ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

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PHILIPPINES-Struggle for a Separate Islamic State

PHILIPPINES Struggle for a Separate Islamic State Asghar Ali Engineer WHEN I reached Manila on November 23, there were rumours all around that Marcos was either dead or seriously ill, The official claim that he was down with flu was dismissed with ridicule by the people of Philippines. It showed the extent of opposition to the Marcos regime. He seems to be extremely unpopular. Many people were hopeful that his death would bring about an unceremonious end to a dictatorial regime and restore democracy there. Even Catholic Church, normally supporting the establishment, is highly opposed to Marcos dictatorial regime. Cardinal Sin is known for his active campaign for democratic rights in the Philippines. The Protestant Churches repre sented by the National Council of Churches in Philippines are also involved in the struggle for human tights very actively.

COMMUNALISM-Bombay-Bhiwandi Riots in National Political Perspective

COMMUNALISM Bombay-Bhiwandi Riots in National Political Perspective Asghar Ali Engineer THE Bombay-Bhiwandi riots which shook the country for nearly ten days should not be treate'd merely as a local phenomenon, although Iocal factors were not without significance. Many journalists and some others have propounded various theories, many of them quite shaky or based on doubtful evidence. The most talked about theory was the one about smugglers and builders having financed the riots. While it is undoubtedly true that anti-social elements-have played a definite role in these riots it would be erroneous to ascribe the principal organising role to them. A probe by this writer' does not indicate any systematic involvement of builders or smugglers-turned-builders.

Understanding Communalism Report on a Seminar

a highly complex phenomenon. A simplistic approach can hardly enable us to grasp its complex character, The Institute of Islamic Studies, Bombay, organised a seminar on communalism to explore the various dimensions of the problem, To this seminar, held in Bombay on February 18 and 19, were invited political scientists, historians, religionists, literateurs, sociologists, journalists and social workers as well as politicians.

ANDHRA PRADESH-Communal Killings in Hyderabad

opening up in order to be able to export more and would be delighted to see the current stress on providing facilities to exporters similar to those given to producers for the domestic market. What hampers these strategies however is that for expanding export capabilities Indian industry requires a quantum jump in quality and efficiency whch will take time and call for some extra determination, especially when the pull of the domestic market in particular areas is considerable. Thus there is simply no alternative but to come down on imports and confine them to bare essentials, while going all out to make sure that imports of essentials too are kept down to a bare minimum, self-reliance and austerity are thus no longer a matter of choice. The competitive environment needed for efficiency is better generated by activating the forces operating within this domestic market rather than forced through imports.

MAHARASHTRA- From Nationalism to Communalism -Transformation of Malegaon

MAHARASHTRA From Nationalism to Communalism Transformation of Malegaon Asghar Ali Engineer MALEGAON in Maharashtra witnessed one of the worst outbreaks of communal frenzy between June 26 and 30. This riot occurred within seven months of an earlier riot which had taken place there on November 20, 1982. The earlier riot had been precipitated by a controversy over allegedly insulting language used about the Prophet of Islam in an VIII standard Marathi text-book. The recent riot was sparked off by explosion of crackers outside the Jami'i Masjid (main mosque) at 10,30 pm on June 26, a day after the Indian cricket team's victory in the Prudential World Cup tournament.

BARODA RIOTS- Wages of Political Corruption

November 13-20, 1982 cerned. This only makes confusion worse confounded. The recent decision to allow imports of colour TV sets as 'gifts' is a case in point. The Department of Electronics was not privy to this decision and came to know of it after the decision had been announced. The decision is believed to have been arrived at because interested quarters managed to get direct access to the Prime Minister and persuade her to reverse the earlier decision not to allow such imports. It was, therefore, not considered necessary to consult the concerned quarters in the government and directions were given to the Commerce Ministry to allow the imports of colour TV as 'gifts'.

UTTAR PRADESH-The Guilty Men of Meerut

UTTAR PRADESH The Guilty Men of Meerut Asghar Ali Engineer THE population of Meerut is more than five lakhs. Recently the Meerut municipality has been converted into a corporation to which elections are due to be held. The expected corporation election has cast its shadow over communal peace in the town. More about that later. The ratio of Hindu to Muslim population in Meerut is 5I:49, according to the district authorities. One sees locality after locality exclusively inhabited by Muslims. There are also several localities where the Hindus and Muslims live together.

MAHARASHTRA-Behind the Communal Fury

the CPI(M) remains the principal organised force of the parliamentary Left in India. For the Indian ruling classes, particularly the industrialists. its virtue lies in the fact that in .states where it had come to office, it had been able to confine popular discontent to electoral channels and keep the class struggle within nonns permitted by the present .system. The CPI (M)'s ability to keep its apple cart rolling will of course depend on the course of events, on the pressure from its ranks and on the balance of social forces.

GUJARAT- Communal Violence in Ahmedabad

tion but there is no electricity. For a bouring village and some people had few months the street lights glowed; then they went off because, as the power officials told the beneficiaries, there had been wire thefts at a neigh- GUJARAT made illegal connections to their houses from the street lines at Indira Grama. This has put a question mark before (Inlift irrigation scheme.

MINORITIES- Trouble at Aligarh Muslim University-A Report

to non-tribals; the retrospective action of cancelling earlier purchases is still being implemented.
Thane district has long been politically dominated by the Vartak family, starting from Govindrao Vartak, followed by his son Haribhau Vartak (fminer Secretary MPCC, presently Chairman STCOM) and Tarabai Vartak, Minister for Social and Tribal Welfare.

IRAN- Revolution Going Awry


SIX months alter the revolution, in an interview grunted to the Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, Ayatollah Khomeini had said: "Our revolution is only six months old. And it is a revolution that took place in a country that was eaten alive like a field of wheat infested with locusts. We are at the beginning of our road. What do you expect of a child that is six months old ... ?" Now, it is more than two years since the overthrow of the hated regime of the Shah. True, even two years is not a long period in the history of a revolution but it is not too brief a period either to judge its trend. What is happening in Iran today does not bring much credit to the revolution. According to Kar, the Organ of Iranian People's Fidaii Guerillas (OIPFG), a Marxist group, today in Iran, "Political freedoms and democratic rights of the masses are violated and stepped upon by the government. The democratic rights of the oppressed nationalities are denied. Workers, peasants, toilers, merchants, artisans, students and women struggle against suppression of their basic human rights. The class conflict is intensified to such an extent that the war between Iran and Iraq governments has become secondary".

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