Zee News 'discovers' Ravana's body, traces of Ram, Sita and Hanuman=III

http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=406059&archisec=ZNS Mil Gaye Ram! – Part III

Tracing evidence of Lord Ram and his times Report: Rahul Sinha Adapted by: Deepak Nagpal So far, we have travelled through Chitrakoot in India and Norliya in Sri Lanka in our search of Ram. We have also found several things that hint at the existence of Ram. However, we still have to come face-to-face with several things, which will lend weight to our belief that the Ramayana and everything mentioned in this epic is true. The Ashes After visiting Chinmaya Temple, we were told that Hanuman had left behind a legacy in Lanka which is still present in its original form – a legacy of ashes which every child in India knows about. Located close to Ashok Vatika in Norliya are mountains whose soil is of black colour. The researcher on Ramayana, Harinder Sikka told us that mountains located on the left side of the Sita Jharna have black soil while mountains on the right have soil which is of usual brown colour. Sikka said that the colour of the soil is black because Hanuman had put these mountains on fire along with Ravan’s Lanka, as mentioned in the Ramayana. It is difficult to find the end of these mountains which are spread as far as the vision goes. The soil of these mountains looks like ash but what’s striking is the fact these mountains are extremely dense. It’s not just the soil of these mountains which is black but also the rocks. It looks as if these rocks were also burnt. When we asked the locals about any huge fire occurring in the area in recent memory, the answer was in the negative. Monkeys With Black Tail While roaming around these mountains, we were shocked to see monkeys whose tails are also black in colour, unlike the brown body. As if this shock wasn’t surprising enough, what we saw next left us speechless. When we went little closer to these monkeys, who were shy unlike their naughty Indian counterparts, we found that their lips and ears were also of black colour. Locals said the reason behind their black lips, ears and tails is linked to Hanuman. Lanka Naresh Finds Us With our search for proofs of Ramayana still incomplete, we decided to leave these monkeys, ashy mountains and sleeping Hanuman behind. As we travelled further in Norliya, we came across a display board the words written on which read – Ravan Ella. What we were trying to find had suddenly appeared in front of us. When we enquired about this place from locals, they told us that a King named Ravan used to bathe here. They also showed us a rock on which he used to sit while taking bath in the waterfall. The force with which water used to fall from the top was immense some years back but it has now subsided, as we found. However, the force was still such that we were frightened to even think about being in its way. The board with words Ravan Ella had been put up by the Sri Lankan government, which proved that it is the present-day Sri Lanka which was earlier called Lanka and that Ravan belonged to this very same land. One More Setu It’s not just Ram Setu which connects Sri Lanka with India, but also a mountain which is believed to be a part of the great Himalayas. It is said the magical Sanjeevani is found on this mountain only. It is this small mountain which Hanuman brought from India to Sri Lanka. The mountain is called Romosola, or Sumeru Parvat, which is situated on the coast of Sri Lanka. If one travels by an aeroplane or helicopter, he will find that this type of mountain is not found anywhere else on Sri Lanka’s entire coastline. While roaming around the mountain, we met a local resident named Dharamsree. He expressed ignorance about Sanjeevani, but said people in a nearby village come to this mountain whenever anybody falls ill. The villagers use various kinds of tree leaves to cure the ill. As we were trying to find the glowing Sanjeevani, which we unluckily didn’t find, we saw Sikka concentrating on some leaves. Then we came to know that he was the director of a famous Indian pharmaceutical company, Nicholas Piramal. He then cleared all the doubts we had about the usefulness of these tree leaves. According to Sikka, 90 percent of the plants and trees on the Sumeru Parvat had medicinal value. He said that such trees are found only in Himalayas. Many of the plants found on Sumeru Parvat were beneficial in the treatment of heart ailments, allergies, body rashes, problems related to bones etc. Also located at one corner of the mountain is a statue of Hanuman in which he is shown as carrying Sumeru Parvat. It was quite striking to find this kind of statue in a country which has only a handful of people who know about either Ram or Ravan. This highlighted the kind of faith which Sri Lankans had in Ram and Hanuman. The Journey Ends, But Not The Search Our search for Ram and the Ramayana ends here, but not the proofs which are spread across Sri Lanka and India. Many places in North Jaffna, Sri Lanka, are full of such proofs, as we are told. But due to several constraints we have to end our mission here. However, we are only halting our journey in search of Ram and hope to resume it sometime in future. Because as always, the search for truth never ends…!

Zee News 'discovers' Ravana's body, traces of Ram, Sita and Hanuman- Part II

http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?ai

Mil Gaye Ram! – Part II

Tracing evidence of Lord Ram and his times Report: Rahul Sinha Adapted by: Deepak Nagpal We have told you about the evidence of Ramayana which we found in Chitrakoot. We now take our journey further – into Sri Lanka. Across The Sea As the team reached the coast of Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, what we saw around was the blue sea – the same sea which Lord Ram and his vaanar sena (army of monkeys) crossed to reach Ravan’s Lanka, to rescue Sita. Ravan’s Lanka is now known as Sri Lanka – India’s neighbour in the south. But as we set our foot on Sri Lanka’s soil, several questions came to our mind – Is this really Ravan’s Lanka? Is this the place where ‘Lanka Naresh’ Ravan brought Sita after abducting her? Is this the same place which Hanuman set on fire with his burning tail? Questions were many, the place unknown and nobody around to answer them. But we had a hope – a hope to find some evidence of Ram’s existence. In Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, we didn’t find too many people around who knew about either Ram or Ravan. But we were asked to visit nearby Norliya if really wanted to find something concrete. The Breakthrough In Norliya, we met a Delhi-based Indian named Harinder Sikka at a popular golf course. We were on cloud nine when we came to know that Sikka himself had been doing research on Ramayana for years. It was the most unexpected thing we had ever imagined that would happen to us. It was a real breakthrough in our search for Ram. Sikka’s love for golf had brought him to Sri Lanka and it was during his interaction with local friends on the epic Ramayana that he decided to do a research on the topic. Ashok Vatika Discovered We were left surprised when Sikka told us that barely five kilometres from where we were standing now, was located one of the most important places mentioned in Ramayana – the Ashok Vatika. This is the place where Sita stayed after Ravan abducted her from India. In Sri Lanka, Ashok Vatika is known as Sita Ella. The place had statues of Lord Ram, his brother Lakshman, Sita and Hanuman. By their look, the statues seemed to be hundreds of years old. However, a local resident, named Romilla, corrected us, saying the statues were nearly 5,500 years old. The statues seemed to have been carved out of nearby rocks. When we enquired about the ‘Ashok Vriksh’, Romilla told us that the famous tree was no more. But standing in its place was a hundreds of years old tree. It is believed that Hanuman first met Sita at this place. At Ashok Vatika Not many people in Sri Lanka know the significance behind Ashok Vatika and treat it like any other picnic spot. However, several Indians have come together and are now turning this place into a temple. Also, paintings have been put up there to help locals understand the Ramayana-related events that took place at Ashok Vatika. We, along with Romilla, also went to a stream called Sita Jharna that flows right under Ashok Vatika. It is believed that Sita used to bathe here during her captivity at Ashok Vatika. The stream is surrounded by huge and dense mountains. Nobody knows where water in the stream comes from and disappears after accumulating in a ‘kund’. What’s fascinating is the fact that water level in the kund remains same throughout the year. The disappearing of water at Sita Jharna in Ashok Vatika, and at Sita Kund and Hanuman Dhara in Chitrakoot hints at some form of connection between the three – and also makes one believe that something miraculous is happening at all three places. Hanuman’s Footmark Romilla next took us to that part of Ashok Vatika where, it is believed, a giant footmark of Hanuman is imprinted. According to beliefs, Hanuman appeared in his gigantic form before Sita for the first time here. This footmark was formed then. Sri Lankan government’s archaeological department has conducted a survey and found that the marks, located on a rock near Sita Jharna, are around 6,000 years old. If viewed from a distance, the footmark resembles that of a huge monkey. It is believed that Hanuman appeared in his gigantic form before Sita to make her believe that Ram’s vaanar sena had the strength and capability to fight Ravan’s army. Sleeping Divinity The next place we visited in our search for Ram literally left us stunned. Not far away from Ashok Vatika is a place where it is believed Hanuman is resting in his giant form. The place is close to Chinmaya Temple. After reaching the temple, what we saw could make any atheist start believing in God. Hanuman was sleeping in front of our eyes – in his giant form. Anybody coming to Chinmaya Temple can see a faraway mountain structure which resembles a sleeping Hanuman in his giant form. It is not difficult to make out the head and face of the giant body, along with the chest and huge legs. Those who question everything can raise doubts over the footmarks of Hanuman, Ram, Lakshman and Sita which we saw in our journey so far. But it will be difficult for even those people to refute the fact that the mountain structure in front of our eyes resembled a sleeping Hanuman. Built inside the Chinmaya Temple is a huge, 16 feet granite statue of Hanuman where hundreds come everyday to offer prayers. These include not just expatriate Indians but also Buddhist Sri Lankans in large numbers. The statue is a copy of the mountain structure. The only difference is the fact that it is placed in a vertical position inside the temple. Another Halt We have made two important discoveries in Sri Lanka – Ashok Vatika and sleeping Hanuman in his giant form. We now take our journey further to discover a legacy left behind by Hanuman, but only in the next and last part of the series.

Zee News 'discovers' Ravana's body, traces of Ram, Sita and Hanuman

Mil Gaye Ram! – Part I

Tracing evidence of Lord Ram and his times Report: Rahul Sinha Adapted by: Deepak Nagpal India is a land of Gods and Goddesses. India is a secular land where various religions thrive. And India is a land where people are both deeply religious and pioneers in science. However, recent developments have shown that this trait of being both religious as well as scientific leads to clashes – clashes between those who have certain beliefs and those who don’t. The most prominent example to cite here is the ‘Ram Setu’ issue. Who would have ever thought that one day, India will fight over the existence of its very own ‘Lord Ram’ – the most worshipped Hindu God, who is also referred to as ‘Maryada Purushottam’ or the Perfect Man. In Hindu mythology, Ram is considered to be the seventh avatar (incarnation) of Lord Vishnu – the protector of all existence. Zee News’ Initiative With so many controversies around and the very existence of Lord Ram being questioned in the land to which He belonged, Zee News thought it’s worthwhile to find answers to some very pertinent questions: Is Ramayana a true story or just a mythological text? Did Ram really exist? Did he have an ardent devotee in Hanuman? Was Ram exiled from Ayodhya? Did he spend years of exile in Chitrakoot? Was his wife Sita abducted? Is there any place called Ravan’s Lanka? What kept our hope alive was the fact that when India had Ram’s Ayodhya (in Uttar Pradesh), there must be something in Sri Lanka which will lend proof to the belief that Ram in not a myth, but a reality. So we thought we need to go back to places which are connected with Ram. The two major points our search focussed on were Chitrakoot in India and the neighbouring Sri Lanka. A Zee News team led by Rahul Sinha then set out on a journey to find Ram. But did they find Him? Find out and judge for yourself…first hand… At Chitrakoot We begin our journey at Chitrakoot, in Madhya Pradesh. Here, there’s a rock where, it is believed, Ram, Lakshman and Sita used to rest during their stay as part of their 14-year-long ‘vanvaas’ (exile). This place is known as ‘Ram Shayya’. Many tourists who visit Chitrakoot know about Kamakhya mountain, but only a handful are aware of the existence of Ram Shayya. We found three separate marks of Ram, Sita and his dhanush (arrow) on the rock. It is believed that these marks were formed when the two slept here. According to a local priest, the hard rock turned into a soft rock when Ram and Sita slept there. It is because of this softness of the rock that the marks were formed. While we were in Chitrakoot, local priests also took us to a place called Sphatic Shila where they showed us the footmarks of Ram, Lakshman and Sita. We also got the chance to see some footmarks at Janaki Kund which are believed to be of Sita. Janaki Kund & Sita Kund The place where Sita used to take bath during her stay at Chitrakoot is known as Janaki Kund. We also came across a ‘havan bedi’ where Sita used to perform ‘havan’ after taking bath. This havan bedi was built by Sita and local priests recite Ramayana even now during morning and evening everyday. Apart from Janaki Kund, there’s a place called Sita Kund. It is located inside a cave in the mountains surrounding Chitrakoot. It is believed that Sita had taken bath here. The water in the Sita Kund is of Godavari river. What’s interesting is that the river vanishes after entering the cave and nobody has so far been able to figure out where it disappears. Hanuman Dhara In Chitrakoot’s dense forest, there’s a place known as Hanuman Dhara. We had to climb nearly 650 steps to reach this place. What we saw here was a very old, ancient-looking statue of Hanuman and from its right, water was flowing out of the mountain. However, a pipe has now been attached to this opening in the rocky mountain to control the flowing water. It is believed that even after reducing Ravan’s Lanka to ashes, the fire inside an angry Hanuman remained intact. After the war ended, Hanuman requested Ram to help douse the fire inside his body. It is then that Ram shot an arrow and a fountain sprung from the mountain. Since then this place has come to be known as Hanuman Dhara. This flowing water disappears after falling on Hanuman’s statue from the pipe. This gave birth to many questions inside the minds of our team members. We tried to find the source of the water but couldn’t find any. Also located right above Hanuman Dhara is a small room called Sita Rasoi where we saw a small rolling pin (chakla belan) made on a rock. It is believed Sita used to cook food here. And We Find Tulsidas’ Ramcharitmanas Not faraway from Chitrakoot is Rajapur. Here, we were told, the original Ramcharitmanas written by Tulsidas is kept inside a house. A person named Ramashrya Das has been taking care of this highly important mythological text. What made us sad was the fact that only one ‘adhyay’ (chapter) of the Ramcharitmanas is secure. All other chapters have been stolen. We got the chance to see the text from a close range. The chapter was written on a paper with hand-made ink. Ramashrya told us that the style of writing at that time was quite different from now. At that time, only seven lines were written on each page. The chapter, which is secure, has a total of 170 pages and 326 couplets. Focus Shifts To Sri Lanka Our search for Ram and the Ramayana in India’s Chitrakoot ends here, but we travel next to Sri Lanka – the same place where it is believed Ravan used to live. But how much of that is true, we find in the next part of this series.

The University in Ruins?by Dominick LaCapra

http://criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/issues/v25/v25n1.lacapra.html

Fall 1998
Volume 25, Number 1

Excerpt from
The University in Ruins?
by Dominick LaCapra

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Just before his untimely death, Bill Readings finished writing a book that will be a center of discussion and an object of critical dialogic exchange for some time to come. The University in Ruins contains an argument that should be considered carefully by academics, administrators, and the general public.1 This argument demonstrates that, while the "culture wars" may not be as heated as they were only a short time ago, the issues they raised are in no sense a thing of the past. Indeed the consequences of polarization and rhetorical overkill are still with us, as is the tendancy of extreme ideological positions to meet in curious and unsettling ways.

I would begin by noting that, in my own judgment, the contemporary academy is based on a systemic, schizoid division between a market model and a model of corporate solidarity and collegial responsibility. (Often one or the other model is invoked in ways that best serve the self-interest of the commentator). The market model is employed in the prevalent idea that undergraduates subsidize research and graduate education and that they are not getting their money's worth, notably at a time when tuition is very high and has been outpacing the general rate of inflation. The market model has also played a significant role in the establishment of criteria for teaching and reward in departments and in the setting of salaries and perquisites for individuals. The idea here is that a department, to be competitive nationally, must conform to national criteria, for example, with respect to faculty that it is trying to recruit. And major increases in an individual's salary or other perquisites have typically depended on the reception of an outside offer from a peer institution.

By contrast there is also the belief that the university is a community made of smaller communities guided by non-market-oriented norms and values. On this model, departments and individuals should be bound by the value of dedicated service to the institution independent of market considerations, even if such service is not directly rewarded in material ways. The solidaristic-collegial model is particularly prominent in the idea that faculty have a special if not quasi-priestly responsibility for the education of nation's youth. Here to complain about tendencies in the academic system may be tantamount to saying that it has become overly aligned with the modified market mechanisms operative in the rest of the economy and society.

The two models are in turn related to two ideal types of faculty member, what might be called the entrepreneurial globetrotter and the local hero. The former is administratively adept, always in the process of putting together some new arrangement or academic deal, and is continually on the move. She or he is a highly marketable commodity, has had many grants or competitive fellowships, changes positions frequently (or at least has the opportunity to do so), spends at least as much time away from a home university as at it, and has a vita the size of an average telephone book. The hipper kind of globetrotter seems to exist in the superspace between the Deleuzian nomad and the Reebok executive. By contrast, the local hero, typically existing in a relation of mutual disdain and grumbling denigration vis à vis the globetrotter, is esconced within the workings of the institution itself. She or he has a large, even cultlike undergraduate following, serves on numerous committees, faithfully attends faculty meetings, and is a nodal point in gossip and rumor mills. These ideal types are of course extremes, but they do have their instantiations--at times schizoid instantiations--whom most of us can furnish with proper names. Fortunately, they do not dominate or even typify the acedemic landscape. It is, moreover, curious that jeremiads about the insufficient attention paid to undergraduate education often come not from local heros but from neoconservative think-tank affiliates who themselves do little or no teaching and seem quite adept at conforming to the market criteria in their own behavior (such as charging enormous fees for lectures bemoaning the way the acedemic market has led to the decline of undergraduate teaching). And the intemperate quality of recent complaints is often attended by an avoidance of more specific and detailed inquiry into the actual activities of those who are objects of criticism, notably the activities of humanists who typically do more teaching, including undergraduate teaching, than any other group on campus. Jeremiads about the decline of teaching may also be coordinated with a beatific vision of the holy family in which academics--especially humanists--spend most of their time in the classroom nurturing youth with motherly solicitude, while administrators govern in fatherlike fashion, and think-tank affiliates have primary responsibility for the production of knowledge and the dissemination of evangelical admonations. 2

Readings stresses only the way in which the university has become a corporation in the modern, market-oriented sense, and for Readings this market model is hegemonic to the point of creating but one dominant identity for the modern university. For him the older corporate or solidaristic idea is anachronistic, as is the so-called university of culture that was its cognate. Readings is not unhappy about the end of the university of culture and all that it presumably stood for, but neither is he happy about its market-oriented replacement. Still, he tries to see the opportunities created by the new university modelled on the transnational corporation, and he places his conception in a larger historical and critical frame of reference. He affirms in his own voice the image of a university in ruins and asks how best to dwell in the ruins of reason, culture, the centered subject-citizen, nationalism, and a sense of evangelical if not redemptive mission. For what is indeed definately ruined, in Reading's eyes, the university of culture that provided citizen-subjects for the nation-state and in which the humanities were the site of liberal education, displace religiosity, and identity -forming culture.

1. See Bill Readings, The University in Ruins (Cambridge, Mass., 1996); hereafter abbreviated UR. 2. On these issues, see the important article by Ellen Messer-Davidow, "Manufacturing the Attack on Liberalized Higher Education," Social Text, no. 36 (1993): 40-80. See also , ed. E. Ann Kaplan and George Levine (New Brunswick, NJ., 1997). Richard Mahoney, Distinguised Executive in Residence at the Center for the Study of American Business at Washington University and former chairman and cheif executive officer of Monsanto, argues that the academy should be made to conform more fully to the recently renovated, slim-and-trim, efficiency-driven corporate model that Readings deplores yet believes actually is already instantiated by the modern university. See Richard J. Mahoney, "'Reinventing' the University: Object Lessons from Big Business," Chronical of Higher Education," 17 Oct. 1997, pp. B4-B5. In a draconian defense of strict prioritizing of tasks, Mahoney even asserts: "What are the core functions and departments of the university? Can you dispose--I don't use that word lightly--of unproductive programs? What is the primary goal of the institution? If you were absolutly forced to choose research over teaching, which would it be? Although institutions needn't choose just one or the other, they need to be clear about which activity they value more" (p. B5). In a letter critical of Mahoney's argument, R. Keith Sawyer, assistant professor of education at Washington University and former management consultant for eight years, notes that "the top research universities (those that are the most criticized for their lack of attention to the 'customers,' the students) are exactly those universities that maintain artificially low prices for their products--lower prices than the market would support." For Sawyer the reason universities do not simply follow the law of supply and demand is "because they are non-profit institutions, commited to education, learning, and knowledge" (R. Keith Sawyer, letter to the editor, Chronicle of Higher Education, 28 Nov. 1997, p. B3). Mahoney also ignores the possibilty that teaching and researching may be considered of comparable importance and that there may be a fruitful interaction between them. I would further note that there is a need for acedemics to reclaim the importance of undergraduate teaching in their own voices and that one justification for it, especially for scholars concerned about the role of the public intellectual, is that undergraduate teaching is a force for making difficult theories and methodologies more open to understanding and informed by a general public.

Dominick LaCapra is professor of history, the Bryce and Edith M. Bowmar Professor of Humanistic Studies, and director of the Society for the Humanities at Cornell University as well as the associate director of the School of Criticism and Theory. His most recent book is History and Memory after Auschwitz (1998).

History prof finally quits

http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19990618/ige18103.html

History prof finally quits

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

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VADODARA, June 17: After stepping down from the post of Head of History department, M S University, Sushil Srivastav put in his papers as the professor earlier this week.

Srivastav had earlier stepped down from his post following opposition by other senior professors of the department, who passed a no-confidence motion against him and objected to his ways of functioning in the department.

The no-trust move was initiated last year when senior professors of the department had raised objections about the way he had handled several important seminars organised, under the aegis of the campus diversity programme, in the department. The professors alleged that though it was a departmental programme, Srivastav never bothered to consult anyone.

The other allegation levelled against Srivastav was that he was unable to guide the students doing PhD under his supervision. The professors had also cited several instances to claim that he was unable to discharge his duties even as a professor of the department.

Talking to Express Newsline Srivastav said, ``Ever since I joined the department I have not been able to do any work of my own. Though earlier I wrote book, I was unable to do it after becoming the head of the department.'' He, however, refused to comment on the allegations levelled against him and said reasons for his quitting were totally personal.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.

Opportunities for change

Opportunities for change

PREETU VENUGOPALAN

Economic rehabilitation is an important part of giving victims of trafficking a new life. An NGO in Goa shows the way...

New directions: The mechanised laundry set up by the women in Goa.

IT is 8.45 a.m. A confident Sudha waits outside her home in Goa, wearing a uniform designed by one of the country's top fashion designer, Savio Jon. She is waiting for a cab to take her to work. Sudha works for a laundry unit at Sancoale Industrial Estate, which she hopes will one day be the most successful rehabilitation programme.

Six months ago, 23-year-old Sudha had no aim or ambition and faced an uncertain future. Dedicated to Goddess Yellama at the age of 12, she was forced into prostitution as a Devadasi at the age of 14, and worked for a gharwali (brothel keeper) in Baina, Goa. The mass demolition of cubicles in Baina's unofficial red light area on June 14, 2004, didn't change her situation, rather worsened it. With no economic rehabilitation in sight, she was forced to travel to other parts of the State for "business".

Economic support

Incidentally, the Supreme Court in Gaurav Jain vs. Union of India, 1997, had pointed out that Welfare Departments should undertake economic rehabilitation programmes, as this would prevent the practice of the dedication of young girls to prostitution as Devadasis, Jogins or Venkatasins. "It would be meaningful if rehabilitation programmes are launched and implementation machinery is set up not only to eradicate the fertile source of prostitution, but also for successful rehabilitation of the fallen women who are victims of circumstances to regain their lost respect to the dignity of person to sustain equality of status, economic and social empowerment," the court observed.

In Goa, there is much talk about combating trafficking of persons, thanks to a report on "Trafficking of women and children in India 2002-2003", commissioned by the National Human Rights Commission along with UNIFEM and the Institute of Social Sciences (ISS), which reveals that Goa has the highest level of trafficking of women and children in the country. Though economic rehabilitation is vital, little has been done by the government or NGOs to economically rehabilitate trafficked victims.

"We need economic rehabilitation programmes because if we don't provide rescued trafficked victims with jobs, they will go back to prostitution, if not in Baina, then in another part of the State or country," opines former DGP of Goa, Neeraj Kumar.

New journeys

After nine years of commercial sex work, Sudha has embarked on a new journey that is helping her see herself as part of the whole. "At first it was difficult, but I was determined," reveals Sudha, who is now a trained commercial driver. And she is not alone.

Fatima doesn't remember her village in Karnataka. She always believed Goa was home until the demolition drive happened. "I was denied compensation by the Goa Government because I am a non-Goan," she says. She was six-months-old when her poverty-stricken family came to Baina seeking a livelihood. Personal problems forced her into prostitution. Following the demolition, decreasing income, loneliness and insecurity only compounded her troubles.

But now, like Sudha, she has taken her first step to freedom from sexual and emotional exploitation. "I have got an opportunity to change my life, to live life with dignity and I have chosen it," she said.

The wheels of destiny are changing, slowly but surely, for 40 silent, helpless victims of commercial sexual exploitation, desperate to leave the trade, but left with little due to poverty.

ARZ, an NGO working with trafficked victims in Goa, as part of its economic rehabilitation programme, has set up a fully mechanised laundry unit, "Swift Wash", at Sancole Industrial estate. The first of its kind in Goa, it provides employment to 40 trafficked victims, mostly from Baina. "We want to ensure that women earn a dignified income, as it is the only tool that can pull them out and plug all entries into prostitution," revealed Arun Pandey, Director, ARZ.

Arun hopes the unit will develop into a full-fledged women's cooperative with trafficked women being the sole owners of the entire unit. And, Arun is not the only person dreaming of a better future. Laxmi, a trafficked victim, optimistically reveals, "Our hard work will be rewarded. Within a year or two, we want the unit to grow and expand so that we can help more children and women like us."

The effort has won accolades from former DGP Kumar, who says, "This is the first time that an NGO in Goa has walked the talk." And, for trafficking victims like Fatima and Sudha, the laundry unit has helped them leave prostitution, something even the Baina demolition couldn't achieve. Today, they are confident and empowered women, ready to fight their exploiters, including their mard.

T.S. Sawant, Director, Women and Child, Goa, admits that the idea is very good and the department would support the endeavour. "This is what Goa needs at the moment to combat trafficking. After all, poverty is the main reason why innocent girls and women are pushed into prostitution and economic rehabilitation is the need of the hour if one wants to seriously combat trafficking of persons." The State Government is planning to seek ARZ's help to provide economic rehabilitation to trafficked victims in the State Protective Home.

If human rights are about the rights of humans, about empowering the underprivileged and neglected in society by providing them equal opportunities, then this is just the beginning.

(A few names have been changed to protect identity.)

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2006/11/05/stories/2006110500210400.htm

Wrong Initiative to Contain AIDS?

Wrong Initiative to Contain AIDS?
by Venugopalan Nair

Sarita knew nothing about HIV/AIDS until her husband tested positive. A few months later, she and her elder daughter also tested positive. This was four years ago. Her husband died in 2002.

Life has taught her many bitter lessons: It has taught her that women cannot negotiate safe sex due to their disadvantaged position in society as well as due to lack of personal power. "Women in fact are more at risk of getting infected from their partner because of their vulnerability," she says.

Yet, she doesn't support the Goa government's decision to make HIV/AIDS testing mandatory before marriage. Sarita (name changed) believes that awareness and counseling - not mandatory pre-marital testing - are the need of the hour. The government needs to impart information, educate people and counsel women about HIV when they are adolescents, thereby helping them to protect themselves from getting infected.

Despite opposition from people living with HIV and activists working with HIV+ persons, the state government has decided to go ahead with its proposed plan to make HIV/AIDS testing mandatory before marriage. Health Minister Dayanand Narvekar maintains that the decision has been taken in the interest of the people. If passed in the state legislature, Goa will be the first state in the country to implement this law.

The National AIDS Control Organisation's (NACO) policy on testing is very clear. It encourages voluntary testing after counseling as the appropriate public health strategy in dealing with HIV/AIDS. Dr Denis Broun, Country Director, UNAIDS (United Nations AIDS programme) maintains, "You can curb the disease only by spreading information, counseling and convincing families to go for HIV testing before marriage. The government shouldn't interfere and introduce mandatory testing before marriage."

Even the Roman Catholic Church in Goa has opposed the move. Besides issuing a public statement opposing the proposed law, it has sent letters to members of the legislative assembly and ministers dissuading them from supporting a legislation that would affect human freedom and dignity. "Any legislation in this regard, apparently for the so-called well-being or for the utility of any single individual citizen or citizens in general, must be just, acceptable and respectable," said Fr Socorro Mendes, Director, Family Service Centre, Archdiocese of Goa.
However, the state health authorities argue that HIV affects people primarily when they are most productive and leads to premature death, thereby severely affecting the socio-economic structure of whole families and communities. "A majority of women infected with HIV/AIDS in Goa are in the age group of 15 to 35," said an official from the health department, on condition of anonymity.

Officials at the Goa State AIDS Control Society (GSACS) are tight-lipped about the issue as they find themselves sandwiched between the state government policy and that of NACO on HIV/AIDS.

Meanwhile, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working with people living with HIV believe that such a proposal will have a harmful impact on the state's efforts to contain HIV/AIDS as it is based neither on sound public health policy nor on human rights principles. "It is going to be a disaster in the end. In Goa, there is no clinching evidence to suggest that a woman is infected during marriage. In fact, the 2005 Sentinel Survey for Goa shows that none were infected in the antenatal setting, a marker for mainstream women," said Anand Grover, Director, Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit.

Activists say that they are opposed to the state government's decision because it may create an alarm and drive the disease underground and give the state a false sense of security that the infection is being effectively prevented from spreading. They also fear that this would also lead to the issuance of false certificates prior to marriage, thereby having a negative impact on the entire public health system. Besides, the strategy also does not take into account a large number of young people having sex at the pre-marital stage or post-marriage stages, which can lead to the infection, they added.

Dr Eugene D'Silva, a gynecologist, said that pre-marital testing does not prevent persons from getting infected after marriage. "What about people who are tested during the window period? During the window period even if a person is infected, they would be tested negative, as the antibodies are not developed", he noted.
"The plan to introduce mandatory pre-marital HIV testing is not based on any scientific study. Any programme for prevention or intervention has to be based on concrete scientific studies so that it helps contain the disease. HIV mandatory testing has only proved to be counter-productive," said Beethoven Fonseca, who works with Positive People, an NGO.

Interestingly, pre-marital testing is not something new. It has been tried at other places and failed. The American Civil Liberties Union Report of March 1998 reported that mandatory pre-marital HIV testing was a failure. It stated that more than 30 states in the USA considered pre-marital HIV testing. However, all the states except for Illinois and Louisiana rejected the idea. Illinois and Louisiana enacted and enforced mandatory pre-marital testing, but subsequently repealed them.

Can the Goa government hope to succeed where others have failed?

February 3, 2007

By arrangement with Women's Feature Service