Schedule: Sept 8, Wed - Sept 10, Fri; 6.30 PM - 8.00 PM - Teaching session; 8.00 PM - 8.30 PM - Q & A session

Contact info: web - www.cksl.in, e-mail - info@cksl.in, tel. (080) 41486497, mob. 99869 44153

Even before the dust could settle over the suspension of the tainted trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir, British tabloid ‘News of the World’, came out with more explosive revelations.

While the tabloid gave startling details of the conversations and the modus operandi of the bookies, the report of a Sri Lankan player being investigated by the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit added to the crisis facing the game.

Hameed told the tabloid that he had been asked by a bookmaker to help fix a Test for 100,000 pounds, but he turned down the money and said his teammates were fixing almost every match. “They’ve been caught. Only the ones that get caught are branded crooks. They were doing it (fixing) in almost every match. God knows what they were up to. Scotland Yard was after them for ages”, Hameed is quoted as saying in the sting interview which was released by the tabloid.

Prabha Gulati, the Centre’s director, and Professor Mark Harris, a doctor who volunteers at the Centre, write:

“In the current political debate about boat people, little attention has been paid to the real problems faced by asylum seekers living in the community in Australia.

Asylum seekers are persons who having fled persecution or other dangers in their countries of origin and transit, are seeking protection and whose application for asylum or refugee status is pending. Many have experienced torture or other forms of trauma associated with organised violence or exile. Some have been awaiting a final determination on their applications for humanitarian protection for more than 10 years as their “case” wends it way through the administrative, legal and political systems.

The immigration status of asylum seekers means that they do not receive social security benefits; many are not permitted to work, consequently nor they eligible for Medicare.   Most arrive by plane (not boat -  though this last 12 month period may be an exception), come from many countries (predominantly in Asia, Middle East and Africa) and live in the community with support of friends, family or charitable organisations including the Asylum Seekers Centre of New South Wales.  Many asylum seekers have complex medical and psychological needs related to pre-arrival experiences such as torture as well as routine health needs.

Asylum seekers suffer a range of health problems.  About a quarter suffer from psychological problems related to or made worse by traumatic experiences in the own country, separation from family, and anxiety and uncertainty about their future in Australia. 

A small proportion may have infectious diseases some of which can be serious such as TB.  However the most common health problems are due to long term conditions such as arthritis or back problems (sometimes related to trauma), heart disease, high blood pressure, stomach ulcers, diabetes, and epilepsy.   Some patients become pregnant while their case is still pending and they therefore need antenatal care and delivery in hospital as they are often at higher risk.  Many suffer from dental problems.  Most are unable to meet costs associated with their complex health care needs without fee waiver or charitable support.

The Asylum Seekers Centre is a not-for-profit organisation located in Sydney, providing a range of support services for asylum seekers.  One of these services is a health care program which is staffed by a part time nurse, a volunteer doctor and several pro bono allied health providers. The following case stories illustrate the types of health issues that asylum seekers present with:

Aisha and Manu arrived in Australia in March 2010 after fleeing from Liberia. Aisha was 26 years old and 7 months pregnant when she first arrived in Australia.  For the first month, she and her husband Manu were supported by an African woman who was living on her own.  Aisha and Manu were about to become homeless when they came to the Asylum Seekers Centre. They had not yet spoken to a medical practitioner about the pregnancy.  They had no further means of supporting themselves.

The social worker at the centre sourced financial and housing support, and food and phone cards were provided. Most importantly Aisha was given an appointment with our volunteer GP and a referral for ongoing pre-natal care. It was discovered the she was pregnant with twins.   An early labour was subsequently stopped but Aisha was admitted into hospital to monitor other complications.  Aisha delivered two healthy boys in April.  The family was provided with baby goods and are now at home supported by volunteers arranged by the Centre. Aisha and Manu remain in limbo waiting for a decision on their claim for refugee protection in Australia.

Dorge, a young, single Tibetan student arrived in Australia from on a tourist visa. He had been working as a translator and was a member of a radical activist group in Tibet. Dorje was arrested and imprisoned by the Chinese authorities. A relative arranged for him to escape in the back of a truck and he ended up eventually in Dharamsala, India.

Dorge presented to the Asylum Seekers Centre, homeless and in need of financial support. The Centre social worker arranged emergency temporary accommodation and organised financial assistance.

Dorge was referred to the Health Care Program as his foot had been fractured whilst in captivity and had never healed properly. Appointments with the physiotherapist and a community podiatrist were arranged, and appropriate treatment plus orthotics were organised. He also required counselling as his mental health had deteriorated and he wasn’t sleeping or eating. He was supported by the mental health counsellor at the Asylum Seekers Centre, who saw him for approximately 3 months.

Dorge also accessed appointments at our optometry clinic and with a volunteer dentist. He came to the centre every day for meals, computer classes and yoga classes.  Recently Dorge came to the Centre very relieved to have recently received his protection visa.

Asylum seekers are often unaware of where to get help and are in desperate need. Not all of them have happy endings.  The Centre struggles to provide sufficient care for asylum seekers and is only able to run the health program through the services of volunteer health practitioners and the in kind support of a key partner, St Vincent’s and Mater Health, Sydney who provide access to at-cost pharmaceutical supplies and have provided diagnostic services for clients on a pro-bono basis over many years.  The Asylum Seekers Centre currently receives no State or Federal government funding.

The support of the broader community is crucial in order for Centre to meet the needs of asylum seekers and eventually expand and develop its services. If you are interested in learning more about how you can help asylum seekers or support the vital work of the Asylum Seekers Centre, please go to our website, or contact the Asylum Seekers Centre on 02 9361 5606.”

Needless to say, from the word go, the election campaign was relentlessly bitter. Nehru, engrossed at that time with the China problem following the revolt in Tibet, the Dalai Lama’s flight to India, and the Kongka-la border clash, suddenly remembered that the Joint Front in Kerala included the Muslim League. In a heated discussion with his daughter before the EMS ministry was sent packing, he had called the front “communal”. But he knew that it was impossible to dissolve the front when electioneering was in full blast. Yet, he abhorred the prospect of the Muslim League sharing power with the Congress. So he made it a condition that the Muslim League leader in the state assembly, Mohammed Koya, could be the assembly’s speaker — but not a minister. Koya and his colleagues in the League were furious and frustrated but realised that they could not take on the towering prime minister. Consequently, after predictably winning the elections, the Joint Front ministry began its innings not in the best of spirits. Other problems were to aggravate this situation. In the first place, the Congress was the largest party in the ruling coalition, but it had to accept the claim to the CM’s office of Socialist leader Pattom Thanu Pillai, because of his stature and his leadership role during the anti-Communist agitation. Aspirants in the Congress party, even more faction-ridden in Kerala than in other states, remained sullen.

India and Pakistan offer interesting fodder for thought. Interesting because they share the same British era roots in feudalism, corruption, and bureaucracies -civilian, police, and army. Also because they fought three-four wars in five-six decades over land in Kashmir- India says it’s its own and accuses Pakistan of occupying a large portion, and of generously gifting a chunk of that occupied land to China; Pakistan says Kashmir is it’s as a matter of right, firstly because Kashmir is a Muslim majority area, and secondly because religion was the basis of the division of British India in 1947.

The Pakistani leaders who had taken cudgels against India over Kashmir are long dead, and are forgotten in their home country. On the Indian side too, a new generation has come to the frontline in Srinagar and Delhi. Yet, Srinagar remains on the boil at regular intervals. Ask any Indian in Delhi why Kashmir is burning. And prompt comes the reply- ‘because of Pakistan, and because of Pakistani plans to grab Kashmir through the backdoor’.

The reference, needless to say, is to the street violence in Srinagar for the past month or so. Young boys are in forefront of the latest campaign. The weapon in their hands is not AK-47 like in the past, but a blunt edged stone, which lay in heaps on the road side because of the construction boom ushered in by peace over the past six-seven years.

The police are armed to the teeth, and by the law of the land, it is their duty and responsibility to protect the unarmed and nab the violence mongers. But when a policeman opens fire on a violent mob, he will not recollect the dos and don’ts he was told during training; the police manual also matters little to him. Because, his very thought revolves round survival instinct. Well, you cannot blame him. Given a choice, he will not like to be in the police, since policing, not only in Srinagar but across the globe in most countries, is turning out to be the most thankless job of long hours of drudgery, but like to turn to other avenues of making money, of course, honestly. Who doesn’t want to live honestly?

The short point in the context of Srinagar is that the police have become the target of hate directed at the state. It raises a question that has universal application - not only to Kashmir and India but to all countries, which believe in the rule of law. It is that what a police should do when confronted with a violent mob pelting stones at them. This question elicited a more or less uniform reply from most - practioners of human rights, academics, politicians and the like. They said the police should use minimum force to disperse a crowd.
What is a minimum force?

Well, there is no unanimity on what constitutes the minimum force because there can never be two ‘alike’ situations, and also because post-mortem is easier than handling a given situation.

Take the case of Srinagar policeman. The Manual tells him, for instance, to fire below the knee, when asked to fire at a crowd; apparently the idea of the authors of the manual is to cause injury and not the death. And this ‘decree’ received a go-by, if one goes by the casualty rate in the recent incidents of police firing in Srinagar. How many policemen will have the luxury of ’such practiced shooting’? That is not the concern of politicians in power and in the opposition, and in their one-upmanship games, both have seized the rule book to demand the scalp of the police, accusing them of using excessive force.

Human rights campaigners are back in action in Kashmir, charging the police with violating human rights with impunity and committing brutalities on unarmed crowds of youth. Such sweeping charges against the police are heard in other parts of the world also in the past, and therefore the Human Righter’s outcry against Srinagar police doesn’t come as a surprise. But it pops up a question; in fact, not one but two questions.

One if the young man in a crowd of fellow youth throwing stones has human rights, does a young man in a platoon of fellow young men in uniform has human rights.

Second, if you deem a policeman as a representative of brute state power, and hence deserve no sympathy, why don’t you deem the young man in a violent crowd as a representative of a brute force, which is forcing its will and writ, while acting from behind a curtain?

Should we not be concerned with the planks and pranks of this invisible force just as we are concerned with the authority that empowers the police to fire at a crowd? How far are we justified in describing, like the New York Times did this past week, the protests in Srinagar as a comprehensive “intifada-like popular revolt”.

The argument here is not for a call to study the anatomy of what the Guardian termed the other day as the biggest and bloodiest anti-India insurgency backed by Pakistan that dwarfs the killing fields of Palestine and Tibet. Nor is this an indirect endorsement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s latest call to the youth of Kashmir valley to ‘now end’ violence and ‘wait’ for the report of a committee of top business honchos he was setting up to draw a road map for jobs in Srinagar. No, certainly not. Singh has lost his way in Kashmir. But then, it is not germane to our discussion.

The focus is should the violence of the type that keeps rising in places like Srinagar be judged by penalising the police and eulogising the ‘poor and defenceless youth’ in a faceless violent mob that acts to a script. Because as the despatches from Srinagar tell that while the police with all their faultlines are accountable at the end of the day as the instruments of a democratic, liberal regime in place, the perpetrators of violence, instead of being the voice of a neglected people, as they claim, are scripting their very own great suppression story that has few parallels anywhere with the exception of a resurgent Islamist world of al Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan and Waziristan.

(* This commentary first appeared on POREG, www.poreg.org)

A man from northwest China’s Qinghai Province displays caterpillar fungus, or aweto. Photo: IC

By Li Yanhui

The soaring price of caterpillar fungus, or aweto, has pushed some unscrupulous dealers to boost the weight of their goods by adding metal, lead or glue to the product to make it heavier.

The prices of aweto range from 228 yuan to 680 yuan ($33.52 to 99.96) per gram at Tongrentang pharmacy, equal or double the market price for gold.

Aweto is a type of fungus that sprouts from the bodies of worms, mostly on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. According to traditional Chinese medicine theory, aweto is usually used for making soup and is good for men’s health, especially for the kidneys and lungs, professor Chang Zhangfu with the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine told the Health Times newspaper. Due to its high price, aweto is therefore often considered a luxury gift to give.

But the market for caterpillar fungus is disorderly. “Some dealers use other aweto-like plants to make money, but only the authentic one out of 497 types of similar plants has a medicinal function,” Bao Chengzhang, an aweto shop owner in Haidian district from Qinghai Province with 30 years in the business told the Global Times Sunday. “Aweto is like mushrooms. Some of them are edible, but others are poisonous.”

Bao continued, “I even saw some dealers injecting lead or other materials into the aweto to increase its weight.” When he buys aweto now, he always uses a metal detector to check for added substances.

“It’s the new scam by dealers to increase the aweto’s weight,” Lajia Caidan, president of the Qinghai Aweto Association, told the Global Times Sunday.

In the past, some dealers painted aweto with heavy metals or coated it in clay. The heavy metals can harm people’s health, but incomplete regulations to manage the aweto market leaves space for swindlers.

A shop owner on condition of anonymity told the Beijing Youth Daily that clay was the secret to making money when selling aweto for cheaper than the market price.

“It must be fake if an aweto is heavier than one gram,” said Bao.

As infrequent customers may find it hard to distinguish the real aweto from fakes, Bao suggested customers shop at Tongrentang or franchised stores, even though it’s a little more expensive.

Published: Sunday, September 5, 2010 at 7:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, September 5, 2010 at 7:30 a.m.

( page of 3 )

Words are what make it easy for people to communicate with one another, whether through conversations, written notes or on advertisements. However, when words are turned around, or their meanings are misconstrued, a hilarious situation can ensue. Below are some examples of words gone awry.

• The neighbor dropped in on a friend and found her sitting at the kitchen table, staring blankly at a half-empty cup of coffee; her three kids squabbling loudly in the other room.

“What’s wrong, Marge?” she asked.

Marge told her that she had “morning sickness.”

Surprised, the neighbor said, “I didn’t even know you were pregnant.”

“I’m not,” the harried young woman replied. “I’m just sick of mornings.”

• An unusual paragraph: This is a most unusual paragraph. How quickly can you find out what is so unusual about it? It looks so ordinary, you’d think nothing was wrong with it and in fact, nothing is wrong with it. It IS unusual, why? Study it. Think about it and you may find out. Try to do it without coaching. If you work at it for a bit, it will dawn on you. So jump to it! Try your skill at figuring it out!

(The answer is at the end of the column.)

• Sign advertising a health club: “Merry Fitness and Happy New Rear!”

• ALWAYS give 100 percent at work:

12 percent Monday; 23 percent Tuesday; 40 percent Wednesday; 20 percent Thursday; 5 percent Friday.

• Way down upon the Mississippi, two tugboat captains who had been friends for years, would always cry “Aye!” and blow their whistles whenever they passed each other.

A new crewman asked his boat’s mate, “What do they do that for?”

The mate looked surprised and replied, “You mean that you’ve never heard of ‘An aye for an aye and a toot for a toot?’ “

In my opinion, Mahatma Gandhi and Pt Jawaharlal Nehru have bequeathed the country several problems which even today remain unsolved and are our headache. The ruling political party or parties have never been able to succeed to evolve effective diplomacy and strategy concerning China, Pakistan and the USA.

IT seems that we have learnt nothing from our national history. We have proved the adage true that history repeats itself. If we start from Mahmood Gazanavi and Mohammad Gauri and move onwards till the tragic partition of the country and even afterwards till today, do we not see the past blunders are being repeated by our governing leadership knowingly and shamelessly. Acharya JB Kripalni, one of the foremost leaders of the freedom struggle and one who had been associated with Mahatma Gandhi since 1917 once remarked sarcastically that Indians are the greatest hypocrites in the world.

Our present national problems and troubles are due to our misunderstandings about our friends and foes. Mahatma Gandhi said several times that Muslim is a bully and Hindu is coward. Pt Jawaharlal Nehru said about himself that ‘He is Hindu by birth, Englishman by education and Muslim by culture.’ Although he was proud of proclaiming that the Indian (Hindu) Culture is the greatest and the oldest in the world, yet he hated to be called a Hindu. While Gandhiji proudly called himself-‘A Sanatami Hindu’ but he hankered blindly after Muslim-appeasement and baseless theory of Hindu-Muslim unity. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel once sarcastically remarked that the only nationalist Muslim is Jawaharlal Nehru, who is responsible for our many problems today like the Kashmir crisis, odd nexus between Naxalites and Christian missionaries in the eastern region, the Naga insurgency, the question of Hindi’s recognition as state language, the Muslim-appeasement policy of pre-Independence days took the form of minoritism after independence. Our approach towards China throughout has been full of unrealities and lack of political vision. The Nehru Government’s recognition of China’s sovereignty over Tibet was a blunder which should not have been accepted. At the most, we might have recognised only China’s suzerainty instead of sovereignty. This could have helped in maintaining Tibet’s Autonomy which remained autonomous during the British rule also.

Pt Nehru himself realised his mistake when China invaded India in 1962 and defeated and humiliated us.

After the invasion was over, Nehruji remarked, “we were living in a dream-world of our own creation.” So Nehru’s China policy failed miserably and we are suffering its evil consequences till today along with the sufferings of the Tibetians.

Similarly, his Kashmir policy also failed badly and opened Pandora’s Box. Nehru’s blind faith in Sheikh Abdullah since 1932 led India towards crisis after crisis and wars with Pakistan. Even Sheikh Abdullah’s progeny in 2010 have been creating problems for us and Pakistan is also doing mischief with their devastating policies.

As long as Article 370 is not deleted and amended from our Constitution, the problem of Kashmir will not be solved. We should not forget that Dr BR Ambedkar had refused to put Article 370 before the Constituent, Assembly because he could forsee its evil effects. He was opposed to it and Pt Nehru had requested Gopala Swami Ayangar to do this job and he did it. What is happening in Kashmir till today proves that Dr Ambedkar was right and a great patriot.

In three wars with Pakistan in 1947, 1965 and 1971 we won on the battle-fields but lost the gains by the blood-shed and bravery of our soldiers due to our chicken-headached political parleys, foolish diplomacy and lack of vision. Nehru not only stopped our army from action but also committed the folly of referring the issue to the UNO.

In 1965 war, we also won on the battle-field but lost not only gains but also lost our most honest Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri during political parleys with Pakistan in Tashkand in USSR.

In 1971 war, Indira Gandhi’s boldness was appreciated by everybody during the liberation of Bangladesh. We know that 93,000 Pak-Soldiers were captured and imprisoned by our great army but even this time she did not ask Zulfikar Bhutto to deliver Pak-occupied Kashmir to India and gives up Pak’s claim over Kashmir. If Bhutto had accepted it, then only 93,000 Pak soldiers should have been released. Is it not a wonder that the brave lady like Indira Gandhi who could dare to clamp emergency over the country for her political survival in 1975 could not negotiate with Bhutto toughly? Had She done it, the Kashmir problem would have been solved for ever. When Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister, his actions were paradoxical. On the one hand, he changed the Constitution against the verdict of the Supreme Court in the case of Shah Bano but showed recklessness in the matter of Bhopal gas tragedy and murder of 3000 Sikhs in Delhi, whereas it was he who had given permission to open Ramjanabhoomi Temple and started his political yatra from Ayodhya.

In my opinion, MK Gandhi and Pt Jawaharlal Nehru have bequeathed the country several problems which even today remain unsolved and are our headache. The ruling political party or parties have never been able to succeed to evolve effective diplomacy and strategy concerning China, Pakistan and the USA. The former editor of The Asian Age MJ Akbar in a recent article has remarked about the present crisis in Kashmir that the Chief Minister of the State Omar Abdullah is unfit for the post. Bramaha Chellani, Udai Bhaskar and other defense experts have been fore-warning us that China may repeat, may be to a less extent like-1962 in Arunachal Pradesh.

The problem at the root started since August 15, 1947, When Mahatma Gandhi made Pt Jawaharlal Nehru Prime Minister of the country instead of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The Congress committee was unanimously in favour of Patel for Prime Ministership. But Gandhiji turned down the resolution of the organisation. In my opinion, Gandhiji acted as a moral dictator not only on this occasion but several other times also. The opposition of Subhas Chandra Bose cannot be forgotten.

Although Gandhiji had severe differences on several issues, yet he had a soft-corner for Pt Nehru throughout. He had promised to the people that ‘Pakistan would not be created but if it comes into existence, it would be possible only on my corpse.’ But what happened, we all know. Gandhiji’s faith in truth proved false and failure that very day when Pakistan became a reality and Gandhiji endorsed it. Was it not a hypocrisy?

Now, a few words about Sonia Gandhi. It is an irony that she is enjoying power without any responsibility. So far as her patriotism is concerned, it would we sufficient to remind the readers that she had not accepted Indian Citizenship till 12 years after her marriage with Rajiv Gandhi. Not only that, it is alleged that, when her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi was defeated in 1977 in the Lok Sabha polls, she had asked her husband Rajiv Gandhi to leave the house and take shelter in the Italian Embassy.

Today, she is chairperson of the UPA Government, if something good is done by the government the credit is given to her while during failure, the responsibility is laid on the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his cabinet. Such is the sordid state of affairs which our country is destined to face.

Now, Congress is a congregation of sychophants of Sonia Gandhi. She is in reality a despot in the guise of a democrat. No president of the Congress in the past was so powerful except Indira Gandhi. Once Pt Nehru had asked Algu Rai Shastri of Azamgarh, a veteran freedom-fighter to leave the Congress but you will be surprised to know his bold reply. He said, “Is Congress your father’s property? Why don’t you leave the Congress?”

At last, Pt Nehru kept mum and did not move further in this matter. Can you imagine today of Congressman to say anything like this even in mild and humble words to Sonia Gandhi, the present president of the Congress?

It is also an irony of fate that in 1885, when Indian National Congress was founded, an Englishman, AO Hume was its president and in 2010, a lady of Italy married to an Indian is its president.

One more bane of our polity. No country in the world gives preference to minorities against the majority. But in India, the Muslims get preference against Hindus on the basis of minority community. This tendency and mentality was initiated and made, an important part of government policy by Pt JL Nehru since 1947. It is shamelessly being continued till to-day. Otherwise, how could Dr Manmohan Singh dare to say that the Muslims deserve a major share in our national assets and fiscal matters. And these very Muslims in majority help Pakistani and other terrorists outfits making the country bleed on countless occasions. Not only that, in most cases of terrorism they go scot free and the government officers and specially the policemen who try to punish them are themselves punished. So, we conclude that the UPA government is ineffective in curbing terrorism. The leadership is spineless.

(The writer is former editor Panchjanya and can be contacted at 6769, Vivekanand Puri, Civil Lines , Sitapur (UP) 261 001)

     Is it good or bad for the peace movement that a worldwide consensus seems to be building that would use BDS (boycotts, diverstment and sanctions) against Israel? Uri Avnery, leader of the Gush Shalom movement in Israel, warns us that the danger of not distinguishing between boycotting Israel and boycotting the settlements in the West Bank and those who empower the settlers may prove disastrous in Israel by reinforcing the most fearful elements in the Jewish psyche (a psyche which happens to have 200 atomic bombs should it ever get into a suicidal feeling and decide that rather than give up and act like victims who marched into the gaschambers of Auschwitz without a struggle (the mythology) that they will fight back an go down like Masada). Not smart and not really in the interests of Palestinian liberation either.

After Uri Avneri, we print a roundtable discussion on BDS that includes Jeremy Ben Ami and other peace activists, in a quite lively discussion which appeared in Tikkun’s July/Aug 2010 edition. 

Uri Avnery