Indian Legal framework.It shows that though Gender has been mainstreamed at the policy level at the centre and efforts at gender budgeting is visible even at the state and district level in certain states; but resistance to bills relating to women in parliament, existing violence against women, etc show lack of proactive implementation by the state. It supplements the chapter by a compilation of relevant extracts from official reports in connection with the issues of the girl child. The chapter emphasises on the moral and constitutional obligation of the government to its future citizens and especially to the most valuable human resource: the vulnerable and precious girl child, who will carry the future of the country in their very 34
bodies. Further in Chapter 4 by Dr. Daksha Dave talks about Declining Sex Ratio in India. It shows the trends on declining sex ratio across census years and different states. The data is conclusive of the fact that Sex ratio in India is adverse to women. It very well highlights the socio cultural factors like: son mania, female foeticides, female infanticide, change in sex ratio at birth and low levels of female literacy; as the reasons for declining sex ratio in India. It further brings attention to the consequences and makes recommendations to bring about improvement in the existing situation. The drop in child sex ratio is a reflection of the worsening status of women in our country. Time has arrived to declare a crusade against all these above factors, both on individual and collective level, to stop elimination of unborn daughters only because of their sex. China as a result of its policy of only one child per couple to control population today is facing problem as the proportion of young population is less. If Indian society continues to prefer boy to girl child then the day is not far where there will not be sufficient girls to marry boys. But the irony of the situation is that it is the women and girls only who have to face the consequence of it in form of increased violence against them. Chapter 5 titled “Education and Health of girl child in Urban India” by Prof. Dr. Vibhuti Patel reveals that in India, compared to their male counterparts, girls are statistically less in number, less educated, less healthy and are more vulnerable to neglect, exploitation and abuse. The chapter brings out the disappointing fact that the girl child is perceived as a burden to be passed on to another family. Important contribution of the chapter is that to HIV AIDS and STD among girls. In our country millions of adolescents live or work on street, and many are forced to sell sex under extremely barbaric and unhygienic conditions that increase their exposure to STDs. Chapter 6 by Dr. Dolly Sunny talks about one of the most formidable problem i.e. of Child labour in
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India. It defines and gives the interstate disparities of child labour in India. It categorises the reasons for child labour into demand side and supply side factors. In the sphere of Girl child, the chapter makes an important contribution under the head of sex discrimination in child labour. Male child labour is preferred to female child labour, since male children are considered to be stronger. Girls are engaged in low paid or no wage unskilled jobs which do not necessarily lead to skill formation that may help in enhancing future productivity.The chapter throws light on the negative effects of child labour. It has adverse effects on the career and health of children and hence it endangers the human resource development and prosperity of the country. It covers the measures of protection from exploitation and beautifully concludes by lines of Nobel Prize winning poet, Gabrial Mistral of Chile who rightly puts it- “we are guilty of many faults, but our worst crime is abandoning the children, neglecting the foundation of life. Many of things we need can wait. The child cannot. Right now is the time his bones are being formed, his blood being made and his sense being developed. To him, we cannot answer, ‘Tomorrow’; his name is ‘Today’. Rekha K. Talmaki in Chapter 7 titled “Trafficking of Tribal Girl Child” defines Trafficking and brings to the fore an extremely distressing fact that the percentage and intensity of trafficking is quite high among tribal girls between the age group of 12 to 18. For the convenience and better understanding of readers it categorises intensity of trafficking in different stages. Upto Chapter 7, the book covers the profile of an adolescent girl and how her upbringing determines her identity and status in society. It talks about Government’s contribution towards girl child. It covers issues like declining sex ratio, education and health of girl child. It throws light on emerging issues like Child labour and Trafficking of tribal girl child. Chapter 8, titled as “Existence in Shadows : Women and Disability” by Prerna Sharma focuses on disability. Each form of disability is to an
extreme extent of agony suffered. It is believed that disability is caused because of past Karma and is considered as a “Punishment” for the sins committed in the past lives. It runs parallel to social attitudes like pity, avoidance, fear and discrimination to misconceptions, myths and stigma. Attachment of stereotype to it, marginalization of people with the disability from mainstream to societal organization is inevitable. Thus, their voices unheard and they entrusted with secondary and tertiary positions within their own family. World of silence and isolation is what they have and become one of the minority sections. Denial of equal opportunities and basic human rights, perceived as inferior, incapable, inadequate, a drain on family resources and costly for the society to maintain is the society’s stereotypical and prejudiced opinion. Persons with disabilities possess the same attributes like each of us. And whichever faculties they miss out, they compensate it with others, but yes not naturally as it is commonly believed but by sincerely working hard and developing it. Clichéd as it may sound that women form the ‘marginal component’ of society vis-à-vis disabled women who are more marginalized. Ironically, not only the able bodied women are part of this marginalization of disabled women, but also the disabled men. The neglect of these women is to an extent that no reliable data is available with regard to their number and this is more evident in the developing countries. Personal thanks to Ms Sharma for having touched this untouched issue. She highlights how disabled women and girls face more discrimination than disabled men and boys within the family in terms of health care, education, training, employment, income generation opportunities and exclusion from community activities. Chapter 9, “Conditions of female children in Orissa (With Special Reference to Ganjam District)” by Dr. Krishna Chandra Pradhan gives a detailed report on the statuses of the women and girl child. One of the basic features of this report is that Dr. Pradhan has taken into account the previous studies
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on the status of women that have been done by various scholars and then aims at adding a new dimension to the existing literature vis–a–vis exploitation of female child, involvement of girls in sex trade and health hazards and discriminatory treatment. The research is mainly confined to the Ganjam district in Orissa. He has selected three blocks named Aska, Kodala and Khalikote. Each of these blocks comprises of three villages each. The selection of sample villages has been done by simple random sample technique. The data collection methods used were the schedules, questionnaires and personal interviews. The author has been successful in highlighting major issues that girls face i.e. Child labour, prejudice against female child, child prostitution and exploitation and run-away girl child. The description about the reasons of the burgeoning trend in child prostitution is clearly explained. Children are believed to be free of Aids and venereal diseases, hence their demand is high. It is also astounding to know that the birth of a female child is welcomed by a prostitute because she is the source of security for her mother and a definite source of income. The author emphasizes that “Education of female child is simply the means to their empowerment and it is the key to overcoming oppressive customs that have relegated girl child as second class citizens”. The in depth study of the sample villages are also very comprehensive and can be used as a reference at the time of framing of policies. Last but not the least, the mention of the fact that active participation of all men and women, community based organizations rather the entire nation and the government together should join hands together to improve the status of women instead of just expecting the government to do it, is quite practical. Blaming the patriarchal system for idealizing a woman as a fashion model is not appropriate if we are talking about this era. In this era, women who are models are by their own choice and women desire to look good for themselves and not particularly because they want to be ‘decorative
ornaments’. Chapter 10 on “Sibling Abuse: A study of Sibling Interactions in Family Setting” by Dr. N. Indira Rani and Dr. N. Komali Salomi conveys that the words ‘abuse’ and ‘child abuse’ have been repeated in our day to day lives umpteen number of times. But the concept of ‘sibling abuse’ is relatively new and untouched. The authors believe that this segment of abuse has almost consistently been ignored. Thus, the main aim of the study is to explore the nature and different forms of abuse between siblings in urban families. Methodology used to conduct the study is selection of a sample and semi-structured interview schedules. For the better understanding of the readers, the authors have defined sibling abuse under three heads. First, emotional abuse which is nothing but teasing, name calling, belittling, ridiculing, intimidating, annoying, provoking, destruction of property, rejecting, terrorizing, isolating, corrupting and denying emotional responsiveness. This type of abuse frequently occurs and is believed to be more mentally destructive than any other form of sibling abuse. Second, is physical abuse which ranges from hitting, biting, slapping, shoving, and punching to more life threatening acts such as choking and shooting. Physical abuse is considered to be the most under reported and least understood of all forms of family violence. Last, is the sexual abuse which includes unwanted touching, indecent exposure, intercourse, rape or sodomy between siblings. The findings of the study conducted are a clear proof that sibling abuse persists in almost all families. It is quite interesting to know that name calling is generally focused on some attribute of the victim like height, weight etc. And it was found that despite the fact that parental support was sought, the problem mostly remained unsolved. Acceptance by the respondents about the fact that the abuse affects their lives as adults is also intriguing. Contd.....
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Humanist News Section: I Indian Renaissance Instiute, New Delhi—General Body Meeting Minutes of the meeting of the General body of The Indian Renaissance held on 27th June, 2010 at Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi. A meeting of the General body of the Indian Renaissance Institute was held at Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi on 27th June, 2010. Following members participated: B.D. Sharma, N.D. Pancholi, Narottam Vyas, Rekha Saraswat, Ajit Bhattacharya, Vikramjeet Sikand, Vinod Jain, U.R. Mohnot, S.R. Mukherjee, Debobrata Pal, Subhankar Ray, Gautam Thaker, Following were present as special invitees: Deveshwar Prasad, Swmi Manavatavadi, Mahipal Singh, Krishan Murti Shri B.D.Sharma, President, presided over the meeting. Agenda 1: Confirmation of the minutes of the last general body meeting of the Institute held on 26th July, 2009: Minutes of the last General Body meeting of the Indian Renaissance Institute held on 26th July, 2009 held at New Delhi were read by N.D. Pancholi, Secretary and the same were confirmed. Agenda 2: Presentation and consideration of the Secretary’s Report: N.D. Pancholi, Secretary, made a report of the activities of the Institute and the same was considered and approved. Agenda 3: Status of the court case regarding 13 Mohini Road pending at Dehradun and Uttaranchal High Court: N.D. Pancholi informed about the status of the court case regarding 13 Mohini Road, Dehradun. He informed that the case was decided in favour of the Institute at the trial court at Dehradun but an appeal is pending in the Uttaranchal High Court against the decision of the trial court and one of the grandsons of late S.N. Puri has been pursuing the 37
appeal. He informed that the dates are being fixed for final hearing but the opposite party has been taking adjournments of the case on one pretext or the other. Now the next date was fixed for 12th July, 2010. It was decided that if the case was not heard on 12th July, 2010, the counsel of the Institute would be advised to file application in the High Court praying for early disposal of the case. It was further decided that the Institute should wait till December, 2010 in this regard. Agenda 4. The publication of “The Radical Humanist” and how to make it financially viable and fruitful for the radical humanist movement: Shri Pancholi informed that financial condition of the Radical Humanist, monthly journal, was not sound and that an appeal for donations had been issued and there was some response to the same. It was decided to raise the subscriptions of the journal in the following manner: Annual subscription: Rs. 200/Subscription for two years: Rs. 350/Subscription for three years: Rs. 500/Life subscription: Rs. 2,000/Annual subscription in other countries than India (Air Mail) $ 100/- GBP: 75/The aforesaid rates will be effective from July, 2010. It was decided to approach DAVP and other establishments for advertisements, donations and subscriptions. Agenda 5. Publication of the Humanist Literature and M.N. Roy’s Selected Works: Shri Subhankar Ray informed that the manuscript of the Fifth Volume of the Selected Works shall be sent soon to Delhi office from Kolkata. Shri Vinod Jain suggested that a complete list of books written by M.N. Roy should be prepared and it should be found out as to which books are available and which are not. Efforts should be made to republish the works of M.N. Roy which are not available in print.
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Shri Narottam Vyas suggested that all the available annual M.N. Roy Memorial Lectures should be published in one book. Shri Gautam Thaker suggested that the brochure / pamphlet containing the formation, aims/objects and past activities of the Institute should be updated. It was decided to make efforts in the suggested directions. Agenda 6. Other programmes and activities: Shri U.R.Mohnot suggested that next M.N. Roy Memorial Lecture and the meeting of the General Body of the Institute should be held at Jaipur. It was decided that office bearers will take appropriate decision in this regard. It was further decided that efforts should be made to hold study camps/seminars at difference places in India. Agenda 7. Any other matter with permission of the chair. No other matter was suggested. The meeting ended with thanks to the chair. 24th August, 2010 N.D. Pancholi Secretary II Book Release BOOK: Evelyn Trent Alias Shanti Devi Written by Innaiah Narisetti is in Google books. Interested readers may download. It is in a documentary form. Following is the link: http://books.google.com/books?id=z0equzw_uS 4C&pg=PA35&lpg=PA35&dq=diven+meridet h+innaiah+picture&source=bl&ots=rQRSKO8 OOI&sig=msqpsUJKptTBMoI00DEpElvR0E Q&hl=en&ei=MQlvTP3LJMThnQe1m_mgCA &sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1 &ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false III Trinity’s Secularism Institute to Sponsor International Essay Competition
Graduate Students in India are eligible to participate. HARTFORD, Conn. – The Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture (ISSSC) at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, is sponsoring an essay competition for graduate students in India on the topic: “Secularism in the world today: Challenges and prospects.” Applicants may submit an original essay of up to 2,000 words that explores the topic with respect to political secularism (principled separation of government and religion); personal secularity (the absence or rejection of religion at the personal level); and/or secularization (the phenomenon of formally instituted or organically increasing secularism or secularity) in one or more contemporary societies. The essay, which must be submitted no later than October 31, 2010, may consist of conceptual or theoretical explorations; analyses of particular countries; and social, political or historical trends. The focus is on intellectual insight and scholarly excellence rather on opinion or advocacy. The reviewers will be looking for originality, insight, cogency of argument, clarity of exposition and strength of evidence. The winner of the competition will be awarded $500 US. In addition, essays considered to be worthy of Honorable Mention will be published on the ISSSC Web site. The runners-up will receive book prizes of ISSSC publications. Those eligible to participate include any student who is currently enrolled in a program of study leading to an advanced degree in an accredited institution of higher learning. The student may be enrolled in any field of study and each applicant may enter only one submission. There is no cost to the student. The winners, who will be selected by a review committee consisting of Trinity College faculty and ISSSC fellows, will be announced in January 2011. Nonpartisan and multidisciplinary, the ISSSC was established in 2005 to advance understanding of the forms and roles of political secularism and personal secularity around the world.
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The essay competition was endorsed by Indian public intellectual Dr Meera Nanda, a Research Associate of ISSSC and author of The God Market, Random House (India) 2009. “Secularism is the glue that binds modern India together. I can’t
imagine a subject more worthy of serious reflection from young scholars.” For additional information, please contact: Secularism.essay@trincoll.edu
AN APPEAL For Donation to The Radical Humanist The Radical Humanist, a monthly journal devoted to the values of freedom, democracy and human rights, is now in financial difficultly, since its income has been reduced materially because of the sharp fall the rate of interest in recent years. The journal was started in 1937 by the late revolutionary leader M.N. Roy as a weekly called Independent India. After India became independent, its name was changed into The Radical Humanist. It became a monthly in 1971. The journal has been published regularly since 1937, a period of 73 years. At present Dr. Rekha Saraswat is its editor. We earnestly appeal to you for financial help to this valuable journal by either becoming a life subscriber or giving a generous donation. The life subscription is Rs. 1500.00 Cheques should be issued in the name of Indian Renaissance Institute and be sent to the following address : “Indian Renaissance Institute B.D. Sharma Ch.111, Supreme Court, New Delhi” Yours Sincerely B.D. Sharma Chairman
N.D. Pancholi Secretary Indian Renaissance Institute A-12, Neeti Bagh, New Delhi – 110049
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Letter to the Editor: 9 August 2010
Respected Madam, This has reference to a forward by Lord Bhikhu Patel (Book-collected works of Prof. Raojibhai Patel) published in July 2010 issue of RH, page no.36 where he has observed ‘Roy not only failed to lead a political movement after independence but even associated himself with the subsequently discredited committee for cultural freedom’. I categorically denounce that Roy ever associated with the committee of cultural freedom. It is a blatant lie. In fact, some of the senior Radical Humanists thought to be Roy’s failure to recognize the great evil that communism was and therefore he refused to be on the American side. To this, in letter to late Shri V.B.Karnik, Roy wrote ‘meanwhile I can assure you that I have not come to regard communism as the lesser evil. I will fight it in my own way but not in the company with other evil’. (This letter is preserved in MNR Archives) Another blatant lie on the same page is ‘Roy’s followers actively defended Capitalism and American policy in Vietnam’. Radical Humanist right from the day Roy set his foot on the Indian soil, were the greatest critic of capitalism and mercilessly exposed the inadequacy of capitalism and explicitly said that it can exist only by debasing and dehumanizing man of flesh
and blood. Our thesis ten is very clear ‘_ _ _ economic democracy is no more possible in the absence of political democracy than the latter is in the absence of the former’. In fact, late Shri Tarkunde developed in depth the possibility of cooperative economy to replace capitalist economy, only conducive to the growth of free democracy. About American policy, Radical Humanist had consistently maintained military action would never contain the spread of communism. Radical Humanists were always the greatest critic of American foreign policy. I know Prof. Raojibhai Patel very intimately. I had stayed with him at his professor’s quarters in Vadodara. My impression is, at times he is more emotional than Radical. He was also a follower of Roy for number of years. I do not know how he became the appreciator of communist manifesto of Marx, i.e. communism practiced by Stalin. Personally he was a lovable human being. It was a great loss to humanist movement when he deviated from humanist movement. Yours sincerely Ramesh Korde [Address: R.V. Korde, L/21, Satellite Park, Jodhpur Cahr Rasta, B/h Star India Bazar, Ahmedabad – 380015, Phone No.: (079) 26745389, Mobile no. 09879545389]
Read
NAV MANAV a bi-monthly in Hindi, for Humanist & Renascent Thought To subscribe: Contact Mr. Ugamraj Mohnot at: D-98 A, Krishna Marg, Bapu Nagar, Jaipur-15, Raj. Ph. 91-141-2621275 40
RNI No. 43049/8
Post Office Regd. No.Meerut-146-2009-2011 to be posten 2nd of every monthd o at H.P.O.Meerut Cant5
RENAISSANCE PUBLISHERS PRIVATE LIMITED 15, Bankim Chatterjee Street (2nd floor), Kolkata: 700 073, Mobile: 9831261725 NEW FROM RENAISSANCE By SIBNARAYAN RAY Between Renaissance and Revolution-Selected Essays: Vol. I- H.C.350.00 In Freedom’s Quest: A Study of the Life and Works of M.N. Roy: Vol.Ill Part-I H.C.250.00 Against the Current - H.C.350.00 By M.N. ROY Science and Superstition - H.C.125.00 AWAITED OUTSTANDING PUBLICATIONS By RABINDRANATH TAGORE & M.N. ROY Nationalism - H.C.150.00 By M.N. ROY The Intellectual Roots of Modern Civilization - H.C.150.00 The Russian Revolution - P.B.140.00 The Tragedy of Communism - H.C.180.00 From the Communist Manifesto - P.B.100.00 To Radical Humanism - H.C.140.00 Humanism, Revivalism and the Indian Heritage - P.B. 140.00 By SIVANATH SASTRI A History of The Renaissance in Bengal —Ramtanu Lahiri: Brahman & Reformer H.C.180.00 By SIBNARAYAN RAY Gandhi, Gandhism and Our Times (Edited) - H.C.200.00 The Mask and The Face (Jointly Edited with Marian Maddern) - H.C.200.00 Sane Voices for a Disoriented Generation (Edited) - P.B. 140.00 From the Broken Nest to Visvabharati - P.B.120.00 The Spirit of the Renaissance - P.B.150.00 Ripeness is All - P.B. 125.00 By ELLEN ROY From the Absurdity to Creative Rationalism - P.B. 90.00 By V. M. TARKUNDE Voice of A Great Sentinel - H.C.175.00 By SWARAJ SENGUPTA Reflections - H.C 150.00 Science, Society and Secular Humanism - H.C. 125.00 By DEBALINA BANDOPADHYAY The Woman-Question and Victorian Novel - H.C. 150.00
Published and printed by Mr. N.D. Pancholi on behalf of Indian Renaissance Institute at 1183, Chatta Madan Gopal Maliwada, Chandni Chawk, Delhi, 110006 Printed by Nageen Prakashan Pvt. Ltd., W. K. Road, Meerut, 250002 Editor-Dr. Rekha Saraswat, C-8, Defence Colony, Meerut, 250001