Issue 65 Vol III, June 15, 2008

F E A T U R E S

Cancer state
Kavitha Kuruganti

PUNJAB has finally made cancer-registry compulsory in the state. Despite numerous scientific reports revealing the public health crisis in the state, the government had obstinately resisted any redress mechanism. The recent decision comes in the wake of two new scientific reports. One shows that pesticides are damaging genes of farmers who spray them, often leading to mutations and cancers. The other study finds the water that most people in the state drink is laced with poisons and that areas where maximum pesticides are used are reporting alarming rise in cancer cases. The state's knee-jerk reaction is an admission of the fact that pesticides and chemicals are poisoning people in the state. But is this enough? Clearly not.

The extent of human and environmental contamination in Punjab is huge. Food, soil, water, air, human bodies, almost everything is stained with a cocktail of dangerous chemicals. Decontamination will not be easy. And even tougher will be dealing with the health crisis that plagues the state. Trains full of cancer patients going for treatment have become routine. The cotton-growing areas known as the Malwa-region, where maximum pesticides are sprayed, are the worst hit. Numerous studies in the past have confirmed the abnormally high incidence of cancer and other debilitating illnesses in this region. Despite this evidence, not much has been done to alleviate the suffering.

India has no regular bio-monitoring programme. Studies are sporadic and more for research purpose, not as a part of the regulatory mechanism. We continue to register and use chemicals without adequately regulating them. Chemicals which are pushed by the industry as being "safe" are turning out to be dangerous. Organophosphate pesticides were peddled by the industry as being "non-persistent" and safe. The recent research has indicted organophosphate pesticide for damaging the dna of farmers. Something is seriously wrong with our regulations.

The pesticide industry continues to deny that its products cause havoc and refuses to accept liability. But this time they do not have the usual scapegoats. In the past, industry has countered such research by blaming it on smoking, drinking or something else. Anything but pesticides. But the new report clearly says that factors such as smoking, drinking and age have no co-relation with the extent of dna damage of farmers. Industry must have already begun to look for a new excuse. Let us see what they blame it on now.

[Kavitha Kuruganti, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Secunderabad www.csa-india.org; www.indiagminfo.org]

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Electricity for the poor
Prime Sarmiento

FOR poor rural women in India, access to energy connotes having the means to own a non-polluting stove and lantern that can help them cook, do household chores and earn a living. And yet even these basic needs are barely met -- a majority of these women still spend much of their time and effort collecting firewood and cow dung for cooking and lighting.

Gender and poverty issues should be among the priority areas in developing an Indian energy policy, according to industry experts who participated in the Asian Clean Energy Forum organised here last week by the Asian Development Bank (AsDB) and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The consensus was that increased access to energy would lift these women from poverty.

In a report presented during the Forum, Soma Dutta, Asia regional network coordinator for the Amsterdam-based ENERGIA International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy, says that only 45 percent of India’s 70 percent rural population have access to electricity, and over 80 percent still rely on firewood as their main cooking fuel. The long hours and big effort spent just gathering firewood give these women little time for education or employment, she adds.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) defines energy poverty as the "inability to cook with modern cooking fuels and the lack of a bare minimum of electric lighting to read or for other household and productive activities at sunset." By this definition, these Indian rural women could be classified as being energy poor.

India is hailed as among the world’s fastest growing economies, with annual GDP expanding at an impressive 8 to 9 percent. Energy demand has risen in line with the growing economy, making India one of the world’s biggest energy consumers. India is also a net oil importer -- domestic production can barely meet surging demand. This is why energy security is one of the priority programs of the Indian government.

Energy security, however, does not only mean covering the shortfall in energy requirements, but also giving a majority of the people access to energy. And that should go beyond giving people access at basic level, says economist KV Ramani.

"Beyond basic means giving them enough energy that they can use for their livelihood," Ramani said in an interview held on the sidelines of the Forum. He adds that in drafting any policy on energy development, the government must consider how it affects the women -- as it is the mother and daughter who are usually tasked to provide the energy needed for the family.

One of the effective ways of improving women’s -- especially poor women’s -- access to energy is to give them the means to purchase a stove, says Dutta. Stoves are very important for women from poor households where 80 percent of total energy consumption is for cooking.

SEWA Bank, a bank that provides ‘microloans’ to poor women in the eastern state of Gujarat, tried to address this problem by launching Project URJA in 2006. Through Project URJA, SEWA has managed to extend loans to women - - enabling them to buy solar-powered lanterns and smokeless gas stoves. The women used these products not only to do household chores but also to earn extra income by selling vegetables in the market or opening up tea stalls.

Project URJA has had some success in improving women’s access to energy in Gujarat, according to Dutta. [Courtesy IPS]

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Indian films back on Pakistan's big screens

DOMESTIC worker Naziran Begum has only one passion in life -- watching Indian films. After a hard day’s work, she settles down before her cheap 14-inch TV set to flick through a myriad of movie channels for a mere 150 rupees (3.75 US dollars) per month. But now, she looks forward to enjoying Indian films on the big screen. "That would be some treat!" says the movie buff ecstatically. Zofeen Ebrahim of IPS writes from Islamabad.

The reason? The 40-year-old ban on ‘Bollywood’ flicks in Pakistan was officially lifted on Feb. 8, when Firoz Nadiadwala’s film ‘Welcome’ was screened to packed theatres across this South Asian country. The film reportedly has already netted 70 million rupees (1.75 million dollars)

"This is great news," says Hoori Noorani, also a movie buff and a leading publisher. "It will give a much-needed boost to the entertainment industry and help revive the cine-going culture as well as stop the rapid closure of cinema houses."

The Pakistan film industry "died of a terminal disease of our own making," explains Salima Hashmi, dean of the School of Visual Arts at the Beaconhouse National University in the northern city of Lahore. "The reasoning behind this ban was, first, they (India) were the ‘enemy’. Secondly, the need to protect our own film industry. Neither reason seems to hold good any more," said Hashmi, who did a memorable TV satire show in the 70s.

Film critic Aijaz Gul says that the release of Indian films in Pakistan has been a "tricky issue" from the outset. He said that after 15 years of banishment due to the Indo-Pakistan war when the two countries fought over Kashmir for the second time since 1947, military general Zia ul Haq allowed the showing of the films ‘Kashish’ and Noorjehan’ in 1980. In 2006, Gul added, President Pervez Musharraf allowed ‘Taj Mahal’ and ‘Mughal-e-Azam’, followed by ‘Awarapan’,’Welcome’, ‘Sajna-o-Sajna’, ‘Goal’ and ‘Gangster’ in 2007-2008. [Courtesy IPS]

According to Gul, there are 450 Indian film prints from the 40s, 50s, and 60s that were kept in Pakistan. Among these were classics such as ‘Daagh’, ‘Deedar’, ‘Awara’, ‘Barsaat’ and ‘Aan’.

Some producers and actors oppose the lifting of the ban of Indian films. But exhibitors and some distributors support it because they say the open and unlimited importation of Indian films is one way of preventing local cinemas from closing down. According to Gul, Pakistan now has just 200 cinemas, down from 700 in 1977.

"The film trade is at its lowest. Import would help give a new lease of life to cinemas that are breathing their last," says Gul.

"I wouldn't watch an Indian film just because it’s Indian. A good film will be watched whether it’s Urdu, English, Hindi or Punjabi, if cinemas were clean and safe venues," adds journalist Fouzia Mapara.

Bollywood superstars like Aishwarya Rai and Shahrukh Khan are household names in Pakistan, thanks to cable operators who have been openly flouting copyright laws by showing the latest smuggled and uncensored videos.

A portmanteau formed of Bombay (as Mumbai was formerly known) and Hollywood, the term Bollywood refers to the huge Indian movie industry based in the western city of Mumbai, the largest city in India.

But given the religious extremist climate in some parts of the Pakistan, many look upon the recent lifting of ban with scepticism. Fundamentalists within Pakistan society are known to be opposed to ‘Indian culture’ and to scenes depicting the free intermingling of the genders that spice Bollywood productions.

Explains Faisal Qureshi, editor of a TV and film magazine: "Under the present circumstances, renting out a DVD is much safer than ending up plastered on a theatre ceiling in wake of a bomb blast," he says, referring to the high incidence of suicide bombings in the country.

Pirated DVD copies of the latest films are available for not more than 150 rupees (3.75 dollars), while slightly older ones sell for just 100 rupees (2.50 dollars).

But Gul sees this as a "minor issue", because not one cinema has been closed in the ultra-conservative North West Frontier Province, bordering Afghanistan. Of the many CD shops that have been forced to close, he says: "They were selling porn."

Although opposed to imports of Indian films, former Pakistan Television managing director Agha Nasir is ready to concede that room should be made for them. "For the survival of Pakistani cinema, we should allow the import of Indian films," says Nasir, former director of the Nation Film Development Corp (NAFDEC).

In order to provide a level playing field to the floundering Pakistan film industry -- also known as Lollywood, an amalgamation of Lahore and Hollywood -- Nasir said that locally made films should be exported to India as well.

The Pakistani hit, ‘Khuda Ke Liye’, starring seasoned Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah and released in June 2007, will also be officially released in India on Mar. 28 for the first time.

Gul believes the next step should be removing restrictions on co-productions between the two countries, but says film exchanges between the two countries should be left to the viewers. "The government should stay out of it," he says. [Courtesy IPS]

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