The

_V_O_I._V_N_O._3__1_-1_5.......
Fe_b_r_u_ar_y_1_9_9_0_<_F_o_rt_n_iQ_h_t1y_>__R_u_p_ee_s._T_w_o
________ Gazette

In This Issue Barari Tortured 5.5. Mann

established policy of the Rajiv
regime to reward officers, who
have committed atrocities against
Page Sikhs, with high-ranking positions.
Manipulation of crimes against
VIEWPOINT Sikhs has been the most important
The Lessons qualification for high positions in
the government during the Rajiv
Of 1984 3 Raj.
Barari should be arrested forth-
with and must be tried under IPC
CURRENT EVENTS or some relevant act, demanded
Mr Mann in his interviews with the
UAD-M For weekly Current.
Self- Mr Mann also levelled charges
against S.C. Anantram, the then
( I Determination chief of the Special Investigation
Team and B.S. Deshmuk, the then
Of Political Cabinet Secretary. He said Anan-
Status Within tram entered his cell and tortured
him deliberately. While revealing
India 5 all this in the sensational interview,
he said that Deshmukh was also
responsible for concocting most of
CENTRESPREAD he was in confinement. Barari who the barbaric acts against him .
By FG Correspondent was the then Intelligence Bureau Deshmukh was later rewarded
An Alliance Of Chief, went to Mr Mann's cell and with the 'coveted' post of Secre-
Hope: The r. Simranjit Singh unleashed the most barbaric type tary to Rajiv Gandhi for master-
the Janata Oal government has
cancelled this assignment). For
this post Anantram went into Mr
Mann's dungeon and administered
electric shocks to him. -I was
dazed, benumbed. How could
they do all these beastly things to
me, a fellow IPS officer, and I had
not committed :any crimes and no
charges had been framed against
me. The torture was 60 barbaric....
they were worse than the medie-
val barbarians and the Nazis. It
was Hitler who unleashed these
barbaric acts on the Jaws. And
Rajiv Gandhi on the Sikhs,- he
said. Mr Mann demanded -:a -
Nuremburg type of trial for Rajiv.
"He should be tried for the crimes
he has committed on Sikhs in and
outside jails. He cannot and
should not be allowed the freedom
which he denies us: he
demanded.
Mr Mann asked the new gov-
ernment to look into these acts of
barbarism immediately. -Mr V.P.
Singh has 10 meet the prob!ms

Minamata
Declaration 6&7 M Mann, MP, charged in
a recent interview
that H.R. Barari, the
now-resigned Governor of Hary-
ana, tortured him personally while
of torture on him.
If Mr Mann's charges are correct
and there is no reason for not
believing them, Barari was not fit
for the post of Governor. It was the
minding terror in him prison cell,
Mr Mann Said.
Anantram was also rewarded
handsomely. He was made an
Ambassador of India. (However,
and not run away from it. That's
how a statesman must conduct
himself. A politician runs, away
from the issue but a statesman
addresses them," said Mr Mann"

RELIGION
I\.! What Is
,- Sikhism? 8
Government Misjudges
HUMAN RIGHTS Punjab Situation -Lt. Gen. J.S. Aurora
Tragedy In A
By FG Correspondent He was of the opinion thai had
Tragic the Punjab election being
Bhagalpur 9 , announced alongwiththose in

L
t. Gen. J.S. Aurora, the
President of tha Sikh
Forum , cautioned the
ECONOMY government against
Towards Self- being played into the hands of tha
Congress(l) by not holding
Reliance 10 Assembly elections in Punjab
along with other states. In a press
release Gen. Aurora said that it
TECHNOLOGY would be a grave political mis-
, Oil From judgement on the part of the gov-
Rice Bran
v
11 . ernment to stick on to the notion
that Punjab is not ready for
SOCiETY J . Assembly elections. The decision
would amount to yet another
Pogulation instance of discrimination against
Stabilization Punjab, he reminded.
Key To . The press release contended
Development .12 that the government should have
foreseen the consequences
PLUS .before taking a quick decision on
. Many More With this extremely sensitive matter.
~e decision of the All India Sikh
Our Regular Students Federation to honour the
Features family of Beant Singh on the
Republic Day inAmritsar is a sort
of pOinter to the kind of things that
,re now likely to happen-, Gen.
other states, all political forces
would have got busy with its con-
duct. This may not have meant the
end of incidents requiring interven-
tion by the police .. But, as in the
case of the parliamentary eJec-
tions, the main attention would
have been focussed on the pon.
Sy overlooking the dynamica of
the situation, the Centre appears
to have miscalculated.
Should the situation start deter-
iorating, as is feared, it may not be
possible to conduct the poll In
May, which is the outer limit for the
Governor's rule. In that event the
Aurora cautioned. government will get dissipated and Centre would be left with no
"More and more of such incid- the Centre would get more and choice except to bring in another
ents may take place and before more sucked into the unending version of the 59th Amendment
long repressive measures might agony that has been the lot of and postpone the State election.
Punjab for several years past. This
be adopted. Repression has not . would be ironical. One of the
for some time more. That would be
playing into the hands of the Con-
succeeded in Punjab even when planks of the campaign waged by
gress(l}. This is a contingency that
it ,~as carried out systematically the National Front was to break
and brutally for several years. Nor the vicious circle into which Punjab
should have been avoided. In the
opinion of the Sikh Forum it can
will it succeed now. Instead the has got involved," Gen. Aurora still be avoided before things get
goodwill generated by the new pointed out. out of hand.
 w..
FORD
eqq2RS ___________________________

H there is one Indian who knows the names of the recipients of

Strengthening The
Secular Fabric
W hile the new government
is consolid~ting its position, The creation of anti-riot squads
it is time to exercise political will for
strengthening the cause of secu-
larism, which is enshrined in our
constitution. Recent events indi-
cate that communal and obscur-
antist forces have been unleashed
by politicians on our hapless soci-
ety due to the greed for power,
through communal and caste 'vote
banks'. Some suggestions for
reversing the process towards true
secularism are:
Concrete steps be taken to study
recommendations made by pre- With autonomy being granted to
vious enquiry commissi9ns such
as the ones headed by Justice
Madan, Justice Saxena and
others, to find solutions to the
root Cause of communal riots.
Stop placating the minorities and
rabid fundamentalists of all reli-
gio~s through charades such as
the Muslim Women's - Divorce
~~suing bans on books (such
as Salman Rushdie's) as well as
giving nods of appro~al to the
Ramshila business for taking
political advantage.
'Introduce electoral reforms
quickly, whereby canvassing for
votes on the basis of religion and
caste could be eliminated. Ser~
iously consider the banning of
virulently communal political par-
ties.
A secular society should encour-
age worship in either,the' home
or the place of worship only.
Religious processions, which are
generally aggressive and noisy, It is strange that even after 40
often tend to inflame religious '
passions, which are then utilized
by anti-social elements to
Managing Editor
Amrlk Singh
General Manager
Lt. Col. Manohar Singh
(Retd.)
advantage. Solutions must be
found by consensus to regular-
ize or eliminate such proces-
sions.
comprising of specially trained
personnel from all communities
should be created which could
defuse any build-up of commu-
nal tension in sensitive areas
quickly. The government should
commit itself to inducting intelli-
gent and educated minority
, community members into the
armed and police forces" This
will help to bring the minorities
into the main-stream of Indian
society and give them a sense
of security.
the electronic media, steps must
be taken to ensure that the most
powerful medium of television is
not used to project personality
cults, obscurantist thought,
pandering to the narrow religious
beliefs of the less literate, etc.
Soap operas with blatantly reli-
gious themes, which can only
form a strong opiate for the
masses, must be avoided.
Themes from Hindu mythology
without proper emphasis on the ,
spiritual and philosophic values,
appear to have become '
counter-productive for the cause
of secularism. On the other
hand, films such as Tamas and
other telefilm of serious,
socially-conscious directors
commenting upon socio-
economic changes required in
our society can be fruitfully used
to educate and enlighten our
people.
years of independence, educa-
tion which should have been
given topmost priority in the reg-
ular 5-year plans is once again
being neglected. It is mainly
through proper education that an
osmosis can take place to
achieve social and economic
justice which will ultimately lead
to humanism and true secular-
ism getting integrated into the
Jndian ethos.
do in five years he wants the
present Government to do in
months. He made noises about
Punjab and Kashmir in Parliament
but did not have a single word
about what the Congress(l) is
doing for riot victims at Bhagalpur.
Mr Gandhi should know that it is
very easy to distur.b peace but very
difficult to restore it.
Perhaps Rajiv Gandhi wants to
tell his disciples that, if he had
returned to power, he would have
totally crushed the people in these
States. It seems he considers
them anti-national. Possibly, in his
opinion, only those belonging to
the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and
' other hardline organizations are
'true Indians. Everyone knows that
he tried his best to destroy the
Meerut population through Mr Vir
Bahadur Singh, then chief Minis-
ter of U.P., and the Bhagalpur
population by staying the transfer
of the Deputy Magistrate.
MEERUT SHASAB HALDER
Readers are
requested to st:l1d
in their letters
typed or neatly
handwritten to the
Editor, Forum
Gazette, 3 Masjid
Road, Jangpura,
New Delhi 110 014.
The letters Il\~.y- be
' edit~d for clarity.
the Bofors payoffs, it is Mr. Gandhi and he should oblige the nation
by revealing the names.
- Mr. Jaipal F;1eddy.
V.P. Singh and company want to forget Bofors after coming to
power.1 will not let them.
- Mr, Subramaniam Swamy.
We are open to suggestions, Ours is an open government.
- Mr. P. Upendra
I hate to even mention his (Mr. Sidhartha Sankar Ray's) name,
- Mr. Jyoti Basu.
I do not believe in, nor encourage, groupism:
- Mrs. Nandini Satpathy.
We have contested 29 elections while the Nehru family has cont-
ested only 17.
- Mr. Devi Lal.
The other parties do not matter as my party has the mandate of
, the people of Punjab.
- Mr. Simranjit Singh Mann.
He does not call the shots in the State. Really speaking, it is the
AISSF which does.
- Mr. Kishan Lal Sharma, BJP General Secretary.
I am as good an Indian citizen as anyone else. " ~
- Mr. Atinderpal Singh.
The trouble with being a leader is that you can't be sure whether
people are following you or chasing you.
- Mr. Ronald Reagan.
The National Front has given promises to every passerby, How
many promises will it keep? '
- Mr. Kanshi Ram.
, In Hindu mythology you see every god and goddess carrying an
astra. That is the basis of Hindu societY,strong and self-reliant.
- Mahant Avaidyana!hC.MP.
We talk a lot about shakti, women's strength. But what is this
sh~ti? Her biggest pitfall is the glorification of the Bharatiya nari
role, a role in which she gets trapped.
- Shabana Azmi.
I have done everything possible except ~tanding on my;head to
persuade Mr. Bahuguna to end his fast.
- Mrs. Maneka Gandhi.

Editors "'\ However, all this needs ,strong

A.S. Narang political will from the leadership of
-Glan Singh Sandhu the country. We can only hope that
this time around the powers that
_ Assistant Editor be will not fail the people.
KH Nazeer (8alju)
BHARATI JAFFREY
Design HAMEED JAFFREY
" PN Cllex BOMBAY

Busines$ Manger,
Onkar Singh Gujral Rajlv Today

T"
-v
he manner in which Rajiv
Publishers 1 , Gandhi, as the leader of the
, Ekta .Trust, OppOsition in the Lok Sabha, dis-
2126, Sarva Priya Vihar cussed national issues with the
New Del11t110 016 Prime Minister, shows that the
Ph. 660738 former has been extremely upset.
since losing his empire despite
Editorial Business trying to woo voters with the Jaw-
and Cif'Culation Offices ahar Rozgar Yojana, Indira Mahila
3, Majid. Road, Jangpura Yojana and the declaraJion of Pro-
New Delhi 110 014 phet Mohammand's birth anniver-
PIL 819284 sary as a national holiday.
Whatever Rajiv Gand~i ,c6uld not

2
 ......................................... FORUM
--The
F
' OR'U' M
///// MlnorJty:Rlghts
Clvll'Uberties
The Lessons
, Equality For, W0'!1en
, . ' Gazette ,. Democratic Values
.{//// ' . Environmental Protection J Of 1984
By Bharat Dogra
The Kashmir Crisis owards the end of 1984
ven when the Punjab crisis is still unresolved, another T there were two big trag-
edies which had a deep
E
impact on the minds of all
crisis in Kashmir has erupted. Perhaps it would be sensitive Indians. The reference
more correct to say that it had been there for quite here, of course, is to the anti-Sikh
some time and now things have come to ahead. violence of November 1984 and
In Punjab, the Centre has done what it should not have done. the Bhopal gas disaster of
A statement issued by the Sikh Forum (given elesewhere) December 1984,with the passage
expl;rins the position. In our editorial last time we had explained , of time, the sadness of these trag-
edies was enhanced by the con-
that to postpone elections in Punjab would be counter-productive.
It should not be necessary to repeat those arguments except to tinuing injustice to the victims of
these tragedies, and the inability
call attention to yet another crisis that has come to a head in
of the nation, till the time of this
the state bordering Punjab.
. Three things require to be noted here. One, the crisis has been
writing, to show to them the sen-
stivity which they so badly needed.
in the making for a long time and it was utter irresponsibility Under these circumstances,
.and selfishness of the Congress (I) wlm:h led to the overthrow most attention has rightly been
ofFarooq Abdullah in 1983. The installation of an incompetent
and corrupt government led by GM Shah and the eventual peace,
given to providing justice and
proper rehabilitation to the victims
= r so to speak, between Rajiv Gandhi and Farooq Abdullah were of these tragedies. This is no doubt
~ its tragic outcomes. In the bargain the credibility of the State the most important task today. But
government has taken a serious knock. it is also important not to ignore
some wider lessons ofthese trag-
Secondly, there has been the undoubted rise in the sentiments
for Pakistan. The whole process can be described as the failure edies.
The most striking aspects of the
of political leadership in the State or some other ('quivalem way.
Bhopal disaster is that a technol-
Whatever way it is seen, the fact remains that lhose who are
ogy which was quite capable of kil-
opposed to fundamentalism and all that goes with it do not enjoy ling thousands and inflicting
that measure of standing whu.:h is necessary for them to enjoy incapacities on lakhs was being
if things are to return to normal in Kashmir though, as it looks, used for several years to produce
that state is likely to have a new set of polilical rulers as and chemical pesticides.Thera are
when the next election is declared. Farook Abdullah and his party
..several methods of controlling pests
may survive as a group, and even as an important group, but by following which dependence on
the majority is likely to be against them and who would be the chemical pesticides can be
new set of leaders is difficuh 10 anticipate. They can h,' openly reduced and even eliminated. If in
addition some chemical pesticides
anti-Indian and pro-Pakistan. They can be fundamentalists in
their outlook in which case the state of Kashmir would have are required, then several
methods exist to produce various
a di(ficult time. All kinds of contingencies can arise. The only
different types of pesticides. There
. thing defmite in this situation seems to be that the present lea-
dership will not survive except as a ghost of its former self.
is no justification at all to use a
most dangerous method of pro-
I . . .: Thirdly, the current crisis is a particularly difficult one. To duction, based on the storage of
bring things under control would require Herculian efforts and huge quantitities of most lethal
a measure of public -support which is denied to the Governor gas, to produce pesticides and
and his advisors. Repression succeeds o~ly when applied selec- that, too, in the middle of a busy
tively or ruthlessly. Anything in between is more or less fore- city, and in the immediate vicinity
of crowded slums.
doomed to failure. Given the circumstances, the kind of
As if the choice of this technol-
r~pression that would be carried out cannot be but of the in-
ogy and product in Bhopal was not
between type and therefore it is not likely to succeed beyond
shocking enough by itself, we've
a point.
to contend with the additional fact
In this situion, what can be done? Perhaps the only option that on several occasions attention
available to the Indian Union is to somehow keep thing~;under was drawn to the terrible hazards
control during the next three-four months and as soon as the implicit in this. Yet these warnings
weather changes, an election should be held. Whoever comes were simply ignored.
to power has the mandate of tile people and should l)e asked . This draws attention to the tre-
to form the government The Indian Union should know how mendous power that industrial
to do business with the new Chief Minister. owners and managers have been
There would be problems and strains. But then that is a part able to acquire to create needs, to
decide what we should consume
of the situation and it.cannot be helped. In conclusion, one thing
or use, and then produce these
may be said in passing. For the Centre to continue to have a
confronta~Qn both in Punjab and Kashmir would be more than
products in ways which are most
profttable to them regardless of the
its administrative and political resources can cope with. The crisis very heavy social costs involved.
in Kashmir undrlines most unambiguously the urgency of sett- Instead of responding to the real
ling tl}ings in PUnjab. Not to do so would amount to adding to needs of people these interests
its own problems and virtually cracking down under the weight produce a variety of high-profit
of these two problems. That would be a path of political folly, products which are not really
to put it no more strongly. . /leeded and infact may be highly
,destructive from &- social point of
view. Under the present norms of
economic thinking, where all such
products are also added to GNP
and push up the growth rate, this
~ocial waste and destruction,
1:15 February 1990
remains hidden from the general
public.
In the area of processed foods,
gadgets, pesticides, medicines
and tonics, intoxicants and stim-
ulants, construction materials, syn-
thetic clothes and cosmetics and
in many other area of industrial
The organizers of
the November 1984
anti-Sikh riots were
some well-known
. politicians. But we
also have to take
.l1ll:a3-are. Qf the
additional fact that -
these men, or their
agents, were able to
collect tens of
thousands of
people to
participate in the
violence. Most of
the participants in
this violence came
from the colonies in
habited by poor
people, who have
actually remained
neglected under
their rule, that they
are able to collect
them from such acts
of violence? -Why
has it not been
possible for the
democratic and
pro-poor forces to
interact with slum
dwellers in such a
way that they can
resist the spread of
such dangerous
tendencies in slum
areas?
activity, the tendency of producing
frivolous; unnecessary and even
harmful products at great social
cost and then seeling them with a
good adve-rtisement budget can be
seen. New frivolous products are
created in this way, or new frivo-
lous uses are created for existing
~~
products. The industry also intro-
duces a whole range of new
chemicals and other intermediate
products in the promotion process
from time to time whose impact on
health is either not known or else
is actually destructive but which
manage to save or earn a few
more dollars.
This enormous power of a small
number of persons, guided pre-
dominantly by the profit motive, to
play with . public health and safety
causes havoc in day to day life but
attention to this is drawn only at
the time of big disasters like the
Bhopal tragedy. It is important to
. draw attention to this wider trag-
edy of which the Bhopal. gas dis-
aster is only the biggest and the
saddest culmination.
Coming now t01he anti-Sikh vio-
lence, attention has been rightly
drawn to some well-known politi-
cians who are widely alleged to
have played an important role in
the violence. But we also have to
take measur9 of the additional,
even more important fact that
these men, or their agents, were
able to collect tens of thousands
of people to participate in the vio-
lence. Most of the participants in
this violence came from the col-
onies inhabited by poor people.
What is the relationship that these
men have with the poor people,
who have actually remained
neglected under their rule,that they
are .able to collect them for such
acts of violence? Can this relation-
ship be broken 'so that the people.
living in slums do not fall prey to
the manipulations of those who
want to misuse them for wrong
ends? Why has it not been possible
for the democratic and pro-poor
Aorces to interact with slum dwel-
lers in such a way that tRey can
resist the spread of such danger-
ous tendencies in slum areas?
The punishment of some pow-
erful persons for theirinvolvement
in the anti~Sikh violence of 1984
will certainly have a deterent
effect, and so is badly needed. But
.this is not adequate. Anyonewho
;feels seriously 'concerned about
iNovember 1984 should also seek
fanswer~ to the wider questions
,raised above. It is possible to seek
;revenge for what happened in
~ November 1984 in a peaceful way,
'a constructive way. This is by
working among the people of
these areas in such a dedicated
way as to' expose fully the self-
ish leaders who have been lording
over these areas for so long and
destroy their support base. By
punishing the guilty of Nov 1984,
we can ensure that these persons
will not be able to create havoc
again, but in addition by following'
this constructive path we can also
ensure that the likes of them will
alsQ not be a~le to create such
havoc again, and will not be able to
mobilize people for acts of vio-
.Ience.
" '
3
"'.
FORUM, FOCUS
Gaz.H.I,..................................................IIII......................IIII..1I1I1I1I1I.
-completed befoff:i the end of May
By S. Vi swam
Translating Promises this year. There have been two
subjects over which there was
controversy on and off during the

T
he new Govemment has
last few years. One was the

Into Reality
announced a time bound
reconstitution of the Nationallnte-
action plan to translate
gration Council. The erstwhile
into reality the promises
opposition had alleged that the
and assurances made earier. After
former government was not sum-
forming the Government, Prime
moning the existing council
Minister, V.P. Singh, in his first
despite an increase in communal
broadcast to the nation, had high-
and social tensions. The second
lighted some of the main features
was over the apparent u nwill i~g
of the election manifesto which his
ness of the wevious government
government proposed to accord
to set up an interstate council as
high priority in implementation.
provided in Article 263 of the con -
Subsequently, in his first press
stitution. The new Government
'conference, he had listed some of
plans to initiate consultations with
these features which his govern-
Chief Ministers and State Gov-
ment would tackle in the initial
ernments. It wants to convene the
stages. While a few of the features
first meeting of th e reconstituted
came in for special action in the
National Integration Council before
just concluded inaugural session
April. It expects to set up the
of the ninth lok Sabha, the 'action
inter-state cou ncil after the fort h-
plan' promises the implementation
comihg' elections to the state
of a number of programmes on the
assemblies. Yet another meeting
basis of a predetermi~d time
of th.e chief Ministers has been
table.
scheduled for April to finalize a
The new government's overall
programme for iand reform s.
strategy would naturally be built
within the framework of the pledge
It was possibly becau se of this
announced by the constituent par-
that few governments re ally made
ties of the National Front in the
an effort to bring about speedy
manifesto. Broadly, they had
land reforms . Two othe r fields of
pledged not merely to replace one
developm ent on wh ich iil - ./\
eet 01 rulers by the other, but an
govenmenthas some positiv ... 7
alternate model of governance
an earnest offer. By their very pro mises. While the Union Cabi- to ensure the citizen's right to pri- ideas relate to agriculture and
based on fed eralism and decen-
nature, the programmes listed in net has indicated the thrust areas vacy. Also earmarked for the urban development. The National
tralization, institutional accounta-
the plan are not glaringly new or of development, it would be upto budget session is an amendment Fro_nt's intention to allocate 50 per
bility, economic equality and social
original since they are mainly reit - the ministries and departments to the Official Secrets Act to cent of investible resources in the
justice, freedom of communication
eration of policy decisions taken by now to identify priority areas of ensure the citizens right to infor- agricultural and rural sectors of the
and access to Information for all
the National Front before the Nov- action for implementation in a time mation. Special Cabinet Commit- economy, beginning with th e
citizens.
ember 1989lok Sabha poll. What bound manner. The ministries are tees are to be set up before the annual plan for 1990-91 , has been
Monitoring Progress the action plan represents is firstly, expect ed to make separate end of this month to examine the mentioned by the Prime Minister
. a token of the government's sin- announcements in due course, of recommendations of the second on a number of occasions. In order
t is well within reasons to pre- cerity in keeping its word, and the details of the plan of action. backward classes commission , to give farmers a remunerative
Isume that the action plan, secondly, a pointer to a time-frame
approved by the Union Cabinet, is within which it would implement
The action plan is accompanied
by the government's assurance
known as the Mandai Commission
and the recommendations of the
price, changes are proposed in the
method of computing prices. A
that it will not only give the high- Gujral committee on the promotion long term policy on licensing of
est priority to the implementation of Urdu language. sugar mills is to be evolved before
of the programmes but also will April, and a scheme of debt relief
closely monitor the progress. This Monsoon SeSSion upto 10,000 rupees to small, mar-
is a welcome assurance, since it ginal and landless cultivators is to
has been a bane of development
in India that while governments at T he action plan makes a spe-
cific reference to the monsoon
session of Parliament in connec-
be finalized. The action plan has
informed the nation what the gov- ;- . -
the Central and state levels have ernment's intentions, plans anl.)~lnn ~
OPENING acted with good intentions in
laying down programmes, ade-
tion with the introduction of a new
industrial relations bill a~d neces-
programmes are. Now, the natioW j
will look forward with keen inter-

SHORTLY quate attention was not given to

their implementation. This resulted
in the impression spreading
sary consultation is expected to be est to their implementation.

among the people that there are

always a wide gap between pro-
NOTICE
mise and performance. It is to be
hoped that the tone of determina- During the Executive Committee meeting of the
Sikh Forum held on 20 January 1990, it was
BHAROSA
tion reflected in the action plan will
be sustained by the new govern-
ment.
pOinted out by the members that many persons
have approached them with various problems
CHIT FUND Budget Session

~mised for the budg~t s~s

and grievances they were facing.
And we are delighted to inform you that Gen.
(PVT.) LTD. P slon are: a constitution
amendment bill to make tha right
J.S. Aurora, President of the Sikh Forum, would
to work a fundamental right; a be personally available in the office of the Sikh
constitution amendment bill on forum at 3-Masjid Road, Jangpura, New Delhi
Panchayati Raj which will be intro-
duced after discussion with Chief 110014, on a" Saturdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Ministers; a long term fiscal policy It would be appreciated if persons deSirous of
announcement; a comprehensive
bill on electoral reforms; a consti- meeting him inform this office prior to their arri-
tution amendment bill for setting val. They are also requested to inform us of their
up a high level judicial commis-
sion; one to amend the legal ser- purpose of meeting G~n. Aurora. .
19/58A, Tilak Nagar vices authorities act and a Kindly convey this information to the concerned
constitution amendment bill to
New Delhi 110018 guarantee the right to information.
in your respective areas. Secretary
New bills are also to be brought
to amend the Indian Post Office
SdI-
Act and the Indian Telegraph Act,

4 1-15 FebruarY 1990

c.U.R.R.EN.T.E.VE.N.TS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .~()It1J~
UAD(M) For Self-Deterlllination Of
Political Status Within India
By FG Correspondent
The Unified Akali Dal(M)
clarified that it was not the
Anandpur Sahib resolution but a
resolution "for self-determination
of political status within India"
Which ~ wanted implemented. On
how It differed from th&J\nandpur
re solution, party spokesman,
Gurtej Singh, said there were
mdny versions of the Anancipur
resolution, and th at their's was
"none of them".
Briefing newsmen about the
meeting of his party delegation
with Punjab Governor Nirmal
Mukharji, he said they had urged
him to immediately order admini-
strative changes. "The administra-
tive machinery put together by the
now discredited Congress-I is still
intact and is preventing the return
to normalcy", their memorandum
said.
According to the spokesman,
there existed several militant
;groups under the state machinery
vmich consisted of certain ex.-
Syntbol Of India's Soul
By Amar Chandel
G en. Mohan Singh used to
describe the Indian National
Army as his closest link with his
soul. He was being modest. In
reality, he himself was the perso-
nification of the soul of India,and
in his death on December 26 the
country lost one of its most gallant
sons.
. The INA is today synonymous
t-'ithSubhas Chandra Bose. Many .
even in Punjab may not know that
it was Gen. Mohan Singh w.ho
founded this band of fierce patri-
ots in 1941. Even this name was
given by the General himself.
Gen. Mon&n Singn was a born
soldier, if ever there was one. He
chose to join as an ordinary sepoy
in the army although the influence
of his maternal ' grandfather,
Atinder To Press For
Compensation
N ewly elected MP Atinder P;ill
Singh, who is at present
in Tihar Jail, told the Supreme
Court that he would not give up his
petition seeking compensation
and action against the' Intelligence
Bureau, Special Investigation
team, CID, Secret Military Service,
Delhi Police (Crime Branch) and
other Government officials who
severly torturedhim in jaii during'
the Cong-I r9Qime.
This was conveyed orally last
fortnight to Justices A.M. Ahmadi
.and Ms Fathima Beevi by counsel
Altemeish Rein appea.ring for the
1-15
. February 1990
militant and policemen, fully '. UAD chief Simranjit Singh Mann at demanded that it was imperative I The UAD demanded an inquiry
trained and provided with all facil- Amritsar was raided by 150 to dismantle such administrative by a judge of the High Court into
ities and equipped with AK-47s. lawans of the CRPF, and the por- machinery. the killings. It also asked for a list
Gurtej Singh said 400 such armedtiQrl occupied by Mann thoroughly The continuation of President's of those wanted by the police. Its
people were still operating in the searcndd though nothing incrimi-
state indulging in killings, extotions nating was found. Servants and
and kidnappings. He said, it were 1'" --;,....- - - - - - - ' -
.------,
rule is the negation of the demo-
cratic process, the memorandum
said. It said that though certain
other demands included the with-
drawalof all "oppressive" laws and
regulations, release of those who
these people who were respons- "communally motivated" Hindu were detained on fal~e charges,
ible for all the crimes in the state, leaders were opposing the holding the withdrawal of para-military
though killing of Gobind Ram of assembly elections in the state, forces and supply of informatiOn
might not be the handiwork of the majority of Hindu voters were regarding those who were killed
these people. in favour of elections as demon- during Operation Bluestar. The
He said that so far three such strated conclusively during the Lok UAD appreciated the measures
gangs had been unearthed. These Sabha elections. The UAD, taken by the central governme'"'t
gangs were of Jaswinder Singh demanded immediate elections to so far.
Kala and Santokh Singh Kala, the state assembly and the SGPC. In a separate statement, tha
both of Amritsar and of Dalbir It had also demanded adequate UAD welcomed the recall of Karan
Singh of Patiala. Both the Kalas representation in the grievances Singh from the ambassadorial
were regular policemen and had committees in the districts. It said post in the U.S.
since been killed, while Dalbir that either it should be given the The statement said he was
Singh who killed Patiala police representation as was given to the "communal" and was partly
chief Sital Dass and his deputy, Congress(l) e<;lrlier or it should be responsible for the -.!ammu incid-
was an ex-militant was taken into in proportion to the percentage of ent of January last year in which
the police as sub-inspector, he votes polled by each political party a peaceful Sikh gathering celebrat-
said. The UAD urged the governor in the last elections. ing Guru Gobind Singh's birthday
,to find out how these groups were guests were arreste'd and released Sharply reacting to the killing of was attacked and ' many Sikhs
recruited, trained, what was their only the next day. He said it was 13 alleged terrorists recently, it killed. It also demandeo the recall
number and activities. baffling that it happened without said that they had been killed in of Julio Rebiero who during :;is
The party deplored that on the the knowledge of the chief secre- false encounters, .as was evident . two-years term in Punjab was
eve of the Ludhiana rally, the ' tary or the director general of from the fact that not"even a single "responsible" for the killings of 700
camp office-cum-residence of the police. The deputationists policeman was injured. innocent Sikh youths.
After being dismissed from the oath to seek nothing for himself very end. His noble thougtits are
Army he joined politics but
remained a soldier first and last.
but to suffer and sacrifice and be
contenfto remain a bottom stone
capsuled in his four books,
"Leaves from My Diary", "Mafla-
His political career culminated in so that a cause can flourish and purbi Punjab", "Congress
two terms in the Rajya Sabha (in prosper in the hands of others. Unmasked" and "Soldiers' Contri-
1960-66 and re-election in April . The boy who had to walk 10 miles bution to Indian IndependenCe..
1972 to be note. In 1976 he was to his school and back in the blaz- His bhog is to take place in his
elected a member of the Punjab ing sun or in freezing Cold because village Jugi!1na (Lu~hiana) on
Assembly.
All through his 80 years, Gen.
he could not spare even four or
five paise for the tonga far, was
January 7. In future, he will no
longer be a living legend but an
Mohan Singh remained true to his hal~ and hearty and cheerful till the indelible pan of Indian history.
'J{pw avai[ab[e tfie most refiab[e and dura6[e
KELRAD
."',
Gen Mo~an Singh
Chaudhry Takh'at Mall, a Zaiidar,
.Celour, B&W Televisions
could have got him a much higher
post. He topped all his exams in
the Army and had a truly meteoric
rise. His founding of the INA
changed all that.
Sikh Forum. The Forum headed
by U-Gen. J.S. Aurora had filed
the petition on the basis of the Jan.
16, 1989, letter of Atinder Pal
Singh sent from Nabha security jail
~_.L._re--zmacy- inTV tecfino{oBy.
stating how electric current was
passed through his private parts
and roller treatment given to him
with iron pipes as also wooden
logs. Marketed By
The petition with the letter has
been pending in the court since KH URANA RAD 10 CORPORATION
last year without any order on
Atinder Pal Singh's prayer for his
349 Lajpat Rai Market, Delhi-110 006
immediate medical examination Phones: 235395, 2929492
,and its report to the court.
5
 1'11.

FORUM CENTRE
GazeHelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllili..iiii

T
he slogan at the begin- democracy has meant the rule of shown us that global conditions
ning of the 20th century the powerful, a very small elite
was progress. The cry at Both development and democracy
the end of the 20th have become dirty words for the
today have placed the people of
the world on a common ground
with a common fate for the first
An Allianc-
century is survival. The call for the oppressed because, in reality, they time in history. If we want to sur-
next century is hope. Impelled by have come to mean impoverish-
that hope for the future and with ment and disempowerment.
a keen sense of urgency, we Development has also meant
vive, live together in dignity and in
mutual respect of our diversity
without violating each other's
The Minamat.
began our concluding gathering of destruction of the rich values of autonomy and right to self- witness wave after wave of peo-I universal relevance of participa- I
the People's Plan for the 21 st Cen- diversity. It has destroyed people's determination, we need Janaka- pie's movements, emerging, tory democracy, undermined the
tury in Minamata. creativity and capacities. Deci- shaba wherever we are. spreading, defying state boundar- basis for traditional anti-
It is significant that we met in sions are made by fewer and At this gathering, we talked
Minamata, a place which symbo- fewer people. Economic decisions about our aspirations for Janaka-
lizes to all of us development at its are made by big conglomerates, shaba. Our hope is not an empty
most murderous. As it did to the political dedsions by the powerful
people of Bhopal and Chernobyl, in our capitals, or in the capitals of
one. It is not a mirage: It is born
in the midst of injustices, vices and
People's Plan For j

a giant organization w~h advanced the big powers; the film and tele- corruptions which make us cry and
science, technology and produc- vision industry decide what enter-
tion techniques condemned the tainment is and who our heroes
at times make us despair. We dis-
cussed the hope which inspires us
Min aIDat a Declaratio.
people of Minamata to fear, sick- are. Governments decide what to fight injustices as well as social .
ness and death, and their beauti- kinds of education our children will human, and ecological decay. W~ I. At the Minamata- Gathering: 3. General Agreement On
ful bay to irreparable damage. have and how many children we asked ourselves whether there is ~he Synthesis (Aug 21-24), the Trade and Tariffs (GATT) i
These three disasters-Minamata will have. Some governments a basis for such hope. final meeting of the People's Plan I
Bhopal and Chernobyl-can b~ force us to have abortions, while Life and nature itself is being for the 21 st Century, we reaffirrfl9d The free-trade system promoted I
taken as benchmarks of our time. others forbid it. Some even decide defiled, not only human beings. the resolutions and recommenda- by GATT has been creating I
At Minamata, !he industry of a our religion. Now, the sky, oceans, mountains iions for a concrete action pro- numerous economic imbalances i
capitalist count,ypoisoned its own Human beings become less rivers, forests. plants, animals, and gramme, that had been agr96d and hardships. The worldwide lib- t
citizens. At Bhopal, a U.S. multi- powerful, less autonomous, less upon in the following People's eralization of farm commodities \
national corporation poisoned human. Small communities and We were born into Plan for the 21 st Century confer- being promoted by GATT isin fact I
people of the South. At Cherno- even small and poor nations ences, meetings and inteMctions a program for subjecting agricul- I'
byl, socialist government spilled become less autonomous. They
a world divided held through a whole month on th~ tural and livestock products to the tl
radiation out over its land and are subordinated by. world mar- into hostile groups. Japanese archipelago: domination of the transnational ~
people, and beyond its borders to I kets, World Bank policies, the corporations. GATT sponsored 1
the whole world. There is no.need power games of world powers.
If we want to 1. Tropical Rain Forests liberalization of agriculture is also F
here to r6peat the long and mount- The gap between rich and poor, survive collectively, de~troying small-scale . 'JilY
ing list of eco-catastrophes. These 'North and South, has been then these divisions We demand an immediate ban farms and rural society a is e
three tell the story: there is no increaSing. In the last two on the export of timber from the linked to the destruction of the
place to hide. decades, more wealth and resour-
must be overcome. world's tropical rain forests. To tropical rainforests. ir
ces have been extracted from the We have met in secure this ban, we support the Such a free-trade system based
But these are not the only sym-
Third World than in the entire pre- blockading of logging sites and on the theories of powerful nations I~
bols of the disaster that 'progress'
vious century. The coming
Minamata and propose the following actions: should be transformed immedi- .~
has been. For the indigenous
people, . disaster came with the decades are likely to witness more found in each other 1.a. Take joint actions, with theately. All farmers in the world II
rapid accumulation, concentration support of. labour unions and other including family farmers and farm
confiscation and exploitatiOn of the will to progressive forces, to stop the workers should organize
t
b
their lands and resources, and and centralization of power in the
destruction and disruption of their North. Debt payments, profits, overcome the ex~rt a~ import of timber from counter-GATT joint actions in
royalties, capital flight, deteriora- tropICal rain forests; cooperation with consumers and C
way of life. For women, develop- structure that 1.b. Exert pressure on the cor- environmentalists throughout the ~
ment has meant di.Sempowerment . tion of the terms of trade are
of all kinds. They have been mar- among the mechanisms of imper-, divide us. Here, porations and governments of world.
countries 9xporting and importing
ginalized and subordinated by ialist exploitation. This unjust, then is our such timber. 4. Demilitarization Of The
E
male religions, male science and vulgar and ugly development has I
knowledge, and male mal- also created a South in the North,
assertion, the 21st 1.c. Raise, the issue among Asia-Pacific Region ~
grassroots organizations; and
development. The billion dollar With the terrible living conditions of Century must not 1.d. Organize media campaigns
pornography anet sex industry has indigenous people, racial minori- We recognize that during the
be build by these to publicize joint actions and Second World War the countries d
reduced them to mere commodi- ties, migrant workers, and the
ties. At the same time, they con- ' unemployed. forces of degraded broaden understanding of the in the Asia-Pacific region were V1A P
The 20th century has brougt us issue by in~iating transborder edu- scenes of some of history's ~
tinue to be subordinated within development, but cational programs. violent battles. We also rec J e ..
their own homes. more and more murderous wars
For the poor of the Third World, than at any other time in history.
by the forces the pivotal role that the govern- I-
2. Official Development ment of Japan is now playing in ti
development has meant less and The . technology of killing has resisting it OnI Y Assistance (ODA) U.S.A global strategy, and drasti- I~
less control over their own resour- advanced beyond the wildest
ces and lives. Their struggle to imaginations of any previous era.
then is there hope, cally reduce its military budget. P
not otherwise. The purpose of Japan's ODA The three non-nuclear weapons r4
survive has become more difficult, The state, which was supposed to
program is not to assist recipient principles of not producing, pos- 11
,their existence has become. pre- , .be our great protector, has turned
peoples. People of the recipient sessing or introducing nuclear d
carious. There has indeed been out to be the greatest killer, killing all other living beings are in crisis,
countries and the people of Japan weapons into the country should 9
progress and development, but not only foreigners in wars, but their very existence threatened.
only for the few. The rest are also killing its own citizens in We clearly hear the voices of need to take joint action to .stem be strictly implemented. U.S. war- tt
paying for this development by unprecedented numbers. The 20th those closest to na:ture. We have current ODA, which is a tool for ships not verified nuclear- tt
supporting Japan-U.S. political weapons free through inspections V
sacrificing their lives, cultures; century has perpetuated and realized that we must fight not only
intensified the practices of geno- . to restore the sanctity of human and military strategy and Japa- and checks, shall not be allowed n
values.
cide, ethnocide, ecocide and fem- life, but of all life. nese big business. Concretely, we to enter any Japanese ports. The 0
Development and progress
icide. Th~se practices have We were born into a world need to conduct joint surveys of Japanese government also should
have been disastrous because
ODA programs, monitor their immediately terminate its complic- 7
they are based on an obsession occurred in the name of what we divided into hostile groups. If we
implementation, take action to stop ity with low intensity conflicts in dif- II
with materialistic acquisition. Profit . call 'progress' . . . 'development'. want to survive collectively, then
All these force us to ask, is tnere ,these divisions must be overcome. destructive aid projects and help ferent regions, abetted through
and power have emerged as the
~s of this development. The not something profoundly wrong We have met in Minamata and secure compensation for people provision of official development
victimized by ODA. aid or bV other means. a
.-.ssumptlon behind this develop- with our understanding of histori- found in each other the will to
ment has been that man is cal progress? Is there not some- overcome the structures that
IUpreme, that he can use and thing profoundly wrong with our divide us. Here, then is our asser-
misuse nature as he wishes. picture of what to fight for? With tion, the 21 st Century must not be ies, complementing one another, communism and delegitimiz~ the t
Development has been a project our image of where to place our built by these forces of degraded and sharing an increased sense of ideology of the Cold War, thus \
to conquer nature, rather than to hopes? development, but by the forces urgency fostered by new networks creating new conditions conducive (
lYe in harmony with it. Janakashaba, a word in the resisting it. Only then is there of communication. The major to people's struggles. However,
Oevelopment has meant Minamata dialect, became familiar hope, not otherwise. struggles of the Korean, Philip- perestroika may well prioritize
Incntasing centralization of power. to all PP21 participants. Janaka- This is precisely what is be:ng pine, and Burmese people have economic competitiveness at the I
1be more the word 'democracy' .shaba means " a world standing acted out before our eyes today by shown explosive power. Recently, expense of support for people's t
,Mabeen used, the less has been not like this". It is a beautiful word. millions of people in the Asia- we have witnessed the rise of a struggles for justice and democ- 4
~ II practice. For indigenous people At Minamata rallies a new song, Pacific region. They do not accept new democratization movement of racy. 4
lind for minorities, democracy has Janakashaba ba hosikayo (we what has been foisted on them as the Chinese people. I 4
meant the tyranny of the majority. want Janakashaba), was sung. their fate, they are ready to take The recent experience of glas- Be that as it may, the changes I
For the poor in the Third World, The Minamata Gathering has the leap, and they are taking it. We nost has reaffirmed the continuing in the socialist countries provide I

1-15 Febn
~SPREAD
...........................................................
Of Hope:
a Declaration
vith our brothers and sisters in the
iocialist countries for overcoming
he East-West division and for
rhe 21st Century
rJ. Action ProgramDle
We also agree to work immed-
Itely and actively towards making
Ie Asia-Pacific region nuclear
ee and ridding it of foreign mili-
uy installations and military dom-
ration both by great powers and
r smaller regional powers.
re also agree to actively support
estruggles for independence in
e Asia-Pacific region eSpecially
pse in East Timor, West Papua,
lnaky (New Caledonia) artd
i hiti-Potynesia (French-
Ilynesia).
,
'klng In Women
rafficking in women in Asia Is
easing at an alarming rate. Fil-
0, Thai, Taiwanese, and other
,men are sent to Japan and
~er countries to be exploited in
I sex industry. We resolved to
fe immediate joint actions in
th the sending and receiVi~
~ntries to protect women from
and from other human
violations.
Recognition Of Ainu As
People Of
IIU-IVIU::i1 Irl (Hokkaldo)
recognition of the special
that indigenous peoples
opportunity for new alliaflC8s .is why we do not hesitate, despite
to estaQlish genuine everything this century has.
Iloc:ratic power world-wide.
these big countries and in
ones, in every region,
, and village, the (leople are hope. The present system has
move. And they are aware begun to undermine itself by creat-
other as never before,
IImllnl,,""'llnn joining in unprec- ing its own contradictions: growth
ways. All of this is new. against nature, militarism against
main force defining our sit- ,sed
Iuatlon and the main reason forthis
gathering. Janakashaba is the
spirit of the people in our time. This
have with their land, which they
believe was given to them directly .
by the Creator, we agreed that this
is what distinguishes indigenous
populations from other racially
oppressed minority groups in
society. In this regard, we endorse
the demand of indigenous peoples
,throughout the world for the
immediate recognition and legisla-
tive guarantee of their inalienable
right to their lands, waters and
fisheries. We resolved to work
immediately and actively towards
the realization of this demand.
8. Hazards Of Industry, In
Particular The Nuclear
Industry And The Export Of
Industrial Toxic Waste.
We demand the immediate ter-
mination of all faGilities in the
nuclear fuel cycle, and all hazar-
dous Industrial activities which
create an unsafe environment and
generate toxic wastes. We
demand that all nucl.ear wastes
should remain in the country
where the waste is generaied and
that all nuclear waste should
neither be exported to other coun-
itries nor dumped into the oceans.
We oppose the export of toxic
industrial waste to Third World
Countries and support transborder
joint action to oppose such activ-
ity. We advocate the strengthening
and expansion of the people's
network of solidarity against
nuclear power and industrial pro-
cesses which create the toxic
wastes. We especially support the
strengthening and expansion of
solidarity networks among victims
of industrial hazards, as the most
concrete expression . of people
lea,r'ning1rorreachother and acting
against the prOCl3sses of victimi-
zation instrinsic to such technolog-
ical processes.
brought us, to declare that the 21 st
century will be the century of hope.
There is another reason for
for collective security., uni-
formity against cultural diversity,
alienation against human dignity,
mindless consumerism against
humankind aspiring to regain lost
values, meaning, and spirituality.
Th'l economy has pushed itself
to such absurd limits that more
and more people are feeling alie-
nated and lost. All over the world,
simultaneously, more and more
people are searching for different
ways of living in harmony with one
another and nature. .
These contradictions are push-
ing forward new historical subject
from amongst the victims of the
global catastrophe; i.e. indigenous
peoples, women, the unemployed
and the self-employ~ in the so-
called informal sector. Alienated
youth without much fUture, and the
concerned intelligentsia are also
joining the historical struggles of
the masses--peasants, workers,
the urban poor. The mushrooming
of people's movements is giving
rise to the hope that we can create
Democracy is
something millions
of people in the
Asia-Pacific region
are fighting and
dying for. We need
to retrieve it to
serve the people's
struggle. We must
begin with the
premise that the
state, and the
institutions that it
pretends to
constitute
I democracy' cannot
be relied upon to
bring us peace,
justice, security and
degnified life, or an
end of ecological
destruction.
a society where everyone can live
with dignity.
New conditions support these
aspirations. We have the know-
ledge, and the technology . We
also have the grass'roots organi-
zations, people's spirituality and
values, reaffirmed, rediscovered
and newly created in the struggle
.for-survival in the faceof the collec-
tive suicide imposed by the
present pattern of development.
The simultaneous emergence of
this global phenomenon has its
own commonalities: common
interests, common values and
common threats organically linking
all oppressed people and explo-
ited groups in the world . A new
logic is emerging against the logic
of growth, transnational compa-
nies and elitist power. This is the
true 'logic of the majority.' The
'majority' here does not mean the
majority as measured in polls and
elections, but the global majority,
the most oppressed. It means that
FORUM
they must have the prerogative,
and this requires a new set of pri-
orities based on human values
and in harmony with nature, cul-
ture, gender, indigenous people
and other ethnic groups.
A new internationalism is being
born out of these local, national,
regional popular struggles con-
fronting common enemies. These
new movements are growing up
within the context of a peculiar
contradiction involving the role of
the state. Our region is being
organized by transnational capital,
which is bringing together far-flung
and heterogeneous areas and
peoples into an integrated, hier-
archical division of labour, in which
peasants, workers, indigenous
peoples and women are subordi-
nated. States are vigorously pro-
moting this, as the agencies which
mediate the entry of transnational
capital within their national boun-
I daries. At the same time, transna-
tionalization of the economy
undermines the basis of the state . .
This places its claim to sovereignty
and its pretense as protector into
question, thus weakening its leg-
itimacy,and creating new oppor-
tunities for the people to intervene.
The state seeks to protect itself
through intensification of repres-
sion and violence, as we see
today in many countries, or, as in
the case of Japan, intensification
.of the attempt to implant statist
ideology into the minds of the
people.
In this same process, the engine.
of development has overheated in
Japan and is running wildly out of
control, producing a saturation
economy. The Japanese work
intensely in heavily managed sit-
uations in which they are virtually
powerless. The Japanese econ-
omy does not empower its citi-
zens, but rather seeks to make
them powerless and fragmented.
And it has also reproduced within
its boundaries a 'North' and a
'South'. The 'South' includes mil-
lions of poorly paid women part-
timers, contract workers, day
labourers, and increasingly guest
workers from South and South-
east Asia as well as farmers who
are rapidly being marginalized.
One of the words which has
been stolen from the people and
corrupted is the word "democ-
racy". Originally, democracy
meant the autonomy, the self-
determination, the empowerment
of the people. To many people in
the Third World, however, it has
come to be the label for a facade
of "civilian government," disguising
state terror and repression in a
ploy to claim legitimacy for the
state to serve the interests of the
powerful. For indigenous peoples
and other minorities, democracy
has been the ideology of "major-
ity rule" that has defined them as
minorities who could be legiti-
mately ignored.
On the other hand, democracy
is something millions of people in
the Asia-Pacific region are fighting
and dying for. We need to retrieve
it to serve the people's struggle.
We must begin with the premise
that the state, and the institutions
that it pretends constitute 'democ-
racy' cannot be relied upon to
bring us peace, justice, secure and
. GN~
dignified life, or an end of ecolog-
Ical destrudion. Only the people'.
movemenl$ themselves, Indepen-
dent and alitonomous, can do this .
And here we emphasize that we
are talking about a democracy that
honours the / human rights and
fundamentat freedoms of indigen-
ous peoples and other minorities.
At the same time, democracy
can no longer be achieved wahln
the limits of the state. Today,-the
lives of millions of people are being
controlled, shattered, deformed
and destroyed by decisions made
outside their communities, even
outside their countries. These
decisions are made by foreign
governmertts, by transnational
corporations, by agencies such as
the IMF, the World Bank and big.
power summits.
Hence, we declare that air
people, especially the oppressed
people, have a natural and univer-
sal right to criticize, oppose, or
prevent the implementation : of
decisions affecting their live., no
matter where those-decisions are
made. We declare that this right,
as a people's right, is more fun-
-damental than any artificial iaw or
institution established by the state.
We declare that this right mean$
the right of the people to cross all
borders, national and social, to
carry their struggle to ' the exad
sources of power seeking to dom-
inate or destroy them.
We need to make clear that this
right must be interpreted as justi-
fying the actions of the powerful
crossing borders to oppress,
exploit and dispossess the people.
On the contrary, we are asserting
that the people have a right tQ
counter these interventions which
are going on all the time.
. We recognize that the struggles
of subjugated peoples for self-
determination, independence, and
to establish their own government,
or of people to change or improve
their governments, are crucial. At
the same time, we believe that, in
the long-term, it is the transborder
political actions of the people,
marginalizing states and counter-
ing the power of international cap-
ital, that will produce the 21st
century that we hope for.
We have no illusions about the
present condition of the peoples
of the Asia-Pacific region. The
ruling powers maintain themselves
by dividing the people and encou-
raging hostility among them. The
rulers not only seek to rule us, but
also to manage our mutual rela-
tions, depriving us 'of our right to
do this for ourselves. This we must
rejed and overcome. Transborder
political action, support and soli-
darity campaigns across borders
will gradually develop a new
people; that transcends existing
divisions, especially between
people living in the North and
South.
This is not utopian: the actionE
we describe are actually going on
all over the Asia-Pacific region,
and all over the world. What we
assert is that these transborder
actions are not merely the proper
responses of the people to. des-
perate situations. Taken together, '
they amount to the people collec-
tively making their own 21 st
century.
7
if{)ltlJ~ . .................................RE.LI.GI.ON.
ers, all share the same food sitting

What is Sikhism
he Word 'Sikh' means a

T 'disciple'. A Sikh is a
person who believes in
one God and teachings of
the ten Gurus, enshrined in the
Guru Granth Sahib the Sikh Holy
Book. Additionally, he or she must
take Amrit, the Sikh Baptism.
Brief History
etc., through sheer dint of hard shorts) and Kirpan (a sword).
work and with a missionary dedi- People who wear a uniform and
which expose the body and breed
lustful thoughts are considered
together in. one row. This kitchen
is run by the common contribu-
tions of the Sikhs. The institution
of Langar (common kitchen) is
instrumental in creating social
cation. Their adventurist and who are imbued with disciplined dishClnourable. equality among the whole man-
enterprising nature has taken outlook, are better able to achieve kind.
them to almost all countries of unity of purpose and acquire a real Cetemonles Of The Sikhs
world. sense of brotherhood than those The Gurdwara

T he Sikh religion was founded

by Guru Nanak, who was born
Religion And Philosophy:
who have set no particular stan-
dards. A Sikh without these sym-
bols is a nonentity.
T he important ceremonies
among the Sikhs are those
associated with birth, naming T he . Sikhs Church is called
Gurdwara. In every Gurdwara
the Sikhs Holy Scripture is
in 1469 A.D . in the village Tal-
wandi, now called 'Nankana
Sahib' near Lahore (Pakistan).
T he Sikh religion is strictly Those who cut their hair or trim
monotheistic, believing in our their beard commit a breach of the
Ona Supreme God. Absolute yet Cardinal Rules of the Order, and
(christening) the child, Amrit (bap-
tism), Anand Karaj (marriage) and
the death ceremony. The most
installed in the main hall, which is
used for prayer and daily service.
Right from his childhood his allpervading, the Eternal, the are considered as 'apostates'. important among all these is the Every person irrespective of
keen mind would not accept all the Creator, the Causes, without Amrit (baptism) ceremony. caste, creed, culture or nationality
groundless rituals, superstitions enmity, without hate, both imman- Sikh Baptism No special rituals are attached can visit it. Before entering the
and dogmas which passed for ent in His creation and beyond it. to these ceremonies. The only Gurdwara one must take off his
religion in those days.
Guru Nanak and the nirie Gurus
It is no longer the God of one
nation, but the GOD OF GRACE. A mrit (The Sikh baptism) is a
must for every Sikh. No min-
important aspect is recitation of
Shabad (hymns) from Guru
shoes and cover his head. On
entering the main hall every one
who succeeded him, set a won- That being so, He creates man not imum or maximum age is stipu- Granth Sahib. approaches the Holy Book and
derful example of living spiritually, to punish him for his sins but for lated for getting baptized. A Sikh The dead amongst the Sikhs bows before it in reverence and
while yet taking an active and sec- the realization of his true purpose undertakes to uphold the princi- are cremated and their ashes are takes his place.
ular part in the world. ples of its faith and Code of Con-
in the cosmos and to merge in thrown into the nearest canal or Any Sikh male or female may
The Tenth and the last Guru, from where he issued forth. duct as prescribed by the Gurus.
river. No sanctity is attributed to conduct the prayer or perform the
Any man or woman of any
Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708 any particular river. It is forbidden services.
A.D.) initiated the Sikh baptism "0 my mind, thou art the embod- nationality, race or social standing,
to erect monuments over the Services begin with the singing
ceremony in 1699 A.D. and thus iment of Light; know the Essence'. who adheres to the printiples of
remains of dfilad. of hymns with the musical instru-
gave a distinctive identity to the "0 my mind, the Lord is ever with the Faith has a right to receive
ment. On special occasions, sing-
Sikhs. The first five baptized Sikhs thee; through the Guru's word baptism and join the Sikh Com- Fairs And Festivals ing is intercepted with lectures,
were named Panj Pyare (Five enjoy His Love". monwealth.
poems, or other composition high-
T
Beloved Ones), who in turn bap- "Knowing thy essence thou know- Sikh Code Of Conduct ~e Sikhs celebrate the follow-
lighting events from Sikhs history.
tized the Guru on his request-an est thy Lord; and knowest thou the 'ng days;. The services are concluded with
he Sikh Code of Conduct is The birth and death anniversaries'
event hitherto unknown in the his- mystery of birth and death".
tory of mankind. (Guru Granth, P. 441). T known as "Sikh Rehat Mary-
ada." It is based upon the teach-
of ten Gurus.
Ardas, the pr.ayer, which ir't'~es
God's blessings in granting ~,
The installation of the Holy Granth prosperity and protection to all
Shortly before passing away the
The basic postulate of Sikhism ings of Guru Granth Sahib, the as the Spiritual
Guru ordained that Guru Granth mankind.
Sahib, the Sikh Holy Scripture is that life is not sinful in its origin, Sikh traditions and conventions. Guide (Guru) of the Sikhs. After the prayers a Shabad-
would be the ultimate spiritual but having emanated from a Pure These rules are meant for carrying The birth of the Khalsa i.e. Bai- hymns, is read from the Holy
authority for the Sikhs and the Source, the True One abides in it. out the religious ceremonies and sakhi Day which generally falls on Scripture and then Karah Parshad,
temporal authority would vest in Thus sayeth Nanak: enforcing the discipline of the Faith the 13th of April each year. a sweet semolina-pudding made
the Khalsa Panth-The Sikh in a uniform manner throughout Martyrdom days of the prominent from flour, sugar and butter is dis-
Commonwealth. "0 my mind, thou art the spark of the world. No individual or organ- Sikhs who died for the sake of their tributed to the congregation. On
Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh the Supreme Light; know thy ization, whosoever important it religion or in defence of the each Gurdwara Nishan Sahib a
Holy Scripture was compiled and essence". may be, has a right either to oppressed. flag of yellow colour surmounted
edited by the Fifth Guru, Guru amend these rules or to frame new The days connected with the with Khanda, a double edged
A~an in 1604 A.D. This is the 'only Not only the whole of Sikh Phi- ones. This power rests with the important events of the Sikh his- sword, is erected. This symbolizes
scripture in the world which has losophy, but the whole of Sikh his~ Panth i.e. the .community as a tory. the combination of temporal and
been compiled by the founders of tory and character, flows from 'this whole acting through their Beloved The Dally LIfe Of A Sikh spiritual aspect of Sikh life.
a faith during their own life time. principle'. Five (Panj Pyare). Any rule which Each city or town has Gurd-
Guru Arjan also built the world This religion consists of practi- overrides the basic teachings of waras according to its require-
famous Gurdwara, Darbar Sahib, cal living, in rendering service to the Faith is ultra vires.
at Amritsar which is the nucleus of humanity and engendering toler- All intoxidltions such as alcohol,
E very Sikh is expeded to get
up in the morning before ments. AII..of them have the same
dawn. After taking bath he should sanctity. There are some Gurd-
Sikhism. ance and brotherly love towards tobacco and all it~ derivations and meditate on the name of God. waras which in addition to beinn ,.
drugs etc are forbidden. place of prayer have also h' ..
During the eighteenth century all. The Sikh Gurus did not advo-
A Sikh may eat flesh of an
the Sikhs were subjected to vari- cate retirement from the world in "Rise thou early and meditate on importance. The five most i
order to attain salvation. It can be animal or birds etc., which is fit for tant Gurdwaras are known as
ous suppressions and persecu- the Name;
human consumption -except that
tions by the authorities of the time achieved by anyone who earns an Yea, dwell on the Lord night and TAKHATSI thrones or seats of
honest living and leads a normal which is slaughtered by rituals. authority. These are Takhat Patna
motivated by communal fanati- day;
Adultry is considered as a sin.
cism. They had to make supreme life. Then. thou sufferest not sorrow; Sahib in Bihar, Takhat Kesgarh
A Sikh should regard another Sahib at Anandpur, and Takhat
sacrifices to proted and preserve and all the woes depart".
their faith and separate entity. "He alone, 0 Nanak, knoweth the man's wife as his sister or mother; (Guru Granth P. 255) Damdama . Sahib at Talwandi-
The Mughal Empire was on the way, who earneth with the sweat and another man's daughter as his Sabo in Punjab, Takhat Hazur
verge of disintegration. The of his brow, and then shareth it own daughter. The same rule is The following five compositions Sahib. and Nanded in Maharash-
applicable to the Sikh woman also.
Afghans had started Invading the with the others. are recited every day: tra and Akal Takhat Sahib at
country under Ahmed Shah (Guru Granth, P. 1245) Amritsar. which is also the
Woman In The Sikh Society
Abelali. The Sikhs availed of this Morning: Japji Sahib, Jaap Sahib supreme seat of authority. Reli-
Nanak gave new hope to the gious as well as temporal injunc-
opportunity to establish their own
kingdom which they ultimately downtrodden mankind to join his W oman is regarded as asig-
nificant part of the Sikh
achieved under Maharaja Ranjit fraternity as equals. He is a creator community. She receives the
and Ten Swiyyas.
Evening: Rehras. tions are issued from here from
Night: (before going to bed) Sohila. time to time for the guidance of the
of the NEW MAN In th". new world utmost reverence for her role in A Sikh is required to attend community. These injunctions are
Singh (1780-1839 A.D.) The Sikh
Empire lasted for half a century supported by a new morality. the family and society. The birth of Gurdwara-the Sikh churc~s a known as Hukam Namas and
and was annexed by the English Riches and personal posses- a daughter is not considered part of daily routine. have the binding force of Sikhs
sions are not hinderence in living Personal Law. There is no such
In 1849 A.D. inauspicious nor does there exist
. During the freedom struggle of by spiritual ideals. Sikhism does Sangat And Pangat class priesthood in Sikhism. How-
any custom like Sati-the burning
not believe in the maxim. ever, the one who perform the
Indla..8 large number of 'Sikhs of the widow with her husband's
he two important features of a daily service is called the Granthi.
klsse4 the hangman's noose,
faced all the brutalities and braved [,Istlnctlve Personality
the bunets and suffered long term
dead body on the funeral pyre.
Rather a widow has a right to
remarry if she so desires.
T Gurdwara are Sangat, con- The hymn-singers are called
gregation; and Pangat, commun- Ragis and the singing of hymns is
ity kitchen, also known as called Kirtan i.e. praise of the lord.
Imprlsonm4nts In order to liberate
the country. A Sikh has a distinctive perso- A woman is considered to have
nality. This distinction is rep- the same soul as man and she has
Although the Sikhs constitute resented by five symbols, popu- an equal right to grow spiritually
Guru-Ka-Langar. This community
kitchen is meant for providing food
We conclude this article with the
following words from our daily
only 1.7 percent of India's popula- larly known as Five K's, because and to attend religious congrega- to all devotees. pilgrims and visi- erayer.
tion. yet they have made a name the first letter of each symbol tion and recite divine hymns in the tors. It is a symbol of equality, fra- '0 God. give us light,
for themselves In almost all walks begins with the letter 'K'. These Sikh Church. ternity and brotherhood. It is here give us understanding, so that we
of life such as armed forces. agri- are Kessas (long and unshorn Sikh women do not put on veil that the high and the low, the rich may know what pleaseth Thee.
culture. sports. industry. educa- hair), Kangha (a comb). Kara (a (Purdah). Dowry and divorce are and the poor, the learned and the And may all (the whole mankind),
tion. medicine and engineering steel bracelet). Kachha (pair of not permitted. Wearing of clothes iQnorant. the kings and the paup- prosper by the Grace.

8 1-15 February 1990


The Tragedy
In A Tragic Bhagalpur
The months of October
and November 1989 wit-
nessed a terrifying and
shameful outburst of
large-scale communal
violence in Bhagalpur
District of Bihar. The
report below is based on
visits to these violence
scarred slums and vil-
lages on December 30
and 31. The first report is
from Bhagalpur city and
the se.c ond report is from
vii/ages near this city.
These reports are written
mainly from the perspec-
tive of the relief and reha-
bilitation work that is
~=if=ed~.==~========
By Bharat Dogra
M
adninagar (Baisbighi)
is a bast; located on
the Western border of
Bhagalpur city, in
Nathnagar area. It is inhabited
. mainly by powerloom and hand-
loom weavers, specially the
former. Bhagalpur is a big and
famous centre of silk weaving. The
residents of this basti are Muslims.
,This is the last urban basti and
after this the rural area starts.
In the recent outburst of com-
rmunal violence in Bhagalpur city
(Bihar), this was one of the worst
ad bastis. A mob numbering
, '1 thousand attacked this
ey smashed up and burnt
houses as well as looms. Visiting
his colony nearly two months after
his violence, this reporter tried to
esss the magnitude of violence
s well as the rehabilitation effort
squired.
, The people of this colony told
his reporter that nearly 211 fam-
pies dependent mainly on weaving
~ork live here,and the livelihood of
~Imost all these families, leaving
.side about 10 or 20 as chance
rvivors, has been destroyed or
~
amaged in varying degrees in the
. ent violence. In the case of
lome families, the looms have
leen burnt and entirely destroyed,
~ the case of some others these
ve been partially damaged. In
e case of some families electric
tors have been dams,Qed or
at Is rriore likely looted;' and in
case of sevetal other fciimilies
beams have been looted.
me weavers reported other
re parts as having Hen looted
damaged.
e yarn stocks of most weav-
'.have been looted. The result
" I this is that most of the weav-
~te today without work. As we
. around the bastiwhich once
: 'to reverberate with. the sound
I 'February 1990
of working looms, we could hear
looms working only at one place.
Thus not only have their belon-
gings been looted but in addition,
what is even more important, the
source of livelihood of most of
.---------------....:----------,--1
them has been destroyed to such
an extent .that they are unable to.
work now, and see little possibility
of starting thiS work in ihe near
future unless substantial financial
help is made available.
At the time of the violence the
residents of this basti had to desert
their homes and seek shelter in a
neighbouring locality called
Champanagar. They had to
remain there for nearly two weeks.
During this period the government
provided them free food at the rate
of 200 grams of grain per person
per day. In addition every adult
was given a sheet while every
child was given 2 metres of cloth.
A missionary agency also gave
help in the form of a dhoti or a sari
and a set of utensils per family. A
Central Minister .has promised
bank loans to help them to restart
their work.
It is clear that while the relief
work to provide them basic needs
(food and protection from cold
weather) was also quite inade-
quate, the framework in which the
rehabilitation of their occupation is
being planned is even more so.
When the damage is so extensive
as has been the case here, more
sanctioning of bank loans can
hardly be adequate. The weavers
here said that it will take them sev-
eralyears to come anywhere near
their earlier position.
This r'~rter visited another
locality in BhagalPur city which is
inhabited predominantly by
weavers-both powerloom and
.handloom weavers. Here on the
two sides of the road we could see I
two bastis both of which had suf-
fered extensive damage in the
recent violence. One bast; is called
Maskin Barari (in Champan agar
area) while the other bastiis called
'these loans. If the government
. interest-free loans) and these
.purchase yarn had exerted pres-
Indian Ghosh Road, Mukhya Mur-
giyachak, Barki Bazaar. In one
bast; the population consists
.mainly of Hindu weavers and in
the other bastithe population con-
sists mainly of Muslim weavers.
Both the communities have suf-
fered heavily in the recent vio-
lence. The extent and type of the
damage done to their livelihood is
more or less similar to that
recorded earlier for Madninagar
basti and the relief work has also
O ne aspect of the recent com-
been equally limited.
Here also the weavers said that
there has been some talk of giving
them bank loans to help them
restart their work, out these loans
are Iike!y to ~ given at a high
interest of 12.5 percent. The
weavers felt that in their present
condition when the work has suf-
fered such massive damage, such
loans cannot he:p them and they
will be in no pos ition to pay back
can not go beyond giving loans in
helping them, th ey said, then the
loans should carry a very low
int erest rate (or these should be
should be made returnable in very
small instalments.
Various donors can also help by
contributing a revolving fund from
which various weavers can borrow
in turn, and then return the
money back to this pool, a field off-
icer of a voluntary agency sug-
gested .
The compensatio n for damage
suffered by various houses is
bein(1 made in a ver~ arbitrary
manner, and the amounts being
sanctioned are not at all adequate
fo r repair work, the people here
complained.
Finally, it is important to stre ss
an important point which the
weavers of Madaninagar made.
They said that just before the vio-
lence, the traders from whom they
sure on them to obtain the cash
dues owed to them, on the pretext
of pressing cash needs. In retro-
spect some weavers feel that the
traders perhaps anticipated or had
knowledge of the violence that
was to engulf this area very soon.
Reports of this nature make it
imperative that the various eco-
nomic issues and contradictions in
the areas where communal vio-
lence takes place should be stu-
died carefully to identify the
economic roots of certain tensions
and violent acts.
munal violence in Bhagalpur
district which has caused great
concern is that this violence
spread in a bigway to rural areas.
According to official figures, such
incidents were reported from as
many as 150 villages. According
to information provided by Ms.J.S.
ORUM G~
Bordia, Magistrate Relief Opera-
tion, 14 of the 21 blocks in the dis-
trict were affected. The worst
affected blocks included Nathna-
gar, Jagdishpur, Sabaur and
Rajaun.
Makramdi, located in Sanjha
Shyampur Panchayat in Rajaun
Block (Bhagalpur district) stands
as a very tragic reminder of the
organized violence that engulfed
the villages of Bhagalpur recently .
A walk throuoh the streets of this
village and ~eighbouring village
settlements like Chakhmuniya
inhabited by Muslim population
revealed a large number of
damaged and burnt houses . . It
. appeared that the mob numbering
several thousands which attacked
this village had all .the time to
indulge in looting, arson and vio-
lienee with no hinderance whatso-
ever.
This is how the villagers
reported the events, "We saw a
huge armed mob coming thi5. way.
We could have made an effort to
defend ourselves but we were not
given a chance as the police was
. also clearly on the side of those
who wanted to attack us. First we
were asked by the police to go
inside our houses. Later. they
asked us to gather on the road.
The area was left free for the vio-
lent activities of the mob."
The result was that eight per-
sons were killed in Makrandi vil-
lage and seven persons 'were
killed in Chakhmuniya village. All
the other villagers (including per-
sons from neighbouring settle-
ments) were taken to Rajaun
Police Station where they
remained for one day. They were
then given shelter in Bhusiya Col-
lege premises (located about 6 kr'
from their villages) where thr
remained for 23 days. Here t'
were given a daily ration of 1(\
gms of rice and 25 gms of pul& Jf.
per person per day. After 24 days
they came back to their village to
find that all their belongings includ-
ing even their cattle and poultry
had been Jooted.
- Continued on Ige n
9
 PORU Qialr:erira
ECONOMY

Towards Self-Relianc,e
he reason why I will be experts sit and find loopholes, to

T . presenti!!.9, an interim
budget is very simple. I
do not want to make the
projections on the basis of the
infrastructure of the previous Gov- By Prof. Madhu Dandavate
discover how they can be explo-
ited. We would like to avoid that.
In this connection firm steps will be
taken to check the black money
economy. We would like to
ernment. Some experimentation unearth that money. We would like
and certain innovations are to be
tried. Only then I would like to
present the budget. But before
I
mar", self-reliant economy, to that time is important. We have to keep in t.hat case wherever "it fs neces-
extent the need to borrow Will nat- .that fnmind so that we may not sary and inevitable we will wel-
to destroy that money.
Then there is the area of waste-
ful expenditure. I do !"lot want to
that, we intend to take the coun- urally go down and thereby exter- waste our foreign exchange come it. quantify everything right now. But
try into confidence regarding the nal debts will be reduced. If you reserves. Though the picture is not rosy, I was trying to see the expenditure
economic situation. This is exactly ask me a straight question: Will I would like to inject into our econ- .incurred for various festivals inside
why we circulated a report on the you borrow from the IMF and other There are certain production omy an element of confidence. In and outside the country-Apna
current economic situation, financial institutions, I will not give oriented technologies for which my political acrimony with my pre- Utsav and others-and I find that
recently. a very clear-cut answer. components are to be imported. If decessors I would not like to throw there was no need for some of this
I would like to explain the obser- adequate foreign exchange out the baby with the bath water. expenditure. I am not anti-art or
vation which I have been asked But one thing I would like to reserves are not available and I would like to create a climate in puritanical, but ultimately the pri-
about several times and which has stress is that everwnder the com- those components are not the country and outside that when orities are to be fixed. Therefore,
been made by one of our spokes- pulsions of the situation in which imported and replaced, the entire investment is to be made, people all wasteful expenditure will have
men, that when we took over, the we are required to borrow, we . poduction process is likely to suffer may speculate whether the . to be curbed. For instance, the
coffers of the Government were . shall not accept any such condi- and therefore our developmental investment may be worth it or not. expenditure on VIP security is very
empty. It was only a picturesque ttions from financial institutions that activities will also suffer. So we I would not like suspicion to be huge. But sometimes psychologi-
way of describing the situation and would be against our economic need foreign exchange reserves created at all. For this I would point cal f,clors also help. It happens
it should not be taken literally. It and financial policies and an and for that we will have to go out out the reaction of the capital with the prices. Sometimes a
only means that our economic sit- affront to the nation. We just would ' of our way to see that exports are market. Their initial reaction was ' scare is created and you find a lot
uation is rather difficult. . not allow that to happen. augmented, so that it will be pos- to wait and watch, and they do it of fluctuation in the prices.
At the same time, this sible for us to have that foreign with everyone. But right now, there On the very first day we
statement-that our coffers are Import And Export Polley exchange reserve. The question of is a lot of buoyancy there. It is 'announced that we are going to
empty-wjll be an understatement the import of capital goods is reacting quite well. At the same have a price committee and we
s far as import and export hence very significant. The broad time we have our limitations h
for the simple reason that far
worse than the empty coffers are A policy is concerned, it is a guidelines will be very clear, but at reacting to market forces. We
the debt burdens. At the present matter of concern.The general the same time the approach will would not like the pporest sections
will see to it that concrete and firm
measures are taken to see that the
prices are controlled and they are
rate, by the end of the current thrust of our financial and eco- not be dogmatic; it will be realistic. of society to be exposed to the brought down. It was found that
financial year the total burden will nomic policies will be that even tender mercies of market forces. while in many places there- c"s a
be hundred thousand crores. In when imports become inevitable, Import-Where Necessary lot of release of sugar by ~~'e
that case the debt servr<;:e ratio, of we will try to see that they are Combating Inflation salers, in some places suaar
course, will be quite high. Econ- selective. Selective means both in
omists have been .taking the 20 terms of the commodities and in I nane of the interviews I had said
that I will not confuse dynamism
per cent debt service ratio as a terms of the point of time when the with quixotism. What I mean is that D ue to a number of factors,
today we find that inflation is
prices were coming down. These
are the psychological factors
which also help. Therefore a cli-
fairly safe ratio, but when it is imports are made. For example, dynamism is one thing and acting on the rise. There are certain mat- mate of austerity will be created,
crossed, efforts are immediately when the Kuo oil deal was struck, like Don Quixote is something ters which need to be attended to a climate where wasteful expen-
made to reduce the debt subsi- even the public undertaking com- else. In the broad outline to build immediately. It is an accepted fact . diture is avoided .
.dies. I am not quixotic to declare mittee had unanimously drafted a a self-reliant economy, there that mounting deficit financing is
that there will be no debts at all, report in wh ich it was very clearly should not be an emphasis on definitely causing inflationart Balanced And Pragmatic
that there will be no borrowings. said that when oil prices were multi-nationals and collaborations. pressures on the economy. It has
But the efforts will be to see that actually falling, ariving at the Kuo At the same time, if in certain sec- been completely established that
firm steps are taken.
I oil deal at a higher constant price tors certain technology has to be the economy of shortages built up
As we gradually try to evolve a was n~t prudent. So the point of imported for, say export purposes, ,the economy of black marketing.
I t will also be seen that no psy-
chological atmosphere is
created inside the country and
We also see that there are cer- outside, that will generate doubts
tain procedures and norms, cer- in those who want to invest, about
tain taxation policies which are the inner strength of our economy.
rather cumbersome-they cause I do not want to create an impres-
'J1!iti ~tst Comp~Q delays, and delays cause obstruc-
tions to development. In addition,
sion that our economy has
become insolvent and that W(A "..~
,-rom certain loopholes in the law cause
corruption. Therefore, the entire
going down the drain. Fr)-;:;'"
that-we are fully conficfe tit'that
effort of the new Government will we will be able to maintain the
be to simplify the rules and norms. strength and stability of our econ-
Whether it is taxation law, licens- omy. We are confident that grad-

Satkar Financial ing policy, or norms of administra-

tion, it will be simplified in such a
mann9, that the proCess will
become less cumbersome. Very
ually greater self-reliance will
reduce the external debt burdens.
We are confident that investments
will grow. Our approach will be

Corporation often; whenever laws are made, . balanced and pragmatic.

2651 Kucha Chelan

Dar-ya Ganj, New Delhi-lI000Z'
Tele. Nos. 275595, 26Y6l.8.

DI$T~I'UTOII$

MIS. WEMBLEY SALES CORPORATION

1470. KAMlA NAGAR. DELHI 110007

-
10 1-15 February 1990
 TECHNOLOGY ORUM ' Gaze",

Oil From Rice Bran

India at Sembanarkoil, Thanjavur,
Mannargudi and Chidambaram.
As far as the stabilization of lipase
,is concerned it has been proved
beyond doubt that rice bran can be
kept as long as 90 days without
Efforts are continuing in the form
of research, experiments, trial
applications and the like for mass
and cheaper methods of produc-
tion of bran oil which is a good
source of vitamin B.

IG
By Swatantra Radhakrishnan substantial increase in the forma-
tion of free fatty acids. (PIB)
one are the days when ever in the case of sunflower and Another stabilization process
women used to hand- groundnut, oil content is as high as developed by CFTAI enables the
pound paddy in the 40 to 45 percent respectively. The
home and then sieve price of rice bran oil in the market
storage of bran upto 10 days. The
process inactivates the enzyme
'Tragedy In Bhagalpu:r
the same for sifting out rice, husk is Rs. 15,000 per tonne. It is as iesponsible for deterioration of
and of course the bran. Our elders good as sunflower oil so far as the bran. The process has been tested While relief supplies like some
ConrinufH1 from page 9
knew the worth of rice bran and heart is concerned as it has a high on raw rice bran and par-boiled blankets and utensils have cer-
they never let it be lost. They used level of polyunsaturated fdts. rice bran. The equipment for the The people of this village are tainly reached some villagers, the
to consume it raw or mix it with gur At present there are only four same has been designed in such partly farmers and partly weavers, more important task in villages like
and til oil and make it delicious in rice bran oil mills in India. Three of a way that it is simple and does not The main occupation of most of Markamdi-where the main
the process. In my childhood, I had them are in Madurai and Trichy in involve manual handling of acid . the population is weaving. In source of livelihood is weaving-
seen grand mothers tempting tee- Tamilnadu and Hyderabad in The process is based on acidifica- Chakhmuniya bidi making is als-6 of trying to restore the lost liveli-
naged girls in their households Andhra Pradesh. The fourth one is tion of the bran by using hydroch- an important source of livelihood , hood of the people has not even
with round globules (Iaddus) of in Haryana. The process of oil loric acid, I;bout 40 Iitres of acid is Most of the looms have been been started yet. The government
bran mixed with gur and til oil. extraction followed is the same in required per tonne of rice bran, badly damaged. Beams, spare should give importance to this
They considered it to be good for all the four mills. It involves the The acid level is not too much as parts and yarn have been looted. aspect of rehabilitation also. If they
growth. Some had elten confided mixing of hexane with bran. The it SOlJnds. An average human It is not possible for the people to are helped in the rehabilitation of
in me that bran has medicinal alcohol absorbs the oil content of being produces a much stronger carry on their work. Their livelihood their lost livelihood, this will be the
value and that it can help prevent bran. The hexane-oil mixture is level of HCI in the stomach which has been destroyed, ' best way of ensuring basic needs
many diseases. But there used to then subjected to flash heating is part of the digestive juices. On December 31 when I visited to them, although immediately
be large quantities of bran. And which evaporates the alcoholleav- Acid-stabilized bran has two this village, I found it particularly some relief goods are also
what remained was given to milch ing the oil behind. Hexane is costly advantages. It is not easily tragic to learn that no government needed, keeping in view the mas-
cattle. These practices are forgot- and has to be imported, The loss affected by moisture. Stabilized relief had reached this roadside vil- sive damage and the cruel, relent-
ten by many. Handpounding of of hexane due to evaporation is bran has be9!'l tested for edibility lage so far even though the people less cold wave. Drinking water
paddy is now restricted to tribal about five per cent. Research to and nutritive value in mice, poul- had returned to their village more sources (Including wells and
areas which have so far not been reduce the percentage of evapo- try and dairy animals. Some vital than a month back. The only relief handpumps) have been damaged
encml~;(;hed upon by rice mills. 'ration loss is going on apace under constituents like tocopherols as that had reached them was from and polluted in the course of their
1-,.L rice that is available in the the aegis of the Technology Mis- also the colour remain unaffected various Muslim organizations, violence in over 100 village:. TJ;;s
market is polished rice sans any sion on Oilseeds. Any break- by the process. No residue of I".!el They have provided clothes, also requires urgent attention.
trace of bran. And that reminds me through in finding a way for the is left in the oil. shoes,utensils and above all, There is a danger that the steps
of yet another thing: of a lesson my optimum utilization of hexane will Studies in poultry have demon- bamboos for house-construction. to help the weavers may be con- .,
school text book which tried to result in the process becoming strated that there is a slight While all help is important and fined to the cities or villages just
teach us that 'Beri-beri' a polyneu- cheaper which will in turn reauce improvement in feed utilization of welcome, it is sad that the villag- near the cities. These efforts have
ritic disease, common among chil- the price of bran oil. the bran following the acid treat- ers in their hour of need should get to be extended to the affected vil-
dren, is mainly caused by vitamin An increase in the production of ment. This, however, is not signif- the feeling that none else has lages as a large number of weav-
deficiency in rice-based diet and bran oil depends on many factors icant. come to their help other than ers, specially hand loom weavers"
that the disease can be prevented like the opening of new mills and Acid treatment of bran has Muslim organizations. It must be live there. The help should be off-
by consuming bran or par-boiled an increase in the production of shown no adverse effect on cor- stressed that even the help ered on highly concessional and
rice which retains most of the orig- rice. It is anticipated that both short rosion of steel in simulated labor- received from Muslim organization easy terms' as the Weavers in
inal bran. term and long term measures will atory trials. However, there is is far from adequate. At the time many of these places have exper-
Thanks to industrialization, result in an increase of 6 to 7 lakh some corrosion seen in the outer of our visit, several houses were ienced very heavy damage.
modernization, the spread of tonnes in the production. The need layers of the plant. still in a stage of complete ruin. It would be a wise step to carry
women's education and employ- for more oil extraction mills needs Chemical stabilization can be Repair work had been started only out studies of this industry with a
ment, par-boiled rice is in fact dis- underscoring as rice bran deter- done in all types of mills, small or on a few houses and shops, spe- view to finding the links of the
appearing even in the traditional iorates within a few hours and large with all types of brans, cially the roadside shops. vested economic interests may
strongholds like Kerala and becomes unsuitable for oil extrac- whether par-boiled or raw rice If this is the condition of a road- have in this kind of violence also.
-A..~m. Par-boiled rice has tion. without any constraints on quan- side village, then the mind should- This will make it possible to take
~:'l(l a scarce commodity and The presence of lipase, a fat- tity. ers at the plight of remote villagers, steps which can resist similar
ther\.,!re- a lUXUry. The common splitting enzyme, in rice bran is a Commercial trials of the chem- several of which are known to tragedies in future.
people who have to buy rice have major hurdle ,in the production of ical process have started in four have witnessed extreme forms of
no other choice but to consume edible bran oil. The enzyme rapidly mills of the Food Corporation of violence. N.F.S, INDIA
polished mill-rice with practically hydrolizes the oil and releases
no trace of the vitamin-rich bran. fatty acids, partial glycerides and
But such an imPortant source of glycerols. Oil quality will be
vitamins cannot remain obscure adversely affected if the bran is not
for long. And bran has literally stored properly. Change of colour
been retrieved and restored to its and bad odour will affect its flavour
FORUM
::.:..:,-,,-,,=~=-===-_Gaz.lI.

pre-eminence, thanks to the Cen- making it unedible. The net result

,tr.al Food Technology Research is that a highly edible oil becomes
Institute, Mysore. Extraction and unedible and has to be utilized in
A NATIONAL FORTNIGHTLY
preservation of oil extracted from industries like those manufacturing
rice bran is now commercially soap.
FOCUSSING ON
viable. In fact in countries like * Civil Liberties * Equality for Women
Japan, Korea and the Phillipines
rice bran oil industry is a flourshing Stabilization Of Rice Bran
* Minority Rights * Democratic Values
one. They follow a very efficient Environmental Protection
and profitable method for large-
scale oil extraction from rice bran T he lipase enzyme has to be
inactivated to prevent the for-
as they have integrated rice mills. mulation of more fatty acids. Sta- Cinema * Sports * Books * Science * People
PLUS

There are gigantic mills having 100 bilization of rice bran is the
: to 150 tonnes capatities. Husking process which can check this.
* Short Stories Relig!on:
: . and polishing are \'done in such There are three methods of sta-
, mills on a,large scale and the bran bilization: cryogenic, thermal and
I which is sifted out goes straight to chemical.
attached oil extraction units. The Central Food Technologi-
cal Research Institute (CFTRI) has
released the thermal stabilization
011 P~tentlal process for industrial applications.
It uses steam and electricity. Par- Please Contact:
R ice bran contains as much as boiling and curing of paddy also

abean has only 16 percent. How- extent.

a
25 p'er cent oil whereas soy- inhibits lipase enzymes to certain
The Manager, The Forum Gazette,3 Masjid Road,
Jangpura, NEW DELHI-ll0014.Phone: 619284

1-15 February 1990 11

Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers of kldia Reg. No 45763 Delhi Postal Registration No. D (SE) 15186

tORUM ' G.z.ff~IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII""II"IIIIIIII"IIII"1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1IIII

Population Stabilization tainly has overshadowed the ach-

ievements on the economi9 front.
Would then one say that efforts
at containing population within
limits are doomed to fail and that
of vasectomy acceptors, for
instance came down from 32.7
years in 1973-74 to 31.9 years in
1986-87. Also, the percentage of
acceptors below the age of 30

Key To Development there is no ecape from the inevit-

of the courageous attempts being
By s.c. Kacktwana made by the Government to pro-
vide food, shelter, health care,
education and employment to the
country's teeming millions.
ability of a popUlation explosion?
While the demographic situ'ation in
the country is grave, it would
appear that, given the appropriate
dipped by another 60 per cent , inputs, it would be possible to
resting at 11.1 per thousand in avert the uhimate disaster.
1986. Better health services and India is committed to achieve on
medical care not only slashed one hand health for all and on the
years went up from 33.4 to 39.7
during the same period. Tubec-
tomy acceptors' mean age
declined from 31.8 to 30.3 years
and the percentage of tubectomy
acceptors below the age of 30
years rose from 37.4 to 50. Apart
from those accepting term inal
methods, the mean age of IUP

E
stimates predict that, if mortality rates but also ensured other realize the human resource acceptors also declined from 29.8
the present fertility rates longer life. life expectancy at birth replacement level of unity by the years in 1974-75 to 28.1 years in
are not curbed, India's increased from 32 years in 1951 year 2000 AD. The demographic 1986-87.
population will be touch- Reduction In Mortality Rate to over 58 years in 1989. This is goals set for the end of the century
Ing the mind-boggling figures of the result of improved health ser- are a birth rate of 21 per thousand
1480 million by 2021 A.D. Closer
still, the Planning Commission , A
look at the country's demo-
graphic history reveals that
Expert Committee on Population population which stood at 238.4
vices, elimination of mass killers (32.4 in 1986), a death rate of nine
like famine and epidemics and the per cent (11 in 1986), infant mor-
Efforts To Be Doubled

has estimated that the country will million at the beginning of the 20th
be stepping into the 21 st century century remained somewhat
eradication of dreaded endemic tality rate of less than 60 per cent
diseases like plague and small and a life expectancy of 64 years
pox. Malaria was at one stage vir- at birth (currently 58 years) .
A nother welcome trend has
been that couples having
lesser number of living children are
with a population of 986 milion. stable till 1921 . This can be largely tually eliminated. Though it has coming forward to accept family
With a population of 800 million explained by the near matching reared its head again the massive Estimates predict that, if planning methods. The percent-
at present, the country has out- high mortality and fertility rates, the public health measures have kept
the present fertility rates
age of acceptors with three or less
paced China or, for that matter, birth rate being 48 per thousand number of living children has gone
any other country in terms of and the death rate being 47 per
it under check and the number of are not curbed, India's up from 61 .2 to 63.9 in the case
deaths due to it are declining. populntion will be
growth rate in the last 42 years. thousand. It was between 1921 Health service coverage has also of vasectomy acceptors and from
Today, 15 per cent of the world's and 1951 (the first census year touching 1480 million by 53.6 to 59.4 in the case of tubec-
considerably brought down infant 2021. The question is one
population is in India which has after Independence) that the pop- tomy acceptors between 1978-79
mortality rates. But these highly
just 2.4 per cent of the total surface ulation figures started accelerating of survival. It has to be and 1986-87.
positive achievements has left us
area of the world. its pace. Now our popUlation is with a burgeoning population prob-
tackled on a war footing All this has led to avertinQ 95
Severely straining the country's galloping at break-neck speed. In by each and every one of million births"since the inc9r:. ' ~j,Of
lem which threatens to undermine
scarCA, resources,this population the four decades after indepen- us. the family planning programr,. ". In
and even negate the socio-
explosion threatens to nullify many dence the mortality rate sharply 1987-88 alone, 9.9 million briths
economic developments. It cer-
., Change In Attitude are estimated to have been
averted due to increased rate of

T hese may appear to be very

high especially in view of the
fact that still many people live
below the poverty line and are illit-
erate. The task is even harder
couple protection. The programme
is expected to receive a further
boost following various initiatives
that have been taken in the last
few years, the most impressive

" W Sleek! when it is realized that the success

or failure of the world's largest
campaign to curb population
depends entirely on voluntary
acceptance by individuals. More
so, in socio-economic cultural
milieu which is as varied as the
landscape and where early marri-
age and begetting at least one or
two male children is an ingrained
part of the national psyche.
Thanks to the sustained family
planning campaign since the mid-
sixties, the problem is no more of
creating awareness and providing
a motivation as such. It is now a
question of evolving strategies that
would help in attaining the desired
goals in a shorter time-frame . This
would mean not only providing
On or 011. Texll Colour Painstlkiogly larger services and facilities but
TVs ire pleaSure to put together to bring also ensuring a much larger cov-
~, The perfect you.pin sharp pictuII.
erage of younger couples, partic-
match betWeen State-ol- Rich. nalurel coIoIn.
the-Irt colour And strikingly sleek ularly in the rural areas and among
technology and exteriors! All at price the urban poor who at present
IIIISlhet1cIlly appealing thai will please you tend to accept birth-control prac-
design. even more.! tices only very late after having
four or five children. A recent study
has indicated that to be able to
make a positive dent in the fertil-
ity rates, it is necessary to moti-
vate younger couples.
One of the factors that influen-
ces fertility is the age of marriage.
It is now established that with an
increase in the age of marriage,
say to 21 years, the number of
births can be reduced substan-
tially. Delayed marriage can,
therefore, lead to a very percept-
. 0 LOU R TEL E V I S I O N C; ible fall in the birth-rate.
There have been some encou-
among them being the Universal
Immunization Programme
launched in 1985. The programme
which covers 307 districts in the
country till 1988-89 will reach out
to the entire country by 1990
reducing infant and child mortality
and encouraging parents to accept
family planning methods.
However the enormity of the
task ahead remains a daur.'("
one. Out of 135.77 million , :;,'J'
couples, only 54 million ori\l:l~rly
39.8 percent have been effectively
protected under various methods
of family planning. Even by con-
servative projections, there would
be 170 million eligible couples by
the year 2000 and 60 per cent of
them will have to be covered to
achieve the replacement level of
unity. This would mean that the
present level of coverage of 54
million couples will have to be
more than doubled in the next 11
years. Putting it differently, more
than thrice the total number of
acceptors enrolled over the last 38
years (since the launching of
family planning programme in
1951) will have to be covered in
less than one-third time.
If at all these targets are to be
achieved, cumulative efforts by all
concerned are a mu~t. 1'eo~'s
concern for populatioristabilization
will have to be generated and built
up to a very high level and facili-
ties to transform that concern into
real action-real acceptance of
family planning by them as a way
of life-will have to be provided.

NAAIOITX-89
1iltti The right choice raging indications that the mean
age of cquples accepting family
planning methods has come
. down. The average age of wives
The question is one of survival,
one of life and death. It has to be
tackled on a war footing by each
and every one of us.

12 (
1-15 February 1990
Priri'ted and published by A.S. Narang for- Ekta Trust, 2/26 Sarv Priya Vihar, New Delhi 110 016,' at MercurY Printers,
<thooriwalan. Delhi 110006. and Composed at DTP Services & Consultancv (P) Ltd .. A-86/3 , Mailis Park. Azadour. Delhi 11 0 O~;\