The Right To Bigotry

Tahmed

You have done this on several occasions. Have I ever misrepresented you? ``Just forget about it`` is a hardly an apology and it`s a disappointment that you are unwilling to demonstrate an integrity and civility, you so often call on others to demonstrate.

shammi #148 The chicken that the generals` sent to Afghanistan and Kashmir have indeed come home to roost.

hobbes #151 I was giving you the benefit of the doubt, not apologizing. This is what you had written about the brutal killing of three nurses in Pakistan, and wounding of others: ``We`re all with you on that one Ana - that`s not us, or at least, not most of us. This isn`t about Muslims or Christians or Parsees or martians - it`s about creating problems for Mr. Musharraf`s government.

Read the last part, and that clearly is an excuse for that brutal act of terrorism against a group of female nurses. Despite this, I accepted you at your word when you said this is not what you meant. Given the spirit in which you have treated my response, I think I will take back the benefit of the doubt. I can only say I am appalled at this response, and was deluding myself in thinking that you regretted your response (about which the less said the better) to this murder.

Tahmed

I have had it with you. My writing and my opinion need not conform to your idea of what is to be said and how it is be said - Keep your reserve and I will keep mine.

Ladies and gentlemen

``re: ylh

...bleat, bleat, bleat, o great descendent of the prophet.....``

There you have it. Those who bet on Rsaxena`s mention of the Prophet won hands down. I am surprised at the sheer monotony of these petty insults ... no creativity.

-YLH

ana,

``kya rhetoric jhara hai tum ne.yes, Musharraf must definitely take a firmer stand on the increasing violence against women and minorities.``

Sorry to see that you are so cynical, but I don`t blame you. I have a very vivid self interest when I say what I say and what seems to you to be simply rhetoric... My self interest is to see my country succeed, and in order to do so, the minorities of Pakistan have to succeed... Pakistani christians have played a great role in fields of education, health, armed forces, and more recently sports.. they are the best Pakistanis there are and their success is Pakistan`s success... Whenever Pakistanis like those nurses die, a part of me dies. And if you think this rhetoric, its your fault.

Please take it out of your head that I would say anything to please you. What happened that day and before that, and what happened to Ayub Masih, and that Bishop who committed suicide, and that young boy who was sentenced to death for blasphemy... are of great concern to me. You wrote about Jinnah`s 11th August speech `Those words are as dead now as he is.` Well that is precisely the reason why people like Ardeshir Cowasjee keep reminding the nation of those historic words (and they were not the only words by the way)... I will repeat those words, and many will join in, until the entire Pakistani society becomes a vehicle of change...



As Does COWASJEE... So DO I...

``No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you. We are victims of evil customs. It is a crime against humanity that our women are shut up within the four walls of their houses as prisoners. There is no sanction anywhere for the deplorable conditions in which our women have to live. You should take your women along with you as comrades in every sphere of life.`` (1944)

``The new state would be a modern democratic state with sovereignty resting in the people and the members of the new nation having equal rights of citizenship regardless of their religion, caste or creed.``(May 1947)

``Minorities DO NOT cease to be citizens. Minorities living in Pakistan or Hindustan do not cease to be citizens of their respective states by virtue of their belonging to particular faith, religion or race. I have repeatedly made it clear, especially in my opening speech to the constituent Assembley, that the minorities in Pakistan would be treated as our citizens and will enjoy all the rights as any other community. Pakistan SHALL pursue this policy and do all it can to create a sense of security and confidence in the Non-Muslim minorities of Pakistan. We do not prescribe any school boy tests for their loyalty. We shall not say to any Hindu citizen of Pakistan `if there was war would you shoot a Hindu?``` (October 1947)





``You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State. As you know, history shows that in England, conditions, some time ago, were much worse than those prevailing in India today. The Roman Catholics and the Protestants persecuted each other. Even now there are some States in existence where there are discriminations made and bars imposed against a particular class. Thank God, we are not starting in those days. We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State. The people of England in course of time had to face the realities of the situation and had to discharge the responsibilities and burdens placed upon them by the government of their country and they went through that fire step by step. Today, you might say with justice that Roman Catholics and Protestants do not exist; what exists now is that every man is a citizen, an equal citizen of Great Britain and they are all members of the Nation. Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.`` (August 1947)

This is the pledge WE made to History. It is time we lived upto our word.

ANNOUNCEMENT...

Arundhati Roy is on her Pakistan Tour this independence day...

She speaks

@ Islamabad on 14th August

@ Lahore on 15th August

@ Karachi on 16th August

The topic is : Freedom and Peace

arranged by Najam Sethi`s team.

I have already written the email addresses on Umair Raja Board where you can get your invitations and details of these events...

-YLH

PS I will write a comprehensive account of her lecture at Lahore...

ana,

i saw this really cute blue bus on the street, it said `indo-pak church of nazareth`...it really struck me for some reason....

i think muslims could learn a thing or two from people of other faiths if we just opened our minds.

ana

i want to share something with you my father and mother who grew up in pakistan have no intention of returning me , who has had 1 bad experience in pakistan (dropping out of KEMC) still fanatasizes about living out my old age in some village in the Northern Areas ......i guess those of us who are intrigued by pakistan will always be ..................

ps why the hell do people 5 bucks to have a cup of cofee at starbucks its sort of a yuppie staus symbol now

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ylh..

hmmm...issi liye mein tum se ab baat nahin zyada karti. Perhaps had I put a bezillion exclamation points beside that phrase, then just maybe I would have gotten the point across that I was teasing you..and that I also think the `enemy` is more within than without. Aur tum? itna ghussa? Khair...fikr not mere laal, I don`t expect you to say things to please me..I expect you to speak your mind, which you do. I may not always agree with what you say, or how you say it, but please, don`t ever think that I want you to say things to please me. I don`t expect that from anyone on this Chowk! :)

Of course I`m more than a little cynical. If you lived in this world as long as I have, and have seen, and heard the things that I have, then maybe, just maybe you`d be kinda cynical too. I lost my rose-colored glasses a loooong time ago. `nyways..I know, Cowasjee never fails to remind us of what Jinnah said, but how many of us are really listening--those words are dead to them.

I hope you all do succeed in making society a vehicle of change. Have fun in Lahore, and don`t let it go to the kuttas, nahin tau fawad and I will have to come back and make chapli kabab out of you!!!! (and i really was teasing this time)

fawad..

news flash: Starbucks has always been a `yuppie status symbol` as you put it. :)

But to be fair to Starbucks (if that is possible), they do charge less for the Grande Americano that I order than most of the Torrefaziones I go to. Although I have found a Torrefazione that does charge less than two bucks, yay! But then Torrefazione perhaps caters to an `elite` crowd as well...what to do..buy my own espresso maker?!?

I went to the India festival here yesterday..so many desis..and I thought if you were here, little one, your eyes would be popping far out of those sockets..lots of `aakh jaan` dokhtars. But in teasing you about this, I run the risk of offending my fellow femmes, who like me, don`t want to be gazed upon as objects. Khair, I simply point this out to you to observe the diverse beauty of the sistahs who surrounded me.

And your mentioning KEMC reminds me of when I used to go visit my Khala who lived on McLeod Road, and if went and hung out on the top of the roof, we could see the rooftops of KEMC male hostels. We`d see some of them often, walking back and forth, wearing down the floor, or the ceilings of the rooms below them! And some of them were quite desperate. The stories my female cousins told me.....!!!

Ref ylh #: 158

[Arundhati Roy is on her Pakistan Tour this independence day...

The topic is : Freedom and Peace

PS I will write a comprehensive account of her lecture at Lahore...]

Don`t bother. Here it is:

Nuclear weapons are bad. All nukes must be destroyed. Except those held by China because China is a peace-loving nation.

The Sardar Sarovar dam should be stopped because it displaces 1 million people.

The Three Gorges Dam in China is a glorious accomplishment of the brave Chinese people. If 50 million people are displaced, that is a small sacrifice willingly given by the brave Chinese people.

Blah, blah, blah.

PS. Don`t let my summary prevent you from going to the lecture. You will lap it up.

re: ylh

...i don`t need to insult you...you do a wonderful job of that yourself, what with one asinine statement after another...

...claiming to be the descendent of the prophet is YOUR statement, not mine...saying your daddy offered you a job so the paki economy must be great is YOUR statement, not mine...

..tsk tsk tsk...

hobbes #155 I cut and paste what you wrote to excuse these murderers of these three female nurses. Finding yourself exposed as an apologist for terrorists, you tell me you have had it with me. I am sure you have. You have had it with truth and common decency as well. This is your Islam!

Gujarat 2002

Comes Straight out of the RSS’s ‘Heart Of Darkness’

What is needed is a permanent challenge to the parivar’s activities

The Godhra incident was not the reason of why the rest of Gujarat went up in flames. Nor was it the reason of why Muslims, especially women and children, have been hunted down. Godhra was simply an occasion, the excuse for what has been happening in Gujarat for four months now, just as September 11 was not the reason but the occasion for launching of the ‘international war against terror’.

A slew of reasons have been put forward. But the main reason is just one: State involvement. Godhra was an excuse for butchery binged against Muslims. Gujarat 2002 comes straight out of the RSS’s ‘heart of darkness’. It was RSS go ahead signal. For the first time in the history of Independent India a State openly participated and justified the massacre of innocent law abiding citizens.

Time and again the RSS anti-Muslim agenda in particular and anti-minorities agenda in general is reflected in the findings of several judicial commissions that have probed communal troubles. For instance, the Jaganmohan Reddy Commission probing the Ahmedabad riots of 1969 stated that the ``agitation had received the blessings of the local Bharatiya Jan Sangh workers who did not want to involve themselves directly but suggested the formation of an organisation known as the Hindu Dharma Raksha Samiti... with an old RSS worker as its convenor.``

Similarly, the Jitendra Narain Commission of Inquiry into the Jamshedpur riots of 1979 stated that the ``commission is of the view that the RSS, with its extensive organisation in Jamshedpur and. close links with the Jan Sangh and the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh had a positive hand in creating a climate which was most propitious for the outbreak of the communal disturbances.``

The Venugopal Commission on the Hindu-Christian disturbances in Kanyakumari in 1982 said: ``The RSS adopts a militant and aggressive attitude and sets itself up as the champion of what it considers to be the rights of the Hindus against minorities....``

The RSS methodology for provoking communal violence is: rousing communal feelings in the majority community by the propaganda that Muslims are not loyal citizens of this country; deepening the fear in the majority community by a clever propaganda that the Muslim population is increasing and that of the Hindus decreasing; and infiltrating into the administration and developing communal attitudes.

Views such as these are reinforced at the ground level by the other organisations within the Sangh parivar like the VHP and Bajrang Dal, both of which were held responsible by the National Commission for Minorities and other independent fact-finding teams, for the recent riots in Gujarat. It has to be said in their favour, however, that none of these organisations has ever deviated from their views. They are quite clear in their view that India is a Hindu rashtra where the minorities must accept the ‘culture’ of the majority. It is the BJP, which has been hedging its bets. Because of political compulsions, it has always been less abrasive than the other, more outspoken outfits of the parivar.

Prof. Paul R. Brass, a scholar of repute who has done field research in India for decades, explains in his mini-classic Theft of an Idol (1997): ``Riot specialists are specialists in the conversion of incidents into the relations between the communities, in this case between Hindus and Muslims, into occasions for riots. When the time is right for the fomenting of a large-scale disturbance, then students, hooligans, low-caste persons from slums and outlying areas, criminals, and special squads of trained activists such as the members of the Bajrang Dal, will be brought in. According to social scientists, riots need, as a necessary condition, organisations that plot mass killings with governmental support. Which are the organisations that plot mass killings is an open secret.

The Sangh parivar wants the nation to believe that what is happening in Gujarat is nothing but the manifestation of the sentiments of the Hindus. Nothing else can be farther from the truth. The Gujarat carnage was in no way an isolated or spontaneous manifestation of the Hindu sentiments as claimed by Hindutva forces. In reality it was the outcome of the hate Muslim campaign conducted by the Hindutva brigade under various pretexts. Ayodhya movement spearheaded by the RSS cousin VHP had been exploited to spread the hate Muslim campaign throughout the country.

Prior to Gujarat carnage the BJP and VHP leaders through anti-Muslim speeches vitiated the country atmosphere. Throughout its more than 70-year existence, the RSS has been associated with communal riots and virulent anti-Muslim violence. The organisation was founded in 1925. The Sangh Parivar remained largely in the shadows during the struggle for Independence. Since Independence it has sought to overcome that ignominy through one stratagem or the other. The RSS first emerged as a mass organisation during the horrific communal violence that surrounded the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent. The principal ideologues of Hindu rashtra, the RSS leader M.S. Golwalkar and V.D. Savarkar (head of a like-minded communal political party, the Hindu Mahasabha) draw direct inspiration from Nazi Germany. ``Germany has ... shown,`` writes Golwalkar, ``how well-nigh impossible it is for races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole – a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by.``

Time and again it has taken to the streets, or used state power, to demand a total ban on cow slaughter, stop religious conversions, revise history text-books to ensure that they upheld ‘Indian’ culture, emphasised, with just a hint of compulsion, the need to study Sanskrit, astrology, Vedic mathematics, yoga, ayurveda and other ‘Indian’ subjects and, when shove came to push, gone about intimidating the minorities and vandalising their places of worship.

It is an article of faith with the RSS-BJP that India’s religious minorities do not have a legitimate, independent identity. The BJP’s election manifesto (1998) is unambiguous: ``The BJP is committed to the concept of One Nation, One People and One Culture... Our nationalist vision is not merely bound by the geographical or political identity of Bharat but it is referred by our timeless cultural heritage. This cultural heritage which is central to all regions, religions and languages, is a civilizational identity and constitutes the cultural nationalism of India which is the core of Hindutva.`` For the BJP, ``Shri Ram lies at the core of Indian consciousness.``

For the Sangh Parivar, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs have an identity only as some kind of sub-sects of Hindus. As the Union HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi put it: ``Hindu Rashtra`` is ``the basic culture of this country. Sangh Parivar says that all Indian Muslims are Mohammadiya Hindus; all Indian Christians are Hindus. They are Hindus who have adopted Christianity and Islam as their religion.``

According to RSS leader Sudarshan: ``If Muslims have to stay in India, they will have to submit to the Indianisation of their religion. It is time they thought of preserving only the essential 10 per cent and did away with the other 90 per cent of their religion incorporating in its stead elements of Indian culture.`` Thus the Sangh Parivar is trying to terrorise the religious minorities. Its threat is directed at the minorities within the majority too, at those who do not practise the sanatana dharma that Hindutva advocates.

This is a menace to India’s pluralism, surely one of its greatest assets. To this day, the life of the estimated 40,000 RSS cells or shakhas revolves around a daily martial arts drill, in which youth, from their early teens on, are schooled in fighting and taught complete obedience to their RSS superiors.

What is needed is a permanent challenge to the parivar’s activities. The Sangh Parivar succeeded in its strategy in Gujarat because it met with no challenge in the cultural or political arena. Whatever anti-Hindutva opposition there was in Gujarat came in the form of old-guard Congress leaders who neither made efforts to consolidate the existing social traditions of Gujarat, nor tried to counter the multi-pronged strategy of the parivar to ‘integrate’ the Hindus. It is probably too late to affect a reversal. But there is still time.

Before it’s too late citizens of this great nation must raise and say enough is enough. Since common Hindus and Common Muslims do not have any problem living peacefully with each other, they should unitedly expose the trap laid by the Hindutva brigade.