AsiaMedia :: Combating communalism
- From: pluto <pluto@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2007 09:01:24 +0800
AsiaMedia :: Combating communalism
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Combating communalism
'Dawn' editor Asif Noorani talks about one journalist's ordeal in challenging
communal prejudices
<http://www.dawn.com> Dawn Sunday, October 28, 2007
By Asif Noorani
JOURNALIST-ACTIVIST Javed Anand, based in Mumbai, was in Karachi to speak at an
international conference on religions and cultures in various regions of the
world, organised by the Karachi University's Area Study Centre for Europe and
the Goethe-Institut recently. It was his second visit to the city and the
country.
When asked what difference he felt since he last came here in 1988, he thought
for a couple of seconds and said "Your people used to say Khuda Hafiz when
parting. Now everyone says Allah Hafiz. I just heard you say Khuda Hafiz to
someone, which makes you an exception. He paused and then added "Mind you, last
time I was here for four days and this time it's just going to be 48 hours,
which is too short a period to form an opinion."
This combination of Javed and Anand baffled me even when I met him last time but
just couldn't find a chance to ask him. I thought I would not miss the
opportunity on this occasion.
"Well, at one time, for a short period of course, there was a trend among the
young leftists in Bombay to change the surname and adopt one from a different
religion, which was how I dropped Ahmed and chose Anand," came the reply.
Unlike all others who spoke at the seminar, Anand is not a scholar, but he has a
lot of experience to draw upon. He co-edits Communalism Combat, which is
basically a subscriber-based magazine. It went into publication as a result of
the 1993 communal riots, engineered by the extremist Hindu organisation Shiv
Sena. Anand's co-editor is also his wife and life partner, a Gujarati-speaking
lady Teesta Setalwadi, who, too, is wedded to secularism.
In 2002, after the anti-Muslim pogrom unleashed by Narendra Modi, the Chief
Minister of Gujarat, 12 activists joined hands to launch a campaign against him
and his goons. Called the Citizens for Justice and Peace, the body draws its
membership from all religious groups. Of the 12 on the board six are Hindus,
four Muslims, a Sikh and a Parsi. The famous playwright and social activist
Vijay Tendulkar is its chairman.
Recalling the Gujarat riots, Anand says the terrorists involved in the
well-known Best Bakery case were acquitted by the lower and high courts in the
state, but the pressure group was instrumental in appealing against the
judgments in the Supreme Court in Mumbai. The culprits were given heavy
punishments by the apex court. The group was able to get some more Hindu
terrorists involved in the carnage of Muslims punished.
Anand is also the General-Secretary of the Muslims for Secular Democracy, which
was formed to represent the community that is often misled by the communalists
among Muslims. "We challenge the mullahs and those who deprive women of their
rights," he said.
"An average Hindu and an average Muslim is above communal prejudices. But sadly,
they can both be exploited by the fundamentalists in their folds," continued
Anand.
He had to go to the police head office in Karachi on two occasions -- once to
report his arrival and then to report his departure. He was lucky that he knew
some influential people otherwise he would have ended up spending two hours on
both days. No other foreign participant at the seminar had to go through the
ordeal.
Speaking from experience, this writer can say that the Indians are more liberal
in giving non-reporting visas to Pakistanis than our people sitting in the
Pakistan high commission in New Delhi.
Date Posted: 10/28/2007
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