Armed forces’ battle against racism
Over the past year or so, the British
armed forces have been fighting what may be called ‘a battle against self’ —
they are trying hard to rid itself of its racist past. And what better way to
achieve this aim than to enlist an increasing number of past victims of
discrimination — Asians and Blacks? That is precisely what the different wings
of the British military establishment are busy doing. In order to lure young
Asians and Blacks into its service, the British Army, for example, has hired
Saatchi and Saatchi to run a 2.5 million-pound advertising campaign. "We now
have more ethnic minorities in real positions of power than ever before. So
nowadays, there’s only one group of people being held back. Racists," reads
Saatchi’s ad copy. Started in the last week of October, the advert has created a
bit of a stir as Saatchi decided to use the most ‘celebrated’ racist icon —
Hitler — to send out a non–racist message. But, Nasir Khan, an ex–serviceman
from Manchester who did a 12–year stint in the British Army and who has sued the
ministry of defence for racial discrimination, has a different story to tell.
"If they were really serious about tackling the issue of racism or equal
opportunity in the Army, then they would be able to point to my case and say,
‘this happened and this is how we eradicated the problem.’ But no, they are
prolonging my case with an equal opportunity investigation before the industrial
tribunal is able to set a date to hear my case," says Khan. Looks like Khan has
a point.
Sexual-abuse in Church-run schools
In October 27, the United Church of
Canada, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, made a public apology for
the physical and sexual abuse of native–Indian children staying in Church–run
boarding schools over the years. The apology came a week after a Vancouver
lawyer, Peter Grant, disclosed evidence suggesting that the Church and
government officials came to know of such abuse as early as 1960 but did nothing
about it. "I apologise for the pain and suffering that our Church’s involvement
in the Indian residential school system has caused," Rev. Phipps stated at a
news conference in Toronto. "You did nothing wrong," he said to victims who
decided to make their suffering public. "You were and are the real victims of
evil acts that cannot under any circumstances be justified or excused".
Until the mid–’80s there were over 80 such boarding schools run
by Catholic and Protestant churches under contract with the federal government.
The lawyer Grant is representing former students of one such school from British
Columbia. He has now made public copies of correspondence between the government
and the Church in 1960 in connection with an admitted case of sexual abuse by
the vice–principal of a school in Alberta. The correspondence indicates that
though government officials were concerned about sexual abuse at other boarding
schools, they connived with the church to keep the matter secret. One victim is
now demanding that the United Church should compensate victims of abuse at
institutions run by them. In January this year, the federal government
apologised for abuse at the residential schools and allocated U.S.$ 227 million
towards a "healing fund" to be used in Indian communities.
Awaiting the verdict on Blasphemy
Nine years ago, Tehmina Durrani
scandalised fellow elite from Lahore with her book, My Feudal Lord,
recounting her abusive marriage to a powerful politician. She now has good
reason to fear that her new book, Blasphemy, which went on sale in the
third week of October, may generate more than scandal. Based on a true story,
Blasphemy is a scathing attack on the institution of pirs who manage
shrines of Muslim saints. The gullible hold the pirs in high regard but
the pir in Blasphemy is a sadist who beats people to death on
whim, pushes small girls into sex slavery and forces his own wife, the story’s
narrator, into video–taped sexual encounters with a series of men. It is
obviously not the kind of book that pirs and their followers will take
kindly to. This is not the first time that pirs in Pakistan have been
exposed for their misdeeds under cover of Islam. But should some of them decide
to go for her blood, Durrani knows what to expect from Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif given his current ‘Islamic zeal’. "When Islam is used by important and
influential religious leaders, who distort the words of Prophet Mohammed and use
God’s name to oppress people, I think those people are blaspheming", said
Durrani explaining the rationale for the title of her book. Durrani has little
sympathy for people like Salman Rushdie, Taslima Nasreen or even a person like
Pakistani lawyer and human rights activist, Asma Jehangir, who has challenged
Sharif’s controversial Shariah bill. But taking no chances she has hired four
gunmen to stand vigil outside her home.
Columbus: Hero and villain
Christopher Columbus – the man who
"discovered" America for the Spanish crown 506 years ago —is remembered as a
hero in Europe and migrants from that continent to the U.S. But Latin Americans
see his first voyage in 1492 as laying the basis for the subsequent Spanish
conquests, slavery and the demise of a great civilisation. On ‘Columbus Day’ in
mid–October this year, a mock trial by Indians in Honduras condemned Columbus to
death for mass murder. And in Mexico, demonstrators who chose to be stark naked
staked a claim to ancestral lands in Paraguay. Protest demonstrations were held
elsewhere in Latin America, too, the same day. "We of the jury are demanding
Spain pay indemnification to the indigenous people of Honduras, we are asking
for reparation, that Spain publicly apologise for the genocide it caused", Nancy
Jodaitis, a member of the ‘jury’ at the mock trial in Honduras told the
protestors gathered on the occasion.
Protest over play on ‘gay’ Christ
In October 13, two groups of
demonstrators were pitted against each other on opposite ends of a Manhattan
block in New York. At one end were a group of about 2,000 Christians protesting
the opening of a controversial play which portrayed Jesus Christ and his 12
disciples as gay. At the other end were assembled about 500 civil libertarians
supporting the freedom of expression principle. Also present on the scene were
over 100 police officers to ensure the protests remained peaceful. Corpus
Christi, a controversial play by award–winning playwright Terence McNally,
has been frequently condemned in the last few months by Catholic and even Muslim
and Jewish groups as blasphemous. "These people (producers of the play) want to
spit on us but we are not going to be nice little alter boys and girls anymore",
warned William Donahue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil
Rights in the US. Donahue said he had seen the play at one of the tryouts the
previous week and charged that Corpus Christi was nothing but a direct
attack on Roman Christians.
Cops turn to the apostle of Ahimsa
Even the Supreme Court of India which
once described Indian policemen as ‘criminals in uniform’ may be at a loss for
words if faced with the violent misdeeds of the Brazilian police. Over the past
seven years, police have killed 4,745 and wounded 14,693 others in Sao Paulo —
the largest city in Brazil — alone. "These numbers are worrying, we need to
retrain our staff," a local paper reported Sao Paulo’s police colonel Leopoldo
Augusto Correa Filho as saying. According to the same report, a Mahatma Gandhi
and non–violence project is part of the retraining being contemplated. Police
officers may opt to study how Gandhi opposed British rule and won freedom for
India through non–violent means.
No beards in the boxing ring
Karachi, August 20: Three Afghan
boxers have been barred from an international contest opening here on Tuesday
(August 20) because the tournament rules do not allow bearded boxers in the
ring, a newspaper report said. The three boxers were informed they could not
compete unless they shaved off their beards, the News said. Sources close
to the Afghan boxers said that if they removed their beards the Taliban–led
government would not let them re-enter their country, the report added. The
boxers are accompanied by two officials. (AFP).
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