Baba Lokenath
Mousumi Ghosh
The honoured mystic Baba Lokenath Thakur is the Lokenath Bramhachari
of Baradi and Baba to his devotees. Baradi is a village in
Narayanganj, Bangladesh. Lokenath set up his ashram here.
When we look at the picture of Baba Lokenath Bramhachari sitting in
his yogic posture, we get mesmerized by his eyes. It is rather
impossible to describe his eyes. It seems that Baba can see our bare
soul, such a bright and piercing eye but very very assuring.
It’s true. His devotees believe his comforting discourse – “Remember
me when you face any trouble in water, land, forest and anywhere in
the space. I shall protect you”. Baba though not living in this world
now in his physical body is saving countless people from their many
grave crises. He is immortal to his devotees.
Let us have a glimpse of his life and deeds that succeeded in
mesmerising so many people for more than a century. In his physical
body, he lived for more than one hundred and seventy five years.
He first came into limelight through a surprising incident in Baradi.
At that time he was a new comer in Baradi. After spending a long
period of one hundred and fifty years in Himalayas and other places,
he arrived at Daudkanti village in Tripura. One Dengu Karmakar of
Baradi village who was wrongly convicted in a criminal case requested
earnestly to the unclothed saint with magnetic personality when Baba
was meditating under a banyan tree at Daudkanti. With Baba’s grace, he
became free of crime charge. He was the first known devotee of Baba
Lokenath Thakur and he induced Baba to stay at his house in Baradi.
He was a mystery at first to the villagers for his unclothed body and
unusual activities. Locals assumed him as a mad Sadhak. Some local
respectable Brahmin men were making Sacred Thread (paita) in the
village. Unexpectedly the threads got entangled and the Brahmins with
all their efforts failed to separate them. Suddenly, that mad person
came there. The Brahmins became scared as nobody knew his identity and
caste. However, that person advised them to recite Gayatri Mantra. The
Brahmins instead requested him to recite that. Baba Lokenath separated
the entangled sacred threads by reciting Gayatri Mantra. Later, the
local Zamindar family the Nag babus became his devotee. Baba wanted a
land which fetches no rent. Accordingly with the approval of the
Zamindar family, His hermitage was built in an abandoned Burning Ghat
at the village periphery.
Once, Baba was summoned at the court in a criminal case where an
altercation between a disciple of him and a rowdy son of a Zamindar
led to a serious fight. The opponent’s lawyer asked his age. Baba
replied –“One hundred and fifty years “. The lawyer loudly protested
and said that in the court one should not talk all these non sense.
Baba then quietly said that they could note what they desired. The
plan of the opponent’s lawyer was to prove that it was impossible for
this too old saint to see the incident. So he again asked, “You said,
you are one hundred and fifty years old. Vision becomes too weak at
this age. But how could you notice the incident from the room? The
saint smiled. Pointing at a distant tree, He enquired, “Do you notice
any creature climbing on the tree”? Nobody was able to see any thing
at such a long distance. Brahmachari then smiled and said, “You are
young and have a strong vision. But you are not observing anything.
But I am sure that there are lines of red ants that are climbing the
tree”. Some people of the court then went there and saw that it was
right.
Baba once saved Bijoy Krishna Goswami a famous religious spoke person
of Dhaka from a dangerous forest fire in Chandranath Hill. Goswami was
meditating in a forest there. Suddenly the forest fire started which
scared even the wild animals there. Goswami started meditating again.
At that time suddenly, Baba Lokenath (then unknown to Bijoy Krishna
Goswami) arrived, took Goswami in his arms and saved his life by
relocating him to a safe place. Later when they two met at Baradi,
Lokenath Brahmachari told about that incident.
Baba was like a guardian to many ferocious animals. A poisonous snake
was like his pet. Similarly the tigress of a forest kept her cubs near
him when she went to collect food for them when Baba was in meditation
in the forest. Again, the birds took rest sitting on his shoulder.
Like a little child, he enjoyed distributing sugar to the ants and he
watched with utmost concentration whether they ate them or not. One of
his devotees invited Baba at his home on the occasion of the memorial
service of his father. Though baba was not regular at such social
functions but he agreed. As the devotee did not notice him, on the
next day, he came to the Ashram and expressed grief. Lokenath replied
that he went there but the devotee himself ordered him to go out. The
disciple became speechless. How could it be? Baba then pointed out
that the disciple injured a dog twice with his stick when that poor
creature entered the room reserved for delicious sweets. So baba made
it clear that he exists within every creature. Similarly, a rich
devotee, who was suffering from a dreadful disease once, brought milk
for him in a large earthen pot. Suddenly Baba became very angry and
denied his gift. After repeated request, he suggested that as the
concerned person was rich enough, if he brought it in a new good pot,
it could be used. That person followed his advice. However, when at
last it was kept in the courtyard, a dog of that Ashram with joy
started to drink that milk. The rich man became very angry and started
to beat the dog. Baba Lokenath then said that for that reason, he
refused his milk. Once a thing was given to Baba, a devotee lost all
his rights on that good. So there was no reason for the person to
behave so cruelly.
There are various remarkable experiences which his devotees narrated.
For instance, the deputy magistrate of Darjeeling, Mr Parbati Charan
Ray was Baba’s devotee. Once, he became bed ridden with life
threatening disease. One day, He saw Brahmachari beside his bed. After
that, he became completely cured. After a few days, he visited the
hermitage at Baradi to pay homage to Baba. He enquired whether Baba
had visited Darjeeling recently. Baba as usual replied that he did
not. But Parbati Babu repeatedly queried about that incident. He was
certain that it was not a dream. Baba just said that he was at that
time thinking about Parbati.
Similarly, Dr Nishikanta Babu was a medical practitioner in America.
He was a relative of Baba’s ardent disciple, the Nag families of
Baradi. One day, a sophisticated American lady came to him. She was
suffering from complicated colic pain. The western medicines failed to
relieve her pain. She wanted to try ancient Indian medicine as she had
great respect for India. But Dr Basu did not have knowledge about
ancient Indian treatment. In the course of their discussion, suddenly,
the lady screamed and asked the doctor about the person at his back.
The lady saw a tall Indian saint with matted hair and long beard. As
he was at the back side of Doctor at first failed to notice the
figure. The patient then said that Baba had given her the medicine in
this fraction of a second. Then the figure simply vanished from the
closed room. The figure resembled that of Baba Lokenath Thakur.
In the middle of the eighteenth century (on Tuesday, Janmastami,
Bengali year 1138), Lokenath Brahmachari was born in a well-known
village Chakla, situated in Barasat sub division of Twenty four
Parganas. His father Ramkanai Ghosal had a secret desire that one of
his sons would become a recluse and acquire divine knowledge.
Ultimately, his youngest son Lokenath got the permission from his
mother Kamala Devi to become a Sannyasi. Acharya Bhagaban Ganguly, who
was a known name in the field of spiritual education in the locality,
became his teacher. During his Sacred thread wear ceremony, Lokenath’s
Acharya decided to renounce the world taking his student Lokenath with
him. Lokenath’s childhood friend Benimadhav also joined them. Both of
them obtained the ceremonial diksha from their Sir Bhagaban Ganguly.
All of them left home. The age of the young hermits or Brahmacharis
were then about ten and their teacher around sixty. They visited many
holy places before meditating in the forest. Kalighat, the famous
Sakti peeth was surrounded by jungle. It was a powerful centre for
meditation for saints who gathered there from far and near. These two
young recluses disturbed them by pulling their matted hair. When the
agitated saints mentioned it to Lokenath’s Guruji, he replied that
these children belonged to the same group in which these holy men
belong. So they should train them as required. Their Acharya was
indeed an excellent teacher. During the tough period of meditation in
the forest, when the young ascetics had to bear with a period of
strict discipline and long days of fasting, Acharya himself nursed
them. He even washed their bodies when needed. Even when they became
adult, he did the compulsory begging to acquire food for all of them.
The food collected through begging is the purest food to the Indian
saints. He believed that the young hermits would lose their required
concentration if they got mixed with family men and their consumerist
attitude. The meditation at the forest continued for twenty five
years.
Then after meditating a long time in the high ranges of Himalayas,
they met a spiritually powerful Yogi, Hitalal Mishra. Too old Bhagaban
Ganguly before leaving his mortal body requested him to take care of
his ‘young’ students. These young students were then about ninety
years of age. They acquired huge Yogic knowledge from Yogi Hitalal.
And after long period of meditation Lokenath transformed into renowned
Brahmavid or powerful Yogi. He travelled various places of Himalayas
and that of Tibet. He also visited the Mecca, the most spiritual
centre of the Muslim people. After meditating for a long period in
the snow capped Himalayas, their teacher Hitalal Mishra ordered them
to come to the lower valley and work for the betterment of mankind.
Benimadhav moved to Kamakhya in Assam and Lokenath Brahmachari went to
holy Chandranath before arriving at Baradi beside River Meghna.
Baba Lokenath Brahmachari himself conveyed the message of his death of
physical body to his devotee Prabhu pada Bijoy Krishna Goswami. He
died on Unishe Jaistha in Bengali year 1297. He also saved the life of
one of his devotees after this date who was wrongfully given capital
punishment in the lower court.
Countless number of his devotees is still receiving his divine grace
and I am one of them.
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Hindi Poems
Hindi poems
Girish Joshi
1.
Chot kha kar bhi yaro dil se duaa hi nikali hai
hath hamane jab uthaya, dil se sada hi nikali hai
2
Jaga hun tadapa hun aansu bhi nikale hai
kee chand ki chahat to chandani se jale hai
3
koi jab nahin hai yahan, kaun
sune?
kolahal bhara hai jahan, kaun sune?
chutti se abhi lautata
hun kaha tha
khuda bhi gaya hai kahan, kaun sune
4
pyar aankhon me sapan bharata hai
pyar sanso me tapan bharata hai
pyar dharati par svarg le aata
milan hone se lagan
Girish Joshi
1.
Chot kha kar bhi yaro dil se duaa hi nikali hai
hath hamane jab uthaya, dil se sada hi nikali hai
2
Jaga hun tadapa hun aansu bhi nikale hai
kee chand ki chahat to chandani se jale hai
3
koi jab nahin hai yahan, kaun
sune?
kolahal bhara hai jahan, kaun sune?
chutti se abhi lautata
hun kaha tha
khuda bhi gaya hai kahan, kaun sune
4
pyar aankhon me sapan bharata hai
pyar sanso me tapan bharata hai
pyar dharati par svarg le aata
milan hone se lagan
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Review of Education Policy
Review of Education Policy
Dipannita Bhattacharya
Preface:
In the following text, I have tried to review the National Policy on Education, 1986, with respect to the rights of the disabled. I have taken up the different components of elementary education as provided in this policy.
The text is divided into 3 sections after introduction. Section A is my own understanding about provisions of elementary education given in NPE 1986. Section B is about a general understanding of disability, extent of disability in India and the rights of persons with disability, and the last section is a critical evaluation of the policy with respect to the rights of the disabled.
Introduction:
Education is important not only for the development of ones personality, but also for the sustained growth of the nation. Elementary education, therefore, provides the base on which the development of every citizen and the nation as a whole rests.
Education, as a basic right, has been has been ratified by several international organizations and documents. According to Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Article 26(2),
“Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.”
According to International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Right, 1966: Article 13 &14,
“Primary education shall be compulsory and available to all.”
The United Nations Convention on Child Rights( article 28,29),1989 also gives a lot of stress on the importance of free primary education, maintenance of school discipline in accordance with the dignity of the child and fullest development of his/her capabilities.
In India, while framing the Constitution, Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar had a view that there should be free and compulsory primary education, as a fundamental right. But other members of the constituent assembly cited the financial incapacity of the state and thus put this in under the directive principles of state policy, which are the non-justifiable rights of the citizens.
The National Policy on Education was passed in 1968, which was later reviewed and The National Policy on Education was adopted by the Parliament in May 1986. The Unnikrishnan judgment of 1993 was a historical landmark in recognizing education as a right, in which the Supreme Court held that right to compulsory and free education up to the age of 14 years is a fundamental right of every child. In the light of this judgment, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill,2008 has been passed, which has sparked off a lot of debate among the leading educationists.
Without going into the debate of the Bill, I will now try to review the different elements of the elementary education of the National Education Policy1986, with respect to the rights of disabled children.
Section A
The National Policy on Education 1986 (modified in 1992)
Essential features:
Elementary education
1. The policy gives priority to the universalisation of elementary education, up to 14 years of age. The thrust is mainly on universal enrolment and retention and also on the improvement of the quality of education imparted.
2. A child centered approach is to be adopted. A substantial improvement in the infrastructure and support services of primary schools is required and a variety of measures have been proposed for securing the participation of different marginalized sections of children. A policy of non-detention at primary level is to be followed and corporal punishment must be firmly dealt away with
3. Provision for quality non formal education for working children. All necessary measures are to be taken to ensure that the quality of NFE is comparable to that of formal education. Also steps will be taken to facilitate lateral entry into formal system of children passing out of NFE.
4. Reform in content and process of education, and a comprehensive teacher training programme is proposed.
5. The scope of Operation Blackboard will be enlarged to provide 3 reasonably large rooms with necessary teaching-learning aids and it is to be extended till upper primary level. Construction of school buildings is to be a priority and 50% of recruited teachers must be female.
6. Highest priority is to be given to dealing with the problem of child drop-outs
7. Common structure of education throughout the country, i.e., 10+2+3
Education for the handicapped
The objective should be to integrate the physically and mentally ‘handicapped’ with the mainstream community and prepare them for normal growth and development. The following measures have been taken in this regard:
wherever feasible, the education of children with motor handicaps and other mild handicaps will be common to that of others
as far as possible, provision for special schools and hostels at district headquarters for the severely handicapped
provision for vocational training
teacher training programme to be re-oriented in order to equip them to deal with the special needs of the handicapped children
voluntary effort for the education of the disabled to be encouraged in every manner
Section B
There is no universal definition of disability. They range from the very narrow to the very broad, from the medical to the social, from the cultural to the local, from the one intended to integrate them in society to the one for exclusion and segregation. The WHO manual gives the following definitions:
Impairment: Impairment is any loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological or anatomical structure or function
Disability: a disability is any restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being
Handicap: a handicap is a disadvantage for a given individual, resulting from an impairment or disability that limits or prevents the fulfillment of a role that is normal (depending on age, sex, and social and cultural factors) for that individual.
Types of Disabilities
Census of India 2001 identified five types of disabilities. Number of disabled in each type of disabilities is depicted in table below, which shows total number of disabled in India at 21,906,769 which constitute more than 2 percent of total population.
Disabled in India by types of Disabilities
Types of Disabilities Number of Disabled Percentage
Seeing 10634881 48.55
Speech 1640868 7.49
Hearing 1261722 5.76
Movement 6105477 27.87
Mental 2263821 10.33
Total 21906769 100.00
Source: Census of India 2001
Table 2
This proportion is high when compared to data collected by national sample survey organization in its 58th round in the year 2002, but very lower than estimates of World health Organization and United Nations according to which around 10 percent of population in underdeveloped and developing countries are disabled.
Classification of disabled in India shows that nearly half total disabled are having seeing disabilities (48.55 percent) followed by movement disabilities (27.87 percent). Ten percent of total disabled are mentally disabled.
Disabilities by Residence
Classification of Disabilities by region
Types of Disabilities Residence
Persons Rural Urban
Total 21906769 (100.00) 16388382 (74.81) 5518387 (25.19%)
Seeing 10634881 (100.00) 7873383 (74.03) 2761498 (25.97)
Speech 1640868 (100.00) 1243854 (75.80) 397014 (24.20)
Hearing 1261722 (100.00) 1022816 (81.07) 238906 (18.93)
Movement 6105477 (100.00) 34654552 (76.24) 1450925 (23.76)
Mental 2263821 (100.00) 1593777 (70.40) 670044 (29.60)
Source: Census of India 2001
Table 2
Classification of disabled by residence shows that majority of disabled are living in the rural areas. 81.07 percent of people with hearing disabilities, 76.24 percent with movement disabilities, and 75.80 percent with speech disabilities reside in rural areas.
Lack of medical facilities, large family size, concentration of medical facilities in urban localities, etc. are the major reasons for this trend. The paradoxical situation here is concentration of organizations working for disabled in urban centers.
Disability and Literacy
Education is very important for all, especially for disabled. Education provides opportunities for employment and advancement. Literacy level among disabled of different categories is depicted in table below.
Literacy Rate among different categories of Disabled
Residence Persons Male Female
Disabilities Total
Total 49.31 58.15 37.32
Rural 44.40 54.11 31.31
Urban 63.87 70.05 55.36
Seeing Disability
Total 49.85 59.56 38.50
Rural 43.56 54.18 31.28
Urban 67.77 74.61 59.53
Speech Disability
Total 36.23 41.91 28.57
Rural 31.38 37.30 23.41
Urban 51.41 56.33 44.75
Hearing Disability
Total 43.17 55.73 28.79
Rural 39.31 52.20 24.38
Urban 59.72 71.24 47.11
Movement Disability
Total 57.37 65.44 43.08
Rural 53.74 62.52 38.17
Urban 69.04 74.80 58.18
Mental Disability
Total 37.89 43.68 29.27
Rural 34.72 41.17 25.21
Urban 45.44 49.55 39.15
Percentage of literate in each category of disabled
Source: Census of India 2001
Table 3
(http://www.disabilityindia.org/djartjan06A.cfm)
• Compared to a National literacy figure of around 65 percent the percentage of literacy levels of the disabled population is only 49 percent
• Literacy rates for the female disabled population is around 37 percent compared to national average of over 54 percent for the female population.
• Literacy rates for the male disabled population is 58.14 percent compared to 75.85 percent for males.
• According to NSSO 2002 figures, of the literate disabled population only 9 percent completed secondary and above education
Rights of the Disabled- Constitutional, National and International provisions
The 93rd Amendment of the Constitution of India has made education a fundamental human right for children in the 6-14 years age group thereby making it mandatory for all children to be brought under the fold of education. This includes children with disability.
India is a signatory to the Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education (1994) that emphasizes access to quality education for all. The Statement endorses the need for fundamental policy shifts required to promote the approach to inclusive education, namely enabling schools to serve all children, particularly those with special educational needs by implementing practical and strategic changes.
The Government of India has enacted the legislation Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (PWD Act) to achieve amongst other things, the goal of providing access to free education in an appropriate environment to all learners with disabilities till s/he attains the age of eighteen years. The Act endeavours to promote the integration of learners with disabilities in mainstream schools.
The National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCERT, 2000) has recommended inclusive schools for learners with special educational needs by making appropriate modifications in the content, presentation and transaction strategies, preparing teachers and developing learning friendly evaluation procedure
(http://punarbhava.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=313&Itemid=397)
United nations convention of child rights:
Article 2 (Non-discrimination): The Convention applies to all children, whatever their race, religion or abilities; whatever they think or say, whatever type of family they come from. It doesn’t matter where children live, what language they speak, what their parents do, whether they are boys or girls, what their culture is, whether they have a disability or whether they are rich or poor. No child should be treated unfairly on any basis
Article 23 (Children with disabilities): Children who have any kind of disability have the right to special care and support, as well as all the rights in the Convention, so that they can live full and independent lives.
United nations CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, adopted in 13 December 2006
Constitution
Article 14 states Equality of law and equal opportunities, prohibits discrimination on the unreasonable grounds.
India is a signatory of all the above international conventions and itself containing the aforesaid provisions, it is legally binding to give the persons with disability equal rights in terms of education and other things. All the policies, plans and programmes passed should be in accordance with this principle of non-discrimination and equality. Therefore wherever required, the persons with disability must be given due support in order to make them capable enough to realize their rights.
Section C
Review of the policy
The NPE 1986 has provided for the education of disabled children in regular school system, thus aiming at the integration of children with physical and mental disabilities with the mainstream community. The Plan of Action, 1992 estimated that about 10.39 million children with disabilities must be provided education in the regular school system. The Eighth five year plan had also provided opportunities to the disabled people for education, vocational training and economic rehabilitation.
The NPE 1986 emphasized INCLUSION while launching schemes for integrated education. Integrated education represents a supportive approach to serving those with special needs and is based on the principles of inclusion.
Inclusive education means what it says. It means to include the child with special needs in the same way in which any other child will be included. This approach recommends education of children with special needs in the overall general educational structure of the nation. This also means beginning education at the very start in early childhood and continuing it right through the whole educational system. It includes adapting the whole school structure, the buildings and furniture, the teacher training curriculums and the attitude of the siblings, parents and public to include children with special needs in a regular school system. It should lead to an educational system which is explicitly disabled friendly.
Even if the at the policy level it has been accepted by the government that disabled children are entitled to education, most of them do not get any education at all or receive very inferior quality of education as compared to that of non-disabled children. The conventional residential school for disabled children system of education, despite the best efforts, remains outside the reach of a majority of disabled children. Those who do gat it are forced to remain outside the mainstream activities of society and accept exclusion as a matter of routine.
Going back to the policy itself, the elementary education policy and education of handicapped is completely segregated from each other and kept in separate sections. Also the term ‘handicapped’ is very derogatory and must be removed from the policy. If elementary education is meant for children, and every child is equal, then even disabled children should be a part of the policy elements. The provisions of elementary education should be benefiting them equally.
The definition adopted by government on disability is not inclusive as it does not give classification of disability in the policy. Hence the special needs of different groups of disabled persons are neither acknowledged nor addressed properly.
The policy is not in full accordance with the rights of the disabled, as it contains terms like, ‘wherever feasible’, ‘as far as possible’, giving the state the option of not providing what is there in the policy.
There is the provision of a comprehensive teacher education programme given in the policy. The term ‘comprehensive’ is very ambiguous as it is not very specific about the issues covered. It is very important that the teachers be given training on disability otherwise they wont be able to distinguish between learning disabled and slow learners, for example, and hence wont be able to take care of their respective needs.
According to the policy, there is provision for free and compulsory education up to the age of 14 years. This statement has a number of connotations. Firstly, as per definition of child according to UNCRC, as well as JJ Act, anyone who is below 18 years is a child. Then why has the government mentioned free and compulsory education only till 14 years of age? Secondly, for a mentally disabled person, the upper age limit should not be fixed a 14 or 18. Rather it should be till his rehabilitation. It is because of the probability that he won’t be able to complete his elementary education by the above prescribed age depending on his mental maturity. So, how far is it fair that a normal child be given full elementary education while a mentally disabled child is barred from it?
Thirdly, the ‘free’ elementary education given by government excludes a lot of necessary stuff. The responsibility of the state does not end with providing tuition fees and books. It should also include medical checkups, food, uniforms, etc. The term ‘Compulsory’ education means that someone is accountable for children not going to school. It is as much the responsibility of the parents as it is of the state. So what are the provisions in case the state fails to fulfill its responsibility? The goal is universal enrolment and retention. Now, for example, a visually impaired child goes to a so called ‘inclusive’ school. There, due to lack of technology like computers or Braille script, he drops out. Here he is letting go of his right to education and consequently, his right to livelihood. So will the state take responsibility for this?
Stress is given on the improvement of infrastructure, but there are no prescribed norms, nor any standardized set of criteria. School buildings are usually ‘exclusive’- mostly for the able and rarely for the disabled. There is absolutely no component in the policy that prescribes ‘inclusive’ school buildings- which can be used both by the able and disabled, and therefore each will tend to view the another as a ‘different other’ rather than a ‘lesser’ or ‘greater’ other. To illustrate, probably for children with loco motor disability, use of sufficiently wide door openings for classrooms, toilets and ramps which can accommodate crutches or wheelchairs comfortably without hurting the hands, would be of some help. The ramps should have minimum slope possible to drive the wheelchair effortlessly, without any outside help. It should be such that the person feels secure and does not slip accidentally.
In the school curriculum, usually we are taught about marginalized sections like women or caste groups- basically the ‘have nots’. But there is very less mention of disabled people as part of the deprived group. The curriculum needs to be re-framed so that there is sensitivity about this particular issue in the minds of the people.
The policy has excluded many small yet relevant details. For example, there are certain activities from which disabled people are traditionally barred like sports or other extra-curricular activities. The system must be re-structured in order to ensure their participation in all such activities. Then again, there is the question of accessibility and transport. The transport system should be made disable friendly so that they have easy access to it.
The government has provisions both for special schools and inclusive schools, depending upon the needs of the child. But education in special schools is too expensive and out of reach of common man. In case of inclusive schools, it is of course affordable, but the question of quality difference is always there. In inclusive schools the main stress is on socialization of children, so that they become sensitive enough. The choice between either type is not based on the severity of the disability, rather on the economic condition of the family. While rehabilitation, for whom will it be easier then? So it is very debatable whether the state should make every inclusive school like a special school or vice versa.
The provision for severely handicapped is special schools at district headquarters.
From table 2, we have seen that a majority of disabled are from rural areas. So it is not feasible for them to come to district headquarters for education. Even if the schools are residential schools, it needs to be understood that disabled children have special needs which must be taken care of. Therefore the feasibility of they being away from their family is something which needs to be considered as well.
CONCLUSION
“Disabled people define their situation not in terms of individual impairment but in terms of social oppression”
- Sally French
Disability is a human rights issue and it must be clearly realized by all that the disabled are an integral part of society and every effort must be made to involve them with the whole society. People with impairment feel disabled not because of their physical and/or mental handicaps but because of the barriers society chooses to put up to establish differences between the disabled and non-disabled.
The debate regarding the viability of special schools is not to be resolved anytime soon. On one hand it is a violation of the right of the disabled child if he is put in a special school, away from his natural environment and peers. On the other hand, it is very true that he has special needs which need to be taken care of.
According to UNCRC,
Article 4 (Protection of rights): Governments have a responsibility to take all available measures to make sure children’s rights are respected, protected and fulfilled. When countries ratify the Convention, they agree to review their laws relating to children. This involves assessing their social services, legal, health and educational systems, as well as levels of funding for these services. Governments are then obliged to take all necessary steps to ensure that the minimum standards set by the Convention in these areas are being met. They must help families protect children’s rights and create an environment where they can grow and reach their potential. In some instances, this may involve changing existing laws or creating new ones. Such legislative changes are not imposed, but come about through the same process by which any law is created or reformed within a country.
Therefore the NPE needs to be revised in order to bring about the provisions necessary for every person- disabled and non-disabled, haves and haves not, marginalized and non-marginalized, to have equal accessibility to all the facilities. Equality of opportunities and rights are the basic criteria for every human being to live a life of dignity and worth.
References:
1. Government of India, Program of action, NPE 1986.
2. V P Niranjanaradhya,(2004), Universalisation of school education-The Road Ahead, National Law School of India University, Banglore.
3. Prasad J& Prakash R(1996), Education of Handicapped Children Problems and Solutions, Kanishka Publisher Distributor, New Delhi.
4. Baquer A & Sharma A (1997), Disability: Challenges Vs Responses, Concerned Action Now, New Delhi.
5. http://punarbhava.in
6. http://www.disabilityindia.org
Dipannita Bhattacharya
Preface:
In the following text, I have tried to review the National Policy on Education, 1986, with respect to the rights of the disabled. I have taken up the different components of elementary education as provided in this policy.
The text is divided into 3 sections after introduction. Section A is my own understanding about provisions of elementary education given in NPE 1986. Section B is about a general understanding of disability, extent of disability in India and the rights of persons with disability, and the last section is a critical evaluation of the policy with respect to the rights of the disabled.
Introduction:
Education is important not only for the development of ones personality, but also for the sustained growth of the nation. Elementary education, therefore, provides the base on which the development of every citizen and the nation as a whole rests.
Education, as a basic right, has been has been ratified by several international organizations and documents. According to Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Article 26(2),
“Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.”
According to International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Right, 1966: Article 13 &14,
“Primary education shall be compulsory and available to all.”
The United Nations Convention on Child Rights( article 28,29),1989 also gives a lot of stress on the importance of free primary education, maintenance of school discipline in accordance with the dignity of the child and fullest development of his/her capabilities.
In India, while framing the Constitution, Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar had a view that there should be free and compulsory primary education, as a fundamental right. But other members of the constituent assembly cited the financial incapacity of the state and thus put this in under the directive principles of state policy, which are the non-justifiable rights of the citizens.
The National Policy on Education was passed in 1968, which was later reviewed and The National Policy on Education was adopted by the Parliament in May 1986. The Unnikrishnan judgment of 1993 was a historical landmark in recognizing education as a right, in which the Supreme Court held that right to compulsory and free education up to the age of 14 years is a fundamental right of every child. In the light of this judgment, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill,2008 has been passed, which has sparked off a lot of debate among the leading educationists.
Without going into the debate of the Bill, I will now try to review the different elements of the elementary education of the National Education Policy1986, with respect to the rights of disabled children.
Section A
The National Policy on Education 1986 (modified in 1992)
Essential features:
Elementary education
1. The policy gives priority to the universalisation of elementary education, up to 14 years of age. The thrust is mainly on universal enrolment and retention and also on the improvement of the quality of education imparted.
2. A child centered approach is to be adopted. A substantial improvement in the infrastructure and support services of primary schools is required and a variety of measures have been proposed for securing the participation of different marginalized sections of children. A policy of non-detention at primary level is to be followed and corporal punishment must be firmly dealt away with
3. Provision for quality non formal education for working children. All necessary measures are to be taken to ensure that the quality of NFE is comparable to that of formal education. Also steps will be taken to facilitate lateral entry into formal system of children passing out of NFE.
4. Reform in content and process of education, and a comprehensive teacher training programme is proposed.
5. The scope of Operation Blackboard will be enlarged to provide 3 reasonably large rooms with necessary teaching-learning aids and it is to be extended till upper primary level. Construction of school buildings is to be a priority and 50% of recruited teachers must be female.
6. Highest priority is to be given to dealing with the problem of child drop-outs
7. Common structure of education throughout the country, i.e., 10+2+3
Education for the handicapped
The objective should be to integrate the physically and mentally ‘handicapped’ with the mainstream community and prepare them for normal growth and development. The following measures have been taken in this regard:
wherever feasible, the education of children with motor handicaps and other mild handicaps will be common to that of others
as far as possible, provision for special schools and hostels at district headquarters for the severely handicapped
provision for vocational training
teacher training programme to be re-oriented in order to equip them to deal with the special needs of the handicapped children
voluntary effort for the education of the disabled to be encouraged in every manner
Section B
There is no universal definition of disability. They range from the very narrow to the very broad, from the medical to the social, from the cultural to the local, from the one intended to integrate them in society to the one for exclusion and segregation. The WHO manual gives the following definitions:
Impairment: Impairment is any loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological or anatomical structure or function
Disability: a disability is any restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being
Handicap: a handicap is a disadvantage for a given individual, resulting from an impairment or disability that limits or prevents the fulfillment of a role that is normal (depending on age, sex, and social and cultural factors) for that individual.
Types of Disabilities
Census of India 2001 identified five types of disabilities. Number of disabled in each type of disabilities is depicted in table below, which shows total number of disabled in India at 21,906,769 which constitute more than 2 percent of total population.
Disabled in India by types of Disabilities
Types of Disabilities Number of Disabled Percentage
Seeing 10634881 48.55
Speech 1640868 7.49
Hearing 1261722 5.76
Movement 6105477 27.87
Mental 2263821 10.33
Total 21906769 100.00
Source: Census of India 2001
Table 2
This proportion is high when compared to data collected by national sample survey organization in its 58th round in the year 2002, but very lower than estimates of World health Organization and United Nations according to which around 10 percent of population in underdeveloped and developing countries are disabled.
Classification of disabled in India shows that nearly half total disabled are having seeing disabilities (48.55 percent) followed by movement disabilities (27.87 percent). Ten percent of total disabled are mentally disabled.
Disabilities by Residence
Classification of Disabilities by region
Types of Disabilities Residence
Persons Rural Urban
Total 21906769 (100.00) 16388382 (74.81) 5518387 (25.19%)
Seeing 10634881 (100.00) 7873383 (74.03) 2761498 (25.97)
Speech 1640868 (100.00) 1243854 (75.80) 397014 (24.20)
Hearing 1261722 (100.00) 1022816 (81.07) 238906 (18.93)
Movement 6105477 (100.00) 34654552 (76.24) 1450925 (23.76)
Mental 2263821 (100.00) 1593777 (70.40) 670044 (29.60)
Source: Census of India 2001
Table 2
Classification of disabled by residence shows that majority of disabled are living in the rural areas. 81.07 percent of people with hearing disabilities, 76.24 percent with movement disabilities, and 75.80 percent with speech disabilities reside in rural areas.
Lack of medical facilities, large family size, concentration of medical facilities in urban localities, etc. are the major reasons for this trend. The paradoxical situation here is concentration of organizations working for disabled in urban centers.
Disability and Literacy
Education is very important for all, especially for disabled. Education provides opportunities for employment and advancement. Literacy level among disabled of different categories is depicted in table below.
Literacy Rate among different categories of Disabled
Residence Persons Male Female
Disabilities Total
Total 49.31 58.15 37.32
Rural 44.40 54.11 31.31
Urban 63.87 70.05 55.36
Seeing Disability
Total 49.85 59.56 38.50
Rural 43.56 54.18 31.28
Urban 67.77 74.61 59.53
Speech Disability
Total 36.23 41.91 28.57
Rural 31.38 37.30 23.41
Urban 51.41 56.33 44.75
Hearing Disability
Total 43.17 55.73 28.79
Rural 39.31 52.20 24.38
Urban 59.72 71.24 47.11
Movement Disability
Total 57.37 65.44 43.08
Rural 53.74 62.52 38.17
Urban 69.04 74.80 58.18
Mental Disability
Total 37.89 43.68 29.27
Rural 34.72 41.17 25.21
Urban 45.44 49.55 39.15
Percentage of literate in each category of disabled
Source: Census of India 2001
Table 3
(http://www.disabilityindia.org/djartjan06A.cfm)
• Compared to a National literacy figure of around 65 percent the percentage of literacy levels of the disabled population is only 49 percent
• Literacy rates for the female disabled population is around 37 percent compared to national average of over 54 percent for the female population.
• Literacy rates for the male disabled population is 58.14 percent compared to 75.85 percent for males.
• According to NSSO 2002 figures, of the literate disabled population only 9 percent completed secondary and above education
Rights of the Disabled- Constitutional, National and International provisions
The 93rd Amendment of the Constitution of India has made education a fundamental human right for children in the 6-14 years age group thereby making it mandatory for all children to be brought under the fold of education. This includes children with disability.
India is a signatory to the Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education (1994) that emphasizes access to quality education for all. The Statement endorses the need for fundamental policy shifts required to promote the approach to inclusive education, namely enabling schools to serve all children, particularly those with special educational needs by implementing practical and strategic changes.
The Government of India has enacted the legislation Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (PWD Act) to achieve amongst other things, the goal of providing access to free education in an appropriate environment to all learners with disabilities till s/he attains the age of eighteen years. The Act endeavours to promote the integration of learners with disabilities in mainstream schools.
The National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCERT, 2000) has recommended inclusive schools for learners with special educational needs by making appropriate modifications in the content, presentation and transaction strategies, preparing teachers and developing learning friendly evaluation procedure
(http://punarbhava.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=313&Itemid=397)
United nations convention of child rights:
Article 2 (Non-discrimination): The Convention applies to all children, whatever their race, religion or abilities; whatever they think or say, whatever type of family they come from. It doesn’t matter where children live, what language they speak, what their parents do, whether they are boys or girls, what their culture is, whether they have a disability or whether they are rich or poor. No child should be treated unfairly on any basis
Article 23 (Children with disabilities): Children who have any kind of disability have the right to special care and support, as well as all the rights in the Convention, so that they can live full and independent lives.
United nations CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, adopted in 13 December 2006
Constitution
Article 14 states Equality of law and equal opportunities, prohibits discrimination on the unreasonable grounds.
India is a signatory of all the above international conventions and itself containing the aforesaid provisions, it is legally binding to give the persons with disability equal rights in terms of education and other things. All the policies, plans and programmes passed should be in accordance with this principle of non-discrimination and equality. Therefore wherever required, the persons with disability must be given due support in order to make them capable enough to realize their rights.
Section C
Review of the policy
The NPE 1986 has provided for the education of disabled children in regular school system, thus aiming at the integration of children with physical and mental disabilities with the mainstream community. The Plan of Action, 1992 estimated that about 10.39 million children with disabilities must be provided education in the regular school system. The Eighth five year plan had also provided opportunities to the disabled people for education, vocational training and economic rehabilitation.
The NPE 1986 emphasized INCLUSION while launching schemes for integrated education. Integrated education represents a supportive approach to serving those with special needs and is based on the principles of inclusion.
Inclusive education means what it says. It means to include the child with special needs in the same way in which any other child will be included. This approach recommends education of children with special needs in the overall general educational structure of the nation. This also means beginning education at the very start in early childhood and continuing it right through the whole educational system. It includes adapting the whole school structure, the buildings and furniture, the teacher training curriculums and the attitude of the siblings, parents and public to include children with special needs in a regular school system. It should lead to an educational system which is explicitly disabled friendly.
Even if the at the policy level it has been accepted by the government that disabled children are entitled to education, most of them do not get any education at all or receive very inferior quality of education as compared to that of non-disabled children. The conventional residential school for disabled children system of education, despite the best efforts, remains outside the reach of a majority of disabled children. Those who do gat it are forced to remain outside the mainstream activities of society and accept exclusion as a matter of routine.
Going back to the policy itself, the elementary education policy and education of handicapped is completely segregated from each other and kept in separate sections. Also the term ‘handicapped’ is very derogatory and must be removed from the policy. If elementary education is meant for children, and every child is equal, then even disabled children should be a part of the policy elements. The provisions of elementary education should be benefiting them equally.
The definition adopted by government on disability is not inclusive as it does not give classification of disability in the policy. Hence the special needs of different groups of disabled persons are neither acknowledged nor addressed properly.
The policy is not in full accordance with the rights of the disabled, as it contains terms like, ‘wherever feasible’, ‘as far as possible’, giving the state the option of not providing what is there in the policy.
There is the provision of a comprehensive teacher education programme given in the policy. The term ‘comprehensive’ is very ambiguous as it is not very specific about the issues covered. It is very important that the teachers be given training on disability otherwise they wont be able to distinguish between learning disabled and slow learners, for example, and hence wont be able to take care of their respective needs.
According to the policy, there is provision for free and compulsory education up to the age of 14 years. This statement has a number of connotations. Firstly, as per definition of child according to UNCRC, as well as JJ Act, anyone who is below 18 years is a child. Then why has the government mentioned free and compulsory education only till 14 years of age? Secondly, for a mentally disabled person, the upper age limit should not be fixed a 14 or 18. Rather it should be till his rehabilitation. It is because of the probability that he won’t be able to complete his elementary education by the above prescribed age depending on his mental maturity. So, how far is it fair that a normal child be given full elementary education while a mentally disabled child is barred from it?
Thirdly, the ‘free’ elementary education given by government excludes a lot of necessary stuff. The responsibility of the state does not end with providing tuition fees and books. It should also include medical checkups, food, uniforms, etc. The term ‘Compulsory’ education means that someone is accountable for children not going to school. It is as much the responsibility of the parents as it is of the state. So what are the provisions in case the state fails to fulfill its responsibility? The goal is universal enrolment and retention. Now, for example, a visually impaired child goes to a so called ‘inclusive’ school. There, due to lack of technology like computers or Braille script, he drops out. Here he is letting go of his right to education and consequently, his right to livelihood. So will the state take responsibility for this?
Stress is given on the improvement of infrastructure, but there are no prescribed norms, nor any standardized set of criteria. School buildings are usually ‘exclusive’- mostly for the able and rarely for the disabled. There is absolutely no component in the policy that prescribes ‘inclusive’ school buildings- which can be used both by the able and disabled, and therefore each will tend to view the another as a ‘different other’ rather than a ‘lesser’ or ‘greater’ other. To illustrate, probably for children with loco motor disability, use of sufficiently wide door openings for classrooms, toilets and ramps which can accommodate crutches or wheelchairs comfortably without hurting the hands, would be of some help. The ramps should have minimum slope possible to drive the wheelchair effortlessly, without any outside help. It should be such that the person feels secure and does not slip accidentally.
In the school curriculum, usually we are taught about marginalized sections like women or caste groups- basically the ‘have nots’. But there is very less mention of disabled people as part of the deprived group. The curriculum needs to be re-framed so that there is sensitivity about this particular issue in the minds of the people.
The policy has excluded many small yet relevant details. For example, there are certain activities from which disabled people are traditionally barred like sports or other extra-curricular activities. The system must be re-structured in order to ensure their participation in all such activities. Then again, there is the question of accessibility and transport. The transport system should be made disable friendly so that they have easy access to it.
The government has provisions both for special schools and inclusive schools, depending upon the needs of the child. But education in special schools is too expensive and out of reach of common man. In case of inclusive schools, it is of course affordable, but the question of quality difference is always there. In inclusive schools the main stress is on socialization of children, so that they become sensitive enough. The choice between either type is not based on the severity of the disability, rather on the economic condition of the family. While rehabilitation, for whom will it be easier then? So it is very debatable whether the state should make every inclusive school like a special school or vice versa.
The provision for severely handicapped is special schools at district headquarters.
From table 2, we have seen that a majority of disabled are from rural areas. So it is not feasible for them to come to district headquarters for education. Even if the schools are residential schools, it needs to be understood that disabled children have special needs which must be taken care of. Therefore the feasibility of they being away from their family is something which needs to be considered as well.
CONCLUSION
“Disabled people define their situation not in terms of individual impairment but in terms of social oppression”
- Sally French
Disability is a human rights issue and it must be clearly realized by all that the disabled are an integral part of society and every effort must be made to involve them with the whole society. People with impairment feel disabled not because of their physical and/or mental handicaps but because of the barriers society chooses to put up to establish differences between the disabled and non-disabled.
The debate regarding the viability of special schools is not to be resolved anytime soon. On one hand it is a violation of the right of the disabled child if he is put in a special school, away from his natural environment and peers. On the other hand, it is very true that he has special needs which need to be taken care of.
According to UNCRC,
Article 4 (Protection of rights): Governments have a responsibility to take all available measures to make sure children’s rights are respected, protected and fulfilled. When countries ratify the Convention, they agree to review their laws relating to children. This involves assessing their social services, legal, health and educational systems, as well as levels of funding for these services. Governments are then obliged to take all necessary steps to ensure that the minimum standards set by the Convention in these areas are being met. They must help families protect children’s rights and create an environment where they can grow and reach their potential. In some instances, this may involve changing existing laws or creating new ones. Such legislative changes are not imposed, but come about through the same process by which any law is created or reformed within a country.
Therefore the NPE needs to be revised in order to bring about the provisions necessary for every person- disabled and non-disabled, haves and haves not, marginalized and non-marginalized, to have equal accessibility to all the facilities. Equality of opportunities and rights are the basic criteria for every human being to live a life of dignity and worth.
References:
1. Government of India, Program of action, NPE 1986.
2. V P Niranjanaradhya,(2004), Universalisation of school education-The Road Ahead, National Law School of India University, Banglore.
3. Prasad J& Prakash R(1996), Education of Handicapped Children Problems and Solutions, Kanishka Publisher Distributor, New Delhi.
4. Baquer A & Sharma A (1997), Disability: Challenges Vs Responses, Concerned Action Now, New Delhi.
5. http://punarbhava.in
6. http://www.disabilityindia.org
East Timor
Veerendra Mishra
Introduction
Timor with a total area of 15,007 sq kms, is less than 400 km north of
Australia, separated from that continent by the Timor Sea. To the northwest
lie the Indonesian islands separated by as little as 50 km by the Sawu Sea,
while in the northeast the Indonesian islands are separated by Wetar Strait,
only 18km away from Atauro, one of the islands of Timor Leste (East Timor).
Timor is a part of Australian continental shelf.
East Timor or Timor Leste is a new country with tumultuous past. As any new
born country would have, Timor Leste is also facing the challenges of
transition into freedom. It has a short history of seven years of
independence nurturing under the umbrella of United Nations, which has been
existing since 1999 in one or the other form. The UNMIT mission still
continues.
The constitution of Timor Leste accepts Tetum (local) and Portuguese as the
two official languages. English and Bahasa (Indonesian) have been
acknowledged as working languages. It makes a very simple reading on paper,
but in actuality the situation in Timor Leste has become volatile and
explosive creating a chaos everywhere just because of the preference of
specific languages as working and official. There is hardship faced in
disbursing of official business and operational work. There is lot of
uncertainty about the choice of medium of instruction in meetings; imparting
education in schools, universities; conducting workshops, seminar; and
consequently there is fallout on daily life. There is indecisiveness amongst
the youth about the language they should focus on to build their career. The
intellectuals of the country have been questioning the plausibility of the
choice of language as official. There had been discussions in the past over
the correctness of decision but now it has become an obscure movement
questioning the very loyalty of the decision makers towards the country.
This uneasiness amongst the intellectuals and discomfort of a common man is
a matter of concern and is what bothers. How serious is that concern needs
to be examined by understanding the history a bit and the situation
prevailing in Timor Leste.
*History*
Timor had been a source of sandalwood, honey and wax for Chinese traders
since at least the 1300s. The first Portuguese traders reached Timor, near
the coast of Oecussi (in Timor), around 1509 and gradually expanded their
influence and made it a full fledged colony. The process of decolonisation
of Timor began in 1974, in the wake of Portugal’s “Carnation Revolution”.
East Timorese were given freedom to form their own political parties, the
most prominent being the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT), which supported
gradual independence as well as association with Portugal, and the
pro-independence Revolutionary Front for an Independent Timor-Leste
(FRETILIN), which supported full independence. Portugal sought to establish
a provisional government and a popular assembly that would determine the
status of Timor-Leste, but civil war broke out between the two main
political parties. On 11 August 1975, the UDT launched a coup to seize power
but was defeated by FRETILIN, and its members fled to West Timor. FRETILIN
was left with control of Timor-Leste. A unilateral declaration of
independence followed on 28 November 1975. Before the declaration could be
internationally recognised, however, Indonesian forces invaded and occupied
the newly born Republica Democratica de Timor-Leste (RDTL) eventually
annexing it as the twenty seventh Indonesian province. Some 60,000 people
are believed to have died during the initial period of the invasion. The UN
never recognized this integration, and both the Security Council and the
General Assembly called for Indonesia’s withdrawal. Timor-Leste’s official
international status remained that of a “non-self-governing territory under
Portuguese administration”. FALINTIL, the military arm of FRETILIN, began
its guerrilla campaign against the Indonesian forces.
Indonesian rule in Timor-Leste was violent and dictatorial. Unlike the
Portuguese, the Indonesians favoured strong, direct rule, which was not
accepted by the Timorese who were determined to preserve their culture and
national identity. Death tolls between 1975 and the early 1980s due to a
combination of attacks on civilian population, disease and famine are
estimated to be up to two lakh. In an effort to obtain greater control over
its descendants new province Indonesia invested considerable financial
resources in Timor-Leste, leading to economic growth averaging 6% per year
over the period 1983 to 1997.
In May 5th, 1999, UN brokered agreement with Portugal to hold a referendum
or “popular consultation” on the options of autonomy within Indonesia or
full independence. Despite a sustained intimidation campaign launched by the
Indonesian military using “militia” as proxy, on 30 August 1999, the
Timorese population voted overwhelmingly for independence (78.5%). The
Indonesian armed forces and their militia responded with extra ordinary
brutality. The entire territory was laid waste-some 80% of buildings were
looted and burned, all government records were lost, and most of the
physical structure was destroyed. One third of the population was forcibly
displaced to West Timor and other neighboring islands. The rest of the
population sought refuge in the mountains.
Independence came, officially, on 20 May 2002 with the inauguration of
President and Prime Minister.
*UNs Presence*
United Nations since agreement signed on 5th May 1999 in New York has
remained in Timor-Leste in different forms.
On 11 June 1999, United Nations Mission in Timor-Leste (UNAMET) came into
existence to conduct “Popular Consultation”, a referendum to choose between
Independence and autonomy under Indonesia. After that on 25th October, the
Security Council established the United Nations Transitional Administration
in Timor-Leste (UNTAET) as an integrated, multidimensional peacekeeping
operation fully responsible for the administration of Timor-Leste during its
transition to independence. When Timor-Leste’s independence was restored on
20 May 2002, UNTAET was succeeded by the United Nations Mission of Support
in Timor-Leste (UNMISET) established on 17th May 2002 to provide assistance
to core administrative structures critical to the viability and political
stability of the country and other mandates for post independence support.
The mandate of UNMISET was completed in May 2005 and a successor political
mission, the United Nations office in Timor-Leste (UNOTIL), was established
on 20 May 2005 to support the development of critical State institutions.
UNOTIL was scheduled to end its mandate in 2006 but due to fresh violence
and disturbance including assassination bids on President and Prime
Minister, On 25 August 2006, United Nations decided to establish the United
Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) to maintain law and order
until the national police of Timor Leste (PNTL) could undergo reorganization
and restructuring. If the hearsay is to be believed then UNMIT will wind up
its mission by 2012.
*Language situation *
Having in background the knowledge of history, it will be easy to comprehend
the prevailing complexity of languages.
The Portuguese during their colonial rule adopted Tetum as working language,
one of the twenty odd local languages of East Timor, along with Portuguese.
Tetum spread all over the country with almost 60% of people speaking it and
80% of area covered. Portuguese became an official language but literally
understood only to those who had been part of education system or in job.
Portuguese adopted a policy of non-interference and education system was not
very much developed. Even the propagation of Christianity was in local
language, Tetum. So, Portuguese was known to only those who had been to
schools, colleges and in job under Portuguese, before 1975. Tetum remained
the most popular language.
After Indonesian army’s take over in 1975, the use of Portuguese language
almost vanished. Indonesians, who believed in direct control, introduced
Bahasa (Indonesian language) and Tetum as languages. The educational system
was developed and institutions established and Bahasa became a medium of
instruction. Far more East Timorese went to university in Indonesia post-
1975 than ever went on to further education in Portugal pre-1975. Due to
their direct involvement Bahasa became a very popular language and almost
everybody started speaking and understanding the language. It is estimated
that 60% of the East Timorese speak Bahasa. During the Indonesian tyrannical
rule almost one third of the country’s population got killed. In the twenty
four years of constant war for independence most of the rebels died who
belonged to the Portuguese era. A new generation which grew to become youth
belonged to Bahasa epoch. Portuguese as a language virtually had become a
history for most.
In 1999 with the advent of UN mission, English became an official language
of operation. It was an English speaking mission. The youth understood the
charm of English and they started learning the language, which became an
instant hope of employment. The Australian influence on Timor can also not
be discounted. The English movies are very popular here and the mass
unemployed youth whose passion is to play guitar can be found playing and
singing either Bahasa or English songs. Every fifth youth can be seen trying
hard to utter few English words to catch attention of the international.
Though proper and very reliable census is not ...
Veerendra Mishra
Introduction
Timor with a total area of 15,007 sq kms, is less than 400 km north of
Australia, separated from that continent by the Timor Sea. To the northwest
lie the Indonesian islands separated by as little as 50 km by the Sawu Sea,
while in the northeast the Indonesian islands are separated by Wetar Strait,
only 18km away from Atauro, one of the islands of Timor Leste (East Timor).
Timor is a part of Australian continental shelf.
East Timor or Timor Leste is a new country with tumultuous past. As any new
born country would have, Timor Leste is also facing the challenges of
transition into freedom. It has a short history of seven years of
independence nurturing under the umbrella of United Nations, which has been
existing since 1999 in one or the other form. The UNMIT mission still
continues.
The constitution of Timor Leste accepts Tetum (local) and Portuguese as the
two official languages. English and Bahasa (Indonesian) have been
acknowledged as working languages. It makes a very simple reading on paper,
but in actuality the situation in Timor Leste has become volatile and
explosive creating a chaos everywhere just because of the preference of
specific languages as working and official. There is hardship faced in
disbursing of official business and operational work. There is lot of
uncertainty about the choice of medium of instruction in meetings; imparting
education in schools, universities; conducting workshops, seminar; and
consequently there is fallout on daily life. There is indecisiveness amongst
the youth about the language they should focus on to build their career. The
intellectuals of the country have been questioning the plausibility of the
choice of language as official. There had been discussions in the past over
the correctness of decision but now it has become an obscure movement
questioning the very loyalty of the decision makers towards the country.
This uneasiness amongst the intellectuals and discomfort of a common man is
a matter of concern and is what bothers. How serious is that concern needs
to be examined by understanding the history a bit and the situation
prevailing in Timor Leste.
*History*
Timor had been a source of sandalwood, honey and wax for Chinese traders
since at least the 1300s. The first Portuguese traders reached Timor, near
the coast of Oecussi (in Timor), around 1509 and gradually expanded their
influence and made it a full fledged colony. The process of decolonisation
of Timor began in 1974, in the wake of Portugal’s “Carnation Revolution”.
East Timorese were given freedom to form their own political parties, the
most prominent being the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT), which supported
gradual independence as well as association with Portugal, and the
pro-independence Revolutionary Front for an Independent Timor-Leste
(FRETILIN), which supported full independence. Portugal sought to establish
a provisional government and a popular assembly that would determine the
status of Timor-Leste, but civil war broke out between the two main
political parties. On 11 August 1975, the UDT launched a coup to seize power
but was defeated by FRETILIN, and its members fled to West Timor. FRETILIN
was left with control of Timor-Leste. A unilateral declaration of
independence followed on 28 November 1975. Before the declaration could be
internationally recognised, however, Indonesian forces invaded and occupied
the newly born Republica Democratica de Timor-Leste (RDTL) eventually
annexing it as the twenty seventh Indonesian province. Some 60,000 people
are believed to have died during the initial period of the invasion. The UN
never recognized this integration, and both the Security Council and the
General Assembly called for Indonesia’s withdrawal. Timor-Leste’s official
international status remained that of a “non-self-governing territory under
Portuguese administration”. FALINTIL, the military arm of FRETILIN, began
its guerrilla campaign against the Indonesian forces.
Indonesian rule in Timor-Leste was violent and dictatorial. Unlike the
Portuguese, the Indonesians favoured strong, direct rule, which was not
accepted by the Timorese who were determined to preserve their culture and
national identity. Death tolls between 1975 and the early 1980s due to a
combination of attacks on civilian population, disease and famine are
estimated to be up to two lakh. In an effort to obtain greater control over
its descendants new province Indonesia invested considerable financial
resources in Timor-Leste, leading to economic growth averaging 6% per year
over the period 1983 to 1997.
In May 5th, 1999, UN brokered agreement with Portugal to hold a referendum
or “popular consultation” on the options of autonomy within Indonesia or
full independence. Despite a sustained intimidation campaign launched by the
Indonesian military using “militia” as proxy, on 30 August 1999, the
Timorese population voted overwhelmingly for independence (78.5%). The
Indonesian armed forces and their militia responded with extra ordinary
brutality. The entire territory was laid waste-some 80% of buildings were
looted and burned, all government records were lost, and most of the
physical structure was destroyed. One third of the population was forcibly
displaced to West Timor and other neighboring islands. The rest of the
population sought refuge in the mountains.
Independence came, officially, on 20 May 2002 with the inauguration of
President and Prime Minister.
*UNs Presence*
United Nations since agreement signed on 5th May 1999 in New York has
remained in Timor-Leste in different forms.
On 11 June 1999, United Nations Mission in Timor-Leste (UNAMET) came into
existence to conduct “Popular Consultation”, a referendum to choose between
Independence and autonomy under Indonesia. After that on 25th October, the
Security Council established the United Nations Transitional Administration
in Timor-Leste (UNTAET) as an integrated, multidimensional peacekeeping
operation fully responsible for the administration of Timor-Leste during its
transition to independence. When Timor-Leste’s independence was restored on
20 May 2002, UNTAET was succeeded by the United Nations Mission of Support
in Timor-Leste (UNMISET) established on 17th May 2002 to provide assistance
to core administrative structures critical to the viability and political
stability of the country and other mandates for post independence support.
The mandate of UNMISET was completed in May 2005 and a successor political
mission, the United Nations office in Timor-Leste (UNOTIL), was established
on 20 May 2005 to support the development of critical State institutions.
UNOTIL was scheduled to end its mandate in 2006 but due to fresh violence
and disturbance including assassination bids on President and Prime
Minister, On 25 August 2006, United Nations decided to establish the United
Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) to maintain law and order
until the national police of Timor Leste (PNTL) could undergo reorganization
and restructuring. If the hearsay is to be believed then UNMIT will wind up
its mission by 2012.
*Language situation *
Having in background the knowledge of history, it will be easy to comprehend
the prevailing complexity of languages.
The Portuguese during their colonial rule adopted Tetum as working language,
one of the twenty odd local languages of East Timor, along with Portuguese.
Tetum spread all over the country with almost 60% of people speaking it and
80% of area covered. Portuguese became an official language but literally
understood only to those who had been part of education system or in job.
Portuguese adopted a policy of non-interference and education system was not
very much developed. Even the propagation of Christianity was in local
language, Tetum. So, Portuguese was known to only those who had been to
schools, colleges and in job under Portuguese, before 1975. Tetum remained
the most popular language.
After Indonesian army’s take over in 1975, the use of Portuguese language
almost vanished. Indonesians, who believed in direct control, introduced
Bahasa (Indonesian language) and Tetum as languages. The educational system
was developed and institutions established and Bahasa became a medium of
instruction. Far more East Timorese went to university in Indonesia post-
1975 than ever went on to further education in Portugal pre-1975. Due to
their direct involvement Bahasa became a very popular language and almost
everybody started speaking and understanding the language. It is estimated
that 60% of the East Timorese speak Bahasa. During the Indonesian tyrannical
rule almost one third of the country’s population got killed. In the twenty
four years of constant war for independence most of the rebels died who
belonged to the Portuguese era. A new generation which grew to become youth
belonged to Bahasa epoch. Portuguese as a language virtually had become a
history for most.
In 1999 with the advent of UN mission, English became an official language
of operation. It was an English speaking mission. The youth understood the
charm of English and they started learning the language, which became an
instant hope of employment. The Australian influence on Timor can also not
be discounted. The English movies are very popular here and the mass
unemployed youth whose passion is to play guitar can be found playing and
singing either Bahasa or English songs. Every fifth youth can be seen trying
hard to utter few English words to catch attention of the international.
Though proper and very reliable census is not ...
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