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| << May26, 2006 - [India Thinkers Net]Reservation issues etc |
May30, 2006 - [India Thinkers Net]Reservation,Nepal code,Arundhati article link etc >> |
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[1] From: "Ram Narayanan" <ramn_one@adelphia.net> Date: Sat May 27, 2006 Subject: Don't Be Friends With Christians or Jews, Saudi Texts Say http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/24/world/24saudi.html THE NEW YORK TIMES Don't Be Friends With Christians or Jews, Saudi Texts Say By HASSAN FATTAH Published: May 24, 2006 DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, May 23 - Despite years of work aimed at changing Saudi Arabia's public school curriculum, the country's latest textbooks continue to promote intolerance of other religions, a new study said Tuesday. A first-grade student is taught that "Every religion other than Islam is false"; the teacher instructed to "Give examples of false religions, like Judaism, Christianity, paganism, etc." Fifth graders learn "It is forbidden for a Muslim to be a loyal friend to someone who does not believe in God and his prophet, or someone who fights the religion of Islam." Those lessons are among numerous examples cited in a controversial new study of Saudi Arabia's religious curriculum released Tuesday by the Center for Religious Freedom, part of Freedom House, a nonprofit group in Washington that seeks to encourage democracy. Despite official pronouncements that curriculum change is marching ahead, intolerance continues to pervade religious education in Saudi public schools, the report says. "It is not hate speech here and there, it is an ideology that runs throughout," Nina Shea, the center's director and principal author of the report, said in a telephone interview from Washington. "It adds up to an argument, an ideology of us versus them." The report's authors, who worked with the Institute for Gulf Affairs, a research group based in Washington that focuses on the Middle East, obtained 12 history and religion textbooks from parents of Saudi schoolchildren, and translated the texts. The textbooks were used last year in Saudi schools and Saudi-run schools in Washington, London, Paris and several other cities, the report said. The results, they say, outline a systematic theme of "hatred toward 'unbelievers,' " mainly Christians, Jews, Hindus and atheists, but also Shiites and other Muslims who do not ascribe to the country's orthodox Wahhabi teaching of Islam. Saudi Arabia's education system was heavily scrutinized after the Sept. 11 attacks, and criticized internationally for its extremism. Since then, the government has faced significant pressure from both inside and outside the country to change its schools. King Abdullah, the Saudi monarch, has made the reform a priority. Religion is at the core of Saudi public education and can amount to one quarter to a third of class time. By the time Saudi students reach high school, that amount drops slightly to at least one period in six devoted to religious topics, including interpretation of holy texts, theology and morality. (The report looked solely at religion and history texts, and excluded books on other subjects like math and science.)The findings contradict Saudi statements that educational materials have been revised, the report said. Saudi officials acknowledged that acerbic language remains in Saudi textbooks, but said their revision was far from complete. Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, responding to an article by Ms. Shea in The Washington Post over the weekend, said in a statement Monday, "There are hundreds of books that are being revised to comply with the new requirements, and the process remains ongoing." He added, "The objective of the educational system is to fight intolerance and to prepare Saudi youth with the skills and knowledge to compete in the global economy." Saudi reformers note that if the latest textbooks are wanting, they are still a far cry from what they were five years ago. The Saudi public, said Muhammad al-Zulfa, a member of the consultative Shura council, say they are generally in favor of reforming textbooks and curriculum, but religious conservatives have stymied the effort. "It is an uphill battle to revise the curriculum because the resistance by well-established conservative pockets is so fierce," Mr. Zulfa said. One Saudi official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity, also cited religious conservatives. "We know what needs to be taken out," he said. "But it's not that easy to do it." Hamza al-Mozainy, a professor of linguistics and a columnist who has campaigned for education reform, said the seeming clash between Islam and the West creates a tough environment for change. "What makes changing the curriculum so difficult is that the people are living in the middle of a conflict," he said. One of the easiest ways conservatives have of attacking him is to say he is serving America by demanding the change, he says. "As we discuss change, they say, 'Look what America is doing to us, look what Israel is doing,' " he said. But even if the textbooks were changed, the effort might not amount to much unless the country's teachers were retrained, a far more difficult matter. "The problem was not the textbooks, it was the mentality of a minority," said Hassan al-Ahdal, director general of the Muslim World League, a Saudi-based Islamic organization. "Some teachers or supervisors are projecting their own beliefs on the textbooks and are trying to convince their students, as if theirs is the real interpretation of the textbooks." Abdulnabi Shaheen contributed reporting from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for this article. ----------------- [2] From: Regi P George <george_regi@yahoo.com> Date: Sat May 27, 2006 Subject: Beethoven: man, composer and revolutionary - Part two Beethoven: man, composer and revolutionary - Part two By Alan Woods Friday, 26 May 2006 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mahajanapada/messages ------------------ [3] From: Satinath Choudhary <satichou@yahoo.com> Date: Sun May 28, 2006 Subject: Re: Forgive me Dear Chhotabhai, “I have repeatedly told you that we are entirely depending on the donations from individuals and I have to go with the majority opinion of the donors.” That’s a pretty lame excuse. If you say that caste will not be any criteria at all (i.e., students from the upper caste too will be considered), and that “merrrrrrrrrit” will be the only criteria, I am sure, you will be able to get many more donors. Why don’t you do that? Why don’t you stop being hypocritical? With regard to filing a PIL in Supreme Court regarding annulment of their earlier decision to disallow ABCD rationalization, it will take money, as we will have to get a good lawyer. Would you like to commit some funds? Mind you, this is far more important for the unity of Dalits than anything else is, as I have explained in my umpteen writings. -Satinath =================================== Date: Sat, 27 May 2006 08:07:07 -0700 (PDT) From: Send an Instant Message "Benjamin Kaila" <benjamin_kaila@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E-Forum] Re: Forgive me To: Dalit@yahoogroups.com, Dear Badabhai, I understand what you say and I agree with you. Everything possible in a perfect world. But in an imperfect world we need to make compromises in order to help others. Otherwise, we will not be able to do what we want to in a small way. I have repeatedly told you that we are entirely depending on the donations from individuals and I have to go with the majority opinion of the donors. If I have some big donors like you or some other charitable organization, I can make my own rules. Hope you understand what I am telling. So, for now, I may not be in a position to do other than what majority of the donors say. But, if you see the Scholars, you find more or less equal representation. Till 2004, I followed what you said. But for doing so, I had to confront with some of the donors. When come to the other suggestion. I wish I could do something about it. But, I am sorry to say that I am not in a position to influence the fighting communities. I wish they should find a solution to the problem and live like brothers. I feel you are in a better position than me to work in that direction. Anyway, thanks for your suggestions. With regards Benjamin Satinath Choudhary <satichou@yahoo.com> wrote: Dear Ben, I guess you were thrilled to get the email “Forgive me”, copied below. Now, how about you taking the lead in trying to enable your less fortunate brothers from the lower-SC and lower-ST avail the benefits of reservation by seeking to divide SC and ST groups (for distributive purpose) into small subgroups. You could take two steps to this end: (1) In your future scholarship projects (described at http://www.ambedkarscholarship.org/) you will make all possible efforts to equitably distribute the scholarships among all sub-castes of SC and STs, and make an announcement to that effect as well. (2) You could appeal to Scheduled Caste people at large, in Delhi to file a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking an annulment of its earlier ruling disallowing “ABCD rationalization” in AP. You could go a step further by offering to contribute some money towards this initiative. Needless to say, I will be with you in this endeavor, all the way! Charity has to begin at home!-) In the following two paragraphs I have changed slightly your own two sentences regarding the upper caste people: “If such a sane and meaningful voice comes from the so-called upper of the SC/ST/OBC castes, it would be good for every one in India. But how many of these meritorious SC/ST/OBC people are ready to hear such a sane advice? Let us see.” Regards, Satinath ================================== Date: Fri, 26 May 2006 19:50:35 -0700 (PDT) From: Send an Instant Message "Benjamin Kaila" <benjamin_kaila@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Forgive me To: "Bahujan" <bahujan@yahoogroups.com Benjamin Kaila <benjamin_kaila@yahoo.com> wrote: Friends, Please read this sensible mail I got from an unknown person. If such a sane and meaningful voice comes from the so called upper castes, it would be good for every one in India. But how many of these meritorious people are ready to hear such a sane advice? Let us see. With regards Benjamin Friends of OBCs <friends.of.obcs@gmail.com> wrote: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Friends of OBCs <friends.of.obcs@gmail.com> Date: May 26, 2006 8:14 PM Subject: Forgive me To: roy@hss.iitb.ac.in Dear Mr.Roy, Please forgive me, but we could not help respond after seeing a mail you passed on which has unfortunately reached our desk. Apropos your note on calling for a mass casual leave in IITB and a civil disobedience movement, it is really sad to see the way things have turned out. Being Brahmins ourselves, it has really shocked us to see that there is so much anger against people we have exploited for thousands of years. Their assertion is a natural process in every society and we must now learn to share and care like equal human beings with every one else. In the era of democratic rule, the oppressed will demand their share. You cannot keep on denying what is rightfully due to them. We are one country and everyone must have opportunities like we have been having for thousand years. Truely we are asking the world to change for our benefits. Is it possible to reverse the trend and we change for the betterment of everyone else? . Can't you see that all our ideas of equality are ostensibly rooted in our caste's hegemonic tendencies. The demand for equality only serves our purpose well. After all, by demanding that all Indians are equal, knowing fully well that they are not, and also, that none are able to compete with us at this juncture, we are surely going to garner all the opportunities for ourselves". We attack policies that divide people on lines of caste while at the same time we hold on to our own. We blame the SC/STs for India's non-development while garnering all the resources available for ourselves. We eulogized the importance of equity while at the same time creating road-blocks for equal distribution and ownership. We blame the quality of primary education system while not participating in it. We speak against the English language while sending our sons and daughters to the best English schools. We argue against reservations while protecting and reserving the 77% seats for ourselves alone in the name of 'Equality'. All media is owned by members of our community. Look at their surnames, that would be enough. We shout from our Media Mouthpiece on how reservation will facilitate the deterioration of India's economy, reduce efficiency and compromise with quality while understanding fully well that the only India that will really suffer is the 6 % population group which we belong to. We try again and again to deflect from the real issue of reservation by blaming the primary education system without ever trying to do something about it. Have you done anything to educate lower caste boys and girls to grow and live life like anyone else? Tell me would you sent your son or daughter to government schools? We lambaste the lower caste for non-performance and lack of quality by making them believe that they are inferior and are not worth it so that we could exploit them. They clean our shit because people like you will not clean it yourself. They toil in the fields and grow the food we eat so that we could study science and management. They clean the streets so that we could take our evening walks. Can't you see that we are such hypocrites that we actually want Inequality yet proclaim that we are for Equality, We want Injustice in the name of Justice, We want to oppress the lower caste in the name of Freedom, and we want to maintain our caste hegemony in the name of Merit. You will agree that democracy has ushered in an era of a level playing. They have an equally powerful voice and it is getting louder with every passing day. Reservation for SC/STs has also raised their level of consciousness and awareness about how we have been treating them and they will simply not live by our diktats anymore. They are asserting politically, socially, economically and i would not be surprised if they even get the reservations in the private sector act in place before we get up tomorrow morning. I believe hatred will only fuel further hatred. Such is our Brahminic tendencies that we homogenize the SC, ST, and OBC as a common entity. Well we cannot outgrow this. Hatred against these communities is what we have learnt since childhood. Can't we at least share with them what we have been aggrandising for centuries. Because if we don't, believe me, they will snatch it from our hands and we will not be able to do anything about it. Its time now that we work towards a true India. Let us surpass this debate of caste and reservation. Mr.Roy as i understand from your surname you are a Kayastha( like to be called a Rajput) You should be considering seriously a marraige proposal with a brilliant and good looking dalit girl (which in upper caste terminology- bhanggi). Imagine your children; no bhanggi/ no kayastha/ no brahmin- a true indian. Lets amend the wrong we have done to them for centuries. Regards Friends of OBCs |
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May30, 2006 - [India Thinkers Net]Reservation,Nepal code,Arundhati article link etc >> |
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