THE

GAZETTE
Vol 3 No.13

New Delhi

5 July-19 July 1988

Rupees Two

Fortnightly

Confusion Worse Confound'ed

K.S. Khosla

Like the Arab nations, the

Akalis too have proved
one again by their game
of accusations and counteraccusations, expulsions and
counter-expulsions that religion cannot be a binding or
:t,.Jniting force. Iran-Iraq war Is
probably nine years old but
factionalism in the Akall Dal
has been there since its inception more than six decades
ago. The Akall Dal and the
Shromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee are so disunIted now that even an ordinary
Sikh gets confused. The Akali
leaders, it seems, are worlled
more about self and pelf than
the interests 'of the community at large which is facing the
gravest crisis of its history.
Prof. Darshan Singh, when
he was appointed acting chief
of the Akal Takht, ordained all
fac~ions of the Akall Dal to
unite and asked all party lead;~s to appear before the Akal
y kht. A unity of sorts was
achieved and the party was
given the new name of United
Akali Dal. But Mr. Surjit Singh
Barnala, former Chief Minister,
refused to go to the Akal Takht
on a matter of principle and as
a result he was excommunicated from the panth. After
some time Mr. P~rkash Singh
Badal and Mr Sukhjinder
Singh were released. Again,
unity efforts were made and
the party came to be known as
the Unified Akali Dar. Mr. Bar
nala still preferred to remain
out. Things have come to such
a pass that even this Unified
Akali Dal is divided into four
groups, Badal group, .Tohra
group, Amrillder group and

In this Is~ue
Page
II

II

II
II

II
II

Sikh Miltancy Myth

and Reality
5
Water Starved Cities
Rajasthan
6
Apartheid Executions 8
Story: Perhaps
Some Day
10
Saichin Imbroglio
12
Indo-Chinese
16
Relations

Baba Joglnder Singh group.

All this proves that the claim
of the Akalls that the panth Is
In danger Is hollow. What Is in
danger Is their 'kursl'.

Dismissals
Ever since May . 30 when
SGPC executive decided to dismiss Mr. Jasbir Singh Rode, the
Akal Takht chief and other high
priests, it was obvious that the
extremists led by SabaJoginder
Singh, father of Jarnail Singh
Shinderanwale, would not take
matters lying down. About a
dozen leaders owing allegiance
to Saba Joginder Singh met at
Aiamgir, near Ludhiana, on June
26 and expelled Mr. Shaminder
Singh, M.P., Mr. Manjit Singh
Calcutta, general secretary of the
United Akali Dal and five mem-

bers of SGPC executive who

had signed the resolution removing Mr. Rode and other priests
from the high office on charges
of violating the traditions of the
Golden Temple and working at
the behest of the government.
The Alamgir meeting appointed
Mr. Harcharan Singh Rode, son
of the Saba, as the new general
secretary of UAO. The meeting
accused all the seven leliders of
being government agents. This
game of accusing the rivals of
being government agents has a
familiar ring about it.
One thing has, however,
become clear. Saba Joginder
Singh and his clan is gradually
being isolated and there is much
truth in the charge that the Saba
wants his family to dominate
UAO and SGPC. In fact, the
Saba had been trying since long

for such dominance and the

Alamgir meeting has only
resulted in a formal split of UAD
and SGPC and also formalised
division between the moderates
and the extremists (as opposed
to the Khalistanis who owe allGgiance to the Panthic Committee).

They also said that persons whu

were not even primary members
of the Akali Oal, formed after
many sacrifices made by the
Sikhs in the twenties, had no
right to expel them . The expelled
members are supporters of Mr.
Sadal and Mr. G.S. Tohra, who
are in jail.

It is claimed that only nine

members of the party presidium
and council attended the meeting. In all there are 18 members.
Six members are in jail and the
three others abstained. The
expelled members claimed that
not even two members of the
council were present. They acccused Saba Joginder Singh of
exploiting the name of Jarnail
Singh Shinderanwale and perpetuating family rule over the two
historic institutions of the Sikhs.

The Split
One good result of this split is
the increasing isolation of the
Saba group. UAO leaders like
Mr. Amrinder Singh and Mr.
Jagdev Singh Talwandi, stayed
away from the meeting. Even Mr.
Joginder Singh Mann, father of
Mr. Simranjit'Singh Mann, pres- '
ident of UAD, who was present
at the Alamgir meet has now dissociated himself from the meetContinued on page 3

Aurangabad Roits An Analytical

Review
Asghar Ali Engineer

n order to understand communal violence in Poona,

Aurangabad etc. one has to
understand the way the Shiv
Sena is aggressively trying to
pentrate in the interior of Maharashtra and planning to capture
municipalities, gram panchayats
etc. Mr. Sal Thackaray has been
saying if there can be an AOMK
Ch ief Minister in Tamil Nadu and
Telgu Oesam Chief Minister in
Andhra Pradesh, why not a Shiv
Sena Chief Minister in Maharashtra? The Maharashtra's
regional identity too must
strongly and aggressively assert
itself.
However, empirical reality
does not very easily fit into an
ideological mode. Had it been
so, Hitlers and Bal Thackarays
would have been ruling the
world. So the Shiv Sena has to
find other more ameanable
means to capture power. It is so
as Maharashtra, unlike the
southern states, does not feel its
identity threatened vis-a-vis the
states of the north, at least not so
strongly. The regional identity
alone thus cannot help Shiv
Sena achieve its ambition of

having a Shiv Chief Minister in

Maharashtra.
In fact the regional chauvan
ism against the south worked for
a while in Bombay. Soon Mr.
T:,ackaray discovered that his
anti-south compaign in Sombay
had lost its edge. In fact he

sulked in isolation for quite some

time since the mid-sevent:es.
Some political commentatcrs
had even written him off as a
spent force . Mr. Thackaray,
however, was looking for an
opportunity to assert his importance ' once again

Revivalist Movement

e got this opportunity

when Hindu revivalist
movement began to
emerge in the early eighties after
Continued on page .-

THE

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Sound and Furry

Cartoons of the Fortnight

We can claim that we have spent money from our pockets (for elections). But that does not apply to other parties.
- Ghulam Nabi Azad, AICC(I) General Secretary. arguing that the Congress (I) can have access to_ big money because it has ruled for 40
years.
If you give me your word you will support the Congress(I), I will give
you my blessing.
- Arun Go vii, film and TV star, to the electorate in Allahabad.
If necessary, bulldozers will be pressed into service-both political as
well as diesel-operated bulldozers.
- Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister on the Government's determination to
create a cooridor around the Golden Temple.
It is ,like a bulldozer running down hill and no one can check it.
- Subash Ghising, GNLF chief, on his forthcoming "do or die" agitation

We have an elcted mandate. There is no need for either resign<;ltion

or mid-term polls
- Mr. Rajiv Gandhi.
We want an alternative to Mr. Raj iv Gandhi and not a substitute
- Mr. Chandra Shekhar.
Any decent person is an alternative to Rajiv Gandhi
- Mr. Ajit Singh .
. The Central Cabinet has been allowed to become a waste basket for
Bhajan Lals. Dubeys and Bir Bahadurs.
; - Mr. L.K. Advani

-~ .

Wf..~
~clt.~

I am glad to say that I am leaving the State (cf Uttar Pradesh) almo'
problem free
- Mr. Bir Bahadur Singh
Why should I resign? The ruling party had suffered reverses in the past
too, but did the former Chief Minister ever offe r to resign?
- Mr Amarsinh Chaudhary, Gujarat Chief Minister.

~ U-t. Co fW

~~~t.
~

A lot of hard work. Very little time to th ink. Interesting, satisfy ing , challenging and sometimes frustrating
- Mr. Rajiv Gandhi about his job.
The Shankaracharya of Puri should commit sati .
- Acharya Rajneesh.
Bofors is a good gun. But then if you are against Mr. Rajiv Gandhi you
will say that the French Sofma is better. if you are with him naturally,
Bofors is the best. If you don 't like both sides , those for and against
him then the Austrian gun becomes the best.

- Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw.

My life is in danger if I accept the hill council.
- Subhas Ghising quoted in The Sunday Observer

11iE

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Dr. Amrik Singh
General Manager:
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Editors
Dr. A.S. Narang
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Publi~hers': "

Ekta Trust

By his on -ag ain, off-again approach he (Ghising) has confused the Darjeeling issue to such an extent that no solution to the problem is in sight.
- Editorial in The Telegraph.
.

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I act as and when situations arise. I am not a manipulating politician.

- H.D. Deve Gowda, Karnataka Janata dissident leader, in The Tim es
of India

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5 July~19 July 1988

THE

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THE OPPOSITION SCENE

Akali Factionalism

The Opposition scene is baffling, to put it no more storngly. While

the victory at Allahabad has made it amply clear tha\.the ruling party
is on the defensive, one cannot say with equal certainty that the Opposition is on the ascendent. This is because the Oppositin is divided.
Divided it is bound to be. On the extreme left there are parties like
the CPI and the CPM. On the extreme right we have parties like the
. ~P, .the Shiv Sena and the Majlis-e-Mashawart. In the middle are parties like the Janata, the Lok Dal (both the varieties) and a couple of
others. Then there are regional parties like the Telgu Desham and so
on. It is a hotch-potch, ifone may venture to say.
Pa~ies on the Left and the Right are not likely to come together under
any circumstances. They are both ideologically oriented and are so hostile to each other that to expect them to cOme together on one common
platform is not realistic. Were they to do so, the very cause of their existence would more or less disappear. Consequently they are be ,d to
plough their lonely furrow, in a manner of speaking. The Left had :>u.ne
accession of strength when it was able to form the government in Kerala .
but then it lost the government in Tripura. Altogether the situation continues to be of going it alone rather than working in conjunction with
others.
At the same fime however, VP Singh is right in saying that to talk
only about an alternative and not about a programme is unwise and
counte,r productive. What of the Left parties in the situation? They do
count, however only in respect of certain areas and certain issues. The
accent on working out an alternative programme is therefore a move
in the right direction. Only once the programme has been worked out
it would become possible to talk turkey to them. Till then it would be
bisting in the dark and while some part of it is unavoidable, it need not
be indulged in more than what is absolutely necessary.
This is only a saying that while working out a programme and in particular whife bringing the BJP into a united front the next round of dis~ions should not be lost sight of. Some accommodation with the Left
w_:;ild have to be made. As far as one can judge, their main focus is
on cooperation with the USSR and the defence of the public secto.r as
it stands today. Both are thorny issues and it would be difficult to say
that a compromise can be worked out easily. But then let there be a
difference in regard to issues rather .in regard to individuals.
But from this there is no getting away that the BJP is an important
factor in all Hindi"speaking states. To by-pass the BJP will not wCDrk.
while the BJP does have a closed mind in regard to certain things, by
the large it is capable of interaction with other parties and there is not
all that much of a difference of approach as far as the rest of the issues
are concerned. Tactically speaking, VP Singh took one or two false steps
in Allahabad but it is time to work out a new kind of understanding. How
precisely that is to be done is a matter that requires to be dealt with
separately .
While strong in certain regions, the Left does not have much of a
presence in the Hindi heart-land. There it is either the Janata or the
, Lok Daf. Even Janata is a marginal force in the Hindi speaking belt.
It is either the Lok Dal or some others which are difficult to categories.
Also there are focal groups which wield influence. The main significance
of VP Singh's victory at Allahabad lies in this that he has uncovered
'ong stream of discontent against the ruling party. Not only that,
he was able to forge a u~ited front against it. One thing that is indisputably clear in the situation then is that, were there to be a united front
against the ruling party, it would carry everything before it.
In a sense therefore, what matters in the Hindi speaking belt is how
the Lok Dais behave, to what extent there is cOllaboration with the BJP
and if the anti-Congress vote as symbolised by the Jan Morcha and ,
others cal') be brought into this aggregate: Put another way, the Left
is not particularly relevant here, The task is how to bring the non-left
forces together pn a common platform and make them function as one.
MAre the ambitions of petty politicians come in. One does not have
to comment about the role of Chandrashekhar and a few other vain
and manipulative individuals. They are not going to play the game and
there is no way to deal with them except to bye-pass them. This is precisely what VP Singh means when he says that what is important is
a programme and no~ the individuls. He is right but not entirely so.
Individuals do matter. The voter does wish to know for which individual he is voting as the 'Iikely Prime Minister. Whatever one may say,
whether it is India or any other country, the charisma of tne individual
does count. And the Opposition is singularly weak in this regard.
is not to suggest that the ruling party is any stronger. The charisma of
the PM has mor.e or less worn away and what we see now is nothing
but tiusel. In this ~ituation an alternative can emerge'and should emerge.
Whether it does so or not is another question.
VP Singh has taken the position that he is not available for public
office, this makes things difficult no doubt. For all we know, one may
therefore eventually get saddled with one of those few odd individuals
whose ambition is unlimited and whose Political ethics are question~
able. The whole picture is confused and .that is why one needs to be
a little more down to earth than what one has been so far.
While the emergence of a consensus candidate as an alternative to
the PM is important. it is by no means the only issue. VP Singh is right
that let us work out a programme of action. According to press reports,

Continued from page 1

5 July-19 July 1988

ing. He said tht he did not know

. when and how the resoluting
expelling seven leaders was
taken. He added that the Baba
family must make sacrifices to
bring about unity in UAD.
Assertion of authority on the
part of SGPC, however belated,
in removing the high priests, who
were once accused by the government of being Khalistanis and
helping terrorists, so to be welcorned. Once the Golden
Temple was cleaned of terrorists,
the SGPC executive dismised
the priests. The government
should see nothing wrong with
this move. On the contrary, the

government tried 10 pressurise

the executive to withdraw' the
resolution sacking the priests
and thereby exposed itseH to the
criticism that it was helping some
of the militant outfits. The charge
against the SGPC that it acted
late is true but it never too late
to mend. The SGPC did not
bend even after some of its leaders were arrested, though
released later.
This attitude of the government in ignoring and debunking
the moderates is not going to pay
it and is fraught.with dangerous
consequences. At least Mr.
Badal and his supporters want to

remain in the national mainstream but that cannot be said of

the extremists. The government
should decide which horse it
wants to back in Punjab.
About unity among Akalis,
reports have ~peared of Mr.
Badal and Mr. Barnala coming
together, now that the Baba
family is being isolated. No doubt
with the Badal group taking a
stand against Baba Joginder
Singh, Mr. Barnala's stand has
been vindicated but the chances
of unity seem to dim as the differences between the two leaders are ' personal and political,
(July 1, 1988)

Bullets for Legal Rights

SHARECROPPERS GOT BULLETS WHEN THEY DEMANDED THEIR
LEGAL RIGHTS - REPORT FROM A VILLAGE IN BHAGALPUR DISTRICT, BIHAR.
Kiridaand is a typical backward village located about 35 to
40 Kms away from the headquarters of Bhagalpur district, in
Bihar. There are about 150 families in this viffage. Most of them
are landless farm labourers and
sharecroppers. No big landowner lives in this village.
For the last one year or so
there has been a lot of tension in
this village. The sharecroppers of
this viffage are fighting for their
legal rights, and facing the combined gang-up of the landlord
and his goons backed ~y the
police and the administration.
These families most of who have
been working as sharecroppers
for 15 to 20 years are asking only
for the proper recording of their
sharecropping rights and for .
stopping their iffegal eviction from
this land. The landlord family
seems to be bent on evicting the
sharecroppers.
The landlord family owns a big
trading concern in Ghogha
Bazar, nearly 8 Kms'. from Khiridaand. This family has nearly
200 acres of land just near Khiridaand.
For the last few years the landlord famify has been selling this
land in bits and parts, and in the
process nearly 25 sharecroppers
have already been evicted.

Kisan Sabha
The sharecroppers have
organised, themselves under a
Kisan Sabha (Peasants' union)
to protest against this eviction

and to press for their recording

of their sharecropping rights.
According to their leader Bilas
Mandai several meetings were
organised in the viffage. Several
of them have filed legal cases to
protect their rights over nearly 60
acres of land. But the administra~
tion has not taken any substan-

Implicating Villagers
After this the police tried to
implicate the .viffagers in false
cases andartest them. It was
alle.ged that
villagers had
tried to loot the landlord's crop
and had attacked the Police
injuring two constables. But the
road on which the alleged incident of looting of grain is supposed to have taken place is far
away from the scene of Police
firing, and despite our persistent
inquiries the Police could not tell
us the name of the injured constables.
In March-April another wave of
tension spread in this area. The
harvesting of the crop by the
sharecroppers was arbitrarily
stopped by the police. But the
tial steps on their complaints and
demands.

t'"

40 year old Khero Devl told us

that last year on the morning of
December 5 arm~d pOlice came
to the village to arrest their leader
Bilas MandaI. The viffage women
surrounded their leader and did
not allow the police to arrest their
leader without any warrent. They
beat up the women with rifle
butts, but still the women faced

he is working on something. If within the next couple of months something can be worked out along the right lines and mobilisation gets
underway in accordance-with that programme, in another few months
it wiff become clear whether people are responding to the new programme or not. That would be the time to agree upon consensus candidate. What VP Singh says is more theoretical than practical. An
agreement upon an alternative leader is essential before the Opposition is taken seriously. To leave the issue open is to surrender an
advantage to the ruling party and that must not be allowed to be happened.

By Mukul
them bravely. The police had to
go away without arresting their
leader - because of the firm display of unity by them.
Accordjng to Khero Devi,
Pachiya Devi and Nakul Mandai,
after about 2 hours a bigger contigent of armed police reached
their viffage. Viffagers again
faced them with courage. The
Police and some anti-social elements who had also come there
fired on the unarmed women.
In this firing 55 year old
Matfya Devl, 30 year old SuchIta Devl (mother of two chi&<dren) and newly married, 22
year old Geeta Devl were
killed_ Khero Devl and Pachlya
Devl were also hit by bullets
and had to be admitted to a
hospital.
18 years old Nakul Mandai
was also hit by a bullet. Several
other women Meera Devi, Rajni
Devi, Kalpatva Devi, Kokoya
Devi and lavi Mosmat were also
injured. But this time also the
police had to return ~mpty
~anded.

same police gave permission for

harvesting to the landlord and his
men. They were deprived of their
legal share of the crop.
As the struggle of the sharecroppers has intensified a not
! unrelated development has been
the effort to create communal
tension in a neighbouring village.
The Kisan Sabha has held meeting to check the spread of this
communalism.
, People of Khiridaand and
neighbouring villages have held
a demonstration in Bhagalpur
before the District Magistrates
office. Apart from demanding
compensation for the famifies of
the dead and injured vflfagers
and an impartial inquiry into this
incident, their main demand
remains that of the recording of
their .legal land rights.

lliE

______________~F~OBY~M~-------Aurangabad R,i ots

Continued from page 1

the episode of conversion to

Islam of some Harijans in Me,enakshipuram district of Tamil
Nadu. Mrs. Gandhi too, who had
begun to cultivate Hindu votes in
the post~emergency period,
exploited this even politically and
lent subtle support to the Vishwa
Hindu Parishad. Mrs. Gandhi of
course was not a leader ' of a
communal outfit but only
shrewdly exploited Hindu sentiments for her ballot-box victory.
However the Shiv Sena and its
supremo had strong communal
or.ientation right from the beginning. Shiv Sena had played a
significant role in the Kosa and
Bhiwandi riots in the late sixties
and the early seventies. Only at
times was its anti-Muslim tirade
overshadowed by its anti-south
tirade. Now of course ~ has been
unabashedly indulging in al"tiMuslim tirade. No more antisouth outbursts.
The Sen a's communal rebirth
took Place around the mideighties, 1984 to be precise.
After sulking in isolation for a
long time, ~ decided to champion
the Hindu Cause. It tried to create
a united Hindu front in a meeting
at Chowpatty in April, 1984. This
meeting was followed by riots
from Bombay to Bhiwandi, the
highly industrialised belt of the
country, in May 1984. It was an
absolute havoc for the minorities.
Swords in hand, the Shiv Sainiks
were roaming the streets of
Bombay. Thane and Bhiwandi
with of course, the police looking
on helplessly.

Shiv Sena Strategy

he same strategy the

Sena adopted for penetrating the interior of
Maharashtra. Its ambitions
soared high especially after it
captured the Bombay Municipal
C01"pOlation in 1985. Wherever
the Sena tried to get entry it did
so by causing communal congflagration. Thus a series of riots
took place in Panvel; Nasik,
Amravati, Aurangabad, Nanded
etc. Wherever it opened its
brancp, communal violence followed. The Sena presently had
its sights on municipalities and
gram panchayats. It tried the
same thing in Aurangabad
Municipal Corporation elections.
Here it is alsO necessary to
understand the demographic
and other changes which have
been taking place in Aurangabad
to understand the genesis of the
riQ~s. The Marathwada was earlier a p~rt of the old Nizam state.
It, was ,. naturally ruled by the
Muslim 'elite with a section of the
Hindu elite with the Muslim eijte
playing the dominant part. Howeverthe understanding between
the two elites had helped maintain the precarious communal
balance which of course began
to be upset with the Razakar
Tehrik on the eve of the partition.
The Hindu resentment of the

4
\

Muslim domination began to

come to surface.
However, much worse began
to ,happen with the social and
demographic changes which
began to take place with. the
development schemes in Aurangabad during the sixties. Its first
manifestation came with the riots
of 1968. One must understand
that with economic development
power shifts occur and this shift
causes, as is quite natural, lot of
friction which often manifests
itself in the caste and communal
form. Since the early sixties
Aurangabad has been undergoing rapid transformation bringing
about a shift in the balams of
power. The Muslim population
has been reduced from 45% to
about 30% in the district. Industrialisation has brought nonMuslim outsiders to thErtown. It
is interesting to note that in the
case of Bhiwandi, Malegaon etc.,
the Muslim population has
increased due to emigration of
weavers from U.P. which in turn
has created the communal problem. In case of .(urangabad it is
lust the reverse. Here the Muslim
population has gone down in
number as well as in significance
which partly causes the communarproblem.

Feudal Class
During the Nizam period, it
was the ' Muslim feudal class
which ruled. Now with the growth
of industrialisation in ,Aurangabad it is the Hindu businessmen
and industrialists who enjoy
power. Most of these industrialists and businessmen have
come from outside. The Muslims
have been reduced to penury for
two reasons: firstly, they could
,not econom ically adjust to. the
commercial and industrial economy and they remain grounded
in the feudal economy. Secondly,
they could not get proportionate
employment in the new business
and industrial setups. Even the
non-Muslim locals are not getting
adequate employment in these
new ventures. The share of the
locals in new jobs is said to be
around 4%. The local Muslims
are even worse off.
A section of Muslims naturally
,took to anti-social activities which
created a stereotype in the minds
of the Hindus. In the minds of the
average Hindu, a Muslim in
Aurangabad is equated with a
'goonda', an 'anti-social'. It is
interesting to note that, in a
CIDCO constituency, a CPI candidate who had for years worked
for the workers lost election to an
unknown Sena candidate. When
some workers in the area were
questioned as to why they did
not vote for Comrade O'r. Bhal.chandra Kango who served
them so long, they reacted
' sharply and said, "Anyone can
get us more wages and D.A. but
only the Shiv Sena can save us
from the 'Muslim Goondas'."

Even the industrial workers have

been made to think like that.
What about others? It must'make
us sit and think seriously.
Th~ Muslims are on the perIphery of the economy. Even
the 11% Mahars In the town
are
educationally
and
employment wise better off.
Most of the Muslims are either
rickshaw drivers (90% of the
rickshaws In the town are
driven by Muslims), coolies,
vendors, cycle and stove
repairers and peons In the offIces_ There are hardly any
Muslims In higher posts.
There are none In business, let
alone in industries, in any
substantial numbers.

The Gulf

n contrast to this, their leaders are quite well off ~ither

due to some business or
criminal activity. This contrast is
very sharp and is felt by the poor
Muslims. Some of the leaders
are notorious criminals. They
have political ties. Javed Hasan
is alleged to be a 'matka king'
and is a supporter of the
Congress-I. He is brother of the
Muslim League leader Mr. Taqui
Hasan who was elected as
deputy mayor w~h the support of
the Congress-I. Mr. Javed Hasan
Khan was denied ticket this time
and hence he contested independently and won with a handsome margin. He defeated the
Congress-I candidate who was a
dalit.
One must also take Into
accout the fact that the population of Aurangabad has
greatly Increased. Today it his
more than five lakhs. The outsiders have captured business
and Industries (specially those
from Western Maharashtra) as
well as jobs. The local's share
In these, according to Mr.
Govind Shroff, a noted Gandhian leader, is not more than
2%. The increased urbanisation has also meant Increased
crime (Muslims having larger
share in this sphere) and close
nexus between It and pOlitics.
Gang rivalries play their own
part.
The Shiv Sena registered its .
entry into the town in 1985 in its
characteristic style by pushing up
communal tension. Then there
was iimited communai strife in
1986 when riots broke out in different parts of Marathawada.
Also, the Sena was determined
to increase its influence during
the municipal corporation elections, if not also capture it. This
time the Sena aim was limited
but it wal? totally surprised by the
results. It gave it a tremendous
boost. It had fielded non-entities, '
mostiy the youth. It is important
to note that the umlnployed
youth is greatly attracted by
those organisations which provide them opportunities both for
action and leadership. This is
what the Sena is doing. Most of
the communal organisations are
making use of this fact, be they
the extremi.sts in Punjab or the

senas like the Hindu Sena;

Adam Sena, Bajrangbali Sena or.
Ali Sena. The Shiv sena's overwhelming membership comprises the unemployed youth.
One also has to take into
account the cross sections of the
cast~s who contested on the
Sena's tick~ts. Many of them
were Bhangis. Matangs, Kumbhars, Malis and Chamars and
others among whom many are
rickshaw drivers, vegetable vendors, basket-makers etc. who
can hardly spend anything of
their own on the election campaign. There were, among its
candidates only three Marathas
and two Brahmins. However,
there were no Mahars among
, their candidates. Mahars fought
seperately under the leadership
of Prakash Ambedkar.

Shiv Sena Candidates

t is interesting to study the list

of Shiv Sena candidates.
Why did it give tickets to such
low caste candidates as
Matangs, Chamars, Kalals,
Bhangis etc.? Probably ~ wanted
to convince 'Hindus' in general
that it is their champion, not only
of the upper and middle class
caste Hindus. Also, no established political party gives any
imporatnce to these low castes.
The shiv Sena would not have
anyway got much support from
the upper caste leaders who
have already carved out their
niches. Thus by giving tickets to
these low castes, the Sena
achieved two purposes; it drew
new blood for its party and also
appeared as a champion of lowcaste Hindus. In future it would
prove fruitful to study the caste
composition of the Shiv Sena
candidates for the Aurangabad
Municipal Corporation elections,
The Sena used militant
Hindu ideology for winning the
municipal elections. There
were several reasons for this.
It definitely wants to carve
Hindu constituency for Itself.
It can hardly compete in secular Issues with other established secular parties. Also, In
terms of Hindu militancy It had
to compete with established
communal parties like the
BJP, the RSS etc. Without Its
unrestrained Hindu militancy,
why should people prefer it
over others. The expression of
Hindu militancy by the Shiv
Sena was so unrestrained that
hte president of the BJP, Shri
L K Advanl, was compelled to
express his disapproval of it.

Caste Factor
Also, there was another
equally compelling reason for it:
the Sena's candidates were
mostly of low caste origin. How
could they win legitimation in the
eyes of the Hindus except
throught the use of militant Hindu
idiom? Lastely, it must be said
that this is the game now being
played by all the parties, secular
or communal. The elections are
now lost or won on caste and
communal considerations, not on

people's issues. And those with

a criminal background can do it
much more openly and unscruplosly. That is why both the Shiv
Sena and Muslim League which
had set up many candidates with
criminal background resorted to
it so freely.

Communal Propaganda
As the whole election campaign
was based on communal propaganda and vote-bank concept,
there was bound to be communal tension. Bal Thackaray had
openly thundered that the Congress had converted Auranga.bad into ~ Muslim vote bank) the
Congress had given tickets to 22
Muslims out of 60- seats which
in fact was roughly in proportion
to their voting percentage which
is roughtly 38%. Also, the
present MLA is a Muslim, Mr.
Motiwala) and that he would
convert it into a Hindu vote bank.
the tempers were frayed by such
,blatant and unabashed propa'ganda. On the other side of the
fence, Muslim League too was
appealing to the Muslims to vote
for it on the ground of religion. In
fact a leaflet is said to have r~qn
distributed in the name of it. .idul Muslim in appealing to all
Muslims of Aurangabad to vote
only for Muslim candidates,
whatever party they belong to.
The Shiv Sena made maximum
possible use of these leaflets. It
got it translated into Marathi and
distributed it among the Hindus
saying that like Muslims they
should also vote only for those
representing Hindu interests Le.
the Sena candidates. The Marathi translation of the pamphlet
was also published in Marmik,
the Sen a mouthpiece:
However, Mr. Shahbaz Rafiq
of Aurangabad limes expressed
his doubts about the genuiness
of the pamplet on two grounds;
n
there is no such organisat~
Aurangabad as Ittehadul tvIutilimin in whose name the pamphlet was issued. Secondly, the
pamphlet did not carry the name
of any Muslim leader on it which
makes its ,authenticity suspicious. Whatever the truth, it did
create a lot of hot air and polarised the voting on communal
lines.
Then there came the victory
rally by the Sana on 10th May
which was addressed by its
chief, Bal Thackaray. They rally
was attended by more than
twenty thousand people, according to intelligence reports others
claim even greater attendance,
50,000 for instance Mr. Thackaray is reported to have said in
his speech that the Congress
had turned Aurangabad into
. Muslim vote Bank. I have quite
, a provocative speech. Ho"Vever,
what was worse, the sense of
jubiliation was soon turned into
a sense of frustration for the Sai, niks as the Congress, the Muslim
league and the Oalits (Le.
Ambedkarites) joined hands to
elect a Congress mayour and a
Muslim league deputy mayor.
Continued on page 14

5 July-19 July 1988

THE

FORUM

--------------------~------------------------~--------~~
. GAZETIE~~~----------------------------------------~----------

Sikh 'M ilitancy Myth and Reality

Political Degradation,
.Religion and Politics
Maj. Gen. Joginder Signh (Retd)

efore we jump to any

conclusions it is necessary to carry out a brief
appreciation of the past events
ana the current situation in
INDIA, with particular emphasis
on Punjab in which sikhs are
involved in 8' peculiar way, as
part of National degeneration. It
is also essential to suggest to the
Sikh Community to adopt a
course of action by deciding priorities for the rejuvenation of the
community.
In February, 1984, I wrote a
letter to the "Tribune- after
SIKHS were attacked in an
organised manner ~tted by the
then HarYana Govt; obviously
under direetions from New Delhi.
This was apparently in retaliation
.0 the massacre of some Hindus
in a Bus near.Ohilwan in punjab
and some other places. This
letter was not published by the
Tribune, without any reasons; I
give below the gist of the that
letter.
Firstly, I emphasized the fact
that these killings of Hindus were
being done by active participation of Pakistan: Agents dressed
as Sikhs alongwith I~I collaboiators who were getting a
reward for killing each person.
Secondly, that the Haryana
Govt had started this unworthy
action willingly or unwilling at
Pi:mipat against an entire community where ladies were
stripped of their clothes, respectr ble travellers and local sikhs
'---were roughly handled and molested, the main Gurudwara were
burnt and holy books were burnt.
I reminded the peoPle tbat India
had enver won a single battle at
Panipat. This was an un-called
,for and unnecessary action to
'touch a hornets nest.
Thirdly, if tbe Prime Minister
encouraged such wild acts, she
may have to abdicate one day.
And lastly, I suggested that to
control and stabilise the s~uation,
Field Marshall S.H.F.J. Menekshaw should be brought as a
common Govern~ of both the
States of Haryana & Punjab as
he was a non-political person
commanding confidence of this
region. I leave it to the readers
whether my ~lJggestions were
relevant to the $jtuation or not, at
that crucial period.

The Sikh Militancy

n order to study the present

Sikh Militancy, it is essential
to. review briefly the overall
developments of events in the
history of India from the 7th Century AD, with the death of King
Harsha, when d~cay had set in

5 JUly-19 July 1988

. Hindu India and the crescent

appeared on the horizon. As
Islam came, it conquered India,
settled and subdued its degenerated population with a ruthless
sword. This period of approximately one thousand years, is
mainly a record of anarchy, confusion, selfishness, cowardice,
treachery, horrible reigns of
terror and the agony of the weak.
This gloomy period was however, relieved with the birth of a
new religion called -Sikhism-,
under the inspired teachings l)f
Guru Nanak Born in 1469 AD.
Dlliing this. period, the Sikh
Scriptures were compiled, 5th
guru was tortured on death by
Jahangir, 6th Guru started
arming the peasants and fought
four battles which he won. Then
came the martyrdom of Guru
Tegh Bahadur at Delhi. This new
religion grew into a mUitant
nation u~tfer. t~e . guidance of
Guru Goblnd Singh On 1699 AD),
which brought in its wake a new
system, ethics, unity, cohesion of
action and unparalled sacrifk:es.
The history of about' 100-years
between the death of Guru
Gobind Singh and Maharaja
Ranjit's occupation of Punjab is
a very trying period and requires
a lot of space to describe it. The
invasions of Nadir Shah, Ahmad
Shah Abdali are especially
important.
Throughout this period, historical processes developed from
one stage to another, and kept
an upward trend so long as the
ethics of the religion were strictly
followed. The defeat of the powerful Sikh army by the British was
a natural and direct result of
ignoring these ethics, and the
treachery of the type which had
brought ruin to Hindu India earlier.
The British period in Punjab
initially disheartened the Sikhs,
but eventually helped to bring
back the lost glory - by the end
of the last Century Arya Samaj
came into prominence in Punjab
and tried to convert certain Sikhs
back into Hinduism. Lots of
people did relinquish their Sikh
religion which they had
embraced for financial and other
gains during Ranjit Singh's time.
To counter this, Chief Khalsa
Dewan came into prominence to
protect the religion and to
develop education, Tat Khalsa
also .came up to protect the religion only. The Sikh historical
Shrines were being managed by
hereditary Mahants who were
usurping offerings and other
incomes. As a result 0; this
three
th-ihgs
movement
emerged:-

i) An insistence upon the permanent authority of the Guru.

ii) A sustained campaign to
secure Khalsa Control over historic Gurudwaras.
iii) Enforcement of Sikh code of
discipline.

two hands. Thus a corrupt and

selfish political culture without
accountability has emerged,
which has engulfed the nation,
and Sikhs are very much a part
of it. The dissidents from Con-

This consisted of Akali agitation, sending Akali Jathas firs~ to

Nankana Sahib and later at other
places. They suffered he~vy
casualties but kept it non-violent,
It culminated in the enactment of
the Gurdwara Act, in 1925.

ikhism being a relatively

young religion still has
fair amount of original
faith, spirit and pride. These
three gage a special strength in
the distant past. That is how
Moghuls were uprooted, Invasions from the west were
stopped, and how our Gurus and
later thousand of Sikhs were
massacred. How Sikhs created
a name of value, and a Special
Sikh code of conduct by retreiving and restoring young women
and children by attahcing the
retiring invading armies on their
way back to Persia, Afghan!stan
and Central Asia is history. ,This
was all possible, so 10ng,Sikhs
had stuck to faith, pride of achievement based on the spirit
infused by the Guru and regard
for the Sikh scriptures and the
use of sacred offerings as per
Guru's laid down directions.
This very.aplrlt and brotherhood has been so badly

This stage set an example to

rest of India of sacrifice for a
cause through non-violeflt
. methods.
With the departure of British
from India, it is a S~a of betr~y
als, by \he politic81 leaciers'9f
independent India. The basic
Sikh fear is, that unless they cOntinue to fight for their rights, and
they. refuse to bow before the
majority, inspite of state atrQCities, they may be absorbed by
the Hindu society.
The Hindu population of
Punjab was not expected tocooperate as it is primarily a trading class anc! has other influences and interests which make
them adopt a negative attitude
towards sikh demands. Things
like disowning Punjabi L:anguage, constant anti-sikh propaganda by vernacular press and
even efforts to convert poor and
scheduled class Sikhs into Hinduism, are further reinforced by
the recent statement of A's.S.
leader Mr. Deoras, Who thinks
Sikhs, Muslims and Christians or
in other words anybody who is
living in India is a Hindu. Shiv
Sena leaders recent statements
also are pointers in this direction.

Religion-Politics

Influenced by the natlon~1 corrupt political culture that 11 has

become a dlseasa - a chronic
disease In fact. most Sikh polIticians In the country InCludIng their supporter Jathedars
are part of It. Khalsa mind has
been badly polluted and Sikh
panth Is sliding down Into a
bottomless pit. Misdeeds of
successive Governments at
the Centre .and particularly In
Punjab - two last Congress
Chief Mlnsitres In Punjab - are
the main caus' of the present
state by creating deliberate
confusion and planned sabotage. The Alum Govts. are to be
balmed for non-performance.
The creation fo rift In AkaU
party by the creation of Tat
Khalsa and using Sant Bhlnderanwale as a convenient
personality ending up In 'Blue
Star', 'Wood rose' and consequent killing of Indira Gandhi,
the Nov. 1984 riots are well
known events and there Is no
need to repeat - The Sikhs of
Bombav paid 'Jazla' to Shiv
Sena and thus an Aurangzeb
type atmosphere prevailed
and similar threats are being
Issued again .
Continue.d on page 12

Current National
Scene :'

he current problems
facing Govt. of India in
various states, particularly
in the border areas, especially in
Punjab are primarily the results
of its own ugly policies and practices. lack of Statesmanship,
gradual destruction of democratic institutions, and giving a
stepmotherly treatment to .some
of the stateS', proves the bankruptcy of a Io.ng trerm national
vision. Political leaders refuse to
learn from history and are even
indulging in narrow political
manouvering, and intrigue is part
of Indian blood now. Selfish and
. greedy political leaders are trying
to hold three things at the same
time; namely power or Chair,
Topi or Turban and ever bulging
pocket or pur.se bag, with only

THE

FORUM

--------------------------------~----------------~~--~~GAZErr~E~~~--------------------------------------------------~

Water-Starved Cities of Rajasthan

Jodhpur, the second largest
city of Rajasthan has experienced such severe shortage of
water that for several months
water had to be brought by one
or more trains to moisten
parched throats of the city's population.
In Barmer town as water in
several other towns of Rajasthan
water supply is officially rationed
to once every a~ernative day, but
indignant residents complain !,hat
they frequently get water only
once in four days or so.
In Udaipur, described in tourist brochures as the city of lakes,
the water scarcity has become
so desperate that a pipeline,
costing Rs. 13 Cr. and involving
a lift of around 250 Jt. to bring
water from Jaisamand lake,
located about 70 kms away from
the town, is being considered.
Almost all the cities and
town of Rajasthan are facing a
serious shortage of water,
(with a few exceptions like
Banswara), a shortage that
grew to crises proportions this
summer. When looking at the
causes of this crisis, It Is
common to mention ralnfailure on the major cause. But
this Is not an adequate explanation, as In the past such rain
failures did not lead to such a
serious water crisis in these
cities and towns.

Bharat Dogra

water from other sources as a

result of various water supply
schemes) led to the neglect of
these catchments in recent
years. The administration com
pounded this by allowing various
housing schemes, other construction activities and even
large scale quarrying work at
catchment, sites which would
clearly hinder the collection of
water in these lakes at the time
of rains.

dropped. But as an engineer

from Public Health and Engineering Dept. informed us, that lift
irrigation canal projeCt itself got
indefinitely delayed due to the
petty interference of politicians
regarding which villages it should
pass through, who should get the
credit forbringing lift canal water
to the villages and to Jodhpur,
and other such issues.

Government
Involvement
Giving some specific examples this study points out that in
Bikaner the government itself
has been involved in the sale of
catchment land in the name of
development. The entire Pavan
Puri Colony has came up on the
actchment of Gharsisar tank.
Plots of Murlidhar Vyas Nagar
have been carried out of the
catchment of phoolsagar lake.
Catchment of Sansolar Tank has
also been leased out. Brick Kilns
have been set up in the catchment of Kolayat tank. Side by
side the trees and grasslands '
(sevan grass) in these catch
ments
have also been
de~troyed.

In Jaipur a big settlement has

come up in the catchment of
Rajamal Ka Talab (tank). In Gadisar lake of Jaisalmer a tourist

Almost all the cities and town of Rajasthan are

facing ,a serious shortage of water, (with a few
exceptions like Banswara), a shortage-that grew
to crises proportions this summer. When looking
at the causes of this crisis, it is common to mention rain-failure on the major cause. But this is not
an adequate explanation, as in the past such rain
failures did not lead to such a serious water crisis
in these cities and towns.

A Bold Step
Fed up of chronic water shortages recently the residents of
Bhim Ji Ka Mohalla, in Khanda
Balsa area of Jodhpur city,
decided to take a bold step - they
agreed to contribute their voluntary labour to clear the big
mounds of rubble over a traditional source of water - the
bawari (stepped well) of Tapi which had fallen into neglect over
several years. They worked day
and night and over 100 truck
loads of rubble was carried away
before they reached the water
that had been burried under this
rubble for decades.
While this work attracted a lot
of attention at that time andln
fact provided the impetus for similar effort at other traditional
water sources in the city such as
Noor Ji Ka Jhalra Chand Bawri
and Jaalab Bawri, the joy of the
people in Bhim Ji Ka Mohalla
who started the entire thing has
been short-lived. In fact when
this reporter visited this settlement in April-end, he found the
' people dejected and again
water-starved despite the great
effort made by them to solve their
water-shortage.
The reason, they said, was the
shabby treatment they received
at the hands of the water supply
officials. When the officials came
here first, they promised to keep
their staff at the bawri for its
proper maintenance. They promised to construct a I?athing
J

In a recent study on neglect of

traditional water sources in Rajasthan a well-known journalist of
Rajasthan, Mr. Om Prakash
Thanvi, has pointed out that the
more impprtant reason why the
several lakes of Rajasthan,
which supplied water to its cities
and towns in the past, are empty
or badly depleted today is their
catchment areas have been
neglected and indiscriminately
encroached upon on a large
scale. In the past people took
particular care to keep the
catchment areas of these lakes
very clean and free of
encroacliments. At some places
lakes exists at the higher places
helped to recharge the water
table forthe wells existing below.
This system preserved with great
care helped to make water available even during years of very
low rainfall.
The breakdown of the social
structure responsible for such
community maintenance of thf'

augaurs (or catchmens) of lakes

or the temporary availability of
resort, several encroachment in
the catchment (including an airport) now preclude the proper filling up of the lake.
In Jodhpur particularly severe
damage has been inflicted by the
large scale quarrying work in the
catchments. Several ditches and
rubble acumulations created by
indiscreminate quarrying work
have badly hindered the free flow
of water to, tne tanks and lakes
of thi,s Viat.er'starved'city. Surprisingly these quarry contractors
have managed to get clearance
certificates from the water supply
department.
In Kota the neglect of several
tanks which absorbed the rapid
flow of rain water has inflicted
another type of damage in recent
years-it has result in disastrous
floods from waters which would
have otherwise been absorbed
in the several tanks on the
slopes.

place for the women near the

bawri where the water would be
regularly supplied. They also
promised to supply clean water
to the residents of the mohalla on
a priority basis.

I he people complained bitterly, however, that none of the

promises have been kept. In fact
they alleged that from the point
of view of water avaijability now
they are even worse.~,off' than
before as even the fQqi~ty to
women to have their batR..here
which was available earlier is not
avilable ,now. No staff comes
here and the maintenance of the
bawri has been badly neglected,
they alleged, and I could see evidence of all this as I climbed
down the step of stairs to see the
bawri from close. It is truly a
wonderful creation of our
ancients and the mind boggles at
the imagination 01 how much
effort must have been put into it
to make available assured water
to people. People who live nearest to it and who have worked to
clean and revive it, surely have
a priority claim to this water
source, and the way in which the
,officials have let down these
people would clearly act as a
dampener for other such voluntary efforts.

The result people have neither

been able to get the benefit of the
first scheme nor of the second
scheme.
Now as desperate efforts to
get more water for Jodhpur city
are being made, this engineer
continued, a conflict with some
farmers has also emerge who
want to use a higher share for
irrigation of their fields. Within the
city, distribution of water supply
poses problems, he said, as
pressures from various places
make it difficult to distribute the
water on an optimum basis. And
frequently power failures add _'\
further to this already full bag of 't' /
woes.
Thus while It Is true that
water supply officials and
engineers are forced to work
In very difficult conditions,
their own reputation has also
been marred to some extent
by several allegations of corrupt deals, specially those
Involving unnecessary or
Improper purchases.
The effort to provide adequate
water to the towns and cities of
Rajasthan has to be made at
several levels - the foremost of
which will be to restore their
proper place to the timehonoured methods of collecting
scarce rain water though carefully maintained and protected ,
catchments. For this further hin~ _
derance of catchment water flow
has to be prevente,d and
encroachments that've already
taken place should be removed ',
to the extent it is possible and
practical. It would be a good idea
to involve senior citizens with
good knowledge and experience
of traditional water management
methods in such effOr1$.

Seepage
While the neglect and mismanagement of traditional sources and practices has thus
proved very costly, what have
been the officials and engineers
doing to tap new sources of
water for the thirsty towns and
cities of Rajasthan. In Jodhpur
the channels bringing water from
jawai dam have generally
recorded very heavy seepage
losses so there was a proposal
to convert this into a pipeline.
Then suddenly the more ambitious scheme of a lift canal from
the Indira Gandhi canal Project
came up and this idea was

5 July-19 July 1988

THE

----------______F_O~BY~M~------------

Health In Housing
Rajni Singh

as anyone been giving

attention to a house as
something more than a
shelter? I am not referring to
mottos like "A house is not a
home". The filial relations and
ups and downs in the subelimate of the family apart, a
house has to make a sub~tantial
co ntribution in the promotion and
sustenance of the health of its
inhabitants.
This idea is now, perhaps at
too late a stage, getting the spotlight. For a quite long time it was
assessment of housing needs,
availability of land and building
materials and finances and trying
to narrow the gap between
demand and supply of shelters.
Giant housing sites sprawling
over hundreds of acres and
rising 20 or 30 5toreys certainly
did alter the housing scenario in
the metropolitan cities. But, in the
planning of these structures the
greater attention was perhaps on
the deadline, flow of funds and
the capacity OT the would-be
allottee to repay in comfortable
instalments.
The result is that we can see
flats with outrageous misplacement of rooms, doors and windows, kitchen and toilets . Within
the same plinth area, there could
have been better arrangement
ensuring a healthier orientation
from the point of view of sunlight,
wind-flow and cross-ventilation
and comparative sizes of living
sleeping, cooki'1g and storage
areas and even the verandah.

mendous pressures on living

space generate such problems
that convert the house itself into
a potential health hazard. This
problem combined with shortage
of potable water and absence of
sanitary waste disposal should
now emerge as the prime considerat ion in the planning of a
single house, a group housing
colony of apartment cluster irrespective of income level of the
beneficiaries.
There are some areas in the
drawing up of a plan where the
danger zones may be tangible
only when the families move into
the house. These create more
occasions for injuries than illness. An unnecessary projecting
wall, a lintel which may be too
low, a floor which may be beautifui but slippery, a kitchen that is
flashy but overcrowded, toilet
that doesn't drain properly or has
a wrong angle for the foot rests .
And like what happens in most
multi level structures, a staircase
with a ridiculous ratio of rise and
tread making people stumble
and fall.

Change in Attitude

he way inhabitants use

the house also has to be
studied properly and nec-

essary counsel given to the

people how they can use the
house and its fittings for a
healthy living . This forms an area
of health motivation and private
decision about housing. There
are also a number of public
policy decisions like area development, green patches, common
spaces for recreation, environment protection and community
participation.
A lot can be achieved efficiently and quickly If only the
beneficiaries were to understand the basic principle that
needs are different from
wants_ What a neighbour has
planned and executed In his
house need not be imitated by
others. They have to make the
best of reconciliation possible
between their essential health
and living needs and their
finances and forget completely about both ideas of
what was good enough for
their grandfather and also that
they must keep up with the
Joneses.
A lot of coordination has to be
there if community housing
schemes are to be planned and
constructed taking into account
various health aspects like clean
environment, availability of drinking water and waste disposal, a-

long with the actual provision

under rules and see physical
availability of land for such group
housing. There are now bod ies
like the Urban Arts Commission
to take care of ecological protection and improvement in housing
colonies in the capital and other
big cities. But even here the
accent is on provision of
common facilities, green belts
and 'architectural accommodation' of the appearance of the
group housing in relation to the
city's general planning and
layout. Planning of the houses
from the point of view of their role
in the health of the inhabitants is
a process yet to be evolved.

SpeCial Needs

here are already some

isolated attempts. The
most notable is the thinking about special provIsion in
housing for the handicapped.
These include provision of lifts,
special types of stairs and constructions of ramps for wheelchairs. These also become feasible in a group construction specially for the handicapped or in
individual houses. The requirements of general group housing
don't make provision for assertaining the needs of handicapped
members and making special
arrangements for them.

essentially houses but which are

used by large number of people
for considerable time of the day.
The construction of sky-scrapers
has, of late, been done in the big
citi es as competitive land development and real estate business.
In those buildings too many
people crowded in given floor
area partition do off with floor to
ceiling wooden walls leave no
provision for ventilations and air
purification.The maintenance OT staircases
and landing areas is so poor that
l,ey are usually used as rubbish
dumps and spittoons
Even in the prestigious office
complexes in the big cities there
are no foolproof arrangements to
reach water beyond the second
or third floor. The result is that
lavatories and bathrooms
become clogged and dirty in the
summer season leading to all '
sorts of contamination even in
the supply of drinking water to
various rooms .
Lodging houses have a tendency to convert the available
space into as many self contained units as possible so
that the daily earning will be
more. Here also there is little
attention on water supply, sanitation and ventilation of the
rooms.

Even in a pur&ly general way

we come across callous construction in buildings that are not

Basic Amenities

~~,

ccess to basic services

like clean drinking water
and foolproof sanitary
arrangements for disposal of
waste are also related areas in
housing and health. These measures will ensure protection
against commu ;licable diseases.
The position of a house in relation\o its environment can con tribute a lot in prevention of the
onset of chronic disease and
malignancies. Women and children are lik~jy to be exposed
more t6 health hazards as they
spend more time in the house
and face the deficiencies more.
This is more significant in the
case of the urban poor and displaced and migrant population.
There are cases where the
house itself becomes a workplace. In the farm settings, the
home becomes a store house for
implements, chemicals and fertilisers and al~o a stable for livestock. Then 'fhere are artisans
and people who run mini industries in their houses. Such people
are more worried, about extra
money that will be coming rather
than the health hazarrl arising
out of their converting part of
their house into a work-place.
Spurts in population and tre-

. 5 July-19 July 1988

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The regime stili tries new ways

he Sharpeville Six were
of suppressing resistance. Two
sentenced to death on
state of emergency, thousands
December 13th 1985, for
of detentions and the unleast\1ng
the alleged murder of a 'comof vigilante murder squads have
munity councillor.' On December
to quench an anger that
failed
1st 1987, they lost their appeal
only liberation cah satisfy. Preagainst" this sentence, and their
toria increasingly turns to the gallegal representatives have said
lows to reinforce its tactics of
they will now appeal for cleterror.
mency.
The appeal judgment broadOn September 3rd 1984, the
cast to the whole world a mesdisenfranchised militants of
sage long understood by the
South Africa exploded Botha's
people of South Africa - that
myth of constitutional reform. on
mass prot!3st is a capital offence.
the very day he was inaugurated
In other words : Keep off the
as State President in Cape
streetsl- the penalty for particTown, the struggle in the Vaal
ipation in protest is death!
Triangle reached a new level.
To those who every day face
Marching through the streets of
bullets and whips of the
the
Sebokeng and Sharpeville, the
racists, the answer is equally
residents rejected the rent
predictable - the struggie
increases, which most of could
continues! Victory is certain!
not pay.
At the time of our writing this,
Following the example of the
45 men -and two women are
police (who had begun shooting
waiting exec~ion in the death
people in the street that morning,
cells
of South Africa, on charges
before the march had even
arising from people's resistance.
begun) the 'community councilMost of them are between
lor.' Sam Dlamini, fired on the
twenty
and thirty years old.
crowed. In indignation and
anger, the crowd killed him. At
1. Mohalefa Reginald Sefatsa
the end of the day, two 'council2. Oupa Moses Diniso
lors' lay dead, and another lay
3. Duma Joshua Khumalo
dying. Altogether, 250 people
4. Francis Don Mokhesi
were said to have been injured
5. Reid Malebo Mokoena
that day. The police admitted to
.6. Theresa Ramashamola .
having killed ten people, but for7. Dickson Madikane
bade the hospitals to publish any
8. Desmond Majola
figures.
, 9. Patrick Manginda
Six people were arrested and I 10. paniel Maleka
charged with the killing of Dla11. Josiah Tsawane
mini Mojalefa Reginald
12. Paul Tefo Setlaba
Sefatsa, Melebo Reid Mokoena,
13. Similo Lennox Wonci
Oupa Moses Dinso, Duma
14. Christopher Maleleni
Joshua Khumalo, Theresa Ram15. Ndumiso Silo Sephenuko
ashamola and Francis Don Mok16. Machezwana Manze
hesi. The case against them was
17. Robert Mcbride
always weak, relying on the
18. Tyeluvuyo Mgedezi
uncorroborated evidence of an
19. Solomon Nongwati
unnamed state witness, and the
20. Paulos Tsietsi Tsehlane
coerced perjury of a former. 21. Mzwandile Gqweba
detainee.
22. Wanto Silinga
The appeal judgment upheld
23. Lundi Wana
the death sel1tences. The judge
24. Thembinkosi Press Feet
stated it was probably true that
25. Mzwandile Mninzi
the case against Malebo Moko26. Monde Tingwe
ena and Theresa Ramashamola
27. Philip Bhekisizwe Ngidi
had not been proved. Of the
28. Oupa Josias Mbonane
other four, he said it was "debat29. Sibusiso Senel Masuku
able" wheth~r there was a ~usal
30. Michael Lukas
connection between the conduct
31. Joseph Chidi
of each individually and the
32. Menzi Tafeni
death of Dlamini. He Said:
33. Nico Ledube Mnyamana
"I shall therefore assume for
34. Benjamin Mlondolozi
the purposes of my judgement
Gxothiwe
I _t ~ at it has not been proved in the
35. johannes Moseki
case of any of the six accused
36. Vuyisile Gani
convicted of murder that their
37. Tshepo Litsoare
conduct had contributed causally
38. Gilindola Gxekwa
to the death of the deceased."
39. Daisy Modise
He added that the six people:
40. Thomas Chauke
".. .have been 'convicted of
41 . Johannes Tshabalala
murder solely on the basis of
42. Mxolisi Malgas
common purpose:"
43. Michael Mambukwe
All pretence at 'proof' has
44. Lulamile Maneli
been dropped. Acco!ding to
45. Thembisile Baneti
this judgment, the sfx are to
46. Ngqandu Bottoman
be executed, not because they
Mtutuzeli
killed Dlamini, but becuase
47. William Ntombela
they shared a 'common purpose' with those who did.
Executed
The contempt for natural jusMnyanda Jantjies and
tice epitomised by this judgment
Mlamli Wel lington Miehas sent shock waves round the
lies, both from Kwanoworld, giving new impetus to the
buhle, were executed on Sepinternational campaign to save
tember 1st 1987. Later in
the lives of all those on death row
in South Africa.
September it was discovered

that the Pretoria regime had c~r

ried out three executions in
secret. Solomon Mankopane
Maowashe and Alex Matshapa
Matsepane, sentenced for the
alleged killing of two informers,
had been hanged on December
5th 1986. Elile Webushe, sen'tenced 'for -his alleged involvement in the Jansenville 'necklace' killing, had been hanged on
August 19th 1987. Another political activist
Mlungisi
Luphondo - was hanged on
December 6th 1987.
International protest actions
against these executions are
taking place on the Intiatlve of
the ANC. Amongst these have
been unanimous resolutions
passed by the Congresses
and of the Trades Union Congress and the Liberal and
Labaour Parties in the United
Kingdom, and a resolution
adopted by a vote of two to
one in the European Parliament, condemning the executions that had already taken
place and calling for the EEC
to intervene by instituting
comprehensive mandatory
sanctions.
We call upon the people of the
world to use their influence, and
the influence of their governments, to stop the hangings.

------- Pretoria is once again ab

__ ~ opponents of aparthei

END APARTHEI[

____ CAMPAIGN

International protest actions against these executions are taking place on the intiative of the
:ANC. Amongst these have been unanimous resolutions passed by the Congresses and of the
Trades Union Congress ana the Liberal and
1Labaour Parties in the United Kingdom; and a resolution adopted by a vote of two to one in the
European Parliament, condemning the executions
that had already taken place and calling for the
EEC to intervene by instituting comprehensive
mandatory sanctions.

TO SA

5 JulY"19 July

:UM
ITE:------------------------------------ --------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------STAND BY
.- - - THE SHARPEVILLE SIX

r------------------------------------------------------ - - -

----------~

THREE WOMEN: VICTIMS OF

APAR1-HEID PERSECUTION

to judicially murder -.----

EXECUTIONS!

hit on the head by a rubber bullet,

and had not even known that
Dalamini was dead. In detention,
she was tortured; during the trial
she was physically assaulted
again at least once. At the time
of her arrest she was 24 years
old. Now she is 27. Her mother
has told the press: "How would
you feel if you had to travel to
pretoria each vveek to visit your
doomed child?"
Daisy Modise, aged 25, is
awaiting execution in Bophutatswana Central Prison. She
was sentenced in may 1987,
together with two other act ivists
from the Stinkwater Youth
Organisation, for "participation in
necklace killings ..~ Aa she is tfle
only woman on death row in that
prison, it is likely that she is being
held in isolatiol'l.

Sister Bernard Ncube, a Catholic

nun and an ex-teacher, is President of the Federation of Transvaal Women , and has done work
in support of detainees. She has
been detained some six times in
the last five years, .and now,
together with 13 others, is facing
charges of 'sedition' and 'subversion.' The trial has come to
court and been postponed three
times. Energetic, dynamic and
brave, she is known in Kagiso as
'Mma Rona' -- 'our mother
-because of her leadership and
her support for local people.
Theresa Ramashamola is one
of the Sharpeville Six, sentenced
to death for the killing of the
'community councillor: Sam
Dlamini. She said in court that on
the day of the demonstration she
had gone home early, after being

VE ______
HEIR
LIVES!
c-

j
IJ, (

V,

NELSON MANDELA
HONOURED

On November 111987 Karl Marx University, Leipzig, honoured Comrade

Mandela by awarding him the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy (honoris causa) in
recognition of his achievements and
merits as ". theoretican, uncompromising
leader of the South African liberation
struggle and 11 dedicated humanist .

......._-------------

_. _-

--- --------'

The Fortnight's Story

THE

------~------~F~O~BY~EM~---------------

Perhaps Some Day

T he lights on the ship came on
suddenly, breaking the dark
sheet of water into fissures like
a mesh with sparks caught in it.
The dazzling array of electric
lamps overhead reminded
Rakhal of Dewali and he wistfully
looked forward to celebrating it
with his family. How nice, if he
could be at home during the
Pujas ! .
Good that he had not written
to his family about his coming; he
wanted to give them a surprise.
The ship was scheduled to enter
the docks at eight. But he got out
of his uniform at six and came up
to deck. The prospect of bidding
goodbye to the infernal engine
room for two long months sent a
surge of joy through him.
The picture of his house slid
before his eyes. A long, low room
built over a garage. By the time
he reached home his children
would be asleep and Mala, his
wife, would be finishing the last
chores of the evening. All her letters began with the same sentence : "I am late in writing
because I had no respite from
work." And the inevitable last
lines : "I must stop now. There's
a huge lot of work awaiting my
attention." In between, the- sheet
of paper was hastily scribbled
over with endless recital of
domestic problems, rising costs
and innuendoes about the children going astray. her letters
bored Rakhal.
In the the beginning, when
Rakhal first joined the ship he
used to read Mala's every letter
many times over. but that was
the years ago and now time had
taken away some of his fervour:
Even so, the eagerness of being
with his family once again sent
a tremor through his heart.
When he was changing in the
engine room, his shipmates, in
their bluff, crude way poked fun
at him: "You, skunk, why are you
going up?'To fill your lungs with
fresh air? To build up your virility? Hurry up, sala ! Otherwise
you'll cut a sorry figure in bed."
. They twitted Rakhal for sending a major protion of his salary
home. Fie was a fool to throw
away his good money on a
woman, they said. But when
Mala's letters came they gathered round him and read the letters with avid interest. Even her
most prosaic letters, churning out
domestic inanities, were so reassuring to Rakhal.
He recalled that last time, eight
mon~hs after his return from
leave, his wife had given birth to
a daugl1Mr, Bulbul, who lived for
only ten ~'months . At her birth,
Mala had written him an accusing letter. "Chotu is only one and
a quarter years old and now
another baby has arrived." And
when the child died, her letter
conveying the sad news was
again couched in the same tone
: "Hari, why didn't death carry me
away in her stead." she

10

lamented. "She was a gem of a

child, the most beautiful of all my
children."
Rakhal had neither gloated
over the child's arrival nor
grieved over the news of her
passing away. Rahter, he
derived some satisfaction that it
was all over now. Otherwise,
mala would have spoiled his
leave, lamenting, day and night,
over the girl's untimely death.
Soon the shore lights drew
nearer and the ship dropped
anchor. Taking leave of his
friends and officers, Rakhal hurriedly got into a taxi. For one who
had remained cooped up in the
engine room on the long voyage,
the vast expanse of Calcutta with
it brightly lit roads was so bracing. Racing along Lansdowne
Road, the Taxi turned into a
narrow la'ne and stopped in front
of the fourth house. Getting out,
he looked at his nondescript,
squat house, built over the
garage. A dim light was filtering
through its only window. the
sound of the taxi did not cause
any stir in the house. only a torso
was momentarily framed in the
window of the opposite house
and was gone.
In response to his call, Mala
came down hurrying. She stood
looking at Rakhal for an instant
and then her face lit up with joy.
"Is it you? No news! No letter!"
She grabbed the hold-all from
Rakhal's hand. Rakhal lifted up
the two boxes and made for the
dark, narrow staircase while
Mala followed him lugging the
hold-all, laboriously. On the
stairs, Rakhal put down one of
the boxes and squeezed Mala's
hand. "Be careful," she said,
stepping away from him. "I may
drop the hold-all."
Entering the room, Mala
switched on the tube light. in its
glare the fourtoon feet long room
suddenly crept out of the sha-.
dows and the contours of the
three children sleeping on
patched up mattresses leapt into
the light. There were dark circles
on Mala's cheeks and striks of
white in her dishevelled hair. A
window curtain, made from an
old sari had slipped to one side
anc was flapping in the breeze.
"Why didn't you tell us in
advance?" she asked. "We
would have gone to the docks to
receive you." She was so oerwhelmed that she didn't know how
to express her feelings.
"Well, go and have a wash,"
she said after a pause. "I'll be
back in a minute."
"I don't wan't any food,"
Rakhal said. But she was
already out on the staircase.
The glare hurt Rakhal's eyes
and he switched off the light,
blotting out the naked poverty of
the room. Feeling his way
through the sprawling children he
sat down in the window. It was
his favourite seat.
"Why have you switched off

the light?" Mala said as she

came into the room. Rakhal
could make out her figure etched
against the dark-a figure, with
which he was as familiar in the
dark as with her face in the light.
"I prefer to sit in the dark," he
said. "The light may disturb the
children's sleep".
"Here's some milk for you,"
she said handing him a glass.
Then she spread out his bedding, covering it with a clean
bedsheet which she had kept in
reserve.
The alacrity with which she
went about her job bespoke her
happiness. She kept up a patter
oftalk as she worked: "Even two
years are unbearably long," she
said, "and this time you have
come after three. Oh, how we
missed you at the Pujas! I
couldn't even buy new clothes
for the children. Dada's electric
shop has started giving him good
business. He had the tube light
fixed op in the room. He could
have instead, bought ciothes ,f or
my children. They went about in
old clothese looking wistfully at
other children." Mala's voice
became strained.
Rakhal was in no mood to
listen to mala's recital of woes.
She would have enough time for
it during his stay. Stretching himself on the bedding he pulled her
down by his side. More than her
talk, he was interested in her
body.
He tried to press her against
him, but she wriggled out of his
arms. "Please don'tl" she said in
a frozen voice. "You go away,
but I suffer afterwards."

almirah. Its frame had cracked.

Just then Renna peeped in,
and finding him awake, stood
awkwardly before him, here
hands folded in a namaskar.
"Come here, child", Rakhal
said, spreading out his arms.
Reena was his pet child. But she
just stood there smiling diffidently.
In three years she had grown
a lot. The incipient swell of her
body under her neck made him
thoughtful.
Reena ran down and after a
while Bachchu came up and
perched himself on Rakhal'sJap.
. Soon Mala appeared with the tea
things neatly arranged on a tray,
followed by Reena carrying the
four-yearcold Chotu across her
hip. Rakhal sensed that they had
all been waiting for him to wake
up.
Last night's stodgy, dirty-faced
children looked spruced up in the
home-washed clothes. There
was kajal in Chotu's eyes and a
thick line of sindur in mala's parting of the hair. Rakhal was
pleased. he was indeed being
pampered like a V.I.P.-the
master of the house.
He wanted to take Chotu in his
arms but h9 hid behind his
mother. Last time, when he
came home, the boy was only
one year old and he used to
bounce him on his stomach.
"In a day or two when he
comes to know you he'll not let
you alone for a minute," Mala
said defensively. "Since morning
: :::'::; been asking parrot-like,
'what has papa brought for me?'"
Rakhal opened his box and
8aknal held his oreath, sensstarted taking out the presents.
ing what was comin,g next. True
The three children gathered
enough, Mala launched forth on
round the box.
tne Bulbul episode.
"This is for you," he said, hand"While ill, whe would just lie
ing Mala a small box.
there staring at me with patiMala opened the box. Inside
ence," Mala !:iaid in a burred
lay a tiny wrist watch. "What will
tone, "'Ma, save me, Ma.' she
I do with a watch at my age?"
seemdd to be entrealingall the
she said. "I'll keep it for Reena."
time. but nothing could save her."
The children scampered of
Malal burst out crying.
with their presents. Then sudRakhal's body went cold. It
denly Rakhal saw Shanker
angered him that she was more
framed in the door. A selfdeprecconcerned about the departed
atory smile on his face, his lips
. one than about him who had
and teeth were .a shade darker
. come to her on leave aftl3r three
than before with constant panyears.
chewing.
When he woke up in the morn"Namaskar, Dada," Shanker
ing the room was filled with sunsaid in a hearty voice. Somehow
light and looked less squalid than
Rakhal had never liked the man.
last night. He yawned and lighted
"I-low are you?" he said in a cold
a cigarette. As before, there was
voice.
a picture of the goddess Durga
"I'am all right, by your grace,"
hanging on the wall, thinly
Shanker replied.
"Have some tea, Shanker,"
splashed with sandal and rol:
marks, reminiscent of the recent
Mala said.
Puja. By the side of the picture
"Only tea?" Shanker said
baring his stained teeth to the
was a brown square mark which .
full. "Today it must be something
reminded Rakhal that his oWn
photograph used to be there. He .
special. You must regale me with
sweets." Then he turned to
looked around. The room was
Rakhal. "Dada, this time you
devoid of any furniture, except a
wooden almirah with glass doors
have come after a gap of three
in which were lying a few 'knickyears. Baudi had a hard time of
knacks, collected from abroad
it. Of course, you never saw
during his various sojourns. His
Bulbul. Oh, how Baudi suffered
photograph was also lying in the
for her! She has aged pre mat-

Mannoo Bhandari
urely."
Rakhfll cast a sharp glance at
,Shanker. The rascal! How was
he concerned with Mala's age?
"Shanker was a great help,"
Mala said. "But for him WeH, you
know how indifferent people are
these days."
Shanker was wearing a terylene shirt. Rakhal's eyes suddenly travelled to his own
foreign-made shirt, hanging on a
peg. He pulled the shrit off the
peg and put it on. Then he took
a packet of cigarettes from its
pocket. "Try one of these," he
said holding out the packet
before Shanker. "They taste different." .
"This time we must pay back
Shanker'S money", Mala said
collecting the tea cups. "Even
after scraping and scrounging I
can't manage to pay him more
than ten rupees a month. It's nice
. of him that he does't mind."
Rakhal was incensed at
Mala's untimely remark. She had
humiliated him before Shank ~
he picked up his towel and wI:. j
into the bathroom .
When he retunred he saw that
a new table fan was resting on
a stool. Evidently, Shanker had
sent it at Mala's behast.
He lit a cigarette and sat down
in the window.
Shanker'S garage, which was
adjacent to Mr. Kapur's house,
had gained in dimension since
he last saw it. Many cars were
parked there, awaiting repairs.
Shanker appeared from behind
a car with Chotu perched on his
shoulder. Rakhal recalled that
three years ago, when he came
on leave he used to carry Chotu
on his shoulder in the same
manner. he felt as if the hosue
~
had started rocking.
Having nothing to do, Ra~_.
finished his cigarette and went
down to the kitchen at the back
of the garage.
"Why have you come here in
his stifling heat?" Mala said. "Go
up and rest. The ship's food has
ruined your health. You look so
thin."
But Rakhal did not go. He
spread a mat on the kitchen floor
and sat down. he suddenly
recalled that in the past when he
came home on leave, Mala
would not let him out of her sight.
The lunch over, Mala asked
the children to go to their uncle's
house and tell him that their
father had come. "And look, don't
come back in this blazing sun,"
she said. "We'll come and pick
you up in the evening." then Mala
went down to clean the utensils.
Rakhal closed the window and
spreading a mat lay down to rest.
Perhaps Mala had purposely
asked the children to stay back
at their uncle's.
The desire to be with Mala
which he had felt with such
keenness in the taxi last evening
agaiQ took possession of him .

5 July-19 July 1988

THE

FORUM

-----------------------------------------------------~--~~GAZEn~E~=-~-----------------------------------------------------

but Mala gave no indication of

coming up. And then to his chagrin, he heared a feminine voice
talking to her.
Soon Mala came up.
"Pishima 1 is in the kitchen,"
she said wiping her grimy hands
on the end of her sari. "She is
coming up to see you."
"Pishima? Who's Pishima?"
Rakhal asked testily.
Before Mala could explain, he
found an aged widow standing in
the door. "Parnam, .Jamai Babul"
the woman said folding her hand
in salutation.
"Perhaps you don't know
Pishima" Mala said enthusiastically. "But for her, my children
would have starved during Bulbul's illness. Pishima cooked for
them for six months and also
helped me in loo~ing after the
house She's like a mother to
me." ,
The old woman beamed at
Mala's fulsolJle praise and then I
retraced her steps. Appeased,
Rakhal again lay down on the
mat. Bless her soul, she seemed
to be a woman of understanding.
"Why have you closed the
window?" Mala asked. "Don't
you feel stifled? You haven't
( "en put on- the fan." She flung
open the window.
"Close the window, will you?"
Rakhal said, with an edge in his
voice. "I can't stand the glare."
Mala closed the window and
set the fan going. Shanker has
sent this fan for you," she said,
sitting down by his side. "How
thoughtful of him I"
Without giving him a chance to
speak, she droned on ; "When
you return from Dada's house in
the evening please do call on
Kapur Sahib. He's fabulously
rich. But there's not a trace of
pride in him. Such people are
rare these days. And look, do
you mind if I make small ,
presents to his children from the
G

ings you have brought? Of

course, such presents means
nothing to them. But a gesture is
a gesture. And please tell me
how much money you have
brough with you. I, still owe
Shanker three hundred rupees. l
Bulburs then months' illness has
left me utterly decrepit." Stifling
a sob, the suddenly trailed into
silence.
"
Had she nothing else to talk
about? Shanker, Kapur Sahib,
Pishima-he seemed to have no
place in her small world . Why
didn't she realise that he couldn't
do anything about her privations? How he wished that he
were a piece of blotting paper
and soaked up all her complaintsl
In the evening they called on
Mala's brother. "Welcome Jamai
BabL!i" Dada said hugging
Rakhal. "This time , you've
showed up after full three years.
but how thin you look! It must be
the ship's food. And the salty sea
breeze-it corrodes the bones'"
'Damn it I Not the salty tang of

5 July-19 July 1988

the sea, but those wretched

months that I spent at your'
hosue during my period of
unemployment. That was what
corroded my bones!' Rakhal
wanted to say. But he just
twisted his lips in a grimace and
then held his peace.
Dada's three children came
bouncing into the room.
"Look, how eager they are to
find out what Uncle has brought
for them!" Dada's wife said.
"You've just stepped in and here
they are to claim their toll taxkhe, khe, khe!" She started
laughing at her own joke.
Rakhal shoved his hand into
his picket and brought out two
pieces of hair ribbons , and two
cO,mbs which he gave to each of
the two girls. And then he gave
a cheap pen to the boy.
Dada's wife was disappointed.
She took it out on Rakhal by offering him two pieces of sandesh
on a plate anoa cup of tea. Just
that and nothing more. Bachchu
CUld Re'ena who were playing
outside didn't even get these. As
they came in they tried to make
out from the remnants on the
plate as to what their father had
. gorged himself on.

'The cads I' Rakhal silently gritted his teeth: He would have to
make up by buying sweets for
the children from the bazaar.
The children again went out to
play in the courtyard. Rakhal
noticed that Bachchu was walking with a limp in the right leg. He
had not noticed this defect
before.
"Bachchu, can't you walk
straight?" Rakhal shouted to the
boy from where he sat. Bachchu,
suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"How you go at him !" Dad;1's
wife said in a sarcastic tone.
"Why blame him? He was laid up
in bed for four months with a
fractured leg." Then she heaved
a deep sigh. "Oh, what a terrible
time Mala passed through
recently. Poor Bulbul, alas, she's
gone for ever." She wiped away
an imaginary tear with the co'roer
of her sari.
When did Bachchu break his
leg? Rakhal mentally ran over
Mala's letters. No, his memory
was not playing tricks with him.
She had never alluded to this
incident in any of her letters.
"Why didn't you inform me
about Bachchu's fracture?"
Rakhal went hammer and tongs
at Mala as they came out of
Dada's house.
"What was the use?" Mala replied in a staid voice. "You would
have only worried..:"
A lot of things had happened
in his absence. Bulbul was born
and died. Reena was fast growing into womanhood. Bachchu 's
leg broke and was mended.
Chotu had grown out of his
swaddling clothes and yet
refused to recognise him. And
Mala ... ?
On the way home Dada's
house, he stopped in Deshpriya
Park and without their asking,
bought an anna worth of parched
rice foreach-of the children. As
they sat together on a bench
munching the delicacy, Rakhal

questioned them about their studies.

"This oaf spends the whole
day loafing about," Mala said .
pointing towards Bachchu. "He
was laid up in bed for four
months and has become a dud
at studies. But he doesn't care.
he has no time from play."
Rakhal knew Mala's cantankerous nature; she was in the
habit of picking holes in everthing, wMich always annoyed
Rakhal, leading to further bickerings. But that evening when he
retunred home, after spending
two hours in the park, he was
feeling light at heart. The packet
with the read triangle bought on
the sly from the chemist's shop
was safe in his pocke. He felt
reassured .
The room was squalid as
before. But now it looked more
inviting to him. When he let go to
Mala, she lay panting, drenched
in perspiration and soon started
snoring. The room was no longer
so many square feet of space but
very much a home. Rakhal
lighted a cigarette and sat smoking in the window. Then sleep
overcame him .
In the morning Rakhal decided
to give the room a face-lift .
Mala tried to stop him, telling
him that this was a woman's job.
But when he started dusting and
mQving the things about she
decided to lend him a hand. The
room could do with a few more
things. But he did not have
enough money for it. Anyway, he
would not be stingy with the children. He would take them on an
outing, show them a picture and
feed them in a restuarant. let
them realise that their father was
a somebody.
"Listen." Mala said sitting in
front of the ian, after she had finished here chores. "Pishima has
a nephew. He has passed his
Intermediate and is now working
in a factory. in the eveining he
studies for his B.A.'

Rakhal could not make out

what she was driving at.
"For a long time Pishima has
been asking for Reena's hand for
him. Theirs is a small family .
Another good th ing, they won't
demand a big dowry."
Rakhal got a jolt. "Are you in
your senses?" he said flaring up.
"Reena is too young for marriage. Dont't you want her to complete her education?"
"What do you mean young?"
Mala replied. "She's going on to
be thirteen. I'm not asking you to
marry her off tomorrow. But we
must keep a boy in view. At the
minimum, her wedding will cost
three thousand rupees. I'm worried to death, wondering where'li
so much money come from."
Rakhal dldin't know either.
"Did you call for me, Rakhal
Dada?" Shanker stood there
sucking his juicestained lip.
Rakhal was busy shaving. "Sit
dowri, Shanker." he said briskly
working the lather into his chin .
"Ah ! you've changed the very
shape of the room," Shanker
looked around. "I can see your
deft touch 8,verywhere. They'll
know that the master of the

to stop off the ship and study culhouse has arrive." He chuckled.
tures?" Then he turned to
But this time his laughter did not
Rakhal, "Anyway, Jamal Babu, if
jar on Rakhal.
"Mala siad something about you have had the opportunity to
go places did you find anything
money." Rakhal wiped his face
comparable to our culture?"
with a dirty towei. "had I known
Rakhal sizzled with anger.
earlier, I would have arranged for
What did Dada think he did on
the wahle amount." There was
authority in his voice. Hadn't . the ship? Cleaned the commodes?
Shanker said a moment ago that
Ganguli Babu, proud of the
he was the master of the house?
fact that even in these hard times
"Arre Dada Babu, where's the
he had managed a job for his
hurry? My money is safe with
nephew, marked his triumph by
you."
devouring one rasogolla after
"No, Shanker. A debt is a
another. Dada was not the one
debt." Rakhal opened a small
to be outdone so easily. Equally
box and taking out a hundred
eager to drivA home the point
rupee note handed it to Shanker.
that the girl's people were in no
Shanker pocketed the note
way inferior to the boy's, he took
and went away. Rakhal counted
the challenge with great gusto
the remaining money. Eighty
and kept peace with Ganguali
rupees. When he got his next
Babu.
month's salary he would have to
'Fire away!' Rakhal scowled as
part with the bulk of it for Mala to
one rasogolla after another vanrun the house. A big chunk would
ished into Dada's moulh ~ Did he. be gaM on the children's enterthink it was a free-fQr-all? Didn't
tainment. And then the end of his
he remember that he ha(I offered
leave. He would go away emphim only two sam II pieces to
tyhanded .
sandesh when he visited his
Suddenly Ranju's words
house?
echoed in his ears: "Sailors
As soon as the uncle and his
should never marry. They sweat
nephew
departed, Rakhal
their guts out, night and day,
announced that the boy was not
tending machines and it's their
at all to his liking. "Tell Pishima
wives who reap the benefit.
to termi'1ate the negotiations
What's the use? We're better off,
forthwith," he said . He was himbrother. We can sow wild oats at
self surprised at the stern note in
every port and no holds barred I"
his voice .
Pishima's nephew was
"jamai Babu, you won't get
coming with his uncle. Mala had
such a good boy easily," Dada
invited them despite Rakhal's
protested. Dan't forget that the
opposition. She had also asked
boy is employed. That's what
her brother to be present on the
really matters - not looks or
occas ion.
complexion . Besides, he won't
The brother gatecrashed
demand a huge dowry. Can you
much in advance of the
bear the burden of a dowry?
appointed time. Clad in a white
Now como off it, . let' be frank
starched kurta and a Dal..Ca
about it."
dhoti, he looked imposing as if he
"I've told you I won't have him,"
was the master of the house and
Rakhal persisted . "And that's my
Rakhal his underling.
concern, not yours. Did you look
Mala had tidied up the room
at the boy's face?"
and had sent for a carpet, a few
"You stay away most of the
chairs and some pieces of
time," Dada said. "It's we who
crockery from Mr. Kapur's house.
face the music in your absence.
The boy came-a squat youth,
How can you expect me to
extremely dark and pockmarked.
shoulder the burden of your
Rakhal had decided that he
family in addition to my own in
would hold the rein of discussion
such hard times?"
and not allow Dada to monopoDada went away seething with
lise the stage. but his enthusianger.
asm, the little that he had been
"Did you see how he insulted
able to work up, suddenly ebbed
me?" Rakhal said, turning to
, away .
Mala. "Are you happy >low? Like
"Rakhal Babu, we were keen
brother like sister !"
to meet you. But your visits are
Mala burst out crying .
so few and far between," the
Rakhal went out, leaving Mala
boy's uncle made the first
we,aping. He bought a betalleaf
gambit, while taking his seat.
at the corner shop, and licking
There was a flicker of smile
lime of a stick, went for a stroll
round Rakhal's lips. The fellow
in the park. By rejecting the boy
seemed to have a shrewed eye.
he had scored over his wife and
He knew who wore the pants in
her brother. Didn 't they know
the house.
who he was? Nothing could
After some small talk the uncle
happen against his wishes.
again turned to Rakhal. "You've
Rakhal fixed a routine for all
visited many countries," he said.
the members of the family.
"Don't you think our Indian culure
Having worked in the ship's
is superior to theirs-in fact, the
engine room for so long he had
best ?"
forgotten that he was a B.Sc. His
The question pleased Rakhai.
own life was a sorry mess. He
The uncle seemed to be
was therefore all the more anximpresed by his foreign peregriious that his children should
nations. but before he could
make good in life. He vividly
open his mouth, Dada chipped
recalled that in his earlier days
in, "Oh, no, Ganguli Babu. Don't
when he was working on a job in
forget, Rakhal Babu remains
Calcutta and Reena was born he
cooped up in the engine room all
had decided that he would make
the time. Where has he the time

Continued on page 12

11

THk.

______~______~F~O~B~,~~M~--------------

Siachin Imbroglio

Sikh Militancy
Continued from page 5

iachin glacier is sandwiched between Karako

ram ranges on the North
and'Saltoro range to the South.
The glacier is seventyfour kilometers long and is one of the
longest glaciers in the world. The
Nubra Tehsil in which Siachin is
located has always been part 01
the Leh district. Snowbound the
year round, the glacier is located
seven thousand meters above
MSL.
since the summer of 1984
there h"ave been clashes
between Indian and Pakistani
troops in the area. ON 23 June,
1984, Pakistan troops tri~d to
occupy by force one of the
passes on the Saltoro range, the
Bilafond La, but were beaten
back.

R.K. Mathur
Benazir Bhutto's People's Pany,
have mounted a strident campaign against the government on
this issue.
In November last, at the
SAARC summit at Kathmanudu,
the Prime Minister. Mr. Rajiv
Gandhi. and the Pakistani Prime
Minister, Mr. Junejo decided to
resume negotiations at the
Defence Secretary level.
The third round of Defence
Secretaries talks on the Siachine
was expected in December 1987
but was delayed.
The Defence Secretary, Mr.

Bhatnagar's visit to Islamabad

earlier this week was the occasion of a meaningful and .valuable exchange of ideas~ One
outcome of the Islamabad talks
was that Defence Secretaries of
both countries considered certain specific proposals and
agreed to examine them further
at their next meeting. both sides
expressed their determination to
work for a negotiated agreement.
Next round of talks is expected
to take place by September in
New Delhi.

Shrl Mathur Is AIR Correspondent In Islamabad

ZIA-RAJIV MI;ET
In December, 1985, the Prime
Minister, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, and
the Pakistan president, General
Zia-ul-Haq met in New Delhi. In
that meeting the two countries
agreed to move towards normalisation of relations, and to settle
this issue through peaceful negotiations. A beginning was made
through talks at the level of
D.tence ~etaries.

FOURTHPAKATTEMPT
A Defence Ministry spokesman described the attack as the
fourth major attempt by Pakistan
to dislodge Indian troops from
the commanding heights on the
Saltoro range .. pakistani troops
made simultaneous attempts to
take cOntrol ofthe four passes on
23rd, 24th'" and 25th of September. BUt it is believed that
Pakistan sustained he,vy casualties, almost" one hundred arid
fifty.
Internally, pakistan government had come in for more and
more trenchant and shrill criticism oyir Siachin .. Pakistan'S
oppos,ition parties. notably Ms.

12

other projects.
Some Indian companies
undertook renovation work at the
gurd~ara.

The shrine is opened only on

Friday (local holiday). Some-,
Indians go to gurdwara on
Thrusday night to clean it and
prepare food for the devotees.
As the number of Indian workers has dwindled from 60,000 to
10,000, hardly 100 devotees
now join the Shabat Kirtan. but
on the occasion of Gurpurab and
Baisakhi their number goes upto
3,0.0.0 when Indians from neigh
bouring areas come to participate in the relgious ceremonies.
Besides langer, several rooms
have been constructed in the
gurdwara premises.
Mausoleums of great Muslim
saints, including Junaid Baghdadi, are situted near the gurdwara.

Perhaps Some Day

contmued from page 11

SECRETARY LEVEL
MEETS
The Delence Secr8laly, Mr.
S.K. Bhatnagar viaisted Islamabad in january 1986 and had a
two-day meeting with his .Paldstani counterpart, Mr. Ijlal halder
Zaidi. At this meeting they held
free and frank discussions. Both
sides stated their respective
positions. This was followed by
another meeting and the two
Defence Secretaries met again
in New Delhi in June, 1986. Not
much proaress was made towards resolving the issue. This
was not surprising. The issue
itself is a complex one.
In September last year, Pakistan launched a major offensive
to gain control of four major
passes on the Saltoro range, the
Sia La, Indira Col, the Bilafond
and the Saltoro.

sait used to perpare food form ,

Guru Nanak.
Some India"s who were psted
in Iraq during World War-I discovered in 1917 in the tomb of
Pir Bahlel an inscriptio'; in Turkish referring to Guru Nanak. This
was made public through a
printed letter issued here on May
9,1918, by subedar Major Fateh
Singh.
An Indian Muslim from Lahore
Syed Sharif Hussian who had
gone to Iraq in connection with
pilgrimage and business contributed for the construction of the
sanctum sanctorum. Since then
visitors from India have helped
the Shrine's renovation and
expansion throu~h donations.
The Gurudwara attracted hundereds of Indian workers in mi~
seventies when Indian companies came to Iraq to execute
major works, including constructions, housing complexes and

Defence Minister K.C. Pant looking at a KC47 Rifle Capt~red at Salehin.

more Important reason why the attacked

Gurdwara in Iraq
Incongruous as ~ may seem a
gurdwara here that commemorates Guru Nanak's visit to Iraw
is being maintained by a strapping Arab.
Thirty two-year-old Hassan
Abu-Nurfunctions as custodian
of the gurwara All religious
places in Iraq are being looked
after by the Endowment Mir:tistry.
Every Friday the historic'gurdwara resounds to the strains of
shabad kirtan as devotees,
mainly Indian workers, gather in
its precincts.
Clad in white, Hassan AbuNur gives a vivid account of the
sancity of the gurudwara and
Guru Nanak's visit to Iraq in
1520. During his stay here the
Guru held numerous discusions
with important religious leaders,
including Pir Bahlel Dana, a
renowned Muslim saint, on mysticism and other related topics.
The Irqui Government has
handed over the keys of the
gurdwara to the Indian Emabassy for holding religious ceremonies.

Guru Nanak stayed here for

two months after returning from
Meckca. He was Pir Bahlel
Dana's guest and used to hold
discourses with him on religous
matters.
The gurdwara is now spread.
over one acre of land close to the
Baghdad railwy station.
The Sikh Guru is said to have
met the Caliph of Baghdad, who
presented him with" a chola or
cloak" with the verses of the
Koran on it. The "chola" is still
preserved in Dera Baba nanak.
Impressed by the Guru Nanak
the Caliph treated him as a
honoured guest. Most of the time
during his stay here, Guru Nanak
spent with Bahlel Dana in a small
room, which has now been converted into the sanctum sanctorum. A picture of the Guru is
displayed on tlw wall .of the
room, where every pillgrim is
given prasad.
The adjacent room of the
gurdwara is the mausoleum ' of
Bahlel Dana and his family
members. the wife of the Muslim

her a doctor. An.d now ... 1

But before he could put the
children in their str!.de his leave
came to an end and--$o did his
money.
"How nice if we could settle
Shanker'S debt." Mala 'said, as
she lay by Rakhal's side. 'We still
ewe him two hundred rupees."
Rakhal was annoyed. She had
again spoiled his mood. Why
couldn't she make the last night
of his stay pleasant for him? A
heaviness descended over his
heart.
The next day his ship was
scheduled to leave at ten but he
was at the docks at eight, alongwith Mala and the children. After
donning his uniform he returned
to the quay and stood alongside
Mala and the children. When the
time for the ship's departure
came, he hastily handed $hotu
to Mala and made to go. Chotu
cried, "Baba, baba," and started
kicking his legs. Aeena averted
her face and quickly wiped away
the tears from her eyes. When
Mala bent down to touch his feet,
Aakhal could not hold back his
tears.
"Please take good care of your
health," Mala said between sobs .
"And don't forget to send Shanker's money ..
The ship had started on her
voyage, yet above the din and
clatter of her engines and the
noise of the churning waters,
Rakhal could still hear the feeble
crying of Chotu.
Then the docks disappeared
and their place was taken up by
his Lansdowne Road house. he
saw that Mala had dumped the
mattresses in a corner and had
put the boxes back in their previous places. The table fan and
the stool were no longer there,
nor was his photograpli on the

mantelpiece. Perhaps Mala had

consigned it 'to the almirah to
save it from damage.
Shanker was standing by
Mala's side, consoling her, """hy
do you cry, Baudi? I'm here to
look to your comforts."
None of the children was
there, Aeena must be at the
Kapur'~, talking and laughing
with . their daughter, Pammi.
Bchchu must be out on the
streets, loafing about with the
street urchins. Chotu must have
escaped to Shanker'S garage.
For all he knew, Pishima would
again start visiting ~is house. He
won't be surprised if snllb
renewed her ~roposal aboUJe
Ganguli babu's nephew. They all
seemed to favour the match.
Aakhal shook his head. Suddenly he felt as if he had come
out of a false world.
"What are' you doing here,
hanging over the railing?" somebody thumped his back. Rakhal
sharply tunred round. Ranju
stood there, laughing.
"Go down to the engine-room.
That's where you belong, son."
Aanju said, thumping him on the
back again.
Aakhal quietly descended the
stairs to the engine-room. The
same machines, the same familiar smell. He seemed to have
found his lost bearings.
"Mate, you shouldn't be so
chummy with your family," Aanju
said. "Take it from me, yourguru.
Our fate is tied down with thes$
machines. Son, machines we
are and to machines we belong.
That's what I have been telling
you all the time. Here, take this
oil can and feed the machines."
Aakhal took the oil can from
Aanju and with great concentration of mind, pressed its nozzle
into a hole.

5 JUly-19 July 1988

__________~_______F_'o~llu~M~,--~---------~Letters

1988 Ordinance

Though, the oridnance of 1988

.
have some very useful provIsions to curb terrorism and activities of anti-national personnels,
but it also has certain clauses
which are impracticle and are
bound to create more complications in an already explosive
political situation. It is necessary
to point out dangerous aspects
of it, so that n~essary remedial
measures can be taken.
The ordinance not only prohibits the entery of arms and
ammunition or any explosives in
a religious institution, but lays
down very severe punishment
against those who would violate
the order. The Kirpan has been
excluded from the category of
weapons. The Kirpan word has
been written in thick print showing respect to the sentiments of
the Sidls, and taking care that no
one is given an opportunity to
exploit Sikh sentiments. However taking care of religious sentiments on paper only will not
serve any purpose, unless in
practicle life the Sikhs are trusted
in possession of Kirpan in public
while having audience with
VVIPs. Though, I have been
aware of the-distrust and disrespect being shown to the Sikhs
carrying Kirpan by the security
men it did not make deep dig on
my mind till I was confronted
myself at the residence of Mrs.
Mohsina Kidwai-Minister for
Works & Housing on May 26,
1988 when I went to meet her.
At the gate the security staff
inquired if I was carrying Kirpan
on my body. I asked him, why
should he inquire or question my
wearing Kirpan. He very polit!y
replied that as per orders the
sikhs cannot be allowed to go in
with Kirpan. The other day some
Sikhs cannot be allowed to go in
r with Kirpan.-The other day some
Sikh ladies deputation went to
meet the President, but they
were not allowed to meet the
President since they were wearing Kirpans. They had to come
back dejected. It is very strange
that Mr. Rajiv.GAndhi tlie Prime
Minister can receiVe even full
size Kipran from the Sikhs but a
Sikh wearing Kirpan cannot meet
him, excepting some owned
Jathedars.
Before we get on with the task
of separating political adivities
from the religious one, it needs
to be appreciated that what matters is the Man and his mental
attitude and not the place-be it a
religio~s stage of politicallParliame_
nt or ~ p'rivate gathering. The
fact is that l?flsic character of our
country is religious, and peoples
minds are tuned accordingly.
The parliament too discusses
both political and religious matters. Therefor to produce a wall
beleen th~s~.two aspects of our
society will be unnatural and
impracticle, and shall remain
- source of uneasy political functioning.

The clause 2 (d) deals with the

definition of "political activities',
which includes any activity promoting or propagating the aims
and objectives of a party or any
cause, issue or question of a
political nature by organising
meeting a'nd sq on. How can
these activities be made illegal
on' any religious stage. Because,
it is within the perview of any
political party to object to any
ordinance or law treading upon
the fundamental rights and
obtain justice for the cause may
be social, political or religious. As
per the Sikh religious tenets
every Sikh is to join daily congregation and have open discourses
on all matters pertaining to daily
life. And the decisions taken by
the Sangat (The Sikh Congregtion) are to be respected and
implemented. This is the Special
feature of the Sikhism which
constitutes the philosophy of Miri
& Piri (Temporal and Siplritual)
given by the Sikh Gurus.
The clasue 8 (I), deals with the
manager of a religious institution.
The Sikh Gurdwaras or institutions are of two distinct categories. One is the historical
Gurdwaras and other local
Gurdwaras. The historical Gurdwaras have paid managers
where as all Singh Sabhas whih
are in villiages and towns and
there number runs into thousands are purrely manged by
volunteers. They see to it that no
' illegal arms or ammunition is
allowed to enter in their respective Gurdwaras nor any bad
characters are given any aid or
shelter to reside.
But the Sikh was of life must
be appreciated from the dictates
of the Sikh Gurus and the examples they set for the Sikh Community. This guide will only
provide proper under standing
and good relationship between
the Sikhs and the Government.
The first Sikh Guru-Guru Nanak
Dev Ji w~s a great Karanti kari
(Revolutioha,.,). He raised political -uphea.;al against Mughal
atrocities committed on Hindus
and the castism spreaded by the
Brahmins which had made India
a weak country enslaved it under
foreign.hells. Guru Gobind Singh
Ji with the advent of PANJ
PIARE (Rye respectedllrusted
Sikhs) philO-sophy, gave birth to
democratic system in all walks of
life, and gave secular base by
having Five Piares from different
casts (High and low) from different parts of India, and, set a
unique example of obtaining
Amrit (Nectar) from the Fives_
whom he himself baptized, thus
vesting them with collectiv~
authority and mad them
supreme, which was above the
Guru himself. The life style of
Ten Gurus gave base of democracy and secularism contained in
Miri and Piri. Finally tho enternal
Guru-Sri Guru Granth Sahib-of
the Sikhs, tied the Sikhs with the

spirit and mission of universal

brotherhood and granting equality of status to all human beings,
thus uniting Hindus and Muslims
and removing barrier between
low and high castes by containing hymns from Muslim saints
and saints of all castes. The
inspiration to make total sacrifice

by an individual or collectively for

the sake of creating and maintaining healthy society which the
Sikh community gets from the
Sikh life style cannot be provided
from any other source. Therefore, the question betore us is,
can with this back ground of the
Sikhism, the Sikhs shOuld be

asked or expected to accept any

other style of their life or performance. If they resist should it
be objected.

Yours etc.
Lt. Col. Manohar Singh
(Retd)
Defence Colony
New Delhi.

How can the psychic wounds of Sikhs be healed

Sir,
I am much impressed by the
keynote address delivered by
Syed Sbahabuddin M.P. in Vancou~r, Canada, on "Centralised
State Power and Threat to
Minorities which has been published in your issue June 20th.
There is no doubt that the
present individual terrorism in
Punjab owes its origin to Operation Blue Star in the Golden
Temple, Amritsar, in June 1984.
Then our Government, just to
capture one Bhindrawalla and
his fifty or so followers (the maximum number which can be
accommodated in the Akal Takht
and,who had taken shelter there)
used the full might of the Indian
army and even tanks. This not
only resulted in the total destruction of the Akal Takht, the Vatican of Sikhs, but it also burnt the
psyche of all Sikhs all over the
world.
And then two days after the
Operation Blue Star had been
over, the Indian Army destroyed
Guru Ram Dass Library in Amrit-

sar which contained the most

precious treasures of the Sikh
history and the holy Granth
Sahibs which were written by the
gurus themselves. These losses
will never be retrived. The emotions of Sikhs, by this act of vandalism, were so much disturbed
that the Sikhs who visited the
Golden temple after the Operation Blue Star thought it a great
honour to pick up the ashes of
those burnt holy books and put
them on their forehead:
The second time when the
sikh psyche was hurt was in
November 1984 when for the
crime of two Sikhs who had
assassinated Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi, the whole Sikh
community was considered criminal and punished in Delhi and all
Congress (I) ruled States in
India. Thousands of Sikhs were
roasted alive through organised
violence, anq their women folk
raped. This genocide against the
Jikhs produced most of the
present terrorists in Punjab, who
out of anger and frustration, have
gone and they have started kil-

ling even innocent people. It is a,

pity thjt our government have
not ye.r the past four years,
punished even a single culprit of
the 1984 Sikh genocide and
misgUided Sikh youth, who have
be~ terrorists, have started
ta
law in their own hands:
.' . _ Punjab problem can only
., be solved if our Government
.. does justice to Sikhs to punish
the cultprits of 1984 Sikh genocide and asks for the forgiveness
for its wrong doings in 1984. Sikh
Gurus have taught that forgiveness is a great and noble virtue.
One should never miss an
opportunity to exercise forgiveness and one should never think
of taking revenge. And if our
present Governrr.ent rulers also
adopt such a method of asking
for forgiveness, tJ:!at would
modify the hurt Sikh psyche and
would go a long way to restore
normalcy to Punjab.

Yours etc.
(Mahindar Singh)
S 314 Panch Shila Park
New Delhi-110017

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----------------

5 July-19 July 1988

--- -

13

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Sikh Militancy
The current Militancy:

he current militancy in the

State of Punjab has been
widely portrayed in the
world press as a religiously motivated campaign involving handful of misguided youth, who are
indulging in violence helped and
abetted by Paki.stan, local Sikhs
and Sikhs abroad with a view to
de-stabilise the political integrity
of India. This deliberate perspective is completely out of context,
and has been given world-wide
publicity by the Govt. of India,
who are one of the parties to the
conflict.
There are perhaps five types
of gun-weilding agencies, simultaneously at work :i) Groups or individuals, who
are hard core committed young
men inspired by the atrocities on
Sikhs allover India and are
labelled as belonging to Bhinderanwale cult.
ii) Local bad characters, who
exhort money from relatively well
to do people by posing as terorists and do not hesitate to use
Golden Temple complex as a
base.
iii) Local bad characters, particularly belonging to scheduled
dasses, who are hired by people
for sorting out either old feuds,
political differences or with a
view to inherit land by wiping out
complete families.
IV) Arming of some selected
persons by agencies within India
to add confusion to the above
three types, so that, blame may
be passed on to (i) above and
thus create a fear and ~atred in
the minds of the local population.
v) The para-military forces are
now being blamed for atorcities
besides providing protection.
Some local people blame them
for keeping a deliberate blind eye
in the smuggling of arms from
Pakistan by taking bribes, and
they say this in confidence but
not make open statements for
fear of punishment.
Govt. of India, politicians
belonging to the ruling partv,
BJP and,Communlst's shed a
lot of Crocodile tears but do
not seem to be worried about
the killings unless some
Important persons or relatives
are killed. Sikhs and PunJabl
Hindus are confused but only
the trading class In Punjab Is
really alarl1)ed. Govt. of India
will realize the gravity of the
situation only In the event of
an Indo-Pak war which Is perhaps a.femote possibility In
the near Juture.

Way Out

our warnings deserve to

be brought to the .noticQ of
the public at this time particularly to the present Haryana
Govt. which is peasant-oriented.
Firstly, any undue hurry in the
't::ompletion of SYL Canal may
result in sub-standard work

14

resulting in breaches.
Secondly, there should be no
false hope that Punjab will permit
a reduction in its share of existing flow of water which was
guaranteed under the RajivLongowal agreement. Haryana
Govt. should press for the early
completion of Thein Dam to
ensure that surplus Ravi water is
diverted for use in SYL Canal.
Thirdly, the barren areas of
Ropar and Patiala districts
through which this canal flows in
Punjab territory also deserve irrigation facilities and Punjab Govt.
seems to be silent on the subject.
It may be necessary to arrange
lift irrigation in some areas. In
tube well irrigated areas, ' water
table is falling at an alarming
rate. Fourthly, Haryana Govt. will
do a good service to the common
cause to refrain from issuing provocative statements regarding
claim on Abohar - Fazilka area
etc. Any such statements by
Punjab and Haryana people
should be for mutual harmony,
rather than increasing the existing differences of opinion. It is
only this way that both will gain,
otherwise they will cOntinue to be
a prey to divide and fight.

What should Sikhs do

at this Juncture :

n my personal view, there is

Guru's curse also in Sikh
Community for their depature
from Sikh ethics, increasing
misuse of Gurdwara funds and
for their. failure to maintain the
sanctity of the holy shrines. I take
the liberty to suggest an interim
aim for the Khalsa Panth and to
concentrate on it instead of dissipating energies on other pursuite. ,Before writing down the
aim and the means to achieve it,
let u.s accept the fact that vast
majority of us are Sikhs for the
purpOse of counting numbers,
votes and show of external features only. Singhs are still less in
numbers. Like a child, we have
to start from class one and
before embarking upon fulfilling
the aim consider ourseives
zero-I repat an urdu couplet of
Iqbal also in this connection.
The emergence of a new Sikh
Sang at, enlightened and having
adopted the true Sikh way of life
as per Guru Nanak's word,
"Truth is higher than everything
but higher still is true living;
'Sucho Ure Sab Ko upar Sach
Achar: (A.G.P. 62) can only give
a worthwhile united and meaningful guidance for solving polit-

Aurangabad Riots
Continued from page 4

This anti-climax was most exploFateful Day

sive in its consequences.
It was wrong on the part of the
he inevitable at last hapCongress to have coveted the
pened on the fateful day
Mayor's post and that too by
of 17th May, just a day
wooing the Muslim League. To
before the Muslim Eid. A large
genuinely attend to Muslims
crowd pathered outside the court
grievances is one thing and it is
where ~ petition challenging the
another. thing to ally with a comelection of the Mayor was
munal organisation like the
coming up for hearing. An alert
Muslim League. However such
administration would not have
has been the Congress's politiallowed such a huge crowd to
cal behaviour Le. not to solve
gather there, specially when
genuine problems of the Muslims
tempers of the Shiv Sainiks were
and to readily ally with their '
frayed .and the Muslim League
communal organisations like the
had allied itself with the ConLeague. When it (Le. the congress to frustrate the Shiv Sena
gress) did so it should, have
attempt to capture the mayoralty.
easily anticipated what was in
Also, right outside the court, Mr.
store and should have taken
Chagan Bhujbal, the Sena
preventive measures.
leader who is notorious for his
The Chief Minister Mr. Chavan
communal outbursts, was
did anticipate some trouble, as
threatening that the whole city (of
per his own ' press statements.
Aurangabad) would burn if the
But he completely failed to take
judgement went against them
any prev,entive measures. Not
(Le. if the mayoral election were
only that, the police force in the
not set aside). But something
town was no! strengthened but
quite unexPected happen'ed: the
on 16th Maya SRP platoon was
hearing was adjourned for a
remove~ ' for -id bundobust
week.
elsewhere. This was done
The unruly sena crowd went
despite warnings of danger by
bersek and started moving
the Cong-I party MLA Mr. Motiwtowards tl)e city, burning rickala and others. It was a most
shaws' and shops.
unwise step which the adminiThe police. clamped curfe~ at
stration would rue now. Many
about 1.15 p.m. Le. within two' responsible people tord our
hours of the outbreak of disturresearcher Mr. S. Insaf that if the
bances. But the curfew was of
aaministration had been alert,
little avail. Arson and loot contiand had it so desired, the riots
nued almost unabated. The
could have been certainly preLokmat Times, a local English
vented. But it was not to be.
daily wrote, "Arson, stone throwing and stabbing incidents took
place with "lightning speed and

ical, economic and other allied

problems. In this process of rebuilding through proper and large
scale preaching (Gurmat Parchar) a prominent and positive
role, must be given to Sikh youth.
In order to achieve this aim,
we need the grace of God, selfhelp, true guidance and hard
work. Let us first turn to the last
order of Guru Gobind Singh and
to the ~nly Stanza mentioned on
P. 1429 of AG, before he physically left, this world. Bal hoa
Bandhan Chhutte, Sab Kuchh
Hot upae; Nanak Sab Kuchh
tumre Hath main, Tum Hi Hot
Sahae.

Both expositions mean almost

the same thing, which is that the
above command of Guru-ship
was -issued ' because Guru
Granth Sahib as a scripture represents the embodiment of the
spiritual teachings of thli Sikh
Gurus, Hindu . Bhaktas and
Muslim Fakirs. Sikhl Sikhya Gur
Vichar- P. 465 (AG).
It Is, thus catholic and universal In nature - Guru
Nanak's Guru was 'Word',
'Name', 'Shabad', 'Satnam',
the 'Absolute One'; and Guru
Goblnd Singh again restored
the Guru-ship to the Word,
Name, Shabad, Satnam and
the Absolute One. The aim of
life as per Sikh Guru's teachIngs Is not to attain salvation
or a heavanly abode called
Paradise, but to develop the
best In man here on earth
which Is God or the spirit manIfesting Him, or In other words
the loving union of the soul
with God through 'Name' or
Shabad'. Guru Nanak has
explained how to see God and
love him. This Is, however, not
the place to go Into religious
ph 1J0sophy but It Is suffieclent .J>
to say that Sikhism Is a way of
life which lays special emphasis on the uplift of character
right here and now.

Last order or commandment

'Agya Bhai Akal Ki Tabbi Chalayo Panth,
Sab Sikhon Ko Hukam Hai GUN
Manyo Granth,
Guru Granth Ji Manyo, Pargat
Guran Ki Deh,
Jo.Prabhu Ko Mil Bochahe, Khoj
Shabad Main Leh:
This is made further clear on
P. 982 of Shri Guru Sahib as
Under::..
'Bani.Guru; Guru hai Bani, Wich
Bani Amrit Sare,
Gur Bani Kahe, Sewak Jan
Mane, Partakh Guru Nistare:
even before one could realise
what was happening the entire
city was in grip of fe!!r and panic.
Marauding groups of people
appeared . in many areas anc!
went at out stoning many cars,
scooters and others vehicles .... "
the affected area were Baujipura, .
. Jinsi, Kaisar colony, Chistiya
colony, Indiranagjlr, Sector N-7
in CIDCQ, Lota karania, Shahganj, Mulumchi Bazar, Gandhi
chowk, Roshan Gate, Kasari
Bazar, Aurangpura and GulmandL The mobs belonging to
two different communities
clashed in_Rangargalli throwing
stones at each other.

according to the police sources,

7 persons were killed in various
stabbibg incidents and nine were
inju\"ed.

I
1

The Events

tabbing incidents took

place in Jijmata colony,
Nehru Bhavan, Juna
Baar, Khara Kunwa, Rangar
Gully, Kaiser colony and JusL ,
Mr. Chavan me'Chiet Minister
and the Central Home Minister,
Mr. Buta Singh, reached Auran- gabad to take stock of the situation. As the situation was
serious, the Chief Minister issued
orders to shoot at sight. However, in view of Eid, curfew was
relexed from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on
18th May to enable Muslims to
offer Eid Prayers. But w.hen the
Musl.ims were coming back after
prayers, disturbances started
again and the police fired in
which five Muslims were killed.
The riots broke out on 19th
May in Paithan 55 kilometers
from Auraflgabad and in a village
called Bidkin. Both in Paithan.
and Bidkin trouble broke out in
reaction to , what happened in
Aurangabad and was directed
against the Muslims. In Paithan,

Violene incidents took place in

lalna too which is a flourishing
business centre in Marathawada. Shiv Sena tried to hoist its
flag near the Jama Masjid and
tension mounted on 19th May.
The voilence broke out on 20th
in which two persons were killed
and 45 injured. Weapons\ like
knives, swords and wooden
sticks were used for attack. The
Sena hand was obvious in th&-D'
Jalna riot. When the Sena district"
Chief Mr. Shivaji Chothe was
asked about the accusation he
only curtly replied he was out of
station.

Political Strategy
Thus It would be seen that the
current round of violence In
Marathawada Is mainly a po IItIcal strategy of Shiv Sana
which Is trying to exploit
Hindu sentiments for Its own
ends. It Is a highly dangerous
trend In Maharashtra. Unfortunately there Is no single
leader of vision who can check
this trend. S B Chavan who
otherwise Is non-communal
has been paralysed with dissidence In his own party and
lacks courage to take any
action against the Sen a chief.
~t Is a pity that the chief Minister of a stae Is afraid of taking
action against the head of a
communal outfit which Is
doing Immense among of
damage secularism In the
country.

5 July-19 July 1988

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Indo-China Ralations
Continued from page 11

denced by the very fact that Its

present volume amounts to 120
million US dollars.
According to the Indian sources, China supplied to pakistan
200 tanks, equipment for two
divisions, two MIG-9 squadrons
and several bombers in 1966. In
the following years the rate of
Peking help to Pakistan has '
grown immensely. According to
the data published in the American Press, by 1970s the
Chinese-supplied tanks account
for more than 25 percent of total
of Pakistan's tanks, the airplanes account for 33 percent
with 65 percerrt of the fighters
and 90 percent of the bombers
supplied by China. Military cooperation reached even greater
heights in the following decade.
Another important aspect of
the milttary cooperation between
Peking and 1&lamabad is the
construction of strateg ic roads. A
case in point is the Karakorum
road linking the Chinese reg ion
G ,Xinjiang. wtth Pakistan. The
\;::.. rpose of this 800 - Km strategic road is to give China access
to the Persian Gulf and the
Indian Ocean. The twenty-year
work of Chinese soldiers on this
strategic thorough fare running
through the Himalayas was no
act of abtruism: China was, in the
process, to be facilitated in the
pursuance of her chauvinistic
policy in the sub-continent. This
important road allows China to
transfer, at short notice, large
contingents motorised infantry
formations, tanks and heavy artillery to the border along India.
These facilities have already
been made use of for the movement of Chinese troops in the .
region. It is no secret that this
ws China to effect a fast
': vement of troops and materials through two main passes in
the Himalayas and to take in
flank the Indian forces in the
ladak region.
This picture of military
cooperation between Peking
and Islamabad would remain
Incompleted if orie leaves out
another areaJof active cooperation In recent years, namely,
china's role In paklstan 's
nuclear programme. AccordIng to Western and Indian
sources Chinese's cooperation In the area of nuclear
energy In Pakistan Is ten years
old. It Is widely believed that
China assists Pakistan In
developing an "Islaml bomb"
by supplying It with enriched
uranium. According to some
Intelligence centres, China has
given Pakistan considerable
Information pertaining to the
development of the nuclear
bomb and thus enriching her
nuclear potehtlal. Senator
Alan Cranston has given facts
which prove that China has
supplied Pakistan with' the
know-how, the materials and
the technology for developing

5 July-19 July 1988

nuclear weapons.
It is only in late last year, as the
France Press agency reported
from peking that, China admitted,
for the first time, of its cooperation with Pakistan in the nuclear
sphere though ostensibly for
peaceful purposes. Similar
statements were made by the
Pakistani leaders too who
stressed that what they were
seeking was a peacef.ul use .of
nuclear energy. These declarations of peking and Islamabad,
however, remained unconvincing . The Pakistani regime is
notorious for its militancy which
led her to attack India on several
occas~ns in the la~ two
decades.
It is now being said that Pakistan has become capable of
coming up with Its own
nuclear weapons In the near
future. For the first time this
year the annual report of the
Indian Defence Ministry has
raised the question of nuclear
weapons on the subcontinent. The report stresses
the "persistent efforts of PakIstan to acquire the capability
to produce nuclear weapons
with the assistance and tacit
approval of some countries".
It is obvious that the increased
Pakistani military power created
largely through the assistance of
Peking and Washington poses
problems which do not remain
confined to South-Asia alone. it
is more than clear that by encouraging and assisting Pakistan's .
militarisation, the United States
and China are seeking to promote their own influence in the
region, the Indian Ocean
inclutfed. This P9licy whose primary aim i~ to curb India's influ
ence would inevitably result in an
upsetting of the balance of forces
in this region ..The proponents of
this course need hardly be
reminded that such a policy is
laden with risks . It is unlikely that
the countries whose security and
stability is threatened and those
interested in the preservation of
stability in region will resign
themselves to such sinister
attempts by US and China. It
would open up the notorious
Pandora's !:>ox of problems of
international peace and security.
It is thus quite reasonable for
India to oppose the increasing
militarisation of Pakistan which
endangers the stability of the
reg ion.

gations between the two countries in the recent years to sort

out some of the thorny problems.
However, the basic problem of
the border question still remains
unresolved. There have been six
rounds of discussions on the
border dispute between the representatives of India and China
so far -- five ,of these have been
of preparatory nature and it is
only now that the real problem is
being sorted out.
While the border question continues to be the bone of contention and an obstacle in the
normalising of diplomatic relations between India and china,
other pin-pricks often fan the
existing conflict.
The ovious suspicion of India
of the Chinese designs is substantiated by the unfortunate
course of history between the
two countries. The first Prime
Minister and the architect of
Modern India, Jawaharlal Nehru,
had always looked upon China
as a friend and ally in fighting
imperialism and colonialism .
Jawaharlal Nehru was not wrong
in reposing this kind of a confidenc.e in China due to obvious
similarity between the two countries -- both remained victim of
imperialism and colonialism for
long, and also both express the
great Asian culture and tradition.
But the initial border dispute, Its escalation and a unilateral war by China on India
In 1962 virtually burled the
doctrine of "bhal-bhal". It
came as a rude shock to India
and especially Its Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. It was a
virtual stab In the back. It

showed that the PM Nehru had .

erred In supporting China on
the International arena and
that the Chinese are very far
away from considering their
neighbours as "brothers". It
also showed that the China
has not been able to shed Its
Imperialism and hence the
idea of a Great China had once
again prevailed in the Chinese
for.eign policy and cons.
quently China looked upon the
people of the neighbouring
countries not as brothers but
as "barbarians" to be con-.
quered and ruled.
It is more than 25 years now
that China has illegally cOntrolled
a large part of Indian territory
since the 1962 war. Over the
years, it has shown no inclination
to settle this question amicably
with India. However, as far as
India is concerned a lot of
attempts have been made to find
a satisfactory solution of the
border problem . in 1969, Mrs.
Indira Gandhi, the then Prime
Minister declared to the West
Germany "Die Speigel" that India
leaves the door open for negotiations with Ch ina. Several
rounds of discussion have taken
place between the two countries
over the border question and
other issues of bilaterial nature
but no visible progress has been
achieved so far in this regard.
India seems to be quite sincere
in tts efforts to improve relations
with China. It, however, wants a
satisfactory solution to the border
question as a whole and not in
the form of piece-m~al territorial
concessions.

China continues to maintain

hu'ge military units on the
Indo-China border. In addition,
the sincerety of China In
resolving the Indo-Chinese
relations remains a suspect
because it continues to supply
arms to Pakistan. Not only did
China supp~rt Pakistan in
1971 with men and material
against India but Its continuation of the policy of backing
Pakistan against India obviously becomes an eyesoar for
India. The policy of China
supporting Pakistan In 1970s
still remains valid in the 1980s
and the crux of this policy is
to use Pakistan as a counterweight to India. It Is this union
between china and Pakistan
which results In often antiIndian utterances and policies
both in china and Pakistan
which esclate the existing
embittered Indo-chinese relations Instead of solving them.
While India hCJS amply demonstrated tts sincerity in working for
improved Indo-chinese relations ,
it is China's turn to reciprocrate
not only in words but in deeds as
well. It calls for restructuring Chi
nese foreign policy especially
towards tts neighbours, mainly
India. China would have to
exhibit that instecod of propagating imperialism and colonialism,
it would fight it with all might. In
addition, it would have to sincerily sort out the thorny border
problem between India ' and
China instead of working for a
piece-meal solution.

The Border Question;

otwithstanding the Chinese aggresion .of India

in 1962, India had tried
to follow the policy of forget and
forgive. Of late, especially since
the process of De-Maosation has
begun in China, Peking has also
expressed desire for improved
relations with India. There has
been some exchanges of dele-

Fronlline, May

15

Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India R. No. 45763

Delhi Postal Registration No. D(SE) 15/86

THE

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Indo-Chinese Relations
Trends and Prospects

here is no denying the

allegedly hatching hegemonistic
f~ct that India and China ' . plans and . consequently is a
are the two giants in the
, threat to South-East Asia. This
Asian sub-continent notwithploy is applied with particular dilstanding their differing political
igence towards Thailand which is
systems and ideologies. Of late,
alleged to be threatened by Vietthere have been attempts at
nam. At the same time China
normalising relations between
poses as the most selfless and
these two countries and these
a sincere friend and defender of
attempts have only partially sucthe A.S.E.A.N. countries.
ceeded. In fact, the actual norThe smile" tactics have not
malisation of relations between
succeeded in dispelling the deep
India and china cannot , take
mistrust with which the majority
place until the border problem is
of South-East Asia countries
solved, the Chinese occupied
regard Peking's gestures. Not
indian territory liberated.
only have they n_!?t Jorgotten
China's chauvinistic aspirations
Chinese Imperialism in towards its neighbours, but th.y
also know very well the Maoiat .
Indo-China:
ambitions for a great and powerful China dominating the whole
t is rather strange that China
' world. These fears are further
who hereseH has been a
fuelled by th6l declarations of the
victim of colonialism , and , Peking Government that Chiana
imperialism before its indepenis the ma$1er of the Eastern Sea,
dence in 1949 should herself
of ita 9i1-rich islands and sea
become its proponent and seek
resources. This is an unacceptto dominate the countries around,
able position both for the coun- '
her, especially the countries, of
tries of Indo-china and for ,the
Indo-China. It is Chinese imperother states of South-East Asia,
ialism of the post-independente
particulalry for Malaysia, Indoneera which seeks to treat these
sia and the Philipines.
countries either as part of China
Peking certainly finds difficul~
or its vassal states. The present
ties in materialising its ambitions
Chinese leadership has tended
fqr a dominant role is South-East
to look upon Indo-China as its
Asia and for pitting the
backyard and consequently the
A.S.E.A.N. countries against
new chinese leadership is irked
those of Indo-china, especially in
when these countries of IndoMalaysia and Indonesia.
China seek to play an indepenPeking's poll.:y of splitting the
dent role in the region or e.xpress
countries of South-East Asia and
willingness to choose their
inspiring hostility towards the
friends. The Chinese leadership
countries of Indo-china has failed
tend to look upon the countries
to Win the approval of some otHer
of Indo-China as their "sphere of
Asian states too. India, one of the
influence" and consequently
biggest countries in the continent
interfere openly even in the
and enjoying considerable infludomestic issues of these cOunence in the non-aligned movetries.
ment,
has also declared itself '
A typical example of Peking's
against Peaking's expansionism
imperialist ambitions in this part
in the region. The Republic of
of the Asian continet are its
India was one of the first counefforts to subordinate Kamputries
to recognise the governchea and make it a part of its
ment of the People's Republic of I
sphere of influence.
Kampuchea headed by Heng I
Also a particularly fierce attiSamrin and is one of the countude is displayed towards Viettries which give an active supnam against which peking
port to the initiatives of the three ,
launched a punitive operation in
countries
of Indo-China for a dia1979.
logue between them and the
countries of A.S.E.A.N. Thus, the
In its efforts to isolate Vietnam,
Laos and Kampuchea and to pit
Indian Government opposes
them, if possible, against the
Peking's attempts to split the
other countries of North-East
countries of South-East Asia in
Asia, Peking has recourse to
order to subordinate them more
whatever it can. China does not
easily to its hegemonistic plans.
spare any effort to prevent conThe realistic position taken by
tact b~tween the c014ntries of
India, owning to her own sad
Indo-G)1ina and those of the
experience with China in the late
A.S.E.A.N., to frustrate the
1950s, is a establising factor in
efforts for a climate of trust,
South-East Asia. The progrespeace and mutually beneficial
sive forces in India ' are well
cooperation. To generate the
aware that a strong friendship
A.S.E.A.N., countries' hostility
between the countries of Indotowards the countries of IndoChina, South Asia. A.S.E.A.N.
China, Peking employs ' the
and India can succeed in raising
a barrier before .China's expanknown ploy of calling some as
"small hegemonist" and thus
sionsm, - its ambition to become
the most powerful imperialist
trying to hing that Vietnam is

Dr. S.N. Talwar

state in Asia.

China's attempt to
militarize Pakistan :

t is now more than two

decades that China and Pakistan have been linked by
close ties of friendship. Peking
renders not only political but also
military support to Islamabad.
There are strong geo-political
considerations that motivate
cooperation betwe,en the two
countries. The care shown by
Peking to Islamabad is undoubtedly dicated by the latter's
strategic importance. The Chinese leadership expect that its

contact with Pakistan will help

the country to enhance its influence in South-West Asia and
strengthen its position in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean.
The Chinese strategists have
never lost the strategic importance of this region which serves
as the borderline of two continents -- Europe and Asia -- and
is linked with the major intercontinental land, air and sea
routes.
The open courtship paid by the
Peking propaganda centres to
Islamabad should be seen as an
indication of a plan to build a
Pakistan-china axis. This also
explains why both China and,

Pakistan are keen to promote

military cooperation and coordinate joint efforts in assisting the
reactionary groups who conspire
against Afganistan. Zia UI Haq
himself has admitted that the
past decade has seen Chinese
military S1Jpplies to Islamabad
worth more than two thousand
million dollars. The first SinoPakistani military agreement was
signed twenty years ago: 1966
saw the beginning of a lasting
and stable cooperation between
the armed forces of the two
countries. The importance
attached by Peking and Islamabad to this cooperation is evi-

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16
Printed and Published by A.S. Narang for Ekta Trust, 2/26 Sarv Priya Vihar New Delhi-110016 at Mercury Pr:nters Chooriwala, Delhi-110006 , Composed
at DTP Services & Co nsultancy (P) Ltd., B-2117A, Lawrrnce Road, Delhi-11 0035, Ph . 7216733

5 July-19 July 1988