new book - 'The Talking Tree'

Dear friends,
My new book, 'THE TALKING TREE' (for children) is out. It is published by the Natraj Press and is available on Amazon, Flipkart and at all leading book stores. Do read it and tell me what you (and your kids) think! 

Would love to receive your response.
Many thanks,
sagari

Telecast of interview with freedom fighter, Momota Mehta, 22 january, 2014, 4.30pm (Indian standard time)

Doordarshan National television channel will telecast my interview with Momota Mehta. She is a freedom fighter and member of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment - the first all women's military wing of the world created by Netaji Subas Chandra Bose, during World War 2. 
It is worth seeing the interview - as an insight into the courage of women freedom fighters and Netaji's vision.
The interview will be telecast on 22 January 2014, at 4.30pm (Indian Standard Time), Doordarshan National television channel. 
Comments would be appreciated.
Sagari Chhabra

Re-telecast of Ela Bhatt's interview, DD national, 17 december, 7:30pm

                                         Interview with Ela Bhatt
Doordarshan National television channel will re-telecast an interview with Ela Bhatt, Gandhian thinker and founder of SEWA on 17 December at 7:30 pm (indian standard time)
This interview was conducted by me, several months ago.
Your comments would be most welcome.
Thanks,
Sagari Chhabra

'Hunger - Our Responsibilities'

You are cordially invited to a programme,
 'Hunger - Our Responsibilities' 
on 17 September. 7pm,
at India Habitat Centre, (Gulmohar Hall) Lodi Road, New Delhi.

The programme will start with a screening of a documentary film,
'Hunger In The Time Of Plenty' (30 minutes) written and directed by Sagari Chhabra.
This will be followed by an interactive discussion with speakers;
Harsh Mander (activist)
Prof Reetika Khera (academic)
Sagari Chhabra.
The audience is invited to give concrete suggestions to end hunger.

A Walk with the Moon and the Sun

A Walk With The Moon And The Sun

                     - for children everywhere

Last  night  I could not get a wink of sleep,

So I slid out, from under my sheet,

And went for a walk

 in the park nearby.

I saw the full moon up

in the sky so high,

I could swear it followed me,

Like a balloon without a string,

A luminous lollipop,

A most amazing thing.

I found the squirrels asleep,

So were the deer,

There was the occasional hoot

of the owl, just near,

But the birds were asleep

Under their wing,

Except for the night sounds

Of the crickets,

No one did sing.

But the moon shined its luminous glow,

And I just moved on, so.

I walked across the temple,

All was quiet;

No bells clanged,

No chants filled the air;

And the moon shed its moonlight

Over all the pilgrims

Who slept over there.

Then across the corner

Was an old mosque,

And as I stepped on the cool, mosaic floor,

I saw the moon watching

High above the arched door.

It was bestowing its benign light

To all those who slept within,

It was such a cool and peaceful sight

And a gentle breeze

Blew in the night.

I moved along to the gurudwara

Where the Sikhs lay asleep,

By their sacred book,

And to each the moon

Gave a gentle, peaceful look.

It shed light on the kirpan that glittered,

And went on its way, to the

Path that was littered,

With garbage and refuse.

It saw the poor in their shacks

And blessed them a peaceful night of rest,

For ahead was a heavy work-load

In the days that lay abreast.

Then in the very same sky,

He went behind a cloud edged with lace,

And I saw emerging

A blushing, bridal pink face.

I saw the early morning sun

Give its rays to everyone,

Including the smallest leaf

And the tallest tree,

It gave its energy and its light, so free.

To big and small,

Tall and strong,

Rich and poor,

Without differentiating

Between anyone at all.

It was universal love;

And I saw the sun

Climb, higher and higher,

And I heard the screech of tyres

As people rushed to work

They broke out into a sweat,

No one knew he was bestowing his energy,

Without breaking for a single breath.

Just everyone got his light

And I knew before the night,

He would have bestowed

To all his radiance;

And in the approaching twilight,

The birds hummed to a cadence.

I just knew,

Like the moon and the sun,

I was born to give,

To love, to serve,

And be a friend

To every single one,

Before my day was done.                      Sagari Chhabra   

                                                               7th  september 2013                                 

Ela Bhatt in conversation with Sagari Chhabra, DD National channel, 4:30pm, 4 september, '13

Special!
Please watch my interview with Ela Bhatt, the founder member of SEWA ( Self Employed Women's Association) . A gandhian and an amazing woman who built an organisation of 1.5 million women - vegetable vendors, rag pickers and other poor women.
The interview is today, 4 September, 2013, on Doordarshan National channel, at 4.30 pm.
The interview is bilingual, that is, it is in Hindi and English.
Look forward to your comments.
Thanks,
Sagari Chhabra

'Emergency Retold' by Kuldip Nayar

Kuldip Nayar’s ‘EMERGENCY RETOLD’

A review by Sagari Chhabra

'Emergency Retold' is a new edition of a book on the Emergency by the distinguished journalist and human rights activist, Kuldip Nayar. The book published by Konark Publications was released on 26th June, the 38th anniversary of the Emergency, to an audience of journalists, authors and democratic rights activists at India International Centre. 

Kuldip Nayar was arrested under MISA (Maintenance Of Internal Security Act) kept in Tihar jail, and only released on a writ of habeous corpus filed by his family. He then toured the country and kept an account of the darkest chapter of India's democratic life. The book is a valuable document of the times and is an account by a prisoner of conscience of what actually happened. Nayar asks in his new preface, how does one explain the emergency imposed in 1975, to a new generation?  It does not know what it meant. He goes on to write, "More than one lakh opposition leaders and critics were detained without trial. The cabinet gave post-facto sanction. The power came to constitute in the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi and her son, Sanjay Gandhi, an extra-constitutional authority’.He also writes that  the institutions never got back their original vigour and sanctity. In other words the very idea of India was derailed.

            In the book, Nayar recounts how the Emergency came about and freely takes names in his characteristic, courageous, signature style.  He recalls Justice Sinha of the Allahabad High Court had ruled Indira Gandhi guilty on the count of two corrupt practices during her election. After this she responded to the advice of Sidhartha Shankar Ray, the Chief Minister of West Bengal and her younger son, Sanjay, who did not hold any constitutional position nor any position within the party and was infact involved with the setting up of the Maruti car factory. Nayar writes “a vague plan for 'doing something' to silence the press and opponents of Mrs Gandhi had not only acquired a firm shape but also achieved constitutional sanction. 'Internal emergency' was the cloak a lawyer had found for an action planned with dictatorial motives". Secrecy was paramount, no one had an inkling as to what was being planned, as the opposition was busy preparing for the 25 June rally to be addressed by Jayaprakash Narain, popularly known as JP. Nayar details that “Sidhartha Shankar Ray and Mrs Gandhi drove to Rashtrapati Bhavan four hours before the deadline.... The President understood the implications quickly. He was also once a practising lawyer... He did not think of demurring. He was indebted to Mrs Gandhi for elevating him to the highest position in the country." After returning from Rashtrapati Bhavan, Mrs Gandhi decided on a cabinet meeting at 6am, by now she knew that the arrests of JP, Morarji Desai and several hundreds were going according to the plan. On the morning of 26 June, censorship was imposed on all press writings related to the internal situation. All messages had to be sent to the government for scrutiny.  Nayar records that after the mass arrests, there was almost no resistance and if there were any, they were 'tackled'. A few leaders like George Fernandes, and Subramaniam Swami, Jana Sangh members, went underground.  Vidya Charan Shukla who took over from I.K Gujral as Minister of Information and Broadcasting, reported that the censorship machinery was quickly getting into gear. Indira Gandhi thought that the Parliament would certainly endorse the Emergency, thus refurbishing her international image; so she convened it on 21 July 1975. She also asked that the question hour be given up. The book has extracts of some of the leaders who spoke up against the Emergency:  Ak Gopalan (CPIM), Mohan Dharia (Congress-I expelled), Era Sezhiyan, P.G Mavlankar, and S.A Shamim. The CPI (Communist Party of India) gave full support to Mrs Gandhi, with Indrajit Gupta even stating that the proclamation of Emergency was justified and everybody supported it. 

In Tihar jail alone, which at that time could house only 1200 persons, the jail overflowed with more than 4000 people. However, a few newspapers like the Indian Express tried to stand up against censorship. The paper's proprietor, Ram Nath Goenka was threatened that his son and daughter-in-law would be interned under MISA and his chain of papers auctioned, if he did not acquiesce. The Statesman was punished for not publishing a sufficient number of photographs of Mrs Gandhi on the front page and was asked to submit all page proofs to the censors for approval. The pages would be cleared late, delaying the printing of the paper. Sanjay Gandhi was behind the demolition and razing of several slums including the demolition of the Turkman Gate locality, which was met by resistance. Later, a forcible sterilisation campaign - 'nasbandi' also went into over-drive, aided by 'a glamorous lady' Rukhsana Sultana who considered Sanjay Gandhi, a ‘god’.

Emergency Retold’ also details the torture of Lawrence Fernandes who was picked up from his house in Bangalore, to find the whereabouts of his brother, George Fernandes. The book records his testimony. “They were ten policemen and they started giving me the works. Four lathis broke, one after the other as they directed blows to all parts of my body. I was writhing in pain on the floor...”  Snehalata Reddy an actress,  was also arrested, and later released, she died.

Shanti Bhushan  argued before the Supreme Court that the right to personal liberty, was not a gift of the Constitution but a fundamental concept of democracy, which could not be suspended even by the Emergency. However, the Supreme Court ruled that in view of the president's order of 27 June 1975, no person had any locus standi to move any writ petition to challenge the legality of a detention order and that the order amending MISA, to remove the requirement that a detenu must be informed the reason for his detention, was constitutionally valid. However, Justice H.R Khanna in his minority ruling declared that no authority could suspend the high courts power to issue writs of habeous corpus. Even in times of emergency the state had no power to deprive a person of his life and liberty. But this was a minority voice. The majority, Justices Ray, Beg, Chandrachud and Bhagwati supported the order.

The book ends with the announcement of elections, obviously Indira Gandhi assumed her party would win and the historic defeat at the elections of 1977. The rest is history, but the real heroes were the people of India!  Kuldip Nayar’s ' Emergency Retold' is a fearless account, which only Nayar, himself a prisoner of conscience, could write. It is a must for all libraries and should adorn the book -shelves of all people who love freedom and wish to know of a time when our civil liberties were summarily taken away. The book should become part of the curriculum of all universities in south asia, but the publishers have done a disservice, by releasing a historic volume with so many typographical errors and mistakes, which a careful editor or even a proof-reader could easily have corrected.