This Bulletin is being relayed to you as a part of ACHA's South Asian community service program.  It is sent out on the first Wednesday of each month. It goes to individuals in Arab Emirates, Australia, Canada, India, Kenyya, New Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore, Sweden, U.K., and USA, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Please let us know (pritamr@open.org),  if you want to have your name removed from our email distribution list. Also, please let us know if someone should be added to the list. Comments, letters to editor, and short articles are also welcome and can be sent to the same address.

ACHA Bulletin consists primarily of material selected from the printed and the electronic media. It aims  to highlight the news of peace and harmony,  to shed light on issues of concern to South Asians, and to bring together information of general interest. 

It is edited by Pritam K. Rohila, Ph.D. Its editorials and the selection of its material are his  sole responsibility and do not necessarily represent the views of or an endorsement by any other Director, or member of ACHA or Dr. Ingrid H. Shafer, who has graciously donated space for it on her server and is volunteering her time to maintain our Web Page. 

ACHA is a non-profit, non-political organization, which is dedicated to promote peace and harmony among South Asians regardless of where they live. For more information about ACHA and comments about ACHA Bulletin, please contact us at by telephone at 503-362-4635, or 503-658-4715, or by email at <pritamr@open.org>, or visit our Web Page at http:/ecumene.org/ACHA/ACHA.htm.

Prayer
 Our loving thoughts are the way for a world of love and peace (From Daily Word, 8/20/99)
Editorial
 Peace Making in South Asia by Pritam K. Rohila, Ph.D.
Peace & Communal Harmony News
Feature
 A reality check on Pakistan by Mushirul Hasan (From Indian Express 8/21/99)
 A peace resolution by Pakistan Peace Coalition passed at Karachi, on 8/6/99
Opinion
 Working Towards Pakistan-India Peace by Mubashir Hasan (From Making Enemies, Creating Conflict: Pakistan's Crises of State and Society Edited by Zia Mian and Iftikhar Ahmad) 
 A need for friendship by V.K.Tripathi 8/15/99
 Faces of patriotism by Imtiaz Alam (From the News International Pakistan 8/24/99)
 A Letter from a Pakistani Peace Activist
 A peace workshop for women by Beena Sarwar, Lahore, Pakistan 8/15/99)
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PRAYER
* Our loving thoughts are the way for a world of love and peace 
(From Daily Word, 8/20/99, http://www.dailyword.org)

Imagine what the world would be like if every person on Earth - regardless of race, cultural heritage, nationality, or gender - were to put aside differences and concentrate on what we have in common.

We would soon discover that while we may speak different languages or look a little different, we all experience the same joys and fears, and we all want to live our lives in harmony and peace. 

So let's continue to imagine that world in our hearts and minds and trust God to guide us in making our dream come true. As our loving thoughts unite with the loving thoughts of others, we are taking the first step in making our vision a reality. Just imagine!

(September 9 is the World Day of Prayer. We invite our readers, on this day,  to include in their prayers a prayer for peace in South Asia and the World). 

EDITORIAL
* Peace Making in South Asia by Pritam K. Rohila, Ph.D.
(We are preparing a world-wide directory of individuals and organizations engaged in the promotion of  peace and communal harmony among South Asians and in South Asia. We would appreciate it very much, if you could send us their names, email and postal addresses and a brief description of their objectives and activities).

The situation in Northeast India, the Mohajir issue in Pakistan, Sinhalese-Tamil problem in Sri Lanka, and Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan, for a long time, have made it difficult to achieve peace and harmony in South Asia.

Scholars of peace psychology have discovered that competitive relationships like these induce and are induced by such processes as "the use of tactics of coercion, threats, or deception; attempts to enhance the power differences between oneself and the other; poor communication, minimization of the awareness of similarities in values and increased sensitivity to opposed interests; suspicious and hostile attitudes; and the importance, rigidity, and size of the issues in the conflict" (Deutsch, 1985, p.10). 

Over time these processes fuel the conflict and lead to its escalation. Each side starts using heavier and more contentious tactics, increases the number of issues and/or in the number of parties to the conflict, changes the focus to a more global or all encompassing concerns, and/or become concerned about beating the other side than about doing better for themselves (Pruitt and Rubin 1986, 176-179). The other side is demonized in order to justify one's own aggressive-destructive, sub-human  behavior towards the other. 

As the conflict escalates it becomes difficult for the conflicting parties to begin to consider abandoning or reversing the conflict without them feeling threatened and vulnerable to an unacceptable loss. Fear and ignorance; an inability to make the desired change; an opposition to the specific change objective; a clinging to existing satisfactions (for example, rewards, avoidance of pain, tradition, familiarity, consistency of thought, action, and self/world views); resistence in the relationship with the change agent (third party), and the actual costs of change in terms of time, money, and energy are some of the forces that create resistence to change in the status quo (Coleman 1997).

On the other hand certain conditions can motivate the parties to initiate a change in their stance. Deutsch (1992) has identified two steps to accomplish a "readiness to negotiate":

1. Recognition of the fact that the present stalemate no longer serves his or her real interests, and
2. An awareness of the possibility that they could be better off if they reframed their conflict as a mutual problem and resolve it cooperatively. 

Necessary to the second step is:
a. A recognition that one cannot impose a solution.
b. A belief that the other is ready to engage in problem solving and will abide by the agreement.
c. Hope that a mutually acceptable agreement can be found.

Pruitt and Rubin (1986) lists some practical behaviors that can be used to increase the readiness to negotiate or what they call "motivation to reach an agreement." 
1. Assuring that the parties can make concessions without loss of face.
2. Establishing a modicum of trust between the parties and/or the parties and the third-party
3. Allowing for the expression of feelings of irrationality in a manner that doesn't poison the relationship.
4. Maintaining momentum in the process by highlighting common ground and possibilities for resolution.
5. Respecting the parties' need for autonomy in resolving their own problems. 

Unfortunately, it appears that the parties involved in many of the major conflicts currently prevalent in South Asia have not yet reached the "readiness to negotiate" stage. In the case of Kashmir, the officials on both sides do not seem to have the popular mandate to dissociate themselves from the hatreds of the past.. No outside third party exists at this time that can realistically either enforce a solution on both sides, or persuade them to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution. 

A ray of hope is, however, emerging in South Asia. As is evident from the perusal of this issue of ACHA Bulletin certain individuals and grassroot peace organizations are now attempting to question the official line. Also they are trying to reframe the underlying issues and to promote an awareness that it would be desirable to resolve the conflicts.

For an example, the Pakistani doctor Ishtiaq Ahmed from Sweden, in a recent email to the members of his think tank 'Pakistanis for Peace and Alternative Development' wrote, "I think it is time to let go the US-Zionist bogey to analyze our own situations. Surely the root cause lies in our own backyards. Personally I think some of us should consider whether it is in the interest of Pakistan or of South Asian peace to keep defining the Kashmir issue as central and paramount."  He argued, "However,. I think the LOC has served as the de facto international border for more than 50 years. Each time it has been disturbed it has led to hostilities and war between the two adversary countries. A future war could result in nuclear annihilation and then neither Faisal nor Hassan nor I will have any opportunity to argue about Kashmir or for that matter the whole region...Would it not be in the interest of peace if it were accepted as the international border. After all we have 130 million Muslims living in India. We do not insist that they should be included in Pakistan. Then why can't Kashmiri Muslim's live in India under a democratic arrangement."

Lately, there have been many people to people exchanges between India and Pakistan. We also need  to do something like Peace Now (114 W. 26th St, Suite 1000, New York, NY 10001, Phone 212.645.6262), a grassroots Israeli peace organization, has done for  the last several years. Each year they sponsor about 15 one- to three-day conferences, each of which brings together 10 to 100 Israeli and Palestinian youth ages 14 to 25 (APA Monitor 1999, p. 60). At the conferences, they learn about the history of Israel and Palestine and explore cultural differences by playing games and attending music and dance performances that characterize both cultures. Also they collaborate on peace projects participate in problem solving exercises and discuss ways to promote peace between their countries. 

About a month ago, my wife and I had an opportunity to visit some friends in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. They took us to a picnic by the Peace Arch on the U.S.- Canada border, at U.S. Interstate 5, near Blaine, WA. It is a tall white arch standing in the middle of a big park. It bears an inscription reading, "Children of a common mother" on one side and "Brethren dwelling together in unity" on the other. 

It made me wish for the day when similar monuments will be erected on all South Asian borders, when there will be free movement of good and people across all South Asian borders. I hope never again will people do what they did on both sides of India-Pakistan border in 1947, and the region would be free of wars, communal riots, and discrimination and persecution on the basis of gender, caste, class, ethnicity or national origin. Now at age 63, I hope I will see that day in my lifetime! 

Let me end with a tuk-bandi of mine.

Tera mera farq kaisa jab.................(What's the difference between you and me when)
Har cheez Khuda ne banaye hai?....(Everything has been created by God?)
Bangladeshi dost hai mera, ............(Bangladesh is a friend of mine)
Sri Lankan hamrahi hai ..................(Sri Lankan is my fellow traveler)
Hindustani hai maan ka jaya ...........(Indian is my mother's child)
Pakistani mera bhai hai...................(Pakistani is a brother of mine)
Tera mera farq kaisa jab................ (What's the difference between you and me when)
Har cheez Khuda ne banaye hai?... (Everything has been created by God?). 

References

1. APA Monitor. (1999) Dialogue program to link youths in Israel, Palestine. American Psychological Association, July/August.
2. Coleman, P.T. (1997) Redefining ripeness: A social-psychological perspective, Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 3, 81-103.
3. Deutsch, M. (1985) Distributive justice: A social-psychological perspective. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
4. Deutsch, M. (1992) On negotiating the non-negotiable. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C.

PEACE & HARMONY NEWS

*June 30, Colombo, Sri Lanka: In spite of the Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan, leading owners and editors from INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE AND REGIONAL PRESS in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, for the first time ever, gathered here from June 28 to 30 at Hotel Taj Samudra, to construct an approach for a peaceful long term future for South Asia. The gathering was in the form of a workshop organized by North-South Security program of Kings College, London and South Asian Media Association (SAMA) of Sri Lanka, Colombo in co-operation with International Center for Peace Initiatives, Mumbai and Citizens Media Commission, Karachi. Besides other things they agreed to affirm a commitment to a future of harmony, social justice, peace and development in South Asia. (A report by Sundeep Waslekar received through Communalism Watch and Governance Monitor)

* July, Johannesburg, S. Africa: Natal Law Society unconditionally apologized to Mahatma Gandhi for rejecting in 1894 his application for membership on account of his ethnicity. The APOLOGY was made also to other aspirant lawyers who had been denied membership for the same reason.

* July, Chandigarh, Punjab, India: At the 3-day conference of Indian And Pakistani PROGRESSIVE WRITERS held here, 72-year-old Nomwar Singh remarked, " Communal fascism is a great challenge to today's Indian sub-continent." " We think that the Kashmir issue can be solved through real dialogue between both the countries. Start of Bus service between New Delhi and Lahore is a good sign but unless the transport of nuclear arms is not stopped by both the countries, the tension will remain same at the borders," said Hassan Abidi, the leader of Pakistani group,  at this 12th conference organized by this organization since 1936, when it was established to challenge the British rule in India. Others claimed that whole society can turn towards peace if the writer of the region plays his correct role. "If the literature of any nation is rotten, that nation is rotten," they asserted. 

"I, on behalf of Indian public assure you that Indians have love for Pakistanis." Says Nirmala Desphande, a popular social activist and the member of broken India parliament in a separate interview . " Anti-Indian literature in Pakistani text books and anti-Pakistani literature in Indian text books should be condemned all the way." (Report by Mujahid Barelvi, the editor of the Karachi based Urdu magazine "Sunahra Daur" and received through South Asia Citizens Web).

* July 31, Imphal, Manipur, India: A committee to preserve PEACE AND HARMONY among the people, was formed by representatives of the various communities in Sugnu area in the wake of recent clashes between the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) and the United National Liberation Front  (UNLF) in the Chakpikarong-Sugnu areas. The decision to form the committee was taken at a public meeting of the chiefs of Anal, Kuki and Zou tribes and Meitei villagers as well as representatives of other communities from Chakpikarong, Sugnu, Serou, Western valley, Unopat, Thungcheng, Toupokpi, Wangkheira, Nungpen, Wapokpi and Toiyeng hill villages. (Report published in the Assam Tribune; Guwahati, on 8/2/99, and received through Northeast Vigil).

* August 4, Dhaka, Bangladesh: TRANSHIPMENT facilities for Indian goods approved by the Bangladesh Cabinet on July 28, would not jeopardize that Bangladesh's national security assured the Indian deputy high commissioner to Bangladesh,  Pinak R Chakravarty told reporters here on July 31. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the move would earn Dhaka about 400 million US dollars a year. Hailing the developments, on August 4 at Guwahati, SK Jain, the president of the  Federation of Industries and Commerce of North Eastern Region said, that the agreement will make both Bangladesh and the north-eastern region an epicenter of economic activities in the next century. On August 1, Bangladesh commerce minister Tofail Ahmed said that, in return, Bangladesh will ask New Delhi to provide facility for transit of its goods through India to Nepal and Bhutan and seek duty-free access for 25 export products to Indian market. (Reports published in the Assam Tribune; Guwahati on 8/1,2 & 4/99, received through Northeast Vigil ).

*August 6, Karachi, Sind, Pakistan: A rally to mark HIROSHIMA DAY, the 54th anniversary of the atom-bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was organized here today by Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC), in cooperation with other groups like  Action Committee Against Arms Race (ACAAR), Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) and Association of the Peoples of Asia (APA), outside the Karachi Press Club. A large number of people participated in the rally held from 4 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. They carried placards with slogans in English and Urdu such as "War or Peace? Peace for All," "Time to Abolish war; Peace is a human right," "War or prosperity?" "Chaghi in ashes, Pokhran in dust: who won, who lost?" "Peace, Peace and only Peace,"  "Food First," and "No more war."They demanded that the governments of Pakistan and India immediately call a halt to the ongoing arms race, undertake concrete measures for elimination of nuclear weapons and as a first step, sign the CTBT. (A report by South Asians Against Nukes and received through South Asia Citizens Web).

* August 6, Hiroshima, Japan: Amid silent prayer and the ringing of bells, about 50,000 citizens of Hiroshima commemorated the worlds' first atomic attack 54 years ago. About 1,500 doves symbolizing peace were released into the sky as 300 children sang a song of peace. The city's mayor Tadatoshi Akiba urged leaders of the world's nuclear powers to use the survivors' "will" as inspiration for eliminating nuclear weapons. (The Associated Press)

* August 15, Muridke, Pakistan: A mass meeting organized by Ghareeb Itehad Anjaman Shamsia (Poor PEASANTS Unity),  in connection with the 52nd years of Pakistan Independence on 14th August, passed a resolution unanimously to oppose the war efforts of Indian and Pakistan ruling classes. Also, they emphasized the need to build a new Pakistan, independent of the exploitation by the feudals and the capitalists. Over a thousand peasants men and women of poor peasants from district Sheikhupura, Punjab, listened their leaders for over four hours in a very hot day and without any fan or air-conditioner. The main peasant leaders, Asghar Ali and Abdul Karim Kirala declared their full support for the peace efforts. The meeting was organized at  Muridke, a town, 5 kilometers away from the main head quarters of the most known religious fundamentalists  group called Lashker Tayaba, the group who had send their "Mujahidin" (religious fighters) to Kargil in Kashmir which caused the war between India and Pakistan from May 25 to July 12. (A report by Farooq Tariq through Communalism Watch and Governance Monitor).

* August 15, Calcutta, West Bengal, India: Nearly 6 million Indians celebrated India's Independence Day by forming a 3,500 kilometer long HUMAN CHAIN stretching from the Himalayan town of Darjeeling to the Bay of Bengal and pledging to maintain peace and harmony 

* August 22, Los Angeles, CA, USA: About 500 people of different nationalities, ethnicities, and faiths participated today in a March Against Hate following the recent shooting rampage at a Jewish community center. (Statesman Journal)

* August 22, Bloomington, IN, USA: Thousands to people traveled here to watch the Dalai Lama perform Kalachakra (Cycles of Time) ceremony at the Tibetan Cultural Center in an attempt to cleanse the Earth of violence. The ritual involves creating a mandala with colored sand. Earlier on August 15, at New York, the Dalai Lama had declared that "the concept of war is now irrelevant; the concept of violence is out of date." 

FEATURE

*A reality check on Pakistan by Mushirul Hasan (From Indian Express 8/21/99, received through South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch)

Information is power. That is certainly what the colonial powers believed in. From Francis Buchanan's survey of Mysore and eastern India to the last census in 1941, the British developed a vast corpus of knowledge about the "natives''. They conducted census operations to create social categories by which India was ordered for administrative purposes. They studied language and literature as part of the colonial project of control and command. The very Oriental imagination that led to the antiquarian collections and archaeological finds were in  fact forms of constructing an India that could be better packaged, inferiorised, and ruled (Bernard S. Cohn). In short, colonial knowledge both enabled conquest and was produced by it; in certain important ways, knowledge was what colonialism was all about  (Nicholas B. Dirks). The relationship between knowledge and power changed after World War II, but not in significant ways.

In the fifties and sixties, the United States and its allies were in competition with the Soviet bloc to buttress their claims in the newly liberated countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Their bitter confrontation led to the revival and establishment of several "academic'' bodies in different parts of the world. The project of such institutions though tailored and trimmed to suit the post-colonial world, was not very different from what was conceived and implemented by the erstwhile colonialists in the late 18th and the 19th centuries. In some ways, the activities of various US "educational'' agencies, especially in Latin America, would have put the likes of Warren Hastings and Curzon to shame.

In a democratic set up like ours, information and knowledge have a different role to play both in the domestic sphere as well as in dealing with the rest of the world. At least in one particular area, we have the resources, though meagre, compared with what the West can mobilise, and yet we have failed to develop the wherewithal to study and understand our neighbours.
How much do we know about Bangladesh, a country we helped to liberate in 1971? I am afraid, very little! How much do we know about Sri Lanka, except that the Tamils and the Sinhalese have disfigured that serene and beautiful island through acts of violence and aggression? Surely, not enough to develop a viable strategy to resolve long-standing differences with the people and government of that country. Our knowledge of Nepal society and polity is, to say the least, appalling. One would have expected our universities to produce renowned specialists on Pakistan, our chief bete noire in the region. Sadly, this has not happened. Thanks to the Institute of Defence Studies, we monitor Pakistan's military strength and strategy with ease. Thanks also to the Ministry of External Affairs, we are well up on that country's diplomatic manoeuvres. But, what about the people and society of Pakistan? Most of us draw a blank on that score. That is why our image or images of Pakistan, the cause of much mutual ill will and animus, rests on preconceived notions and mistaken assumptions. We think we know, though the reality is that what we know is not always right.

Consider our media -- print and TV -- and its projection of Pakistan as traditional, oppressive, backward looking and, to top it all, Islamist. These magisterial generalisations do not end at that. Women, we are told, are kept in seclusion, while the menfolk go around their business with their flowing beards. Such impressions conform to our own conception of a typically Islamic ethos. One can dismiss all this as utter rubbish, but what does one do with the false images, now part of our national psyche after Kargil, created and sedulously cultivated by politicians?

The real problem is this: by portraying Pakistan as an archetype of a highly traditional and unchanging society, we seem to be demarcating sharp boundaries between ``us'' and ``them''. Some of us, in the academia, worship the rising sun to gain favours and rewards from the political establishment, but most intellectuals, especially in left circles, have been relentless critics of our society and polity for well over five decades.They bask in the glory of their own self-pride and ideological conviction.

This trend was dormant in Pakistan, as in Latin America, Africa, West Asia and in the south-east Asian Archipelago, because of repressive authoritarian regimes and military dictatorships. But the resurgence of democracy has emboldened the Pakistani intelligentsia to strike a discordant note, to lead sustained campaigns in defence of civil rights, women's empowerment, nuclear disarmament, and in opposition to political Islam. Today, the voices of dissent and protest can be heard loud and clear on the streets of Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. Today, the democratic forces, even though bruised and battered by General Zia-ul-Haq, call the shots at different levels of Pakistan society.

If the election results are any indication, the Jamaat-i-Islami's project of creating an Islamic state and society has very few takers. The lessons of the Khomeini revolution in Iran, followed by the seemingly endless war in Afghanistan, have not been lost on the voters. They realise that the militant Taliban and their allies in Pakistan pose a serious threat to regional peace. They also fear that the ideology and movement of the Taliban-Jamaat combine would ultimately retard the progress of Pakistan society, and lead to its fragmentation. 

Pakistani intellectuals, having survived the nightmare of Zia-ul-Haq's rule, are now beginning to ask some new and some awkward questions. Ayesha Jalal, better known for her book on M.A. Jinnah, has talked of the hollowness of civil society, the weakness of the institutions of the state, and the ideological contradiction in the self-projections and self-perceptions of the Pakistani State. The real problem in Pakistan, she points out, is that the structures inherited from the colonial state were not realigned with the dominant conceptions which had fired the Muslim struggle for equality, solidarity and freedom. So that Mohammad Iqbal's lofty equation of Islam and civil society has been lost sight of in the litany of confusion surrounding conceptions of national identity and state sovereignty. What next? Ayesha Jalal calls for sustained debates on citizenship rights towards forging a collective ethos as a nation-state, and a national dialogue to create the necessary consensus to begin rebuilding anew. We, in the Indian academia, must follow such debates with care, and, in the process, disperse the clouds of ignorance about our neighbouring country. With India fast emerging as a major player in Asia, the need to do so is much greater now than ever before.

* A peace resolution by Pakistan Peace Coalition passed at Karachi, on 8/6/99 (Through.South Asians Against Nukes)

Peace lovers in different parts of the country had opposed the nuclear tests by India and Pakistan in May last year and rejected as a myth the notion that possession of nuclear weapons serves as deterrent against the possibility of war.  The recent war in Kargil has eloquently proved them right. It also became clear that the presence of such weapons of mass destruction does not prevent but can at any time trigger the most devastating wars.  There is no dearth of persons in both countries who consider waging war as their cardinal duty.

The lesson which humankind has learnt from the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is that the only way to save ourselves from the horrors of a nuclear holocaust is the total abolition of nuclear weapons and rejection of war as an instrument for resolving bilateral disputes.

The people of Pakistan want peace not war.  Only in a climate of peace can the resources of the country be used for their benefit. Wars and war preparations rob the country of its resources and the people of their fundamental right to live a decent life.

So, resolved that:
- Pakistan and India should immediately put a stop to the on-going arms race and undertake concrete measures for elimination of nuclear weapons. As a first step they should sign the CTBT.
- Reject war, war preparations and war-like propaganda against eachother.
- Resume bilateral dialogue on all issues including Kashmir. On the issue of Kashmir, accept the people of Kashmir as the main party and allow them freely to decide what they want.
- Reject violence in all forms within their countries.
- Formally recognize PEACE as a fundamental right of all citizens.

OPINION

*Working Towards Pakistan-India Peace by Mubashir Hasan (Excerpts from Chapter 6 of Making Enemies, Creating Conflict:Pakistan's Crises of State and Society Edited by Zia Mian and Iftikhar Ahmad published in 1998 by Mashal Books of Lahore, Pakistan, http://www.mashalbooks.com. The full text is available at: http://members.tripod.com/~no_nukes_sa/chapter_6.html. Received through South Asia Citizens Web) 

The work of promotion of peace between Pakistan and India is a gigantic undertaking. The two main impediments to such a peace are ideological and political. The economic and religious arguments advanced by sections of populations in both the countries are not as relevant as they are generally assumed to be. These are used by vested interests merely to supplement the first two.
In the realm of ideology, the hydra-headed monster of nationalism needs to be dethroned from its high pedestal. The irrational emotional relationship between citizens and the state, its armed might, its honor, its destiny, its unique personality, its superiority over other nations has to be replaced by a rational loyalty and patriotism which serves as a vehicle of peace and humanism. Politically, it is the permanent establishments of the states, their collaborating political forces, the beneficiaries of the present exploitative order, the intellectuals of the ideology of imperial nationalism and the domestic and foreign allies such as international arms merchants and the obscurantists which need to be confronted. 
The strategy of peace comprises, first and foremost, in securing the empowerment of the allies of peace in political, economic and social fields. All platforms for securing the basic human rights of the vast majority of the population, as individuals or in groups, are platforms of peace between India and Pakistan. The allies of peace are hundreds and hundreds of millions of unorganized, hapless, poor, downtrodden masses and their supporters from the middle and upper classes who may be found all over, sometimes confused, often in disarray and generally with sights fixed on other than real objectives....

* A need for friendship by V.K.Tripathi 8/15/99 (Through india@wam.umd.edu)
We are commemorating India's Independence Day at a difficult moment. The military overtures at India Pak border are disturbing, not only for their potential in escalating into a major conflict, but also because in its garb India has the danger of slipping into the hands of communal forces and Pakistan into military dictatorship. Media and elite classes have lost sense of proportion and are indulging in creating war phobia. 
Today Afghan Mujahideens are a terror, but not long ago there was a bond of friendship between the people of India and Afghanistan. Afghanistan rendered valuable help to our revolutionaries in the early part of this century. It was here that the first provisional government of India, under the Presidentship of Raja Mahendra Pratap and Premiereship of Barkatullah was formed. As for the people of Pakistan and Bangladesh, we stood together in the struggle against imperialism. In fact North West Frontier province was the site of the most successful civil disobedience movement (satyagraha). We need to inculcate friendship with the people in our neighborhood. Trans border terrorism, which has nothing to do with the masses, is only a minor irritant when viewed in the context of acute exploitation of the masses by their own elite classes. The liberal elements in all the
countries in the subcontinent must make a common cause in promoting grass root democracy, secularism, educational and economic cooperation, and fighting exploitation. A right perspective on Kashmir must be developed. Pakistan has played with the lives of innocent Kashmiri people by intrusion and India by subverting its autonomy and democratic process. It is painful that a state which was the island of peace and secularism during partition, when  the entire nation was burning, has a strong divide between the Hindus and the Muslims. The government of India must initiate a broad based dialogue with the representatives of Kashmiri people. Mujahideens are only a peripheral problem that can be overcome by winning  the masses.
Three other major issues that urgently need our attention are Education, Agriculture and Small Scale Industry. There is rapid privatization of technical, professional and computer education in our country and the tuition fees have gone up immensely. This has left vast majority of our people outside the education system. There are no avenues of growth for them. Immediate steps must be taken to bring
masses into the fold of education. Progressive people must form  study groups, work out viable schemes and do vigorous campaigning on this issue. One must explore if communications/networking could be employed in this endeavor. This has be done while resisting growing communalization of academic bodies and educational power structure.
Agriculture is the employer of two third of our work force whose average per capita income is less than half of the national average. These people have only seasonal employment. There conditions will improve when they have sources of supplementary income (probably through agriculture based small scale industry) and get fair prices for their produce. One must also remember that half the people engaged in agriculture are landless laborers, not getting even the minimum wages. They deserve immediate attention, including the implementation of minimum wages. 
Traditional small scale industries (SSIs) have suffered severe decline after independence. Only SSIs like handlooms and handicrafts have survived. However, in these SSIs the ownership of looms or enterprises does not belong to artisans who are engaged in these crafts for decades or even generations. They are paid only minimal wages without any retirement or medical benefits. This situation must change with active state intervention. The government must provide  capital assistance, formal education and training to artisans and their wards so that in years to come they have their own enterprises. This will strengthen our democracy at the grass root level.
We already have an  under current of grassroot movements on some of these issues in our country. We must resolve to strengthen it.

*Faces of patriotism by Imtiaz Alam (From the News International Pakistan 8/24/99)
Pakistani patriotism as the basis of our national conduct is a rare premise, except for a glimpse on the 14th of August or an occasional act of self-sacrifice in defense of the motherland. Memories of national self-determination and liberation fall short of defining the parameters that can determine the essentials of existence as a nation-state. Whereas the "ideology of Pakistan", as we know it, justifies the notions of our existence as a people, it negates the affirmative basis of survival as a nation- state. Thanks to a prolonged ideological struggle that has actually been won by the religious right, for the time being and in a narrow sense, Pakistan is now being overwhelmingly defined as an instrument of radical Islam and regardless of the imperatives of a nation-state. In fact, Pakistani "nationalism" has become subservient to the rising tide of radical pan-Islamism that knows no geographical boundaries. On the other hand, the ethno-lingual communities that physically constitute an uneasy federation find themselves politically displaced in an alien ideological contest.
Moreover, certain "geopolitical national security interests", including Kashmir, provide avenues of convergence between the strategic objectives of guardians of geographical boundaries and the ideological considerations of the radical religious forces. While the systemic failures lend a helping hand to the divine right of the clerics to define our destiny, the people become much more alienated in a stultifying existence in a failed republic.
The "two-nation" theory had no doubt a "communal" element in unifying the Muslim minority against the rule of a majority not ready to accommodate their concerns behind a self-serving "secular" facade. However, for all practical purposes, it played a functional role for the creation of a state in Muslim majority regions of the Indus Valley. After the purpose was served, the Founder of the Nation in his first address to the Constituent Assembly, three days before the creation of the republic, spelled the non-communal basis for governing Pakistan. That should have brought an end to the "two-nation" theory, after the objective had been achieved. But that was not to be so.
Despite the "resolution" of communal dispute by the partition of the subcontinent, the issues of the rights of the minorities have remained unresolved. They have become much more intractable in all the three countries of the subcontinent under a majoritarian regime. The secular constitution of India continues to serve the interests of the Hindu majority at the cost of the minorities-both Muslims and Christians. Despite a 97 per cent majority of the Muslims in Pakistan, both the Constitution and the state have continued to discriminate against hapless minorities and this fascist marginalization is now being increasingly extended from the Ahmadis to the Shias. In Bangladesh, the plight of Hindus is even worse under a Muslim-Bengali nation-state.
In Pakistan, the "two nation" theory got its second birth in the form of "ideology of Pakistan" as the Mohajir and Punjabi leadership of the Muslim League got isolated in the provinces. Instead of taking a democratic and participatory federalist route, the isolated political leadership and an autocratic establishment based on Punjabi-Mohajir axis adopted an authoritarian course of internal-colonization and segregation behind the facade of "ideology of Pakistan". Be it the Objectives Resolution, separate electorate, "principle" of parity, one-unit, dissolution of elected governments, suspension of the right to franchise or the successive martial laws, all of them came to negate the very democratic basis of Pakistan.
The nation-state building in a post-colonial state, characterized by marginalization of the people, exclusion of periphery and discrimination against religious minorities, took place behind the facade of "ideology of Pakistan" and on the pretext of a "strong Pakistan". If perceptions of a persistent "Indian threat" and the "liberation of Kashmir" were used to define the national security paradigm, the minorities and the ethnic nationalities, except the dominating Punjabis (and Mohajirs until the mid-80s), were dubbed as "enemy's agent" to reinforce an authoritarian state.
Although the "ideology of Pakistan", continued to find different variants under successive rulers to suit their designs, it served the same Punjabi-Mohajir axis. However, during the peak of and after the Cold War, it took a decisive shift towards a pan-Islamist mission as Pakistan became a front-line state for a holy war against the "evil empire" at the behest of the free world.
The Afghan jihad worked as a catalyst in ideological transformation of both the state and society. While fighting on the side of the Afghan mujahideen, the security structures of the state passed through an ideological conversion to the creed of holy war which is now being  reinforced by the jihad in Kashmir. The latest Kargil epic testifies how effectively the passion and ideology of jihad has thrown every other more binding national consideration out of the window.
The four-corners of state are reluctant in distinguishing Pakistan's own interests from the pretensions of ideology. They are, rather, perceived and formulated from the standpoint of a state engaged in jihad in various parts of the world. Pakistan's "ideological mission", by virtue of its birth as an "ideological state", is supposed to determine everything else--be it economy, polity, centre-province relations, foreign affairs, etc. On the political front, no party dares to formulate Pakistan's hard and fast benchmarks that are essentially in conflict with the designs of a "warrior state". This is the religious right that now decides the use of this country in  pursuing its "sacred agenda" that is diametrically opposed to the self-interest of Pakistan and the people that historically inhabit it.
A case for Pakistani patriotism questions all that that can erode the very existence of Pakistan--be it an unsustainable national security paradigm, a dozen or so holy wars, Talibanization, "jihad" in Kashmir, the nuclear arms race, an isolationist foreign policy, the debt-trap, bad governance, authoritarian rule, maginalization of the smaller provinces, misplaced priorities, private militias and erosion of institutions. If Pakistan has to retreat from the brink, it will have to clearly redefine what are its own enlightened self-interests.
Faced with its all-sided crises of survival, the state should respond to its aggregate physical and economic limitations and draw a bottom line. So far, it has functioned in contrast to the imperatives of a peripheral economy and the actual requirements of the people of four federating units. While living on borrowed times and stretching too much beyond its means, the state is left with no choice but bid farewell to everything that gives it a bad name of a "rogue state" or make it vulnerable from both within and without. Narrow self-interests of the institutions, expediencies of the politicians and ideological deceptions will not help take a break with the  past that undermines the essentials of a modern nation-state existence.
A beginning can be made by initiating a national debate on Pakistani patriotism as opposed to radical pan-Islamism. Given the sum-total of Pakistan's objective needs and limitations, the following will have to be redefined: What are the demands of its failed economy? What are the limits of a sustainable security? What is most needed by the people? What are the priorities of and what kind of development? What ought to be the relations between the state and the citizen, provinces and the federation, parliament and executive and the judiciary? What should be the relations with South Asia and the world? What is the grand scheme of a sustainable, prosperous and safe Pakistan? What is meant by Pakistan-hood as a civilized people?
And what has to be a new social contract that embodies the aspirations of the people of federating units and best possible of a modern Pakistani patriotism? Shouldn't we revisit Jinnah, a liberal par excellence, and reject the clerical version being at odds with the genesis of Pakistan?
Yes, we must before it is too late!

A LETTER FROM A PAKISTANI PEACE ACTIVIST

* A peace workshop for women by Beena Sarwar, Lahore, Pakistan 8/15/99)
Dear all,  I wanted to share with you my experience of a peace workshop I did on August 6 with working women in Lahore, including factory workers and marketing  officers from multinationals. It was organized by PILER (Pakistan Institute of  Labour, Education and Research), with about 35 participants. Since I had never  done this kind of thing before, I asked my mother, a teacher for help - she had  formulated a peace workshop for teacher trainers last year, using the material I  got from Hiroshima-Nagasaki, including an edited version of a Sadako Sasaki animated cartoon film. I didn't have a copy of the film with me, so I just used  the basic structure she had formed. After going through all the exercises and questions, I talked about the  significance of Aug 6, and used the photo panels of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Nevada,  Semiplatinsk etc.(from Japan) to show the participants what nuclear weapons and  testing can do. I also used silk dolls that Junko Kayashige (a teacher in  Hiroshima & a hibakusha) had presented me, and used her story, and the fan with the peace message to add a more human touch.  We also discussed Pakistan and India's nuclear tests and how futile and  damaging these were. Participants said that in countries where there was so much  hunger, unemployment, lack of health care and education etc., weapons should not  be manufactured. They said that they had not participated in the  government-sponsored celebrations on May 28, but had felt everyone else had -  and then they realized that most people hadn't but that those who were against  nuclear weapons had not come out to lodge their protest. The feedback I got later from the workshop organis ers was that the  participants, most of whom had been in favour of Pakistan's nuclear programme  (which they hadn't told me then), had ALL agreed that nuclear weapons cannot be  used under any circumstances, and drafted a resolution to this effect! One of  them even wrote an anti-nuke poem. So we have 35 converts to our cause.... 
Following is the peace workshop devised by my mother, Professor Zakia Sarwar. It is simple and may be used by anyone; it's meant for women, but can be  adapted for any group. Please do let us know if and when and how it went.  If anyone needs the Hiroshima/Nagasaki photo sets, please let me know. Thanks,  Beena 

HOLIDAYS: September 6 Labor Day (US & Canada), 10 Rosh Hashanah, 12 Grandparents Day (US), 13 Ganesh Cahturthi, 14 Jain Samvatsari, 15 Respect for the Aged Day (Japan), 16 Independence Day (Mexico),  19 Yom Kippur.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

* September 4 & 5, San Jose, CA, USA: GANESHA, the Blissful & Absolute, a Bharatnatyam performance and SHONAR BANGLA, a program of Bengali folk dances, presented by Shri Krupa Dance Foundation at 7 p.m. on Sept 4 and at 5 p.m. on Sep 5 at The Stage, 490 S. First St. Tickets at $8 ($7 Seniors & Children). More info from www.shrikrupa.org..
* September 5, Portland, OR, USA: TAAL, a Subhash Ghai Hindi movie staring Anil Kapoor and  Aishwariya Rai at 12 noon, 4 p.m., and 8 p.m. at Cinemagic Theater. More info from www.indiafoods.com. 
* Till September 15, New Delhi, India: BRONZE TREASURES of the National Museum at National Gallery of Modern Art, Jaipur House, daily 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.. More info from 011.3382835. 
* September 15 - November 28, Berkeley, CA, USA: DEITIES, COURTIERS AND LOVERS, an exhibition of about 300 Indian miniature paintings from 15th to early 20th century, and in a variety of styles including Jain, Mughal, Pahari, Rajput, and Sikh, and all from the Jean and Francis Marshall Collection, at the gallery of University of California Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archives. More info from 510.642.0808.
* September 17, New York, NY, USA: Sitar maestro Ustad VILAYAT KHAN, joined by his eldest son, Shujaat Husain Khan, and his youngest, Hidayat Khan (both on the sitar) and tabla exponent Sabir Khan  will present the opening concert of the World Music Institute's 1999-2000 season at 8 p.m.. at the Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street. Tickets at $25, $35 and $50 from box-office at 212. 840.-2824 or ticketmaster at 212.307.4100. 
* September 22-January 9, San Francisco, CA, USA: ARTS OF THE SIKH KINGDOM, the first of its kind exhibition of more than 160 rarely seen objects - paintings, textiles, ceramics, metalwork, books, decorative arts, and photography - from kingdoms of the Sikhs at Asian Art Museum. More info from <www.asianart.org>.
* September 25, Portland, OR, USA: MAAYAN (The Mystical One, a Bharatnatyam dance drama  portraying the glory and splendor of Lord Krishna by 26 dancers from the Kalabharathi School of Dance at Aladdin Theater, 3116 SE 11th Ave. Tickets at $15 at Ticket Master outlets. More info from 503.629.0354.

OTHER EVENTS

* September 2, Eagle Creek, OR, USA: KRISHNA JANMASTHAMI at the Hare Krishna Country Ashram at Three Cedars Ranch at 36312 SE Douglas Rd, 4 p.m. to midnight. More info from www. iskcon.net/oregon or 503.637.3891. 
* September 7, San Jose, CA, USA: A ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION on "New Dangers and New Steps for India, Pakistan and Kashmir" led by Michael Krepon, President of the Stimson Center and  organized by the Commonwealth Club of California at 8 p.m. at Silicon Valley Conference Room (6th floor), 111 North Market Street. More info from pschauhan@earthlink.net.
* September 10, New York , NY, & Los Angeles, CA, USA: EARTH, a film that explores ways in which the political dynamics of the India/Pakistan partition permeated human relationships opens in the USA at New York City Quad, Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and Laemmle's Music Hall in Los Angeles.  Based on Parsee novelist from Pakistan Bapsi Sidhwa1's novel Cracking India, Earth and directed  by Deepa Mehta of FIRE fame, the film views things through the eyes of Lenny, an eight year old Parsee girl, and focuses not only on the breakup of a country, but also her Hindu maid's closest group of Hindu,Muslim and Sikh friends. More information from http://www.zeitgeistfilm.com/ current/earth/earth.html A list of USA play dates is available at http://www.zeitgeistfilm. com/ current/playdates/earthplaydates.html. (Through South Asia Citizens Web)
* September 14-18, U.K.:  SIXTH WORLD HINDI CONFERENCE will be organized in England by Hindi Samiti of U.K. and other Indian organizations. More information from Prof. Mahendra Verma, Department of Languages and Linguistic Science, University of York, Y015DD, U.K.
* September 13, New York, NY, USA: HOW INDIA'S LARGEST INTERNET PORTAL IS CHANGING INDIAN SOCIETY. Organized by the Asia Society, in association with TIE-NY, a discussion with Ajit Balakrishnan, Chairman, Founder and CEO of Rediff.com, the most visited website by Indians worldwide and with an estimated reach of 45% in India, 6-8 p.m. at the Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue.@70th. $25 CorporateMember; $35 Non-Member. More info from 212.517.ASIA or 212.288.6400.

CLASSES

* Starting September 18, Portland, OR, USA: HINDI classes by Rachel Lileet. More info from lileet@juno.com. 

RESEARCH

* Portland, OR, USA: A study on cultural assimilation of first generation Asian Indians in USA is being conducted by  Priya Sukumaran, a graduate sociology student at Portland State university. Individuals from Portland area willing to participate in the study or seeking information about the study should contact her by telephone at 503.725.8189 or 503.725.7000 or by email at psu10297 @odin.cc.pdx.edu.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

* Papers and workshop proposals are invited for WOMEN'S STUDIES: ASIAN CONNECTIONS, a Symposium and Participatory Forum to be organized from 11/3 through 11/5/2000 at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC, Canada by the University's  Centre for Research in Women's Studies and Gender Relations, in collaboration with the UBC Institute for Asian Research and the Simon Fraser University Women's Studies Department. More info from litton@interchange.ubc.ca. Friday November 3rd - Sunday November 5th, 2000
*The Reviewer is a just relaunched free weekly e-zine of BOOK REVIEWS. It promises to review everything except trash, and to stay away from downright text books. To subscribe, send a blank mail to subscribe@onelist.com.
* DOCALERT at www.doc-centre.org lists and provides copies of latest newspaper, magazine and journal articles on 21 subjects relating to development and social change in India.
* The Asia Society invites academics, authors, and researchers to join ASIAEXPERTS, a database of specialists on AsiaSource that will give students, journalists, event organizers, and fellow colleagues a chance to find experts specializing in an array of Asia-related subjects, particularly anthropology; architecture, planning & preservation; art history; dance; drama; education; film; fine arts; history; journalism; language; literature; medicine; music; philosophy; psychology; public health; religion; science & technology; and sociology. More info from http://www.asiasource.org/ experts/ ax_mp_04.cfm?expertid=0 or jonl@asiasoc.org.

BOOKS

*Making Enemies, Creating Conflict:Pakistan's Crises of State and Society, edited by Zia Mian and Iftikhar Ahmad, and consisting of following chapters "The Roots of Violence"  (Eqbal Ahmad), "The Politics and Dynamics of Violent Sectarianism" (Abbas Rashid), "The Karachi Cauldron" (Irfan Hussain), "Development and Conflict"(Zia Mian & Iftikhar Ahmad), "Jinnah's Vision of Pakistan" (Sharif al Mujahid), "Working Towards Pakistan-India Peace"(Mubashir Hasan), "Militarisation, Nation and Gender" (Rubina Saigol), "Conflict and Violence in the Educational Process"(Khurshid Hasanain & A. H. Nayyar), "Enemy Images on Pakistan Television" (I. A. Rehman), "Nuclear Enemies" A. H. Nayyar is available from Mashal of Lahore, Pakistan. More info from www. mashalbooks.com.
*Pakistan-India Nuclear Peace Reader  is available from Mashal of Lahore, Pakistan. It includes critical essays that analyze the various dimensions of the subcontinental nuclear issue. Also included are a number of purely  informational documents, such as chronologies of missile and nuclear developments, the technology of nuclear weapons, their effects on humans, what international treaties such as the CTBT and FMCT mean for us, and so on. More info from www. mashalbooks.com.
* The Concerned Indian's Guide to Communalism edited by K.N. Panikkar; Viking; pages 252, Rs.395. (Excerpts from a review by A. G.Noorani from Frontline,8/28-9/10/99, through Communalism Watch and Governance Monitor). This collection of essays edited by K. N. Panikkar, Professor of Modern History at the Center for Historical Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University an academic who has written extensively on the cultural and intellectual history of modern India.  An anguished concern at the present situation is reflected all over his incisive introduction.  ("The politics of Hindutva, as the essays in this volume bring out, is primarily engaged in defining the nation as Hindu through a process of cultural homogenisation, social consolidation and political   mobilisation of the majority community and at the same time, by stigmatising the minorities as aliens and enemies"). The contributors are writers of repute, each distinguished in his/her own intellectual discipline. They include authorities like Romila Thapar (" If we can read our history with more sensitivity and insight, it would contribute to avoiding a fascist future"),  Jayati Ghosh, Tanika Sarkar,  Sumit Sarkar, and  Siddharth Varada-rajan.

PEOPLE 

* A suicide bomber assassinated NEELAN TIRUCHELVAM in Colombo, Sri Lanka in July. Harvard-educated member of Parliament of Tamil origin he had worked to bring an end to the savage ethnic conflict in the country. He had helped draft the Government's peace plan, which included constitutional changes he had coaxed from the majority Sinhalese rulers to redress the grievances of the Tamil people. The 16-year-old civil war has already claimed the lives of 60,000 in a country whose total population is only 18 million. (From an article by CELIA W. DUGGER in New York Times of 8/24/99 and received through South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch)
* LALITH KOTELAWALA, a Sri Lankan businessman, who lost an eye in a bomb attack in 1996,  has realized that "hatred can't end the war." Instead, now he heads a Sri Lankan business initiative to get the country's two man Sinhalese parties to agree to a possible solution to end the 16 year old ethnic conflict. Referring to the results of a recent survey, he pointed out that only 14 percent of Sri Lankans were in favor of war and most of them were from the affluent sections of the society. Also, a spurt of demonstration in recent months have demonstrated that most people wanted peace. (India West)
*ASIM MUGHAL was one of the engineers who designed and built Cassini spacecraft at Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA ( United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Specifically his contribution was in the form of research development and implementation of Ka-band communication technology used for the first time on a spacecraft. Originally from Pakistan, he now lives in the Silicon Valley of California. (Information Times).
* LOY RAM BORA is a schoolteacher by profession, but today he is most sought after as a no less a flood control expert and an anti-erosion specialist. He bore the bank by 30 to 35 feet and then planted the bhaluka bamboo, the longest bamboo available in the village. He put the saplings at a distance of 2 feet and each row is at an angle of 30 to 35 degree towards the river.  Then there were two rows which were filled with sand to make it a spur. Although the effort was initially an experiment, it has caused wonders during this wave of flood, giving confidence to Loy Ram Bora to announce that his success rate is around 70 per cent. The villagers are now taking upon themselves the task of constructing such spurs around their villages throughout the bank with Bora offering expert advice. The method is cost-effective as each spur costs around Rs 6,000 and the entire village pools in the money and lend their own labor to build it. (Report in the Assam Tribune; Guwahati, 8/6/99 and received through Northeast Vigil).
* OSMAN SIDDIQUE, a travel executive who came to the United States from Bangladesh three decades ago without financial resources, took the oath of office August 17 as U.S. ambassador to Fiji and three other Pacific Island nations. He is the first person born in South Asia to head a U.S. Embassy. He was born in 1950 in Dhaka, came to USA in 1971, and is now president and chief executive officer of ITI/Travelogue Inc., a corporate management company he founded in 1976. (Associate Press received through Dr. Jolly Rahman).
* Prince Charles recently unveiled at Butten Island, in Thetford near Cambridge, a statute of DULEEP SINGH, the son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab. The site is close to Elveden Estate, where Duleep Singh lived, starting at age 8, after he was dethroned in 1949, following the annexation by the British of Punjab.
* MAJOR H. P.S. AHLUWALIA, who had conquered Mt. Everest on May 24, 1965 but whose spinal injuries by Pakistani sniper fire in Kargil had crippled him in September of the same year, has led the effort to set up the Indian Spinal Injuries Center in New Delhi. The Center treat all aspects of spinal injuries. (India Abroad News Service)
* Indian sitar maestro PANDIT RAVI SHANKAR was awarded the German government prestigious International Prize for Film & Media Music for 1999 at Bonn 

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

* A new book designed to assist individuals considering applying for U.S. CITIZENSHIP is now available at the cost of $8.95. Entitled "No Bull Guide to Citizenship," and edited by Achal Mehra is published by Nobel Publishers. The author is an associate professors of communications at Albright College, Reading, PA. 
* Planning for COLLEGE, and 1999 College Costs, two brochures intended to assist individuals in planning for college education are available free from MetLife. To order call 888.MET.1947.
*SARADA RAMAKRISHNA VIVEKANANDA Association of Oregon,  a spiritual community whose members are dedicated to living a divine life as taught and exemplified by Sri Ramakrishna, the Great Master, Sri Sarada Devi, known as the Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda, can be reached by mail at P.O. Box 14012, Portland, OR, 97293, by phone at 503.736.9605, or by email at SRVorg@teleport.com. More info from www.SRV.org.
* The website http://www.sikhnet.com/s/ThirdPillar sponsored by Amar Infinity Foundation carries Daily Hukamnama, and provides information about SIKHISM, Gurbani tapes and videos, Gurbani fonts daily news, free email, matrimonial service, calendar of activities, livechats, discussion forum, and greeting cards. 
* www.SRV.org is the Website of SARADAA RAMAKRISHNA VIVEKANANDA (SRV) Associations of Oregon, PO Box 14012, Portland, OR 97293. 
*AsiaSource offers free listing of events in their CALENDAR covering in the 25 major international cities. To avail of this service complete a user-friendly online form at http://www.asiasource.org/ events/ae_mp_04.cfm or contact Jon Lackman at jonl@asiasoc.org

DID YOU KNOW

* For the first time, Indian Election Commission will link by computer all of its 1500 vote counting centers during the forthcoming ELECTIONS to be held in September-October. Also, electronic voting will be introduce in at least 45 of the 543 constituencies. About 600 million voters will be eligible to cast votes in this election. 
* Sometime on Sunday, August 15, India's POPULATION passed the one billion mark, making it the second member of the exclusive one billion club, along with China, according to a report from  the Worldwatch Institute.  But reaching one billion is not a cause for celebration in a country where one half of the adults are illiterate, more than half of all children are undernourished, and one third of the people live below the poverty line. Each year India is adding 18 million people, roughly another Australia. 
* Indo-Myanmar FREE TRADE ZONE thrives at this border town of Namphalong, 68 miles from Imphal, Manipur by India's National Highway 39. People here can buy everything from colorful plastic bowls and cans of Coca-Cola made in Thailand to car batteries and pocket radios. Most goods  come from China, and some from Singapore and Malaysia. Between December 195 and September 1997, about Rs. 991 million worth of goods were traded here. The trade zone was established by an agreement signed by India and Myanmar in 1994. (From India West 8/8/99)
* Indian Railways network, the world's second largest after the United States, carry about 13 million people a day.  The passenger traffic has risen up by 514 percent and freight traffic by volume by 620 percent since 1951. 
* India's annual flower production is about 1,000 tons, most of which are sent to Amsterdam for distribution to other European countries, according to the south Indian Floriculture Association.  Expecting an increased demand for flowers for Millennium celebrations, the Association is planing to charter 10 freighter flights, each with the capacity of about 250 tons, to cover the period from Christmas through Valentine's Day.
* India produces over 10 million bicycles annually making it the world's largest producer.
* http://www.vikora.com/Namaste/Rambhoja is a site where one can acquire information about India while playing a game. 

TRAVEL

* Between October 13 and November 19. Southern Railways will run a special train between Madras and Calcutta during the months of October and November to meet the rush of passengers during the DURGA PUJA festival. The train will depart from Howrah at 1510 hours on Wednesday and Friday and reach Madras Central at 1900 hours on Thursday and Saturday.  The train will depart from Madras Central at 1030 hours on Friday and Sunday and reach Howrah at 1715 hours on Saturday and Monday.