Dear Mr. Kamruzzaman, Thank you very much for your concern about the poet Mosharraf Khokon. However, could you please share with us how the two nation theory had buried? --- On Wed, 4/15/09, Salahuddin Ayubi <s_ayubi786@yahoo.com> wrote:
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__._,_.___
Allah is an abstract word refers to the nur which in english is dark matter, that is, without the sun's light and moon's reflected light.
Allah is the nur[darkmatter], sun is siraj and moon is muner in qurran. So word Allah can't be confused as has been suggested by Mr. Sarma's subject.
there is nowhere in the quran ever mentioned the word heaven. What is heaven in bible it is asman in quran and asman means layer of skies. So myth-makers can invent and wishes to go heaven with as many women as they choose but its not quranic. It is ignorance to perpetuate things that does not exist in quran. It is a libel or slander against a book that should be avoided at any cost.
--- In mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com, "sarmabb2008" wrote:
>
> I am utterly confused. It is not about Allah, but about the heaven. They say as many as 70 wife-like women would be given for each pious man in the heaven. But what the pious man would do with them ?
> We know Adam, the earliest and hence dearest person of the original god was kicked out from the heaven for doing something with Hawa bibi (For children this act is written as "eating a contra-banned fruit by the name Gandam". The adults and religious experts know it was narrated in this way only to hide the truth from the children).
>
> Now if Adam, one of the best man gets such treatment from the original god for doing that act in the divine heaven only once, who on earth can be so fool to expect that the same god would allow that act to happen in his sacred heaven ?
>
> Yours etc.
> Bijon B. Sarma
>
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The Curse of Historical Rivalries in Arakan State of Burma By Ahmedur Rahman Farooq. Norway For 3.5 million Rohingya Muslims of Arakan State of Burma, history has turned out to be an instrument to subject them to the worst human rights violations like denial of citizenship, a ban on marriage without government permission, severe restrictions of movement, religious persecution, extortion, land confiscation and restrictions on access to education etc. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which works in northern Arakan State and has also operated in the camps for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, has described the Rohingya as one of the ten world populations in danger of extinction. However, turning the wheels of Rohingyas' history backward and distorting the records of Rohingyas' glorious past in the multicultural society Arakan which is traced back to the 7th century, the Burmese military regime and the majority of Rakhines of Arakan State brand the Rohingyas as the 'Bengali immigrants' alleging that 'In the time of the British government, it was that the British brought Bengalis and Indians of India (now Pakistan, India and Bangladesh) into the nation with various intentions. ....The British ruled Rakine State (Arakan) for 123 years from 1827 to 1948. During that period, Bengalis entered the nation en masse.' Ref: The New Light of Myanmar, a state-run news paper of the Burmese military regime, dated Jan 30,2009. The anti-Rohingya camps brand the Rohingyas as Bengali immigrants because of their close affinity with the neighboring people of Chittagong of Bangladesh linguistically, religiously, culturally and physically. Notably, Rohingyas share an Indo-Aryan physical features of dark and pale skin like the people of Bangladesh and India because of being the descendants of the people of the Indo-Aryan stock. However, the focal point of the historical rivalries is whether the Rohingyas existed in ancient Arakan Kingdom before its annexation with the British colonial rule in 1827. Even though there is a tug-of-war between the Rohingyas and anti-Rohingya camps over many issues of the history of ancient Arakan, but at least there are few issues where there is an unequivocal consensus among the Rohingyas, the anti-Rohingya camps and the world historians. They unanimously agree that the names of many kings of the ancient Arakan before the British colonial rule, were 'Muslim' like (1) Solaiman Shah Narameikhla (1430-1434), (2) Ali Khan Meng Khari (1434-1459), (3) Kalima Shah Ba Saw Phyu (1459-1482), (4) Mathu Shah Doulya (1482-1492), ( 5) Mohammed Shah Ba Saw Nyo (1492-1493), (6) Nori Shah Ran Aung (1493-1494), (7) Sheikh Modullah Shah Salingathu (1494-1501), (8) Ili Shah Meng Raza (1501-1523), (9) Ilias Shah Kasabadi (1523-1525), (10) Jalal Shah Meng Saw Oo (1525), (11) Ali Shah Thatasa (1525-1531), (12) Salimshah (1608). All the historians including the anti-Rohingya camps also unanimously agree that all those kings used coins with Muslim inscriptions like Kalima 'la-ilaha-illallah', 'Muhammedur Rasulullah' etc.
Now, comes the question of 'Rohingya' name. The anti-Rohingya camps allege that the word 'Rohingya' has sprang up by 1950s and it was never heard before. But for one's easy reference, here is a simple record of 1799th publication: ' A Comparative Vocabulary of Some of the Languages Spoken in the Burma Empire' which was published by Francis Buchanan in 1799, in the fifth volume of Asiatic Researches. This piece provides one of the first major Western surveys of the languages of Burma. But the article goes beyond this and provides important data on the ethno-cultural identities and identifications of the various population groups of the ancient Arakan in terms of topography, history, antiquities, the condition of the inhabitants, religion, natural productions (particularly fisheries, forests, mines, and quarries), agriculture (covering vegetables, implements, manure, floods, domestic animals, fences, farms, and landed property, fine and common arts, and commerce (exports and imports, weights and measures, and conveyance of goods). Ref: SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research, Vol. 1, No., 1, Spring 2003, ISSN 1479-8484 Link: http://web.soas. ac.uk/burma/ Comparative% 20Vocabulary. PDF Dr Francis Buchanan, later known as Francis Hamilton or Francis Buchanan-Hamilton (15 February 1762 - 15 June 1892) was a Scottish physician who made significant contributions as a geographer, zoologist and botanist while living in India. From 1803 to 1804 he was surgeon to the Governor General of India Lord Wellesley in Calcutta. However, in his article, Dr Francis Buchanan wrote: 'I shall now add three dialects, spoken in the Burma Empire, but evidently derived from the language of the Hindu nation. The first is that spoken by the Mohammedans, who have long settled in Arakan, and who call themselves Rooinga , or natives of Arakan. The second dialect is that spoken by the Hindus of Arakan. I procured it from a Brahmen and his attendants, who had been brought to Amarapura by the king's eldest son, on his return from the conquest of Arakan. They call themselves Rossawn, and, for what reason I do not know, wanted to persuade me that theirs was the common language of Arakan. Both these tribes, by the real natives of Arakan, are called Kulaw Yakain, or stranger Arakan. The last dialect of the Hindustanee which I shall mention, is that of a people called, by the Burmas, Aykobat, many of them are slaves at Amarapura. By one of them I was informed, that they had called themselves Banga ; that formerly they had kings of their own ; but that, in his father's time, their kingdom had been overturned by the king of Munnypura, who carried away a great part of the inhabitants to his residence. When that was taken last by the Burmas, which was about fifteen years ago, this man was one of the many captives who were brought to Ava. He said also, that Banga was seven days' journey south-west from Munnypura: it must, therefore, be on the frontiers of Bengal, and may, perhaps, be the country called in our maps Cashar.' Giving a record of the 'Rooinga' vocabulary, Dr Francis Buchanan mentioned 50 words spoken by the 'Rooinga' tribe by that time like: ( 1) Bel - Sun (2) Sawn - Moon (3) Tara - Stars (4) Kool - Earth (5) Pannæ - Water (6) Auin - Fire (7) Sheel - Stone (8) Bau - Wind (9) Jorail - Rain (10) Manush - Man (11) Meealaw - Woman (12) Gourapa - Child (13) Mata - Head (14) Gall -Mouth (15) Bahara - Arm (16) Hat - Hand (17) Ban - Leg (18) Pau - Foot (19) Zoomtroo - Beast (20) Paik - Bird (21) Maws - Fish (22) Goom - Good (23) Goom nay - Bad (24) Boddau - Great (25) Thuddee - Little (26) Botdean - Long (27) Banick - Short (28) Awg* - One (29) Doo - Two (30) Teen - Three (31) Tchair - Four (32) Pansoee - Five (33) Saw - Six (34) Sat - Seven (35) Awtoa - Eight (36) Nonaw - Nine (37) Dussoa - Ten (38) Kau - Eat (39) Karin - Drink (40) Layrow - Sleep (41) Pawkay Bayra - Walk (42) Boihow - Sit (43) Tcheilayto - Stand (44) Marim - Kill (45) Hoi - Yes (46) Etibar - No (47) Hayray - Here (48) Horay - There (49) Ouchalo - Above (50) Ayray - Below. Notably, except four words e.g; Ban, Thuddee, Tcheilayto and Etibar out of these 50 Rooinga words, all other 46 words are still commonly spoken by the Rohingyas of today's Arakan and the people of Chittagong alike some ones with a little change of accent, object and area. So, this is an irrefutable evidence that the word 'Rohingya' has originated from 'Rooinga', the name of a tribe of the Muslims of the ancient Arakan. It did not spring up like a mushroom in 1950s. There is no denying the fact that the ancient Arakan was a multicultural society which was inhabited by many communities like the Rakhines, Rohingyas, Chakmas, Hindus, Christians, Mros, Khumis, Kamens and some hill tribes. In the words of Dr Shwe Lu Maung: "The Rakhaing King was the patron of all religions and culture. Siddikh Khan Mosque was built by the Rakhaing King in 1430 AD. It is the first Mosque in all Burma. I suggest that UNCESCO may please take due action to restore this oldest Myanmar Muslim heritage. ....(1) The Rohingya issue is a cultural and political issue. (2) The politicians recognize the Rohingyas. I am a disciple of Bogri Kra Hla Aung and Chairman Kyaw Zan Rhee. I worked with them in 1966-67. We have about fifty Muslim comrades with us in Bogri's party. Both leaders told me that we have to give due rights and recognition to the Muslim Nationals. As their disciple I recognize and respect the Rohingyas. (3) Presidents U Shwe Tha, U Maung Sein Nyunt, U Padi Phru, U Kyaw Hlaing,Dr. Khin Maung, Bo- Mhu Htun Kyaw Oo, Red Comrade Oo Khin Maung, Khaing Ahnar Ni are the politicians and they all recognize the Rohingyas. I also met General Khaing Raza with Dr. Yunus at Dhaka in 1991. I would assume that General Khaing Raza also recognizes the Rohingyas. Same conclusion applies to Commander Saw Tun who was killed along with General Raza." History is a mirror which reflects the past of a nation and in many cases it guides a nation to the road of peace and prosperity. In order to achieve peace and prosperity, it is immensely necessary to take care of only the positive and constructive events of the history and to bury the dirty ones. Rivalries will beget rivalries and it will never solve the problem. This will simply poison the life of the people of Arakan not only for today but also for the future generations. So, in order to let peace prevail in Arakan and to restore communal harmony between two warring communities - the Rakhines and Rohingyas, it is extremely important to bury the course of historical rivalries and to initiate a politics of peace to create a society for all the people of Arakan which would be free from political oppression, economic exploitation and cultural slavery.# ............ ......... ......... . ............ ......... ......... ....... Norway. Email: arahman567@yahoo. com www.rohingyareview. com http://newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidRecord=258091 |
Interesting and Incisive does not Truthful Journalism MakeApr 14, 2009Some readers (MH, Zia) have left comments on a previous post about how Ms. Paul is a one-woman opposition party, and how her commentary is interesting and incisive. MH actually suggested that we were attacking the messenger instead of the message. Instead of responding in the comments, let us expound on this on a more prominent forum. There is one tiny element missing from Ms. Paul's most incisive writing: something called "Truth". Lets examine that claim a bit. Weekly World News is probably one of the most "interesting" news outlets out there. Why, right now they are asking you to register because "ALIENS ARE COMING! Be the first to know. SIGN UP NOW!" And you must take them seriously too: they are, after all, the World's ONLY reliable news. If you don't believe me, check out their masthead. So "interesting" does not make a commentary or news "truthful." Before diving into the "incisive" claim, let us look at evidence of Sunita Paul plagiarizing the writing of others: Mashuqur Rahman, the New York Times, The Daily Star, The Hindu, and multiple other Indian news outlets. The fact of the matter is, to paraphrase a famous quote: what is truthful in Sunita Paul's writing is not original, and what is original is not truthful. Do you value incisiveness more than the truth? Do false, made-up stories attract just because they are incisively made up? Then this post has no value to you. But if you believe truth is an integral requirement of a commentary, then read on. As MH, Zia and others did not challege the logic and evidence presented to show that "Ms." Sunita Paul is a plagiarist, a cheat and a fraud, can you tell me why we should believe anything else he/she writes? In other words, if the integrity of the messenger has been proven to be fake, how can we believe the message? It is easy to agree with the "message" if we do not look at it analytically, and may I suggest that you are falling in that trap. Being a rational person, I can not help but analyze what I read. And I must say, most of the claims do not even pass the smell test. Allow me to cite some examples: From her April 14 article, Suppressed trip, hidden meeting and treatment luxury of Bangladeshi politicians, we will analyze some passages. You be the judge: Check here two points! Sajib Wajed Joy could not bring his former wife Christine Ovemarrie as they already got separated long time back. Secondly, on April 13, 2009, he had two-hour long closed door meeting inside the ministry of Home Affairs with none but Tanjim Ahmed Sohel Taj, the junior minister for the ministry. Mr. Wajed's wife's name is spelled incorrectly. Besides that, what does Mr. Wajed's marital status have to do with this story? Unless Mr. Wajed is trying to get married, this is irrelevant. Still not good enough for you? Then check out this report from the New Nation (or your favorite online Bangladeshi newspaper for Jan 11, 2009) Sajib Wazed Joy, son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, arrived in Dhaka at early Saturday from United State of America (USA).Reporting this married couple (at least 3 months ago) as "already got separated long time back" is nothing but yellow journalism. But let us ignore this journalistic ethical lapse for a moment, and apply the smell-test to this reporting. Since "Ms." Paul is "deaf and dumb" according to her own bio, it would be fair to assume that her primary means of communication is via email. In another post, she has also written that she has never been to Bangladesh. Are we being asked to suspend disbelief, and believe that not only someone emailed her the news that such a meeting took place, but also emailed her specific information regarding what Mr. Wajed tasked Sohel Taj to brief Kahar Akhand? Presumably, if the meeting at all took place, these hand-picked people who were present must have found Ms. Paul so fascinating (having never spoken to her in person or even via phone, since she is "deaf and dumb"), they are risking their loyalty, job and possibly freedom to pass her these secrets over email as soon as the meeting is over? Do you buy this? In that case, my great-grand-father left me a huge white building across the street from Curzon Hall in Dhaka that I want to sell to you at a very good price. But what of "Joy was very dissatisfied to see long list of Awami League leaders and activists as collaborators and conspirators of the massacre"? Did Joy forget that our fearless journalist had already exposed him? If so, let me refresh Joy (and MH and Zia's memory): on March 29, 2009, in an article titled "Bangladesh: Manipulation of BDR massacre probe", our Ms. Paul wrote: 14. Why Prime Minister´s son Sajib Wajed Joy came to Dubai on February 27 to meet some of the fleeing mutineers,("her mother"? Fine; people make mistakes, let it slide) I don't know if Mr. Wajed was at the Dubai airport on Feb 27. But I will play the Devil's advocate, and agree that the questions described above may be, just may be, true. I will even ignore for a moment how this self-described "never been to Bangladesh" journalist knew this. (We will get back to this in a minute) One problem that liars have is they forget what they lied about, and a future lie often ends up contradicting a past lie. Looks like our "Ms." Paul is no exception. Because if you compare the March 29 and April 14 articles, these inconsistencies become clear. So Mr. Wajed defied an instruction from his mother to return to Bangladesh? According to this article, it was known (to "Ms." Paul and "her" loyal readers) that Mr. Wajed was at the Dubai airport giving thick envelopes (presumably containing cash) to fleeing mutineers. Then why, oh why, "Joy was very dissatisfied to see long list of Awami League leaders and activists as collaborators and conspirators of the massacre" as described in the April 14 article? I mean, if he is the paymaster of the fleeting murderers, why would Joy have to "see" the long (or short) list? Shouldn't he already know about who was involved? Why would he have to defy his mother's orders to return to Dhaka so he could instruct Sohel Taj what to tell the CID officer about the investigation? He should have known all this by February 27, and not wait until the information came out during the interrogation. The person hiding behind the Sunita Paul pen-name fell in the typical liar's dilemma, and forgot the previous lie. Now let us get back to Sunita Paul's unbelievably good sources. I have received many emails explaining that the journalists in Bangladesh have the same information, but they are afraid to publish it. But Ms. Paul, being outside Bangladesh, is immune to such intimidation, so she can write about these. Right.. do you really believe that the BNP-backed newspapers and journalists are such cowards that they would sit on such explosive news and not use it to topple Awami League from power? We saw BNP leaders claim that the BDR massacre was caused so Khaleda Zia's house could be taken by AL. Even they are not making these acquisitions, because even BNP does not believe this information. The explanation? Ms. Paul is making these out of thin air. We have already proven that she is a liar, cheat and a fraud, so this fits perfectly. Or, if all this does not make any sense to you, here is another explanation. Sajeeb Wajed Joy was born in an affluent family. He has two masters degrees, or "twice masters" as it is uncommonly known. Who would know better than Joy himself where he was on February 27, and what was he doing that day, or what transpired at the meeting with Sohel Taj? Lastly, who will be immune if the story of the meeting between Joy and Sohel Taj leaks? Surely only Joy has that level of access and privilege. And why didn't he just instruct Sohel Taj by phone about what to do, instead of coming to Dhaka in secret? Why, he is deaf and dumb, and can not use the phone (just like "Ms." Paul can not give us a phone interview, because she is deaf and mute.) Conclusion: Sunita Paul is none other than Sajeeb Wajed Joy. All the accusitions against Joy? What a pefrect cover! What? You don't buy this either? Then we will have to go back to the original explanation: Sunita Paul, when "she" is not plagiarizing from others, just makes stories up. If you are still in the interesting and incisive camp, may I suggest some books by Tom Clancy or Don Brown? I believe you will find them far more interesting, incisive, and clearly labeled as "Fiction." http://shadakalo.blogspot.com/2009/04/interesting-and-incisive-does-not.html |
--- On Wed, 4/15/09, saeva@aol.com <saeva@aol.com> wrote:
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Dear friends, The last paragraph of the article below reads: "No civilised country in the world today will permit racism (communalism is akin to racism and anti-semitism) to be propagated at the popular level, especially at the child's level. It is shocking that more than sixty years after independence hate speeches can still be given during mass election campaigns threatening to cut off the hands of Muslims. It is totally unacceptable that our children are still exposed to hatred towards other communities despite secular governments making promises about "detoxifying" the education system. A promise last made in 2004 when the victory of the secular forces provided a historic opportunity to combat communalism and to restore the civilisational values of the freedom struggle which were getting severely eroded under BJP rule. However, more than four years later, schools are free to choose any textbooks they please and there is no regulatory framework in place for whetting textbooks before they can be used."
Well, the UPA government at the center has not done its duty. However, have we, as a bit more civilized citizen (?) done our duty? None of us has bothered to file suites in the any High Courts or the Supreme Court to see what happens. Agreed, most of those judges come from communities that lean towards BJP/RSS. However, at least some of them in the Supreme Court have shown that they can cause some headaches to BJP/RSS. It seems that they are going to make Varun Gandhi promise that he won't deliver hate speeches (though I would have liked him to be left in the locker to rot for a little while). If they can do that, I think they could ask state governments too to make sure that none of the books adopted in any school, public or private, use hate filled texts.
I guess we are all civilized couch-citizen! We all think that someone else will do it, and we will watch the results on the TV. Come on wake up!! I am committing Rs. 5,000 towards initial court expenses. Let us have some more commitments, and someone should take a lead in hiring a Supreme Court layer; someone would then collect the committed funds and we will see what happens in the court. Right now I am in New York for another month and a half, else I would have taken the lead.
If hate speeches can be banished from election campaigns, certainly we should be able to get hate books banned from schools and colleges!
Regards, Satinath Aditya Mukherjee and Mridula Mukherjee
"Wherever they went, they had a sword in their hand. Their army went like a storm in all the four directions. Any country that came their way was destroyed. Houses of prayers and universities were destroyed. Libraries were burnt religious books were destroyed. Mothers and sisters were humiliated. Mercy and justice were unknown to them." This is what lakhs of children going to RSS-run schools will learn about Islam, at the tender age of nine, from their textbook Gaurav Gatha for class four published by Saraswati Shishu Mandir Prakashan (an RSS-run publishing house). As visible proof of Muslim atrocities the same book also teaches: "Delhi's Qutb Minar is even today famous in his (Qutbuddin Aibak's) name. This had not been built by him. He could not have been able to build it. It was actually built by emperor Samudragupta. Its real name was Vishnu Stambha…. This Sultan actually got some parts of it demolished and its name was changed." While thus demonising the Muslims, strangely it does not occur to the Hindu communalists how apt the above description is of what they themselves have been up to in Gujarat, Pune and Ayodhya in recent years. In Pune, the library of the Bhandarkar Institute was vandalised, in Gujarat mothers and sisters were humiliated and murdered, and in Ayodhya the Babri Masjid was demolished. In the understanding of the Sangh combine (Parivar or family connotes a decent, humane value and cannot be associated with organisations that promote hatred and murder) led by the RSS, the role of Christians is no better than that of the Muslims. The RSS-run Vidya Bharati Sansthan, which claims to be engaged in providing to the young generation education in religion, culture and nationalism, has the following to teach children about Christians in book no. 12 of a series published by the Sansthan. Followers of Christianity are portrayed as anti-national and a threat to the integrity of India and it is said: "It is because of the conspiratorial policies of the followers of this religion that India was partitioned. Even today Christian missionaries are engaged in fostering anti–national tendencies in Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal, Bihar, Kerala, and other regions of our country because of which there is a grave danger to the integrity of present day India." Warnings unheeded The heavy cost the nation had to pay for this kind of poisoning of the minds of young children ( a poisoning aided by the BJP using state power whenever and wherever they got hold of it) was seen in Gujarat during the mass murders following Godhra and in Orissa recently. For years before the Godhra riots secular activists like Teesta Setalvad had been warning repeatedly that if the communal hatred being taught to Gujarat children went unchecked, then Gujarat was heading inevitably towards the kind of communal carnage it witnessed in 2002. After all the children in Gujarat who were exposed to the RSS type of education were not only learning to see the enemy in Muslims and Christians, they were also learning how to deal with it. Children reading the Gujarat State Social Studies text for class IX would learn: "apart from the Muslims even the Christians, Parsees and other foreigners are also recognised as the minority communities. In most of the states the Hindus are in minority and Muslims, Christians and Sikhs are in majority in these respective states". In the Gujarat State Social Studies text for Std. X, which virtually eulogises fascism and Nazism, the children would learn how to deal with these 'foreigners' who are making the Hindus a minority in their own country. "Internal Achievements of Nazism: Hitler lent dignity and prestige to the German government within a short time by establishing a strong administrative set up. He created the vast state of Greater Germany. He adopted the policy of opposition towards the Jewish people and advocated the supremacy of the German race. He adopted a new economic policy and brought prosperity to Germany….He instilled the spirit of adventure in the common people." That in order to maintain the purity and supremacy of the 'Aryan' race millions of Jews were butchered was not even thought worthy of mention. After all, the RSS ideologue, Guru Golwalkar, had categorically stated in We or Our Nationhood Defined, p. 55-56: "German race-pride has now become the topic of the day. To keep up the purity of the race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the semitic racesthe Jews. Race-pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well nigh impossible it is for Races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for use in Hindusthan to learn and profit by." These are only a few samples of the kind of ideological poisoning that is undertaken by the RSS and its allies. We have in our book RSS, School Texts and the Murder of Mahatma Gandhi: The Hindu Communal Project, Sage, New Delhi, 2008, (authored by Aditya Mukherjee, Mridula Mukherjee and Sucheta Mahajan, all Professors of History at JNU) tried to show extensively how the vicious Hindu communal propaganda not only led to the murder of one the greatest living Hindus, Mahatma Gandhi, but even today threatens the very survival of the great legacy of our freedom struggle — a secular, multi-cultural democratic state. No regulatory framework No civilised country in the world today will permit racism (communalism is akin to racism and anti-semitism) to be propagated at the popular level, especially at the child's level. It is shocking that more than sixty years after independence hate speeches can still be given during mass election campaigns threatening to cut off the hands of Muslims. It is totally unacceptable that our children are still exposed to hatred towards other communities despite secular governments making promises about "detoxifying" the education system. A promise last made in 2004 when the victory of the secular forces provided a historic opportunity to combat communalism and to restore the civilisational values of the freedom struggle which were getting severely eroded under BJP rule. However, more than four years later, schools are free to choose any textbooks they please and there is no regulatory framework in place for whetting textbooks before they can be used. (The writers are professors of history at Jawaharlal Nehru University.) Printer friendly page |
Oops! Earlier subject head was wrong. So this is the same thing with more appropriate header. Sorry for mixup. Regards, Satinath Dear friends, Let us try to think of one thing that will go towards making the lot of children better. I think it is "voting rights to children" -- all individuals, ten years old or above should have right to vote! Off hand, one would say, that's ridiculous, children do not understand anything. They have no capacity to make judgment about parties and candidates. However, let us try to be a bit analytic. Particularly in a country like ours, more than half of the population is illiterate, Yet we have adult franchise -- all individuals 18 or above have right to vote. One could have easily argued that voters must bee at least high school graduates before they can vote, as otherwise they have no understanding about anything. However, most civilized countries have no such restrictions. This is because in case of restrictions (like the necessity of high school diploma) on who can vote, the more powerful ones will make sure that the exploited ones never get to possess high school diplomas. Even though the fate of the poor in our country has not improved much, I am sure, everybody will agree that it would have been much worse, had they not have the right to vote in their hands. Voting rights for a group attracts politicians to them and make promises. Even if just a few promises are kept, that is a plus. Voting rights for children will attract politicians to them and make promises. Even if just a few of the promises are kept, that will be an improvement. As far as ability of the children to vote prudently is concerned, let us try to figure out how the poor illiterate vote. They talk to the ones who they think to be wiser. On the basis of their conversation with the ones who surround them, particularly the relatively wiser one, they vote. If children had to vote, mostly they are going to vote in accord with their parent's advice. Hence as far as percentage of children's votes going to different candidates is concerned, it won't be much different from those cast by their parents and the ones they regard to be wiser ones. However, voting rights for children will make them a power block to be reckoned. Their needs will be recognized and addressed; at the very least promises will be made, and some of them even implemented. They will not be totally ignored. True, parents are already there to care for the children and demand their welfare. However, right now, without voting rights in the hands of children, care for children is not as important as it would have been with votes in their hands. Votes for their care would be doubled -- their own votes, plus their parents' votes. It certainly would make a difference. Hence I reassert that voting age must be lowered right down to ten years of age if we want to improve the lot of our children! Regards, Satinath ==================== Where are the children in these elections? Thomas Chandy
Around 13 million children under the age of 14 work as child labour Compulsory elementary education still remains a distant dream Paromita comes from a poor family in West Bengal; her father spends his earnings as a daily wage labourer on drinking alcohol and gambling. Paromita was brought to Kolkata by an older woman from her village at the age of 11 to work as a domestic worker. The woman found the girl work in a south Kolkata household. Paromita was given Rs.100 a month and made to work more than 14 hours every day. She was also beaten regularly by her employer. Paromita and her sisters have never been to school. For Paromita and millions of other socially and economically underprivileged children in India, what do these elections mean? Yet again the world's largest democratic exercise sees the concerns of children remaining on the fringes of policy debate as an analysis of the manifestos of the two big parties — Congress and BJP — shows. At its Karachi Convention, the All-India Congress Committee took a resolution on fundamental rights. The party made a declaration then that any Constitution which may be agreed to on its behalf should provide, or enable the Swaraj Government to provide for, among other things: Free primary education, and prohibition against employment of school-going children in schools. That was in 1931. It is 2009 now and the 15th round of elections since Independence are in. The Congress has been in power for the most number of years than any other party since Independence. In fact, till 1975, the Congress was the only party to win a majority in the parliamentary elections. So how much has the party delivered on the resolutions it made at that historic convention in Karachi? Compulsory elementary education still remains a distant dream. Fifty per cent of children drop out of elementary school in the country. Official figures report that approximately seven million children are out of school. Around two million children under the age of five die every year. Almost half of all children under the age of five are malnourished. The country has the shocking distinction of having the world's largest number of sexually abused children. India also arguably has the highest number of children facing exploitation and neglect. Around 13 million children under the age of 14 work as child labour. The Government of India is committed to the United Nations Convention on Rights of Children. Article 32 of the UNCRC, for example, states that 'State parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education." This is rarely followed in spirit. Further, the distinction between hazardous and non-hazardous labour is arbitrary. There is little coherence between elements of the government's policy towards child labour and the articles outlined in international conventions. The government claims to have introduced new laws during its time in power to eliminate child labour. The reality is that it merely brought in a notification including child domestic work and employment of children in hotels, restaurants and dhabas as hazardous labour under the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act (CLPRA). Millions of children, especially under the age of 14, are employed in the agriculture sector and other unorganised sectors but the manifesto is silent on this. In its manifesto, the Congress has promised to set up one model school in every block of the country. Over the next five years, the party promises to add one more model school in every block. This will mean a substantial increase in expenditure on education. The Congress has not spelt out clearly how much of an increase in budgetary allocation it envisages for education. In 2008, the State spent less than five per cent of its budget on children, mainly for education and healthcare. The Congress also promises to focus on the outcomes and achievement levels in education and not just on enrolment in school. However, it offers nothing new except for a teacher training programme and improvement of physical infrastructure of schools, which are already being addressed by the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan. Also, the party is silent on the promise it made on the Fundamental Right to Education Bill. The BJP does not fare better either. The party has made some promises on child related issues but significantly there are glaring ambiguities too.. Its manifesto offers to raise the budgetary allocation for education from six per cent to nine per cent. However, it is not clear what proportion of this will go for school education and how much for higher education. Again, interestingly, instead of a solid commitment to prohibiting all forms of child labour up to the age of 14 and a comprehensive rehabilitation programme for children rescued from child labour and their families, the party promises to set up a national child labour commission. This is hardly an innovative solution to tackling modern-day slavery of children and will only create further confusion. Moreover, it is not clear how different this body will be from the existing National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) which is mandated with the promotion and protection of child rights. Setting up another commission will further fragment policy approach to children's issues. For example, will cases of corporal punishment and sexual exploitation (or any other violence against children) be taken up by the NCPCR while the new commission handles child labour issues? Now what happens if a child worker is sexually exploited by the employer? Will both the commissions serve notice on the employer or will both say "it doesn't fall in the ambit of our mandate and it's for the other commission to take action?" Nineteen per cent of the children in the world live in India. India is a youthful nation; the 440 million people in the country aged below 18 years are its future. India can only rightfully take its place on the world stage if it takes steps to ensure that the future of its children, and therefore the country, is secure. All political parties must make investing in children a national priority and indeed this is critical to ensuring sustainable progress in social and economic productivity. (The writer is CEO, Save the Children. To know more about the organisation's work, log on: www.savethechildren.in ) Printer friendly page |