WHAT IS THE PAKISTANI GOVERNMENT AFRAID OF?
The India Pakistan Peace March has now crossed the Haryana border and entered into Punjab and covered about half the distance of Indian leg, after originating from the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin in Delhi.
As we’re walking some people innocently, with hope in their eyes, ask us whether we are going to cross the border without passports and visas. We wish that it would become as simple as that some day very soon and people will be able to cross the border hassle free. We realize how difficult it is to do this as we deal with the Governments and the bureaucracy on the two sides for trying to get permission for the marchers from the other side of the border to participate in this peace march.
Nine Pakistani citizens have been granted visas by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad on 1st April, 2005, to join the India Pakistan Peace March, ten days after it began. They have been given visas for the entire route which goes through 12 Districts of Delhi, Haryana and Punjab. However, the Internal Ministry of Pakistan is not giving them clearance to cross the Wagha border on foot. We have also come to know, although this remain unconfirmed, that the Pakistani Government is not able to decided whether it should let this march into Pakistan. Our morale has been very high since the Pakistani Prime Minister had invited a joint delegation of Pakistani and Indian peace activists and extended his support to the march as well as given us assurance that he would grant visas to the Indian marchers. Hence this news about Pakistani Government giving it a rethink has come has a jolt to us, who are already on our way towards Wagha and were hoping to cross it on 18th April with much fanfare. The people who are participating in this march from both sides are social activists, most of whom have already been participating in cross border peace meetings. Hence Pakistani Government’s dilemma is not understandable. When about 5000 people can cross the border to watch a cricket match and they don’t seem to pose any security threat, what is the Pakistani Government afraid of, when it comes to a bunch of peace activists? Or, is it that the vested interests on both sides who do not welcome the peace process are afraid of the initiative for peace process going into the hands of common people? Given the mood of common people on both sides, they have the potential to take the peace process to a point of no return which will ultimately force the two Governments to establish durable friendship and peace. For people not wanting normalization of relationship we must be appearing more dangerous than nuclear weapons who can destabilize the current political equations between the ruling classes on two sides.
In Ambala we were welcomed at the Saini Community Hall. An ex-serviceman, Balbir Singh Saini, who participated in the wars in 1962, ’65 and ’71 and was incharge on loading bombs onto fighter aircrafts, narrated how this fact has always been haunting him, even while he was in service, that the bombs that he was loading were going to kill innocent people like him on the other side with whom he had no personal enmity. He has raised the basic question that we are also raising through this march. As Darshan Singh, a marcher from Sangrur District of Punjab, said in the meeting in Gharaunda, taking the lives of young innocent people for no fault of theirs in wars is inexplicable and cannot be justified. Balbir Singh Saini, said that until there are two classes, one which labours to produce, and other which consumes without contributing to production, a system of exploitation will remain in place which will cause disputes like those between India and Pakistan. He said peace and friendship cannot come without social justice. He expressed reservations about the possibility of durable peace with Pakistan without establishment of democracy there. There was another Sikh gentleman in this meeting in Ambala, a clerk in the local court, who said when he visited Pakistan in 1996 he found the people there very nice and all the propaganda against Pakstanis was false. He said it was the two Governments which were responsible for creating all the trouble. The people never wanted it. He said it was the vested interests of politicians and corruption which were responsible for even problems like starvation deaths in our country. If it was not for them life would be much simpler for the common people. It was impressive to hear such mature views in a small meeting at Ambala.
After the meeting I went out to make a call from a telephone booth. The booth owner Ramesh Saini, when he learnt about the peace march, told us that he would like us to take his message of best wishes to the people who migrated from Ambala to Pakistan. In the morning he came looking for me and handed me a written note from his 94 year old father, Chaudhari Raunaki Ram Saini of Patti Khurrampur Majri in Ambala. In that note he had prayed to the Allah Tala to give long life and happiness to people from Patti Shekhan, Patti Jattan, etc., in Amabala, who had to migrate to Pakistan for political reasons and wished that everybody could live together again. He said he had seen many yatras but was glad to welcome this one originating from the Dargah of Nizamuddin. He further wrote that ‘Pak’ means pure and true Hindus and Muslims are all pure.The partition was accompanied by lot of pain and was imposed upon the people. He said people were one even before partition and are one even now and must fight together to end war and establish peace. At the end of the note he wrote his address so that anybody wishing to write to him from Pakistan could do so – Chaudhari Raunaki Ram Saini, 1124/1, Kaith Majri, Ambala.
Whatever the Governments may think of us, we know that we are on the right track given the public response that this march is generating. In a Gurudwara in Ali Majra a woman bowed in reverence when she learnt about the objective of the peace march. She said our mission was very pure and gave her best wishes to us. It is such support from common people which is giving us strength to march ahead even though we know that we may hit a wall at Wagha.
When we started walking out of Ambala, a young Sikh student of Class IV looked at me and the placard that I was carrying which had a slogan in Urdu language. He told me that he was unable to read my placard. I looked at him carefully. He was curious. He wanted to know what we were doing. I took out a leaflet in Hindi and handed it over to him and explained him the purpose of the peace march. Soon his friends gathered around him. I made him read the leaflet. He could read it with ease. I don’t know whether he understood any of that but I’m sure when he grows up he’ll remember that he once encountered some people walking on the Grand Trunk Road who were going from India to Pakistan. After all, if our generation fails to accomplish the objective of establishing peace and friendship between India and Pakistan, the responsibility will fall on the next generation!
By Sandeep Pandey
WHAT IS THE PAKISTANI GOVERNMENT AFRAID OF?
WHAT IS THE PAKISTANI GOVERNMENT AFRAID OF?
The India Pakistan Peace March has now crossed the Haryana border and entered into Punjab and covered about half the distance of Indian leg, after originating from the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin in Delhi.
As we’re walking some people innocently, with hope in their eyes, ask us whether we are going to cross the border without passports and visas. We wish that it would become as simple as that some day very soon and people will be able to cross the border hassle free. We realize how difficult it is to do this as we deal with the Governments and the bureaucracy on the two sides for trying to get permission for the marchers from the other side of the border to participate in this peace march.
Nine Pakistani citizens have been granted visas by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad on 1st April, 2005, to join the India Pakistan Peace March, ten days after it began. They have been given visas for the entire route which goes through 12 Districts of Delhi, Haryana and Punjab. However, the Internal Ministry of Pakistan is not giving them clearance to cross the Wagha border on foot. We have also come to know, although this remain unconfirmed, that the Pakistani Government is not able to decided whether it should let this march into Pakistan. Our morale has been very high since the Pakistani Prime Minister had invited a joint delegation of Pakistani and Indian peace activists and extended his support to the march as well as given us assurance that he would grant visas to the Indian marchers. Hence this news about Pakistani Government giving it a rethink has come has a jolt to us, who are already on our way towards Wagha and were hoping to cross it on 18th April with much fanfare. The people who are participating in this march from both sides are social activists, most of whom have already been participating in cross border peace meetings. Hence Pakistani Government’s dilemma is not understandable. When about 5000 people can cross the border to watch a cricket match and they don’t seem to pose any security threat, what is the Pakistani Government afraid of, when it comes to a bunch of peace activists? Or, is it that the vested interests on both sides who do not welcome the peace process are afraid of the initiative for peace process going into the hands of common people? Given the mood of common people on both sides, they have the potential to take the peace process to a point of no return which will ultimately force the two Governments to establish durable friendship and peace. For people not wanting normalization of relationship we must be appearing more dangerous than nuclear weapons who can destabilize the current political equations between the ruling classes on two sides.
In Ambala we were welcomed at the Saini Community Hall. An ex-serviceman, Balbir Singh Saini, who participated in the wars in 1962, ’65 and ’71 and was incharge on loading bombs onto fighter aircrafts, narrated how this fact has always been haunting him, even while he was in service, that the bombs that he was loading were going to kill innocent people like him on the other side with whom he had no personal enmity. He has raised the basic question that we are also raising through this march. As Darshan Singh, a marcher from Sangrur District of Punjab, said in the meeting in Gharaunda, taking the lives of young innocent people for no fault of theirs in wars is inexplicable and cannot be justified. Balbir Singh Saini, said that until there are two classes, one which labours to produce, and other which consumes without contributing to production, a system of exploitation will remain in place which will cause disputes like those between India and Pakistan. He said peace and friendship cannot come without social justice. He expressed reservations about the possibility of durable peace with Pakistan without establishment of democracy there. There was another Sikh gentleman in this meeting in Ambala, a clerk in the local court, who said when he visited Pakistan in 1996 he found the people there very nice and all the propaganda against Pakstanis was false. He said it was the two Governments which were responsible for creating all the trouble. The people never wanted it. He said it was the vested interests of politicians and corruption which were responsible for even problems like starvation deaths in our country. If it was not for them life would be much simpler for the common people. It was impressive to hear such mature views in a small meeting at Ambala.
After the meeting I went out to make a call from a telephone booth. The booth owner Ramesh Saini, when he learnt about the peace march, told us that he would like us to take his message of best wishes to the people who migrated from Ambala to Pakistan. In the morning he came looking for me and handed me a written note from his 94 year old father, Chaudhari Raunaki Ram Saini of Patti Khurrampur Majri in Ambala. In that note he had prayed to the Allah Tala to give long life and happiness to people from Patti Shekhan, Patti Jattan, etc., in Amabala, who had to migrate to Pakistan for political reasons and wished that everybody could live together again. He said he had seen many yatras but was glad to welcome this one originating from the Dargah of Nizamuddin. He further wrote that ‘Pak’ means pure and true Hindus and Muslims are all pure.The partition was accompanied by lot of pain and was imposed upon the people. He said people were one even before partition and are one even now and must fight together to end war and establish peace. At the end of the note he wrote his address so that anybody wishing to write to him from Pakistan could do so – Chaudhari Raunaki Ram Saini, 1124/1, Kaith Majri, Ambala.
Whatever the Governments may think of us, we know that we are on the right track given the public response that this march is generating. In a Gurudwara in Ali Majra a woman bowed in reverence when she learnt about the objective of the peace march. She said our mission was very pure and gave her best wishes to us. It is such support from common people which is giving us strength to march ahead even though we know that we may hit a wall at Wagha.
When we started walking out of Ambala, a young Sikh student of Class IV looked at me and the placard that I was carrying which had a slogan in Urdu language. He told me that he was unable to read my placard. I looked at him carefully. He was curious. He wanted to know what we were doing. I took out a leaflet in Hindi and handed it over to him and explained him the purpose of the peace march. Soon his friends gathered around him. I made him read the leaflet. He could read it with ease. I don’t know whether he understood any of that but I’m sure when he grows up he’ll remember that he once encountered some people walking on the Grand Trunk Road who were going from India to Pakistan. After all, if our generation fails to accomplish the objective of establishing peace and friendship between India and Pakistan, the responsibility will fall on the next generation!
By Sandeep Pandey
The India Pakistan Peace March has now crossed the Haryana border and entered into Punjab and covered about half the distance of Indian leg, after originating from the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin in Delhi.
As we’re walking some people innocently, with hope in their eyes, ask us whether we are going to cross the border without passports and visas. We wish that it would become as simple as that some day very soon and people will be able to cross the border hassle free. We realize how difficult it is to do this as we deal with the Governments and the bureaucracy on the two sides for trying to get permission for the marchers from the other side of the border to participate in this peace march.
Nine Pakistani citizens have been granted visas by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad on 1st April, 2005, to join the India Pakistan Peace March, ten days after it began. They have been given visas for the entire route which goes through 12 Districts of Delhi, Haryana and Punjab. However, the Internal Ministry of Pakistan is not giving them clearance to cross the Wagha border on foot. We have also come to know, although this remain unconfirmed, that the Pakistani Government is not able to decided whether it should let this march into Pakistan. Our morale has been very high since the Pakistani Prime Minister had invited a joint delegation of Pakistani and Indian peace activists and extended his support to the march as well as given us assurance that he would grant visas to the Indian marchers. Hence this news about Pakistani Government giving it a rethink has come has a jolt to us, who are already on our way towards Wagha and were hoping to cross it on 18th April with much fanfare. The people who are participating in this march from both sides are social activists, most of whom have already been participating in cross border peace meetings. Hence Pakistani Government’s dilemma is not understandable. When about 5000 people can cross the border to watch a cricket match and they don’t seem to pose any security threat, what is the Pakistani Government afraid of, when it comes to a bunch of peace activists? Or, is it that the vested interests on both sides who do not welcome the peace process are afraid of the initiative for peace process going into the hands of common people? Given the mood of common people on both sides, they have the potential to take the peace process to a point of no return which will ultimately force the two Governments to establish durable friendship and peace. For people not wanting normalization of relationship we must be appearing more dangerous than nuclear weapons who can destabilize the current political equations between the ruling classes on two sides.
In Ambala we were welcomed at the Saini Community Hall. An ex-serviceman, Balbir Singh Saini, who participated in the wars in 1962, ’65 and ’71 and was incharge on loading bombs onto fighter aircrafts, narrated how this fact has always been haunting him, even while he was in service, that the bombs that he was loading were going to kill innocent people like him on the other side with whom he had no personal enmity. He has raised the basic question that we are also raising through this march. As Darshan Singh, a marcher from Sangrur District of Punjab, said in the meeting in Gharaunda, taking the lives of young innocent people for no fault of theirs in wars is inexplicable and cannot be justified. Balbir Singh Saini, said that until there are two classes, one which labours to produce, and other which consumes without contributing to production, a system of exploitation will remain in place which will cause disputes like those between India and Pakistan. He said peace and friendship cannot come without social justice. He expressed reservations about the possibility of durable peace with Pakistan without establishment of democracy there. There was another Sikh gentleman in this meeting in Ambala, a clerk in the local court, who said when he visited Pakistan in 1996 he found the people there very nice and all the propaganda against Pakstanis was false. He said it was the two Governments which were responsible for creating all the trouble. The people never wanted it. He said it was the vested interests of politicians and corruption which were responsible for even problems like starvation deaths in our country. If it was not for them life would be much simpler for the common people. It was impressive to hear such mature views in a small meeting at Ambala.
After the meeting I went out to make a call from a telephone booth. The booth owner Ramesh Saini, when he learnt about the peace march, told us that he would like us to take his message of best wishes to the people who migrated from Ambala to Pakistan. In the morning he came looking for me and handed me a written note from his 94 year old father, Chaudhari Raunaki Ram Saini of Patti Khurrampur Majri in Ambala. In that note he had prayed to the Allah Tala to give long life and happiness to people from Patti Shekhan, Patti Jattan, etc., in Amabala, who had to migrate to Pakistan for political reasons and wished that everybody could live together again. He said he had seen many yatras but was glad to welcome this one originating from the Dargah of Nizamuddin. He further wrote that ‘Pak’ means pure and true Hindus and Muslims are all pure.The partition was accompanied by lot of pain and was imposed upon the people. He said people were one even before partition and are one even now and must fight together to end war and establish peace. At the end of the note he wrote his address so that anybody wishing to write to him from Pakistan could do so – Chaudhari Raunaki Ram Saini, 1124/1, Kaith Majri, Ambala.
Whatever the Governments may think of us, we know that we are on the right track given the public response that this march is generating. In a Gurudwara in Ali Majra a woman bowed in reverence when she learnt about the objective of the peace march. She said our mission was very pure and gave her best wishes to us. It is such support from common people which is giving us strength to march ahead even though we know that we may hit a wall at Wagha.
When we started walking out of Ambala, a young Sikh student of Class IV looked at me and the placard that I was carrying which had a slogan in Urdu language. He told me that he was unable to read my placard. I looked at him carefully. He was curious. He wanted to know what we were doing. I took out a leaflet in Hindi and handed it over to him and explained him the purpose of the peace march. Soon his friends gathered around him. I made him read the leaflet. He could read it with ease. I don’t know whether he understood any of that but I’m sure when he grows up he’ll remember that he once encountered some people walking on the Grand Trunk Road who were going from India to Pakistan. After all, if our generation fails to accomplish the objective of establishing peace and friendship between India and Pakistan, the responsibility will fall on the next generation!
By Sandeep Pandey
PEACE MARCH RECEIVES UNQUALIFIED SUPPORT
PEACE MARCH RECEIVES UNQUALIFIED SUPPORT
The India Pakistan Peace March is slowly moving forward on the scheduled route. For the first ten days it has been passing through mainly small towns and villages of Haryana. At the Arpana Ashram just before reaching Karnal, the rural women gathered there were disappointed to find that the Pakistanis had not come. They said grudgingly that they welcomed us, the Indians, but they had come there with the curiousity to discover how the Pakistani women were different from them. We told them that we would convey their curiousity to the Pakistani women’s groups and request one of them to visit this Ashram sometime when they are in India. We find an amazing eagerness among people to meet the Pakistanis, even on the roadside. They excitedly approach the two friends, one a Muslim and other a Hindu but putting on a Muslim cap, walking with us taking them to be Pakistanis only to be disappointed when they are told that the two marchers are from India. The bureaucratic hurdles have not allowed the Pakistani marchers to join the march for the first ten days. Efforts are on to bring the Pakistanis to the march and we are hopeful that they will join us very soon. Nine of them had obtained their visas and were awaiting clearance from the Internal Ministry of Pakistan to cross the border at Wagha at the time of writing of this article.
Arpana Ashram in Karnal District is a non-governmental organization with a spiritual leaning. They believe in equal respect to all religions. Their prayer room has a painting portraying pictures of Gods and Prophets, or their names, from all major religions of India. We sang spiritual songs with the inmates of the Ashram and spoke about our objectives. The Ashram community whole heartedly supported the objectives of our march and the inmates endorsed our signature campaign. The same evening in Karnal we were hosted by Paash Library, named after the famous Punjabi revolutionary poet who was shot dead by militants, located in Police Lines, which is a center of Left intellectuals of the region. Police officials were welcoming us here. The library itself has been established by a Left leaning Inspector General of Police in Haryana. It is a unique experiment of how the Government officials can create progressive space within the otherwise rotten system. From a spiritual organization to a Left library, it pretty much covers the entire spectrum of people who are welcoming this peace march.
So far, we have yet to come across a person who would publicly question the objectives of the march. Everybody seems to be in our support. At Nilokheri, an establishment of people who came over from Pakistan at the time of partition, there were people associated with BJP who received us. In the public meeting they hesitatingly cautioned us about the intentions of Pervez Musharraf. However, they appreciated the fact that we were taking a message of peace and love to Pakistan. This peace march is being considered by people to have a holy objective and nobody wants to appear to be opposing it.
That people want peace and friendship is clear beyond any doubt. In public meetings and in private people express the importance of peace initiatives and criticize the politicians from two sides for having not allowed the process of normalization of relations to take place. We passed through Patti Kalyana, a village with a half Muslim population before partition and which witnessed one of the worst communal violence. We were shown the two wells which were filled with dead, mutilated and cut bodies in partition related violence. We were shown the mosque which has been shut down, after some miscreant hoisted a Pakistani flag on it one day in recent past. After having been taken over by the demon of revenge and hatred the people regretted what they did at the time of partition. Muslims who migrated, and their families, still come to see their village from Pakistan once in a while. The families which came from Pakistan and were resettled in Patti Kalyana are called Multanis or Punjabis. They have still not been accepted in the village as integral part of the community. Similarly, in Karnal we were told that because of majority of people having come from Pakistan the city was yet to acquire a culture of its own. In Panipat when we visited the Dargah of Sheikh Sharfuddin Shah Bu Ali Kalandar we heard stories of how the Dargahs were taken over by aggressive Hindu groups at the time of partition and had to be freed only after Mahatma Gandhi intervened.
It is a coincidence that we are being put up mostly in temples, gurudwaras or dargahs. We definitely don’t consider our march to be a spiritual one but we would probably require the combined blessings of all these religious places to achieve our objective.
The most positive aspect about our march is that nobody has yet contested our position on Kashmir. Our signature campaign says that the dispute of Kashmir should be resolved according to the wishes of people of Jammu and Kashmir. Such a stand was considered to be against the interest of India and in favour of Pakistan and the nationalist people within India would challenge it until recently. However, people seem to be realizing that this is unavoidable if the resolution of Kashmir problem is to be arrived at through dialogue and not militarily. Except for the meeting in Nilokheri, where BJP people were present, the issue of Kashmir has not even been raised by anybody. The BJP people were raising the standard concern of how President Musharraf had again emphasized the need the resolve the Kashmir dispute as a prerequisite to take forward the peace initiatives. But this was a good opportunity for us to explain to the people that the issue of Kashmir should not given exaggerated importance and should not be allowed to come in the way of establishing peace and friendship between India and Pakistan. We also explained that there was no need to fear entering into a dialogue on Kashmir with Pakistan. Fortunately for us, Dr. Manmohan Singh had said in a statement the previous day that he was willing to discuss every issue, including Kashmir, with Pervez Musharraf when they would meet. We believe that the atmosphere is slowly getting created for a meaningful dialogue on Kashmir.
By Sandeep Pandey
The India Pakistan Peace March is slowly moving forward on the scheduled route. For the first ten days it has been passing through mainly small towns and villages of Haryana. At the Arpana Ashram just before reaching Karnal, the rural women gathered there were disappointed to find that the Pakistanis had not come. They said grudgingly that they welcomed us, the Indians, but they had come there with the curiousity to discover how the Pakistani women were different from them. We told them that we would convey their curiousity to the Pakistani women’s groups and request one of them to visit this Ashram sometime when they are in India. We find an amazing eagerness among people to meet the Pakistanis, even on the roadside. They excitedly approach the two friends, one a Muslim and other a Hindu but putting on a Muslim cap, walking with us taking them to be Pakistanis only to be disappointed when they are told that the two marchers are from India. The bureaucratic hurdles have not allowed the Pakistani marchers to join the march for the first ten days. Efforts are on to bring the Pakistanis to the march and we are hopeful that they will join us very soon. Nine of them had obtained their visas and were awaiting clearance from the Internal Ministry of Pakistan to cross the border at Wagha at the time of writing of this article.
Arpana Ashram in Karnal District is a non-governmental organization with a spiritual leaning. They believe in equal respect to all religions. Their prayer room has a painting portraying pictures of Gods and Prophets, or their names, from all major religions of India. We sang spiritual songs with the inmates of the Ashram and spoke about our objectives. The Ashram community whole heartedly supported the objectives of our march and the inmates endorsed our signature campaign. The same evening in Karnal we were hosted by Paash Library, named after the famous Punjabi revolutionary poet who was shot dead by militants, located in Police Lines, which is a center of Left intellectuals of the region. Police officials were welcoming us here. The library itself has been established by a Left leaning Inspector General of Police in Haryana. It is a unique experiment of how the Government officials can create progressive space within the otherwise rotten system. From a spiritual organization to a Left library, it pretty much covers the entire spectrum of people who are welcoming this peace march.
So far, we have yet to come across a person who would publicly question the objectives of the march. Everybody seems to be in our support. At Nilokheri, an establishment of people who came over from Pakistan at the time of partition, there were people associated with BJP who received us. In the public meeting they hesitatingly cautioned us about the intentions of Pervez Musharraf. However, they appreciated the fact that we were taking a message of peace and love to Pakistan. This peace march is being considered by people to have a holy objective and nobody wants to appear to be opposing it.
That people want peace and friendship is clear beyond any doubt. In public meetings and in private people express the importance of peace initiatives and criticize the politicians from two sides for having not allowed the process of normalization of relations to take place. We passed through Patti Kalyana, a village with a half Muslim population before partition and which witnessed one of the worst communal violence. We were shown the two wells which were filled with dead, mutilated and cut bodies in partition related violence. We were shown the mosque which has been shut down, after some miscreant hoisted a Pakistani flag on it one day in recent past. After having been taken over by the demon of revenge and hatred the people regretted what they did at the time of partition. Muslims who migrated, and their families, still come to see their village from Pakistan once in a while. The families which came from Pakistan and were resettled in Patti Kalyana are called Multanis or Punjabis. They have still not been accepted in the village as integral part of the community. Similarly, in Karnal we were told that because of majority of people having come from Pakistan the city was yet to acquire a culture of its own. In Panipat when we visited the Dargah of Sheikh Sharfuddin Shah Bu Ali Kalandar we heard stories of how the Dargahs were taken over by aggressive Hindu groups at the time of partition and had to be freed only after Mahatma Gandhi intervened.
It is a coincidence that we are being put up mostly in temples, gurudwaras or dargahs. We definitely don’t consider our march to be a spiritual one but we would probably require the combined blessings of all these religious places to achieve our objective.
The most positive aspect about our march is that nobody has yet contested our position on Kashmir. Our signature campaign says that the dispute of Kashmir should be resolved according to the wishes of people of Jammu and Kashmir. Such a stand was considered to be against the interest of India and in favour of Pakistan and the nationalist people within India would challenge it until recently. However, people seem to be realizing that this is unavoidable if the resolution of Kashmir problem is to be arrived at through dialogue and not militarily. Except for the meeting in Nilokheri, where BJP people were present, the issue of Kashmir has not even been raised by anybody. The BJP people were raising the standard concern of how President Musharraf had again emphasized the need the resolve the Kashmir dispute as a prerequisite to take forward the peace initiatives. But this was a good opportunity for us to explain to the people that the issue of Kashmir should not given exaggerated importance and should not be allowed to come in the way of establishing peace and friendship between India and Pakistan. We also explained that there was no need to fear entering into a dialogue on Kashmir with Pakistan. Fortunately for us, Dr. Manmohan Singh had said in a statement the previous day that he was willing to discuss every issue, including Kashmir, with Pervez Musharraf when they would meet. We believe that the atmosphere is slowly getting created for a meaningful dialogue on Kashmir.
By Sandeep Pandey
REDISCOVERING EACH OTHER
REDISCOVERING EACH OTHER
I am hearing stories from people returning from India who went there to see the cricket game in Chandigarh of the tremendous response they got from Indians. They did not have to pay for their stay or food. Indian families were competing with each other in inviting Pakistanis over to their place for dinner. The Pakistanis were having difficulty in deciding which invitation to accept and which to leave. Indians were welcoming Pakistanis with warmth as they probably do not welcome their own fellow citizens from other parts of India. Similarly when we’re in Pakistan we get a response so overwhelming which probably the Pakistanis would not offer to their own fellow citizens. How strange this is? First we hated each other for over 50 years and then all floodgates of emotions open. Which of the two feelings is real?
At least we have advanced from putting our youth in battle fields against each other to putting them in cricket fields. Cricket fields also used to be like battle fields once. Now we have improved. There is bonhomie which has replaced the feeling of revenge. Victory and loss are no longer a matter of prestige. Our politicians are telling our cricketers to play for diplomacy. Cricket has moved from second last page of newspapers when we were children to the front pages now. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has also highlighted the role of cricket and bollywood in improving India-Pakistan relations. It is unfortunate that because of failure of resolution of issues politically we have to resort to a detour using cricket. However, that we’re moving towards the right goal is important.
There are contentious issues between India and Pakistan which need resolution. Prime Minister Saukat Aziz rightly pointed out in a discussion, when I went to see him in Islamabad in connection with our proposed Delhi to Multan Indian Pakistan Peace March scheduled to begin on 23rd March, 2005 from the dargah of Nizamuddin Auliya, unless the issue of Kashmir is resolved we cannot hope to have a durable peace between India and Pakistan. He expressed his unhappiness over the way things have unfolded in Baglihar dam talks and admitted that Pakistan was ‘hurt’. These and a number of contentious issues will keep propping up whenever things would start to look bright. However, we have to decide whether we’ll choose to co-exist living with these issues or will perish together bombing each other with state of the art weaponry.
After all, in India we have water disputes between the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over Cauvery river. The emotions between the people of two states run as high as between Indian and Pakistanis whenever a contentious issue is discussed. The problem has existed since independence and will probably remain unresolved for a long time to come. But that doesn’t take Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to the brink of bombing each other with nuclear weapons. So, why cannot India and Pakistan peacefully co-exist even if the problems remain unresolved for some time to come?
It is heartening to hear Shaukat Aziz that his Government is interested in resolving the disputes rather than just containing them. His government’s commitment to peace and harmony was amply clear from his confident attitude when he was discussing various contentious issues in a forthright manner. He demonstrated an openness which has not been the hallmark of India Pakistan relations over our independent history.
The decision by governments of India and Pakistan to allow a bus service between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar without the requirement of passports is a truly commendable one. Frankly, we had not expected that governments would take such a bold move so soon. If they continue on this path and free Kashmir from the grip of tension and violence by withdrawing their armed forces and helping life return to normalcy, they will do a great service to the people of Kashmir. India and Pakistan can jointly ensure the normalization process in Kashmir. How does lack of resolution of the Kashmir dispute come in the way of ensuring peace in Kashmir? For the people of Kashmir restoration of peace is the most important priority.
Infact, the arms race between India and Pakistan which is often linked to the Kashmir dispute is an independent phenomenon which is based on threat perception of each other. If we can have a relationship based on trust there will be no need for keeping any arms. And in due course of time the outstanding contentious issues will be resolved through the process of dialogue. If making of nuclear weapons has done any good it is that it has made us realize that there can be no military solution to the problem of Kashmir. The Kashmir issue will have to be resolved through a dialogue and that too involving the people of Kashmir, according to their aspirations. This may take some time. The common people of India and Pakistan cannot wait until then. They want the normalization process to continue. When the people don’t feel threatened by each other, as is amply clear by the warmth and bonhomie generated during all exchange visits between citizens of two countries without exception, why should the governments live in suspicion of each other? Is it not the people that comprise any nation? Of course, there are the fundamentalists on both sides. But do they represent the feelings of common people?
Let us not force our youth to put on uniforms and make them face each other with guns in their hands at the border. After all, it is only a difference of few kilometers which determines which side they’ll fight for. It is only a matter of few kilometers which determines whether they’ll be indoctrinated in Indian nationalism or Pakistani nationalism. The outer coat of ideology in the name of nation or religion is what we received only after we were born. The nature did not ordain us to fight. We have more in common than we have differences. The cultural and emotional and more importantly human bondings are much deeper. Let us respect them, rediscover ourselves as peace loving people and learn to live peacefully with our differences.
By Sandeep Pandey
I am hearing stories from people returning from India who went there to see the cricket game in Chandigarh of the tremendous response they got from Indians. They did not have to pay for their stay or food. Indian families were competing with each other in inviting Pakistanis over to their place for dinner. The Pakistanis were having difficulty in deciding which invitation to accept and which to leave. Indians were welcoming Pakistanis with warmth as they probably do not welcome their own fellow citizens from other parts of India. Similarly when we’re in Pakistan we get a response so overwhelming which probably the Pakistanis would not offer to their own fellow citizens. How strange this is? First we hated each other for over 50 years and then all floodgates of emotions open. Which of the two feelings is real?
At least we have advanced from putting our youth in battle fields against each other to putting them in cricket fields. Cricket fields also used to be like battle fields once. Now we have improved. There is bonhomie which has replaced the feeling of revenge. Victory and loss are no longer a matter of prestige. Our politicians are telling our cricketers to play for diplomacy. Cricket has moved from second last page of newspapers when we were children to the front pages now. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has also highlighted the role of cricket and bollywood in improving India-Pakistan relations. It is unfortunate that because of failure of resolution of issues politically we have to resort to a detour using cricket. However, that we’re moving towards the right goal is important.
There are contentious issues between India and Pakistan which need resolution. Prime Minister Saukat Aziz rightly pointed out in a discussion, when I went to see him in Islamabad in connection with our proposed Delhi to Multan Indian Pakistan Peace March scheduled to begin on 23rd March, 2005 from the dargah of Nizamuddin Auliya, unless the issue of Kashmir is resolved we cannot hope to have a durable peace between India and Pakistan. He expressed his unhappiness over the way things have unfolded in Baglihar dam talks and admitted that Pakistan was ‘hurt’. These and a number of contentious issues will keep propping up whenever things would start to look bright. However, we have to decide whether we’ll choose to co-exist living with these issues or will perish together bombing each other with state of the art weaponry.
After all, in India we have water disputes between the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over Cauvery river. The emotions between the people of two states run as high as between Indian and Pakistanis whenever a contentious issue is discussed. The problem has existed since independence and will probably remain unresolved for a long time to come. But that doesn’t take Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to the brink of bombing each other with nuclear weapons. So, why cannot India and Pakistan peacefully co-exist even if the problems remain unresolved for some time to come?
It is heartening to hear Shaukat Aziz that his Government is interested in resolving the disputes rather than just containing them. His government’s commitment to peace and harmony was amply clear from his confident attitude when he was discussing various contentious issues in a forthright manner. He demonstrated an openness which has not been the hallmark of India Pakistan relations over our independent history.
The decision by governments of India and Pakistan to allow a bus service between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar without the requirement of passports is a truly commendable one. Frankly, we had not expected that governments would take such a bold move so soon. If they continue on this path and free Kashmir from the grip of tension and violence by withdrawing their armed forces and helping life return to normalcy, they will do a great service to the people of Kashmir. India and Pakistan can jointly ensure the normalization process in Kashmir. How does lack of resolution of the Kashmir dispute come in the way of ensuring peace in Kashmir? For the people of Kashmir restoration of peace is the most important priority.
Infact, the arms race between India and Pakistan which is often linked to the Kashmir dispute is an independent phenomenon which is based on threat perception of each other. If we can have a relationship based on trust there will be no need for keeping any arms. And in due course of time the outstanding contentious issues will be resolved through the process of dialogue. If making of nuclear weapons has done any good it is that it has made us realize that there can be no military solution to the problem of Kashmir. The Kashmir issue will have to be resolved through a dialogue and that too involving the people of Kashmir, according to their aspirations. This may take some time. The common people of India and Pakistan cannot wait until then. They want the normalization process to continue. When the people don’t feel threatened by each other, as is amply clear by the warmth and bonhomie generated during all exchange visits between citizens of two countries without exception, why should the governments live in suspicion of each other? Is it not the people that comprise any nation? Of course, there are the fundamentalists on both sides. But do they represent the feelings of common people?
Let us not force our youth to put on uniforms and make them face each other with guns in their hands at the border. After all, it is only a difference of few kilometers which determines which side they’ll fight for. It is only a matter of few kilometers which determines whether they’ll be indoctrinated in Indian nationalism or Pakistani nationalism. The outer coat of ideology in the name of nation or religion is what we received only after we were born. The nature did not ordain us to fight. We have more in common than we have differences. The cultural and emotional and more importantly human bondings are much deeper. Let us respect them, rediscover ourselves as peace loving people and learn to live peacefully with our differences.
By Sandeep Pandey
THE ELUSIVE CONCEPT OF SECURITY
THE ELUSIVE CONCEPT OF SECURITY
Probably nowhere in the world we have a situation where people are as emotionally entwined as between India and Pakistan and yet there is enmity thrust upon them. The cruel turn of events in the history resulted in political separation even though the majority of common people were never consulted and the world witnessed a bloody mass cross movement of people. Family links were severed and a deep scar was left. Even the post partition history has remained quite tumultuous, interspersed with four wars and loss of innumerable valuable young lives. Kashmir remains a sore point between India and Pakistan threatening to take both countries to a war of self-destruction. Even though the common people never want violence and hatred, the fundamentalist elements on both sides as well as political compulsions have ensured that animosity continue to take heavy toll on both sides.
Common people on both sides are now fed up with violence and atmosphere of antagonism. They want friendship, peace and normal relations to be established between the two countries. We have seen that even though the governments of the two countries may be suspicious of each other, whenever the common people of the two countries get to meet all walls of reservation against each other melt, as warm emotions of affinity surge. It is almost like people of same family meeting each other after years of separation. The enmity, hatred and distance are only artificial and soon gives way to warmth, friendship and camaraderie. Is it not amazing that over 50 years of propaganda on both sides, some of it State sponsored and supported by respective media, against each other does not show when common people from both sides meet face to face? It is probably because of the thousands of years’ of shared culture of tolerance, compassion and respect for each other in our societies, inspite of differences in viewpoints which keeps our strong human bonds intact. The people’s emotions have prevailed over the man created national boundaries. Is it not unfair to the common people that they have been forcibly kept separated all these years against their wishes? It is a fit case of human rights violations. As some friends from Pakistan pointed out, the arrangement of giving visas to citizens of the other country between India and Pakistan does not allow people to visit all their relatives on the other side, something which even a person sentenced to death is not denied. Why are we serving sentences more rigorous than death penalty on our innocent citizens of the two countries for no fault of theirs? Is there a single tenable reason why we don’t allow citizens of each other to cross over easily and freely move about in the other country? The kind of people we fear will create problems, anyway do not follow the rules of the governments. And what is the number of such people compared to people interested in going to the other country for genuine bona-fide reasons? We are paying a very heavy price for living in the illusion of security, which remains ever elusive.
If real peace and friendship has to be established between India and Pakistan, the initiative will have to be taken by people of the two countries. The governments will merely follow the will of the people. So far, the governments have tried to create an artificial barrier between the two countries preventing easy access to the other country and free mingling among the people. However, now there is a subtle change in the atmosphere. The governments seem more willing than before to allow people of the two countries to interact freely and also seem to be supportive of the people-to-people level initiatives. A number of peace initiatives are being undertaken to bring down the invisible wall of separation between India and Pakistan. Among these a peace march between Delhi and Multan from 23rd March to 11th May, 2005 is planned as a 50 day walk along the route. The proposed peace march will provide an unique opportunity to people-to-people contact, to inter-mingle, to reflect on and negate the destructive tendencies of distrust, hatred and enmity and spread the message of peace and harmony. It has been decided to evoke the message of Sufis. The march will begin from the dargah of revered Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi and will culminate at the mazar of venerated Bahauddin Zakaria, at Multan. It is a coincidence that Nizamuddin himself had traversed a route from Delhi to Multan in 1257 to meet Baba Farid in pursuance of knowledge seeking endeavour. The message of Sufis is very clear. It is a message of peace, love and tolerance. It is a message that unites people rather than divide. We have to now make a choice. Will we prefer to have a relationship of hate which occasionally becomes violent and consumes precious resources in arms race or can we peacefully co-exist as good neighbours based on a relationship of trust which will not require any weapons for our security? Where does true security lie?
Human beings naturally like to live in peace and harmony. It is only certain extraordinary conditions which force them to take to violence and enmity. But nobody likes to live in a continued state of antagonism. We have had more than our share of violence and tension. Now it is time to unwind and take it easy. Let normalcy be the norm. Let people freely cross over. Why cannot South Asia be like Europe? When people want to meet, the governments should not stand in the way. Can we create a situation like 1257 when Nizamuddin did not need a passport and a visa to go and meet Baba Farid? The Indian and Pakistani Governments are to be congratulated for taking the brave step of allowing people to travel in buses between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad without the requirement of possessing a passport. Can they allow about a 100-200 citizens walking from India to Pakistan to go through Wagha without passports and visas on coming 18th April? Such steps will bring in a sense of security. Only a relationship based on trust can form the true basis of security. Some people fear that opening the borders will open the floodgates for anti-national elements. Actually a tight security border creates an environment where such elements flourish. And do we not have more than our share of such elements within our countries, some of them adorning our parliaments and assemblies? An open border will be in the interest of people of two countries. It will open the real possibility of true and permanent security. The people deserve it and the two governments owe it to their people and the people on the other side. The people are one although there may be two governments. Let the two governments remain but let the people become one.
By Sandeep Pandey
Probably nowhere in the world we have a situation where people are as emotionally entwined as between India and Pakistan and yet there is enmity thrust upon them. The cruel turn of events in the history resulted in political separation even though the majority of common people were never consulted and the world witnessed a bloody mass cross movement of people. Family links were severed and a deep scar was left. Even the post partition history has remained quite tumultuous, interspersed with four wars and loss of innumerable valuable young lives. Kashmir remains a sore point between India and Pakistan threatening to take both countries to a war of self-destruction. Even though the common people never want violence and hatred, the fundamentalist elements on both sides as well as political compulsions have ensured that animosity continue to take heavy toll on both sides.
Common people on both sides are now fed up with violence and atmosphere of antagonism. They want friendship, peace and normal relations to be established between the two countries. We have seen that even though the governments of the two countries may be suspicious of each other, whenever the common people of the two countries get to meet all walls of reservation against each other melt, as warm emotions of affinity surge. It is almost like people of same family meeting each other after years of separation. The enmity, hatred and distance are only artificial and soon gives way to warmth, friendship and camaraderie. Is it not amazing that over 50 years of propaganda on both sides, some of it State sponsored and supported by respective media, against each other does not show when common people from both sides meet face to face? It is probably because of the thousands of years’ of shared culture of tolerance, compassion and respect for each other in our societies, inspite of differences in viewpoints which keeps our strong human bonds intact. The people’s emotions have prevailed over the man created national boundaries. Is it not unfair to the common people that they have been forcibly kept separated all these years against their wishes? It is a fit case of human rights violations. As some friends from Pakistan pointed out, the arrangement of giving visas to citizens of the other country between India and Pakistan does not allow people to visit all their relatives on the other side, something which even a person sentenced to death is not denied. Why are we serving sentences more rigorous than death penalty on our innocent citizens of the two countries for no fault of theirs? Is there a single tenable reason why we don’t allow citizens of each other to cross over easily and freely move about in the other country? The kind of people we fear will create problems, anyway do not follow the rules of the governments. And what is the number of such people compared to people interested in going to the other country for genuine bona-fide reasons? We are paying a very heavy price for living in the illusion of security, which remains ever elusive.
If real peace and friendship has to be established between India and Pakistan, the initiative will have to be taken by people of the two countries. The governments will merely follow the will of the people. So far, the governments have tried to create an artificial barrier between the two countries preventing easy access to the other country and free mingling among the people. However, now there is a subtle change in the atmosphere. The governments seem more willing than before to allow people of the two countries to interact freely and also seem to be supportive of the people-to-people level initiatives. A number of peace initiatives are being undertaken to bring down the invisible wall of separation between India and Pakistan. Among these a peace march between Delhi and Multan from 23rd March to 11th May, 2005 is planned as a 50 day walk along the route. The proposed peace march will provide an unique opportunity to people-to-people contact, to inter-mingle, to reflect on and negate the destructive tendencies of distrust, hatred and enmity and spread the message of peace and harmony. It has been decided to evoke the message of Sufis. The march will begin from the dargah of revered Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi and will culminate at the mazar of venerated Bahauddin Zakaria, at Multan. It is a coincidence that Nizamuddin himself had traversed a route from Delhi to Multan in 1257 to meet Baba Farid in pursuance of knowledge seeking endeavour. The message of Sufis is very clear. It is a message of peace, love and tolerance. It is a message that unites people rather than divide. We have to now make a choice. Will we prefer to have a relationship of hate which occasionally becomes violent and consumes precious resources in arms race or can we peacefully co-exist as good neighbours based on a relationship of trust which will not require any weapons for our security? Where does true security lie?
Human beings naturally like to live in peace and harmony. It is only certain extraordinary conditions which force them to take to violence and enmity. But nobody likes to live in a continued state of antagonism. We have had more than our share of violence and tension. Now it is time to unwind and take it easy. Let normalcy be the norm. Let people freely cross over. Why cannot South Asia be like Europe? When people want to meet, the governments should not stand in the way. Can we create a situation like 1257 when Nizamuddin did not need a passport and a visa to go and meet Baba Farid? The Indian and Pakistani Governments are to be congratulated for taking the brave step of allowing people to travel in buses between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad without the requirement of possessing a passport. Can they allow about a 100-200 citizens walking from India to Pakistan to go through Wagha without passports and visas on coming 18th April? Such steps will bring in a sense of security. Only a relationship based on trust can form the true basis of security. Some people fear that opening the borders will open the floodgates for anti-national elements. Actually a tight security border creates an environment where such elements flourish. And do we not have more than our share of such elements within our countries, some of them adorning our parliaments and assemblies? An open border will be in the interest of people of two countries. It will open the real possibility of true and permanent security. The people deserve it and the two governments owe it to their people and the people on the other side. The people are one although there may be two governments. Let the two governments remain but let the people become one.
By Sandeep Pandey
MY MEETING WITH THE PRIME MINISTER OF PAKISTAN
MY MEETING WITH THE PRIME MINISTER OF PAKISTAN
My friend Karamat Ali, a peace activist and co-organizer from Pakistan of the proposed Delhi to Multan India Pakistan Peace March from 23rd March to 11th May, 2005, was trying to get me included in a delegation of Pakistan Peace Coalition which had got an appointment to see the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz, on 12th of March to discuss the organization of peace march and specifically request visas for marchers from India who would cross over in Pakistan at Wagha on 18th April. I did not expect an invitation. Why should the P.M. of Pakistan be interested in talking to an Indian activist about a proposed peace march? However, to my surprise I got the invitation 48 hours in advance of the appointment. I had to literally rush to Islamabad after seeking my visa and booking my tickets.
That the office of Prime Minister decided to invite me to discuss the peace march along with Pakistani activists clearly indicated that the Government of Pakistan was viewing this march positively. We, the peace activists of India and Pakistan, independently and jointly, have been opposing the nuclearization of the sub-continent and advocating for peace even when the relationship between the two countries was very hostile. We peaceniks, on both sides of the border, are often dismissed as a bunch of idealists and often accused of playing into the hands of elements against the interest of our respective countries or sometimes we are directly accused of being anti-national. The governments obviously don’t take us very seriously. Hence it was a welcome surprise that the Pakistani Prime Minister was full of praise for initiatives taken by peace activists and hoped that more such initiatives would bring about a lasting change in the situation in South Asia. He acknowledged the role of peace movements in having a decisive influence over their Governments.
Shaukat Aziz expressed the commitment of Government of Pakistan towards building an atmosphere of peace in the sub-continent and the willingness to do whatever was necessary to achieve this objective. He said that this vision was shared by President Musharraf. He was quite candid about the contentious issues and hoped that through dialogue each of them could be resolved. He claimed that no past Government of Pakistan had been so open about this objective and for the first time there was no fear about discussing the issues. He was happy with the way peace process was moving but was disappointed over the lack of progress on resolving the Kashmir dispute. In his view resolution of Kashmir issue was key to establishment of permanent peace between India and Pakistan. He was also disappointed over the non-holding of SAARC meeting and said that Pakistan was ‘hurt’ on the Baglihar Dam issue. Water was emerging as a contentious issue between the two countries. Although he seemed happy and took credit for allowing the power corridor to materialize in the interest of India.
I was impressed by the forthrightness of Shaukat Aziz. He said that unlike the past this Government was not interested in merely the containment of the problems but was actually committed to resolving the outstanding issues. And it clearly showed in his approach while talking about various issues. He spelt out the position of Government of Pakistan on each of the issue and hoped that on bilateral matters India would respond positively. He was full of praise for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his positive attitude in resolving issues.
Security, however, is one issue which makes the leadership of the two countries nervous. During the interaction Shaukat Aziz pointed out the necessity for Pakistan to keep arms for its security. He also admitted the compulsion of Pakistan to match the capability of India whenever it decided to procure any new category of arms leading to an unavoidable arms race. There exists tremendous confusion regarding more dangerous arms giving a sense of security. If we were to think about the issue with a cool head the relationship between security and more dangerous arms is inverse. You become more insecure as you possess more dangerous arms. The peace activists from Pakistan and India have been advocating the unilateral, or with bilateral agreement, renunciation of dangerous nuclear weapons by the two countries and downgrading of armed forces at the border. Only a border free of army and arms can provide us a sense of true security on both sides. I hope this logic, which is as clear to the peace activists as water, will get into the heads of our Heads of State and will find official approval followed by concrete action in terms of getting rid of weapons. The common poor people will be the winner that day on both sides, as much wanted resources being diverted in the name of their security today, will be free for their development. In the times of globalization when economic progress has become more important then the military security, I think the leaders of the two countries have realized the futility of arms race and have therefore decided to pursue the road to peace. The times are changing. The concept of jingoistic nationalism is going out of date and this is a welcome development. The economic development of the people who comprise a nation is getting centre-stage on the political agenda, as it should be.
I still find it difficult to believe that I was easily let into the office of Prime Minister of a country which until not long ago was considered an enemy country and got to listen to his frank opinion on all issues of relevance between the two countries. His approach clearly reflects the commitment of Government of Pakistan to bring about peace and normalcy in the region.
Thank you, Mr. Shaukat Aziz, for making my visit to meet you possible and if your Government allows the India Pakistan Peace March to take place, your initiative will go a long way in opening the doors for normalization of relationship between citizens of the two countries and establishment of durable peace and harmony, something which has become very elusive but which the people most definitely desire on both sides of the border.
By Sandeep Pandey
My friend Karamat Ali, a peace activist and co-organizer from Pakistan of the proposed Delhi to Multan India Pakistan Peace March from 23rd March to 11th May, 2005, was trying to get me included in a delegation of Pakistan Peace Coalition which had got an appointment to see the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz, on 12th of March to discuss the organization of peace march and specifically request visas for marchers from India who would cross over in Pakistan at Wagha on 18th April. I did not expect an invitation. Why should the P.M. of Pakistan be interested in talking to an Indian activist about a proposed peace march? However, to my surprise I got the invitation 48 hours in advance of the appointment. I had to literally rush to Islamabad after seeking my visa and booking my tickets.
That the office of Prime Minister decided to invite me to discuss the peace march along with Pakistani activists clearly indicated that the Government of Pakistan was viewing this march positively. We, the peace activists of India and Pakistan, independently and jointly, have been opposing the nuclearization of the sub-continent and advocating for peace even when the relationship between the two countries was very hostile. We peaceniks, on both sides of the border, are often dismissed as a bunch of idealists and often accused of playing into the hands of elements against the interest of our respective countries or sometimes we are directly accused of being anti-national. The governments obviously don’t take us very seriously. Hence it was a welcome surprise that the Pakistani Prime Minister was full of praise for initiatives taken by peace activists and hoped that more such initiatives would bring about a lasting change in the situation in South Asia. He acknowledged the role of peace movements in having a decisive influence over their Governments.
Shaukat Aziz expressed the commitment of Government of Pakistan towards building an atmosphere of peace in the sub-continent and the willingness to do whatever was necessary to achieve this objective. He said that this vision was shared by President Musharraf. He was quite candid about the contentious issues and hoped that through dialogue each of them could be resolved. He claimed that no past Government of Pakistan had been so open about this objective and for the first time there was no fear about discussing the issues. He was happy with the way peace process was moving but was disappointed over the lack of progress on resolving the Kashmir dispute. In his view resolution of Kashmir issue was key to establishment of permanent peace between India and Pakistan. He was also disappointed over the non-holding of SAARC meeting and said that Pakistan was ‘hurt’ on the Baglihar Dam issue. Water was emerging as a contentious issue between the two countries. Although he seemed happy and took credit for allowing the power corridor to materialize in the interest of India.
I was impressed by the forthrightness of Shaukat Aziz. He said that unlike the past this Government was not interested in merely the containment of the problems but was actually committed to resolving the outstanding issues. And it clearly showed in his approach while talking about various issues. He spelt out the position of Government of Pakistan on each of the issue and hoped that on bilateral matters India would respond positively. He was full of praise for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his positive attitude in resolving issues.
Security, however, is one issue which makes the leadership of the two countries nervous. During the interaction Shaukat Aziz pointed out the necessity for Pakistan to keep arms for its security. He also admitted the compulsion of Pakistan to match the capability of India whenever it decided to procure any new category of arms leading to an unavoidable arms race. There exists tremendous confusion regarding more dangerous arms giving a sense of security. If we were to think about the issue with a cool head the relationship between security and more dangerous arms is inverse. You become more insecure as you possess more dangerous arms. The peace activists from Pakistan and India have been advocating the unilateral, or with bilateral agreement, renunciation of dangerous nuclear weapons by the two countries and downgrading of armed forces at the border. Only a border free of army and arms can provide us a sense of true security on both sides. I hope this logic, which is as clear to the peace activists as water, will get into the heads of our Heads of State and will find official approval followed by concrete action in terms of getting rid of weapons. The common poor people will be the winner that day on both sides, as much wanted resources being diverted in the name of their security today, will be free for their development. In the times of globalization when economic progress has become more important then the military security, I think the leaders of the two countries have realized the futility of arms race and have therefore decided to pursue the road to peace. The times are changing. The concept of jingoistic nationalism is going out of date and this is a welcome development. The economic development of the people who comprise a nation is getting centre-stage on the political agenda, as it should be.
I still find it difficult to believe that I was easily let into the office of Prime Minister of a country which until not long ago was considered an enemy country and got to listen to his frank opinion on all issues of relevance between the two countries. His approach clearly reflects the commitment of Government of Pakistan to bring about peace and normalcy in the region.
Thank you, Mr. Shaukat Aziz, for making my visit to meet you possible and if your Government allows the India Pakistan Peace March to take place, your initiative will go a long way in opening the doors for normalization of relationship between citizens of the two countries and establishment of durable peace and harmony, something which has become very elusive but which the people most definitely desire on both sides of the border.
By Sandeep Pandey
GRANT DUAL CITIZENSHIP TO PEOPLE OF OTHER COUNTRY BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN
GRANT DUAL CITIZENSHIP TO PEOPLE OF OTHER COUNTRY BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN
We are grateful to the Pakistani Government for allowing us to enter Pakistan and symbolically complete the India Pakistan Peace March scheduled from Delhi to Multan between 23rd March and 11th May, 2005, but regret that we were not given permission to walk within Pakistan. The only consolation is that we reached Multan on the scheduled date, which was not looking possible at one point because of bureaucratic hurdles. The highlight of the Multan event was the presence of both Shah Mahmood Hussain Qureshi, the Sajjada Nashin of the Dargah of Bahauddin Zakaria in Multan where our March ended and Nazim Syed Ali Shah Nizami, the Gaddi Nashin of the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi from where the March began. The March was meant to carry the message of Sufi saints and we accomplished our objective to a large extent. The response from people on both sides of the border was overwhelming. The signs are very clear. The people of India and Pakistan are for peace and friendship and they blame their governments for not giving it to them.
The people of India and Pakistan are anxious to meet each other as no other two communities of people around the globe. The Governments of India and Pakistan have made it so difficult for the two people to meet as probably nowhere in the world. A very complicated travel restriction regime exists between India and Pakistan. Some of the restrictions are beyond the comprehension of common people. For example, why does one need the permission of one’s Home Ministry to cross the Wagha border on foot if the other country has granted a visa? This permission is not needed when you’re crossing over from one country into the other by any other means – air, rail or bus. Hence, if you cross the same border on Delhi-Lahore bus service then you don’t need the permission from the Home Ministry. There is also a rule which mandates a group of a minimum of four to cross the border on foot. Most of the common Indian and Pakistani citizens are neither terrorists nor criminals but they are required to report daily to the Police if they are in the other country. It is funny that during our stay in Pakistan a Police squad was continuously accompanying us and they had minute to minute knowledge about our movement but still our friends Saeeda Diep or Shabnam Rashid had to waste a couple of hours every day to carry our passports to the Police Headquarters. One has to use the same means to return that one used to enter the other country. There is a senseless strictness about port of entry. Most importantly, you cannot go into the other country unless you have a relative or an invitation. The Pakistani High Commission in Delhi had refused to entertain our visa applications until our names were cleared by the Interior Ministry in Islamabad, which meant that unless we had influential friends in Pakistan it was virtually impossible for us to enter Pakistan. And we had to go through all this after Pervez Musharraf’s recent trip to New Delhi where the two Governments had talked about increasing people to people contact and making the borders softer! The bureaucracy on the two sides is still not willing to acknowledge the changing realities between the two countries. It wants to maintain its hold over people and create all possible obstacles in the path of people wanting to go to the other country.
Only twelve of us had got the nod of the Pakistani Interior Ministry to enter Pakistan. About ten times more people who wished to accompany this March into Pakistan were disappointed. A close friend Vinish Gupta, who left his Ph.D. programme at IIT Delhi to become a Buddhist Monk and presently lives in Sarnath, wanted to come to Pakistan to see his ancestral home in Lahore which houses Habib Bank today. His grandmother would have been most happy if he could have brought photographs of this home back with him. However, Tenzin, as he is now known, was not given the opportunity by the Pakistani Interior Ministry to fulfill even as small a wish as this. The great Gautam Buddha had said that desrire is the source of pain. Tenzin has learnt this the hard way. However, what right the bureaucracies on the two sides, who themselves are not accountable to anybody, have to deny even simple freedom to the people to travel and meet people they wish to on the other side?
Even though we’re demanding a complete doing away with of the passport-visa regime for travel between India and Pakistan, the common sentiment that was expressed by people along our route was that the two governments must grant visas on arrival at the border. The Governments of India and Pakistan can do it if they want to. They have to merely demonstrate the political will as they did when they started the Delhi-Lahore bus service, implemented the cease fire agreement, allowed over 5000 people to cross over to watch a cricket match and most importantly, against all odds, introduced the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service.
In fact, it would be a very novel idea to allow granting dual citizenship to people of the other country who wish to apply for it. There would be a number of Pakistanis willing to obtain Indian citizenship too and similarly a number of Indian citizens willing to obtain Pakistani citizenship too if given the choice. This would be the surest way to get rid of distrust between the people of two countries which exists because of sustained propaganda on both sides against the other country and its people. It would also make life easier for a number of us who wish to frequently travel to Pakistan to meet friends and attend events and have to go through the tedious process of getting approval of Interior Ministry of Pakistan every time. And till the day of our departure we’re not sure whether the Indian Home Ministry would allow us to cross the Wagha border on foot, even though we might have the visa from the Pakistani Government. No Governments possibly treat their citizens in such a disrespectful manner as the Governments of India and Pakistan when it comes to traveling between the two countries. Why should the citizens of the two countries be subjected to this shoddy treatment by their Governments?
By Sandeep Pandey
We are grateful to the Pakistani Government for allowing us to enter Pakistan and symbolically complete the India Pakistan Peace March scheduled from Delhi to Multan between 23rd March and 11th May, 2005, but regret that we were not given permission to walk within Pakistan. The only consolation is that we reached Multan on the scheduled date, which was not looking possible at one point because of bureaucratic hurdles. The highlight of the Multan event was the presence of both Shah Mahmood Hussain Qureshi, the Sajjada Nashin of the Dargah of Bahauddin Zakaria in Multan where our March ended and Nazim Syed Ali Shah Nizami, the Gaddi Nashin of the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi from where the March began. The March was meant to carry the message of Sufi saints and we accomplished our objective to a large extent. The response from people on both sides of the border was overwhelming. The signs are very clear. The people of India and Pakistan are for peace and friendship and they blame their governments for not giving it to them.
The people of India and Pakistan are anxious to meet each other as no other two communities of people around the globe. The Governments of India and Pakistan have made it so difficult for the two people to meet as probably nowhere in the world. A very complicated travel restriction regime exists between India and Pakistan. Some of the restrictions are beyond the comprehension of common people. For example, why does one need the permission of one’s Home Ministry to cross the Wagha border on foot if the other country has granted a visa? This permission is not needed when you’re crossing over from one country into the other by any other means – air, rail or bus. Hence, if you cross the same border on Delhi-Lahore bus service then you don’t need the permission from the Home Ministry. There is also a rule which mandates a group of a minimum of four to cross the border on foot. Most of the common Indian and Pakistani citizens are neither terrorists nor criminals but they are required to report daily to the Police if they are in the other country. It is funny that during our stay in Pakistan a Police squad was continuously accompanying us and they had minute to minute knowledge about our movement but still our friends Saeeda Diep or Shabnam Rashid had to waste a couple of hours every day to carry our passports to the Police Headquarters. One has to use the same means to return that one used to enter the other country. There is a senseless strictness about port of entry. Most importantly, you cannot go into the other country unless you have a relative or an invitation. The Pakistani High Commission in Delhi had refused to entertain our visa applications until our names were cleared by the Interior Ministry in Islamabad, which meant that unless we had influential friends in Pakistan it was virtually impossible for us to enter Pakistan. And we had to go through all this after Pervez Musharraf’s recent trip to New Delhi where the two Governments had talked about increasing people to people contact and making the borders softer! The bureaucracy on the two sides is still not willing to acknowledge the changing realities between the two countries. It wants to maintain its hold over people and create all possible obstacles in the path of people wanting to go to the other country.
Only twelve of us had got the nod of the Pakistani Interior Ministry to enter Pakistan. About ten times more people who wished to accompany this March into Pakistan were disappointed. A close friend Vinish Gupta, who left his Ph.D. programme at IIT Delhi to become a Buddhist Monk and presently lives in Sarnath, wanted to come to Pakistan to see his ancestral home in Lahore which houses Habib Bank today. His grandmother would have been most happy if he could have brought photographs of this home back with him. However, Tenzin, as he is now known, was not given the opportunity by the Pakistani Interior Ministry to fulfill even as small a wish as this. The great Gautam Buddha had said that desrire is the source of pain. Tenzin has learnt this the hard way. However, what right the bureaucracies on the two sides, who themselves are not accountable to anybody, have to deny even simple freedom to the people to travel and meet people they wish to on the other side?
Even though we’re demanding a complete doing away with of the passport-visa regime for travel between India and Pakistan, the common sentiment that was expressed by people along our route was that the two governments must grant visas on arrival at the border. The Governments of India and Pakistan can do it if they want to. They have to merely demonstrate the political will as they did when they started the Delhi-Lahore bus service, implemented the cease fire agreement, allowed over 5000 people to cross over to watch a cricket match and most importantly, against all odds, introduced the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service.
In fact, it would be a very novel idea to allow granting dual citizenship to people of the other country who wish to apply for it. There would be a number of Pakistanis willing to obtain Indian citizenship too and similarly a number of Indian citizens willing to obtain Pakistani citizenship too if given the choice. This would be the surest way to get rid of distrust between the people of two countries which exists because of sustained propaganda on both sides against the other country and its people. It would also make life easier for a number of us who wish to frequently travel to Pakistan to meet friends and attend events and have to go through the tedious process of getting approval of Interior Ministry of Pakistan every time. And till the day of our departure we’re not sure whether the Indian Home Ministry would allow us to cross the Wagha border on foot, even though we might have the visa from the Pakistani Government. No Governments possibly treat their citizens in such a disrespectful manner as the Governments of India and Pakistan when it comes to traveling between the two countries. Why should the citizens of the two countries be subjected to this shoddy treatment by their Governments?
By Sandeep Pandey
A UNIQUE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
A UNIQUE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
Tikamgarh is a rare inland district in India, located centrally in the Bundelkhand region of the Hindi heartland in Madhya Pradesh, with a large fisherfolk community. There are total of 1395 ponds in all in this district as per government records, with 612 ponds being under fishery and 100 being irrigation ponds. They are also famous for its Chandel period architecture. Once they met the irrigation and water needs of villages. Thousands of fisherfolks were also dependent on them. But today most of them exist only in village panchayat records. Most of them are now turned into wastelands, or used partially for irrigation needs by dominant interests in the villages. Due to siltation and total neglect once the pride of villages is now turned into dumping grounds. And fisherfolk community is the one, which is worst affected by ponds dying all over the area. Fisherfolk community have fishing rights over ponds through registered co-operative societies for which government issues a license on the recommendation of village panchayats. But most of these societies are controlled by vested interests. The powerful lobbies of villages act in the name of fishermen and most of the fishermen work as labourers earning pittance. They are dependent on these vested interests for loans, fishing nets, seedlings and during lean periods and as they do not have access to markets they end up getting much less than due to them.
An effort was made in Prithvipur and Jatara blocks of Tikamgarh district to get them organized to improve their livelihood opportunities and to get them better bargaining position in today’s capital intensive, highly globalised competitive market economy. The community organized themselves in loose network of committees. They started collective buying of fish seedlings and selling fish. Saving groups were started which played the role of informal credit societies thus reducing the dependence on creditors. This gave ample leverage to community who started reclaiming the ponds by organizing as political pressure groups. Through organized protests they were successful in getting few favorable policy changes at state and district level.
Women from the community played an important role in this experiment. Traditionally they perform the functions of cleaning and selling fish in the local markets (marketing to towns and trading is done by men). Women started their separate savings groups and excelled in them due to their inherent capacity to focus within family and community. They became owners of ponds totally controlled by women committees and thus became shareholders in the network. The community has saved more than Rs. 25 lakhs and are now in the process of forming federation to gain better access and control over markets, to get better livelihood opportunities.
The fisherfolk community felt that they have informal property right over ponds, which is a resource they are loosing and their livelihood and life depends on it. It was this justified sense of rightness which was the rallying point. The homogeneity and bonding of community along with women’s capacity to focus and nurture the family and community helped to strengthen the organization. The organization based on this arena of social assets was successful in providing viable option of livelihood. On about 100 ponds the fisherfolk are now politically organized in the name of ‘Achrumata Machuwara Sangathan’ to determine their own destiny. On 56 ponds the co-operatives elected to manage the ponds are controlled by the organization. This was of course not very easy. The elected members of the co-operative committees had to shielded from the powerful vested interests, which included Uma Bharati’s brother, so that they were not influenced by either fear or enticement before they elected their office bearers.
They are buying their seedlings from as far away as Howrah and selling their produce at far away markets in Gorakhpur. During the last 4-5 years the income levels of fisherfolk families have gone up in the range of Rs. 4,000-Rs. 20,000 per family. The turnover in 2001 was Rs. 77 lakhs and on an average it is Rs. 30-35 lakhs per year. Earlier the land which used to be freed up because of drying up of ponds
was used by upper caste or powerful people for cultivation. Now, after getting organized, the fisherfolk have established their right over this land too and get an additional income from farming. Last year, for some families, the income from agriculture was more than from fishing.
The fisherfolk like to call this struggle of claiming their due rights over ponds and being in control of their own business as a struggle for independence. 58 years after the country became independent, some communities are getting a taste of what it means to be independent. And most of the communities around the country have yet to go through this process. They are still awaiting their chance of getting a taste of their independence.
What is unique about this struggle at Tikamgarh is that it is taking place without the help of any established political party or any well known social or political activist leading it. It is the common fisherfolk, with a literacy rate of 2% in their community, who have achieved the miracle all by themselves.
There is a management committee of eleven people, with only two of them from outside as supporters in advisory role, which looks after the affairs of the organization. There is an organizational meeting on first day of every month with 1-2 members from cooperative committees for each of the pond attending it. Sub committees have been formed to take care of fishing net, sales, women’s issues, accounts, organizational matters and office-administration. The amount of maturity that the organization has acquired can be gauged from the fact that when UNICEF offered money for installing hand pumps in the area, the committees decided that they would rather take the money from UNICEF and build more ponds for themselves, which will provide water as well as create more opportunities for fishing. They made seven new ponds from this money.
Along with strengthening the organization, efforts for obtaining more rights from the administration are still going on. Recently there was a march through the area covering many ponds to raise awareness on a number of issues. The march ended in a rally of 3000 people in Tikamgarh on 21st September, 2005 and a public meeting. The fisherfolk are demanding more rights over their ponds. They don’t want people to be pumping out water from their ponds. They want the money for the maintenance of these ponds to be directly transferred to their co-operatives. Presently, there is a lot of embezzlement of these funds. They want the middlemen to stop siphoning off resources meant for them. The fisherfolk are demanding rights over other resources from the pond. They also want educational opportunities for their children and skill development programmes for the women so that they may further supplement their family incomes.
It is an amazing process of political-social-economic empowerment going on and the fisherfolk of Tikamgarh are setting an example for other marginalized and oppressed communities across the country to undertake their journey of independence through creative and courageous mobilization.
By Arundhati Dhuru and Sandeep Pandey
A-893, Indira Nagar, Lucknow-226016, U.P., India
Telephone: 0522-2347365, Mobile: 9415022772
e-mail: ashaashram@yahoo.com
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Tikamgarh is a rare inland district in India, located centrally in the Bundelkhand region of the Hindi heartland in Madhya Pradesh, with a large fisherfolk community. There are total of 1395 ponds in all in this district as per government records, with 612 ponds being under fishery and 100 being irrigation ponds. They are also famous for its Chandel period architecture. Once they met the irrigation and water needs of villages. Thousands of fisherfolks were also dependent on them. But today most of them exist only in village panchayat records. Most of them are now turned into wastelands, or used partially for irrigation needs by dominant interests in the villages. Due to siltation and total neglect once the pride of villages is now turned into dumping grounds. And fisherfolk community is the one, which is worst affected by ponds dying all over the area. Fisherfolk community have fishing rights over ponds through registered co-operative societies for which government issues a license on the recommendation of village panchayats. But most of these societies are controlled by vested interests. The powerful lobbies of villages act in the name of fishermen and most of the fishermen work as labourers earning pittance. They are dependent on these vested interests for loans, fishing nets, seedlings and during lean periods and as they do not have access to markets they end up getting much less than due to them.
An effort was made in Prithvipur and Jatara blocks of Tikamgarh district to get them organized to improve their livelihood opportunities and to get them better bargaining position in today’s capital intensive, highly globalised competitive market economy. The community organized themselves in loose network of committees. They started collective buying of fish seedlings and selling fish. Saving groups were started which played the role of informal credit societies thus reducing the dependence on creditors. This gave ample leverage to community who started reclaiming the ponds by organizing as political pressure groups. Through organized protests they were successful in getting few favorable policy changes at state and district level.
Women from the community played an important role in this experiment. Traditionally they perform the functions of cleaning and selling fish in the local markets (marketing to towns and trading is done by men). Women started their separate savings groups and excelled in them due to their inherent capacity to focus within family and community. They became owners of ponds totally controlled by women committees and thus became shareholders in the network. The community has saved more than Rs. 25 lakhs and are now in the process of forming federation to gain better access and control over markets, to get better livelihood opportunities.
The fisherfolk community felt that they have informal property right over ponds, which is a resource they are loosing and their livelihood and life depends on it. It was this justified sense of rightness which was the rallying point. The homogeneity and bonding of community along with women’s capacity to focus and nurture the family and community helped to strengthen the organization. The organization based on this arena of social assets was successful in providing viable option of livelihood. On about 100 ponds the fisherfolk are now politically organized in the name of ‘Achrumata Machuwara Sangathan’ to determine their own destiny. On 56 ponds the co-operatives elected to manage the ponds are controlled by the organization. This was of course not very easy. The elected members of the co-operative committees had to shielded from the powerful vested interests, which included Uma Bharati’s brother, so that they were not influenced by either fear or enticement before they elected their office bearers.
They are buying their seedlings from as far away as Howrah and selling their produce at far away markets in Gorakhpur. During the last 4-5 years the income levels of fisherfolk families have gone up in the range of Rs. 4,000-Rs. 20,000 per family. The turnover in 2001 was Rs. 77 lakhs and on an average it is Rs. 30-35 lakhs per year. Earlier the land which used to be freed up because of drying up of ponds
was used by upper caste or powerful people for cultivation. Now, after getting organized, the fisherfolk have established their right over this land too and get an additional income from farming. Last year, for some families, the income from agriculture was more than from fishing.
The fisherfolk like to call this struggle of claiming their due rights over ponds and being in control of their own business as a struggle for independence. 58 years after the country became independent, some communities are getting a taste of what it means to be independent. And most of the communities around the country have yet to go through this process. They are still awaiting their chance of getting a taste of their independence.
What is unique about this struggle at Tikamgarh is that it is taking place without the help of any established political party or any well known social or political activist leading it. It is the common fisherfolk, with a literacy rate of 2% in their community, who have achieved the miracle all by themselves.
There is a management committee of eleven people, with only two of them from outside as supporters in advisory role, which looks after the affairs of the organization. There is an organizational meeting on first day of every month with 1-2 members from cooperative committees for each of the pond attending it. Sub committees have been formed to take care of fishing net, sales, women’s issues, accounts, organizational matters and office-administration. The amount of maturity that the organization has acquired can be gauged from the fact that when UNICEF offered money for installing hand pumps in the area, the committees decided that they would rather take the money from UNICEF and build more ponds for themselves, which will provide water as well as create more opportunities for fishing. They made seven new ponds from this money.
Along with strengthening the organization, efforts for obtaining more rights from the administration are still going on. Recently there was a march through the area covering many ponds to raise awareness on a number of issues. The march ended in a rally of 3000 people in Tikamgarh on 21st September, 2005 and a public meeting. The fisherfolk are demanding more rights over their ponds. They don’t want people to be pumping out water from their ponds. They want the money for the maintenance of these ponds to be directly transferred to their co-operatives. Presently, there is a lot of embezzlement of these funds. They want the middlemen to stop siphoning off resources meant for them. The fisherfolk are demanding rights over other resources from the pond. They also want educational opportunities for their children and skill development programmes for the women so that they may further supplement their family incomes.
It is an amazing process of political-social-economic empowerment going on and the fisherfolk of Tikamgarh are setting an example for other marginalized and oppressed communities across the country to undertake their journey of independence through creative and courageous mobilization.
By Arundhati Dhuru and Sandeep Pandey
A-893, Indira Nagar, Lucknow-226016, U.P., India
Telephone: 0522-2347365, Mobile: 9415022772
e-mail: ashaashram@yahoo.com
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STUDENTS IN NORTH AMERICA RAISE VOICE AGAINST COKE AND
STUDENTS IN NORTH AMERICA RAISE VOICE AGAINST COKE ANDPEPSI
It is quite interesting to see that labour rights’violation issue in Coloumbia and the issue of waterrights of local communities in India have become acause of concern for Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola, asstudents across campuses in United States and Canadaare beginning to question the unethical practices ofthese companies. These companies impact the lives ofstudents in North American campuses as they usuallyhave exclusivity contracts with the Universities whichprevent products of other companies besides their ownto be sold on campuses. The students are up in arms asthey think that they should have the freedom to choosetheir products and their choices should not bedictated by corporations like Coke and Pepsi. Adeliberate attempt is being made by these companies toreplace the free water fountains with their vendingmachines and they are restricting the choice ofstudents for healthier drink selection.In a major victory on McMaster University campus inCanada, the students in a referendum haveunambiguously disapproved of the Coca Cola’s $6million exclusive contract with their University. Amovement initiated by a students’ organization ‘CampusChoice’ has informed the larger student body ofirresponsible behaviour of Coca Cola in India andColoumbia. The referendum will force the McMasterStudents Union and Univeristy authorities to reviewthe contract with Coca Cola. York Univeristy inToronto is also likely to review its decade longexclusivity contract with Pepsi which is to end in2008, as student groups have become suspicious of itstrue value to the community. In mid 90’s the studentsat this University had led a five year boycott ofPepsi products following the opening of theiroperation facilities in Burma – a country with a poorhuman rights track record. In United States at theUniveristy of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Students Organizedfor Labour and Economic Equity (SOLE) complained tothe administration on November 30, 2004, about fourareas of concern, including the issues of cadmium insludge coming out of Coca Cola plants, ground waterdepletion by the bottling plants and presence ofpesticides in products being sold, from India. TheUniversity authorities have asked Coca Cola to respondto these concerns and the Vendor Code of ConductDispute Review Board of the University has recommendedstrict action against the company in case ofnon-compliance with Vendor Code of Conduct.Students in campuses are also opposing thatuniversity campuses become arenas for advertisingwhere the administration set up the campus as anexclusive billboard for exclusive ad campaigns.Students in campuses across North America are askingwhy workers in Coke plants in Coloumbia must bear theexternalities of Coke so that the company can makeprofits. Why should the people in India ofMehandiganj, Varanasi or Plachimada, Kerala pay forthe costs of making products so that the company ismaking huge profits? Who accounts for theseexternalities that result in Coke's profits? Coke andPepsi are producing externalities they are not payingfor - health problems, water depletion, pollution, ...within this argument of free market economy, these arecosts they are not accounting for. Who will pay forthem? And why should these villages pay for them? Isthat just?The companies meanwhile are trying to cover up theirmisdeeds by efforts which may be described only as eyewash. On 4th October, 2005, after a documentary‘Mehandiganj – Where Life is at Stake’ was screened onthe campus of Georgia Institute of Technology inAtlanta to discuss the movement for rights over waterof local communities going on in rural areas ofVaranasi, Harry J. Ott, Director of Global WaterResources Center at Coca Cola coming from theinternational headquarters of the global corporategiant next door from the campus, claimed that he hadGroundwater Board data available from India to showthat water table had, in fact, risen at Mehandiganj,since the bottling plant of the company was set upthere. He was more willing to believe the data, whoseauthenticity was dubious, compared to the vividpictures of about 2000 people protesting against theplant in November 2004 against the company fordepleting their water tables, in the film justscreened. He also claimed that the company hasundertaken watershed management exercises all over thecountry to compensate for the depleting water tables.When it was pointed out to him that there was no proofof any such attempt in Mehandiganj, Varanasi, heresponded that the effort here was being done insidethe plant premises! The Director of Ground WaterResources at Coca Cola has no idea of how big acatchment area is required to compensate for the watertable being depleted by its four tube wellscontinuously operating inside its plant. Besides, ifindeed the bottling plants are able to collect enoughwater to recharge the local ground water, even causeit to rise, why then do they not simply use that waterfor their operations. After all, the rain water iscleaner than the ground water that has variouschemicals leaching into it and this would save thecompany major costs attributed to water filtrationprocesses.Companies like Coke and Pepsi, which are not evenwilling to clean up the pesticides in their productsbeing sold in India or Coca Cola, which refuses toacknowledge the presence of Cadmium in its sludgeinspite of the result of two independent reports now,can not be expected to do the more tedious task ofwatershed management to conserve water for the farmersof India.At Carleton Univeristy in Ottawa, on 19th October,2005, the students attending a meeting similar to theone at Georgia Tech, asserted that they have a rightto free drinking water from public fountains and Cokeand Pepsi should not force them to buy bottled water.It is reported that a new building on the campus ofUniveristy of British Coloumbia will not have anywater fountains. Students expressed their resentmentover this. Coincidentally farmers in India, on theother side of the globe, are saying the same thing.They are asking Coke and Pepsi to leave their wateralone so that it is available to them for drinking andirrigation purposes. Taking away the water by thesecompanies is in reality a serious human rightsviolation of the farming communities, in addition tothe abuse they face at the hands of the local policeand private security guards of Coca Cola whenever theytry to organize a protest outside the plant gates. Thefarmers of India and students on North Americanuniversity campuses are essentially saying the samething – ‘Stop privatization of water!’By Sandeep Pandey
ASHA PARIVAR PLAYS A POSITIVE ROLE DURING ELECTIONS
ASHA PARIVAR PLAYS A POSITIVE ROLE DURING ELECTIONS
The panchayat elections have just gotten over in U.P. Because of Asha Parivar's role in the right to information campaign first in Hardoi district and then in Varanasi district, where information related to income and expenditure of funds coming to village panchayats under various heads and schemes were demanded by the people of these villages, it was quite natural that when it came time to re-elect the pradhans (heads of elected village committees whichare responsible for undertaking development works as well as for selecting beneficiaries for various schemes of the government) volunteers of Asha Parivar would be playing an important role. In addition to people who were part of the right to information campaign who wanted to contest the elections there were others, who did not participate in the campaign but were interested in Asha Ashram endorsing their candidature as it would improve their standing in theeyes of the electorate. The aspirants were asked to commit themselves to transparency and accountability, honesty and not using any illegitimate means during their campaign. Dalit volunteers associated with Asha Parivar were really enthusiastic as they could take on the more powerful vested interests due to certain immunity arising out from their association with the Ashram. Rajeshwari, Baijnath's wife, was a candidate from Jamunipur, Sajiwan's mother Ramkali was a candidate from Purwa Maan and Neelkamal and Guddu had put in everything to ensure that Harkaran Nath Dwivedi, who had been a proxy pradhan in the name of his dalit servant, was defeated in Sikroriha. Meanwhile, Keshav and Jaishankar, volunteers who were not natives of Hardoi, were overseeing the entire two blocks of Bharawan and Sandila to campaign for candidates with cleaner images. Women candidates were clearly told that they would have to campaign for themselves without letting their husbands dominate.For the first time Asha Ashram volunteers campaigned in their work area and asked people to vote for candidates supported by the Ashram. There were candidates - corrupt, feudal, criminal - whom the Ashram was opposing and they did not like it. They did everything to foil Ashram's campaign for a cleaner politics. Voter rolls were tampered with, code of conduct for campaigning were violated. Whenever, people brought any of these discrepancies to the notice of the Asha volunteers, the District website 'Lokvani' would be used to lodge a complaint and the District Magistrate would be informed. The present DM Abhishek Singh took prompt action in most of the cases to rectify the situation. People feared booth capturing and rigging on the polling day. However, Asha Parivaar volunteers Keshav and Jaishankar moving around on their motorcycle in the area of influence of the Ashram keeping a close watch on the proceedings and with the cooperation of District authorities and the local Police Station ensured that there was no bungling. Similarly, during counting, which is another stage where things could be rigged, vigilant Asha volunteers ensured that powerful vested interests did not have their way. The results were announced. Most of the candidates directly associated with the Ashram lost. However, there were about ten pradhans in Hardoi District and another 4-5 in Varanasi who said they would like to work with the Ashram. Mukesh, an active volunteer at Mehdiganj working with Nandlal's anti-Coca Cola movement, was the new pradhan of Village Panchayat Nagepur. He happens to the youngest pradhan in Varanasi district. A ceremony was organized at Asha Ashram, Lalpur on 20th September, 2005 with about 200 people attending including the DM, where several pradhans and panchayat members from Hardoi, Varanasi, Chitrakoot, Ballia, Deoria and Rae Bareli participated in a workshop for better governance and took an oath of 'office and transparency' as opposed to the oath of 'office and secrecy' delivered for any public office. The pradhans and members of panchayats attending this meeting committed themselves to (1) taking all decisions in open meetings of the panchayat, (2) keeping all their financial accounts transparent and all important information public, (3) not pay or accept a bribe, (4) not keep a weapon for their security, and (5) not take their decisions influenced by caste considerations except when there is a reservation for a certain caste community. The women pradhans and members took an additional , oath of not letting their husbands or any other male member of the community run the show for them. A similar exercise was reapeated for more pradhans and members only from Varanasi District at Nandlal's Ashram in Mehdiganj on 28th September, 2005. This meeting was attended by the Member of Parliament from Varanasi, Rajesh Mishra, belonging to the Congress Party. Rajesh Mishra, on this occasion also committed that he would support the people's campaign for rights over water resources against the Coca Cola bottling plant. Fortunately, both the Village Panchayats containing the bottling plants in Mehdiganj, Varanasi and Sinhachawar, Ballia now have pradhans who are supporters of the anti-Coca Cola movement. The pradhan at Ballia, Chinta Devi attended the ceremony at Hardoi on 20th September and she has already declared her intentions of taking on the company. Asha Parivar may not have returned a number of candidates as pradhans or members but put up tough battle for opponents. But the awareness created by the campaign for right to information had a definite role in fair polling and counting of votes. A cooperative DM obviously was a big help. So, the campaign of Asha Parivar for empowerment of people continues and Asha volunteers and members of the Parivar settle down to ensuring transparent and good governance in panchayats, whether the pradhans are sympathetic to the Ashram or not.By Sandeep
The panchayat elections have just gotten over in U.P. Because of Asha Parivar's role in the right to information campaign first in Hardoi district and then in Varanasi district, where information related to income and expenditure of funds coming to village panchayats under various heads and schemes were demanded by the people of these villages, it was quite natural that when it came time to re-elect the pradhans (heads of elected village committees whichare responsible for undertaking development works as well as for selecting beneficiaries for various schemes of the government) volunteers of Asha Parivar would be playing an important role. In addition to people who were part of the right to information campaign who wanted to contest the elections there were others, who did not participate in the campaign but were interested in Asha Ashram endorsing their candidature as it would improve their standing in theeyes of the electorate. The aspirants were asked to commit themselves to transparency and accountability, honesty and not using any illegitimate means during their campaign. Dalit volunteers associated with Asha Parivar were really enthusiastic as they could take on the more powerful vested interests due to certain immunity arising out from their association with the Ashram. Rajeshwari, Baijnath's wife, was a candidate from Jamunipur, Sajiwan's mother Ramkali was a candidate from Purwa Maan and Neelkamal and Guddu had put in everything to ensure that Harkaran Nath Dwivedi, who had been a proxy pradhan in the name of his dalit servant, was defeated in Sikroriha. Meanwhile, Keshav and Jaishankar, volunteers who were not natives of Hardoi, were overseeing the entire two blocks of Bharawan and Sandila to campaign for candidates with cleaner images. Women candidates were clearly told that they would have to campaign for themselves without letting their husbands dominate.For the first time Asha Ashram volunteers campaigned in their work area and asked people to vote for candidates supported by the Ashram. There were candidates - corrupt, feudal, criminal - whom the Ashram was opposing and they did not like it. They did everything to foil Ashram's campaign for a cleaner politics. Voter rolls were tampered with, code of conduct for campaigning were violated. Whenever, people brought any of these discrepancies to the notice of the Asha volunteers, the District website 'Lokvani' would be used to lodge a complaint and the District Magistrate would be informed. The present DM Abhishek Singh took prompt action in most of the cases to rectify the situation. People feared booth capturing and rigging on the polling day. However, Asha Parivaar volunteers Keshav and Jaishankar moving around on their motorcycle in the area of influence of the Ashram keeping a close watch on the proceedings and with the cooperation of District authorities and the local Police Station ensured that there was no bungling. Similarly, during counting, which is another stage where things could be rigged, vigilant Asha volunteers ensured that powerful vested interests did not have their way. The results were announced. Most of the candidates directly associated with the Ashram lost. However, there were about ten pradhans in Hardoi District and another 4-5 in Varanasi who said they would like to work with the Ashram. Mukesh, an active volunteer at Mehdiganj working with Nandlal's anti-Coca Cola movement, was the new pradhan of Village Panchayat Nagepur. He happens to the youngest pradhan in Varanasi district. A ceremony was organized at Asha Ashram, Lalpur on 20th September, 2005 with about 200 people attending including the DM, where several pradhans and panchayat members from Hardoi, Varanasi, Chitrakoot, Ballia, Deoria and Rae Bareli participated in a workshop for better governance and took an oath of 'office and transparency' as opposed to the oath of 'office and secrecy' delivered for any public office. The pradhans and members of panchayats attending this meeting committed themselves to (1) taking all decisions in open meetings of the panchayat, (2) keeping all their financial accounts transparent and all important information public, (3) not pay or accept a bribe, (4) not keep a weapon for their security, and (5) not take their decisions influenced by caste considerations except when there is a reservation for a certain caste community. The women pradhans and members took an additional , oath of not letting their husbands or any other male member of the community run the show for them. A similar exercise was reapeated for more pradhans and members only from Varanasi District at Nandlal's Ashram in Mehdiganj on 28th September, 2005. This meeting was attended by the Member of Parliament from Varanasi, Rajesh Mishra, belonging to the Congress Party. Rajesh Mishra, on this occasion also committed that he would support the people's campaign for rights over water resources against the Coca Cola bottling plant. Fortunately, both the Village Panchayats containing the bottling plants in Mehdiganj, Varanasi and Sinhachawar, Ballia now have pradhans who are supporters of the anti-Coca Cola movement. The pradhan at Ballia, Chinta Devi attended the ceremony at Hardoi on 20th September and she has already declared her intentions of taking on the company. Asha Parivar may not have returned a number of candidates as pradhans or members but put up tough battle for opponents. But the awareness created by the campaign for right to information had a definite role in fair polling and counting of votes. A cooperative DM obviously was a big help. So, the campaign of Asha Parivar for empowerment of people continues and Asha volunteers and members of the Parivar settle down to ensuring transparent and good governance in panchayats, whether the pradhans are sympathetic to the Ashram or not.By Sandeep
GHOSTS LIVE HERE
GHOSTS LIVE HERE
A ‘Pol-Khol’ yatra was organized from April 25th to 27th through several villages in the Narmada valley which face submergence as a result of the Sardar Sarovar Dam construction to expose the claims of the Government that everybody displaced has been resettled and rehabilitated. Medha Patkar, Madhya Pradesh MLA Dr. Sunilam, Swami Agnivesh and about a hundred activists from all over the country traveled from one village to another only to hear desolate voices and tales of negligence and corruption in the process of resettlement and rehabilitation. The frustration was aptly expressed by Shaira behen of Khalghat, ‘We will not leave our birth place. If uprooted we will prefer to live in makeshift slums over the main road and be ready to be overrun by the buses and trucks rather than move to the rehabilitation site.’
As you enter the village Chota Barda in the submergence area of the Sardar Sarovar Dam a banner welcomes you which says ‘This village has been deserted, it has been rehabilitated; The people who you see here are ghosts,’ put up by the villagers, all of whom still continue to live here even though the Government claims on paper that the village has been resettled. This banner conveys the tragedy and anguish of the people going to loose their land soon to the Sardar Sarovar Dam. Most of them have been left in lurch with little idea of what the future holds for them.
Almost all the guidelines for resettlement and rehabilitation as prescribed by Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award are being violated by the Narmada Valley Development Authority. There was not a single village in which people did not have complaint against the procedures being adopted by NVDA. Usually the rehabilitation sites are quite a distance away from the original village. It is especially a problem for fisherfolk and boatmen community whose livelihood depends on the river. If they are forced to move away from the river they will face a situation of displacement from their jobs too. Some people in Khalghat are being relocated 11 km away and in Ekalwara 6 km away. For the people whose livelihood depends on agriculture some of them are being given agriculture land quite far away from the resettlement sites. In one case a person from Ekalwara complained that his agricultural land was being given 85 km away from his to be residence.
According to NWDTA every adult son should get 2 hectares of land. But the authorities are telling the people that they will not rehabilitate two generations. They are usually ignoring the requests of adult sons for separate pieces of land and asking them to complain to Grievances Redressal Authority.
People are being given compensation for their houses and lands after surveys by the authorities. These surveys are being carried out in a high handed manner. In Chikhalda village the entire survey was carried out within 8 hours in the presence of 3000 police persons in an atmosphere of terror without any prior notice. Masoom behen from Khalghat complained that even though her house fell in the submergence area survey was not being carried out by the officials inspite of her repeated requests. In Dharampuri one of the two neighbouring household was being told that they fall in submergence whereas the other was being told that they do not. A road along with houses on one side was being shown to be falling in submergence whereas the other side was not. In Ekalwara people told that officials keep issuing arbitrary lists. Every list of houses falling in submergence is different from the previous ones with some families who were earlier being told that they would get submerged missing from the new list and new names being added who were earlier not in the submergence list. NVDA had earlier reported that at the height of 121 metres of the Sardar Sarovar Dam 31,000 families would be submerged but later it arbitrarily reduced this number to 23,000. The process of survey seems to be getting carried out in an adhoc manner.
Some people are blaming the Narmada Bachao Andolan for deliberately delaying the resettlement and rehabilitation process. However, a visit to the Narmada valley and listening to people’s woes will make it amply clear that rampant corruption in the bureaucracy in collusion with middlemen has complicated the matter beyond redemption. Recently 37 engineers and employees of NVDA Badwani office were suspended when they were found to be involved in a Rs. 9 crores scam related to false payments having been made without carrying out the desired development work at the rehabilitation sites. People being given compensation for their houses are being asked to pay upto 40% amount as commission. People in Awali complained that the Deputy Collector Solanki and Patwari Rawat were demanding Rs. 2000 from the first installment of Rs. 18,700 and Rs. 6000 from the second installment of Rs. 24,000 and totally gobbling up the third installment. Illegimate persons are withdrawing compensation in the name of real people who are getting displaced. The Village Sarpanch of Awali complained that there is no facility for drinking water, water for cattles, hospital, etc. at the rehabilitation site and it was impossible to live there.
The NVDA and the governments of M.P. and Gujarat are putting up a sham in the name of rehabilitation and cheating not only the people but also misleading the Supreme Court. They are spending money but most of it is being siphoned off in corruption and nobody seems to be concerned about that because right now it has become a matter of prestige for the governments to show that rehabilitation is being completed, even though it is on paper. Most of the people who were resettled from M.P. to Gujarat have preferred to go back to their original villages but on paper they probably continue to live in Gujarat.
The struggle of Narmada Bachao Andolan has gone on for 20 years in trying to stop the Dam. It may have to go on for another 20 years to ensure proper rehabilitation for everybody getting displaced by the Narmada Valley Development Project.
By Sandeep Pandey
A ‘Pol-Khol’ yatra was organized from April 25th to 27th through several villages in the Narmada valley which face submergence as a result of the Sardar Sarovar Dam construction to expose the claims of the Government that everybody displaced has been resettled and rehabilitated. Medha Patkar, Madhya Pradesh MLA Dr. Sunilam, Swami Agnivesh and about a hundred activists from all over the country traveled from one village to another only to hear desolate voices and tales of negligence and corruption in the process of resettlement and rehabilitation. The frustration was aptly expressed by Shaira behen of Khalghat, ‘We will not leave our birth place. If uprooted we will prefer to live in makeshift slums over the main road and be ready to be overrun by the buses and trucks rather than move to the rehabilitation site.’
As you enter the village Chota Barda in the submergence area of the Sardar Sarovar Dam a banner welcomes you which says ‘This village has been deserted, it has been rehabilitated; The people who you see here are ghosts,’ put up by the villagers, all of whom still continue to live here even though the Government claims on paper that the village has been resettled. This banner conveys the tragedy and anguish of the people going to loose their land soon to the Sardar Sarovar Dam. Most of them have been left in lurch with little idea of what the future holds for them.
Almost all the guidelines for resettlement and rehabilitation as prescribed by Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award are being violated by the Narmada Valley Development Authority. There was not a single village in which people did not have complaint against the procedures being adopted by NVDA. Usually the rehabilitation sites are quite a distance away from the original village. It is especially a problem for fisherfolk and boatmen community whose livelihood depends on the river. If they are forced to move away from the river they will face a situation of displacement from their jobs too. Some people in Khalghat are being relocated 11 km away and in Ekalwara 6 km away. For the people whose livelihood depends on agriculture some of them are being given agriculture land quite far away from the resettlement sites. In one case a person from Ekalwara complained that his agricultural land was being given 85 km away from his to be residence.
According to NWDTA every adult son should get 2 hectares of land. But the authorities are telling the people that they will not rehabilitate two generations. They are usually ignoring the requests of adult sons for separate pieces of land and asking them to complain to Grievances Redressal Authority.
People are being given compensation for their houses and lands after surveys by the authorities. These surveys are being carried out in a high handed manner. In Chikhalda village the entire survey was carried out within 8 hours in the presence of 3000 police persons in an atmosphere of terror without any prior notice. Masoom behen from Khalghat complained that even though her house fell in the submergence area survey was not being carried out by the officials inspite of her repeated requests. In Dharampuri one of the two neighbouring household was being told that they fall in submergence whereas the other was being told that they do not. A road along with houses on one side was being shown to be falling in submergence whereas the other side was not. In Ekalwara people told that officials keep issuing arbitrary lists. Every list of houses falling in submergence is different from the previous ones with some families who were earlier being told that they would get submerged missing from the new list and new names being added who were earlier not in the submergence list. NVDA had earlier reported that at the height of 121 metres of the Sardar Sarovar Dam 31,000 families would be submerged but later it arbitrarily reduced this number to 23,000. The process of survey seems to be getting carried out in an adhoc manner.
Some people are blaming the Narmada Bachao Andolan for deliberately delaying the resettlement and rehabilitation process. However, a visit to the Narmada valley and listening to people’s woes will make it amply clear that rampant corruption in the bureaucracy in collusion with middlemen has complicated the matter beyond redemption. Recently 37 engineers and employees of NVDA Badwani office were suspended when they were found to be involved in a Rs. 9 crores scam related to false payments having been made without carrying out the desired development work at the rehabilitation sites. People being given compensation for their houses are being asked to pay upto 40% amount as commission. People in Awali complained that the Deputy Collector Solanki and Patwari Rawat were demanding Rs. 2000 from the first installment of Rs. 18,700 and Rs. 6000 from the second installment of Rs. 24,000 and totally gobbling up the third installment. Illegimate persons are withdrawing compensation in the name of real people who are getting displaced. The Village Sarpanch of Awali complained that there is no facility for drinking water, water for cattles, hospital, etc. at the rehabilitation site and it was impossible to live there.
The NVDA and the governments of M.P. and Gujarat are putting up a sham in the name of rehabilitation and cheating not only the people but also misleading the Supreme Court. They are spending money but most of it is being siphoned off in corruption and nobody seems to be concerned about that because right now it has become a matter of prestige for the governments to show that rehabilitation is being completed, even though it is on paper. Most of the people who were resettled from M.P. to Gujarat have preferred to go back to their original villages but on paper they probably continue to live in Gujarat.
The struggle of Narmada Bachao Andolan has gone on for 20 years in trying to stop the Dam. It may have to go on for another 20 years to ensure proper rehabilitation for everybody getting displaced by the Narmada Valley Development Project.
By Sandeep Pandey
AN OMINOUS DEAL
AN OMINOUS DEAL
India is celebrating its recently concluded Nuclear deal with the US without realizing the trap it is falling into. This is not the first time that India has embarked upon an ambitious nuclear power project. The father of the India nuclear programme Homi Bhabha had dreamt of India producing a significant share of its power from nuclear energy, at the time of Independence. However, the ensuing decades witnessed what can only be described as a failed project, with ultimately India being able to produce less than 10% of the projected target and all its nuclear power plants having run into some problem or the other. In fact, in one of the years in 80s the power required to keep these plants running was more than what was being produced by these plants. Some people conjecture that testing of the nuclear weapons in 1998 had more to do with saving the Department of Atomic Energy than to add to the military might of the country. If we go by the fact that there was an instant increase in budget of DAE by 68% after the weapons’ testing it may not be difficult to believe this, given the sorry state of affairs of nuclear power production.
If we have had a very poor performance in running our nuclear power programme why are we suddenly enthusiastic about another grand nuclear dream? The enthusiasm has less to do with the possibility of acquiring nuclear technology than the fact the US has recognized our status as a ‘responsible’ nuclear state and we’re a step closer to capturing a seat in the Security Council. While the President, taking a cue from the Indo-US deal, has laid emphasis on ‘energy security’ as a priority for the country, we are not even able to provide the most basic ‘food security’. The country has just passed its first employment guarantee Act, which is only a guarantee in the name. People continue to live under conditions of malnourishment and extreme poverty. The nuclear weapons or and energy programme is not going to make these people, who will easily outnumber the class which will use electricity from the nuclear power, any more secure.
We should ask ourselves the question why countries which are no longer investing in nuclear power programme on their own lands are warming up to India to undertake this very expensive and unsafe method of power production. The US itself, Canada, England, Germany have not installed any new nuclear power plant in their country for the last 25 years. Australia, the biggest producer of Uranium, doesn’t have a nuclear power programme at all. Except for France, Japan and a few more smaller countries, which have adopted nuclear power programmes more because of lack of any viable alternatives, the general understanding among scientists world wide is that nuclear energy is unsafe. Nobody has the answer to the problem of nuclear waste disposal. There are now concrete evidences of radiation having caused devastating effects in lives of people, mostly poor and tribals, who are exposed to radiation, right from Uranium mining sites to the vicinity of nuclear power plants. Anybody who needs a proof needs to only pay a visit to the Uranium mining sites in Jadugoda near Jamshedpur. The scientists and leaders, whose careers have benefited from nuclear weapons or power programmes, who choose not to talk about the dangers associated with exposure to nuclear radiation, are committing a serious crime against humanity, for it is the numerous generations to come who’ll pay the price for their tinkering with Uranium buried underground.
The truth behind the US encouraging India to go in the direction of more nuclear power has already been very explicitly stated by George Bush in one of his speeches. Bush has said that India must adopt nuclear power to lessen the burden over petroleum resources. India with its big population stakes claim to a big chunk of petroleum resources. If India were to use other ways of power production it would free up some of petroleum for more developed countries for some more time. And what other method could be better than nuclear, whose technology and raw material, needs to be disposed off by the rich countries. A technology which they have tried and rejected. The big market that India opens up to them provides them an opportunity to make quick big money. Even a more moderate state like Canada doesn’t have qualms in giving up its principled stand of not selling any nuclear material to India after India went ahead with its first testing in 1974, essentially using the technology provided by Canada and US for its ‘atoms for peace’ programme to develop the potential for making a bomb.
The Indo-US nuclear deal is also a major setback to the Indo-Pak peace process. The people of the sub-continent have lot of expectations from Manmohan Singh and Pervez Musharraf in terms of delivering peace. But disarmament initiatives must accompany any honest process of creating peace. The potential of making use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes for developing bombs will make anybody suspicious. India, Pakistan and Israel, the three major countries which are guilty of not having signed on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, have done this in the past. We must accept the basic truth that India has used its ‘atoms for peace’ or peaceful use of nuclear energy programme to make a bomb and hence there is no such thing as a ‘responsible’ nuclear state. The act of making nuclear weapons or even nuclear power are highly irresponsible ones. They will only fuel another round of arms race with Pakistan. If US has for the time being chosen to cohort India instead of Pakistan as its ally in the region it is not because of any ideological reasons but because it sees the potential of exploiting the big Indian market. India, by giving up its policy of maintaining a respectable distance from the US, until the last Congress government before BJP came to power at the centre, is submitting its sovereignty to the only super power in the world. It is ominous for the India people. They have to now worry about more than defending themselves against nuclear radiation.
By Sandeep Pandey
India is celebrating its recently concluded Nuclear deal with the US without realizing the trap it is falling into. This is not the first time that India has embarked upon an ambitious nuclear power project. The father of the India nuclear programme Homi Bhabha had dreamt of India producing a significant share of its power from nuclear energy, at the time of Independence. However, the ensuing decades witnessed what can only be described as a failed project, with ultimately India being able to produce less than 10% of the projected target and all its nuclear power plants having run into some problem or the other. In fact, in one of the years in 80s the power required to keep these plants running was more than what was being produced by these plants. Some people conjecture that testing of the nuclear weapons in 1998 had more to do with saving the Department of Atomic Energy than to add to the military might of the country. If we go by the fact that there was an instant increase in budget of DAE by 68% after the weapons’ testing it may not be difficult to believe this, given the sorry state of affairs of nuclear power production.
If we have had a very poor performance in running our nuclear power programme why are we suddenly enthusiastic about another grand nuclear dream? The enthusiasm has less to do with the possibility of acquiring nuclear technology than the fact the US has recognized our status as a ‘responsible’ nuclear state and we’re a step closer to capturing a seat in the Security Council. While the President, taking a cue from the Indo-US deal, has laid emphasis on ‘energy security’ as a priority for the country, we are not even able to provide the most basic ‘food security’. The country has just passed its first employment guarantee Act, which is only a guarantee in the name. People continue to live under conditions of malnourishment and extreme poverty. The nuclear weapons or and energy programme is not going to make these people, who will easily outnumber the class which will use electricity from the nuclear power, any more secure.
We should ask ourselves the question why countries which are no longer investing in nuclear power programme on their own lands are warming up to India to undertake this very expensive and unsafe method of power production. The US itself, Canada, England, Germany have not installed any new nuclear power plant in their country for the last 25 years. Australia, the biggest producer of Uranium, doesn’t have a nuclear power programme at all. Except for France, Japan and a few more smaller countries, which have adopted nuclear power programmes more because of lack of any viable alternatives, the general understanding among scientists world wide is that nuclear energy is unsafe. Nobody has the answer to the problem of nuclear waste disposal. There are now concrete evidences of radiation having caused devastating effects in lives of people, mostly poor and tribals, who are exposed to radiation, right from Uranium mining sites to the vicinity of nuclear power plants. Anybody who needs a proof needs to only pay a visit to the Uranium mining sites in Jadugoda near Jamshedpur. The scientists and leaders, whose careers have benefited from nuclear weapons or power programmes, who choose not to talk about the dangers associated with exposure to nuclear radiation, are committing a serious crime against humanity, for it is the numerous generations to come who’ll pay the price for their tinkering with Uranium buried underground.
The truth behind the US encouraging India to go in the direction of more nuclear power has already been very explicitly stated by George Bush in one of his speeches. Bush has said that India must adopt nuclear power to lessen the burden over petroleum resources. India with its big population stakes claim to a big chunk of petroleum resources. If India were to use other ways of power production it would free up some of petroleum for more developed countries for some more time. And what other method could be better than nuclear, whose technology and raw material, needs to be disposed off by the rich countries. A technology which they have tried and rejected. The big market that India opens up to them provides them an opportunity to make quick big money. Even a more moderate state like Canada doesn’t have qualms in giving up its principled stand of not selling any nuclear material to India after India went ahead with its first testing in 1974, essentially using the technology provided by Canada and US for its ‘atoms for peace’ programme to develop the potential for making a bomb.
The Indo-US nuclear deal is also a major setback to the Indo-Pak peace process. The people of the sub-continent have lot of expectations from Manmohan Singh and Pervez Musharraf in terms of delivering peace. But disarmament initiatives must accompany any honest process of creating peace. The potential of making use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes for developing bombs will make anybody suspicious. India, Pakistan and Israel, the three major countries which are guilty of not having signed on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, have done this in the past. We must accept the basic truth that India has used its ‘atoms for peace’ or peaceful use of nuclear energy programme to make a bomb and hence there is no such thing as a ‘responsible’ nuclear state. The act of making nuclear weapons or even nuclear power are highly irresponsible ones. They will only fuel another round of arms race with Pakistan. If US has for the time being chosen to cohort India instead of Pakistan as its ally in the region it is not because of any ideological reasons but because it sees the potential of exploiting the big Indian market. India, by giving up its policy of maintaining a respectable distance from the US, until the last Congress government before BJP came to power at the centre, is submitting its sovereignty to the only super power in the world. It is ominous for the India people. They have to now worry about more than defending themselves against nuclear radiation.
By Sandeep Pandey
WHERE HAS THE MONEY COLLECTED TO BUILD RAM TEMPLE IN AYODHYA GONE?
WHERE HAS THE MONEY COLLECTED TO BUILD RAM TEMPLE IN AYODHYA GONE?
During my last visit in October 2005 to the US andCanada there was renewed propaganda against me by the right wingHindutva groups which have branded me as a terrorist or a naxalite.They even tried to unsuccessfully prevent my entry into the US byreporting to the airport authorities at San Francisco that I wasarriving on a particular day. On my second day at two meetings atStanford and in the Bay Area one or two people came to protest. Theywere shouting and distributing false information outside these events.They have even circulated an anonymous questionnaire for me overinternet asking me to clarify my stand on certain issues. In thisarticle I would like to examine the question as to what interest ofthe Hindutva groups am I hurting because of which they have to goafter me in the US with a blatantly malicious campaign? Who are these people who refuse to identify themselves?The person who was distributing fliers outside the Westin Hotel eventwould not reveal his name or that of his organization. He kept tellingme that I should dissociate myself completely from CPI(ML) because itwas a group that supported armed revolution. After having told himthat I did not support violence and only supported the pro-poor standsofthis party, when I asked this person to come and have a dialogue withme inside the Hotel he just kept repeating the accusations. I invite my right wing friends to prove if I have everbeen involved in any violent action or have ever instigated a violentaction. Just because I attend some meetings of CPI(ML) doesn't meanthat I support violence. Guilt by association is not acceptable. Thereason I like to work with communist parties, even though I'm not amember of any party, is thatthey are among the very few parties in India which raise the issuesof poor and marginalized communities, a constituency that I share withthem because of my Gandhian orientation. I find that communist partiesare the only ones among the mainstream parties who are not just in thegame for acquiring political power by any means. They are less likelyto compromise on their ideological positions. They are the onesraising issues of land reforms and fighting to get land rights tolandless dalits. Sometimes these struggles get violent. I have onceseen activists of CPI(ML) at the receiving end of violence in BalliaDistrict of UP when they were taking out a procession of dalitlabourers against powerful landlord castes. Communist parties areprobably also the most honest ones when it comes to keeping accountsof their funds. And most importantly they are brave. In Siwan, Bihar,they are the only ones who can take on the powerful mafia don MPShahabuddin inspite of getting into quite violent situations at times.The activists of CPI(ML) are not cowards who prefer to remainanonymous, running slander campaign from the safe confines of USA. Ifour right wing friends think that they can scare people away in thename of communists they are mistaken. In India communist parties areplaying a very important role and ruling two very important states. CPM is in power in West Bengal for thelongest time any single party has held power anywhere in the countryand the left parties clearly have an important role in the running ofpresent UPA Government at the centre. CPM-CPI-RSP-Forward Bloc areexerting important influence on the Congress led Government to ensurethat it doesn't compromise on the interest ofcommon people of the country. One allegation I face is that I support only Muslimorganizations and don't work for Hindus. In Ayodhya I have beenworking mainly with Hindus, some of them like Acharya Satyendra Das,the chief priest of the Ram Lalla temple (the makeshift temple at thedisputed site), important Sadhus and Saints, to form a forum calledthe 'Ayodhya ki Awaz'. This forum has played an important role inproviding a platform to the common people of Ayodhya who had gottenfed up of the politics of temple construction. This forum wants allparties using the Ayodhya issue for their political gains to keep outof Ayodhya. They feel that the Hindus and Muslims of Ayodhya arecapable enough of solving the Babri Masjid-Ram Janam Bhumi dispute andoutsiders must respect their sentiments. The politics of usingreligion got exposed around 2003 when people of Ayodhya started askingthe question that why do Ram Sevaks/Ram Bhakts/Kar Sevaks from allover India come to Ayodhya not with contruction material or equipmentsbut with trishul in their hands? What has the instrument of Lord Shivagot to do with Ram temple construction? The politics of trishul meantto spread hatred was exposed and since then people of Ayodhya, UP andIndia have rejected this communal politics. I should also mention thatwhen Ashok Singhal was distributing trishul in Sultanpur, I, alongwith other friends, was distributing Gita from the platform ofLoktantrik Samajwadi Party and eight times more people came to ourprogramme clearly indicating their preference for what they thoughtwas a better symbol of Hindu religion! This propaganda against me is there only in the US andover internet. Along with me groups like Asha and AID are alsotargeted. If we carefully look at the reason it is quite clear thatRSS is perturbed by the fact that it now has competitors. Since theright wing Hindutva groups have started losing credibility, becausethey have not been able to account for the money and bricks collectedfor constructing the Ram temple in Ayodhya, their donor base isshifting to more genuine organizations involved in communitydevelopment work in India. The funds raised from all over the worldfor temple construction in Ayodhya were never deposited in the VHPaccount. The temple never got built and nobody knows where all thatmoney went. This question is being asked by committed RSS supporters.The right wing Hindutva groups have cheated the unsuspecting middleclass Hindus who were innocent supporters of their temple movement.These middle class Hindu families now find secular alternatives likeAsha and AID more reliable. Both Asha and AID have a policy oftransparency with the funds that they collect and anybody can visittheir websites to find how much they collect and where exactly itgoes. All funds and projects are up for all to see and if volunteersmake a mistake, they are willing to take criticism, and make changes.These are also groups that are based on values of equality, rights,and empowerment of all. Asha, a group which I help found, has a policyof zero overheads, functions in a decentralized fashion and iscompletely accountable to its donors. My last trip to the US and Canada wasfunded not from donations to Asha but by individual contributions fromvolunteers. Similarly my present trip is not paid for with Asha's money. People find the spirit of volunteerism in Asha and AIDquite refreshing and hence choose them over Hindutvagroups which are closed groups that have traditionally beenhierarchical, and non-transparent. There was a time when in a disaster like the one atBhuj, RSS was the first one to enter to carry out relief operations,but now AID was able to mobilize $3 million and played a more activerole in Tsunami relief. This is something very difficult for RSS todigest. Hence their supporters are indulging in unreasonable mudslinging. It is a well known fact that the Hindutva movement in Indiawas funded in a major fashion by NRI money. With the Hindutva politicsin disarray at home in the aftermath of L.K. Advani's deviation fromthe communal ideology, Uma Bharati's exit from the Party and unfortunate happenings in the Mahajan family, the shifting donor base of these organizationsin the US has become a major source for concern for them. Thatexplains the reason why these Hindutva groups are active againstsomebody like me only in the US.By Sandeep Pandey
During my last visit in October 2005 to the US andCanada there was renewed propaganda against me by the right wingHindutva groups which have branded me as a terrorist or a naxalite.They even tried to unsuccessfully prevent my entry into the US byreporting to the airport authorities at San Francisco that I wasarriving on a particular day. On my second day at two meetings atStanford and in the Bay Area one or two people came to protest. Theywere shouting and distributing false information outside these events.They have even circulated an anonymous questionnaire for me overinternet asking me to clarify my stand on certain issues. In thisarticle I would like to examine the question as to what interest ofthe Hindutva groups am I hurting because of which they have to goafter me in the US with a blatantly malicious campaign? Who are these people who refuse to identify themselves?The person who was distributing fliers outside the Westin Hotel eventwould not reveal his name or that of his organization. He kept tellingme that I should dissociate myself completely from CPI(ML) because itwas a group that supported armed revolution. After having told himthat I did not support violence and only supported the pro-poor standsofthis party, when I asked this person to come and have a dialogue withme inside the Hotel he just kept repeating the accusations. I invite my right wing friends to prove if I have everbeen involved in any violent action or have ever instigated a violentaction. Just because I attend some meetings of CPI(ML) doesn't meanthat I support violence. Guilt by association is not acceptable. Thereason I like to work with communist parties, even though I'm not amember of any party, is thatthey are among the very few parties in India which raise the issuesof poor and marginalized communities, a constituency that I share withthem because of my Gandhian orientation. I find that communist partiesare the only ones among the mainstream parties who are not just in thegame for acquiring political power by any means. They are less likelyto compromise on their ideological positions. They are the onesraising issues of land reforms and fighting to get land rights tolandless dalits. Sometimes these struggles get violent. I have onceseen activists of CPI(ML) at the receiving end of violence in BalliaDistrict of UP when they were taking out a procession of dalitlabourers against powerful landlord castes. Communist parties areprobably also the most honest ones when it comes to keeping accountsof their funds. And most importantly they are brave. In Siwan, Bihar,they are the only ones who can take on the powerful mafia don MPShahabuddin inspite of getting into quite violent situations at times.The activists of CPI(ML) are not cowards who prefer to remainanonymous, running slander campaign from the safe confines of USA. Ifour right wing friends think that they can scare people away in thename of communists they are mistaken. In India communist parties areplaying a very important role and ruling two very important states. CPM is in power in West Bengal for thelongest time any single party has held power anywhere in the countryand the left parties clearly have an important role in the running ofpresent UPA Government at the centre. CPM-CPI-RSP-Forward Bloc areexerting important influence on the Congress led Government to ensurethat it doesn't compromise on the interest ofcommon people of the country. One allegation I face is that I support only Muslimorganizations and don't work for Hindus. In Ayodhya I have beenworking mainly with Hindus, some of them like Acharya Satyendra Das,the chief priest of the Ram Lalla temple (the makeshift temple at thedisputed site), important Sadhus and Saints, to form a forum calledthe 'Ayodhya ki Awaz'. This forum has played an important role inproviding a platform to the common people of Ayodhya who had gottenfed up of the politics of temple construction. This forum wants allparties using the Ayodhya issue for their political gains to keep outof Ayodhya. They feel that the Hindus and Muslims of Ayodhya arecapable enough of solving the Babri Masjid-Ram Janam Bhumi dispute andoutsiders must respect their sentiments. The politics of usingreligion got exposed around 2003 when people of Ayodhya started askingthe question that why do Ram Sevaks/Ram Bhakts/Kar Sevaks from allover India come to Ayodhya not with contruction material or equipmentsbut with trishul in their hands? What has the instrument of Lord Shivagot to do with Ram temple construction? The politics of trishul meantto spread hatred was exposed and since then people of Ayodhya, UP andIndia have rejected this communal politics. I should also mention thatwhen Ashok Singhal was distributing trishul in Sultanpur, I, alongwith other friends, was distributing Gita from the platform ofLoktantrik Samajwadi Party and eight times more people came to ourprogramme clearly indicating their preference for what they thoughtwas a better symbol of Hindu religion! This propaganda against me is there only in the US andover internet. Along with me groups like Asha and AID are alsotargeted. If we carefully look at the reason it is quite clear thatRSS is perturbed by the fact that it now has competitors. Since theright wing Hindutva groups have started losing credibility, becausethey have not been able to account for the money and bricks collectedfor constructing the Ram temple in Ayodhya, their donor base isshifting to more genuine organizations involved in communitydevelopment work in India. The funds raised from all over the worldfor temple construction in Ayodhya were never deposited in the VHPaccount. The temple never got built and nobody knows where all thatmoney went. This question is being asked by committed RSS supporters.The right wing Hindutva groups have cheated the unsuspecting middleclass Hindus who were innocent supporters of their temple movement.These middle class Hindu families now find secular alternatives likeAsha and AID more reliable. Both Asha and AID have a policy oftransparency with the funds that they collect and anybody can visittheir websites to find how much they collect and where exactly itgoes. All funds and projects are up for all to see and if volunteersmake a mistake, they are willing to take criticism, and make changes.These are also groups that are based on values of equality, rights,and empowerment of all. Asha, a group which I help found, has a policyof zero overheads, functions in a decentralized fashion and iscompletely accountable to its donors. My last trip to the US and Canada wasfunded not from donations to Asha but by individual contributions fromvolunteers. Similarly my present trip is not paid for with Asha's money. People find the spirit of volunteerism in Asha and AIDquite refreshing and hence choose them over Hindutvagroups which are closed groups that have traditionally beenhierarchical, and non-transparent. There was a time when in a disaster like the one atBhuj, RSS was the first one to enter to carry out relief operations,but now AID was able to mobilize $3 million and played a more activerole in Tsunami relief. This is something very difficult for RSS todigest. Hence their supporters are indulging in unreasonable mudslinging. It is a well known fact that the Hindutva movement in Indiawas funded in a major fashion by NRI money. With the Hindutva politicsin disarray at home in the aftermath of L.K. Advani's deviation fromthe communal ideology, Uma Bharati's exit from the Party and unfortunate happenings in the Mahajan family, the shifting donor base of these organizationsin the US has become a major source for concern for them. Thatexplains the reason why these Hindutva groups are active againstsomebody like me only in the US.By Sandeep Pandey
WHY IT WAS IMPORTANT NOT TO LET THE AMENDMENTS GET APPROVED?
WHY IT WAS IMPORTANT NOT TO LET THE AMENDMENTS GET APPROVED?
Over the last month or so we witnessed an upsurge of protest from the people and people’s organizations over the proposed amendments by the Union Cabinet to the Right to Information Act, 2005 from all over the country. The people had realized the importance of this Act. This Act for the first time since independence gives people the right to change the equation between themselves and the ruling elites. The governed can now ask questions about virtually every aspect of governance from the class which has claimed to govern them for 59 years and created a mess in every department and ministry. The people have realized that they can actually assert their rights as masters of democracy, which they are, but the ruling elites never let them be. They are filled with a sense of empowerment and the bureaucracy for the first time is feeling under pressure to be accountable to the people. Nobody believed that the bureaucracy and politicians could be reined in but the Act has provided a glimpse of that possibility and therefore people are elated.
People began filing applications under the RTI Act asking questions about various things, from accounts of village panchayats to enquiries of progress on their pending files in government departments. Since there was a time limit within which the bureaucracy had to respond, otherwise it faced the risk of a penalty, things started moving. Santosh Bahadur Singh, an advocate in Rae Bareli was trying to get an illegally built structure on the Collectorate campus removed. He had successfully gotten a court order in his favour but was not able to get the administration to comply with the order. He filed an application under RTI Act asking why the court order was not being complied with and who was responsible for negligence? The District Magistrate of Rae Bareli had to get the construction demolished overnight. Santosh Bahadur Singh proudly video recorded the demolition exercise. Ajay Kumar Singh, a disabled person in Varanasi, had obtained a job with the Nagar Nigam but he was not being asked to join. He had been running for about a year and a half but his plea would fall on deaf ears. He filed an application under the RTI Act asking why he was not being asked to join inspite of having secured a job with the Nagar Nigam and who would be held responsible for the loss that he had suffered because of this? An attendant from the office went searching for him and told him to come and join from the next day. When a former IG of police S.R. Darapuri in Lucknow obtained the details of expenditure of 3 MP and 8 MLA Local Area Development funds using RTI Act, it was discovered that our people’s representatives buy a laptop computer at about three times the price for which it is available in the market! Gross corruption is being uncovered. Thus is the power of the RTI Act.
Fearing that the people would use the RTI Act to take away what the bureaucracy has considered its prerogative for all these years – to take decisions in arbitrary manner – they hastened to clamp down the Act. The bureaucracy came up with seven proposed amendments to the Act which were approved by the Union Cabinet. They did not want file notings, Cabinet decisions, information related to processes of examinations and selections to be made public. They wanted the identities of officials conducting enquiries, submitting recommendation, etc., to be kept secret. They did not want the basis for transfers and postings of officials to be revealed to the people. In matters in which decisions were under consideration they wanted not just file notings but any kind of information to be excluded from the Act. And the most damaging proposed amendment was to take away the independence of Information Commissions. Information Commissions presently enjoy the same status of autonomy as Election Commissions. However, the proposed amendment said that in case of any dispute the decision of the government was to be considered as the final. The amendments proposed by the Government intended to make the Act toothless. As MP from Deoria Mohan Singh put it the Government should have avoided the trouble of trying to explain the amendments and instead brought a one line motion to the Parliament saying that they intended to withdraw the Act!
The people were quick to realize the implications of the proposed amendments even though the PMO issued a clarification that the amendments were meant to bring about more transparency. There was a backlash in the country and people protested vigorously. Some politicians, former judges, serving honest public servants and one Information Commissioner spoke out against the attempt to tamper with the Act. The Government would have been foolish to go ahead with tabling the proposed amendments in the Parliament. It appears that for the time being they have unofficially dumped the ‘amendments’.
This is a victory of the democratic spirit that is India. The politicians and bureaucrats must know that people of this country do not tolerate arbitrary decisions for very long. They have fought passionately to save their democratic right in the past and will do so once again if need arises. The people with mala fide intentions who think they can mislead the common people must have no misgivings. If they make an attempt to dilute the Act in any way, now or later – inside or outside the Parliament, they will be met with serious resistance. The illiterate and half literate masses of India have demonstrated, time and again, that you can trust their political consciousness.
By Sandeep Pandey
Over the last month or so we witnessed an upsurge of protest from the people and people’s organizations over the proposed amendments by the Union Cabinet to the Right to Information Act, 2005 from all over the country. The people had realized the importance of this Act. This Act for the first time since independence gives people the right to change the equation between themselves and the ruling elites. The governed can now ask questions about virtually every aspect of governance from the class which has claimed to govern them for 59 years and created a mess in every department and ministry. The people have realized that they can actually assert their rights as masters of democracy, which they are, but the ruling elites never let them be. They are filled with a sense of empowerment and the bureaucracy for the first time is feeling under pressure to be accountable to the people. Nobody believed that the bureaucracy and politicians could be reined in but the Act has provided a glimpse of that possibility and therefore people are elated.
People began filing applications under the RTI Act asking questions about various things, from accounts of village panchayats to enquiries of progress on their pending files in government departments. Since there was a time limit within which the bureaucracy had to respond, otherwise it faced the risk of a penalty, things started moving. Santosh Bahadur Singh, an advocate in Rae Bareli was trying to get an illegally built structure on the Collectorate campus removed. He had successfully gotten a court order in his favour but was not able to get the administration to comply with the order. He filed an application under RTI Act asking why the court order was not being complied with and who was responsible for negligence? The District Magistrate of Rae Bareli had to get the construction demolished overnight. Santosh Bahadur Singh proudly video recorded the demolition exercise. Ajay Kumar Singh, a disabled person in Varanasi, had obtained a job with the Nagar Nigam but he was not being asked to join. He had been running for about a year and a half but his plea would fall on deaf ears. He filed an application under the RTI Act asking why he was not being asked to join inspite of having secured a job with the Nagar Nigam and who would be held responsible for the loss that he had suffered because of this? An attendant from the office went searching for him and told him to come and join from the next day. When a former IG of police S.R. Darapuri in Lucknow obtained the details of expenditure of 3 MP and 8 MLA Local Area Development funds using RTI Act, it was discovered that our people’s representatives buy a laptop computer at about three times the price for which it is available in the market! Gross corruption is being uncovered. Thus is the power of the RTI Act.
Fearing that the people would use the RTI Act to take away what the bureaucracy has considered its prerogative for all these years – to take decisions in arbitrary manner – they hastened to clamp down the Act. The bureaucracy came up with seven proposed amendments to the Act which were approved by the Union Cabinet. They did not want file notings, Cabinet decisions, information related to processes of examinations and selections to be made public. They wanted the identities of officials conducting enquiries, submitting recommendation, etc., to be kept secret. They did not want the basis for transfers and postings of officials to be revealed to the people. In matters in which decisions were under consideration they wanted not just file notings but any kind of information to be excluded from the Act. And the most damaging proposed amendment was to take away the independence of Information Commissions. Information Commissions presently enjoy the same status of autonomy as Election Commissions. However, the proposed amendment said that in case of any dispute the decision of the government was to be considered as the final. The amendments proposed by the Government intended to make the Act toothless. As MP from Deoria Mohan Singh put it the Government should have avoided the trouble of trying to explain the amendments and instead brought a one line motion to the Parliament saying that they intended to withdraw the Act!
The people were quick to realize the implications of the proposed amendments even though the PMO issued a clarification that the amendments were meant to bring about more transparency. There was a backlash in the country and people protested vigorously. Some politicians, former judges, serving honest public servants and one Information Commissioner spoke out against the attempt to tamper with the Act. The Government would have been foolish to go ahead with tabling the proposed amendments in the Parliament. It appears that for the time being they have unofficially dumped the ‘amendments’.
This is a victory of the democratic spirit that is India. The politicians and bureaucrats must know that people of this country do not tolerate arbitrary decisions for very long. They have fought passionately to save their democratic right in the past and will do so once again if need arises. The people with mala fide intentions who think they can mislead the common people must have no misgivings. If they make an attempt to dilute the Act in any way, now or later – inside or outside the Parliament, they will be met with serious resistance. The illiterate and half literate masses of India have demonstrated, time and again, that you can trust their political consciousness.
By Sandeep Pandey
AN INTERVIEW WITH A YOUNG DISTRICT MAGISTRATE ON RTI AMENDMENTS
AN INTERVIEW WITH A YOUNG DISTRICT MAGISTRATE ON RTI AMENDMENTS
Amod Kumar is the District Magistrate of Faizabad District in U.P. Previously, as DM Sitapur he created a computer based mechanism 'Lokvani' for his district, which made information available suo moto to the people even before the RTI Act came into existence. This programme is slowly being adopted by other DMs in U.P. Amod Kumar thinks that Lokvani could be a very good tool to implement RTI. In an interview with Sandeep Pandey he expresses his views on the proposed amendments to the RTI Act.
Q: What do you feel about the proposed amendments to the RTI Act by the Union Cabinet?
A: Many of the junior officers like us in bureaucracy were very happy with the passing of the act. But now we feel that it would also become like hundreds of highly unused acts. The proposed amendment to the RTI Act by the Union Cabinet is going to significantly weaken what was truly a marvellous piece of legislation duly deserved by the people of India. Now that we are able to see how the amendments are going to cripple the Act one cannot but admire the architects of this Act.
Q: Do you agree with the argument that revelations of file notings will deter officers from putting down their frank opinion?
A: The issue of file notings is generating lot of controversy. The PMO claims that 'file notings on the most important and vast bulk of government activities has now become possible for the first time' but the fact is that the original Act did not exclude file notings specifically and there are people who have accessed file notings using the RTI Act in the past. There is obviously some misunderstanding being created. People have a right to know the file notings so that they'll learn how important decisions are being taken in their name. Without the file notings the applicant seeking certain information will not get the complete picture and will remain unsatisfied. The honest officers in the establishment are quite comfortable with the idea of their notes being made public since they have nothing to fear about. They always judge a case on its merit. However, one knows how the decision making process in India is often influenced by political pressure and money power. It is officers involved in decisions of these kind who would oppose the notings being made available to the public. But in cases like these it becomes even more imperative that decision making process is known to the people so that irregularities are exposed and corrective steps may be taken. Otherwise, we will continue to function with all our decisions hijacked by influential people. Hence in either case whether the decision making process is according to the rules or faulty, the people have a right to know. The argument that officials will be deterred from making frank opinions is simply not true because it is only when there is some ulterior motive that people don't give frank opinions. On the contrary, the file notings being available in public domain will give the officials a very good excuse not to oblige their political bosses. Life will be straightforward and simpler for the bureaucracy if everybody knew that every file noting will be available for inspection by the public. Only under such circumstances can we be sure that decisions are being made in a fair manner.
Q: What about transfer and posting related decisions? Do you think people have a right to know how these decisions are being taken?
A: Personnel related information like that of transfers and postings must also be available for public scrutiny to ensure that there is no irregularity here. The decisions about transfers and postings are quite arbitrary and the people learn about them only from the newspapers. People are virtually left to the mercy of the powers that be in this matter. Why cannot a people have to right to determine who their District Magistrate should be? Or atleast, they should know how they came to have a particular person as their DM, or why was the previous DM transferred out of their District even though she was doing so well. It is now a well known fact that money changes hands for plum postings or often political pressure is brought to effect transfers. Making the decision making process about transfers and postings transparent will ensure that these decisions are taken in a logical and democratic manner.
Q: What are your views on examination related information being made available to the candidates after the process of examination is over?
A: Same is the case with examinations. People should have access to the record of performance of individuals in examinations. Just like the process of transfer and postings, sometimes the examinations are also conducted in quite arbitrary manner and examinees often have no clue whether the results announced are the outcome of a fair process. There is no reason, why a candidate, after the process of examination has been completed, should not be allowed to see her performance and even others'. Transparency in this matter would bring about accountability in this process and will be better for the general health of the society.
Q: The Cabinet also proposes to exclude itself from the this Act. The Cabinet has to take lot of sensitive decisions. Do you think they are justified in excluding themselves from the Act?
A: It doesn't make sense when on one hand you have allowed the people of this country to watch on TV from their houses the conduct of the supreme decision making body of this country and there is an attempt to hide behind a veil the deliberations of a subset of this assembly, the Council of Ministers. Just like the parliament proceedings, the Council of Ministers should also have the courage to subject conduct its business to public scrutiny. When we expect our Gram Panchayats to take all their decisions in open meetings and are extremely critical of Pradhans who hold closed door meetings, why should the Council of Ministers be allowed to take their decisions behind closed doors?
Q: What about identities of people writing sensitive reports, recommendations, etc? Do you think they should exposed?
A: It is not a good idea to hide the identities of those who have recorded notings, made inspection, gave recommendations, etc. Again like other matters, here too, fairness and accountability of the people in a position to influence important decisions will be established only under a transparent process.
Q: You do not seem to be in favour of any kind of secrecy. What makes you such an ardent supporter of the culture of transparency?
A: In general the culture of transparency will ensure that decision makers are careful and take the right decisions following the correct process. The honest officers will thrive and be suitably rewarded by the public and the not so honest ones will be forced to change their ways of working. Ultimately the people of this country, to whom all officials and leaders owe their existence, will the biggest winners and we will have a more authentic version of democracy. As the sensitivity towards human rights, equality and democracy increases globally, the Indian bureaucrats and leaders will have to learn to become accountable to their people. They must leave the Right to Information Act passed last year intact in the interest of their masters, in whose name they had passed it in the first place.
Compiled by Sandeep Pandey
Amod Kumar is the District Magistrate of Faizabad District in U.P. Previously, as DM Sitapur he created a computer based mechanism 'Lokvani' for his district, which made information available suo moto to the people even before the RTI Act came into existence. This programme is slowly being adopted by other DMs in U.P. Amod Kumar thinks that Lokvani could be a very good tool to implement RTI. In an interview with Sandeep Pandey he expresses his views on the proposed amendments to the RTI Act.
Q: What do you feel about the proposed amendments to the RTI Act by the Union Cabinet?
A: Many of the junior officers like us in bureaucracy were very happy with the passing of the act. But now we feel that it would also become like hundreds of highly unused acts. The proposed amendment to the RTI Act by the Union Cabinet is going to significantly weaken what was truly a marvellous piece of legislation duly deserved by the people of India. Now that we are able to see how the amendments are going to cripple the Act one cannot but admire the architects of this Act.
Q: Do you agree with the argument that revelations of file notings will deter officers from putting down their frank opinion?
A: The issue of file notings is generating lot of controversy. The PMO claims that 'file notings on the most important and vast bulk of government activities has now become possible for the first time' but the fact is that the original Act did not exclude file notings specifically and there are people who have accessed file notings using the RTI Act in the past. There is obviously some misunderstanding being created. People have a right to know the file notings so that they'll learn how important decisions are being taken in their name. Without the file notings the applicant seeking certain information will not get the complete picture and will remain unsatisfied. The honest officers in the establishment are quite comfortable with the idea of their notes being made public since they have nothing to fear about. They always judge a case on its merit. However, one knows how the decision making process in India is often influenced by political pressure and money power. It is officers involved in decisions of these kind who would oppose the notings being made available to the public. But in cases like these it becomes even more imperative that decision making process is known to the people so that irregularities are exposed and corrective steps may be taken. Otherwise, we will continue to function with all our decisions hijacked by influential people. Hence in either case whether the decision making process is according to the rules or faulty, the people have a right to know. The argument that officials will be deterred from making frank opinions is simply not true because it is only when there is some ulterior motive that people don't give frank opinions. On the contrary, the file notings being available in public domain will give the officials a very good excuse not to oblige their political bosses. Life will be straightforward and simpler for the bureaucracy if everybody knew that every file noting will be available for inspection by the public. Only under such circumstances can we be sure that decisions are being made in a fair manner.
Q: What about transfer and posting related decisions? Do you think people have a right to know how these decisions are being taken?
A: Personnel related information like that of transfers and postings must also be available for public scrutiny to ensure that there is no irregularity here. The decisions about transfers and postings are quite arbitrary and the people learn about them only from the newspapers. People are virtually left to the mercy of the powers that be in this matter. Why cannot a people have to right to determine who their District Magistrate should be? Or atleast, they should know how they came to have a particular person as their DM, or why was the previous DM transferred out of their District even though she was doing so well. It is now a well known fact that money changes hands for plum postings or often political pressure is brought to effect transfers. Making the decision making process about transfers and postings transparent will ensure that these decisions are taken in a logical and democratic manner.
Q: What are your views on examination related information being made available to the candidates after the process of examination is over?
A: Same is the case with examinations. People should have access to the record of performance of individuals in examinations. Just like the process of transfer and postings, sometimes the examinations are also conducted in quite arbitrary manner and examinees often have no clue whether the results announced are the outcome of a fair process. There is no reason, why a candidate, after the process of examination has been completed, should not be allowed to see her performance and even others'. Transparency in this matter would bring about accountability in this process and will be better for the general health of the society.
Q: The Cabinet also proposes to exclude itself from the this Act. The Cabinet has to take lot of sensitive decisions. Do you think they are justified in excluding themselves from the Act?
A: It doesn't make sense when on one hand you have allowed the people of this country to watch on TV from their houses the conduct of the supreme decision making body of this country and there is an attempt to hide behind a veil the deliberations of a subset of this assembly, the Council of Ministers. Just like the parliament proceedings, the Council of Ministers should also have the courage to subject conduct its business to public scrutiny. When we expect our Gram Panchayats to take all their decisions in open meetings and are extremely critical of Pradhans who hold closed door meetings, why should the Council of Ministers be allowed to take their decisions behind closed doors?
Q: What about identities of people writing sensitive reports, recommendations, etc? Do you think they should exposed?
A: It is not a good idea to hide the identities of those who have recorded notings, made inspection, gave recommendations, etc. Again like other matters, here too, fairness and accountability of the people in a position to influence important decisions will be established only under a transparent process.
Q: You do not seem to be in favour of any kind of secrecy. What makes you such an ardent supporter of the culture of transparency?
A: In general the culture of transparency will ensure that decision makers are careful and take the right decisions following the correct process. The honest officers will thrive and be suitably rewarded by the public and the not so honest ones will be forced to change their ways of working. Ultimately the people of this country, to whom all officials and leaders owe their existence, will the biggest winners and we will have a more authentic version of democracy. As the sensitivity towards human rights, equality and democracy increases globally, the Indian bureaucrats and leaders will have to learn to become accountable to their people. They must leave the Right to Information Act passed last year intact in the interest of their masters, in whose name they had passed it in the first place.
Compiled by Sandeep Pandey
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