Anna Hazare: We will keep fighting till Jan Lokpal Bill is passed

IIPM Mumbai Campus

Anna Hazare's fast demanding a strong Lokpal entered the fifth day on Saturday with his team saying they were ready to talk to the government but no such communication channels have been opened.

Hazare came to the podium at around 10am as supporters started pouring in Ramlila Maidan where he launched his protest yesterday after coming out of Tihar Jail.

The 73-year-old anti-corruption crusader alleged the funds in government treasuries were being threatened not by thieves but from those guard it and the country is being threatened by these traitors.

"Why should we fight? The funds in government treasuries are ours. The treasuries are not threatened by thieves but by those who guard it. The country is not betrayed by enemies but by these traitors," the Gandhian said.

He said he has lost three-and-half kg in the last four days. "I feel a little weak. But there is nothing to worry about it. The fight will go on till we get a strong Lokpal," Hazare said in his brief address to the gathering.

His close associates Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia said the team was ready to talk to the government on the issue of Lokpal Bill but no one has approached them.

"We are ready to talk to the government but there is no communication from their side. Where should we go to talk and whom should we talk to?" Kejriwal and Sisodia said.

Hazare had yesterday raised the political stakes by giving a deadline to the government to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill by August 30 failing which he would continue his fast "till my last breath".

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Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare addresses supporters at Ramlila Ground

After three days in jail, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare reached Ramlila Maidan and addressed thousands of supporters urging them to continue the fight for a strong Lokpal Bill.

Anna was received by cheering crowds, many of who had been waiting for days.

Earlier in the day, just past the Tihar Jail gates he addressed the crowd outside , raising his hand to the air and shouting "Victory to Mother India" and declaring the fight against corruption would continue whether he was "alive or not" before slowly winding his way in a truck decorated with flags through massive crowds.

Looking fit, the 73-year old Gandhian who is on day four of his hunger strike, urged his supporters outside jail to make sure that the torch of the movement against corruption is not extinguished. He said that India gained freedom in 1947, but the freedom movement had actually begun long time back meaning that the march to end corruption will be a long drawn one.

"We got freedom in 1947. Now the second freedom struggle has begun on August 16. A revolution has started. The fight against corruption will continue whether I am alive or not," he said as the hundreds of supporters waiting for him since early morning cheered and clapped.

Anna said, "After 64 years of independence, we still haven't achieved complete freedom."

"The fight is far from over, it has just begun," he added.

Many supporters had been there overnight and some had offered prayers to the god. Others chanted "the whole country is Anna".

Greeted by rains, the procession made slow progress as Anna waved to his supporters on his way towards Rajghat where he paid obeisance to Mahatma Gandhi before proceeding to Amar Jawan Jyoti at the India Gate and from there to the Ramlila ground, the protest venue.

Hazare supporters accompanied the procession waving the tricolour while he accepted greetings from people gathered on either side of the road in West Delhi.

The improvised vehicle had a huge umbrella to protect Hazare and his close aides from the pounding rain. Apart from walking along with Hazare's vehicle, the supporters followed him on bikes, jeeps and cars.

The procession affected vehicular traffic in and around the Tihar Jail premises including in Janakpuri, Mayapuri and Hari Nagar in West Delhi.

The tireless Hazare was greeted by the supporters with garlands and bouquets at various intersections en-route his procession which was marked by chants of 'Anna' and "Vande Mataram".

Children, housewives and others were seen standing on their balconies and rooftops to have a glimpse of Hazare and the procession.

Thousands of people, many of them school children, waited at Ramlila Ground despite rains to support Anna Hazare.

With the many tricolours, patriotic songs playing in the background and loud slogans and the sun playing hide and seek, it was like a carnival at the sprawling ground in central Delhi where Hazare will continue his fast that began Tuesday.

There were hundreds of school children in the crowd, some who had bunked their classes to come out in support of the 74-year-old Hazare.

"I have come here to support Annaji and we will get the civil society version of Lokpal bill passed come what may," said Prateek Babar, a student of Rajkiya Sarvodya Vidhyalaya School in west Delhi.

As it started pouring heavily, some people started dancing.

"When the government could not stop us, this downpour is nothing. I am here to witness history in the making," said Rehan Singh, a Class 9 student who had a tricolour painted on his face.

Authorities looked worried though.

"The marquee put up at the Ramlila ground is not waterproof. The ground is already wet. If it rains more, it will be difficult to handle," said Deputy Mayor Anil Sharma.

Anna's exit from jail today, took place after two days of hard negotiations with the government and the two sides agreeing that Hazare will undertake a fast for 15 days at the Ramlila Ground subject to certain conditions.

Hazare got from Delhi Police the spacious Ramlila Ground for his fast instead of the smaller J P Park.

Significantly, Team Hazare made it clear that his fast would not be a fast-unto-death and he will be on hunger strike only till his health permits.

73-year-old Hazare, in a video shot inside Tihar Jail, said the protests by "all my brothers and sisters, the elderly and the children" is giving him a "new energy" for his fast.

He said people were fed up of corruption and the government should not take long to bring a strong Lokpal Bill.

Hazare, who is on the third day of his fast inside Tihar jail, also said he is not "tired" at all.

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With Rahul Gandhi's emphasis on galvanising the party's moribund youth cadre, the Congress believes its prospects are beginning to look bright

After Irom Sharmila last year, Anna Hazare wins IIPM's 2011 Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize of Rs. 1cr. To be handed over on 9th May

An ace up his sleeve

It is well known in Congress circles that if there is anyone who cares most dearly about its future, it is its president Sonia Gandhi. The second name on that list is Rahul Gandhi. While under the UPA-I dispensation, Sonia Gandhi focused hard on 'achievements' of the party, the same period was used by Rahul to activate Congress' youth cadre. The Left Front, then supporters of the government, were the watchdogs: an opinion sought from the Left would entail such a research-based reply that the issue in concern would cease to be relevant. In other words, problems use to take care of themselves.

But UPA-II has been different. In the face of strong tearaway criticism of the government recently in the 2G payoffs and embarrassing exposure from WikiLeaks on the monies paid to buy votes of Members of Parliament (MPs) during the 2008 no-confidence vote, the pressure from the party on the government has been nearly as strong as it was from the Left Front during the UPA government's first term.

Those leaders in the Congress who were worried about the future of the party as well as the Gandhi family, have changed colours. Under pressure from the party high command, every little grievance now needs redressal, a routine party report cannot just be pushed under the carpet or treated casually. It has to be acted upon and pronto.

For instance, Sonia Gandhi was recently in London when a Delhi newspaper published a report of how a former union minister close to the family had utilised the services of a small time Congressman to buy MP votes. According to well placed party sources, Sonia ordered a report to be placed on her table before she returned from her sojourn explaining the potential damage that WikiLeaks may have caused the party.

The party report suggested that not much was likely to happen to the UPA in WikiLeaks, if anything it would be the BJP which would have a lot to answer. Instead, this committee which dealt with challenges and possibilities, has proposed that economic reforms need a human face, inflation be brought down, relief be given to the rural sector and young Congress cadres be organised at booth level.

The party is now leaning on the government to implement the proposals of this report. Cleverly, the Congress decision to involve the public accounts committee (PAC) in the 2G investigations is designed to keep it at loggerheads with the JPC, which is pursuing a similar probe and has already summoned Tata chairman Ratan Tata and Niira Radia.

According to Congress calculations, state elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal would be over and the party could then devote itself to strategising for the future. But central to all these themes is the invigorating of youth cadres which have the desired energy to get involved in mass contact programmes. Importantly, this team of leaders close to Rahul Gandhi believe that old party organisations had failed to promote a second, well defined line of leadership and that this is the time to activate that second line.

In the same vein, the party has prepared a Vision Paper 2014, which points out that regional parties have adroitly exploited regional sentiments, cashing on regional problems and soaring aspirations. In the context, the Paper has said that the party should stop thinking about the two-party system and instead concentrate on coalition governments as they were the immediate foreseeable future.
The recent seat-sharing arrangements that Congress has entered into with regional parties going to polls, is a result of that thought process. Both in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, it has Trinamool and AIADMK respectively. General Secretary Oscar Fernandes told TSI that "regional sentiments cannot be ignored.'' Asked if the party would think of accommodating the SP or BSP in the UPA or contest elections jointly, Fernandes said since these parties were not part of the government, that possibility has ruled itself out.

The Paper has clearly set out a target – or more specifically, sought to maintain one. It believes that the 206 seats and 28 per cent vote share that it got in the 2009 elections, should be kept intact.

To attain that goal, the Paper says that logistical support and organisational strength are critical. No better evidence of it comes than from the party headquarters at 24 Akbar Road where currently about 25 jeeps with UP-32 registration numbers are parked waiting to go to West Bengal for the assembly elections. Before this, in the Bihar elections, Rajasthan numbered cars were sent from the same location. The trend began with Rajiv Gandhi when he sent out brand new Maruti Gypsies for poll campaigns: no surprise that none ever came back and rumour has it that one former MP from eastern UP still uses an old Gypsy!

According to Rahul's concept of logistical support, the need for cars is different this time. The party plans to give them to needy candidates, wherever required. In addition, funding of candidates and providing them with uninterrupted publicity material is on the cards.

Emphasising the need for elementary poll booth management, cadres in Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh have been put through a Back to Basics course, whose preliminary session ended around Holi and the second is likely to resume after Navratras.

Says BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, "Our Back to Basics meant for the 2014 general elections has been stolen by Congress' heir apparent Rahul.'' Retorts Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi: "We are always prepared for elections and there is no question of copying the BJP. Had we done that, we would have been sitting in the Opposition.''

But as ever, UP remains the most elusive prize the Congress and its president aspire for. Working towards that and inducting Beni Prasad Verma into the Union Cabinet is part of the new initiative. Verma – with his own vision 2014 – has reportedly told the high command it may not be a bad idea to work out some sort of understanding with Ajit Singh in western UP to strengthen the party's base.
Not surprisingly, a majority of those involved in Rahul's ambitious plans are the youth. According to party observers, these are long-term prospects, but if pursued consistently, could produce unexpected results when the country is ready to go in for General Elections 2014.

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Unless the political and security establishment come down on religious fundamentalists with an iron hand, Kerala could well become another Kashmir

It was a sleepy Sunday morning in Muvattupuzha municipality, bordering Kottayam, and Professor T. J. Joseph was coming out of a church with his 80-year-old mother and his sister. A gang of hoodlums surrounded him in broad daylight and chopped off his right hand with an axe. The gang was implementing a Taliban-model court verdict. His fault? He had prepared a question paper which allegedly hurt Muslim sentiments. Joseph's predicament brings to light the dark side of a supposedly civilised society.

Following the incident, around 15 Popular Front of India (PFI) activists were arrested. Several Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) leaders, including its state secretary Asharaf Moulavi, were questioned in connection with the assault.

Kerala, renowned for the peaceful coexistence of the cross and the crescent, the temple and the synagogue, has of late seen the rise of the fundamentalist elements. There were days when Hindu kings built churches and mosques, provided shelter to missionaries and gave them a free hand to propagate their religion. All paths lead to God and there was no scope for enmity. Resultantly, minority communities like Muslims and Christians today make up more than 40 per cent of the state's population.

But now, many well wishers of the state feel that Kerala is sitting on a powder keg of communal tension and fundamentalism. There are specific and visible signs of an impending danger to the secular fabric of the state.

William Shakespeare famously wrote, 'Mischief thou art afoot, take thou course, thou wilt.' While this may not come true right away, lack of will and lack of a containment plan on behalf of the political high-ups are certainly driving the situation to that point.

Jnanpith Award winner and noted litterateur M.T. Vasudevan Nair says, 'Those who act on religious frenzy and to protect religion are creating deep fissures within the society. Human actions won't affect God who created the universe. Protection should be given to humanism. That's worshipping real God.'

But it seems that many quotation groups (professional killers) have taken contracts to protect gods and kill people in the name of gods. The elements of love, affection, protection, security and consolation religion used to give have taken a back seat. The act of defending one's religion often ruins an individual, the very religion it seeks to defend, the society and the nation as a whole. A handful of people inflame communal hatred, opportunistic politicians lend their tacit support and misguided foot soldiers impose draconian decrees on people.

Not that Kerala has never witnessed communal conflicts in the past. The major conflict between Muslims and Hindus occurred during the Mopla riots or Malabar riots which took place in 1921. Though some historians and communist leaders like the late EMS Namboodiripad termed it as an agrarian revolution, there were many instances of communal carnage. Erection of a cross at Nilakkal near the Sabarimala shrine saw massive protests and Christians had to backtrack in 1984. And the most recent communal incident took place in 2003 at Marad beach in Kozhikode district where eight Hindu fishermen were killed by armed Muslim extremists. Districts like Pathanamthitta where the Pentecost mission is active saw conflicts when Hindu groups allegedly tried to stop the missionaries from 'converting' people. A foreign missionary was attacked at Olavanna in Kozhikode district by RSS-VHP activists. All Political parties, barring Saffron groups, condemned it. Even Christian groups opposing the Pentecost faction staged protests. Clashes between Christians and Muslims occurred in various places in Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts.

The RSS and other Sangh Parivar outfits have strong presence in Kerala but BJP is yet to take advantage of it. For the Communists too, most of their followers and cadres still follow their respective religions. Hence any religious or communal undertone is also bound to affect their political future.

What complicates the matter in Kerala is its history of political killings. From the beginning of the 1980s, Thalaserry has witnessed a series of savage incidents in which between CPI(M) and RSS activists have killed as many as 250 people in 30 years.

Whether it is the Left Democratic Front (LDF) or the United Democratic Front (UDF) which comes to power, Christian and Muslim minority political groups have always been deciding factors. Consequently, they exert considerable political influence in any dispensation that comes to power. Thus, from building educational institutions and hospitals for the poor and the downtrodden, the attention today is firmly fixed on increasing political clout. Formation of the Kerala Congress, its splits and the recent attempts at re-unification are seen by experts as political interventions by the Church.

The CPI(M) organised a statewide strike when former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein was hanged. It does not spare any chance of bashing the US or to express solidarity with the Palestinian cause. The Congress and the CPI(M) have held meetings and protests in connection with the Gujarat riots and Kandhamal incidents. The aim always has been to attract Muslim and Christian votes. None have ever criticised Osama Bin Laden or any terrorist outfit.

The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) still holds major sway over the Muslim community in the state. It is a moderate body and hardliners have floated new organisations like People's Democratic Party (PDP), National Development Front (NDF), Solidarity and the Sunni Tiger Force.

Minority communities around the world tend to panic when they feel their interests are questioned. The Kerala Catholic Bishops Council's call for producing more children, which goes against the country's birth control principles, should be seen in this light. Late Bishop Acharuparambil's call to Christians to send their children to Christian educational institutions also follows in this tradition. Nearly all Christian groups joined hands against the arrest of and the narco-analysis test conducted on a priest and a nun accused in the infamous murder of Sr. Abhaya, a student at a convent. Christian schools were closed against a textbook the LDF government introduced this academic year, accusing that a lesson named 'Life without religion' hurt their sentiments.

But in all these cases, better counsel prevailed due to the key role played by liberals of the respective communities. But of late, sane voices are being snuffed out by fundamentalists. Fanaticism is slowly prevailing over fair counsel.

Like in the rest of the country and the world, publications and websites have been at the vanguard of fundamentalist propaganda in Kerala, be it Hindu, Muslim or Christian. The evidences which various investigating agencies like Military Intelligence, IB, NIA are digging out underlines that Kerala could be on its way of becoming another Kashmir. Four terrorists killed in Kupwara in October, 2008, were Keralites. There is a Kerala connection to the bangalore bomb blasts too. Banned SIMI activists conducted training camps at Vagamon, Panayikkulam and the Green Valley in which notorious elements from all over India, including Kashmir, reportedly participated.

There was a discussion in the Kerala Assembly on July 13, 2010, during an adjournment motion on terrorist and communal activities. The Taliban courts and its existence in the state, various terror activities in the state like the Kozhikode bus stand twin bomb blasts, the Ernakulam Collectorate blast, recovery of huge catches of arms and ammunition and train sabotage activities at Nilambur were discussed there.

The Central agencies are monitoring the flow of funds from foreign countries through the global money transfer system, meant for anti-national activities.

A large cache of explosives and weapons were seized from the premises of a mosque at Manappuram near Edakkad in Kannur district in July, 2010, police spotted 300 detonators and explosives in a private bus in Edakkad. Weapons were also seized from many RSS activists. Such cases are reported with alarming regularity in the media. While replying to the adjournment motion in the Assembly, state home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said, 'It has come to the notice of the government that functionaries of the banned SIMI are working under the banner of NDF, Popular Front and the SDPI. There are reports of Taliban courts functioning in the state.'

In the Assembly, both fronts traded charges accusing each other of promoting communal forces in the state. But experts seem to agree that the demolition of the Babri Mosque at Ayodhya, consolidation of Islamist forces worldwide, 9/11 and the rise of global Muslim fundamentalism has had an impact on a section of the Muslims in the state.

There were allegations of luring of Hindu girls in love traps and later converting them into Islam. The term Love Jihad gained credibility once Kerala chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan and home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan repeated the same quoting Intelligence agencies.

Former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief and former DGP Hormis Tharakan mentioned that many Kerala youths were trained in Pakistan in terror activists. Pak-sponsored ISI forces have contacts in the state, Union minister of state for home Mullappalli Ramachandran also admitted.

There are reports of container loads of counterfeit currency notes flowing to the state. This is in addition to the hawala money transactions. More than Rs 50,000 crore of hawala money is pumped into the state, said the state home minister in the Assembly.

Many workers of the banned SIMI have infiltrated into other Muslim front organisations and so-called human rights movements. There are reports that they are working as human rights activists in bodies like National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation (NCHRO). Whenever action is taken against them, these human rights bodies take up their cause.

Documents and charts unearthed by police during a raid recently on the Popular Front of India (PFI) reveal that PFI planned to set up `jihad' modules in the state for carrying out social, economic and political missions. The documents seized also reveal that the 'Freedom Parade' of August 15, now banned, was just a strategy to frighten people. Many of the PFI activists are former SIMI activists. Formed in 1993, the outfit has grown to a level so as to confront the CPI(M) in its bastion of Kannur. It has penetrated the IUML, INL and PDP, according to police sources. More than 1500 organisations in the state are receiving foreign funds, according to the state home minister. Reports have appeared that high-level police officials have apprised the government of the PDF raising 'highly organised cadres' which could be used as a 'fifth column'.

Chief minister V.S.Achuthanandan, said in a press conference at Delhi that the Popular Front was planning to make Kerala a Muslim majority state in 20 years. He alleged Muslim youths were trapping girls of other religions and converting them to Islam.

What Achuthanandan said in Delhi, he repeated in the Assembly. He read a portion from a leaflet of the Popular Front that 'No force can stop the establishment of Islamic rule in India'. In the Assembly, he said, 'I said this based on the reports of classes and propaganda by the subversive organisations known as NDF, Popular Front and SDPI. They are not the spokesmen of the Muslim community. They are whipping passions using religion.' Popular Front leader Nazaruddin Elamaram reacted to this by saying that the 'chief minister speaks in RSS language'.

The state home minister has also backed his chief minister. He said, 'Earlier, the Centre had banned SIMI. It has to be investigated whether the same SIMI is the Popular Front. Chopping of the hand of the professor was engineered to intensify communal tension. It was an experiment to test whether by acting as hardliners, Muslim believers can be attracted into the fold. The state has no power to inspect and plug the flow of foreign money and to monitor its usage. We will ask the Centre to provide the state with that power,' he said.

'The police and Intelligence agencies are keeping tabs on certain organisations that are working in the guise of human rights organisations. They are sourcing funds from political parties and religious organisations as also from abroad,' the home minister said in the Assembly. 'The state government will not allow any force to turn religious places into armouries,' he added.

Four Malayali youths were killed in an encounter with the security forces on the boarders with Pakistan. That exposed Kerala's link to terror groups, especially the Lashkar'e-Taiba. In a case of recruiting youths for terror training in Kashmir, 18 people were arrested in Kerala.

NIA said in court that the arrested terror accused Thadiyantavida Nazeer has a key role in imparting terror training in Kashmir. He is involved in the Kashmir recruitment case, Bangalore blast case, Kozhikode double explosions case and Kalamassery bus burning case, NIA told the court.

People's Democratic Party (PDP) chairman Abdul Naser Madani was arrested recently by the Karnataka police. A contingent of cops from Karnataka and Kerala took him into custody when he was coming out of his residence to surrender before a court. Ironically, the CPI(M) has had no qualms about sharing dais with him at Ponnani during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Fanatics and extremist forces were always there in Hindu, Christian and Muslim religions. But their striking power was negligible. The Gulf boom helped the Muslims of Kerala to establish direct contact with the world Muslim fraternity. Lucrative business ventures and holding of prime land in the heart of almost every city, coupled with political clout, elevated Muslims to higher social plane. Most Muslims do not want a communal flareup. Not without reason, the Indian Union Muslim League organised a meeting of different Muslim religious organisations at Malappuram to flay the hardliners and plan a campaign against terror groups. They want to distance themselves from hardliners like PDF, Jamaat-e-Islami and PDP.

IUML state president Panakkad Syed Hyderali Shihab Thangal said, 'IUML has never compromised on the issue of opposing terrorism. We do not support those who act against the interests of the country and democracy.' Mosques are like open books and 'there is no need to store weapons in mosque,' he added.

Kerala's religious harmony is paving way to religious bigotry, rigidity and violence. It is interesting to note how extremist elements take revenge on liberal and progressive Muslims. It is now 17 years since Quran Sunnath Society leader Chekannur Moulavi was murdered by Islamic fundamentalists. On 1993, July 29 night, he was taken out from his house and since then no one has seen him. Local police and Crime Branch probed and the case reached nowhere. In 1996, the case was handed over to CBI. CBI found clinching evidences but the probe was scuttled by vested interests. Chembirikka-Mangalapuram Khasi, an Islamic scholar, and Samastha Kerala Jam-Iyyathul Ulema vice-president C.M. Abdulla Moulavi were found dead amid mysterious circumstances.

'I will oppose Popular Front, PDP, SIMI till my death. I don't want their votes,' Congress leader Aryadan Muhammed told the Assembly. Someone from the ruling LDF asked him whether he did not want League votes too. Aryadan retorted, 'If we leave League out, you will welcome them with open hands.' That speaks volumes of the politics of wooing communal groups.

Darul Khada is the religious court of the NDF. Ruling of Darul Khada court has led to 25 murders, according to CPI(M) leader P. Jayarajan.

Hatred is the new mantra. When fundamentalists propagate hatred, even their own community members are not safe. Unless strong steps and action are taken, the terror factory, still in relative infancy, will grow into a mass-production industry. The onus is on the political and security establishment to stop Kerala from turning into another Kashmir. K.M. Sharief

General secretary, Popular Front of India

Religion is not the culprit. Some people exploit religion for political interests. Mainstream parties are birds of the same feather. The Congress and the CPI(M) are the B and C teams of BJP. Only difference is that BJP has got their open agenda. But the others pretend to do something and execute something else. At the end of the day they are not in Muslim interest. IUML's base is shrinking because they don't address the core Muslim issues. PDP is not a grassroot organisation. They do not address the core issues either.

E. Abu Baker
National president, Social Democratic Party Of India

The crux of the problem is the Islamophobia raised by US and Israel. Its dimension is large in Kerala. Because, Christians are more attached to Western world. The banned book titled Chinvad Palam is an example. The chopping of the college teacher's hand is not justifiable. But, it is a fact that he committed blasphemy. 'Love Jihad' is another example. Even though the controversy was kicked off by the RSS, it was hijacked by the Church. Even though others keep on hurting Muslim religious sentiments, Muslims do not do it in return. While upper class Hindus and Christians rule the roost in the job market, it creates unrest in the minds of the members of other societies. Muslims have to fight social imbalance and achieve further progress.

Kummanam Rajasekharan
General secretary, Hindu Aikyavedi, Kerala

The philosophies which spread intolerance in the name of religion got acceptance in several parts of the world. This led to tension and enmity among organised religions. The paramount goal of religions to attain spiritual progress through individual progress has been given up. Some semitic religions promote intolerance and try to increase the prominence and influence of their own religions. But the great sages of India always upheld the stand of sarva dharma samabhava based on sanathana values. Therefore, they are dead against religious disharmony, intolerance and extremism.

Joseph Pulikkunnel
Director, Indian Institute of Christian Studies

It is true that religions are becoming more and more commercial and sale of spirituality has become common to all religions. But, the real spirituality of humaneness is getting lost in the process of commercial expansion. Prophet Mohammed declared in the first ayath that Allah is merciful and a sea of love but unfortunately many Muslim leaders have forgotten the words of the Quran. In the name of religion, religious people are being led to commit unmerciful acts. Real religion should go back to the source books, that is the Quran, the Bible and the Puranas so that they may know how God revealed himself in the history to the real faithful.

Fr Paul Thelakat
Spokesman, Syro Malabar Church

We live in a globalised world where identities are often threatened. Then there comes an easy way of finding identity in what my be called Hegelian tribalism. After all Hegel's politics was tribal politics of the Prussian State. His politics was one of war coming from dialectics. He wrote: 'With out its monarch ... the people are just formless multitude'.This takes a form of religiosity based on blood and soil and not on reason and equality. Democracy is a socio-political way of life based on moral reason and parliamentary debate.

M.K. Muneer
Leader, Indian Union Muslim League

It is not the spread of worship that builds up communalism. But it is the result of religion-based radical fundamentalism. They create disharmony. 'Mine is the best religion' is their policy. Now the situation has assumed such a dimension that even street goons claim religious leadership. When the chopping off of the teacher's hand took place, most Muslims denounced it. In Kerala, Sangh Parivar is not at all powerful to upset the secular equation, thanks to the strong stand of the mainstream parties like the Congress, the CPI(M) and IUML. BJP has not been able to open its account in the state Assembly. Hindus in Kerala are secular. Jamaat-e-Islami spearheads religious polarisation. This is a camouflage for grabbing power. But, the League stands for a secular society.

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16 going on Sex-teen

Sex Education

Exclusive Survey: Sex and the city

The average male thinks about sex every seven seconds or something. No such luck with women (insert joke about there being no such thing as an average woman); the sorority is clearly split down the middle on the subject of carnal indulgences like porn. Anna Arrowsmith is one of those who not only advocate pleasure, she nearly makes it sound politically correct. As Britain's first female porn director, she had a career as managing director of adult entertainment firm Easy on the Eye to go back to after an attempt at prospective candidacy (Liberal Democrats) in the UK elections early this year. Anna Arrowsmith aka Anna Span, who has been in the business of shooting porn films for 12 years now, speaks to Indira Parthasarathy on why there is more sex in mainstream culture than we'd like to acknowledge, and why politics and pornography are not entirely different, er, ball games.

Why is porn unsettling and cringe-inducing for many?

Several reasons: it's always existed outside the society, it's always been questioning our moral values. There is something fundamental about sex that as soon as you try to become politically correct, something becomes 'unsexy.' That doesn't mean you can't have loving sex in a porn film, or even have fun' People find it unsettling because we like to live in a society where we think, ever since Descartes, that the brain and the moral self are more important. But actually we live in a world which is equally about the body. And people don't like to be reminded about exceptions like porn. I think our sex drives are very important. And I'm very pleased to know historically porn has been fighting for this recognition.

'Pornography is only for the voyeurs' True or false?

I don't think porn is for voyeurs. Voyeurs is a very special term that requires somebody getting pleasure out of someone else' lack of consent. If you watched people having sex, say at a sex club, that's not voyeurism because those people are aware that you are looking at them. Voyeurists get attracted to the fact that they are secret.

Pornography is not that. It is done for the market; it is very much consensual. That's not voyeurism. It's the performance; it's not real sex either.

Do you think pornography serves to remedy queasiness about nudity and sex? Is nudity over-rated?

All I can say is that I find it very liberating to be able to be in a room with nude people and hardly notice it because I am so used to seeing people like that. We are all so different, and that is half the fun, so it is a shame that people feel so inhibited about appearing nude. Pornography has certainly helped me to be relaxed about nudity and also to learn about my own sexual psyche.

One thing people complain to porn directors is that porn depicts unrealistic performance of sex. Well, you wouldn't say that to any mainstream filmmaker, say one who makes funny films far funnier than real life. You don't expect them to show life 'is occasionally' funny because that wouldn't be very interesting. Porn is about sexual experience as a performance and is meant to be exaggerated, and meant to be more interesting to look at than real life sex.

How is porn 'for women' different from porn 'for men'?

I used to say I made 'porn for women' but I find a lot of men like my stuff as well and now I say I make porn from a female perspective. What I do is, I make all the models make eye contact with each other. I include good looking men. The way the people interact with each other is important, to show they are a three dimensional character and not voiceless mannequins, like a lot of porn films depict women. There is realistic casting, so if a woman is playing a business millionaire, she'll be 40-odd, not 20. I try to show realistic stories and clothes and sex. In "The Hand of the Law," I used the same company to source the police costumes that supplies the TV programme, The Bill, for instance. It's about sexing things up with reality.

The acts are different too. For instance, I lay more emphasis on foreplay for women. I have the people talk to each other ' it's the little details that will make all the difference for women. There's no act I wouldn't do that I found sexy. I don't mind group sex at all. It's about how it's shot, whether the woman is seen to be making the decision for herself. Even if she plays the role of someone who's submissive (as some people are in sex), it's the way it's filmed that's important, whether you can see that person is enjoying it or not.

Some indict pornography as being exploitative of women. How would you reply?

I think there's too much sex on MTV, there's too much sex in adverts. Women are lot less exploited in pornography than in mainstream culture.

Women are constantly being sent these messages that you've to look a certain way ' Paris Hilton, or those in the magazines etc. Young girls see these magazines way before they see any pornography. Porn, for that matter, is very rare, and very much on the sidelines. Unless you go looking for porn on the Internet, you'll see porn less than 1% of your lifetime.

Young people watching MTV are still learning the same old messages that the way the women access power is by taking their clothes off and playing the sex card. Bad magazines and bad television programmes damage young men and women more as they are ubiquitous. Contrary to anti-porn feminism, both men and women learn their sex roles long before experiencing pornography and banning porn is not the panacea to women's problems they think it is.

The porn industry is, in fact, very democratic about the human body. There is a market for anything. I always say to women, if there's any part of your body you don't like, just put it on google, and add '+ sex'. Do you consider yourself to be hairy? Fat? Old? You'll find a site dedicated to your kind of figure or trait, suggesting that is the most attractive thing about you. You cannot say that for any other industry. We're also far more interested in a woman's performance (as well as her looks, admittedly) than other industries.

Which side of the debate are you on making prostitution legal?

I would make prostitution legal, definitely, just to keep it safe. I think women should be kept away from the bad pimps, and this is the way to do it. The other thing is, people complain it's very base for somebody to sell their body, but we sell our bodies all the time, but worse than that, we sell our minds all the time. When I was a student, I can't tell how many part time jobs I did where I was told 'we don't want you to think, we just want you to do this'. As a hooker, you can have more control of your work (as long as you are not addicted to drugs, admittedly.) You could be a good prostitute or a bad one, and that's only your decision, and how much effort you put into it. On the other hand, a lot of jobs you do, there's no incentive to try at all and people live a 'prostituted' life all the time. People are working their bodies away, and damaging their bodies all the time for work, so I don't see why sexual work should be singled out'.

The state would have to play a role in advocating the rights of prostitutes and to encourage a clear route for prostitutes to access grievance redress processes. You couldn't just be na've to think 'oh it will be nice and organised'.

Please elaborate on 'pro-sex feminism'. In what ways does pornography reflect women's rights?

I used to be anti-pornography. However, when I was 16, walking down the red light district of London, I realised that my anger was actually jealousy because men had their sexuality catered for in various ways ' magazines, prostitutes, strippers. Conversely, women had absolutely nothing. I switched sides ' from anti-porn to pro-porn ' in an instant, and I realised it's much more important for women to promote female sexuality. I realised years later that what I was saying was actually along the lines of Nietzsche, the philosopher. He talked about the master-slave morality, and the master (usually is the man) predicts his own life choices according to pleasures alone, and the slave's role is to say 'I am not like the master following his own pleasures, and therefore am a better person'. The trouble with the slave's position is that it necessarily requires the master, in order that the slave has an identity.

I moved from complaining about men ' in the slave position ' to the master position, exploring my own sexuality, my own pleasures. I think we need women far more pro-active in the sex industry, and outside representatives of sex industry, to show how women see their own sexuality. Pornography plays its part in helping that to happen. If more women were producing porn then it will cease to be this misogynistic thing that it is. The porn industry will go where the money is. If women will start buying in more numbers, then porn will change for the better I believe.

Have you noticed anything common between pornography and politics?

Well, my drive to do porn has always been political, really. I'm carrying on in politics; I intend to stand again in five years time. I certainly see my future in the development of women's rights, but I have a lot of other political ideas too such as the right for young people to have free after school clubs provided for them. This will keep kids off the streets and out of crime, stop them from becoming bored. I am fairly anti-establishment; why should the state tell us how to live? I'm a liberal in that sense; that's where I'm coming from.


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