ACHA PEACE
BULLETIN http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ACHAPeaceBulletin
A publication of Association for Communal Harmony in
Asia (ACHA) www.asiapeace.org
Editor: Pritam K. Rohila, Ph. D.
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ACHA PEACE
BULLETIN-Volume
V, No. 10, October 1, 2003, (Next issue, November 5, 2003*)
Peace & Harmony News From & About South AsiaOrganizationsCentre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS)Indian Muslim Council-USACouncil of Advocates International
Metro and Mandir: A Thirst for Quality Development, Dipankar Gupta
Living in the Fringes to Worship, Barnita Bagchi
Prisoners of the Nuclear
Dream, M.V.
Ramana and C. Rammanohar Reddy
The History of History,
(Politics and scholarship in Modern India), Vinay Lal
On Becoming an Indian Muslim, Mohammad Waseem
On Developing Theology of
Peace in Islam,
Asghar Ali Engineer
NGORC Journal - Quarterly on
Civil Society Enhancement
Courses & Training Programs
APSA- Dosti Fund
(For a copy send a blank email to pritamr@open.org
with its subject as the UPPERCASE word in the article title. Please limit your
request to 3 articles)
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
is BEING Pakistanised, Shahriar
Kabir, Hindustan Times, September 24, 2003
Bangladesh &
India
India battles nature on
Bangladesh BORDER, Myra MacDonald, alternet.org, Aug 22, 2003
Bhutan
KING-size
Problem, Wasbir Hussain, South Asia Intelligence Review, September 22, 2003
Books
Human RIGHTS in Insurgency, A G Noorani, Ecomnomic
& Political Weekly
Sri Lankan Migrant Labour and GENDER
Roles, Gurpreet Bal,
Economic & Political Weekly
Communal Harmony
Inter-faith Harmony: Where Nehru and
Gandhi MEET, Ramachandra
Guha, September 23, 2003
Kerala ENJOYS Religious Harmony, ‘ Yoginder Sikand, Qalander, September
2003
Communalism
Advani Backs 'Study' Saying
Majority Will Be Minority SOON, S Bhattacharya, Indian Express,
Religious Demography in
India extols an exclusivist political CREED, B.G. Verghese, The Week
DEMOGRAPHIC Demonology, Partha Chatterjee, The Telegraph, July
10, 2003
Education
How TEXT books Teach
Prejudice,
Teesta Setalvad, EFI News, September 11, 2003
History
The LAST emperor (&white Mughals), William Dalrymple, Guardian
Humor
Bush LAYS Off Congress; will Outsource
Lawmaking to India, Jay Slupesky, fallcreek.com
India
NEW Flowering of India and Indians, Rediff.com, September 20,
2003
Jharkhand: Vigilantes in a CYCLE of
Violence, Nihar Nayak,
South Asia Intelligence Review
What's in a FLAG? Sarmila Bose, The Daily Times, September
22, 2003
India-Ayodhya
PROOF of temple
found at Ayodhya, Rediff.com, August 25, 2003
India- Jammu & Kashmir
Some CALL them Kashmir's renegades,They
know how to make the quantum jump from
extremism to democracy, September 25, 2003
India-Muslims
GHETTO to Mainstream: Emergence of the
Modern Muslim, B G
Verghese, Times of India
The `DALIT Muslims' and the All-India
Backward Muslim Morcha,
Yoginder Sikand, Qalander,
India's Muslim TIME Bomb, Pankaj Mishra, The New York Times,
Sept. 15, 2003
Nepal
Maoists take their BATTLE to Nepal's
heart, Deepak Thapa,
Asia Times, September 17, 2003
Nuclear issues
NEED for nuclear transparency, M V Ramana The Daily
Times, September 25, 2003
Fallout of Nuclear WAR Planning - Spectre
of Armageddon, N.D.
Jayaprakash
Pakistan
Disquiet on the northern FRONT, Ajai Shukla, Indian Express
Pakistan &
India
KARGIL, a `test
for limited n-war,' The Hindu, Aug 20, 2003
Images that promote FEAR, Kalpana Sharma, The Hindu [India]
September 12, 2003
Time to go TRACK-III, Iftikhar H. Malik, Dawn,
September 14, 2003
Religion
Religious Conversions Threaten SOME
Hindus in India, Jason
Overdorf, The Far Eastern
Economic
Review, September 10, 2003
Sri Lanka
Our ETHNIC
Imbroglio, Izeth Hussain, The Island, August 20, 2003
Gender mainstreaming and the BUDGET, The Island, September 10, 2003
Human Security: Sri LANKA, Ian Martin
Women
Misogynist READINGS, Omar R. Quraishi Dawn, 21
September 2003
PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM & ABOUT
SOUTH ASIA
(Readers are
invited to submit similar information
from other areas of South Asia to help us broaden of our coverage.
Please send the info to pritamr@open.org , a week before the
date of publication of the next issue of ACHA Peace Bulletin)
*Bangladesh & India
India, Bangladesh discuss border problems, fencing:
IANS
India and Bangladesh have begun talks to demarcate
their border and fence it to check illegal migrants and terrorists, officials
said on Friday. newindpress.com, September 20
2003
India keen on Kolkata-Dhaka rail link
The proposal has been put forth after seeing the
four-year successful run of Kolkata-Dhaka bus service and launch of a similar
link between Dhaka and Agartala on Friday.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/19bang2.htm
Dhaka-Agartala bus service flagged off
Regular commercial service will commence on Saturday
September 20.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/19bang1.htm
*Bhutan & India
India
and Bhutan agree to work closely against Northeast terrorists
India
and Bhutan agreed in New Delhi on September 18, 2003, to work closely on
checking the problem of Northeast terrorists operating from Bhutanese soil. A
joint statement issued at the end of a five-day visit of Bhutanese King Jigme
Singye Wangchuk stated that both countries would not allow their territories to
be used by anyone to harm each other's interests. Indian Express , September 19, 2003.
*India
Kalam pens poem for riot victims
'The Life Tree' has been included in a music album
called 'Peace Works' - brainchild of renowned danseuse Mallika Sarabhai. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/29khan.htm
Fresh appeal in Best Bakery case
At the prompting of the Supreme Court, the Gujarat
government has sought a retrial in the case related to the post-Godhra riots. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/29best.htm
Union
Government's chief emissary K. Padmanabhaiah and Intelligence Bureau (IB)
Director K.P. Singh commenced a fresh round of talks on September 17, 2003,
with Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, president and general secretary,
respectively, of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland - Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM),
at Amsterdam, capital city of the Netherlands. Approximately 31 issues relating
to greater autonomy for the State of Nagaland raised by the NSCN-IM, among
other aspects, were to be discussed. Northeast Tribune, September 17, 2003.
Prominent Muslims condemn Mumbai blasts Bollywood writers Javed Akhtar and Hasan Kamaal, actor Farooq Sheikh, noted Urdu journalist, Sajid Rashid and Communalism Combat's Joint Editor Javed Anand said the Muslim community should not be targeted. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/aug/27blast3.htm Syro Malabar Church head issues guidelines Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil says the guidelines will help improve the image of the church in the country and usher in religious harmony and communal peace. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/aug/20iype.htm India-Jammu & Kashmir Mufti plans trip for migrant kidsAccording to a J&K police official, the Mufti plans to take 400 boys in the first phase so they get a feel of their homeland. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/27onkar1.htm
PM launches mobile phone services for J&K http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/aug/20kashmir1.htm *Nepal 'Ring for Peace' 21 September A coalition of groups working to declare Nepali children a zone of peace is organising a Nepal-wide campaign to ring bells for two minutes at noon on Sunday, 21 September, which is International Peace Day. Called 'Ring for Peace' the organisers have asked all Nepalis to take part, ringing temple bells, bells at home, bicycle bells, car horns to call for an end to conflict and violence. *Pakistan & India Pakistan team talks peace on Amma's birthday'The confluence of various faiths that have come to see Amritanandamayi is the best occasion to think in terms of a peace dialogue between India and Pakistan,' said London-based Institute for Muslim Minority Affairs Saleha Mahmood Abedin. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/25amma.htm Indian PM to attend SAARC meet in Pakistan http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/25pm1.htm A Game of their ownAlthough tensions between Indian Muslims and Hindus have erupted in recent years, some Indian and Pakistani students at University of Southern California set aside their differences and play a weekly game of cricket. Daily Trojan http://www.dailytrojan.com/article.do?issue=/V150/N20&id=02-game.20c.html, September 23, 2003 Pak hands over Vajpayee's SAARC invitation to diplomat The invitation from Pakistan Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali was handed over to Indian Deputy High Commissioner T C A Raghavan. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/20pak1.htm Indo-Pak CEO Forum was established September 14 in New Delhi, during a visit by a dozen CEOs from Pakistan to promote more economic cooperation between the two neighbors (PTI, Via India west September 19, 2003) Business can end Indo-Pak mistrust: Vajpayee http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/16vaj1.htm Pak business delegation arrives in India http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/sep/13pak.htm Pak industry delegation holds talks with Confederation of Indian Industries at Cancunhttp://www.rediff.com/money/2003/sep/13wto3.htm
Pakistan freed 16 Indian Sikhs September 8 in a
goodwill gesture. They had been arrested in Turkey trying illegally to get to
Europe, and deported to first Iran and then to Pakistan (Reuters, Via India
west September 12, 2003)
More than 250 Indian fishermen freed by Pakistan in a goodwill gesture reached Okha Port (Gujarat, India) in 28 boats, September 7 (Reuters, Via India west September 12, 2003)
Elsewhere
Pakistan’s number one rock group Junoon and India’s King of Bhangra Daler Mehndi will meet September 20 at London’s Wembly’ Arena to sing the friendship anthem “Yaaron Yehi Dosti Hai” and to encourage fraternity and peace between the people of India and Pakistan. (India West September 19, 2003)
ORGANIZATIONS
(Readers are
invited to submit similar information
from other areas of South Asia to help us broaden of our coverage.
Please send the info to pritamr@open.org , a week before the date
of publication of the next issue of ACHA Peace Bulletin)
*Centre for Study of
Society and Secularism (CSSS), Himalaya Apts, I Floor, 6th Road, TPS
III, Mumbai, 400055, India, www.csss-isla.com,
E-mail csss@vsnl.com Contact person: Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer
CSSs
organized one-day workshops on communal harmony in several eastern UP cities
including Ayodhya, Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Sultanpur. Some of the participants,
who have shown keen interest in the subject will be sent to Mumbai for a
week-long workshop to be conducted by Dr. Engineer and Ram Puniyani from
November 29 to December 6. To help
support this important work can be sent to Asha, A-893, Indira Nagar, Lucknow-226016,
UP, India or to Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer, Centre for Study of Society and
Secularism, Himalaya Apts, I Floor, 6th Road, TPS III, Mumbai, 400055,
India, More information from csss@vsnl.com or ashaashram@yahoo.com
*Indian Muslim Council-USA, 265 Sunrise Highway, 1-355 Rockville Center, NY 11570, Website: www.imc-usa.org Email info@imc-usa.org. Bay Area Chapter, S. Ahmed, 2088 Walsh Ave, Suite C-2, Santa Clara, CA 95051, Telephone 408.219.1433, Email sajedahmed@yahoo.com
On this joyous occasion of India’s 57th Independence
Day, for the first time IMC-USA's took part in "India Festival,"
organized by the Federation of Indian Associations of Northern California (www.fiaonline.com), on August 16 and 17,
in Fremont, CA. The group decided to highlight the beauty of India and its
centuries old traditions of humanity, tolerance and its unique unity in
diversity and to warn people against the divisive forces who are out to destroy
their country by dividing the country along the very lines that are supposed to
be the features of our diversity. Using the theme of “Many languages, many
religions, many cuisines, many attires, but ONE COUNTRY...ONE PEOPLE, they
displayed images representing various religions, languages, attires, and
cuisines on their booth and all promotional items. Photos can be viewed at http://photos.yahoo.com/imc_ilovemyindia
*Council of Advocates International, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/advocacycouncil Secretary General: Hamid Bashani, bashani2000@yahoo.com 613.744.0962
The Council organized a panel discussion in Toronto, ON, Canada. Tapan Kumar Bose, Secretary General, South Asian Forum for Human Rights; Teesta Setalvad, a human rights activist from Mumbai, and Tarek Fetah, a journalist and host of “The Muslim Chronicle” participated. Hamid Bashani pointed out that the reactionary and fundamentalist forces use Kashmir issue to create further divide and hatred among the people of subcontinent. He said that fundamentalist militants are not the freedom fighters and like security forces they are responsible for human rights violations and senseless killings in Kashmir. He urged people who claim to fight for freedom democracy and social justice to respect these principles themselves. He said that there would be no peace without justice, and that people of the sub-continent would not accept balance of terror in the name of peace.
*Metro and Mandir: A Thirst for Quality Development, Dipankar Gupta, Times of India, August 21, 2003 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com:80/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow In politics generally all publicity is good publicity. Occasionally, a public figure can be hurt by hostile reportage, but ideologies thrive on being discussed, whether positively or negatively. Therefore, the more the opposition rants against Hindutva, the more prominence the RSS and allied organisations get. It is free publicity for them. t is futile to hope that elections can be won on a negative platform, and even more foolhardy to believe that the masses can be swayed to your side by asking them to give up their religious or community identities. Secularism can never win on this kind of an abnegationist platform. Secularism thrives best when it makes religious and sectarian passions irrelevant to the political debate. Unfortunately, most of our secularists do not quite realise that pure anti-communalism is not effective secularism. Jawaharlal Nehru succeeded in getting a secular India off the ground by promising a resurgent India resplendent with large dams and steel factories accomplishments his fellow citizens could be proud of. This was accompanied by land reforms, zamindari abolition, resettlement of refugees, import substitution and non-alignment. On none of these issues did the entire saffron spectrum have any expertise. Why is it that secularists are scared of dreaming of big things again? True, the Nehruvian vision now lies in ruins. But what have we done to replace this vision of secularism with another one that is equally powerful and can light an ideological fire in the country? In fact, an alternative secularism is staring us in the face. When the metro was inaugurated in Delhi, the wild enthusiasm with which it was greeted was almost pathetic. Among other things it demonstrated how much the people wanted development with quality. The metro was no ordinary train service, it was a transit system that was world class. It is this aspect of the metro's glitz and efficiency that caught the public imagination. It was not a sub-standard product that was being fobbed off as a people's train. Given our past record at providing public utilities, the metro was indeed a breakthrough. Free education has meant inferior education, free health has degenerated into unhygienic and deplorable public hospitals, and cheap transport is generally translatable into cattle cars and trains leaping off tracks. It is not surprising that such empty socialist ruses have been exposed and can no longer enthuse the public imagination. What the recent metro madness demonstrated is that there is a thirst for quality development. This is development of the kind that does not just meet felt needs, but "felt aspirations" as well. Expectations, in this sense, have gone up. Villagers know that no real development is possible in rural areas. They want to leave the countryside for the cities as fast as the urban world will absorb them. But this absorption so far has not been quality absorption. Is it not possible for secularists to put forward a bold plan that will take care of this rural exodus and promise a dignified city life? Oscar Wilde once said that socialism in his country was only good for keeping the poor alive. Developmental programmes in our country too, whether initiated by the government or by NGOs, are primarily aimed at keeping the poor alive on a day-to-day, hand-to-mouth basis. Such exercises are repeated year after year with some ancillary economic regeneration programmes that alleviate desperate poverty at the cottage level. Over the past two decades, there has been a perceptible ideological shift in the country. Most Indians are tired of low-level equilibrium. They want a breakthrough. They don't only have needs, they have aspirations too. Just like the metro in Delhi was a breakthrough in transit facilities, they would like spectacular quality developments in other areas too. The paradigm of being poor but pure in the village has no takers, least of all in the villages. A true secular vision for India would be one that promises high levels of urban life, that provides facilities for quality education and health, as well as for technological developments in the countryside such that non-farm employments are not just distress measures of the abject poor. This is how secularists can help India make the grade into the 21st century. An alternative political agenda of this sort would also render the saffron brigade completely helpless. It is good for Akhand Bharat and Ram mandirs, but can they handle a thousand metros? In 1945, France was about 47 per cent rural. But from the late 1970s onwards, only about three per cent of France live in villages. So it is not as if quality urbanisation takes forever and cannot be consciously planned for. In India the rate of migration to towns and cities is very impressive. Today over 50 per cent of the poor SCs are urban. In addition, in a majority of states, non-farm rural income is well over 25 per cent. And yet, what do we have by way of a non-agrarian alternative? What plans do we have to upgrade urban facilities from housing, to education, to transport, to occupations?
So if there were to be an electoral competition today
between mandir and metro, the Ram Bhakts would be in for a very unpleasant
surprise. Let this be an inspiration for an alternative developmental paradigm
that seeks to address the long felt aspirations for quality development in the
country.
*Living in the Fringes to Worship, Barnita Bagchi
(This had appeared in Lest We Forget, a booklet released on
the occasion of 'India Sabka', a youth festival celebrating Indian
multiculturalism organized by Majlis and Open Circle, in December 2002 in
Mumbai)
Sudhanya
and Kaushalya sit in one corner of the station. Sudhanya sings with the
two-stringed 'dotara' in hand. 'amar apon khobor aponar hoi na, ekbar aponare
chinle pore achenare jae chena'. 'my self doesn't have any news or knowledge of
itself, it's only once you know your self that you can get to know the
unknown.' There's quite a crowd. The song by Lalan Shah, the most famous of
Bengal's syncretic songmakers, ends.
Kaushalya
takes Sudhanya by the hand and helps him get up. He is blind. He is also a
'baul', and a singer. She has come from a lower middle-class family in the
suburban town of Ranaghat, and has defied social strictures to marry this
singer. 'Aul, baul, fakir, pir', performers and singers, practitioners of
mysticism and syncretism, householders and mendicants, all these form a rich spectrum
in what we might call the bhakti movement in Bengal, current even today. The
songs of bauls are some of the most powerful mystical works of art found in the
world.
The
term 'manush' or 'human being' recurs in Bengali syncretic songs, as a
condition to be attained by men and women by being humane, loving, actively
altruistic towards other humans. Fairs and village festivals, masjids and
mandirs, all in turn host the song performances, which are the most visible
expression of Bengal's syncretism. These performances are only the tip of some
very complex, rich, earthy, philosophical ways of life.
Bengali
syncretic songs express a spiritual and esoteric worldview, which is written in
'sandhyabhasa', or 'twilight language'. But this metaphorical twilight language
is deeply rooted in earthiness. The marvels of the human body, a vision of the
bodily union between men and women as the acme of synthesis, unraveling the
metaphors of the body to get a sense of the mysterious workings of the
universe- such themes are central to 'baul' lore.
As
is syncretism, a commingling of sufi and vaishnav and their own distinctive
beliefs. Not all bauls sing, though. And while some bauls wear a sufi-like
habit of saffron cloth, many consider this merely an upstart, trendy fashion.
Many bauls live ordinary lives of householders, like many other members of
important Bengali syncretic sects, such as the Shahebdhanis, the Balaharis, and
the Kartabhajas.
Pirs
and fakirs, like sants and gurus, are a part of this syncretic world. Created
mainly by lower-caste Hindus and poor Muslims, these sects have members whose
identities aren't readily discernible as different from the mainstream
religions. Sometimes also practicing more traditional religious customs, they
identify others who know their lore by terms in their twilight language.
Non-singing
bauls, like other members of religious sects, usually have a powerful hidden
life of spiritual practices, which in a major way involve their learning to
make the body an instrument of spiritual attainment and ecstasy. Initiates into
syncretic life and lore say report that the glamourization of the 'baul' has
inevitably often led to the glitziest and cheapest and shallowest forms of baul
performance and practices being peddled to an urban and Western audience. But
faced with terrible poverty, an already hard to maintain regimen of inner
control and discipline, and the lure of mike and francs, it is no wonder that
many succumb to the lure of bright lights, often facing brief careers in
limelight that end in tragedy.
Meanwhile,
singers like Sudhanya sing Miyajan Fakir's song, at once about the transience
of pleasure and about the processes of fertility and the conception of new
life: 'Once every month, a flower blooms in the ghats of pleasure; If it is not
the auspicious moment, the flower fades and goes. It comes and it floats away,
and no one can find it then.'
*Through October 19, New York, NY, USA: THE
WORLD OF BUDDHISM will explore the key concepts and imagery of one of the world's
great religions, 6:00-9:00 p.m., at Asia Society and Museum, 725 Park Avenue at
70th street. Admission: $7 adults; $5 students and senior citizens. Free to
members and children under 16. Free admission Fridays. More info from The World
of Buddhism
*Through February 15, 2004: REVERIE AND
REALITY: Nineteenth Century Photographs of India from the Ehrenfeld Collection,
an exhibition of 115 vintage photographs by some of the earliest and most
significant practitioners of the medium (such as Lala deen ayal, Linnaues
Tripe, Samuel Bourne, John Murray) at the Legion of Honor Art Museum. The
photographs range from scenes of daily life in villages to sumptuous and formal
visits of foreign royalty. Admission is $8 ($6 seniors and $5 youth). More info
from 415.863.3330 www.thinker.org
*Staines International Award For Religious
Harmony was bestowed on Teesta
Seltalvad, co-editor of Mumbai-based Communalism Combat and Admiral L. Ramdas, former Chief of
Indian Navy, by Dr. Diana Barnes of U. S. Department of State Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights & Labor, on August 16, 2003, at away at Wilmington,
Delaware. Both have championed the cause of secular India and have been heroic
promoters of religious harmony. The Award will be given Leaders from Canada,
India and various Countries and states are expected.
Established by the International Council of
Evangelical Churches, this Award in the Field of Human Rights is an honour
given to individuals and organizations in recognition of outstanding
achievements in human rights. It commemorates Australian missionary Dr. Graham
Staines who, along with his two little sons Timothy and Philip, was burnt
alive, in India. The award also records the Christian witness of Mrs. Gladys
Staines who, in the depth of her grief for her murdered family, found in her
heart the strength to forgive the killers of her husband and her sons. More
info from Rev. Bernard Malik, 302.354.5110 www.icec.us
*Magsaysay award for social work was, July
30, 2003, given to Shanta Sinha for his pioneering work in the area of
child labour. She heads M V Foundation, a voluntary organisation she founded to
promote education in rural areas for the last two decades.
http://www.humanscapeindia.net/article/aug03/SHANTA.htm
*Prisoners of the Nuclear Dream, M.V. Ramana
and C. Rammanohar Reddy (Eds), Orient Longman, New Delhi., Pages 502, Rs. 575. From India's nuclear dream and Iraq's
nightmare, by J. Sri Raman, The Tribune, August 10, 2003 http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030810/spectrum/book2.htm
Iraq is a heaven-sent opportunity for the Indian
nuclear hawks to revive the argument that makes the bomb synonymous with
security, to peddle the "deterrence" theory as proven beyond doubt.
The common purpose of the essays in this volume, compiled before the
"Coalition of the Killing" blitzed Baghdad, is to prove this theory
to be a tattered myth. As the editors sum it up: "The people of India and
Pakistan`85have now to come to terms with Robert Jay Lifton's assertion: 'The
central existential fact of the nuclear age is vulnerability.' The nuclear
dream only makes us prisoners of insecurity."
*The History of History, (Politics and
scholarship in Modern India), Vinay Lal, Oxford University Press, Pages
294, Rs: 650
Aryavarta
reaches Silicon Valley. The saffronised history spawned on innumerable websites
by amateur NRI historians may well be the most tangible, if not most agreeable
product of India's globalisation. It is perhaps apposite that the North
American proponents of Hindutva, as well as revisionist Hindu historians,
should have found the Internet an agreeable avenue for the propagation of their
world-view. http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=29019
*On
Becoming an Indian Muslim, Mohammad Waseem (Translator & Editor),
Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2003, Pages: 355, Rs.650 ISBN: 019-565807-8
(Via Qalander, July 2003 http://www.islaminterfaith.org/bookreview.html#book)
This book …brings together a number of hitherto
un-translated writings by French scholars, past as well as contemporary,
rendered into English by the late Mohammad Waseem. Together, these articles
cover a range of issues: from the early Muslim presence in India to the gradual
spread of Islam among local communities and Islam's fascinating encounters with
other religious systems in the region. In short, as the title of this book
suggests, they seek to provide a glimpse into the little-understood historical
process of `becoming' an Indian Muslim.
*On Developing Theology of Peace in Islam,
Asghar Ali Engineer, Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, Pages: 220,
Rs.400, ISBN: 81-207-2466-6 (Via Qalander, July 2003 http://www.islaminterfaith.org/bookreview.html#book1)
For many traditional Muslim `ulama, non-Muslims are
seen as `enemies of God', doomed to eternal perdition in Hell. Hence, Muslims
are called to severe all relations with the `impure' `unbelievers', and
tolerance, if at all allowed, is seen simply as a missionary tool in the hope
that ultimately the recalcitrant `unbelievers' would be won over to Islam.
Engineer argues that such understandings place an insurmountable barrier to
peace-building efforts and inter-community dialogue. More importantly, he
contends, they represent a complete misreading of the actual message of Islam.
Engineer then sets about developing a radically different understanding of the
theological `Other' in Islam.
*NGORC Journal - Quarterly on Civil Society
Enhancement http://www.ngorc.org.pk/journal
This issue of NGORC Journal brings a focus on the
important issue of ‘Governance’ in the context of Non-Profits. To highlight the
topic, following articles have been included in this issue.
NGO Resource Centre (Pakistan) is a non-profit support organization that provides management training and advice to build capacity within citizen organizations. It conducts research and collects data on the citizen sector in Pakistan to inform policy dialogue and promote an enabling environment.
(Readers are invited to submit
similar information from other areas of South Asia to help us broaden of our
coverage. Please send the info to pritamr@open.org
, a week before the date of publication of the next issue of ACHA Peace
Bulletin)
Jammu & Kashmir Govt launches open school
scheme
Aimed at providing an alternative channel of
education to those who could not get entry into formal system of education,
Jammu and Kashmir government has launched state open school (SOS) to help widen
the access to education. (Press Trust of India via KGN News kashmir_news@yahoo.com August 6, 2003)
Bonded to the loom
Karnataka's silk industry has an excessive appetite
for bonded child labour in India. Priya Ganapati discovers a tableau of
exploitation and oppression. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/12spec.htm
Dismal progress by Pakistan in primary education:
Report
The United Nations Development Programme in its
annual report on Human Development 2002 said that Pakistan recorded very dismal
performance in 2002 in the areas of primary education and gender equality due
to which it has been declared a state with no progress in these sectors whereas
the country has been termed a top priority area by UNDP as far as child
mortality rate was concerned. (Nation, Via Pakistan Facts Sheet facepk@hotmail.com )
Orissa's (India) IMR Mission
Orissa has the highest infant mortality rate in the
country at 97 per 1,000 live births. Approximately 86,000 infants die in the
state each year. Poor healthcare facilities for mother and child, malnutrition,
malaria and lack of awareness are major contributing factors. Can the state
reduce IMR to the targeted 60/1,000 by 2005?
http://www.infochangeindia.org/features115.jsp
12,000 children under 18 years were arrested in
Punjab (Pakistan)
Addressing the workshop, Welfare and Women
Development Secretary Qazi Afaq Hussain said around 12,000 children under 18
years of age were arrested in Punjab on different charges from July 2002 to
March 2003. “Those involved in petty crimes were released while those who had
committed serious crime were sent to jails.”
(Via Pakistan Facts Sheet facepk@hotmail.com
)
(Readers are
invited to submit similar information from other areas of South Asia to help us
broaden of our coverage. Please send the info to pritamr@open.org
, a week before the date of publication of the next issue of ACHA Peace
Bulletin)
*November
5-7, 2003, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA: THE NEW PATHS TO PEACE CONFERENCE is
designed to create a real dialogue among experienced practitioners on cutting
edge issue of how to build just and sustainable peace and development. The
conference features "Learning Lab" discussions led by leading
practitioners. These sessions are designed to facilitate learning across
participants and provide networking opportunities. More info from peacestudies@uwm.edu
*November 9-12, 2003, Whidbey Island, Washington, USA: THE PRACTICE OF PEACE is the theme of this conference. It will address the theme of chaos, confusion, and conflict in organizations, communities, and the world, and will explore what has been learned about working in situations of tension and conflict. Creative ways of conducting peacemaking and mediation will also be discussed. Cost is US $750 (with organizational support), US $450 (non-profits), US $350 (students). More info from Open Space Institute, 15347 SE 49th Place, Bellevue, WA 98006, USA. T: 1-360-293 2853, F: 1-360-588 8809 Email: sacred@anacortes.net, Website: www.openspaceworld.org/peace (Via www.coexistence.net)
COURSES & TRAINING PROGRAMS
*October 14-16, and November 11-13, 2003, Pretoria and Cape Town, South Africa: UNDERSTAND AND MANAGE CONFLICT, a three-day foundational course that aims to provide an overall understanding of conflict and conflict analysis, and to impart the skills to become an effective conflict resolution practitioner. Cost is R 3450. More info from Ian Henderson, African Center for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), Private Bag X018, Umhlanga Rocks, 4320, South Africa. T: 27-31-502 3908, F: 27-31-502 4160 Email: ian@accord.org.za, Website: www.accord.org.za (Via www.coexistence.net ) *November 28-30, and February 16-20, 2004, New York, NY 10023, USA: DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING INTERVENTIONS FOR GLOBAL CHANGE AT THE UN FOR A CULTURE OF PEACE. This course offered by the Institute for Global Leadership is for people who are searching for a new way to address global challenges that emphasize respect for human rights, peaceful settlement of disputes, ethics, values, and systems that will secure greater ecological integrity, economic and social well being. Register online by September 30 and December 20. Cost: November - $395 ($195 due by September 30); February - $700 ($190 due by December 20). More info from Virginia Swain, Director, Institute for Global Leadership, 121 West 72nd Street, Suite 8C, New York, NY 10023, USA. T: 1-508-753 4172, T: 1-508-753 1004 Email: vswain@global-leader.org , Website: www.global-leader.org (via www.coexistence.net )
*December 4, 2003, Boston, Massachusetts, USA: ELICITING NEW STORIES ABOUT CONFLICT, as workshop to present ways to elicit enriched stories that help people move beyond their old, polarizing conversations to develop new perspectives and relationships. Participants will explore frameworks and experiential exercises to learn how to listen for what is not said—the absent but implicit—so they can assist parties in thinking about their conflicts in new and constructive ways. Cost is US $160. More info from Manda Bohannon, Public Conversations Project, 46 Kondazian Street, Watertown, MA 02472, USA. T: 1-888-727 8326, F: 1-617-923 2757 Email: mbohannon@publicconversations.org, Website: www.publicconversations.org/pcp/index.asp?catid=51 )Via www.coexistence.net )
(Readers are invited to submit similar information
from other areas of South Asia to help us broaden of our coverage. Please send
the info to pritamr@open.org , a
week before the date of publication of the next issue of ACHA Peace Bulletin)