[Reader-list] NO CAVILING AT GUJARAT'S HARD FACTS

[Britta Ohm]

Oh, thanks for your appreciating 'a German' to visit camps in Gujarat,  
which seems to suggest that you would not expect anything but a guided  
excursion to the Taj Mahal (or rather Akshardham, I suppose), given  
that you seem to know that I landed at New Delhi (which I mostly  
don't, but 'hard facts' can, as we know, become anything that's stated  
in a way which does not allow contradiction, let alone disproof). I'm  
not that much of an exception, let me tell you. And I do not suffer  
from selective amnesia either but am very aware of the Kashmiri Pandit  
camps. I find it odd, though, that they only seem to come into play  
when other atrocities and displacements of minorities are being  
mentioned, they do not seem to be of any real concern to anybody,  
nobody "feels" for them, isn't that strange? And how come that not  
even the BJP-government ventured into compensation for them? The  
expulsion of the Kashmiri Pandits was terrible but it's probably even  
more terrible that they became a useful tool for politics. There seems  
to be a big interest that the Kashmiri camps are "there" (always),  
which corresponds with the interest that the Muslim camps are not  
"there" (at all). Or what have you done, if I may ask, to highlight  
the pandits plight, to campaign for solutions or to help?
I'm not going to venture into your abstruse suggestion that amongst  
the religious minorities you would not find extreme subdivisions,  
Christians as much as Muslims in India follow variations of the caste  
system, there are countless different sects and spiritual practises  
(the Bohras, for instance, only exist in Western Gujarat and would  
certainly not be seen at friday prayers in a Sunni mosque) as much as  
syncretic traditions (which you seem to find treacheous), many of  
whom, regretfully, have been severly endangered or made extinct in  
Gujarat as much as in Kashmir (under very different political  
conditions) and in many other places, and that NGOs do not wear the  
halo of accountability and responsibility is not exactly breaking  
news. But I also do not want to even imagine some situations - such as  
the aftermath of the Gujarat pogrom - without them. The main point  
here, though, was whether the camps exist at all or not, and you said  
it yourself. I'm totally cool now, thanks.


Am 28.05.2010 um 15:36 schrieb Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi:

> Not bad for a german to visit the camps in gujarath, and feel for  
> the "muslims" but as you landed at new delhi, did you notice the  
> camps of displaced people of Kashmir exisiting there for over six  
> decades, madam, i wonder. Selective amnesia does no good for any  
> activist.
> By the way to term muslims and other followers of faith as Minority  
> is misnomer for the simple reason, the other individuals in  
> "majority" faith are so badly divided on caste, sub caste, clans and  
> sub clans that they are the real minorities compared to the  
> gatherings of sunday mass or friday prayers, which mobilise 90  
> percent of the followers of the minority faiths.!
> wprse still, is the minority have hindu names with their faith  
> nomenclature assigned by the priests, like Mahesh maqbul batt,  
> Naveen Ignatious D'souza, so one can easily hide the faith that he  
> is following.!
> That apart, all this minority and majority is the guise to grab  
> votes to ascend the throne of power, so cool it.NGOs have not much  
> of credibilty left as most of them are doing the business of  
> procuring the grants and funds and very few actually use it for any  
> worthwhile good work for the purpose it is given for. perceptions  
> are managed to get more funds.
> regards,
> rajen
>
> On Thu, May 27, 2010 at 1:27 AM, Britta Ohm <ohm at zedat.fu-berlin.de>  
> wrote:
> I also have a few questions:
>
> a) Numbers being as stretchable to the creation of myths as any other
> source, what about the displaced inhabitants of the 70 'semi-
> permanent' camps scattered around Gujarat, not officially acknowledged
> by the Gujarat government and maintained by NGOs (a few of which I
> visited in 2007)? The Muslim inhabitants' voter IDs and ration cards
> have to a large degree never been replaced, which means they would
> never figure in any 'proper' survey. Does the physical displacement
> and statistical/legal erasure of nearly 200 000 Muslims not constitute
> a 'hard  fact'? Or is it precisely the necessary basis of 'hard facts'
> creation?
>
> b) At what political and psychological price has this numerical
> mystery been achieved? How many legal cases have been withdrawn under
> what pressure? How many Muslims are imprisoned without seeing a
> lawyer, or even knowing their case? What rights were sacrificed in
> return for acceptance in employment? How many residential areas were
> 'voluntarily' vacated (or not reclaimed) in order to not provoke
> further exclusion? Which topics of learning and education have been
> dropped so as to be admitted to higher education? What do the numbers
> of primary schools close to a 'Muslim area' tell about kids'
> discrimination? Any minority that knows it can't do anything to
> profoundly change its situation will cooperate to the best of its
> abilities - and after a while, helped by the outer circumstances that
> play off 'cooperative' against 'non-cooperative' members - possibly
> truly believe that it is doing really well and even start to discredit
> 'non-cooperative' members of the same community. After all, it's their
> fault if they do not progress and make their lives difficult, and they
> better learn to adjust lest they soil the new good reputation of those
> who cooperate willingly and see the advantages. The deal is
> psychologically extremely straining but at the core dead simple:
> inclusion for justice.
>
> The pogrom of Gujarat was not classified by the UN as an attempted
> genocide because of the number of victims but because there was no
> other way of doing categorical justice to the uncompromising will to
> kill the Muslim minority. Everybody knew that it was, because of their
> numbers, impossible to 'get them all'. Modi's 'success' thus lies not
> in the pogrom itself but in having been able to employ it as a means
> of ending the 'communal/minority problem' on another level. The
> numbers of success and inclusion suggested here correspond with claims
> and imaginations of fair and supportive minority politics. Nice. But
> how should this be possible after a genocidal attack and the same
> government in power? There are just things that do not go together,
> whichever way you turn them, because they are humanly impossible, so
> there have to be found other, more human explanations. And looked at
> the 'hard facts' this way, it simply is more likely that they express
> the 'actual' and realistically pursued outcome of the pogrom, namely
> the renunciation or created sheer impossibility of democratically
> claiming human and minority rights.
>
>
> Am 26.05.2010 um 13:26 schrieb Pawan Durani:
>
> > Any idea of recent communal riot in Shahpur , Ahmedabad....I dont
> > see anyone
> > discussing that.
> >
> > pawan
> >
> > On Wed, May 26, 2010 at 4:43 PM, anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com
> > >wrote:
> >
> >> Bipin,
> >>
> >> I have a few questions for you: When was the Sachar committee
> >> report filed?
> >> Was there any such committee before Sachar to assess the condition
> >> of one
> >> particular community as mentioned in your post? Do you think a
> >> comparative
> >> analysis is required in ascertaining the conditions prevalent in  
> the
> >> community now and then?
> >>
> >> thanks anupam
> >>
> >> On Wed, May 26, 2010 at 3:30 PM, Bipin Trivedi <aliens at dataone.in>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> To an editorial published in the Indian Express on May 22 titled "
> >>> <http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hard-facts-to-face/622193/>  
> Hard
> >> facts
> >>> to
> >>> face" the Gujarat Government had sent a letter in response stating
> >>> the
> >>> factual position regarding the status of Muslim in Gujarat.
> >>> <http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hard-facts/623677/0> A part of
> >>> the
> >>> letter
> >>> was published in the Indian Express dated May 26, 2010. The  
> complete
> >>> version
> >>> of the letter that was sent to the Editor Indian Express is  
> enclosed
> >>> herewith so that you will be conversant with the real hard facts.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Refer link:
> >> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hard-facts-to-face/622193/0
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> No caviling at Gujarat's hard facts
> >>>
> >>> How do Muslims fare in Gujarat? They fare much better compared to
> >>> other
> >>> states. The objective study by the Prime Minister's high-level
> >>> committee
> >>> headed by Justice Rajendra Sachar, appointed by Prime Minister Dr
> >> Manmohan
> >>> Singh in 2006, indicates that Muslims in Gujarat perform and fare
> >>> much
> >>> better when compared with other states in several key indicators
> >>> such as
> >>> education, employment, income and access to critical
> >>> infrastructure. The
> >>> editorial in the Indian Express dated May 22, 2010 is mostly based
> >>> on
> >>> perceptions and anecdotal evidences rather than hard facts.
> >>> However the
> >>> facts below speak for themselves.
> >>>
> >>> In trying to make out a case for Muslim children being given a raw
> >>> deal
> >> in
> >>> primary and upper primary school enrolment facts that has placed
> >>> Muslims
> >> in
> >>> Gujarat on the top of literacy ladder have been totally ignored.
> >> According
> >>> to Sachar committee report the percentage of literacy of Muslims  
> in
> >> Gujarat
> >>> is 73.5 per cent, the highest in India. It is pertinent to note
> >>> that this
> >>> is
> >>> much higher than that of national average of 59.1 per cent and
> >>> also the
> >>> percentage of literacy of Hindus in Gujarat which is 68.3 per
> >>> cent. Even
> >>> Muslim women in urban areas of Gujarat have average literacy  
> rate 5
> >> points
> >>> higher than the national average and rural Muslim women are far  
> much
> >> better
> >>> with their literacy rate of 57 per cent as compared to the  
> national
> >> average
> >>> of 43 per cent. If Muslim children are not provided education how
> >>> can
> >>> Muslims in Gujarat attain the highest literacy rate in the  
> country?
> >>>
> >>> During 2009-10 the enrolment of Muslim children has been 6.45 per
> >>> cent
> >> (as
> >>> against 4.7 per cent reported). It should be kept mind that this
> >> percentage
> >>> excludes the enrolment in Madarsas and also some of the private
> >>> schools
> >>> which do not provide segregated data. The very fact that Muslims  
> in
> >> Gujarat
> >>> have the highest literacy rate in the country proves that they  
> have
> >> access
> >>> to education much better than in other states. If you look at  
> Muslim
> >>> education attainment those who have passed the primary stage are
> >>> 74.9 per
> >>> cent way ahead of the national average 60.9 per cent. In the
> >>> category of
> >>> those who passed secondary education Gujarat at 45.3 is ahead of  
> the
> >>> national average of 40.5 per cent. Even in the category of those
> >>> who have
> >>> passed higher secondary level Gujarat with 26.1 per cent is ahead
> >>> of the
> >>> national average of 23.9 per cent. In the average years of  
> secondary
> >>> schooling provided between the age group of 7-16 once again
> >>> Gujarat with
> >>> 4.29 per cent is ahead of the nationa Your reference to Juhapura
> >>> area of
> >>> Ahmedabad lacking schools due to "gradual disentitlement and
> >> ghettoisation
> >>> of Gujarat's Muslims" is specious to the say the least as the
> >>> facts prove
> >>> otherwise. There are eight high schools out of which three are
> >>> government-aided schools. In Juhapura and surrounding areas there
> >>> are 13
> >>> municipal primary schools funded by the state government and  
> also 15
> >>> private
> >>> schools. Far from being ghettoized there is ample opportunity for
> >>> the
> >>> Muslim
> >>> children to enroll themselves.
> >>>
> >>> Secondly it has become a knee-jerk habit of secularists to pooh-
> >>> pooh the
> >>> good governance of the state of Gujarat. And as to your question
> >>> if "his
> >>> fabled governance genius translate into a better life for those  
> his
> >>> politics
> >>> rejects?" the answer is clearly in the Sachar report which has
> >>> called the
> >>> bluff of those who have tried to besmirch Gujarat.
> >>>
> >>> In the very social sectors which your editorial cites as the
> >>> indicator of
> >>> percolation of development to the minorities, Sachar Committee
> >>> report
> >>> reveals the performance of Gujarat is far better than many other
> >>> states.
> >>> The
> >>> document also reveals Gujarat is far ahead in terms of providing
> >> education
> >>> facilities and health facilities. If we take the case availability
> >>> of
> >>> schools in villages where there is Muslim population Gujarat is
> >>> far ahead
> >>> of
> >>> the national average. In the category of villages with  
> population of
> >>> Muslims
> >>> more than 2000 all the villages have education facility as against
> >>> 98.7
> >> per
> >>> cent national average. In the category of 1000 to 2000 population,
> >>> 99.9
> >> per
> >>> cent villages have education facilities as against the national
> >>> average
> >> of
> >>> 95.4 per cent. In the category of less than 1000 population 98.6
> >>> per cent
> >>> of
> >>> the villages have education facility as against the national
> >>> average of
> >>> 80.4
> >>> per cent.
> >>>
> >>> When we consider the availability of medical facilities in  
> villages,
> >> where
> >>> Muslim population is more 2000, 89.9 per cent of the villages have
> >> medical
> >>> facilities as against the national average of 70.7 per cent. In  
> the
> >>> category
> >>> of 1000-2000 population, 66.67 per cent of villages have medical
> >> facilities
> >>> against the national average of 43.5 per cent. In the category of
> >> villages
> >>> less than 1000 population, 53 per cent of the villages have  
> medical
> >>> facilities as against the national average of 20.2 per cent.
> >>>
> >>> Even in the case of other indicators such as road connectivity,
> >>> availability
> >>> of pucca approach road etc Gujarat is far ahead of national
> >>> average and
> >>> many
> >>> other states. Even on per month per capita income of Muslims is
> >>> more than
> >>> the Hindus of Gujarat in rural areas. For Muslims it stands at Rs
> >>> 668
> >>> compared to Rs 644 for Hindus (SCs Rs 527 and OBCs Rs 594). This
> >>> is much
> >>> higher than many other states for example Andhra Pradesh (Rs 610);
> >>> West
> >>> Bengal (Rs 501); UP (Rs 509); Karnataka (Rs 532); MP (Rs 475) .
> >>> The per
> >>> capita income of Muslims in urban areas is also higher than the
> >>> national
> >>> average and many other states. (see Sachar report). The prosperity
> >>> of
> >>> Muslims in Gujarat when compared with other states is reflected in
> >>> terms
> >> of
> >>> the bank account wise average deposit. For instance Gujarat it  
> is Rs
> >> 32,932
> >>> compared to West Bengal Rs 13, 824, Assam Rs 26,319 to cite a few
> >> examples.
> >>>
> >>> If you take the employment of Muslims in critical departments of
> >> government
> >>> such as home department, state transport dept and even in public
> >>> sectors
> >>> the
> >>> percentage of Muslims occupying high posts is higher in Gujarat  
> when
> >>> compared with other States. Just to cite an example in Gujarat
> >>> where the
> >>> percentage of Muslims is 9.1 the proportion of Muslims in high
> >>> posts is
> >> 8.5
> >>> per cent whereas in West Bengal where the Muslim population is
> >>> 25.2 per
> >>> cent
> >>> the proportion of Muslims is merely 1.2 per cent.
> >>>
> >>> To discuss on each and every parameter to establish that Muslims
> >>> fare far
> >>> better in Gujarat is neither required nor possible to enumerate  
> in a
> >>> letter.
> >>> Your editorial mentions that Modi should be open to verification
> >>> of his
> >>> claims of inclusive development. The above mentioned facts clearly
> >>> demonstrate that better governance in Gujarat has been translated
> >>> into a
> >>> better life for all the people in Gujarat, including the
> >>> minorities. Your
> >>> editorial recommends open verification of the claims. The high-
> >>> powered
> >>> committee appointed by the Prime Minister has to a great extent
> >>> not only
> >>> verified the claims but also clearly established that these claims
> >>> are
> >>> true.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> _________________________________________
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>
> ---------------------------------------
> Dr. Britta Ohm
>
> Institute of Social Anthropology
> University of Bern
> Laenggassstr. 49a
> 3012 Bern
> Switzerland
> +41-(0)31-631 8995 (main office)
> +41-(0)31-631 8997 (direct line)
> britta.ohm at anthro.unibe.ch
>
>
> Solmsstr. 36
> 10961 Berlin
> Germany
> +49-(0)30-69507155
> ohm at zedat.fu-berlin.de
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _________________________________________
> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> Critiques & Collaborations
> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with  
> subscribe in the subject header.
> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Rajen.
>

---------------------------------------
Dr. Britta Ohm

Institute of Social Anthropology
University of Bern
Laenggassstr. 49a
3012 Bern
Switzerland
+41-(0)31-631 8995 (main office)
+41-(0)31-631 8997 (direct line)
britta.ohm at anthro.unibe.ch


Solmsstr. 36
10961 Berlin
Germany
+49-(0)30-69507155
ohm at zedat.fu-berlin.de